Archive for July 10, 2013

New Haredi ‘tourist spot’: IKEA’s summer sale

 

Ultra-Orthodox institutions offer special stop after trips to burial places of biblical figures and rabbis’ tombs, to the Swedish home furnishing store in Rishon Lezion.

By Moshe Heller

Home furnishing stores in Jerusalem’s Mea Shearim neighborhood are in for some bad news: Ultra-Orthodox institutions have begun offering special trips to IKEA’s summer sale in the central city of Rishon Lezion.

File:903. Ikea Israel near Nethanya.jpg

IKEA in Israel – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

A local bus company recently organized a trip from Beit Shemesh to Rachel’s Tomb, the Western Wall and the IKEA store in Rishon Lezion, which is in the midst of its summer sale. Continue Reading »

FOUND: Remains of rocket fired from Egypt last week

The rocket attack last Thursday had been the 1st to hit near Israel’s southern tourist city since a similar attack back in April.

By Reuters

 

 

Israeli troops found the remains on Tuesday of the first rocket to be fired from Egypt since the July 3 overthrow of the Islamist government there, a military official said.

A rockets fired at Eilat in April.

A rockets fired at Eilat in April. – Photo courtesy: Eilat Police

 

Both Israelis and Egyptians reported hearing several explosions in the southern city of Eilat on Thursday, the day after President Mohammed Morsi was toppled from power in Egypt.

Israel detected no signs of any cross-border shooting, but found the remains of a rocket on Tuesday, an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Continue Reading »

FOUND: Earliest alphabetical written text ever uncovered in Jerusalem near Temple Mount

Hebrew University Archaeologist: This is the earliest alphabetical written text ever discovered anywhere in Jerusalem.

By Gil Ronen

 

Working near the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Hebrew University of Jerusalem archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar has unearthed the earliest alphabetical written text ever uncovered in the city.

The shard- Courtesy of Dr. Eilat Mazar – Photo: Noga Cohen-Aloro

 

The inscription is engraved on a large pithos, a neckless ceramic jar found with six others at the Ophel excavation site. According to Dr. Mazar, the inscription, in the Canaanite language, is the only one of its kind discovered in Jerusalem and an important addition to the city’s history. Continue Reading »

New Christian Arab party recognizes Israel as the home of the Jewish people

“The New Alliance” supports national service, entering the IDF & recognizes Israel as the home of the Jewish people.

“We are completely Israeli, and then comes religion,” says party founder Bashara Shlayan of Nazareth.

By Dror Eydar

 

The events in the Middle East have unleashed deep sociological and ideological processes, of which we are only seeing the beginning. It is not only political Islam in the eye of the media storm. Throughout the various Arab countries in the region, the bruised and battered Christian community is raising its voice. Israel appears to be the only country in the region whose Christian community does not have a negative emigration ratio as its members flee West in pursuit of a more promising life.

Continue Reading »

ICC looks into war-crimes lawsuit against Israel

The Int’l Criminal Court prosecutor said  that she would open a preliminary examination into the Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla, which left 9 Turkish peace activists dead.

By JTA

 

 

The president of the International Criminal Court has taken the first steps toward an investigation of a war crimes lawsuit against Israel over the 2010 raid on the Mavi Marmara.

Original Photo Published by Hurriyet

Original Photo Published by Hurriyet shows hand holding knife above stabbed and bloody IDF soldier.

Sang-Hyun Song of South Korea appointed a three-judge panel to study the procedural requirements for the suit. The appointment puts in place the legal apparatus for an investigation but does not actually launch a probe, The Associated Press reported.

Continue Reading »

Haredi attack on Haredi soldier in Jerusalem summons political outrage

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu condemned the attack, vowing to “take a hard stand against those who attempt to strike fear in citizens fulfilling their duty to the state.”

 

 

A haredi soldier was attacked by dozens of haredi men on Tuesday night in the ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea She’arim.

Haredi combat soldiers – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

Haredi combat soldiers – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

According to the police, at approximately 7:30 p.m., the soldier, who was in uniform, was surrounded and threatened by approximately 100 haredi men on Gimzo Street in the heart of Mea She’arim, but managed to flee to a nearby building and alert the police.

Continue Reading »

Canadian and European activists instigating another flotilla from Gaza

Gazans & outside activists plan to sail to Europe in September from Gaza carrying local produce.

 

Organizers say flotilla’s goal is to raise awareness on Gaza naval blockade. 

By Ahiya Raved

Canadian and European activists staying in Gaza are planning to launch a flotilla which will carry Gazan produce and textiles from the strip to Europe. The vessel, currently a fishing boat, is being converted to a cargo ship, and organizers are planning to set sails in the near future.

תעשה את כל הדרך מעזה לאירופה? ספינת הפעילים

Converted to cargo ship

The project’s goal, the activists say, is to raise public awareness to the strife of the maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

Israeli Company Finds Way To Treat ‘Lazy Eye’ In Children

A more comfortable solution, far less stressful on the children & it’s also quite cool.

 

 

For children suffering from amblyopia (“Lazy Eye”) treatment options are limited. They can either wear an eye patch all day or apply stinging atropine drops each morning.

Amblyz - The Cool Way To Treat 'Lazy Eye'Israeli company XPAND has a solution that is not only more comfortable – it’s also quite cool.

XPAND’s product, the Amblyz eyeglasses, works on the same principle as other methods of treatments: obstructing the stronger eye in order to “force” the weaker eye to develop.

