Israeli Ambassador says there is no Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza when everybody knows there is a Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza.
Tag: israel
US FTC to Probe Qualcomm’s Israeli Chipmaker Autotalks Aquisition Deal: Report
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is expected to open an in-depth probe on Wednesday of Qualcomm’s purchase of Israeli auto-chip maker Autotalks, Politico reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
In May, Qualcomm had said it would acquire Israel’s Autotalks, a maker of chips used in crash-prevention technology in vehicles, but had not disclosed the terms of the deal.
Autotalks, which makes dedicated chips used in the V2X communications technology sector for manned and driverless vehicles, would help Qualcomm expand its automotive-related business.
Last week, EU regulators had also said that the US chipmaker would have to seek EU antitrust approval for the planned takeover.
The EU competition watchdog said 15 EU countries, including France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden, had asked it to examine the deal.
Qualcomm, Autotalks and the FTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Earlier in August, Qualcomm had projected its fourth-quarter sales below market expectations as consumer spending on gadgets like smartphones remained stubbornly weak amid slowing global economic growth.
The US chipmaker said Autotalk’s technology would be incorporated into its assisted and autonomous driving product, called Snapdragon Digital Chassis.
Qualcomm said in September last year that its automotive business “pipeline”, or potential future orders, rose by more than $10 billion (roughly Rs. 82,100 crore) to $30 billion (roughly Rs. 2,46,100 crore) since its third-quarter results were announced in late July, as automakers increasingly equip their cars with driver-assistance systems.
The company, which has credited the jump to its Snapdragon Digital Chassis product, competes with Intel’s Mobileye Global and Nvidia for that slice of the market.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Israel Seized Binance Crypto Accounts to ‘Thwart’ Islamic State, Claims Document
Israel has seized around 190 crypto accounts at crypto exchange Binance since 2021, including two it said were linked to Islamic State and dozens of others it said were owned by Palestinian firms connected to the Islamist Hamas group, documents released by the country’s counter-terror authorities show.
Israel’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) on January 12 confiscated two Binance accounts and their contents, one of the documents on the NBCTF’s website showed. The seizure was to “thwart the activity” of Islamic State and “impair its ability to further its goals,” the NBCTF said on its website.
The NBCTF document, which has not been previously reported, did not give any details on the value of the crypto seized, nor how the accounts were connected to Islamic State.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volumes, did not respond to Reuters’ calls and emails seeking comment.
Israel’s defence ministry, which is responsible for the NBCTF, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Under Israeli law, the country’s defence minister can order the seizure and confiscation of assets that the ministry deems related to terrorism.
Regulators globally have long called for tighter controls on crypto exchanges to prevent illegal activities, from money laundering to the financing of terrorism. The seizures by Israel’s NBCTF highlight how governments are targeting crypto companies in their efforts to prevent illegal activity.
Binance, founded in 2017 by CEO Changpeng Zhao, says on its website it reviews information requests from governments and law enforcement agencies on a case-by-case basis, disclosing information as legally required.
Binance has also said it checks users for connections to terrorism and has “continued to invest tremendous resources to enhance its compliance program,” it told US senators in March in response to their requests for information on Binance’s regulatory compliance and finances.
Militant group
Islamic State emerged in Syria after Iraq’s civil war. At its 2014 peak, it controlled a third of Iraq and Syria, before being beaten back. Now forced underground, Islamic State militants continue to wage insurgent attacks.
The US Treasury said in a report last year that Islamic State had received crypto donations it later converted to cash, accessing funds via crypto trading platforms. The Treasury did not specify which platforms and declined to comment for this article.
The owner of the two Islamic State-linked Binance accounts seized by Israel was a 28-year old Palestinian called Osama Abuobayda, the NBCTF document shows. Abuoyada did not respond to requests for comment via email addresses and a phone number listed in the NBCTF document.
