The Week In News
NOVEMBER 12, 2015 | The Jewish Home
The Week In News
Most Jews Feel Safe
Is Israel Doing Well in Response to Terror? Bomb Brought Down Russian Plane
Several U.S. intelligence, military and national security officials have related that terrorists bombed Metrojet Flight 9268 on October 31 in which all 224 people onboard were killed. The plane was headed from the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, Russia,. But not long after takeoff, it disintegrated midair and crashed in the Sinai Peninsula. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond related that his government still believes “it’s more likely than not” that an explosive device caused the plane crash. “Obviously, we won’t know absolutely for certain until the final analysis of the wreckage has taken place,” he said. “That could take some time.” Egyptian officials, who are leading the main crash investigation, haven’t expressed as much confidence in the bomb theory. “All the scenarios” are still on the table, said Ayman al-Muqaddam, the head of the investigation. “We don’t know what happened exactly,” he admitted. The Egyptians aren’t the only ones involved in the investigation. Experts from Russia, France, Germany and Ireland – countries that are connected in various ways to the Airbus A321-200 that crashed – are also investigating. The U.S. has offered assistance by the FBI. At least some of the intelligence intercepts being used to assess what happened to the jetliner came from Israeli intelligence, according to a U.S. official briefed on the intelligence as well as a diplomatic source. The Sinai affiliate of ISIS claims responsibility for downing the plane, but so far has yet to explain how the group was able to do so. As such, many are doubting the group’s claim, as it has used these types of acts as propaganda for their cause. An explosive noise was heard in the recovered cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder but authorities don’t want to say with complete certainty that a bomb caused that sound.
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A new survey conducted among Jewish community leaders around the world has found that 77 percent reported that their members do not feel threatened in their places of residence, including 56 percent of European Jews. 21 percent of leaders said their community members felt unsafe – about half of them due to the growth in anti-Semitism, and others because of anger directed at Israel, local criminal crime, the economic situation, and the immigration problem in Europe. Ahead of the Ninth World Conference of Jewish Community Centers (JCC Global), which is being held in Jerusalem this week, JCC leaders were asked whether the current situation in Israel affected them. The findings were surprising: Forty-six percent said the community’s sense of security was unaffected by the current round of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, while 35% said they felt less secure. Ten percent even reported a higher sense of personal safety recently. The interviewees were also asked to rank Diaspora Jewry’s challenges. They revealed that unity within their communities is more important to them than the connection with Israel, preventing assimilation and fighting anti-Semitism. The absolute majority stated, however, that they feel a sense of solidarity with and commitment towards other Jewish communities in the world, which is reflected in the willingness to help and support them at times of trouble. Participating in the JCC Global conference are more than 400 community leaders and executive directors of JCCs from Europe, North America, Central and South America, and leaders of small communities from India and the Philippines. The countries represented in the conference include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, England, France, Greece, Hungary, India, Israel, Mexico, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, the United States, Venezuela, Paraguay and Israel. The conference, which is held in Israel every four years, is focusing this year on the urgent issues Jewish communities are dealing with. Participants are also discussing innovative global cooperation programs between the community centers as part of efforts to reassure the Jewish people around the world.
A recent survey conducted by The Peace Index reveals Israeli Jews’ opinions regarding the recent wave of terror that has rocked the nation and the opinions of many Israeli Arabs as well. The majority of Israelis surveyed support killing Palestinian terrorists “on the spot.” Fifty-three percent of Israeli Jews agreed with the statement: “Any Palestinian who has perpetrated a terror attack against Jews should be killed on the spot, even if he has been apprehended and no longer poses a threat.” However, they do not feel the same if the attack is perpetrated by a Jew.
On the issue of equal punishment for Jewish and Palestinian terrorists, a wide majority (80 percent) of the Jewish public believed that “the home of the family of a Palestinian who has murdered Jews on a nationalist background should be demolished,” while 53 percent were against demolishing the home of a Jew who has murdered a Palestinian in a nationalistically-motivated attack. Statistics were more consistent within the Arab public, “The majority does not agree that the family home of a Palestinian perpetrator should be demolished (77 percent), but a large majority (67 percent) also opposes demolishing the family home of a Jewish perpetrator,” the survey found. Israel’s Arab population have expressed
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