Bennett to PM after killings: Think again about freeing prisoners
Israel agreed to the release of 104 long-term Palestinian security convicts for peace talks, but Jewish Home leader says two murders call that move into question
September 22, 2013, 10:33 pm
3-The Times of Israel
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz called Hazan’s murder a “painful
reminder that Palestinian terrorism has not disappeared.”Earlier on
Sunday, MK Avigdor Liberman said
the killing of Hazan, and a lack of condemnation from Ramallah, proved
the Palestinians were not serious about peace.MK Orit Strock (Jewish
Home), who lives in
Hebron not far from where Sunday’s shooting took place, told reporters
that she and guests celebrating the Sukkot holiday at her home heard the
gunfire, and rushed to the scene.
“Just as this terrorist wanted to eliminate
Jewish presence from here,” Strock said, “it is clear to me that the
Jewish people will choose to come here tomorrow and strengthen the
Jewish community in Hebron.”
The shooting occured as hundreds of religious
Jews were visiting the site, which is holy to Jews and Muslims as the
burial place of the Biblical patriarchs and matriarchs.Adiv Sterman contributed to this report. Ashton condemns shooting of IDF soldier in Hebron
EU foreign policy chief urges Israelis and Palestinians to refrain from actions that could undermine peace process
September 23, 2013, 1:03 am
1-The Times of Israel
European Union foreign policy
chief Catherine Ashton condemned the killing of Israeli soldier Gabriel
Kobi by a Palestinian sniper in Hebron on Sunday, and called for
“maximum restraint” on both sides.In
a statement released Sunday evening, Ashton denounced the incident ”in
the strongest terms,” and said the killing “comes in the wake of several
worrying incidents in the West Bank.”“The EU regrets the loss of life,
urges for
maximum restraint and reiterates its call to all parties to refrain from
actions that could undermine the negotiation process and the prospects
of peace,” she said.Kobi, 20, was pronounced dead after being shot in
the neck near Hebron’s Tomb of the Patriarchs.Magen David Adom rescue
teams that arrived at
the scene provided emergency assistance to Kobi, who was initially
reported to be in critical condition after being shot in the neck. He
was hit by a single bullet.
Gabriel Kobi (photo credit: Facebook)
According to Channel 2 News, IDF officials
estimate that the attack was carried out by a Palestinian terrorist from
one of the nearby neighborhoods in the city.IDF soldiers imposed a
curfew on Palestinians in Hebron and began searching the area for the
perpetrator of the attack.Palestinian sources reported violent clashes
between IDF troops and local Palestinian residents in the wake of the
shooting. Several Palestinians were detained by the IDF, Israel Radio
reported.According to unverified reports, Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs
Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack, the radio report said.On
Sunday, Robert Serry, the UN Special
Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, condemned the killing
Friday of Sgt. Tomer Hazan.
Hazan’s body was found in a village near
Qalqilya Saturday, a day after he was lured to the West Bank by a
Palestinian co-worker, kidnapped and killed.Nidal Amar was arrested and
confessed to killing Hazan, the Shin Bet security service said.Serry
said the “shocking murder” was the latest in a series of violent
incidents in the West Bank.He called for calm on both sides, which he
said was “all the more important at this critical moment in the
political process.”
Netanyahu: Resettle Beit Hamachpela in Hevron
"Whoever
tries to uproot us from the city of our forefathers will achieve the
opposite," says Prime Minister after Hevron sniper attack.-By Elad Benari-First Publish: 9/23/2013, 1:10 AM-INNEWS
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu-Flash 90
In August of 2012, then Defense Minister Ehud Barak
ordered the removal of the residents who purchased the building despite
a request by Netanyahu to allow a court to determine the course of
events.The military appeals court has since accepted the
appeal of the Jews who bought the property, ruling that the purchase was
made according to law. Following the ruling, MKs urged the government to allow the Jews to return to the home.
