Archive for September 30, 2012

Barak tells Liberman: If Abbas falls, Hamas will take over West Bank

Defense minister Barak denounces Liberman’s attacks on Abbas, warns of Hamas taking control of West Bank if Abbas’ PA collapses.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Defense Minister Ehud Barak over the weekend denounced Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s call for the ouster from office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, claiming that if the PA regime were to lose influence, then the West Bank would come under Hamas control.

DEFENSE MINISTER Ehud Barak - Photo: REUTERS

DEFENSE MINISTER Ehud Barak – Photo: REUTERS

Speaking to associates, Barak said, “Liberman’s comments on the Palestinian Authority and its head do not represent the policy of the Israeli government policy, and harm Israel’s interests. Continue Reading »

UNICEF uses Israel-made water purification tablets in Syria

Israel Chemicals given special authorization to sell water purification tables to UN to rehabilitate Syria’s water sources

By Avital Lahav

Israel Chemicals (ICL) was given a special authorization Sunday to have one of its European subsidiaries sell water purification tablets to UNICEF with the knowledge that they will be used in the agency’s relief mission in Syria.

Syria In ruins. – Photo: Reuters

UNICEF is overseeing a project meant to rehabilitate Syria’s water sources, which have suffered significant damage during the 18-months revolt against President Bashar Assad.

The deal will be carried out by ICL’s Ireland-based subsidiary, Medentech. The company needed government approval for the deal since it involved the delivery of Israeli products to an enemy state. Continue Reading »

Both Egypt & Turkey pledge support for Palestinian cause & denounce Syrian regime

Erdogan says Turkey determined to speak out against Israel’s ‘state terrorism’ and Egypt’s new president & Turkish PM call on China, Russia & Iran to stop backing Assad regime.

Turkey and Egypt sought to boost their alliance in a turbulent region on Sunday, unleashing harsh criticism of the Syrian regime and pledging joint support for the Palestinian cause.

Erdogan and Morsi in Ankara - AP - Sept. 30, 2012

In this photo provided by Turkish Prime Minister’s Press Service,Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, and Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi in Ankara, Sept. 30, 2012. – Photo by AP

Egypt’s new president, Mohammed Morsi, addressed a major congress of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, amid signs that a partnership between their two countries is emerging, and said they both plan to stand by Palestinians and the Syrian people. Continue Reading »

To Save Her Baby, Gaza Mom Goes to Israeli Hospital

A Gaza mother accepts doctors’ advice & took her fourth to Israel after losing first 3 babies to rare birth defects in Egyptian hospitals.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

A Palestinian Authority mother from Gaza is home with a healthy baby thanks to Israeli doctors in Kfar Sava, after a complicated surgery.

After losing three babies to rare birth defects at Egyptian hospitals, Jian Abu Agram, 31, was faced with a difficult decision last year after another child was born last April with the same condition.

After speaking with her doctors, Agram took their advice and traveled through the Erez crossing with her infant daughter to Israel, where doctors at Meir Hospital performed intestinal surgery on the little girl. Continue Reading »

Dore Gold: The Palestinians’ dubious UN move

Abbas is hoping for upgrade at the UNGA that would grant the PA standing at the ICC. That would be a double-edged sword for the PA because they then  assume legal responsibility for Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, which are war-crimes.

By Dore Gold

PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has again declared his intention to carry out his plan to gain U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state with the opening of the U.N. General Assembly this past week. However, it is not entirely clear how the Palestinians will execute their plan this year, after last year’s effort to gain U.N. membership failed in the U.N.

Continue Reading »

Israeli Murdered in US was ‘living the American dream’

Israeli expatriate shot dead alongside 4 others by former employee, started successful business in Minnesota 30 yrs ago.

Rami Cooks, his production director & also former Israeli, was killed as well.

By Yaron Druckman

Reuven Rahamim, 61, who was shot deadat his own office along with four other people on Thursday night in Minneapolis, was living the “American dream” after moving up from being a laborer to an owner of a company with a turnover of over $5 million a year, his friends said.

Another Israeli, Rami Cooks, who worked for Rahamim at his signage manufacturing firm, was also killed in the massacre, as well as three other men and the gunman, who shot himself. Continue Reading »

Acting on Russian intel, Report accuses Syrian forces murdered pilots of downed Turkey jet

Al Arabiya cites Syrian documents described how following Russian ‘guidance and information’, Assad’s forces seized & killed Turkish crew members 

 

The crew members of a Turkish fighter jet that crashed into the Mediterranean earlier this year survived the impact, only to be later killed by Syria forces following intelligence provided by Russia, the Al Arabiya network reported on Saturday, citing leaked confidential Syrian documents.

A Turkish Air Force F-4 war plane fires during a military exercise in Izmir, in this May 26, 2010.

A Turkish Air Force F-4 war plane fires during a military exercise in Izmir, in this May 26, 2010. – Photo by Reuters

Al Arabiya’s report came amid months of speculation concerning the June 22 incident, involved the suspected downing of Turkish F-4 reconnaissance jet. Continue Reading »

Lieberman: Abbas Blames Israel to Divert Responsibility

Lieberman explains to foreign dignitaries how Abbas uses Israel as a scapegoat rather than make peace.