In a series of investigations last year, Reuters reported that Binance intentionally kept weak anti-money laundering controls. Since 2017, Binance has processed over $10 billion (nearly Rs. 80 crore) in payments for criminals and companies seeking to evade US sanctions, Reuters reported. Binance disputed the articles, calling the illicit-fund calculations inaccurate and the descriptions of its compliance controls “outdated.”
Two men suspected by Germany of assisting an Islamist gunman who killed four people in Vienna in 2020 used Binance, a letter from German police to the company said. Islamic State later claimed responsibility for the attack.
Binance shared information with the police on the clients, its legal representatives said last year. Reuters could not independently establish this.
Money exchangers
Nearly all of the 189 Binance accounts seized by Israel since December 2021 were owned by three Palestinian currency exchange firms, the NBCTF documents showed.
The three are designated by Israel as “terrorist organizations,” according to a list on the NBCTF’s website, for their alleged involvement in the transfer of funds by Hamas, which runs the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Last month, the NBCTF said in a document it had seized crypto worth over ILS 500,000 (nearly Rs. 1.11 crore)) from over 80 Binance accounts belonging to the three Gaza-based companies, Al Mutahadun For Exchange, Dubai Company for Exchange and Al Wefaq Co. For Exchange.
The accounts were the property of “terrorist organizations” or used for a “severe terror crime,” the document said, without elaborating. Local media outlets in Israel previously reported the April seizures.
A person with direct knowledge of Al Mutahadun said it did not work “at all” with crypto or cooperate with Hamas. “We are a money exchange company. Israeli allegations are all lies and are foundless,” the person said.
Al Mutahadun was designated as a “terrorist organisation” in May 2021 by Israel, the NBCTF list shows.
Al Wefaq and Dubai Co did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment via email and WhatsApp.
Binance did not respond to Reuters’ questions on the accounts owned by the three currency exchange companies.
Hamas does not have any connection with the money exchange companies, spokesperson Hazem Qassem said. The allegations of links to the companies were an attempt by Israel to “justify its economic war against Gaza and its people,” Qassem said.
Hamas’s armed wing said last week it would stop receiving funds in bitcoin after an increase in “hostile” activity against donors.
Binance, its CEO Zhao and its former compliance chief Samuel Lim are facing civil charges from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for “wilful evasion” of US commodities laws.
Zhao has called the charges an “incomplete recitation of the facts.”
In its complaint, the CFTC said Lim received information in 2019 on Hamas’ transactions at Binance. Lim told a colleague that “terrorists” usually send small sums of funds, as “large sums constitute money laundering,” according to the CFTC complaint.
Lim has not publicly responded to the charges. He did not respond to messages sent via Telegram seeking comment for this article.
© Thomson Reuters 2023
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Israel Opens Proposed Crypto Rulebook for Public Comments, Here’s What We Know
The first week of 2023 has already seen several nations make strides in formulating laws to oversee the crypto sector. After the UK, Italy, and Morocco — Israel has moved a step closer to finalising a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies and other sorts of virtual digital assets. The authorities there have opened the drafted crypto rules for comments from the public, before sealing them officially in the coming days. The date of February 12 has been set as the deadline for people to submit their reactions to the drafted laws.
The rules have been listed by the Israeli Securities Authority (ISA) after activities around crypto assets picked pace in the nation with estimated 200,000 holders and traders experimenting in the volatile industry from Israel.
Safeguarding investors of the crypto sector and mandating operational requirements for industry players looking to work with Israeli crypto investors are important points of focus for the government of the Western Asian nation, CoinTelegraph said in a report.
The proposed laws have further asked for an amendment in the term ‘securities’ to include virtual digital assets (VDAs) under the category.
The government of Israel is looking to impose sanctions on individuals as well as crypto companies that fail to obey the laws, once they come into effect.
For now, all the issuers of digital assets have been asked to submit a detailed document about their assets before getting them registered for trading.