09/18/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
Pope Francis and the Jews: the first six months
Rabbi David Rosen
“There has never been a Pope with as deep an understanding of Jews as Pope Francis” states AJC’s Rabbi David Rosen. “The Jewish response has been remarkably warm.” Rome’s Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni: “an astounding capacity for communication”
LISA PALMIERI-BILLIG ROME Ever since the Second Vatican Council brought to the forefront of the Catholic conscience its ineradicable fraternal relationship with Judaism and the Jewish People, each subsequent papacy has nourished this awareness with words and deeds.John XXIII was the driving force behind the creation of a Vatican II “document on the Jews” that evolved into much wider interreligious and ecumenic application, “Nostra Aetate”. As Papal Nuncio in France, Bulgaria and Greece, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli had experienced the horrors of the Shoah and acted to save Jewish lives. His historic encounter in 1960 with the Jewish historian and Holocaust survivor, Jules Isaac – who presented John XXIII with his manuscript on “The teaching of contempt: Christian roots of anti-Semitism” – strongly reinforced the Pope’s determination to cancel the infamous accusation of “deicide” and by a new focus on the brotherly roots of the two religions, permanently change the course of Catholic-Jewish relations. “Nostra Aetate” was the outcome and has become the premise for all subsequent steps towards reconciliation.Mutual respect for the other’s religious identity has – though sometimes with difficulties – been maintained as a cornerstone for this evolving history. The Church’s attempts to convert Jews in past centuries, with repeated recourse to humiliation, brute force and persecution throughout Europe, were permanently overturned by this new document.In barely a half year into his papacy, Pope Jorge Maria Bergoglio has already won the hearts and minds of many skeptical Jewish religious leaders.Dr. Riccardo Di Segni, the Chief Rabbi of Rome known for his very cautious attitude toward interreligious dialogue and his insistence on mutually recognized limits, said, “This Pontiff does not cease to surprise.” He noted that while Francis’ words are not new but, rather, inherent to Christianity as confirmed by Vatican II, “It is the force with which he expresses them and his capacity of communicating them that is astounding.”He was referring to an article written by the Pope in which Francis declared that “since the Second Vatican Council we have rediscovered that the Jewish People are still for us the holy root that produced Jesus”. He also stated that despite the horrors inflicted on the Jewish People by the Shoah, “God never abandoned his covenant with Israel, and notwithstanding their terrible suffering over the centuries, the Jewish People have kept their faith. For this, we will never be sufficiently grateful to them as a Church, but also as human beings. In the persistence of their faith in the God of the Covenant, they summon all, including us as Christians, to recall the fact that we are awaiting the return of the Lord as pilgrims, and must therefore always remain open to Him and never retreat from what we have already achieved.”During his first official meeting with Jewish leaders represented by a delegation of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations (IJCIC) last July, Francis said, “Because of our common roots, a true Christian cannot be anti-Semitic.”In keeping with his informal, iconoclastic style, the Pope walked in, unannounced, causing a stir among the delegates milling around the room. Rabbi Noam Marans, the American Jewish Committee’s director for Interreligious Relations in the U.S., later summed up the general reaction. “Pope Francis is unassuming, unscripted, warm. It is a religious experience to be in his presence”.INTERVIEW WITH RABBI DAVID ROSEN:
An in-depth conversation with Rabbi David Rosen, AJC’s International Director of Interreligious Affairs, reveals the essential traits of Pope Francis that are winning worldwide Jewish support and hopes for what the future could bring.“There has never been a Pope with as deep an understanding of Jews as Pope Francis” states Rabbi Rosen candidly. “Of course Pope John Paul II had a unique childhood experience of the Jewish community in Wadowice. But by the time he was a priest, there was little living community left to talk of, so his engagement was not as a developed adult.Francis, on the other hand, has not only nurtured lifelong friendships with the Jewish community in Buenos Aires, with whom he has had “a vibrant interaction”, says Rabbi Rosen, but has co-authored a book with an Argentinian rabbi, Abraham Skorka, “thus addressing issues face to face with Jewish self-understanding and experience. This profoundly shapes his sensitivity and his commitment to the Jewish-Christian relationship.”Rabbi Rosen points to Pope Francis’ “remarkable capacity to communicate his profound humanity in simple and sincere gestures.Comparing the communicative genius of Pope Wojtyla with that of Pope Bergoglio, Rosen says, “John Paul II was a master of dramatic gestures but these were often novel and challenging. Francis’ brilliance”, he continues, “lies precisely in his simplicity – which paradoxically has a dramatic impact and has endeared him to the world.”David Rosen notes that “the Jewish response has been remarkably warm.” “In substance”, says AJC’s Interreligious Director, “he is the self-same continuity of his predecessors. However he has also built upon his predecessors in relation to the Jewish People.“Benedict XVI was the first to invite Jews to attend his Papal installation and the Jewish presence at Francis’ inauguration was even more significant and extensive.“His public comments to the Jewish representatives at his inauguration, his letters to the Chief Rabbis of Rome and of Israel, his reference to Jewish historic commitment and triumph over persecution in his media interviews – all have deeply impressed Jews worldwide and in Israel that Pope Francis is a profoundly genuine friend of the Jewish People.Asked what he sees as the main avenues for a revitalized cooperation between Jews and Catholics now and in the future, Rabbi Rosen observes that while the major theological issues of the past have been mainly addressed, and although the discussion can never be exhausted, the Jewish side is now focused on practical things to be accomplished together. “Above all there is an enormous educational challenge” says Rabbi Rosen. “While the teaching of the Magisterium towards Jews, Judaism, and Israel are overwhelmingly positive, there are many parts of the Catholic world where pre-Conciliar attitudes still prevail and where anti-Judaism if not anti-Semitism is still to be found. This is especially so in many parts of Latin America where, other than in the main cities of Argentina and Brazil, Jews often hardly feature at all on the ‘Catholic radar screen’.“Surely here a Latin American Pope can play a very special role and exert initiative.“Remarkably, the teaching of Nostra Aetate and of the Magisterium following on therefrom are not an obligatory part of the syllabus for the formation of priests everywhere. Addressing this should be a minimal educational responsibility on the part of the Church to its own teachings – not to mention how Jesus and his contemporary Jewish brothers, followers and opponents are presented (or not presented) in sermons in many places especially at Easter time. The Church could do so much in educational terms.“There is of course a parallel challenge on the Jewish side, but it is not a symmetrical one and Jewish approach has and is changing in response. “However the onus is first and foremost on the Christian side. “Perhaps this is substantially a consequence of historical power, but the Church is the one here with the most terrible tragic record. It is a record that still has to be addressed. In truth, it has already been addressed, but the problem is that not everyone in the Church knows this yet! “Beyond this specific responsibility, we have already begun to work and dialogue together on common challenges of our times – social, scientific, environmental, etc., above all, concerning the sanctity of human life and combating dehumanization in its various forms. Here there is unlimited scope to do more and more together for the benefit of humankind as a whole.”