By Maayana Miskin

 

Israel cannot make peace with the Palestinian Authority while it is led by Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said. Lieberman spent his time at the United Nations General Assembly last week meeting with dignitaries from around the world and – despite previous backlash – told them that Abbas is the primary obstacle to peace.

Abbas is uninterested in, and incapable of, providing true leadership, Lieberman accused. Instead, he seeks to use his PA chairmanship to travel the world and incite against Israel, while using Israel as a scapegoat for problems at home, he continued. Continue Reading »

Abbas’ PA Policy of Duplicity

Continue Reading »

New Poll reflects 70% of Americans view Israel favorably

Respondents to a Foreign Policy Initiative survey place Israel as the US’s 2nd best ally in the world, with the UK in top spot.

By JTA

Seventy percent of Americans view Israel favorably, according to a survey conducted by the Foreign Policy Initiative.

Israel US flag - Photo: Courtesy

Israel US flag – Photo: Courtesy

Moreover, when asked their view of Israel, nearly 81 percent of political conservatives share that view while the number is at 68.5 percent for moderates and roughly 63 percent of liberals.

The survey, called Foreign Policy Matters in 2012, was conducted from Sept.

Continue Reading »

Congress blocks White House’s $450M in US aid to Egypt

House GOP chair opposes White House’s desire to send Cairo regime more U.S. aid funds

Yitzhak Benhorin, AP

 

WASHINGTON – The chairwoman of the House committee that oversees foreign aid is blocking $450 million in US assistance to Egypt.

Morsi at the UN Photo: AP

Morsi at the UN – Photo: AP

Kay Granger (R-Texas), said Friday that the State Department had notified Congress of plans to transfer the money to the new government of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, a move that Granger said she would stop.

“This proposal comes to Congress at a point when the US-Egypt relationship has never been under more scrutiny, and rightly so,” the chairwoman of the Appropriations subcommittee on foreign operations said in a statement. Continue Reading »

Iran’s FARS news agency cites fictitious poll saying Ahmadinejad is more popular than Obama in U.S.

Iranian news agency, FARS cited a poll by The Onion, a satirical website , as a credible source, claiming a majority of U.S. rural whites prefer  Ahmadinejad over Obama.

Later, the report was no longer available online.

Iranian news agency FARS reported the results of a Gallup poll on Friday, which it said had found that “an overwhelming majority of rural white Americans said they would rather vote for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than U.S. President Barack Obama.”

A screen grab of the Onion's faux Gallup poll.

A screen grab of the Onion’s faux Gallup poll.

The poll in question, however, was not a real poll, but a fake poll published by the satirical website The Onion. Continue Reading »

Jewish Community Center in Malmo, Sweden Bombed

Blast causes no injuries, only damage to community center. Malmo, where Muslim immigrants make up 30%-40% of the population, sees between 50-100 anti-Semitic incidents per year.  In 2010. the number of incidents doubled previous year’s, with 79 complaints filed.

Israel Hayom Staff

 

A bomb exploded at a Jewish community center in Malmo, Sweden early Friday morning, causing damage but no injuries. The door leading into the community center was shattered, as were several windows.

Anti-Israeli protesters in Malmo, Sweden in March 2009. – Photo: Reuters

Several eye witnesses told police officers that they saw two vehicles speeding away from the scene immediately after the explosion before dawn Friday.

Continue Reading »

After threats & attacks Egypt’s Copts abandon the Sinai

The departure from Sinai Peninsula, of 9 Christians families living near Egyptian border with Israel fuels worries of rise of Islamism.

By REUTERS

 

ISMAILIA – Most Christians living near Egypt’s border with Israel are fleeing their homes after Islamist militants made death threats and gunmen attacked a Coptic-owned shop, a priest said on Friday.

COPTS ATTEND a mass funeral in Cairo
Photo: Mohamed Abd El-Ghany/Reuters

The departure of nine families that made up the small Christian community in the border area of Egypt’s Sinai peninsula will fuel worries about religious tolerance and the rise of militancy after the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak last year.

Continue Reading »

Muslim Brotherhood says it will not meet with Israel

Brotherhood official says that they support Palestinian statehood bid & progress must first be made prior to any official meeting with Israel.

By Roi Kais

 

Two days after Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi spoke before the UN General Assembly and urged action on the Palestinian statehood bid, the Muslim Brotherhood stated that until a breakthrough is made in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, senior Egyptian officials will not meet with their Israeli counterparts.

Morsi at the UN Photo: AP

Morsi at the UN – Photo: AP

Secretary General of the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo Mahmoud Hussein told the Egyptian daily Al-Masri Al-Youm Friday that “Any meeting between the two countries’ top officials prior to the full restoration of the Palestinian people’s rights is a reproachable ideological luxury.” Continue Reading »