Archive for January 30, 2013

Australian elections scheduled for Yom Kippur

Liberal MP protests decision saying, “disenfranchises many Jewish Australians.”
Jewish leader responds: “not a problem…”

By SAM SOKOL

 

Australia’s upcoming national elections will be held on September 14 -which is the date on which Yom Kippur falls this year, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced on Monday, arousing heated debate among politicians and Jewish community leaders.

Australia's new Prime Minister Julia Gillard - Photo by APAfter her announcement at the National Press Club in the capital Canberra, MPs from both Labor and the Liberal party were quick to attack the decision, both due to the long campaigning season that it has inaugurated and because some believe it to be insensitive to Australia’s Jewish community.

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Foreign reports: Israel Air Force hit target on Syria-Lebanon border

Arab media claim IAF fighter jets conducted 3 separate aerial incursions into Lebanon overnight. US website says target was weapons convoy; IDF remains hushed

By Roi Kais

 

“Israeli forces have attacked a target on the Syrian-Lebanese border overnight,” foreign and Arab media sources alleged Wednesday, saying that 12 IAF jets breached Lebanon’s airspace on Tuesday.

IAF F-16i (Sufa) – Photo courtesy: Israel Air Force

The US-based Al-Monitor website quoted Lebanese sources as saying the target was a weapons convoy traveling near Syria’s border with Lebanon. The report has not been corroborated by any Israeli source and the IDF refused to comment on the matter. Continue Reading »

Zionist Rabbi Teaches: ‘Equal Burden’ Means More Work for Everyone

Leading Zionist Rabbi warns that forcing hareidi men to join the IDF could become a bigger burden to the army. He suggests learning from kibbutz, for alternative idea.

By Maayana Miskin

 

Coercing hareidi-religious men into joining the IDF could make life harder for all Israelis by creating a burden on the military, Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed warned Wednesday, speaking to Arutz Sheva. Rabbi Melamed is a leading figure in the religious-Zionist world, where army service is valued as a mitzvah (positive command) and is dean of the Beit El Yeshiva in Binyamin as well as rabbi of the community. Continue Reading »

High Court overrules Rabbinical Court, man refusing divorce stays jailed

High Court blocks Rabbinate in unprecedented move, to allow wife’s civil damages suit against husband to be heard as he remains jailed.

 

In an unprecedented move, the High Court of Justice last week intervened in a case being heard by the Supreme Rabbinical Court and blocked the release of a husband who had been jailed for refusing to divorce his wife.

The High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice – Photo by Michal Fattal

 

The rabbinical court − the top court of appeals in the state rabbinical court system − was chaired by Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and included Rabbi Tzion Boaron and Rabbi Eliezer Igra, a candidate for the post of chief rabbi. Continue Reading »

Israel preparing for possible war in north

This week the IDF deployed 2 of its vaunted Iron Dome anti-missile systems to the northern port city of Haifa in anticipation of armed action.

Israel cannot accept a situation where Hezbollah holds the threat of chemical weapons over its citizens.

 

By Israel Today Staff

 

Israel is growing increasingly concerned that Syria’s ongoing civil war is going to result in open conflict between Jewish state and either Syrian forces or Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist militia.

Israel’s border with Syria – Photo: Israeltoday.co.il

Israel has warned that if Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons finds its way into Hezbollah hands, Israeli forces will take preemptive action. Continue Reading »

Rivlin: Time for Knesset to pass constitution

Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin says conditions are ripe for permanent constitution, saying “The election results show that Israelis have reset their priorities & prove that many are no longer resigned to having the peace process top the agenda,”

By Gideon Allo

The next Knesset is more likely to draft a constitution, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin told a forum at the Israel Democracy Institute on Monday.

Speaker Reuven Rivlin says Israel may get a constitution because of the election results. – Photo: Dudi Vaaknin

“In the 19th Knesset conditions are going to be more ripe for drafting a constitution. The election results show that Israelis have reset their priorities and prove that many are no longer resigned to having the peace process top the agenda.

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Christians United For Israel press to block Hagel confirmation

CUFI  presence in Hagel’s opposition shows conservatives’ determination in stopping Chuck Hagel’s confirmation

By Ron Kampeas

 

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Chuck Hagel has made strides in his bid to secure Senate confirmation as defense secretary, winning the endorsement of leading Jewish Democratic senators and meeting with the leaders of major American Jewish groups.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, shown speaking to CPAC, a convention of political conservatives, in February 2012, has been key to the Republican pushback against the nomination of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary.  (Gage Skidmore/creative commons)

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, shown speaking to CPAC, a convention of political conservatives – Photo: Gage Skidmore/creative commons

But conservative pro-Israel opposition remains fierce, bolstered by the pivotal role being played by Christians United For Israel, the Texas-based group founded by Pastor John Hagee.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the first senator to come out against Hagel’s nomination, did so at Hagee’s behest, both men revealed on Monday. Continue Reading »

Hamas’ Mashaal to challenge Abbas for PLO presidency

Palestinian sources as saying Qatar & Jordan are pushing for Mashaal to chair PLO, according to ‘Al-Quds Al-Arabi’.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal is seeking to take over the presidency of the PLO, currently chaired by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi reported on Monday.

PA chief Abbas and Hamas leader Mashaal in Cairo - Photo by Reuters

According to the report, Mashaal’s desire to chair the PLO is behind his decision not to stand for reelection to his position as chairman of Hamas’s Political Bureau.

