Archive for July 10, 2012

| July 10, 2012
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Israel’s No. 1 handcyclist heads to the Paralympics

 

How an overweight high-tech exec got to be an athletic powerhouse despite two devastating accidents.

 

Until a crippling motorcycle accident in 1999, Israeli high-tech exec Nati Gruberg was a paunchy couch potato. In August, he’ll be one of three Israeli handcyclists among 4,200 athletes from 160 nations heading to the London Paralympic Games.

Nati Gruberg is the top handcyclist in Israel.

Nati Gruberg is the top handcyclist in Israel.

It’s easy to pick out Gruberg from other cyclists rounding the trail at Tel Aviv’s Ganei Yehoshua Park. His muscular arms power a custom-fitted German handcycle as his barefoot legs stay tucked beneath him. Continue Reading »

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| July 10, 2012
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PA announces plan to hold elections, angers Hamas

In blow to Palestinian unity efforts, PA cabinet announces plan to hold local elections in West Bank and Gaza on October 20.

By REUTERS

 

The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday announced it planned to hold local elections in October in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, angering Gaza’s Islamist Hamas rulers.

PA President Abbas and Hamas's Mashaal [file] - Photo: REUTERS/Ho New

PA President Abbas and Hamas’s Mashaal – Photo: REUTERS/Ho New

“The Palestinian cabinet approved during its meeting today … conducting local elections on 20 October 2012 in all local councils in the homeland,” The PA said in a statement.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri responded: “Hamas regards this unilateral step as undermining reconciliation and a decision of escalation that would further complicate the file of reconciliation and therefore, Hamas holds the Fatah movement responsible for the consequences that may result.”

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 10, 2012
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Report: Hezbollah nabs 3 ‘Mossad spies’

Shiite terror group claims to have exposed spy ring in Beirut; says operatives were on Israel, CIA’s payroll

By Roi Kais

 

Hezbollah announced that it has arrested three people it believes were running a spy ring on behalf of the United States and Israel, the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news network reported Tuesday.

Hezbollah Chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah Photo: Reuters

Hezbollah Chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah – Photo: Reuters

The suspects, identified as Mohammed al-Husseini, Jihad Jaloul and Mohammed al-Sabaa, were apprehended in a southern Beirut suburb, the report said.

A report by the Lebanese daily An-Nahar added that the men “were not members of Hezbollah but had good relations with people in the group.” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| July 10, 2012
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U.S. opposes report recommending legalization of West Bank settlements

Obama administration rejects report claiming Israel isn’t occupying the West Bank: ‘we do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity.’

 

The U.S. State Department criticized on Monday night the Edmond Levy committee report which recommended legalizing most outposts in the West Bank, based on the assertion that Israel is not an occupying power.

Migron

The Migron outpost in September, 2011. – Photo by AP

Patrick Ventrell, a U.S. State Department spokesman, spoke to reporters in Washington. “Obviously, we’ve seen the reports that an Israeli Government appointed panel has recommended legalizing dozens of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but we do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity and we oppose any effort to legalize settlement outposts,” siad Ventrell. Continue Reading »

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| July 10, 2012
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Woody Allen Urged to Film Next Movie in Israel

Actress Noa Tishby to Woody Allen: “Don’t worry, we’re gonna bring you home.”

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

The Los Angeles Jewish Journal has launched a new Internet campaign aimed at persuading Woody Allen to film his next movie in Israel.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker makes one movie a year and, according to what he told The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and LA Weekly, he chooses the locations based on “where the money is.”

Within recent years, Allen has filmed in London for “Matchpoint”, in Barcelona for “Vicky Christina Barcelona”, in Paris for “Midnight in Paris”, and most recently, in Rome for “To Rome With Love.” Continue Reading »

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| July 10, 2012
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Israel to spend big to protect gas rigs from terrorist threats at sea

“Shield” naval defense plan to cost extra 3 billion shekels ($757 million), includes four new ships and advanced equipment

• Hezbollah trying to stockpile sophisticated anti-ship missiles • Rigs expected to supply 70 percent of Israel’s gas needs; if they are compromised Israel could be brought to a standstill.

By Lilach Shoval and Israel Hayom Staff

 

In light of increased verbal threats from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to target Israel’s economic interests in the Mediterranean Sea, Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz has authorized a plan to add four new ships to the navy’s fleet to safeguard the country’s gas rigs, located some 185 kilometers (about 115 miles) off the Israeli coast.

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| July 10, 2012
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IAF strikes Hamas terror targets in Gaza Strip

Strikes come after Gaza sniper bullets brake back screen of a car in South, which contained car seat of seven-month-old baby.

By YAAKOV KATZ, YAAKOV LAPPIN, JPOST.COM STAFF

 

The Israel Air Force struck a Hamas terror base and an additional Hamas terror target in the Gaza Strip overnight Monday, according to the IDF Spokesman’s Office.

IAF F15 fighter jet - Photo: Baz Ratner/Reuters

IAF F15 fighter jet
Photo: Baz Ratner/Reuters

The IAF action came after a sniper from Gaza fired on Israeli cars in the South, causing damage to property earlier on Monday. A rocket was also fired from Gaza into the Ashekelon Coast Regional Council area.