Like other nations working on their respective crypto regulations, Israel too, is trying to devise ways to monitor the route of crypto transactions, which largely remain untraceable with the element of anonymity.
In November last year, Shira Greenberg, the chief economist of Israel submitted a detailed report proposing potential rules that may finetune the crypto industry in the Western Asian nation to its finance ministry.
The proposal included giving the Bank of Israel the authority to oversee transactions of stable digital assets.
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Bank of Israel Seeks Task of Supervising Stable Crypto Assets, Here’s What’s Brewing
The stir around crypto regulations has intensified around the globe. Israel is the latest nation to join the list of countries that have accelerated their efforts around regulating the digital assets sector. Israel’s ministry of finance is now assessing the threats and challenges associated with the volatile industry, in order to curate appropriate rules to safeguard Israel’s crypto community. The government there is looking to tax crypto held by their citizens abroad, among other proposals.
Shira Greenberg, the chief economist of Israel has submitted a detailed report proposing potential rules that may finetune the crypto industry in the Western Asian nation.
The proposal includes giving the Bank of Israel the authority to oversee transactions of stable digital assets.
“The creation of a mechanism that will be enshrined in legislation for the transfer of supervision to the Bank of Israel over digital assets that have a significant stability or monetary effect,” the blog post by the Israeli government said.
Soon after, Israel may also get a committee, dedicated towards regulating the formations and operations of decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs), that are created on blockchains not servers, making them more ‘free, transparent, and independent’ in nature.
Back in April, Gemini crypto exchange had reported, that 28 percent of Israel’s estimated population of 94 lakh, owned crypto assets.
That explains why the government of Israel is expediating the research work around the crypto industry.
With bringing crypto under the tax regime, Israel will be able to keep track of crypto transactions generating from within its territories.
Activities in the sector have escalated in Israel off late.
Israeli crypto firm eToro recently acquired options trading platform Gatsby in a bid to expand its presence and services in the US. Headquartered in Israel’s Tel Aviv, eToro started in 2007 as a fintech firm that shifted focus towards the crypto sphere as its business evolved.
Back in October, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) said that it was looking into establishing a blockchain-based digital asset trading platform.
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Looted $1 million ‘Quarter Shekel’ coin returned to Israel by NYC prosecutors
A rare silver coin — valued at $1 million — that was looted from an archeological site in Israel has been returned to the country, Manhattan prosecutors said this week.
The quarter shekel was minted by Jewish rebels fighting the Roman empire during “The Great Jewish Revolt” in 69 C.E. and dug up in the Ella Valley years later.
The Israel Antiquities Authority learned in 2002 through multiple informants that the ancient coin — known as the “Year Four Quarter Shekel” — had been looted.
The coin is one of only two dating back to the revolt, which began in 66 C.E., that are known to exist. It was moved through the illicit antiquities markets until it was smuggled from Israel through Jordan to the UK, where it was offered at a London auction in 2017.
Homeland Security officials seized the coin later that year after collectors tried to sell it at an auction in Denver, where it was listed as having an estimated value between $500,000 and $1 million.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit took the investigation over and eventually sent the shekel home to Israel.
“We are honored to return the Quarter Shekel, an exceedingly rare coin that has immense cultural value,” DA Alvin Bragg said in a statement Monday.
“Despite the complexity of this investigation, our team of prosecutors, analysts and agents working with Israeli authorities, were able to track down this antiquity in just a matter of months.”
The shekel was returned at a repatriation ceremony on Monday attended by Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan.
“This singular artifact is a stark reminder of the Jewish people’s millennia-old connection to the land of Israel,” Erdan said in a statement, thanking authorities “for restoring this priceless coin to its rightful home.”
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Astronaut Explains “Intriguing Sight” of Bright Dot Spotted on Earth From Space
An astronaut aboard the International Space Station (ISS) recently shared an “intriguing” daylight sight of a bright dot in the middle of a desert on Earth. “A bright dot in the Negev desert…so unusual to see human-made lights in day passes!” European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti tweeted while sharing three photos showing a distant white speck against a brown landscape.
