Archive for December 27, 2012

Court Protects Caesarea’s Antiquities over Construction Plans

A local court recently ruled that building plans for a new neighborhood in Caesarea would have to be put on hold due to the important archaeological artifacts in the area.

By Yoni Kempinski

 

After a long legal battle, a court recently ruled that building plans for a new residential neighborhood in the city of Caesarea would have to be put on hold because of the presence of important archaeological artifacts in the land where the construction is planned.

 Ruins of the Roman aqueduct at Caesarea Maritima - Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Ruins of the Roman aqueduct at Caesarea Maritima – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

The ruling is a victory for the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). Continue Reading »

Israel Electric Company plans to fire 2,000 employees

IEC chairman also reports the benefit of free electricity for employees will be cut as a part of a future reform.

 

The Israel Electric Corporation’s chairman promised on Wednesday to slash the benefit of free electricity for its employees, as well as lay off 2,000 of its permanent workers in a future comprehensive reform of the company.

electricity line old – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

Stressing the importance of entirely overhauling the IEC – which has a debt of over NIS 70 billion – as soon as possible, chairman Yiftah Ron-Tal discussed the provisions of a prospective reform at a Knesset Economic Affairs committee meeting, headed by MK Carmel Shama-Hacohen.

Continue Reading »

Trouble-making Palestinians, Why the Arabs Hate And Kill Them

The Arab League did not hold an emergency meeting to discuss what Palestinians describe as “massacres ” against the refugees in a Syrian camp, home to more than 50,000 people. Those who meddle in the internal affairs of Arab countries should not be surprised when bombs start falling on their homes. Palestinians are not always innocent victims. They bring tragedy on themselves and then want to blame everyone else but themselves.

By Khaled Abu Toameh

 

More than 800 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds others injured since the beginning of the crisis in Syria nearly two years ago.

In the past two weeks, thousands of Palestinians were forced to flee the Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus after Syrian jets bombed their homes, killing dozens of people. Continue Reading »

Israel stops issuing VIP cards to PA officials

Palestinian Authority official reports that the gov’t move was a response to Ramallah’s successful bid to upgrade UN status to non-member state.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Israel is refusing to renew the VIP cards of several senior Palestinian Authority officials, a Palestinian official in Ramallah said Wednesday.

IDF checkpoint – Photo: REUTERS

IDF checkpoint – Photo: REUTERS

The Israeli-issued cards, which enable their holders freedom of movement in the West Bank and Israel, had been granted to dozens of top PA officials over the past two decades.

One of the PA officials affected by the new policy is Nabil Sha’ath, member of the Fatah Central Committee and a former negotiator with Israel. Continue Reading »

Israel now eases Gaza ban on private construction material

Defense Ministry reports that more restrictions eliminated if calm persists

Palestinian official says private companies & individuals now allowed to import previously restricted construction materials following Egyptian-mediated truce deal between Hamas & Israel.

 

By AFP

 

Israel is to begin allowing materials for private construction into Gaza, easing its blockade under the terms of a truce deal, Israeli and Palestinian officials said on Wednesday.

Kerem Shalom crossing (archives) – Photo: Yoav Zitun

The decision will allow private companies and individuals to import construction materials that were previously restricted exclusively to international aid groups under the terms of Israel’s blockade. Continue Reading »

Netanyahu went to Jordan for secret talks with the King on Syrian WMD

Just confirmed on Israel Channel 2 that Israel’s PM Netanyahu traveled to Jordan for secret talks with King Abdullah II on Syrian chemical weapons facilities.

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a secret meeting in Jordan with King Abdullah II, the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported on Wednesday.

Netanyahu with Jordan’s King Abdullah

Netanyahu with Jordan’s King Abdullah, during a past meeting in Amman. – Photo by GPO / Archive

 

According to the report, which has yet to be confirmed by Israeli officials, the meeting focused on the possibility that Syrian President Bashar Assad would use chemical weapons against rebels in the ongoing sectarian conflict raging in that country. Continue Reading »

Rare Find of Temple Era Artifacts on Highway 1 near Jerusalem

Road excavation have unearthed a rare cache of artifacts, testimony of a pagan ritual cult before the Jewish Kingdom abolished them.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The discovery, like may others, was made during road excavation, this time at a new section of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway, known as Highway 1. The archaeological site is known as Tel Motza, at the Motza turnoff less than five miles west of Jerusalem.

History discovered near Jerusalem

History discovered near Jerusalem – Israel news photo: IAA

A ritual building and a cache of sacred vessels date back approximately  2,750 years.

“The ritual building at Tel Motza is an unusual and striking find, in light of the fact that there are hardly any remains of ritual buildings of the period in Judae at the time of the First Temple,” according to Anna Eirikh, Dr. Continue Reading »

Athens put Israel 1st in line to buy up Greece’s infrastructure

The further Erdoğan pushes Israel away, the closer Athens is to Jerusalem.

 

By: Yossi Aloni

Israeli companies, with the encouragement and assistance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, are taking advantage of the economic crisis in Greece to find some bargains while helping to advance the privatization efforts of the Greek government.