Al-Quds Al-Arabi quoted Palestinian sources as saying several Arab states, led by Jordan and Qatar, are pushing for Mashaal to chair the PLO as a way of getting Hamas to sign the Oslo Accords and recognize Israel.

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The not ‘Jewish enough’ Ms. Margolis

The granddaughter of Holocaust survivor who came to Israel as child and serves as IDF an officer was stunned to find Rabbinate does not deem her ‘Jewish enough’ to marry under religious law.

Reuven Weiss

 

In less than four months, Rita Margolis, 26, will marry 27-year-old Captain A. Despite the fact that her fiancé serves in a combat unit and Margolis is a combat hummer operator, who repeatedly finds herself in reserve duties, the State of Israel is disallowing the two to marry, “by law.”

Rita Margolis Photo: Shaul Golan

Rita Margolis – Photo: Shaul Golan

Due to the sensitivity of his military position, Captain A. Continue Reading »

Iranian Arms Shipment Seized Off Coast of Yemen

Yemeni coast guard intercepted a ship carrying a “substantial” cache of illegal weapons that officials suspect were being smuggled from Iran.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

Yemeni authorities working with the United States Navy intercepted a ship carrying a substantial cache of illegal arms that U.S. officials suspect were being smuggled from Iran.

Followers of Yemen's al-Houthi Shi'ite group armed with weapons

Followers of Yemen’s al-Houthi Shi’ite group armed with weapons – Reuters

The arms, intercepted aboard the ship in Yemeni territorial waters in the Arabian Sea last Wednesday, included surface-to-air missiles, potent explosives and rocket-propelled grenades, a U.S. official and Yemen’s government announced Monday.

The crew of the USS Farragut, a Naval destroyer, was working with Yemeni authorities when they spotted the vessel, said an official in the Obama administration, speaking on the condition of anonymity. Continue Reading »

Governor of Bethlehem forbids any contact with Israel

Gov. Hamayel issues an order forbidding all Palestinian institutions in his district from having any communication with Israel.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Bethlehem’s PA governor, Abdel Fattah Hamayel, on Sunday issued an order banning Palestinian institutions in his district from having any direct contact with Israel.

Bethlehem

The order applies to all municipal and village councils in the Bethlehem area, as well as Palestinian NGOs and trade institutions.

The governor justified the ban by arguing that Israeli authorities have been avoiding dealing with Palestinians through the Palestinian District Coordinating Office [DCO].

“In wake of repeated Israeli calls to deal directly with Palestinian municipalities and institutions and hold meetings and conferences with the Israeli side, it is forbidden to have direct contact or coordination with Israel,” Hamayel stated in his order. Continue Reading »

Syria’s chemical/biological arsenal is now within Hezbollah reach

PM Benjamin Netanyahu met with a U.S. delegation about the developments in Syria, reporting that the potential outcomes facing Israel are “bad, bad& worse”.

Just off the Syrian coast, Russian navy conducts large-scale training exercise.

By Shlomo Cesana & Daniel Siryoti

Israel continued to warn the world on Monday of the potentially devastating outcome if Syria’s chemical arsenal falls into the hands of rebels, or worse, Hezbollah, as Lebanese media outlets reported that the Lebanese terror group had already obtained some chemical weapons and long range missiles.

Footage of Hezbollah fighters in Syria on Monday. – Photo: Channel 10 News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Sunday met with a delegation from the U.S. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Shin Bet Reports it Prevented 100 ‘Serious’ Terror Attacks in 2012

For the 1st time in 4 decades, 2012 saw no Israelis killed in terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria. BUT, despite the lack of deaths in Judea and Samaria, there was an increase in the number of attacks there.

By JNS.org

 

Israel’s domestic spy agency, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), says it thwarted 100 “serious” terror attacks in 2012, of which a third were planned kidnappings, the agency revealed in a report published Thursday. The Shin Bet said it arrested 2,300 terror suspects, which led to 2,170 indictments.

Shabak (Shin Bet) Emblem

Half of the planned kidnapping attacks were planned roadside bombs followed by small-arms fire. Continue Reading »

PLO’s apathy at Hamas’s Talibanization of the Gaza Strip

Instead of seeking unity with Hamas, the PLO leadership should be making a bigger effort to prevent radical Islam from extending its control to the West Bank.

By Khaled Abu Toameh

 

Those who thought that Hamas would ever establish a modern and liberal regime in the Gaza Strip received another reminder this week of how the radical Islamist movement is pursuing its effort to create a Taliban-style entity in the territory that has been under its control since 2007.PA chief Abbas and Hamas leader Mashaal in Cairo - Photo by Reuters

The reminder came in the form of a decision taken by the Al-Aqsa University administration in the Gaza Strip to force female students to dress in accordance with Islamic teachings. Continue Reading »

Anti-Semitic incidents in Australia rise by 5% for 2012

Jews were pelted with eggs and other objects while walking to synagogue.

Comments yelled at Jewish people in Australian streets such as “Hitler didn’t do his job properly,” and “It’s a pity that the Germans didn’t burn the lot of you.” were common.

By JTA

 

SYDNEY, Australia  – Anti-Semitic incidents in Australia rose by five percent over the previous 12-month period, according to a new report.

anti-Semitic bannerJeremy Jones, a former president of the Executive Council of Australia Jewry, released data this week showing that during the 12-month period from October 2011 until September 2012, there were 543 incidents of “racist violence” against Jewish Australians documented by Jewish organizations. Continue Reading »