German Bank Closes Anti-Israel BDS Account

(JNS.org) Germany’s second-largest bank, Commerzbank, has reportedly closed an account affiliated with the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The Jerusalem Post, citing a “highly reliable source,” reported that the bank notified the account holder of the closure more than a month ago. This is the first known instance of a German bank censuring a pro-BDS account.

Commerzbank spokesman Michael Machauer said the bank could not identify the account holder nor discuss the closure “because of data protection and bank secrecy laws.” But the Jerusalem Post’s report raised the possibility that the account belongs to the pro-BDS website “Der Semit,” which lists its account as being based in a small town in the German state of Hesse. Commerzbank’s headquarters are located in Frankfurt, the largest city in Hesse.

Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said Commerzbank’s decision was “the right thing to do.”

“The BDS campaign, which seeks the destruction of Israel, is discriminatory, anti-Semitic and anti-peace, and often has connections to extremist and terrorist groups,” Erdan told the Jerusalem Post. “I call on other banks to follow Commerzbank’s example, particularly those with connections to official state bodies which claim to oppose BDS. I will continue to work to expose the true face of the BDS extremists and their supporters, and to ensure that they face the full consequences of their actions.”

Orlando Shooting Victims Remembered at Tel Aviv Event

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) About 100 members of Israel’s LGBT community held a memorial event on Tuesday in honor of the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. The event took place at Evita, a gay nightclub in Tel Aviv.

“Seven years ago, two streets away from here, a man dressed in black walked by planning to murder innocent people,” said Imri Kalman, co-chairman of Aguda—The Israeli National LGBT Task Force, at the memorial. Kalman was referring to the 2009 shooting at Bar Noar, a gay youth center, in which two people were murdered and at least 15 others wounded.

“Seven years later, another man in another country set out to kill as many people as possible,” Kalman continued. “What causes a person to want to do such a thing? Homophobia—fear! Fear that turns into such cruel hatred… The Bar Noar murderer, who is still walking free; the murderer who killed Shira Banki (the 16-year-old girl who was stabbed to death at the 2015 Jerusalem gay pride parade), of blessed memory; and the Pulse murderer are all one and the same murderer, just with different faces.”

Keith Mines, political counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Israel, added that people must not get used to these attacks and must not become indifferent to them.

Actress Asi Levi asked that everyone hope for “a better world, without baseless hatred—let’s make that a reality.”

Meanwhile, in Orlando on Tuesday, thousands of people gathered a few miles from the scene of the deadly attack for a memorial ceremony. The names of all 49 victims were read aloud at the event, and participants lit candles and laid flowers at a makeshift memorial monument set up on site.

Obama Administration Opposes Proposed Funding Boost for Israeli Missile Defense

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The Obama administration on Tuesday announced its opposition to a Congressional proposal for a $455 million increase in funding for Israel’s missile defense program in the 2017 U.S. budget.

A statement published on Tuesday by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget said the Obama administration “opposes the addition of $455 million above the FY 2017 Budget request for Israeli missile defense procurement and cooperative development programs.”

Last month, the Senate Appropriations Committee recommended $600 million for Israeli missile defense in the 2017 fiscal year—$113 million more than the previous fiscal year and $455 million above the Obama administration’s request.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) said in a statement that it was “deeply disappointed” in the Obama administration’s opposition to the proposed funding increase.

“On a bipartisan basis, Congress has increased funding above administration requests this year, as it has done for well over a decade,” AIPAC said. “These cooperative programs—including the Arrow, David’s Sling, and Iron Dome—are critical for Israel’s defense against a growing array of missile threats and make an important contribution to U.S. missile defense programs. We applaud Congress for consistently supporting these key programs, and urge their full funding in both the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization and Appropriations Acts.”

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, “There is no cut in U.S. aid. The matter is an internal dispute between Congress and the White House over the size of annual increases to the missile defense program. Prime Minister Netanyahu is working to anchor such increases as part of the discussions on an agreement on aid for the next 10 years. Security aid for missile defense will not be cut; rather, it will be increased. The attempt to turn the dialogue with the U.S. into a political battering tool in Israel is improper and all expressions of panic are out of place.”

Netanyahu: Israel Will Help NATO States With ‘Collective Struggle’ Against Terror

(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Three weeks ahead of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in Warsaw, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem on Tuesday with a group of ambassadors from NATO member states and called for a “collective struggle” against terrorism.

Before the start of Tuesday’s meeting, Netanyahu told the ambassadors, “I look forward to this opportunity to discuss our common interests, based on our common values. I want to thank NATO for inviting Israel to open an office in your headquarters in Brussels. I called Secretary General [Jens] Stoltenberg immediately to express my appreciation and I want to inform you that we’re in the process of opening the office as soon as possible. We attach great importance to that. Israel has much to contribute to NATO. I believe NATO has much to contribute to Israel. We’ve already begun that process, but I think we can extend and increase our cooperation.”

Referring to the threat posed by terrorism throughout the world, Netanyahu said, “Paris, Brussels, London, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Bali, Mumbai, New York, San Bernardino and now Orlando, and so many other cities, have been struck by the same evil. Terror knows no bounds, and that is why our cooperation in the battle against terrorism must know no bounds as well.”

“One day ISIS kills gays, the next day Yazidis, and then Jews and Muslims and Christians,” said the prime minister. “They have no bounds. Terror, the indiscriminate, systematic attack on innocent people, must always be confronted and must always be fought, and that doesn’t change. In any case, it doesn’t depend on the identity of the victims. It depends on the nature of the act. The act is evil and is perpetrated by people with evil designs, and we, the people of the civilized world, have to band together to defeat it. We stand ready to help NATO in this collective struggle. We are prepared to share our intelligence and our experience to help in this common effort.”