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| July 10, 2012
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Olmert responds to court’s decision: There was no corruption

The Jerusalem District court acquitted former PM Olmert in two cases of corruption, and found him guilty of breach of trust in one case.

 

Following his acquittal on Tuesday morning of the charges against him in two major corruption cases, and conviction of breach of trust in a third, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told reporters that he had not engaged in any corruption, and reiterated that “there were no envelopes of cash.”

The Jerusalem District court on Tuesday acquitted Olmert in the Rishon Tours and Talansky affairs, and found him guilty in the Investment Centers affair. Continue Reading »

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| July 10, 2012
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Israel Winning ‘Demographic War’ in Judea and Samaria

Jewish growth in Judea and Samaria has outstripped Arab growth in the past three years – either because of or despite of Netanyahu.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The Associated Press reported the figures and reasoned that the Jewish growth of 18 percent in three years is a result of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s policies, but the truth may be the opposite. Under American pressure, he slapped a 10-month freeze on building new homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria in order to satisfy Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ conditions for a resumption of the moribund “peace process” for the establishment the Palestinian Authority as an independent country. Continue Reading »

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| July 9, 2012
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Israel praised for campaign against human trafficking

According to a new report by the US State Department, Israel is at the forefront of the fight against human trafficking.

By Mark Robins

 

In its “The Trafficking in Persons” Report released late last month, the State Department upgraded Israel from a “Tier Two” to a “Tier One” status, which places Israel in a group of 32 states around the world that the US regards as actively fighting human trafficking.

 


A world map showing the legislative situation in different countries to prevent female trafficking as of 2009 according to Woman Stats Project. – Photo:Wikipedia

This latest upgrade is all the more significant given that, since the 1990s, Israel has been a hotbed for human trafficking, particularly in the form of prostitution and forced labour. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News |
| July 9, 2012
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Israel’s domestic satellite industry saved

Israeli company Spacecom selects Israel Aerospace Industries to produce the Amos 6 communications satellite in a $200 million deal.

By ARIEH O’SULLIVAN

 

The decision to award the construction of Israel’s newest communications satelite to a state-owned company has probably saved the life of the production line and was likely done to preserve independence for defense communications.

The Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has announced that it was selected in an international tender to produce the Amos 6 communications satellite, which is to replace the Amos 2 sometime in 2016. The deal is worth $200 million and includes a satellite ground control station and operating services. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries | Tags: ,
| July 9, 2012
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Palestinian youths arrested for setting J’lem fire

Police: Nationalist motive suspected in arson, which led to destruction of over 15 acres of natural forest and brush. Suspects remanded for eight days

By: Noam ‘Dabul’ Dvir

 

Two teens, 17 and 18, from the Palestinian village of Kfar Katna, are suspected of setting a large wildfire near Kibbutz Ma’aleh Hahamisha some two weeks ago. According to police, the two admitted to the act when questioned, as well as to setting other fires. The Ofer Military Court has remanded them for eight days.

The two suspects were arrested by Jerusalem District Police and Border Police troops who entered the village and took them into custody. Continue Reading »

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| July 9, 2012
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Syria’s Assad says not afraid of meeting same fate as Mubarak, Gadhafi

In rare interview with Western media, Assad says the U.S. ultimately bears responsibility for the deaths of innocent civilians in the Middle Eastern nation.

 

Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview broadcast Sunday that he is not afraid of meeting the same fate as the deposed and disgraced leaders of Libya and Egypt, saying he has nothing in common with them.

In one of his rare interviews with Western media since the deadly uprising in Syria erupted last year, Assad brushed off a question about whether he feared for his family, including his wife and three children. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 9, 2012
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Hamas Destroys Arab Homes on ‘Gov’t Land;’ UN Silent

The headline “Government destroys Arab homes” normally would draw fire from media and the UN, but not if it the government is Hamas.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The headline “Government destroys Arab homes on ‘government land’” normally would draw fire and brimstone from mainstream media and the United Nations if Israel were the subject, but not if the government is Hamas.

Armed Hamas army in Gaza

Armed Hamas army in Gaza – Reuters

The Hamas regime in Gaza began demolishing several homes on Sunday, according to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency, closely aligned with the Palestinian Authority.

One resident told the news agency that more than 120 families live in a four-acre area that is now under the threat of destruction although they have been living there since 1948, when Gaza was part of Egypt. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| July 9, 2012
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New book claims Israel sent Mossad hit teams to Iran

According to authors Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman in “Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel’s Secret Wars,” Israeli operatives have killed at least four Iranian nuclear scientists • Methods include targeting them from motorcycles, an assassination technique used by the Israeli spy service, the Mossad.

By The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

 

A new book claims Israel’s spy agency, the Mossad, dispatched assassins into Iran as part of a campaign to sabotage the country’s disputed nuclear program. In their newly published book, “Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel’s Secret Wars,” authors Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman say Israeli operatives have killed at least four Iranian nuclear scientists, with methods including targeting them from motorcycles, an assassination technique used by the Israeli spy service, the Mossad.

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