Israel Seen Weekend Wrap up on Israel in the News
Israel Seen Weekend Wrap up on Israel in the News
The israelseen.com Daily
Is the UN legitimizing a Hamas affiliate? |
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=26125
Israel named PRC as the “coordinating and organizational arm of the Hamas movement in Europe.” An anti-Israel rally in London. Photo credit: EPA
The Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Return Centre, active in London since 1996, was recently named an observer NGO in the U.N. despite being classified in Israel as unlawful • The group seeks Palestinian “right of return” as a means of destroying Israel.
The Palestinian Return Centre, one of the more venomous and effective anti-Israel propaganda centers in London, has managed to fly under Israel’s public diplomacy radar for some years. It has also been absent from the global discourse surrounding the anti-Israel boycott movement and the delegitimization of Israel. But a few days ago, the U.N. Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations put an end to the PRC’s relative anonymity in Israel by granting it consultative status. This grants international legitimacy to the PRC, which Israel has identified for years with Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. The decision is not final, though; it is still pending the approval of higher ranking U.N. officials.
| Fighting the good fight |
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=26129
Six states, 18 cities, 10 universities, and one truth. Lital Shemesh during one of her lectures
As boycott, divestment and sanctions initiatives sweep across university campuses in the U.S., pro-Israel StandWithUs campaign is trying to counter the damage they inflict on Israel’s international image • Changing people’s minds, one campus at a time.
The boycott, divestment and sanctions movement has been making headlines over the past few months, but I have been encountering reports of its anti-Israel initiatives for the past five years.
About once a year I pack up my nicest suits and embark on an intensive, two-week trip to the United States, with the sole purpose of promoting Israel’s public diplomacy. The delegations I join are organized by StandWithUs, a nonprofit education and advocacy organization, and are titled “Israeli Soldiers Tour.”
Boycotts are incompatible with Orange’s values, CEO says in Israel
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=26153
After public outcry over his desire to end Orange’s business dealings in Israel, CEO Stéphane Richard arrives in Israel to smooth things over • Geopolitics plays no role in company’s strategic decisions and it does not endorse boycotts, he says.
Orange CEO Stéphane Richard, whose remarks about ending the French telecom giant’s licensing deal with its Israeli affiliate have caused a firestorm of criticism in Israel, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday as part of his efforts to clarify his views on Israel.
Two States One Homeland initiative launched despite threats.
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=26135
Two States One Homeland, a movement founded by Israeli and Palestinian activists interested in dialogue, switched conference location from outside Green Line to within • Prominent guests on Right, Left canceled participation due to political pressure.
The founding conference of the Two States One Homeland movement on Thursday was moved to a location within the Green Line in Jerusalem after Palestinian opposition and threats forced organizers to relocate the event from the town of Beit Jala.
Israel Seen Weekend Wrap up on Israel in the News
IDF’s top IT unit wins ‘I Defense’ competition
The “I Defense” cyber competition Photo credit: Yehoshua Yosef
http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=26131
Over 30 military, civilian and foreign teams go keyboard-to-keyboard against mock cyberattacks on strategic infrastructure as part of second annual cyber competition • Shin Bet’s Cyber Unit wins second place • IDF mulling revisions of cyber framework.
The Israel Defense Forces Center of Computing and Information Systems won the prestigious “I Defense” cyber competition Wednesday, hosted by the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv.
Over 30 military, civilian, and foreign teams participated in the competition. The Shin Bet security agency’s Cyber Unit won second place, while the representatives of a school for cybersecurity and a delegation from a foreign country shared the third place.
As the deadline for a final agreement with Iran approaches, a new report by the Associated Press indicates that the White House interprets ballistic missile sanctions as part of the nuclear sanctions that would be removed in any final deal.
Throughout negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, the Obama administration has maintained that, while the nuclear-related sanctions would be lifted, in the event of a final deal, the sanctions related to ballistic missiles, human rights, and terror activities would remain in place. Following the negotiations in Lausanne, Switzerland in early April, the U.S. released a fact sheet reiterating that position: “U.S. sanctions on Iran for terrorism, human rights abuses, and ballistic missiles will remain in place under the deal.” However, now administration officials “say measures designed to stop Iran from acquiring ballistic missiles are nuclear-related.”
In the ongoing negotiations, whose impending deadline is June 30, the P5+1 have failed to include ballistic missiles. Former Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Dr. Robert Joseph asserted to Congress that the consequences of not including ballistic missiles in the negotiations are “magnified by the other flaws in our negotiating posture.” Therefore, the threat of an Iran with nuclear-armed ballistic missiles “will increase not decrease under the anticipated agreement.” He concluded that “[t]he threat will also increase to the Gulf Arabs leading to more proliferation in the broader Middle East and a greater risk of war.”
