March 2012 Archives

Peres asks Obama to free Pollard

Prime Minister Netanyahu also expected to raise issue for second time in meeting with US President.

President Shimon Peres asked US President Barack Obama to release Israeli agent Jonathan Pollard when they met at the White House on Sunday, Peres’s office said Monday.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will also raise Pollard’s fate with the US president when they meet Monday, officials in the Prime Ministers Office said.

Netanyahu officially asked Obama to commute Pollard’s life sentence to time served in January 2011. Since then, Obama has not responded.

Pollard’s wife Esther urged Obama to respond favorably to the repeated requests for the release of her husband, who has been in prison for more than 26 years.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Jonathan Pollard, President Shimon Peres

Israeli court recognizes lesbian couple as biological mothers of child

In precedential ruling, Ramat Gan Family Court criticizes Interior Ministry’s requirement that baby’s egg donor file for adoption.

The Ramat Gan Family Court decided Sunday, in a precedential verdict, to recognize both women of a lesbian couple as the mothers of a baby boy.

Photo by: Dreamstime

The lesbian couple underwent a medical procedure six years ago with the permission of the Health Ministry, in which the egg of one woman was fertilized with the sperm of an anonymous donor and implanted in the womb of her partner.

In 2007 their son was born, but the Interior Ministry only registered the child bearer as the son’s mother.

Category: Israel News | Tags: lesbian couple

Hamas Preacher: Al Aqsa Can’t Remain under Apes, Pigs

‘Palestinian’ incitement against Jews; Hamas preacher declares Al Aqsa cannot remain under the control of “asses carrying books.”

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) exposed another disconcerting video of ‘Palestinian’ incitement against the Jewish people. The video relays a Hamas preacher from Khan Yunis, Gaza, which aired on Al Aqsa TV on February 24, declaring that the Al Aqsa mosque cannot remain under the control of “apes and pigs.”

“We say load and clear: The struggle for Palestine is not a political struggle. It is a purely ideological struggle. It is a clear religious struggle between Islam and Zionism. It is a struggle between Truth and Falsehood, between Islam and heresy, between light and darkness, between good and evil,” the preacher stated. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Al Aqsa, ‘Palestinian’ incitement

2 British journalists accused of spying in Libya

Reporters, employed by Iran’s Press TV, detained after they were found in possession of IDF-issued medical supplies

Two British journalists working for Iran’s Press TV who were detained late last month in Libya are suspected of being spies, the head of the militia which is holding them said on Sunday.

Swehli with the IDF medical supplies Photo: Reuters

Faraj al-Swehli, commander of the Swehli brigade, said his men had found among the journalists’ possessions official Libyan documents, equipment used by the Israeli military and footage of them firing weapons.

“We believe they are spies,” Swehli said in Tripoli. He said it was too early to say what country they were spying for, but that this would be established by their investigation. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: journalist, Lybia, Spies

Snack foods sell for half-price in Arab sector stores

You don’t have to fly to the United States to buy Israeli products at half price.

You don’t have to fly to the United States to buy Israeli products at half price, it seems: Israeli snack manufacturers sell their products at stores catering to the Arab community for significantly less than at shops throughout the rest of the country.

Shoppers at Arab Israeli and Palestinian stores pay as much as half of what shoppers pay at other stores in Israel, TheMarker found.

Take, for example, Pesek Zman, which sparked the latest round of protests and boycott calls against manufacturer Strauss, after a consumer photographed the candy bars selling for half the Israeli price at a supermarket in New Jersey.

Category: Israel News |

Obama will Refuse to Name Red Lines on Iran – NYT

Netanyahu wants U.S. president to lay down timetable on Iran strike, but administration officials say he won’t.

Officials in the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama told The New York Times that Obama will refuse to give Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu what he wants in their meeting later Monday – namely, a clear statement regarding “red lines” on the Iranian nuclear program and a timetable for striking the Islamic Republic if it crosses those lines.

Netanyahu, Obama in previous meeting. Reuters

The Times‘ Mark Landler wrote Saturday, “Mr. Obama will not lay down new red lines on Iran, even if he discusses them with Mr. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Obama

Israeli Scientists make breakthrough in ALS treatment

BGU researcher, colleagues identify compound that may prolong life for Amytotrophic Lateral Sclerosis patients.

Prof. Esther Priel - Photo By BGU

A Ben-Gurion University researcher and her colleagues have identified a chemical compound that may lead to prolonged lifespans for patients with Amytotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Prof. Esther Priel and her team published an article in the February edition of EMBO Molecular Medicine Journal, in which they demonstrate how their compound can induce an increased production of the enzyme telomerase in the bodies of laboratory mice and in human stem cells. The increased amount of telomerase slows the progression of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: ALS, Ben-Gurion University, Lou Gehrig’s disease

Iran ‘May have Tested Nukes in N. Korea in 2010’

Germany’s Die Welt: two nuclear weapons tests in North Korea in 2010 might have been conducted for Iran.

