Archive for July 31, 2013

Captured SA-8 missile system by Syrian rebels threatens Israel

 

Rebel video of chopper hit by SA-8 air defense system exposes a direct threat to Israeli,  Lebanese & Syrian airspaces.

Roi Kais

The video released by Syrian opposition forces which allegedly documents the tracking and interception of an army helicopter shows that rebels have managed to get their hands on Russian-made SA-8, or OSA, air defense system, and now pose a direct threat on the Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian airspaces.

SA-8 in rebels’ hands

However, the system is relatively outdated, and the Syrian army holds a far more dangerous development of the same system, the SA-17, which it purchased from Russia with Iranian funds. Continue Reading »

Israeli math & science students advance from Virtual High School lessons

Over 100 10th graders from 28 schools across Israel took part this past academic year in an initiative that addressed the decline in math & science education.

 

 

More than 100 10th-grade students from 28 schools all over Israel, mostly in the periphery, attended high-level math and physics classes sitting in front of a computer through distance learning this past academic year.

Archive image showing students at a computer lab.

Archive image showing students at a computer lab. – Photo: Tess Scheflan

 

The classes were held inside the schools as part of the regular curriculum, but the classes comprised students from different schools and teachers communicating with them via their computer screens. Continue Reading »

WHO Physician: Polio Virus Found in Israel came from Pakistan

Tests proved the polio virus discovered in southern Israel originated in Pakistan. Israel to commence emergency inoculation program.

By Gil Ronen

 

 

The strain of polio virus recently discovered in southern Israel is exactly the same kind as the type of virus that is prevalent in Pakistan, and which existed exclusively in Pakistan until recently, reports the Pakistan-based publication Dawn.

Dr. Nima Abid, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan, told Dawn that the virus was “definitely” from Pakistan, since “The virus genotype (genetic make-up) is the same as prevalent in Pakistan and this is what the research has indicated.” Continue Reading »

Hamas accuses Abbas’ PA for attacks on group in Egyptian media

Fatah officials speaking for Abbas, dismiss the Hamas charges, saying the documents they presented at the press conference were forged.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
 

 

 
Hamas leaders on Tuesday released documents that, they said, prove that Fatah and the Palestinian Authority are responsible for an Egyptian media campaign against the Islamist movement.
HAMAS GUNMEN hold a poster depicting Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza City June 2012.

HAMAS GUNMEN hold a poster depicting Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza City June 2012. – Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Over the past few months, reports in several Egyptian media outlets have accused Hamas of meddling in Egypt’s internal affairs.

Some reports claimed that Hamas had dispatched gunmen to Sinai and other parts of Egypt to kill civilians and soldiers.

Continue Reading »

EU pays $17 Million to keep east Jerusalem hospital operational

 

Palestinian health minister says PA committed to hospitals which ‘oppose Israeli occupation’s practices in holy capital’.

The Media Line

One of the issues on the agenda for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians currently underway in Washington is the future of east Jerusalem. Israel says east Jerusalem, which it annexed in 1967, will remain part of its united capital while the Palestinians say it must be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Augusta Victoria Hospital Photo: Amod Ben Gershom, GPO

In one respect, though, east Jerusalem is already part of the West Bank through a network of six hospitals – including the well-known Augusta Victoria and Al-Makassed hospitals – which treat thousands of Palestinians each year. Continue Reading »

Peres attends opening of Latvia museum dedicated to rescuers of WWII Jews

President Shimon Peres & Latvian President Andris Berzins attend opening ceremony at the Riga museum.

 

 

President Shimon Peres took part in a ceremony marking the opening of a museum in Latvia dedicated to a couple who saved some 50 Jews from extermination.

The museum in downtown Riga, Latvia’s capital, is located next to the property once owned by Zanis Lipke, a port worker who together with his wife hid Jews in an underground pit measuring some 9 square meters.

Peres at Riga Holocaust museum.

Peres, center, and Berzins, left at the Zanis Lipke Memorial in Riga, June 30, 2013. – Photo: AP

 

The three-story museum resembles an overturned ship and is designed to give visitors a claustrophobic sense of life in a tiny bunker. Continue Reading »

PA minister: Peace process is first step to conquer Israel later

 

Abbas has no mandate, not from the PFLP of the PLO, not Hamas, and not from many of those he rules over. But one thing is in common. Palestinians see peace process as part of long-term plan to defeat and eliminate the State of Israel.

By Ryan Jones

 

There are more than a few in the Palestinian Authority who are upset over the pending renewal of peace talks with Israel. Hamas in particular believes the move to be a detriment to the Palestinian cause.

This symbol is adorning the “Palestinian embassies” all over South America. Pay attention to the map.

Continue Reading »

Seeking Final Solution, Abbas Wants ‘Judenrein’ Palestinian State

 

Palestinian & Israeli negotiators meet for dinner in Washington on Monday, then to hold first work session on Tuesday.

PA President Abbas in Egypt: Not a single Israeli can remain on Palestinian lands.

By Shlomo Cesana, Yoni Hirsch, Israel Hayom Staff and News Agencies

 

After three years of stalemate, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process resumed in Washington on Monday and it remains to be seen whether this round of negotiations will yield a different result than past efforts.

