Archive for August 7, 2012

British bank may be stripped of state banking license after hiding Iranian dealings

In violation of U.S. laws, British bank Standard Charter failed to disclose $250 billion deal with Iran.

By Reuters

New York’s top bank regulator threatened to strip Standard Chartered Plc of its state banking license, saying the British bank was a “rogue institution” that hid $250 billion in transactions tied to Iran, in violation of U.S. law.

The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) said Standard Chartered “schemed” with the Iranian government and hid from law enforcement officials some 60,000 secret transactions to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in fees over nearly 10 years, also exposing the U.S. Continue Reading »

Israeli Emigration at 40-Year Low; Israelies are Staying Home

The number of Israelis leaving home for the Diaspora declined to a 40-year low, & many “yordim”  (emigrants) – are returning Home.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The number of Israelis leaving home for the Diaspora declined to a 40-year low, and many “yordim” – emigrants – are returning.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) released data for 2010, the latest period available, and said that the number of Israelis who left the country to live elsewhere was 15,600, 300 fewer than in 2009. Most of the emigrants are from Europe, and only 23 percent are American.

After taking into account new immigrants, the figure for net emigration was only 5,400, which is slightly more than in 2009. Continue Reading »

Anti-Semitism In Egypt Is Back in Fashion

The Egyptian revolution that overthrew  Mubarak, held great promise &  exposed the challenges facing Egyptian politics & culture. Anti-Semitism, if nothing else, has always been a sign of a deeply damaged culture.

 

 

A travel tip for the international executive class: If you find yourself doing business in Egypt and you feel the urge to insult your interlocutor, 1) try not to insult your interlocutor; and 2) if you must, cast aspersions on the chastity of the person’s mother or sister. This insult will be taken hard, but it may eventually be forgiven.

Whatever you do, don’t accuse the person of being Jewish. Continue Reading »

Egypt’s Brotherhood & Hamas say Israelis orchedtrated Sinai attack

Muslim Brotherhood suggests the attack “can be attributed to Mossad” to undermine Morsy; Hamas & Palestinian groups accuse Israel with aim of driving wedge between Palestinians & Egypt.

By REUTERS, KHALED ABU TOAMEH

The Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas each blamed Israel Monday for orchestrating a terrorist attack in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula which killed 16 Egyptian soldiers and wounded seven a day earlier. The accusations prompted a swift dismissal from Israel, which was also targeted in the attack.

Egyptian soldiers at checkpoint in Rafah – Photo: REUTERS

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said on its website that the attack “can be attributed to Mossad” and was an attempt to thwart Islamist President Mohamed Morsy. Continue Reading »

Knesset Member Danon: PA’s UN Bid Means Israeli Sovereignty Bid

PM must tell PA leaders that if they seek recognition as a state in ‘West Bank’, Israel will seek to annex the region, MK says.

By Maayana Miskin

 

Likud MK Danny Danon has a response to the Palestinian Authority’s plan to seek United Nations recognition as a state. If the PA seeks statehood unilaterally, he told Arutz Sheva, Israel must unilaterally annex Judea and Samaria (Shomron).

Past experience with the PA’s UN bids shows there is no need to fear the “political tsunami” predicted by Defense Minister Ehud Barak last time, he said.

However, while the PA bid is not risky, it deserves a “fitting” response, he said. Continue Reading »

Netanyahu’s outreach for dialogue with Erdogan was rejected

Officials say PM Netanyahu reached out to his Turkish counterpart, Recep  Erdogan, for a reconciliation with Turkey, but Erdogan responded, “there is nothing to talk about” until Israel apologizes for Mavi Marmara raid.

By Shlomo Cesana and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan refuses to speak with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, senior officials in Jerusalem revealed on Sunday, saying that Israel’s efforts at establishing a meaningful dialogue with the Turkish government had failed.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan refuses to reconcile with Israel. – Photo: AP

The officials said Netanyahu asked to speak with Erdogan and sought to set up a meeting between the two to resolve the ongoing crisis between their countries.

Continue Reading »

Israel’s Sourasky Medical Center successfully perform ‘Deep-Brain Implantation’

Groundbreaking surgical treatment designed to combat epilepsy that does not respond to drugs.

A patient with intractable epilepsy that has not improved with medications has undergone implantation of electrodes deep in his brain to stimulate neurons and halt his attacks. Prof. Itzak Fried of Sourasky Medical Center performed the surgical treatment, which has been a success thus far. It is available in some centers abroad but is not yet in the basket of health services, and has not been attempted on patients at other medical centers with expertise in deep brain stimulation (DBS).

X RAY shows DBS probes in the brain

X RAY shows DBS probes in the brain
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Fried, the head of the functional neurosurgery unit at the Tel Aviv hospital, said on Sunday, when the operation was announced, that he used a DBS system made by the Medtronic company based in Switzerland.

Continue Reading »

Iranian TV airs confessions in the assassinations of scientists

14 suspects in  the murder of Iranian nuclear scientists confess to the killings on state television; say they were trained at a Tel Aviv facility

By Associated Press

 

Iranian state television on Sunday broadcast purported confessions by more than a dozen suspects in connection with the killing of five nuclear scientists since 2010.

Car of killed Iranian scientist

The broadcast showed some of the suspects re-enacting the assassinations in different districts of the capital Tehran. The 14 suspects shown on TV included eight men and six women.

