Southern Israelis call for stronger response to Gaza rocket fire
(JNS.org) Following Tuesday’s rocket fire launched from the Gaza Strip into the Gan Yavne area near Ashdod, residents of southern Israel are demanding a tougher response to the cross-border rocket attacks from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave.
“I expect our country to respond with force to any rocket fired into Israel,” said Daniel Matari, a resident of Kerem Shalom, an Israeli town bordering on Gaza.
“It is unfathomable that every time Hamas and Islamic Jihad have an argument, we pay the price. It has become a terrible routine, and we should not have to suffer their rocket fire,” Matari said, Israel Hayom reported. Tuesday’s rocket fire was reportedly the result of an internal dispute between commanders of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist groups, though Israel holds Gaza-ruling Hamas responsible for any fire emanating from the area.
Though the Israeli Air Force struck four terrorist targets in southern Gaza in the early hours of Wednesday morning in response to the rocket fire, Matari believes stronger retaliation is needed to truly end the violence.
“Israel should have a zero tolerance policy for rocket fire of any kind, sporadic or otherwise,” he said. “Though we have lived through worse, and we may not be as frightened anymore by a rocket here or there, it is time for this to come to an end.”
David Timsit, a father of three who lives in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, is similarly frustrated with the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza. “There was a period when things were calm, but a rocket fired late at night when many families are at home is stressful and frightening,” he said.
“Enough with these soft responses [by Israel],” Timsit said. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, no matter what the enlightened Western world thinks about it. I would like to see how they would react to rocket fire on their hometowns in the evenings.”
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Jewish organizations raise relief funds after Houston flood
(JNS.org) Jewish organizations are raising disaster-relief funds following the devastating flooding in Texas earlier this week, during which Houston’s Jewish community sat at the center of the damage experienced by that city.
Countless Jewish homes and multiple synagogues were among the structures damaged following rain that exceeded 11 inches in some areas from May 25-26.
“Whether it’s on the other side of the planet or in our own backyard, we’re both quick to respond and always eyeing how to help the long-term recovery effort,” said Daniel S. Mariaschin, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith International, which pointed to its disaster relief fund here. “It’s no different with the flooding in Texas. I’m eager to learn from agencies on the ground and from our local members on how we can be involved in assisting these people.”
The Jewish Federation of Greater Houston is raising flood-relief fundshere, noting that the hardest-hit neighborhoods in the flood were Meyerland, Bellaire, and Willow Meadows, “where so many in our community have lost everything.” Other Jewish Federations around the country are raising relief funds for Houston.
“It will take days to assess damages and many months to recover and rebuild,” the Houston Federation said.
At the same time, local Jewish community is trying to focus on the positive.
“Let us focus on repairing what was ruined and rededicating ourselves to what makes UOS (United Orthodox Synagogues of Houston) so special, the community,” Rabbi Barry Gelman, the leader of that heavily flood-damaged synagogue, wrote in an email to congregants. “After all, what is really special about us are the people that make up our community. That is what is indispensable—the building can always be fixed.
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Sen. Graham vows ‘violent backlash’ against U.N. Palestinian state resolution
(JNS.org) U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a likely Republican presidential candidate, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Wednesday and vowed to stand up for Israel in the United Nations.
“If there’s an effort by any nation to have the [U.N.] Security Council define the terms of the peace process, there will be a violent backlash from the United States Congress in a bipartisan fashion,” Graham told reporters at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel.
Graham’s remarks allude to a recently announced proposal by France that vowed to recognize a Palestinian state if there is no agreement between Israel and the Palestinians through an upcoming French-backed U.N. Security Council resolution.
“I am in charge of the foreign assistance account, I’m in charge of the money we provide for the United Nations,” said Graham, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs.
Graham also pledged a “violent pushback” against the Palestinians if they pursue war crimes charges against Israeli soldiers in the International Criminal Court.
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Israeli-American group congratulates Cavaliers’ Blatt on reaching NBA Finals
(JNS.org) An organization whose work focuses on the estimated population of 500,000-800,000 Israeli Americans congratulated David Blatt, the Jewish head coach of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Cleveland Cavaliers and a longtime Israel-based coach, for clinching an appearance in the NBA Finals.