Port of Piraeus, Athens, Greece - Photo courtesy Piraeus Port Authority

Port of Piraeus, Athens, Greece – Photo courtesy Piraeus Port Authority

As a means of coping with the ongoing crisis, the Greek government has decided to privatize dozens of government companies, including the national lottery, the old Athens airport, the national oil company, refineries, the ports of Piraeus and Thessaloníki, local water companies, large industrial plants and more. Continue Reading »

In Depth Report: Why Christians are leaving Bethlehem

Christians feel like they are trapped in a cultural and religious ghetto. Even though Bethlehem is enjoying unprecedented financial & tourism growth, the city’s Christian residents are emigrating abroad in droves because of cultural & religious suffocation in a mostly Muslim city.

Persecution and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are only some of the reasons.

By Nadav Shragai

 

 

A falafel costs five to ten shekels in Bethlehem (in Tel Aviv the average is around 15 shekels). Hotel rooms are also substantially cheaper than hotel rooms in neighboring Jerusalem: only $25 per night. Even the Christmas product industry has managed to maintain low prices thanks to imports from the Far East.

Continue Reading »

Widow of Canadian (UN) soldier killed by IDF says Harper’s gov’t protecting Israel

Hezbollah was using UN post as a ‘shield’

“This has not been deliberate targeting, but rather due to tactical necessity.”

December 26, 2012

By JTA

The widow of a Canadian soldier killed by Israeli forces says the country’s Defense Department removed a report of his killing from its website in an effort to shield Israel.

Aftermath of IDF airstrike on UN patrol base Khiam, Lebanon, 2006 – Photo courtesy: Wikipedia commons

Maj. Paeta Hess-von Kruedener and three other United Nations observers were killed in 2006 when Israel’s military shelled their outpost in southern Lebanon during the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

Hess-von Kruedener’s widow, Cynthia, says that the report was removed because of reluctance on the part of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government to criticize Israel, the Ottawa Citizen reported. Continue Reading »

Tzipi Livni reportedly has her sights on Foreign Ministry

Former Foreign Minister Liberman was questioned yesterday for 40 minutes by police.

Report says representatives for Livni and the PM are in talks over Foreign Ministry position.

 

Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni has her sights set on returning to her former post, and has already sent messengers twice to speak to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s confidants about joining forces in the coalition he is expected to form following the upcoming election, Israel Radio diplomatic analyst Chico Menashe reported on Tuesday.

Binyamin Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni -  Photo: Reuters

Binyamin Netanyahu and Tzipi Livni – Photo: Reuters

The report came amid increasing indications that Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman would not be able to be a minister for the foreseeable future due to the ongoing legal investigation against him. Continue Reading »

The Kangaroo Court’s ‘Inhuman’ Rights Council.

Op-ed: The UN Human Rights Council’s long honored noble principles are not being applied  when it comes to Israel

By Dan Calic

 

Have you ever given much thought to the United Nations and whether it’s fulfilling the principles of its charter with equality? Has it occurred to you that this organization, which in theory is supposed to be an unbiased adjudicator of justice, is at times anything but, especially when it comes to Israel?

UN Human Rights Council – Photo: AFP

A closer look at the UN, its charter and how the organization actually functions provides some interesting revelations. Continue Reading »

Court May Be Asked to Stop ‘Destruction of History’ by the Waqf

Israel’s High Court may be the only way for archaeologists to order the gov’t to stop the Waqf from destroying more ‘history’ at the holy site.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The High Court may be the last resort for archaeologists to order Netanyahu to stop allowing the Waqf to destroy history at the holy site.

Temple Mount digging

Temple Mount digging – Israel news photo: Prof. Eli Hollander and architect Gidon Harlap

Following the latest disclosures of massive removal and dumping of dirt containing artifacts from the area of the Holy Temples, attorney Aviad Vesuli told Arutz Sheva he would appeal to the High Court. Continue Reading »

Lee Habeeb on Arabs Like Me

Despising Israel the way Israel is despised in much of the Arab world is all about anti-Semitism. And most anti-Semitism anywhere in the world has its origins in envy.

Maybe, just maybe, Arabs can break out of their self-destructive hatred and envy.

By Lee Habeeb

 

There are two kinds of Arabs in this world. Those who hate Jews, and those who don’t. And in my life, I have met more of the former than the latter.

I am not proud to say that. Arabs will not like me for admitting it. But it is true. And it is something I wish the Obama administration understood. Continue Reading »

Israel’s PM asks Jewish Agency to find resolution on women praying at Western Wall

Israeli police detained 4 women from a liberal Jewish group who approached the holy site in Jerusalem last week, wearing prayer shawls.

“Israel still fails to live up to the ideals upon which it was founded, as a haven for Jews everywhere.”

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the Jewish Agency to find a solution for non-Orthodox Jewish female groups wishing to pray at one of Judaism’s holiest sites.

Women praying during a Selichot service at the Western Wall in Jerusalem.

Women praying during a Selichot service at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. – Photo: Michal Fattal

 

An official said Tuesday Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency, to look into the matter. Continue Reading »