Israel Seen Weekend Wrap up on Israel in the News
Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Iran would not commit to the transparency measures insisted on by the United States until they “see the final text,” Reuters reported today.
The United States urged Iran to implement the so-called Additional Protocol, which allows more intrusive access to Iranian sites, and Code 3.1, which requires from Iran early notification of the construction of any new nuclear facilities.
“These are the issues still under discussion and I believe we should wait to see the final text… and before that, we cannot prejudge anything,” [envoy] Reza Najafi told reporters.
Code 3.1, Reuters reports, “requires from Iran early notification of the construction of any new nuclear facilities.” The Additional Protocol would allow inspectors access to suspected nuclear sites with as little as two hours notice, as well as the ability to take soil samples to detect past nuclear activity.
Najafi also rejected cooperating with the IAEA on assessing the possible military dimensions (PMD) of Iran’s nuclear program. Iran claims that existing documentation on its PMD is forged.
“We can discuss new practical measures provided that the inauthentic documents and information would be put aside,” Najafi said. The IAEA has said it carefully reviews information provided for its investigations and takes nothing at face value.
Despite refusing to commit to essential conditions that would make Iran’s commitment to a nuclear agreement verifiable, Najafi believes that “reaching an agreement by the end of June is achievable,” referring to the June 30 deadline of the ongoing talks.
Najafi’s comments potentially put Iran in conflict with the European Union, which insists that no deal can be reached with Iran unless it satisfactorily answers all outstanding questions about the PMD of its nuclear research.
Najafi isn’t the only Iranian official who has objected to measures that would make Iranian compliance with a potential nuclear deal verifiable. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan have both ruled out inspections of military sites. Foreign Minister and chief nuclear negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif accused the West of making “excessive” demands in the nuclear talks. Hamid Ba’eedinejad, an Iranian nuclear negotiator, claimed that inspections of military sites havenever been discussed as part of the ongoing nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 nations. (via TheTower.org)
BDS and Hamas: The New Partnership
by Khaled Abu Toameh
Hamas leaders have expressed deep satisfaction with the work of the BDS activists around the world.
- Hamas is pinning high hopes on BDS to pave the way for the destruction of Israel through boycotts, divestment and sanctions. Hamas believes that such tools are no less important than rockets and suicide bombings, which have thus far failed to achieve the goal of wiping Israel off the face of the earth.
- U.S. universities that allow the BDS activists to disseminate their hate against Israel are unaware that these people are serving as Hamas ambassadors. Moreover, Western governments, above all the U.S., are unaware that Hamas and BDS allies also consider them enemies of the Palestinians.
- What Bahr is actually saying is that the BDS campaign should be intensified until Israel is forced to surrender and accept all the demands of Hamas, which include, of course, ending the existence of Israel.
- While the anti-Israel activities of the BDS movement have emboldened Hamas, they have also undermined those Palestinians who believe in peace and coexistence with Israel. If BDS supporters really care about Palestinians, why don’t they go to the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian territories to promote reforms, democracy, freedom of speech and the rights of women under the rule of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority? BDS seems to be more about promoting Hamas’s agenda than advancing the cause of peace.
Israeli Team Heads to US to Kill Bad Iran Deal
Yossi Cohen, National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90
An Israeli delegation headed by National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen will meet with US officials in Washington in the hope that they will be able to influence the American stance on Iran before they sign a bad deal.
In yet another Israeli medical breakthrough, doctors have found a way to destroy melanoma, typically a malignant tumor associated with skin cancer.
People who were told that there was essentially no hope for their recovery are now walking around without the need for medication and completely free from melanoma!
The recent Israeli breakthrough involves a process called TIL treatment that causes the patient’s body to fight and destroy cancerous tumors.
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The United States has cut funding to a program “intended [to] foster an independent moderate Shiite voice” in Lebanon, leading critics to fault the move as an effort to appease Iran, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
Other programs run by Hayya Bina will continue to receive State Department funding. However, the Journal noted that Lebanese institutions considered close to the the Iranian proxy group Hezbollah, including the armed forces and intelligence agency, receive American cooperation to support their fight against the Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has referred to Lebanese Shiites who don’t support him as “idiots” and “traitors.” Lokman Slim, director of Hayya Bina, told the Journal that he is one of those who has been “singled out” by Nasrallah. “Coming on the heels of an expected deal with Iran, it is bound to generate much speculation about possible ulterior motives,” Firas Maksad, director of Global Policy Advisors, told the Journal.
Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that a United Nations panel found that the United States and other Western countries have not been enforcing sanctions imposed on Iran. Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, characterized the non-enforcement of sanctions as a “political decision” taken to ensure that Iran’s behavior “doesn’t in any way jeopardize the [nuclear] talks.” (via TheTower.org)
Israel Seen Weekend Wrap up on Israel in the News
