Archive for June 5, 2012

IAF Chief Says ‘Nein’ to Volkswagen

Air Force Commander Eshel, son of Holocaust survivor, refused to upgrade his car to a German model

 

Recently appointed Israel Air Force Commander Major General Amir Eshel told the military that he does not want to upgrade his car to a Volkswagen Passat, although his advance to the rank of major general entitles him to do so.

Amir Eshel

Amir Eshel - IDF Photo

The reason for his refusal is the fact that the vehicle is manufactured in Germany. His refusal was immediate, and he said the decision came “from the head, but also from the gut.”

Eshel’s mother is a Holocaust survivor. Continue Reading »

Palestinians: US refugee amendment may delay peace deal

According to legislation, State Department must now differentiate between Palestinian refugees and descendants of refugees; former Abbas advisor: It can have a very bad reaction on the ground.

WASHINGTON – Palestinian advocates are warning that a new US Senate amendment dictating a reporting requirement on the issue of Palestinian refugees could set back efforts to reach a peace deal.

Dheisheh Refugee Camp near Bethlehem (file) - Photo: REUTERS

Dheisheh Refugee Camp near Bethlehem (file) - Photo: REUTERS

The amendment to a bill, recently approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, mandates that the secretary of state must report how many of the Palestinians serviced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency fled or left homes in Israelduring the War of Independence and how many are only their descendants.“It’s

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IDF to establish three new ultra-Orthodox battalions ahead of new enlistment law

Military drawing up plans for mass recruitment of ultra-Orthodox men after successor to Tal Law goes into effect.

 

The Israel Defense Forces is preparing to absorb large numbers of ultra-Orthodox conscripts in anticipation of a new law setting out the terms of Haredi enlistment. The army has withdrawn its years-long opposition to the creation of new separate units, and is proposing the establishment of three new Nahal Haredi battalions that can be integrated into combat forces.

Ultra-Orthodox soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces.

Ultra-Orthodox soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces.

The army’s plan for taking on large numbers of yeshiva students after the successor to the Tal Law goes into effect was presented on Sunday, in broad outline, to a committee evaluating alternatives to that law, which the High Court of Justice declared unconstitutional. Continue Reading »

PA Glorifies Terrorist ‘Martyrs’ Whose Bodies Were Returned

PA officials glorified the 91 terrorists whose bodies were returned by Israel and referred to them as “shahids” (martyrs).

 

As was expected, the Palestinian Authority glorified the 91 terrorists whose bodies were returned by Israel, as a gesture by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Mahmoud Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas - Reuters

The Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) research organization, which monitors and translates the PA-based media, has translated and presented on its website several incidents in which the PA glorified the dead terrorists. The PA gave the terrorists a military funeral for heroes, with the participation of Abbas, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and other PA dignitaries. Continue Reading »

Lessons from Israel’s innovation

Israel can help states like Haryana and Punjab in managing waste, packing, cold storage, dairy processing and recycling sewerage water for use in agriculture



Experts say the practice of milking animals by hand causes contamination. That is why Israel has adopted mechanised milking of cows
Experts say the practice of milking animals by hand causes contamination. That is why Israel has adopted mechanised milking of cows
Israel plans to set up more centres of excellence in Haryana on the pattern of the one in Gharonda. Similar centres will be established in Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu
Israel has emerged as a leader in various fields, especially water management and renewable energy, science and technology, agriculture and dairy. At Agritech Israel 2012, organised in Tel Aviv from May 15 to 17, Israel showcased some of its latest technologies and farming machinery and dairy practices.
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Food in Israel 20% more expensive than OECD’

In final report, Kedmi Committee on food prices blames market concentration for dramatic increase in food prices.

 

The Kedmi Committee submitted its final report on the food market on Monday, recommending that the government work to restrict the market share of leading suppliers and retailers, encourage small businesses and remove import barriers.

The committee, headed by Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry director-general Sharon Kedmi, was established by the government one year ago, following a consumer revolt against dairy manufacturers Tnuva, Strauss and Tara.

Fruit and vegetables – Photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

Israeli consumers paid 10-20 percent more for food in 2008-2010 than their counterparts in the rest of the OECD group of developed economies, the final report concluded.

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Op-ed: Taking the offensive at UN

Op-ed: Even against overwhelming odds, Israel’s UN mission can boast impressive achievements

 

“Oom Shmoom.” Ask any Israeli politician, university lecturer, or taxi driver on their opinion of the United Nations, and odds are – that’s the response you’ll get. The pejorative term is Hebrew slang for “United Nothing,” and has come to epitomize the Israeli mentality towards the UN ever since it was coined by David Ben Gurion 60 years ago.

Ron Prosor Photo: Shahar Azran

Ron Prosor - Photo: Shahar Azran

For a select group of Israeli diplomats, however, the UN is not only the frontline in the fight for their nation’s legitimacy, but a crucial venue for promoting age old Jewish values of Tikkun Olam (fixing the world.) Continue Reading »

IDF in cyber space: Intelligence gathering and clandestine operations

IDF defines its activity in cyber space as a platform to improve operational effectiveness and defense. IDF has been relentlessly operating in the field

 

IDF Operations Department recently defined the essence of IDF cyber warfare, putting together instructions that define the military’s operational methods in cyber space and clarify its goals in facing potential enemies. IDF Website exclusively reveals these instructions for the first time.