The glasses obstruct the strong eye in automatic, intermittent intervals using an electronic shutter attached to one of the lenses, creating a black lens. Continue Reading »

Israel to exchange weapons for migrants with African countries

Senior Israeli official says deal nearly completed with African governments to take tens of thousands of migrant expatriates in exchange for weapons, military training & ‘Israeli know how’.

By Itamar Eichner

Israel is close to signing a deal with several African countries who will accept tens of thousands of African migrants currently residing in Israel in exchange for a benefits package including security, economic and agricultural aid.

Sudanese migrants in Tel Aviv - Photo: Moti Kimchi

Sudanese migrants in Tel Aviv – Photo: Moti Kimchi

According to a senior official, the security aid will include Israeli arms and military knowledge and training.

Such deals are close to being finalized with at least three African countries, the official said. Continue Reading »

AJC Petitions Court to Uphold Convictions of 10 pro-Palestinian Activists

Jewish organization filed brief to the Appellate court seeking to uphold convictions of 10 hooligans for interrupting speech given by Ambassador Michael Oren at University of California ay Irvine.

By Rina Tzvi

 

Jewish groups are urging the Appellate Division of the California Superior Court in Orange County to uphold the conviction of 10 individuals for repeatedly interrupting Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren’s speech at the University of California at Irvine.

“The First Amendment guarantee of freedom of speech may not be invoked to protect those who intentionally disrupt a lawful meeting,” said Marc D. Stern, General Counsel of the American Jewish Committee (AJC). Continue Reading »

Israeli Arab Priest: Our future is with Israel

Prior to being silenced by his Church’s hierarchy, Nazareth clergyman informs Israelis that many Arab Christians seek a closer relationship with the Jewish State.

By Ryan Jones

 

Father Gabriel Nadaf, an Arab Christian priest from the area of Nazareth, told Israeli media a week ago that the future of Arab Christians is in becoming one with the Jewish state.

Jubrail (Gabriel) Nadaf a 39-year-old Arab Christian priest – Photo: Michel Dot Com(

Israel Today has several times in recent months reported on the activities of Father Nadaf and a growing movement in Nazareth to encourage young Arab Christians to join the Israeli army and fully integrate into Israeli society. Continue Reading »

Syrian rebels claim Israel Air Force took out Assad’s S-300 battery

Free Syrian Army reported an IAF air strike destroyed the regime’s warehouse storing Russian anti-aircraft missiles and launchers.

Syria’s al-Haqiqa website says explosion at the Latakia arms depot was also executed by Israel, destroying Syrian Army’s Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles.

By Daniel Siryoti, News Agencies & Israel Hayom Staff

 

The Free Syrian Army claimed Monday that the Israel Air Force had destroyed a warehouse holding Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles east of the city of Homs in western Syria. The rebels’ claim has not been corroborated by any other independent source.

Continue Reading »

Snowden verifies Israel & U.S. created Stuxnet virus that attacked Iran

The Stuxnet virus in 2010 wrought havoc on equipment that disabled 1,000 centrifuges being used by the Iranians to enrich uranium.

By JTA

 

 

Whistleblower Edward Snowden told a German magazine that Israel and the United States created the Stuxnet computer virus that destroyed nuclear centrifuges in Iran. 

Iran's Ahmadinejad at Natanz nuclear facility

Snowden made the statement as part of an interview with the German news magazine Der Spiegel in which he answered encrypted questions sent by security software developer Jacob Appelbaum and documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras. Excerpts of the interview were published Monday on the Spiegel website.

Snowden was asked if the U.S. National Security Agency partners “with other nations, like Israel?”

Continue Reading »

Second ‘Prisoner X’ confined to an Israeli jail detected

 

Internal Affairs Committee to discuss another anonymous prisoner that was being held for offenses that were much more “sensationalist and incredible”.

 

 

 

A second anonymous security prisoner was held secretly at Ayalon Prison at the same time that former Mossad employee Ben Zygier took his own life at the facility’s high security cell 15, according to court documents cleared for publication on Tuesday.

The Ayalon Prison in Ramle

The Ayalon Prison in Ramle – Photo: Reuters

In the protocol of an October 2011 hearing in the Rishon Letzion Magistrate’s Court examining the death of Zygier – nicknamed “Prisoner X” by the Israeli media – it reads “it is worth nothing that there are specific, detailed guidelines that were used for the previous resident of bloc 15 (Yigal Amir) and for a separate prisoner jailed in bloc 13 (a security cell – that prisoner’s attributes more closely resemble those of the one in cell 15).”

Continue Reading »

IDF Haredim soldiers build new Electronic Warfare System

Ultra-Orthodox IDF soldiers participate in development of new & advanced electronic warfare system.

 

A., 29, thankful for the opportunity to ‘give not only to the army, to the people of Israel, but also to the place from which I come as someone setting a precedent’.

By Yoav Zitun

far from the limelight, haredi soldiers serving in the army are racking up impressive accomplishments. Ultra-Orthodox soldiers serving in the army’s Computer Services Directorate have recently completed development of an advanced electronic warfare system, which significantly improves the operational abilities of forces along the nothern and Gaza borders.

ע', אחד הבוגרים (צילום: דובר צה"ל)

I., one of the program graduates – Photo: IDF Spokesperson

The secret system provides an operational solution to a gap which existed within the army in terms of daily security. Continue Reading »