The Israeli-American Council (IAC), whose stated mission is “to build an active and giving Israeli-American community throughout the United States in order to strengthen the State of Israel, our next generation, and to provide a bridge to the Jewish-American community,” called Blatt “an Israeli-American role model.” On Tuesday night, Blatt’s Cavaliers completed a four-game sweep of the Atlanta Hawks to win the NBA’s Eastern Conference. They will face the Golden State Warriors in the Finals.
“On behalf of all Israeli Americans in the United States, we congratulate David Blatt, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the city of Cleveland on their thrilling victory as Eastern Conference champions of the NBA,” Shawn Evenhaim, the IAC’s chairman, said in a statement. “David is an Israeli-American success story—a true leader and role model who symbolizes our love for both Israel and the U.S.”
Blatt, 56, grew up in Framingham, Mass., and played college basketball at Princeton University. While at Princeton, he was recruited to play for a basketball team at Kibbutz Gan Shmuel in Israel over the summer.
“I really had not had designs on making aliyah growing up or well into my college experience, but I was invited to spend a summer in Israel by a nice gentlemen and a coach in Israel who saw me play with Princeton, and I fell in love with Israel,” Blatt said in an interview with JNS.org last year. “That was a life-changing experience because I ended up spending 33 years there.”
In his final season before landing the Cavaliers’ head coaching job, Blatt coached Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team to a European league championship.
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Natan Sharansky supports Riskin’s continuation as chief rabbi of Efrat
(JNS.org) Natan Sharansky, the famed refusenik and current chairman of The Jewish Agency for Israel, spoke out in support of Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s retention of his position as chief rabbi of the community of Efrat in Judea and Samaria. Riskin’s future in that role, which he has held since 1983, is reportedly being evaluated by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate.
Riskin is about to turn 75, an age at which such communal leadership positions within the Chief Rabbinate would normally end. But the American-born Riskin is seeking a five-year extension from the rabbinate. Riskin is known to push the boundaries of the rabbinate’s traditional policies on issues such as conversion to Judaism and the role of women. Earlier this year, he appointed a female spiritual advisor, Jennie Rosenfeld, in Efrat.
On Wednesday, Sharansky called Riskin “a Jewish leader and Israeli patriot,” and said that Efrat deserves his continued service as chief rabbi.
“Rabbi Riskin’s contributions to aliyah, to building the State and Land of Israel, to connecting the Jews of the Diaspora to their homeland, and to connecting all Jews to the Torah are of historic proportions,” Sharansky said in a statement. “In view of these outstanding and unparalleled achievements, there should be no questions about his qualifications for his continued service.”
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Iran suggests that nuclear talks may go beyond June 30 deadline
(JNS.org) As signs of a potential deal-breaker emerge in the nuclear talks between Iran and world powers, a senior Iranian nuclear negotiator suggested that the talks could go beyond the June 30 deadline for a final agreement.
“We are not at the point where we can say that negotiations will be completed quickly—they will continue until the deadline and could continue beyond that,” senior Iranian negotiator Abbas Araghchi said, the state-run news agency IRNA reported.
“We are trying to have a good agreement with all the details meeting our expectations,” Araghchi added.
Recently, there have been signs of a possible deal-breaker in the negotiations over access to military sites by international nuclear inspectors. Last week, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ruled out access to military sites.
“The impudent and brazen enemy expects that we allow them to talk to our scientists and researchers about a fundamental local achieve but no such permission will be allowed,” Khamenei said on Iranian state TV.
France, which has taken a hardline stance during the negotiations, warned that it is ready to block a final nuclear deal unless Iran allows complete access to all relevant sites, including military installations.
“France will not accept [a deal] if it is not clear that inspections can be done at all Iranian installations, including military sites,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told French lawmakers on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
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Tony Blair to step down as Middle East Quartet envoy
(JNS.org) Former British prime minister Tony Blair will be stepping down from his position as special envoy of the Middle East Quartet.
The Quartet, which is comprised of the United States, Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union, was established in 2002 during the height of the second Palestinian intifada (uprising) and has a stated mission of working to support of the Palestinian people “as they build the institutions and economy of a viable and peaceful state in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”
Blair, who served as British prime minister from 1997-2007, has served as special envoy since stepping down as the U.K.’s leader. According to sources, Blair had felt the position was “limited” to only supporting the Palestinians and had a number of “political constraints.”
Blair will now “concentrate on strengthening relations between Israel and the wider Arab world,” which he hopes can “underpin international efforts to end the ongoing impasse in the peace process,” the BBC reported.
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