According to the document, cyber space is to be handled similarly to other battlefields on ground, at sea, in the air and in space. The IDF has been engaged in cyber activity consistently and relentlessly, gathering intelligence and defending its own cyber space. Continue Reading »

Israel Water Technology Sparks Business Venture

Millionare Richard Branson has launched a new business venture, “Virgin Pure,” using technology imported from Israel.

 

Millionaire and entrepreneur Richard Branson has decided to launch a new business venture, “Virgin Pure,” using technology imported from Israel.

Branson recently visited the country and met with Israeli technology companies and scientists, leading him to pursue his most recent undertaking.

When Ofra Strauss, Chairman of the Strauss Group, handed him water that had been purified using technology her company invented, Branson decided to launch a venture of his own.

“Ofra showed me the machine in Israel and I wanted to buy one for our family. Continue Reading »

Border Police Officer Stabbed at Cave of Patriarchs

A Border Police officer was lightly wounded in a Hevron stabbing attack; terrorist shot, resuscitated

 

 

A terrorist on Monday evening stabbed a Border Police officer at the Muslim entrance to the Cave of the Patrarchs in Hevon.

Nearby soldiers opened fire on the terrorist, wounding him critically and ending the threat.

MDA team arrived on the scene cleared the soldier to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, with light injuries to their head. Another MDA team resuscitated the terrorist.

The Israel Police and IDF are investigating the incident.

Earlier on Monday, Arabs in Hevron threw iron bars at soldiers.
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Israeli scientists take the high out of weed

A new breed of marijuana relieves symptoms of patients suffering from medical ailments, without the high; response to new breed has been mixed.

In a move unlikely to win Israel new friends abroad, Israeli scientists have figured out how to neutralize the chemical in marijuana that makes users high.

Marijuana Colombia 4.6.2012

A police officer holds a handful of seized marijuana during a presentation to journalists at a police station in Cali, Colombia - Photo by AP

A new type of marijuana developed in Israel contains no tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the active ingredient in the cannabis plant that causes mind-altering effects when the plant is smoked. Continue Reading »

New Mosque in the Heart of Large US Jewish Neighborhood

Muslims buy a posh house in the heart of a large upscale Jewish neighborhood in Baltimore, whose main artery is known as “Synagogue Row.”

 

A Muslim movement has bought a posh house in the heart of a large upscale Jewish neighborhood in Baltimore, whose main artery is known as “Synagogue Row.” The Muslim sect is considered to be pacifist and at the opposite end of Islam extremism.

Located on the edge of Pikesville – synonymous with “Jewish” – the Colonial-style house known as “Slade Mansion” was sold for $900,000 to the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, according to the Baltimore Sun. Continue Reading »

Israel’s insane gesture

Op-ed: Why do we return terrorist bodies, seek peace talks with anti-Semitic Arabs who hate us?

 

Had Adolf Eichmann been executed during Benjamin Netanyahu’s term, the Nazi war criminal would not have been burned and his ashes would not have been disposed of at sea. Instead, the body would have been preserved and handed over to the German president upon his visit to Israel, so it can be buried in Germany with full military honors.

Terrorists' coffins Photo: EPA

Terrorists' coffins - Photo: EPA

Does this sound delusional? No more so than the ceremony where “President” Mahmoud Abbas and his top brass received the coffins of 91 terroristswho murdered more than 200 people; indeed, the bodies of these “martyrs” were saluted with wreathes and the firing of volley shots. Continue Reading »

Qassam hits western Negev; none injured

Rocket fired from Gaza causes small brush fire but no injuries; IAF strikes targets in Strip

 

A Qassam rocket fired from northern Gaza exploded on the outskirts of Sderot at noon on Monday. No injuries were reported.A small brush fire erupted at the landing site, but was quickly extinguished by local firefighters.

The IAF struck a terror tunnel and a weapons mill in northern Gaza Strip overnight.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that the pilots reported destroying their marks, adding that the strike came in response to Sunday’s rocket fire at the western Negev.

 

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By Neri Brenner Continue Reading »

French Jews say Lyon assault latest in series of anti-Semitic incidents

Jewish leaders call atmosphere unbearable, say attacks have picked up since Toulouse shootings in March

Jewish communal leaders in France say an attack on three Jewish men Saturday night was just the latest in a line of anti-Semitic incidents against the country’s Jews.

“There has been a series of acts like the one in in Villeurbanne,”  said Richard Prasquier, president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF), according to Le Figaro.

 

Protesters raising a banner reading "in France, we kill Blacks, Jews, and Arabs" during a silent demonstration in Paris in March. (Photo credit: Daniel Hoffman)Protesters raising a banner reading “in France, we kill Blacks, Jews, and Arabs” during a silent demonstration in Paris in March. – Photo: Daniel Hoffman

 

Police are still searching for the culprits behind the incident Saturday night near the southern city of Lyon, in which 10 attackers assaulted three 18-year-old Jewish men outside a Jewish center in Villeurbanne. Continue Reading »