Archive for June 13, 2012

| June 13, 2012
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Israeli wins World Food Prize for 1st time in history

Growing up in what was then Palestine, Prof. Daniel Hillel became fascinated with plants thriving in tough conditions.

 

 

Growing up as a young boy on a Jezreel Valley kibbutz in what was then Palestine, Prof. Daniel Hillel became fascinated with plants thriving in less than favorable conditions.“That’s where I discovered and became enthralled by open spaces – and land and water and plants and sunshine,” Hillel, now 81, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday evening.
Produce, agriculture [illustrative photo]                        Agricultural fields – Photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

Earlier that afternoon, the World Food Prize Foundation, in the presence of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, announced Hillel as this year’s winner of the World Food Prize at a ceremony in Washington. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News |
| June 13, 2012
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Soldiers beware: Agents to monitor ‘chatter’ on trains

Operations, deployments and secret units – soldiers who talk on the phone on their way to base occasionally reveal classified information. IDF to deploy undercover agents on trains in hopes of preventing leaks

Yossi Yehoshua

 

 

While the IDF is using advanced technological means to keep its secrets from leaking, it appears the most classified information can be easily accessed on Israel‘s railways.

Soldiers board train Photo: Ido Erez

Soldiers board train - Photo: Ido Erez

Commuters who regularly use the train are familiar with the phenomenon. IDF soldiers who talk among themselves or use their mobile phones occasionally reveal sensitive information such as military deployments, future operations or names of secret units. Continue Reading »

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| June 13, 2012
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In joint appearance with Peres in Washington, Clinton condemns Syria for using attack helicopters to quash uprising

Secretary of State appeared alongside Israeli President at Washington event; Peres to raise issue of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard in a meeting with President Obama.

 

 

WASHINGTON – Israeli President Shimon Peres and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared on Tuesday at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, where they spoke about the escalating violence in Syria, the negotiations with Iran and the peace process with the Palestinians.

At the event, Clinton expressed deep concern over Russia’s reported shipment of attack helicopters to the Syrian regime. “Attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria will escalate the conflict quite dramatically,” she said. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| June 13, 2012
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Israel in Secret Pact with Vatican

Will Israel give the Church sovereignty over King David’s Tomb? The sides are talking, but won’t make their agreements public for now.

By Elad Benari

A special meeting was held at the Pope’s palace on Tuesday, attended by delegations from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vatican. During the meeting, the sides discussed some of the unresolved issues between them.

At the conclusion of the meeting, which was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, the Foreign Ministry released a statement saying, “The talks took place in an open, balanced and constructive environment, during which significant progress was made towards an agreement.” Continue Reading »

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| June 13, 2012
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Canadian Minister John Baird expresses support for commemorating the Munich attacks

Canada Throws Its Support Behind Israel’s Efforts to Gain Moment of Silence at Olympics

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird, called Dr. Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), to express Canada’s support for Israel’s request for a moment of silence to commemorate the Israeli athletes murdered during the solemn 1972 terrorist attack in Munich.

Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird

- Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, John Baird

Last month it was announced that the IOC denied Israel’s request, made on behalf of the families of the 11 victims, for the moment of silence but Rogge said he had no choice but to reject the request. Continue Reading »

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| June 12, 2012
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Putin to visit Israel amid Syria, Iran concerns

Russian president to visit Israel for first time in 7 years as Moscow’s arming of Assad, impediments to harsher sanctions against Iranian nuclear program, support of unilateral PA moves at odds with Israeli positions.

By HERB KEINON, JPOST.COM STAFF

Russian President Vladimir Putin is planning to make his first official visit to Israel since 2005, although the exact date for the visit has not yet been determined, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Vladimir Putin addresses supporters

Vladimir Putin addresses supporters - Photo: REUTERS/Aleksey Nikolskyi/RIA Novosti/Pool

News of Putin’s expected visit came as Russia was the center of controversy for its continued support of Syrian President Bashar Assad, despite his brutal crackdown on dissenters.

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| June 12, 2012
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Gaza kindergartners want to ‘blow up Zionists’

Kids at Islamic Jihad kindergarten celebrate end of year by demonstrating how Palestinian prisoners are ‘tortured’ in Israel. Teacher: We educate them to love resistance, Palestine

By Elior Levy

 

 

Children attending a kindergarten in Gaza that is run by Islamic Jihad celebrated their graduation by dressing up in army attire, waving toy rifles and chanting anti-Israel slogans.

“It is our obligation to educate the children to love the resistance, Palestine and Jerusalem, so they will recognize the importance of Palestine and who its enemy is,” the kindergarten’s director said.

 

מדמים חייל שמטביע עצור פלסטיני

'Palestinian prisoner tortured.'

 

The children were dressed up in uniforms of Jihad’s armed-wing, the al-Quds Brigades, and each of them received a toy rifle. Continue Reading »

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| June 12, 2012
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Mass. Jews: Romney kept his distance as governor, but was a great leader of healthcare reform

The Republican nominee would prefer to woo the U.S. Jewish community with his commitment to Israel than his visionary role in the healthcare reform.

By Dina Kraft

BOSTON – Mitt Romney is remembered by some in Massachusetts’ Jewish community as a distant figure on a grassroots level, a governor with whom their main interaction came during the effort to pass a groundbreaking healthcare reform providing near-universal coverage for state residents.

