IDF sets up Haiti link
An Israel Defence Forces team in Haiti has set up a satellite-based communications system. The $2-million system is one of the area’s main means of communications, according to a report in the Israeli business daily Globes. The system enabled doctors at Israel’s field hospital in Port-au-Prince to conduct surgery using video conferencing with surgeons at Israeli hospitals. Communications lines in Haiti were destroyed in the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12. Journalists from around the world have used the system to file stories, and members of the Israeli delegation have been able to call home. A survivor pulled from the rubble after six days also was able to call her mother using the system.
More arrests in mosque arson
Israeli police arrested two more teens in connection with last month’s torching of a Palestinian mosque. The further arrests bring to eight the number of people who have been arrested in the attack. Late on the night of Jan. 17, dozens of Israeli security forces arrested five individuals at two yeshivas in Yitzhar in the West Bank. Two of the five were minors. Four of those arrested were ordered to be held in police custody. Weapons were found at one of the yeshivas, according to reports. The detainees are accused of burning down a mosque in the nearby village of Yasuf, allegedly in retaliation for an Israeli government-imposed freeze on building in the settlements. In the December mosque attack, arsonists struck before dawn on a Friday, burning furniture, prayer rugs and holy texts, and defacing the mosque’s walls. The attack led to retaliatory violence, including the stabbing of an Israeli woman at a bus stop.
Watchdog sues EU
A Jerusalem-based watchdog group is suing the European Commission for failing to disclose its funding to non-government organizations. NGO Monitor said that it had filed a lawsuit at the European Court of Justice charging that the European Commission had failed to fulfil European Union transparency obligations after the group had tried for 13 months to secure documents detailing non-governmental agency funding by the EC, the executive branch of the European Union. Under the European Freedom of Information law, such funding details must be made available upon request. However, the EC cited “public security,” “privacy” and “commercial interests” in denying NGO Monitor’s information request. NGO Monitor researchers identified nearly $48 million provided by the EC since June 2005 to non-government organizations active in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Many of these organizations, the group said, are active in the strategy of demonization that seeks to isolate Israel by legal means and through boycott campaigns.
Falash Mora coming to Israel
Some 150 Ethiopians claiming Jewish links came to Israel last week, the first groups to immigrate in more than a year. Eighty-one Ethiopians, known as Falash Mora, landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport early in the morning on Jan. 18, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel. Another 63 Ethiopians were scheduled to arrive this week. The Ethiopians claim to be the descendants of Jews who converted to Christianity generations ago. Representatives of Israel’s Interior Ministry and Jewish Agency emissaries have been in Ethiopia in recent months examining the eligibility of members of the Falash Mora community to immigrate to Israel, according to criteria set by the Interior Ministry. Some 600 members of the community have received permission to immigrate. The Jewish Agency estimates that another 2,000 will receive permission during 2010. Most of the new immigrants have relatives who came to Israel in recent years.
Elton John returning to Israel
British singer Elton John will perform in Israel for the first time in nearly two decades. The single performance set for June 17 was announced last week. John last appeared in Israel in 1993. Landing in Israel on the day of a concert, he was swarmed by media and left without performing. He was persuaded to return and perform the next day. He first performed in Tel Aviv in 1979.