In the caption, Ms Cristoforetti explained a bit about its origin. “It’s a concentrated solar power plant, one of the technologies to get renewable energy from the sun. with one of the world’s tallest solar power towers,” she said.
Take a look below:
Intriguing sight! A bright dot in the Negev desert…so unusual to see human-made lights in day passes! It’s a concentrated solar power plant, one of the technologies to get renewable energy from the Sun. With one of the world’s tallest solar power towers! #MissionMinerva pic.twitter.com/MFbCpXpxmG
— Samantha Cristoforetti (@AstroSamantha) August 25, 2022
As per CNET, the bright dot was visible because of the Ashalim Solar Thermal Power Station, which uses mirrors to concentrate sunlight to an 820-feet-tall tower in the Negev desert of Israel. This tower is considered one of the world’s tallest solar power towers. It is big enough to create the noticeable dot of light that Ms Cristoforetti spotted from the ISS.
Here’s an image from 2020 of what it looks like from a little closer to the ground:
Shabbat shalom from the incredible Ashalim Solar Thermal Power Station!#ShabbatShalom #Israel
📷: https://t.co/xny4FZp4XS pic.twitter.com/tSROojSklF
— Israel in New York (@IsraelinNewYork) January 10, 2020
Ms Cristoforetti also added the hashtag #MissionMinerva to her post. Minerva is the name of her second expedition to the ISS. According to the ESA website, Ms Cristoforetti first flew to the Station in 2014 for her Italian Space Agency ASI-sponsored mission ‘Futura’.
Earlier this year, she was again launched on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft from Florida as part of Crew-4 in order to serve as lead for all US Orbital Segment (USOS) operations.
Meanwhile, since being shared, Ms Cristoforetti’s tweet has taken the internet by storm. Commenting on the post, one user wrote, “A light of hope for our environment”. Another said, “Difficult to see from your photos, but easier once zoomed in. I’d bet its really easy to pick out in person though. Probably sparkles like a star on earth.” “Very impressive,” commented third. “what a view!” said fourth.
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Wild video shows escaped bull rampaging through Israeli bank
It’s a bull market.
Wild footage captured the moment an escaped bull charged into an Israeli bank on Monday sending terrified employees running for their lives.
The bizarre incident took place on Monday morning at a Bank Leumi branch in the city of Lod near Tel-Aviv, reported the Israeli news site Ynetnews.com.
The large farm animal had somehow gotten loose from its owner’s property and made its way to the bank’s parking lot, with a rope still tied around its neck.
Cellphone videos that have been circulating on social media then show the panicked bovine running wild through the hallways in a scene more appropriate for Pamplona, Spain, than a regional bank branch in an Israeli suburb.
According to reporting by Ynetnews.com, several bystanders had made futile attempts to scare away the horned interloper including by wielding a plastic cone.
After about 30 minutes of bull-inspired chaos, the animal’s owner arrived and tied up the rampaging mammal.
A city veterinarian was summoned to the scene and shot the bull with a tranquillizer dart to get it under control.
A Bank Leumi representative said in a statement that “there were no casualties and no damage.”
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A new wave of anti-Semitism is sweeping New York City
As New York enters a post-pandemic new normal, a perfect storm has been brewing — involving rising anti-Semitic incidents and growing anti-Israel movements — that will have devastating consequences for the city’s Jewish community.
It’s clear the Jewish population is already in danger, given the citywide increase in hate crimes targeting Jews, the anti-Israel crusade on campuses like New York University and City University of New York and the success of efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state at the highest levels of these institutions.
Put another way, these events — individually and collectively — signify a new wave of anti-Semitism that is sweeping the city as never before.
