Israeli officials: Air force would strike Syria ‘because red lines were crossed’
(JNS.org) Israel twice carried out airstrikes inside Syrian territory on Wednesday, the first airstrike allegedly destroying a convoy of trucks carrying anti-aircraft missiles destined for Hezbollah and the second destroying a “research institute” near Damascus , Israel Hayom reported, citing the Syrian military. No Israeli official would confirm or deny the allegations.
If Israel did destroy the weapons, it would be consistent with the Jewish state’s long-standing red lines stating that it would not allow “game-changing” weapons to pass into the hands of Hezbollah. Such game-changing weapons consist of unconventional weapons or conventional weapons that enable a significant step up in the capabilities of terror organizations. Experts believe that Israel is not interested in an escalation, but is merely sending the message that it will not hesitate to attack in the future if any other “game-changing” weapons should be transferred to Hezbollah from Syria.
“If there indeed was an attack, then it would have been because red lines were crossed and you can’t draw red lines unless you guard them,” former Mossad head Danny Yatom told Army Radio on Wednesday.
Also speaking on Army Radio, Likud MK Tzahi Hanegbi, a former head of the powerful Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said, “Israel has always said that if sophisticated weapons coming from Iran, North Korea and Russia fell into the hands of Hezbollah, it would cross a red line.”
Israel boycotts review at historically Israel-focused UN human rights council
(JNS.org) Israel has become the first country to boycott its United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) review, AFP reported.
While Israel is not a member of the UNHRC, it is required, like all 193 UN members, to undergo Universal Periodic Reviews (UPR) of its human rights records.
Israel cut ties with the UNHRC nearly a year ago. An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman told AFP that that policy has continued.
“We cut all our contacts with the council last March, including the current activity,” Yigal Palmor said. He stressed, “Our policy has not changed.”
Israel’s reluctance to work with the UNHRC stems from the council’s intense focus on Israel and its perceived anti-Israel bias. More than half of the resolutions passed by the council since 2006 have focused on Israel and also is the only country that is a permanent agenda item with the UNHRC at every one of its sessions, according to the New York Times.
According to the UN watchdog group UN Watch, one of the overseers of Israel’s review was Venezuela, whose president, Hugo Chavez, is a close ally with Iran.
Israel’s boycott has caused a minor diplomatic crisis, as members seek to preserve the UPR’s integrity.
UNHRC president Remigiusz Henczel has called on the council to figure out a way to urge Israel to undergo the review by next fall.
The U.S. representative, Ambassador Eileen Chamberlain Donahoe, has backed this approach.
Ironically, Egypt and Pakistan, countries with poor human rights records, according to Freedom House, criticized the “soft” reaction of the council, with Egypt’s representative declaring that the council faced “a moment of truth,” according to AFP.
As confirmation hearing awaits, new anti-Israel comments from Hagel surface
(JNS.org) As former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel prepares to be questioned by the Senate Armed Services Committee in a Thursday hearing on his nomination for defense secretary, a decade-old newspaper article has surfaced in which he states that Israel has kept Palestinians “chained down for many, many years.”
Hagel recently protested what he called a “completely distorted” interpretation of his previous comments on Israel in an interview with his hometown newspaper, the Lincoln Journal Star. There is “not one shred of evidence that I’m anti-Israeli, not one [Senate] vote that matters that hurt Israel,” he said.
But in the same newspaper in 2003, Hagel said Israel is “keep[ing] Palestinians caged up like animals,” according to the Washington Free Beacon.
Hagel had already come under fire for controversial comments on what he called the “Jewish lobby.” Democrats and Republicans alike have questioned whether he is truly committed to a military option for the Iranian nuclear threat and to broader U.S. support of Israel.
But in response to policy questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee in advance of his hearing, Hagel wrote the committee that he would “focus intently on ensuring the U.S. military” is prepared to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities if that becomes necessary, Bloomberg News reported.
“I agree with the president that the United States should take no options off the table in our efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon,” Hagel wrote.
Drew Barrymore to raise daughter Jewish
(JNS.org) Actress Drew Barrymore, 38, has announced she plans to raise her infant daughter in the Jewish faith. Barrymore, who first made the announcement on the daytime talk show The View, married art consultant Will Kopelman, 35, eight months ago in a Jewish ceremony. Their daughter Olive was born last October.
“He’s a nice Jewish man from a nice Jewish family… I’m a shiksa (gentile). I do the seders and we do Passover. I haven’t converted yet, but Olive will be raised traditionally,” Barrymore said, according to USA Today. Barrymore first gained fame as a child for her supporting role in the classic 1980s film “ET,” and has appeared in countless other films in the decades since.
Barrymore also called Judaism “a beautiful faith” and said she is “so honored” to be around it. “It’s so family-oriented… The stories are so beautiful and it’s incredibly enlightening. I’m really happy,” she said.
Israel and Vatican on the verge of a historic agreement
(JNS.org) Israel and the Vatican are on the verge of signing a historic agreement that will formalize diplomatic relations as well as potentially improve Israel’s ties with the global Catholic community.
While Israel and the Vatican established formal diplomatic relations in 1993, they have differed on a number of key areas, the status of the Catholic Church in Israel, sovereignty over Catholic sites, taxation and expropriation.
One of the most contentious areas was a dispute over the Cenacle—the traditional site of the Jesus’s Last Supper on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. According to the agreement, Israel did not give up sovereignty over it, but will allow the Vatican control over the site, Israel Hayom reported.
In comments to the Jerusalem Post, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said that the two sides were “on the verge of signing, subject to final approval by the government of Israel and the Holy See.”
This agreement is “real upgrade in relations between Israel and the Holy See, and between the Jewish people and one billion Catholics around the world, to the benefit of both sides,” Ayalon added.
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