Weekly roundup of world briefs

Israeli teen demand for plastic surgery up

(JNS) — The Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in Israel reported on Tuesday a 37 percent increase in the demand for plastic surgery among teenagers during the summer holiday season.

The main demands are for ear-pinning, nose reshaping and breast augmentation procedures.

“Social networks influence the changes in the beauty model among teenagers all year round, but during the holidays we see a dramatic increase,” said Dr. Meir Cohen, chairman of the Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons in Israel.

“Before performing plastic surgery under local or full anesthesia with teenagers, we make sure, together with the parents, that the children fully understand the meaning of the change that the surgery can bring about, they are physically and mentally prepared for the recovery period and are consistently motivated, and [that] it is not a momentary impulse because they saw someone on Instagram,” he added.

Ear-pinning is an elective operation to bring the ears closer to the head.

The association advises that nose enhancement—reshaping the bone and cartilage—be done after physiological development is complete, which happens toward the age of 17.

The association also advises against breast augmentation before the age of 18, and preferably after 21.

Israeli teens under the age of 18 require parental consent for plastic surgery.

Israeli arrested while crossing into Jordan illegally

(JNS) — An Israeli was apprehended on Tuesday while trying to cross the border into Jordan illegally, according to Arab media reports.

The suspect was transferred to Jordanian authorities for questioning and was expected to be soon released into Israeli custody.

The incident occurred two days after the Israel Defense Forces revealed the foiling of an “unusual” attempt to smuggle weapons from Jordan into Israeli territory.

Israeli authorities said the arms were likely destined for Palestinian terrorist groups in Judea and Samaria.

In May, Israel released Jordanian parliamentarian Imad al-Adwan, who was arrested the previous month on suspicion of smuggling weapons and gold through the Allenby Crossing into Israel.

Jerusalem reportedly reached an understanding with Jordan according to which he would be prosecuted and punished upon his return.

The Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, said al-Adwan was arrested on April 22 after 12 rifles and 194 handguns were found in his vehicle.

Further investigation revealed that since February 2022, the Jordanian lawmaker illegally transported various goods into Israel using his diplomatic passport on 12 occasions. These included birds, electronic cigarettes and gold.

Al-Adwan has a history of anti-Israel rhetoric and support for Palestinian terrorist organizations. However, he also received large amounts of money for the smuggling.

On Monday, Army Radio reported that the Israeli government plans to build a security barrier along the country’s eastern border with Jordan in an effort to thwart Iranian efforts to instigate violence.

During a closed meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told lawmakers that the Israel Defense Forces has noticed an increase in Tehran’s involvement in transferring arms and know-how into Judea and Samaria.

Suspect throws 35,000 shekels out window

By Pesach Benson

(JNS) — Israeli Police and Tax Authority investigators in the northern city of Shfar’am were stunned when a suspect in an ongoing financial investigation tried to dispose of evidence by throwing hundreds of bills worth tens of thousands of shekels out the window on Tuesday, officials disclosed on Wednesday.

Authorities were investigating the owners of a chain of fashion stores for several months over the disappearance of transactions amounting to approximately 11 million shekels ($3 million).

When the authorities arrived at the suspect’s home, he refused to open the door. To the astonishment of the investigators, shekel bills began flying into the yard of the building. They quickly intervened and collected the bills, which amounted to about 35,000 shekels ($9,600) in denominations of 100, 200 and 50 shekels.

The operation yielded further evidence of financial misconduct and the concealment of a significant amount of income. Authorities seized a luxury sports car belonging to one of the business owners.

It followed up on a related raid in Shfar’am in which more than 2.5 million shekels ($687,000) in cash was discovered inside a building materials marketing business.

The suspects are expected to be charged with financial fraud and tax evasion.

Amazon to invest $7.2 billion in Israel; launches Tel Aviv data centers

(JNS) — Amazon.com plans to invest about $7.2 billion in Israel through 2037, and announced on Tuesday the launch of its Amazon Web Services data centers in Tel Aviv.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu referred to the announcement during a visit on Tuesday to IDF Central Command Headquarters in central Tel Aviv.

“We were told today that Amazon is investing 26 billion shekels in the Israeli economy; this is after we were told that Intel intends to invest $25 billion and that NVIDIA is building a supercomputer here,” he said.

“Israeli society and democracy are coming out strengthened,” he added, apparently referring to the passing into law last week of a key piece of his government’s judicial reform legislation, which critics have argued would weaken Israel’s democracy and economy. 

The launch of the AWS Israel (Tel Aviv) Region gives customers the option of running their applications from data centers in Israel, Amazon said in a statement. 

AWS is Amazon’s cloud computing platform.

“Customers can securely store data in Israel while serving users in the vicinity with even lower latency,” the firm said.

“The establishment of the Region will enable us to migrate substantial governmental workloads to the cloud, and we are confident that it will help us accelerate digital transformation in the public sector,” said Israel’s Accountant General Yali Rothenberg, according to Reuters.

Amazon noted in its statement that Israel is at the forefront of cloud computing, and that AWS began supporting startups in Israel in 2013 through its AWS Activate program.

In April 2021, Israel selected AWS as its primary cloud provider as part of a framework to enable government departments, including ministries and municipalities, to accelerate their digital transformation.

Among AWS customers in Israel are AI21 Labs, Bank Leumi, CyberArk and Ichilov Hospital. 

