From The Times of Israel
In Vegas, GOP bets on Jewish support in wake of Iran deal
Ted Cruz tells Republican Jewish Coalition conference he will do ‘everything humanly possible’ to stop nuke pact
Republican luminaries and 2016 presidential hopefuls reiterated their support for Israel and skepticism about President Obama’s proposed nuclear deal with Iran as the Republican Jewish Coalition gathered Saturday at the casino of mega-donor Sheldon Adelson.
Two Texans, US Senator Ted Cruz and former governor Rick Perry, spoke to an organization that’s boasting of growing membership but also anxious about an Iran deal that was repeatedly described as a threat to Israel’s existence.
“Will the subsequent maps of the world show a nation of Israel?” Cruz asked the crowd during his speech. “That’s what the stakes are.”
Republican Jewish Coalition Chairman David Flaum kicked off the morning meeting calling on President Obama to “hit the pause button, negotiate a better deal.”
Cruz, famous for triggering the 2013 government shutdown, vowed to do “everything humanly possible” in the Senate to stop the nuclear deal. Perry said he also wants to stop the agreement, and he called for expanded defense spending, troops on the Polish border to contain a newly-aggressive Russia and a clear posture against Islamic extremism.
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From PressTV
1000s attend funeral of Palestinian youth
Thousands of Palestinians have participated in the funeral of a West Bank youth shot dead by Israeli regime forces outside the Ibrahimi Mosqued in al-Khalil (Hebron) for allegedly stabbing an Israeli soldier.
The funeral procession for 20-year-old Mahmoud Abu Jheisha was held on Sunday at the Amari Mosque in his hometown of Idhna, west of al-Khalil, where relatives and friends paid their final tributes, before his burial at the local cemetery, Ma’an News Agency reported.
Those attending the event reportedly chanted slogans condemning persisting crimes by the Israeli regime forces.
Speaking at his funeral, Abu Jheisha’s father Yahya denied that his son had stabbed the Israeli soldier and called on Palestinian authorities to refer his son’s shooting death to the International Criminal Court.
The Ibrahimi Mosque, believed to be the burial site of Prophet Abraham, is of religious significance to both Muslims and Jews, and has historically been a flashpoint between Palestinians and Israelis, particularly after a US-born Jewish settler massacred 29 Palestinians inside the mosque in 1994.
Nearly 700 settlers live in 80 homes in the city center of al-Khalil, surrounded by nearly 200,000 Palestinians.
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From PressTV
Israeli navy attacks Palestinian fishing boats off Gaza
Israeli navy forces have once again opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats off the besieged Gaza Strip’s coast, reports say.
According to local media sources, Israeli gunboats fired at Palestinian boats while they were within Gaza’s territorial waters, on Sunday.
“Israeli gunboats opened fire toward a group of Palestinian boats in the north of the Gaza Strip,” said Nizar Ayash, the head of Palestinian Fishermen’s Union in Gaza.
Although no casualties have been reported yet, two boats were damaged. Israel has yet to comment on the incident.
“The Israeli forces shoot at Palestinian fishing boats under the pretext that they go beyond fishing space specified for them,” Ayash added.
In a similar act of violence last month, Israeli forces shot dead 32-year-old Palestinian fisherman Tawfiq Abu Reala.
Around 4,000 fishermen work in Gaza, with more than half of them living below the poverty line.
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From PressTV
Israeli forces clash with Palestinians in East al-Quds
Israeli forces have clashed with Palestinian protesters in the occupied territories following the killing of a Palestinian teenager at the hands of Israelis.
According to Palestinian officials, violent clashes broke out on Saturday near the Shu’fat refugee camp in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), with Israeli forces firing rubber bullets and tear gas on the protesters and hurling stun grenades at them, Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported.
One of the demonstrators purportedly sustained injuries in the skirmishes and was taken to hospital for treatment.
Similar clashes were also reported in the village of Jabel Mukaber as well as the al-Tur and al-Issawiya neighborhoods in East al-Quds.
Earlier on Saturday, Israeli forces killed Ali Abu Ghannam, a 17-year-old Palestinian, claiming that the teenager had attacked Israeli forces with a cleaver at a checkpoint in East al-Quds and escaped.
From PressTV
Four Israeli officers struck by car, injured in al-Quds
Four Israeli police officers have been injured after being struck by a car in East Jerusalem (al-Quds).