The TV showed pictures from a military garrison it said was a training camp outside Tel Aviv in Israel. Continue Reading »

Barak: Terrorist Attack on Israel-Sinai border is ‘wake-up call’ for Egypt’s gov’t

Sunday’s terrorist attack was the largest assault from the Sinai by global jihad operatives against both Egyptian & Israeli targets.

 

 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said that Sunday’s attack by insurgents in Sinai would serve as a “wake-up call for the Egyptians to take matters into their own hands.”

One of the armored vehicles used in the attack.

One of the armored vehicles used in the attack. – Photo by IDF Spokesman

Speaking during a briefing at the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday, Barak added that throughout the incident, Israel was in touch with the Egyptian side, and that a deadlier attack was avoided. Continue Reading »

Watch: New Romney’s Presidential Ad Blasts Obama’s Record on Israel

Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign has released an ad that criticizes the Obama administration’s treatment of Israel.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

A week after returning from his trip to Israel, Poland and London, the Mitt Romney presidential campaign released a new advertisement, entitled “Cherished Relationship,” which criticizes the Obama administration’s treatment of Israel and draws clear distinctions between the incumbent’s record on Israel and Romney’s record on Israel.

Netanyahu meets Mitt Romney in Jerusalem - Reuters

Netanyahu meets Mitt Romney in Jerusalem – Reuters

“Who shares your values?” the ad begins, with a voice-over adding, “As president, Barack Obama has never visited Israel and refuses to recognize Jerusalem as its capital. Continue Reading »

Possible Infiltration from Gaza Border as Dozens of Rocket fired into Israel

20 Egyptian soldiers killed by local extremists who then reportedly tried to infiltrate into Israel. Dozens of rockets fired at Sderot area.

By Gil Ronen

 

IDF forces exchanged fire with terrorists who fired mortar shells at Israel Sunday evening near Kerem Shalom, on the border with Gaza.

There was reportedly also an infiltration into Israel by an enemy vehicle during the exchanges of fire. The IDF reportedly hit the vehicle from the air and the terrorists in it were killed.

Initial reports from Gaza said that members of an extremist Islamic group attacked two Egyptian army posts in the Egyptian part of Rafiah with anti-tank rockets and gunfire, killing 15 Egyptian officers and soldiers. Continue Reading »

The Israel Law Center (Shurat HaDin): UK company servicing Iran tankers

Inmarsat risks criminal proceedings in US courts, saying satellite distress system was not sold to Iran, but part of “public service obligations”.

By JOANNA PARASZCZUK

 

A Tel Aviv-based civil rights group accused UK satellite operator Inmarsat plc at the weekend of admitting it provides its technology to Iranian oil tankers.

Iranian crude oil supertanker "Delvar" - Photo: Tim Chong/Reuters

Iranian crude oil supertanker “Delvar” – Photo: Tim Chong/Reuters

Shurat Hadin (Israel Law Center) warned Inmarsat last month that the company could risk civil as well as criminal proceedings in US courts if it did not stop supplying its guidance services to Iranian military vessels and tankers.

Rich Harris, Inmarsat’s Senior Vice President told Shurat Hadin that the group’s allegations had no basis, and that Inmarsat is not violating sanctions. Continue Reading »

Bloomberg Report: ‘Israel has enough gas to last 150 years’

Bloomberg news agency reports Mediterranean explorations have uncovered $240 billion worth of gas, far more than Israel can ever use.

By Ynet

 

 

Gas exploration companies Noble Energy Inc., Delek Group Ltd. and others have discovered enough natural gas to supply Israel’s domestic needs for the next 150 years, an investigative report published by Bloomberg news agency claimed on Saturday.

Noble Energy gas rig

 

 

“The gas would be worth about $240 billion, equal to Israel’s annual economic output, based on today’s prices in the UK,” the report claimed.

The report described Israel’s ongoing debate over how to manage the gas discoveries. Continue Reading »

Another Palestinian militant riding his motorcycle in Gaza dies from Israeli air strike

The 2nd militant member of the Popular Resistance Committees was wounded in the ‘surgical strike’.

By Avi Issacharoff and Gili Cohen

 

An Israel Air Force craft targeted a motorcycle traveling in the Gaza city of Rafah on Sunday, killing one militant and wounding another.

IDF strike - AP - 10.3.2012

A Palestinian trying to extinguish a fire after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. – Photo by AP

According to initial reports, the attack was a surgical strike against a member of the Popular Resistance Committees militant organization.

An IDF statement released after the attack said that the assault was a joint operation by the army and the Shin Bet, adding that militant squad targeted belonged to a global Jihad organization. Continue Reading »

Rumsfeld Supports Netanyahu: Sanctions are not Enough

Donald Rumsfeld says PM Netanyahu is totally correct: Sanctions won’t work, & Israel should not tell the US of its plans to attack Iran

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is totally correct that sanctions will not stop Iran’s drive for nuclear capability, and Israel would not have to advise the United States of any plans to attack Iran, former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told Fox News.

“I think the prime minister of Israel, Netanyahu, is probably correct. Their intelligence on Iran is excellent. Sanctions tend not to work very well over a long period of time, and they do have the effect, tending to damage and hurt the people, as opposed to the governments,” said the former Cabinet officer in the Bush administration. Continue Reading »