The Tel Aviv Region launch expands AWS to 32 geographic regions around the world, the company said.

Pennsylvania’s presidential primary conflicts with Passover

(JNS) — Pennsylvania State Rep. Jared Solomon doesn’t want to have “to choose between celebrating Passover and going to the polls.”

The Jewish Democrat, who represents Philadelphia in Pennsylvania’s General Assembly, is one of many prominent voices in the state pushing to change the date of next year’s presidential primary vote from April 23, the second day of the Jewish holiday.

The state’s governor, Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish and lives in the Philadelphia suburbs, is also supporting a different date.

Shapiro’s press secretary, Manual Bonder, said: “The governor supports moving the 2024 primary to ensure that observers of Passover have every opportunity to exercise their right to vote and looks forward to working with the General Assembly to change the date.”

Solomon sponsored legislation to change the primary date, stating that he hoped voting earlier in the year would increase Pennsylvania’s level of influence in the national primaries.

“I just have always wanted to bump it up so that we’re in the mix with other states,” he said.

Anti-Israel protesters disrupt keynote speech at Amazon summit

(JNS) — A coalition of anti-Israel activists came together to protest at the annual Amazon Web Services (AWS) Summit, this year held on July 26 in New York City. Outside, activists marched with signs while inside, five people interrupted the keynote speech given by Swami Sivasubramanian, an AWS vice president.

One brown cardboard sign read: “Amazon workers united against apartheid.” Another with orange, round letters said: “Amazon: stop powering forced displacement of Palestinian families.”

The protests were in response to recent contracts between AWS and the State of Israel, and have thus been christened “#NoTechforApartheid.” Groups participating included MPower Change, Jewish Voice for Peace, Adalah Justice Project and Fight for the Future. Two employment unions were also involved: the Amazon Labor Union and the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA.

Political activist Linda Sarsour, MPower Change’s executive director, said on Wednesday: “I want you all to know that while the Palestinian people are suffering oppression, brutality, murder and genocide at the hands of the State of Israel; they’re still resilient.”

Since 2021, the perennial activist opponents of the Jewish state have been upset about Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion deal to provide cloud computing through Google and Amazon to the Israeli government and military.

Progressive Jewish leaders tell Biden to take ‘decisive action’ against Netanyahu

(JNS) — Alex Soros, son of George Soros. The actor Mandy Patinkin. Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers Union. Rabbi Jill Jacobs, who runs T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights. 

These and other progressive Jews are among those who signed a letter, under the aegis of Americans for Peace Now, urging U.S. President Joe Biden to “go beyond words and to take decisive action to demonstrate the seriousness of the situation.”

By the situation, the signatories mean judicial reform in Israel, in response to which they think “further actions are necessary to safeguard the democratic values the U.S.-Israel relationship is founded upon.”

“Going beyond words will make clear to Netanyahu’s government that its actions come with a price,” the signatories wrote.

Among their recommendations are appointing a new U.S. ambassador to Israel “immediately”; opening a “separate” U.S. consulate in Jerusalem to serve Palestinians; differentiating between Israel and “settlements”; and refraining from “automatically” defending Israel at the United Nations.

Shimon Peres monument erected in Belarus to mark 100th birthday

(JNS) — The Peres Center for Peace and Innovation marked the 100th birthday of the late Israeli president Shimon Peres on Wednesday, with representatives of the organization taking part in the unveiling of a monument in Vishneva, Belarus, where the Nobel laureate was born.

The monument, which stands in the courtyard of the house where Shimon Peres was born, features inscriptions in three languages, symbolizing the universal impact of his life’s work.

Peres, who passed away in 2016, was born Szymon Perski, on Aug. 2, 1923, to Yitzhak and Sara Perski. Throughout his life, he held prominent positions in Israeli politics, serving twice as the nation’s prime minister and subsequently as president from 2007 to 2014.

The establishment of a monument at the site of Peres’s birth was made possible through a joint effort between the Jewish communities in Belarus, the Israeli Embassy in Minsk, and the support and participation of the Governor of the Minsk Region.

Peres was instrumental in forging the 1993 Oslo Accords with the Palestinians and earlier played a crucial role in strengthening Israel’s defense and security, overseeing the establishment of significant military and strategic assets.

Israeli forces arrest senior Islamic Jihad member

(JNS) — Israeli forces arrested a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization in the village of Burkin near Jenin on Wednesday night, along with five other terror suspects.

At the same time, six terror suspects were arrested during a brigade-level Israeli counter-terror operation in Beit Ummar northwest of Hebron in Judea.

In the villages of Qilqis and Yata Israeli forces located and confiscated weapons, ammunition and military equipment.

A wanted individual was arrested in the village of Qabalan, and weapons and ammunition were confiscated.

No casualties were reported to Israeli forces.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli forces launched a search operation in the Jordan Valley following a terror attack at the Hamra Junction east of Shechem (Nablus).

A woman in her 30s was lightly wounded in the neck by shrapnel when a terrorist fired on her car from a passing vehicle on Highway 57.

The woman’s husband and two children, who were in the car at the time of the shooting, suffered no injuries.

On Tuesday in Ma’ale Adumim, a terrorist opened fire on diners inside a shopping mall in the city, wounding six people.

A Border Police officer on his day off shot and killed the terrorist, who was also armed with a knife.