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New Israeli law strips citizenship from convicted terrorists who are paid by the Palestinian Authority
(JTA) — Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, voted overwhelmingly to strip citizenship from people who are convicted of terrorism and receive a stipend from the Palestinian Authority.
The bill passed 94-10 on Wednesday, with opposition coming from some Arab lawmakers. The lopsided vote in favor of the measure stands in stark contrast to other more controversial proposals from Israel’s right-wing government that have come amid a recent escalation in terror attacks. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician, supports giving some convicted terrorists the death penalty and is pushing for a broad Israeli military campaign to root out Palestinian terrorism.
According to the law, any Israeli citizen or resident who is convicted of a terrorism charge and receives financial support from the Palestinian Authority, which governs some Palestinian areas of the West Bank, can be deprived of their citizenship and deported to either the West Bank or Gaza.
Israeli press reports did not specify how many people the law may apply to. Because Jews who are convicted of terrorism do not receive Palestinian financial support, the law will not apply to them.
“A terrorist who receives money from the Palestinian Authority should fly from here to Gaza, anywhere else,” said Likud lawmaker Ofir Katz, the bill’s lead sponsor, according to the Times of Israel. “Do not stay here.”
But Arab-Israel lawmaker Ahmad Tibi, of the Hadash-Taal party, said the law encouraged “Jewish supremacy” and that according to its terms, “An Arab who commits an offense is a conditional citizen.”
The Palestinian Authority pays monthly stipends to the families of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel or killed while committing violent attacks; Israel and its advocates decry the payments as an incentive for terrorism.
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The post New Israeli law strips citizenship from convicted terrorists who are paid by the Palestinian Authority appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’
It’s not every day that a kosher dill pickle puppet gets a chance to learn some Yiddish.
Monty Pickle, star of the children’s series The Monty Pickle Show, recently joined Rukhl Schaechter, host of the Forward’s YouTube series Yiddish Word of the Day, for an episode teaching viewers the Yiddish words for various wild animals.
Or as they’re called in Yiddish: vilde khayes.
The Monty Pickle Show, a puppet comedy on YouTube and TikTok, aims to show young viewers what it means to be Jewish in a fun, lively way. The series was created by the Emmy Award-winning producers of Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock.
So far, he’s met a number of Jewish personalities, including rabbis, musicians and chefs, and explored holidays like Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah and Passover.
Sitting alongside Rukhl during the lesson, Monty eagerly tries to guess what each word means, providing for some very funny moments.
The post Puppet Monty Pickle is guest on the Forward’s ‘Yiddish Word of the Day’ appeared first on The Forward.
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IDF Nabs Islamic State Terror Suspect in Syria
Guns seized in the course of the operation. Photo: IDF Spokesperson via i24
i24 News – Israel Defense Forces soldiers conducted an operation on Wednesday in the area of Rafid in southern Syria to apprehend a suspected terrorist affiliated with ISIS, the military spokesperson said on Saturday.
The announcement comes as Washington announced a major operation to eliminated Islamic State terrorists in Syria after three Americans lost their lives in a jihadist attack in Palmyra.
The Israeli soldiers completed the operation in Syria “in cooperation with IDF intelligence,” the statement read, adding that “the suspect was transferred for further processing in Israeli territory.”
Additionally, during the operation, weapons were found and seized.
IDF troops “continue to remain deployed along the Golan Heights border in order to protect the State of Israel and its citizens,” the statement from the spokesperson concluded.
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Report: Trump Admin Envisions Transformation of Gaza into Chic High-Tech Metropolis
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – The US administration of President Trump vision for the future of Gaza has it transformed into a high-end high-tech hub of luxury and innovation, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
A team of officials understood to be led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff developed a draft proposal to convert the war-ravaged Palestinian territory into a glittering metropolis, propelling Gazans from poverty to prosperity.
US officials with familiarity with the plan—pitched to foreign governments and delegations as a PowerPoint presentation— are cited in the report as saying that, understandable open-endedness of a project in its early phase notwithstanding, the blueprint has many lacunae and leaves crucial questions unanswered.
Critics cite the plan’s silence on the thorny question of disarming Hamas, the Islamist terror group that ruled Gaza for the past 15 years, and initiated the cross-border incursion and massacre of Israelis on October 7, 2023; the attack launched the devastating war that has left much of the coastal territory in ruins.
The plan’s projected cost is put at $112.1 billion over 10 years, with Washington prepared to commit support to the tune of some $60 billion in grants and guarantees on debt for “all the contemplated workstreams” in that time period.
The question of where two million Gazans would reside during the costly and lengthy rebuilding is also left unaddressed, it is understood.
Similar-sounding plans have been mooted by the Trump administration even before it managed to broker a ceasefire in October that paused the two year-long war.