The incident happened in at-Tur neighborhood on Saturday, Israeli media reported. One of the soldiers is said to be in critical condition.
The Israeli military claims the suspect is a Palestinian.
The incident comes after a day of tensions following the killing of a Palestinian teenager at a checkpoint set up by the Israeli military in the area. Several Palestinians were wounded during the clashes that erupted in East al-Quds.
According to reports, Israeli forces shot dead the 16-year-old Palestinian boy on Friday night, while he was walking toward the al-Zaim checkpoint with his family, claiming that he intended to stab an Israeli officer.
From Russia Today
Putin accuses US of backing North Caucasus militants
Edited time: April 26, 2015 19:07
In a new documentary focusing on Vladimir Putin’s 15 years in power, the Russian president says communications intercepted in the early 2000s show direct contacts between North Caucasus separatists and the US secret services.
“At one point our secret services simply detected direct contacts between militants from the North Caucasus and representatives of the United States secret services in Azerbaijan,” Putin said in the film, released by Rossiya 1 TV channel on Sunday.
“And when I spoke about that to the then president of the US, he said… sorry, I will speak plainly, he said, “I’ll kick their asses”, Putin recounts his conversation with George W. Bush on the issue. A few days later, he says, the heads of Russia’s FSB received a letter from their American counterparts, which said they had the right to support opposition forces in Russia.
“Someone over there, especially the West’s intelligence services, obviously thought that if they act to destabilize their main geopolitical rival, which, as we now understand, in their eyes has always been Russia, it would be good for them. It turned out, it wasn’t,” Putin muses, saying he had warned the West about the possible dangers of supporting terrorists.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Russia was engaged in a conflict with militant separatists in the North Caucasus, who often resorted to terror attacks. This led to a prolonged counter-terrorism operation, which only officially ended in 2009.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Obama playfully skewers journalists over Netanyahu controversy
(JTA) — President Barack Obama took a playful jibe at journalists over the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress.
“It is no wonder that people keep pointing out how the presidency has aged me. I look so old John Boehner’s already invited Benjamin Netanyahu to speak at my funeral,” Obama said Saturday night at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, referring to the House speaker’s invitation to Netanyahu to speak to a joint session last month against the Iran nuclear agreement without the White House’s knowledge.
The president also took aim at those who claim that he is a Muslim.
“I still have to fix a broken immigration system, issue veto threats, negotiate with Iran. All while finding time to pray five times a day. Which is strenuous,” he said.
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From Ynet News
Palestinian official skeptical about peace with next Israeli government
Chief negotiator Saeb Erekat says Netanyahu’s rhetoric will foster despair and leaves no room for discussion. The chief Palestinian negotiator expressed skepticism on Sunday about peace prospects with the next Israeli government following comments made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the recent campaign.
In the final days of the campaign, Netanyahu said that he would not allow the establishment of a Palestinian state on his watch, saying that regional turmoil made this impossible.
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From The Times of Israel
UN ranks Israel 11th-happiest country worldwide
Jewish state above US in World Happiness Report, but below Canada and Australia, among others; Switzerland the happiest
Israel is the 11th-happiest country in the world, ranking behind Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Canada, and above the United States, which placed 15th, according to the UN’s 2015 World Happiness Report, released last week.
The results come from 2012-2015 Gallup polling data, which included between 2,000 and 3,000 respondents from each country. Respondents were asked to rate their satisfaction with their lives on a scale from 0 to 10.
The top 10 happiest countries were Switzerland (7.587), Iceland (7.561), Denmark (7.527), Norway (7.522), Canada (7.427), Finland (7.406), the Netherlands (7.378), Sweden (7.364), New Zealand (7.286) and Australia (7.284). Israel ranked in 11th place, with a rating of 7.278. The United States placed 15th, with 7.119.
Most of Israel’s neighbors ranked low on the index, including the Palestinian territories (108), Egypt (135), Jordan (85), and Lebanon (103). The five unhappiest countries in the 2015 report were Rwanda, Benin, war-torn Syria, Burundi and Togo.
The survey found that six main factors determined the level of happiness in the countries surveyed: level of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, individual freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption. The scores were compared to those of “Dystopia,” a hypothetical country representing the worst scores from the 2012 to 2014 index.
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