Israel News for February 13, 2017
Annexation Support
While addressing a pro settlement conference in Jerusalem today, President Rivlin blasted the new Regulation Bill recently passed by the Knesset which allows appropriating privately owned Palestinian land. Rivlin said that the law goes against international law. However, Rivlin made clear that he is in favor of annexing the West Bank on the condition that Palestinians living there would be giving full Israeli citizenship.
He said, “I, Rubi Rivlin, believe that Zion is entirely ours. I believe the sovereignty of the State of Israel must be in all the blocs [referring to the entire West Bank].”
He also said, “Applying sovereignty to an area gives citizenship to all those living there. There is no [separate] law for Israelis and for non-Israelis. It must be clear: If we extend sovereignty, the law must apply equally to all.”
Regarding the Regulation Law Rivlin said, “The issue of the expropriation of land must be a law [enacted] by the sovereign, correct and equal for all citizens, and not an extraterritorial law that is applied as needed. International law also applies to us.”
Rivlin himself owns land in the West Bank that he purchased from a Palestinian.
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Embassy Move
Senator Bob Corker (R-TN,) the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in an interview to Politico’s Global Podcast that Trump at one point was “ready to move the embassy at 12:01 on January 20th. Maybe even 12 and thirty seconds.” Corker added that announcing the relocation of the embassy “was going to be their first move,” but that ever since entering the White House, Trump’s team has been going through an evolution and “they get a greater sense of some of the complexities that exist.”
Corker said that the embassy move could still happen, but that it would have to be done only after consultations with the important Arab states in the region. “I think they got to communicate to the Arab world that this isn’t doing away with the two-state-solution. There’s a lot of communication that’s got to come with it.” He also said the administration could be waiting with the move until after Trump’s choice for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is confirmed by the Senate. Friedman’s first confirmation hearing before the committee chaired by Corker will take place on Thursday.
Corker said, “My sense is they’re still moving there, but they’re doing some of the things that need to happen,”
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UNESCO Exhibit
In the aftermath of last year’s UNESCO’s resolution which conspicuously failed to make any mention of Jewish ties to the Temple Mount, Israel will be placing a permanent exhibit at UNESCO headquarters of a replica of the seven-branched Menorah featured on the Arch of Titus in Rome. The replica will showing Jewish slaves carrying the Menorah into exile to Rome and include a written explanation in English, French, Hebrew and Arabic.
Israel’s ambassador to UNESCO, Carmel Shama Hacohen said, “The decision to place the scene from the Arch of Titus—which depicts Jews, the Menorah and other holy symbols following the destruction of the Second Temple going into exile—in UNESCO presents an objective, historical truth engraved in stone by a non-Jewish ruler 600 years before the appearance of Islam in the world.”
Hacohen added, “The exhibit and the statue are not meant to be a competition for Jerusalem or to hurt another religion’s connection to their holy place. This is just an additional step in explaining the truth that we were expelled from the Temple Mount by force to the coalition of lies of the Palestinians and Arab countries who claim we were never there and have no holy connection.”
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North Korea Fun
An Israeli tourism company has received an exclusive franchise for issuing official tourist visas for visiting North Korea, which only a few Israelis have visited up until now. Rimon Tours group subsidiary Tarbutu will offer visits to the tyrannical and closed country starting this spring and summer.
Tarbutu program manager Haim Peres said, “North Korea is without question one of the most fascinating countries in the world today. It is a closed country cut off from the world, including its neighbors. More is unknown than known about the country.”
According to figures from Tarbutu, only 100 Israelis have visited North Korea in organized tours. Up until now, Israelis have been granted tourist visas for North Korean only through parties in China. Now, however, KISTC, the North Korean national travel agency, is accepting tourist visas for Israelis.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, “There is no travel warning for North Korea, and no specific ban on traveling there. We of course recommend extreme caution, since there are no diplomatic relations with North Korea, but it is not classified as an enemy country.”
Vacation and touring packages to North Korea will run in the $3,850-4,150 range, not including personal expenses, insurance, or tourist visas to China.
Passover in North Korea??
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Survey Says
A survey by InterNations, the world’s largest network for people who live and work abroad, rated 43 different aspects of life abroad on a scale of 1-7. Expats rated everything from childcare and education, to children’s health and safety. Each country had to have at least 31 respondents who are raising dependent children abroad, for the nation to be included in the index.
Out of 45 countries in the index, Israel ranked number 3, behind Finland and the Czech Republic and ahead of Austria and Sweden.
To see the complete list with explanations click here.