The Sunday morning edition of Germany’s Die Welt, quoted by leading journalist David Goldman in Pajamas Media, reports that Western intelligence agencies detected two nuclear weapons tests in North Korea in 2010, and that one or both of them might have been conducted for Iran. The author is the respected German analyst and former top official Hans Rühle, who quotes new documentation showing that the Iranian regime began its drive for nuclear weapons as early as 1984, under the direct orders of Ayatollah Khomeini. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Iran Nuclear Program, North Korea

Missing IAF cadet found alive and well in Eilat

Eshel Zilberstein, who went missing Saturday night, found safe and sound in coffee shop

Eshel Zilberstein, a 19-year-old Air Force cadet who went missing Saturday night, was found alive and well in Eilat, Ynet reported Sunday night.

Police said he was making his way back to his home in Shimshit, located in Israel’s Lower Galilee region. His reasons for travelling to Eilat remain unknown at this point.

Eshel Zilberstein

An investigation found that he had withdrawn a large sum of money prior to his disappearance.

Police officers eventually found him in a coffee shop in one of Eilat’s tourist districts. It is estimated that Zilberstein’s disappearance is related to his army service. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: cadet, IDF

Israel, Cyprus, Greece sign electric cable deal

287-km. underwater electricity line will connect Israel’s energy supply to EU, via Cyprus and Crete.

Israeli, Greek, Cypriot officials - Photo By IEC

For both Israel and Cyprus, connecting the countries through an underwater cable will foster more than just electrical stability for two energy islands – it will further the sense of “duty and friendship” between two allies, Athanasios Ktoridis, chairman of the board of DEH Quantum Energy, said in Jerusalem on Sunday.

“Through this project we shall develop a better understanding of our diverse and bountiful cultures,” Ktoridis said.DEH Quantum Energy is owned by Greece’s DEH Public Power Corporation, Quantum Energy of Cyprus and the Bank of Cyprus.

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: Cyprus, energy, Greece

Hundreds search for missing IAF cadet

Eshel Zilberstein,19, missing since Saturday night, failed to report to IDF base; footage shows him throwing weapon into trash can

Hundreds of military officials, policemen and civilians are conducting a wide search since the early hours of Sunday morning for Eshel Zilberstein a 19-year-old Air Force cadet who has been missing since Saturday night.

The cadet, from northern Israel enlisted in the IDF several months ago and was scheduled to return to the Hatzerim base in southern Israel where he serves on Sunday. He was carrying his personal weapon.

החיפושים אחרי החייל הנעדר, היום (צילום: עידו ארז)

Searching for Eshel (Photo: Ido Erez)

The search began when he failed to report to the base after a weekend pass. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News |

Obama: All options remain on the table to prevent a nuclear Iran

U.S. President Barack Obama addresses AIPAC conference in Washington; staunchly defends his administration’s record on Israel, citing strong security and diplomatic assistance.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday that the entire world has an interest in preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and that all options remain on the table to keep Iran from going nuclear.

U.S. President Barack Obama addresses AIPAC conference in Washington, March 4, 2012. Photo by: AFP

“We all prefer to resolve this issue diplomatically,” Obama said in an address at the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC’s policy conference in Washington. “Having said that, Iran’s leaders should have no doubt about the resolve of the United States, just as they should not doubt Israel’s sovereign right to make its own decisions about what is required to meet its security needs.

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: AIPAC, Barack Obama, Iran, Israel, US

Hamas Slams Cairo Over Power Crisis

Ismail Haniyeh accused Egypt of prolonging Gaza’s power crisis as Hamas refuses to pay market rates or let the PA tax incoming fuel.

Ismail Haniyeh blamed Egypt on Friday for causing a power crisis that has triggered lengthy blackouts in Hamas-run Gaza.

The outages started in mid-February, leaving households with just six hours of electricity a day, and provoking widespread criticism of Hamas in the coastal enclave.

Hamas has arrested its most vocal local critics amid the power crisis for fomenting division and “threatening the security of the authority.”

Looking to deflect the anger, Haniyeh told supporters Egypt controlled the flow of fuel into Gaza, and insinuated Cairo should have done more to help following the downfall of former president Hosni Mubarak. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Egypt, fule, Gaza, hamas, PA

Liberman: World must intervene in Syria

FM decries “killing you only see in Hollywood”; ‘Washington Post’ quotes US officials as saying Iran aiding Assad.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman - By REUTERS/Uriel Sinai

The international community must intervene to end the massacres in Syria, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Sunday in an interview with Army Radio.

“These sights of killing, you only see in Hollywood – we must put and end to this immediately,” Liberman said. “In this case we must leave political calculations aside,” Liberman said. “We are humans first, before we are politicians, leaders, commentators and journalists. What is happening there in the 21st century is intolerable, and we must help.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: Avigdor Liberman, humanitarian aid, Syria