From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Argentine president backing measure to disband intelligence agency
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner said she supports a bill to dissolve the country’s main intelligence agency, which she accused of conspiring against her government.
In a televised address on Monday, her first since the body of AMIA special prosecutor Alberto Nisman was found in his apartment on Jan. 18, Kirchner said that the agency known as SIDE has been undermining the joint efforts by Argentina and Iran to investigate the 1994 Buenos Aires Jewish center bombing, which killed 85 and injured hundreds.
The two countries signed an agreement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in 2013 to form an independent commission to investigate the attack. Jewish groups joined Israel and the United States, among others, in slamming the agreement.
Kirchner, sitting in a wheelchair in the wake of an accident that injured her ankle, said she plans to create a new federal intelligence agency that would work more closely with the attorney general’s office. In thecurrent system, many members of the Argentine congress, including from the opposition party, have access to intelligence agency leaders.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Reporter who broke Nisman story in Israel, insists Argentine gov’t pursued him
Pachter, a writer for the Buenos Aires Herald, said he felt “pursued by the Argentine government” and that his life was in danger in Argentina, he told Argentine journalist Adrian Bono in an interview from Tel Aviv on Sunday via Skype.
Pachter, who has dual Argentine-Israeli citizenship, left Argentina on Saturday following what he said were threats to his safety after breaking the story.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Rockets explode in Golan Heights; no injuries reported
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Two rockets landed in the Golan Heights near the Syrian border.
It was unclear who shot the rockets on Tuesday afternoon, according to Israeli reports. No injuries were reported.
In response, the Israeli army shot artillery fire into Syria and heightened security in the area.
The rockets follow a Jan. 18 strike on Hezbollah operatives in Syria that killed an Iranian general. Senior commanders of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terrorist group, were also among the 12 people killed in the strike.
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From Ynet News
IDF strikes targets in Syria; sirens blare in northern Golan
Air raid sirens sound in northern Golan for second time in a day; moments later IDF Spokesperson’s Unit says warplanes attacked Syrian military artillery positions.
Israeli Air Force warplanes attacked Syrian military targets shortly after midnight on Wednesday, as air raid sirens blared in the northern Golan Heights towns of El Rom, Neve Ativ, and several Druze villages. The IDF said no rockets had landed in Israeli territory and the military was investigating why the alarms sounded.
Residents in the northern Golan Heights reported hearing air raid sirens at 12:33 am. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced the IAF strikes moments later and said that “the rocket fire is a flagrant violation of Israeli sovereignty. The IDF holds the Syrian regime as responsible for what occurs in its territory and will continue to operate as it sees fit to defend the citizens of the State of Israel. Direct hits on the targets were identified.”
From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Democrats in Senate delay backing sanctions until March 24
WASHINGTON (JTA) – Ten Senate Democrats told President Barack Obama they would not push for an Iran sanctions vote until after a midway deadline in Iran talks.
“In acknowledgement of your concern regarding congressional action on legislation at this moment, we will not vote for this legislation on the Senate floor before March 24,” said the letter sent Tuesday by Democrats who have in the past favored new Iran sanctions that President Obama opposes.
March 24 is the deadline for an outline of an agreement between the major powers and Iran that would swap sanctions relief for assurances that Iran is not advancing toward a nuclear weapon. The final deadline is June 30.
Most Senate Republicans and a number of Democrats back sanctions that would trigger if Iran walks away from the talks. Obama says they will unravel the negotiations and has pledged to veto them.
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From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Hollande tells French Jews ‘France is your country’
(JTA) — French President Francois Hollande told French Jews “your place is here,” responding to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s call for French Jews to emigrate to Israel in the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.
“You, French people of the Jewish faith, your place is here, in your home. France is your country,” Hollande said Tuesday in a speech at the Paris Holocaust memorial marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
He added: “I want to say that France will protect all its children and will tolerate no insult, no outrage, no desecration.”
After the attack on the Hyper Cacher kosher market in Paris on Jan. 9 and before the massive unity march in the French capital on Jan. 11, Netanyahu said that “any Jew who wants to immigrate to Israel will be received here with open arms.”
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Greek Leader Who Said ‘Jews Don’t Pay Taxes’ Named Defense Minister
Panos Kammenos Joins Anti-Austerity Coalition Gov’t
Panos Kammenos, a right-wing politician who said Jews don’t pay taxes, was appointed the defense minister of Greece.
Kammenos, who heads the ultranationalist Independent Greeks, was appointed to the post in the new government on Tuesday after joining the coalition of the newly elected far-left Syriza party, which won handily in Sunday’s national elections.
While the parties are far apart on most issues, they are united by a common rejection of the harsh terms imposed on Greece in the financial bailout.
