Israel is routinely left off maps, Israeli cities are said to be in Palestine, martyrdom is celebrated, and there is not a single mention of the Holocaust in more than 70 official Palestinian Authority textbooks, Israel Radio reported Tues. 2 March 2016. Palestinian affairs correspondent Gal Berger looked over textbooks for grades 1-12 and found a systematic blurring out of Israel's existence. "In the textbooks of the Palestinian Authority, there is no education towards two states or a Palestinian state [alongside Israel] within the '67 lines," he said. In the Palestinian history books for grades 10-12, there are full chapters dedicated to World War II but no mention of the Holocaust, Berger reported. A fourth grade textbook invites the children to write about a Palestinian martyr of their choice. (Times of Israel) [Comment]

 Egypt's new ambassador to Israel Hazem Khairat handed his diplomatic credentials to President Reuven Rivlin in Jerusalem on Thur. 25 Feb. 2015, officially becoming Cairo's first senior emissary to Israel since 2012. "He told me that he is very happy and proud to be in Israel and that he hopes that his presence here will bring about a situation in which the friendship between the Jewish people and the Arab people in general, and between the countries of the region, will be such that we can live in peace," Rivlin said. (Times of Israel) [Comment]

Wanted terrorist Omar Nayef Zayed was found dead at the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria, local media reported on Friday 26 Feb. 2016. Zayed, 51, was convicted of the murder of yeshiva student Eliyahu Amadi in Jerusalem's Old City in 1986. After being sentenced to life in prison, he was transferred to a mental hospital and then escaped in 1990, fleeing to an Arab country and then moving to Bulgaria in 1994. After Israel requested his extradition from Bulgaria in Dec. 2015, Bulgarian authorities sought to arrest him, but he escaped to the embassy before he could be apprehended. His family confirmed that he was "assassinated" at the embassy in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Palestinian sources claim Israel's Mossad assassinated Zaid. (Ynet/INN) [Comment]

The Democratic leadership on Capitol Hill joined Republicans on Friday, 26 Feb. 2016, to rebuke the Obama administration for its decision not to enforce part of a law that would penalize USA trading partners boycotting products originating in Israeli-controlled territories. The customs bill is a congressional guide for the administration in its trade negotiations with Europe. Included in that bill, signed into law this week, is a provision "that discourages our trading partners from taking politically-motivated commercial actions against Israel," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, alongside colleagues Chuck Schumer of New York, Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Michael Bennet of Colorado and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. "Such actions run counter to longstanding USA policy opposing politically-motivated boycotts of, divestments from, or sanctions against Israel and it is incumbent upon the United States to use every diplomatic tool to stop our trading partners from imposing such misguided actions," the Democratic senators said, characterizing the movement as antisemitic. "Moreover, such policy has long been reflected in the USA–Israel Free Trade Agreement, which does not distinguish tariff treatment among products based on whether they were produced in Israeli territories." (Jerusalem Post) [Comment]

PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Thur. 25 Feb. 2016, urged the world to condemn Iran for providing financial support to the families of Palestinian terrorists. The prime minister also called on the international community to denounce Palestinian incitement, which he said is the number one cause of terrorism. "Our fight against terrorism, which comes with the assistance and agitation of states and regimes, does not exist in a vacuum. Yesterday Iran announced that it will finance the families of the terrorists and murderers; this shows that Iran, even after the nuclear agreement, is continuing to aid terrorism, including Palestinian terrorism, Hezbollah terrorism and its assistance to Hamas,” Netanyahu said. "This is something that the nations of the world must confront and condemn and assist Israel – and other countries – in repelling,” he added. Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Fateh Ali, said that Tehran would give $7,000 to the families of each Palestinian terrorist killed while attacking Israelis. Iran will also give $30,000 to Palestinian families whose homes have been destroyed by Israel because a family member carried out a terror attack, he told a news conference in Beirut. (Times of Israel) [Comment]

Omar Barghouti, the founder of the anti-Israel BDS movement, should no longer be permitted to reside in Israel, MK Nava Boker (Likud) wrote to Interior Minister Arye Deri on Thur. 25 Feb. 2016. "Barghouti spends most of his time lecturing around the world and calling to isolate Israel and boycott it,” said Boker. "I ask you to revoke Mr. Barghouti’s permanent residence status.” The Interior Ministry has, in recent months, revoked citizenship, and permanent residence status from non citizens who helped with terrorist attacks. Barghouti, who was born in Qatar, grew up in Egypt and married an Israeli-Arab woman, gaining permanent residence status. He founded the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement in 2005 and supports the end of the State of Israel and the creation of one state between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, in which Palestinians from all over the world will have the right to live, and Jews will be a small minority. Boker wrote to Deri saying, "The BDS movement and Barghouti are the arrowhead in a campaign of hatred and antisemitism. A democratic state cannot tolerate a situation in which someone like this has permanent residence status and comes to Israel to preach to its citizens how to boycott it. He is a dangerous man and has no business in Israel,” Boker said. (J. Post) [Comment]

After signing a bill targeting anti-Israel boycotters, President Barack Obama pledged not to enforce one of the law’s clauses extending the anti-boycott protections to Israeli businesses operating in "Israeli-controlled territories”. The law, which passed with strong Republican support, bars the USA government from any cooperation with groups participating in the BDS movement against Israel and Israeli businesses. To clarify the law’s reach, lawmakers included a clause explicitly extending the protections to Israeli businesses in "Israeli-controlled territories”. But after signing the bill into law, Obama rejected the clause as being "contrary to longstanding bipartisan United States policy, including with regard to the treatment of settlements.” The President pledged to oppose the efforts of the BDS movement against Israel – but only within the Green Line. Beyond the Green Line, however, Obama claimed he was not bound by the law, which he said might infringe upon his constitutional prerogatives as president. He argued that "conflating Israel and ‘Israeli-controlled territories’” was illegitimate and would "interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct diplomacy”. (Arutz-7) Obama is ratcheting up his scorecard at every turn for being a curse rather than a blessing to the Jewish state. Pray for your government’s strong support of Israel and reap benefits for your nation. "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you.” Gen 12:3 [Comment]