Ahead of trip to UN General Assembly, Rouhani repeats Tehran will not seek nukes; projectiles on show can reach Israel, US bases
September 22, 2013, 8:55 pm
7-The Times of Israel
Speaking at a military parade to mark the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq war, the recently elected president also said that he seeks to resume talks with world powers to settle the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program.
Rouhani did not mention Israel by name at the
military event — which displayed missiles capable of reaching Israel and
US bases in the region — but the reference was clear.“A regime is a threat for the region that has
trampled all international treaties regarding weapons of mass
destruction,” he said, noting Israel’s undeclared but widely presumed
nuclear arsenal. “No nation will accept war and diplomacy on (the same)
table.”
Among the displayed weapons were 12 of the
surface-to-surface Sajjil, a two-stage, solid-fuel ballistic missile
that has a 2,000-km (1,200-mile) range.There were also Qadr-F and Qadr-H missiles,
which have a similar range and are capable of carrying a “smart warhead”
with “excessive explosive” power, according to the announcement in the
parade.Shorter-range missiles in the parade included
the Fajr-5, which Palestinian groups have used against Israeli targets
in attacks from Hamas-controlled Gaza.The comments
by Rouhani about nuclear talks do not break new ground — he has
repeatedly urged the revival of the stalled talks with world powers
since his election in June — but they take on added weight before his
attending his first gathering with Western leaders.Rouhani has said he wants to use the sidelines
of the UN agenda to win agreements on restarting the nuclear dialogue,
whose last rounds in April ended without any significant progress.
Rouhani has insisted on the same concessions from the West as before:
easing sanctions as a first step in bargaining.But the important difference appears to be
Rouhani’s backing from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who
decides all Iran’s key policies and strategies. This potentially gives
Rouhani’s government more room to offer proposals to the six-nation
negotiating group, the permanent UN Security Council members plus
Germany.Rouhani’s predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
suffered a political meltdown over his attempts to challenge the supreme
leader’s power, leaving his government severely weakened and
potentially stymied at the nuclear talks.Rouhani and US President Barack Obama are both
scheduled to attend the General Assembly’s annual meeting this week,
setting up the possibility of the first exchange between American and
Iranian leaders in more than three decades.“The Iranian nation is ready for negotiation
and talks with the West,” Rouhani said at a military parade for the 33rd
anniversary of Iraq’s 1980 invasion of Iran, which set off a ruinous
eight-year war. The speech was carried live by state TV.
The president has promised to abandon the
bombastic approach favored by Ahmadinejad, but continues to assert
Tehran’s position that it has the right to conduct nuclear activities
that the West fears could be a step toward weapons development,
especially the enrichment of uranium. Iran says its program is peaceful,
intended for purposes including research and cancer treatment, and
enrichment is necessary for purposes including the fueling of
reactors.“Iran has joined all treaties including the
non-proliferation treaty, or NPT, and it is loyal to it,” Rouhani said.
Khamenei also issued a religious decree nearly a decade ago declaring
nuclear weapons as contrary to Islamic values.He added that if Western
countries acknowledge
Iran’s “rights” — a reference to uranium enrichment — it would be a
path toward mutual “cooperation, logic, peace and friendship.”“Then we
will be able to resolve regional, even global, problems,” he added.Iran
and the United States are also at odds
over the civil war in Syria. Tehran backs President Bashar Assad, while
Washington supports rebels trying to oust him.Rouhani urged the West not
to look at Syria
and the region “through a policy of expanding war.” He repeated Iran’s
call for the Syrian opposition and government to hold talks.
But Iran has faced a potential quandary over
Western claims that Assad’s forces used chemical weapons in an attack
last month. Iran has strongly opposed chemical arms since suffering
attacks with mustard gas and other agents by Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein’s military in the 1980s.Rouhani also insisted that the US forswear a
military strike against Iran’s nuclear program as a way to move ahead
nuclear talks. It’s unlikely, though, that Washington would make such a
declaration, which would risk a strong backlash from its key ally,
Israel.