Continue Reading »

Pope Francis may visit Israel next year

As promised, the Pope had a press conference on numerous topics including accepting the Israeli president’s invitation to visit Israel.

By JTA

WASHINGTON  — Pope Francis said he may visit Israel as early as next year.

Pope Francis talks to press – Screenshot

On Monday, at a wide-ranging news conference aboard a plane returning him to the Vatican from Brazil, Francis said he was considering a Holy Land visit next year, The Associated Press reported.

Francis accepted an invitation to visit Israel from Shimon Peres when the Israeli president was at the Vatican in April. No date for the visit was set at the time.

Continue Reading »

Israel’s Defense Minister hints to hidden pressures in prisoner release

 

At absorption base at Tel Hashomer, Defense Minister Ya’alon addressing new draftees said, “We had to decide between bad & worse”.

 

 

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon referred on Monday to unseen considerations that are far from the public eye as the main catalyst for Israel’s decision to release imprisoned Palestinian terrorists.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon visits IDF Home Front Command’s base in Ramle

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon visits IDF Home Front Command’s base in Ramle – Photo: Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry

Speaking at the IDF’s absorption base for new draftees at Tel Hashomer, Ya’alon said, “Releasing prisoners came as a result of choosing a bad option over a worse option… We reached the decision to avoid the worse [option].

Continue Reading »

IDF’s Iron Dome crew housed in tents in ‘unbearable’ heat

As temperatures hit a scorching 42 degrees (107 F), soldiers manning the anti-missile system in Eilat for the past 10 days are without air conditioning.


Soldier’s family: ‘Does no one in the IDF know about the mad heat wave?’. 

By Yoav Zitun

Despite reports of the difficult conditions that IDF Iron Dome soldiers are subjected to, commanders decided to house soldiers of the Eilat Iron Dome battery, which was deployed there only 10 days ago, in tents and not air-conditioned accommodation. Upon a Ynet query, the military said that the issue will be resolved within the next 24 hours. Continue Reading »

Abbas in Cairo in sign of support for Egypt’s post-Morsi interim gov’t

 

Palestinian president meets Egypt’s acting president while Egyptian authorities investigate Hamas’ roll in 2011 prison break that freed Mohammed Morsi, left 14 inmates dead & was the catalyst for the chaos that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

 

 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has met with Egypt‘s interim President Adly Mansour in Cairo in a show of support for the government that took over after Mohammed Morsi‘s ouster.

Egyptian interim President Adly Mansour, meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, July 29.

Egypt’s interim President Adly Mansour meets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at Cairo’s Presidential Palace. – Photo: AP

 

The visit on Monday comes as Egyptian authorities are investigating the role of Abbas’ rival Palestinian group Hamas in a 2011 prison break that freed Morsi and several other members of the Muslim Brotherhood who had been detained under the previous regime. Continue Reading »

Gaza Terrorists Fire Rocket at Israel, No One Hurt

Terrorist’s Rocket exploded in an open area in Shaar Hanegev regional council. The incident was without casualties or reported damage.

By Gil Ronen

 

 

Terrorists fired a rocket Tuesday morning from Hamas-controlled Gaza into southern Israel, as “peace talks” between the Palestinian Authority and Israel began in Washington.

Once AgainThe rocket exploded in an empty area within the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council. No one was hurt and no damage was reported.

Similar attacks took place July 21 and July 18.

Israel withdrew completely from Gaza in the 2005 Diengagement. The pullout failed to bring peace, and southern Israel has been subjected to missile fire ever since. Continue Reading »

PFLP rejects Abbas’ peace talks

 

Mere hours prior to the  beginning of the peace talks, leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine joined Hamas in rejecting negotiations, blaming US bias for past failures, opting for unilateral UN statehood bid instead.

Who exactly is Abbas representing?

By AFP

 

A major faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization rejected new peace talks with Israel just hours before their scheduled resumption in Washington on Monday after a three-year break.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meets PA President Mahmoud Abbas - Photo courtesy of the Palestinian Press Office

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has PA President Mahmoud Abbas agree to negotiate. But who does he represent?- Photo courtesy of the Palestinian Press Office

The leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said that talks’ resumption was a unilateral move by Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas which did not have the backing of the PLO as a whole. Continue Reading »

Obama Urges ‘Honesty’ in Commencement of Israel-PA Peace Talks

On Monday, U.S. President Barack Obama hailed the beginning of renewed peace talks between Israel & the Palestinians , urging both to be ‘honest.’

By Chana Ya’ar

 

U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed the imminent start of renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians on Monday, but urged both sides to approach them with honesty, AFP reported Monday evening.

Barack Obama

Barack Obama – AFP photo

“The most difficult work of these negotiations is ahead, and I am hopeful that both the Israelis and Palestinians will approach these talks in good faith,” he said.

Obama thanked his own top diplomat, Secretary of State John Kerry, for organizing the talks, which were to begin later Monday in Washington with an initial exchange between top negotiators. Continue Reading »