Today it’s the very subject that the presumptive Republican nominee for U.S. president wishes would disappear.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, June 8, 2012.

Supporters of Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney reach out to shake his hand - Photo by AP

 

“He was an absolutely key visionary player in the reform that was passed,” said Rabbi Jonah Pesner, who in 2006, when the legislation was approved, was co-chair of the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, an interfaith group that helped push the bi-partisan effort for healthcare reform in Massachusetts as part of a broader coalition advocating for change. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News |
| June 12, 2012
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Missile Attack on Tel Aviv Might Force Evacuation

The entire population of Tel Aviv would be evacuated if unconventional missiles were to strike the city, a Home Front officer says.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The entire population of Tel Aviv would be evacuated if unconventional missiles were to strike the city, a Home Front officer told the AFP news agency in an interview.

Colonel Adam Zusman, chief of the Home Front Command in metropolitan Tel Aviv, told the interviewer, “In case of a missile attack on the center of Israel, especially unconventional, the population from Tel Aviv and other cities will be evacuated and relocated in other areas of the country. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| June 12, 2012
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Vatican and Israel sign a historic economic agreement for the first time.

The Vatican is about to “indirectly” recognize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, considered by many Palestinians as the capital of their future independent state, it was reported by the news media today.

 

This would be done if the project of an economic agreement between the Jewish state and the Holy See, which contains no distinction between sovereign Israel and the territories occupied by it in 1967, is approved by both parties, the news media reported.

The lack of a preamble containing that distinction is at the center of the tension between Christian denominations and Palestinian Liberation Organization or PLO and the Vatican. Continue Reading »

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| June 12, 2012
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Dan Margalit: The writing was on the wall

Perhaps words can’t physically kill the body, but they certainly do kill. They kill the cultural and democratic national norms that obligate us to honor the memory of the Holocaust.

By Dan Margalit

 

There is no way of knowing who spray-painted shockingly offensive slogans on the walls of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on Monday, but the style of the writing suggests that it was particularly radical members of the decidedly anti-Zionist extremist ultra-Orthodox public. Conceivably, someone could have written “thank you, Hitler” and criticized Israel’s ultra-Orthodox just to divert suspicion away from themselves, as Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau has speculated, but for now, the suspicion stands until proven otherwise. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News |
| June 12, 2012
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Israelis now eligible for E2 investor visa to the US

US president signs law adding Israel to list of countries whose citizens are eligible; Israel is among top 20 investors in the US.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

US President Barak Obama on Monday signed a law that adds Israel to the list of countries whose citizens are eligible to receive E2 investor visas.

 

Israeli passports - Photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank
Israeli passports  – Photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

Among those eligible for the investors’ visa are businesspeople and representatives of companies who have made significant investments in the United States or opened businesses there.

Commercial Attache in Washington Ohad Cohen praised the new law, saying “We live in a world where investments are an important part of the ability to conduct trade and there is no doubt that the new law is an important step toward necessary improvements regarding visas, which will contribute to the expansion of trade between the (two) countries.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| June 12, 2012
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MKs to meet Egyptian MPs in Washington

Days after presidential election in Egypt, Israeli members of Knesset will meet with Egyptian counterparts, including members of Muslim Brotherhood, in effort to pave way for talks between higher echelons

By Moran Azulay

 

A delegation of members of Knesset will travel to Washington next week and meet with Egyptian parliament members, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, Ynet reported Monday.

Anti-Israel protest in Cairo Photo: AFP

Anti-Israel protest in Cairo - Photo: AFP

The rare meeting will take place days after the second round of presidential elections in Egypt, and will be mediated by American officials.

The MKs, including Yitzhak Vaknin (Shas) and Hamad Amar (Yisrael Beiteinu), are scheduled to leave for Washington on Sunday, and will stay in the US capital for four days, during which they will attend a conference and meet with their Egyptian counterparts. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| June 12, 2012
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UN-Backed PA NGO to Children: Replace Cigarettes with Guns

PA-based NGO supported by UN branches puts on a puppet show, tells kids to see Jews as “enemies” who kill Arab youth.

By Elad Benari

 

A Palestinian Authority-based NGO, the Burj Luq-Luq Social Center Society organization, recently performed a puppet show for children in east Jerusalem to promote non-smoking.

The educational message delivered by the puppets, however, instructed children to replace cigarettes with machine guns. A video of the puppet show was uploaded to the NGO’s website. It was accessed by the Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) research organization, which monitors and translates the PA-based media. The organization translated the video and presented it on its website. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| June 12, 2012
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Khamenei adviser: Islamic countries need nukes

Forghani, who formerly called on Iran to annihilate Israel, argues that Islamic Republic needs nukes to repel US threat.

By JOANNA PARASZCZUK

 

While Iran continues to deny its nuclear program is anything but peaceful, the Islamic Republic’s Revolutionary Guards-linked Fars News published an op-ed on Monday arguing that Islamic countries – and Iran – need a nuclear arsenal.

Islamic countries need nukes - Photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

Islamic countries need nukes - Photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

The op-ed, entitled “Nuclear Confrontation: The Islamic World Needs to have the Atomic Bomb”, is written in Persian by Alireza Forghani, an analyst and strategy strategist allied with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

After citing Khamenei, Forghani writes that the “Islamic world should arise and scream that an atomic bomb is our right, and so smash America’s and Israel’s dreams.”

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