Strikingly, anti-Semitic hate crimes in New York City were up by nearly 100% in March compared with March 2021, per NYPD data. That followed an even more disturbing 400% hike in February and a 300% hike in January.
The upsurge in anti-Semitic attacks in the city is driving a statewide crisis: Anti-Jewish violence here is at an all-time high, the Anti-Defamation League’s annual report released last month found — with the state leading the nation in such incidents.
Anti-Semitic incidents in the state rose 24% last year, with 416 recorded cases, including 51 assaults — the most physical attacks the ADL has recorded since it began collecting data more than 40 years ago. Attacks on Jewish institutions like synagogues and schools were up 41%.
“We had Jews beaten and brutalized in broad daylight in Midtown Manhattan, in Brooklyn, in the Diamond District. What was remarkable about it was people acted with impunity,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL chief executive. “These were Jewish people wearing a kipa or who were visibly Orthodox being assaulted for being Jews, and that is brand-new.”
The report specifically notes several incidents that occurred during or shortly after the May 2021 Israel-Hamas conflict, which led to a series of attacks on Jewish people and institutions across the United States, including in major cities like Los Angeles and New York City.
There is a documented and inextricable link between the prevalence of anti-Israel attitudes in the public sphere — most of which are not grounded in fact — and the victimization of Jewish individuals and institutions.
Concerningly, this trend has already infiltrated New York City’s colleges and universities. Movements that demonize and unfairly criticize Israel — and often cross the line to victimizing the Jewish community — have grown rapidly at these institutions among both students and faculty.
Last week, CUNY law school faculty voted to endorse an anti-Israel student-government resolution demanding the university cut ties with Israel by ending student-exchange programs and joining the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. The resolution falsely accuses Israel of “military occupation,” “settler colonialism” and perpetrating “genocide, apartheid and war crimes against the Palestinian people.”
Extremists who seek Israel’s complete destruction use these patently false claims of “settler colonialism” and “apartheid” as a rallying cry. This language plays into a vile and historically inaccurate anti-Semitic stereotype that the Jewish state — and by extension the Jewish people — is the oppressor, not the oppressed.
Outrageously, the grotesque canard of BDS is only aimed at Israel, one of the few functioning democracies remaining in an increasingly autocratic world. Not one other nation among the world’s nearly 200 receives any such defamatory condemnation and not — even more absurdly — Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, both of which suppress and suffocate all dissent in their ranks even as Israel includes Palestinians in its government and Knesset. It is hard to know whether Jew-hatred or sheer ignorance, or both, is responsible for the despicable and hypocritical BDS movement.
In the same vein, following an April 7 terror attack in Tel Aviv in which a Palestinian gunman killed three people, a pro-Palestine NYU student group sent out emails erroneously stating the violence was “a direct result of the Israeli occupation” and justified the targeting of Jewish civilians in the name of Palestinian resistance.
The email reiterated false accusations that is Israel an “apartheid regime” and echoed a common anti-Semitic trope by alleging that “the Zionist grip on the media is omnipresent” in reference to press reporting on the attack.
Over the last several years, there have been a number of recorded occurrences of anti-Semitism at NYU, most recently in February, when buildings were vandalized with images of swastikas — which also happened in 2020 and 2021.
Regrettably, these NYU and CUNY incidents are not isolated and cannot be separated from the dramatic rise in hate crimes targeting Jews across the city — indeed, all are characteristic of a post-pandemic wave of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel hatred in New York City.
Nationally, a similar trend involves intensifying anti-Semitic incidents and an increase in the number of prominent colleges and universities endorsing BDS or anti-Israel positions.
This is a frightening moment for New York City’s Jewish community, the country’s largest.
But make no mistake: This crisis is just taking shape, and we have yet to experience the worst of it. We cannot afford to ignore it any longer.
Douglas Schoen is founder and partner in Schoen Cooperman Research, a polling and consulting firm, whose past clients include President Bill Clinton and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Andrew Stein is a former New York City Council president.
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