Archive for August 15, 2013

Israeli data security firm acquired by IBM for as much as $1 billion

 

Trusteer & IBM announced that IBM has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Trusteer, a privately held Israeli security firm with locations in Boston, MA & Tel Aviv, Israel.

By JTA

 

JERUSALEM — IBM has agreed to acquire the Israeli data security firm Trusteer for an undisclosed sum that is believed to be up to $1 billion.

IBM. Trusteer. IBM to Acquire Trusteer to Help Companies Combat Financial Fraud and Advanced Security Threats

Trusteer, which has locations in Tel Aviv and Boston, develops software to help businesses protect themselves against financial fraud and security threats.

Upon the official closing of the deal, Trusteer will join the IBM Security Systems organization, IBM announced Thursday.

IBM, an American multinational technology and consulting corporation, is forming a cybersecurity software lab in Israel where Trusteer and IBM researchers will work on advanced software to address more complicated cyber threats.

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MK Shaked: Kerry’s hypocrisy is endangering Israeli lives

 

Israel’s Knesset Member Ayelet Shaked pens straightforward letter assailing US Secretary of State John Kerry over undue political pressure, murdering prisoner release, hypocrisy, & political foolishness during Arab Mid-East turmoil.

 

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry is putting lives at risk by gambling on the peace process, Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked wrote in a letter to him Thursday.

Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman, MK Ayelet Shaked – Photo Courtesy

Shaked began the letter explaining that, due to the gravity of the situation, she feels that she “simply cannot be bound by the restraints of politically correct wording” and must be straightforward.

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As Syrian crisis deepens, young Druze from Golan seeking Israeli citizenship

 

 

More & more Druze opt to live and study in Israel for fear of that rebel Islamists in Syria might ‘slaughter’ them.

Expert: This could boost Israel’s claim to annexed Golan Heights territory

Aine Pennello

In the Golan Heights, a seemingly banal decision – where to go to college – is fast becoming the source of dozens of Israeli citizenship applications among young Druze, which could help legitimize Israel’s claim to the contested territory, experts say.

Golan Heights, Druze village square in Majdal Shams - Photo: Avihu Shapira

Golan Heights, Druze village square in Majdal Shams – Photo: Avihu Shapira

A small religious sect with a peaceful reputation, the Druze in the Golan Heights have long maintained a tradition of studying in Syria, home to approximately half the world’s Druze population. Continue Reading »

‘Hasbara’ Director Suspended by PM Over ‘Offensive’ Facebook Posts

Danny Seaman, the Prime Minister’s head of Israel’s on-line communications activities, claims he is the victim of a vendetta by Ha’aretz, an Israeli  left-wing daily newspaper.

By David Lev

 

Danny Seaman, who is director of social and interactive media in the Prime Minister’s Office, has been suspended after several people complained that he had made offensive posts on his personal Facebook page. There was no word as to when, or if, he would return to work.

Seaman oversees the government’s Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, Youtube video channels, and other on-line activities, presenting messages from the government on policy, and providing official points of view on political and security matters. Continue Reading »

Russia to donate $1 million to Auschwitz conservation fund

 

24 countries have contributed thus far. Germany has contributed $80 million, followed by the U.S. with $15 million. Poland, where the camp is located, has promised about $13 million, according to Polskie Radio.

 

Russia will contribute up to $1 million to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation for the conservation and maintenance of the site of the former Nazi concentration camp.

Auschwitz beds for 6-8 people – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Russia’s pledge was reported Tuesday by the Polskie Radio website, which cited a statement issued by the Russian Embassy in Warsaw. Support for the project, the statement said, is “a common moral duty as it serves the mission of preserving the memory of the huge number of victims of the Nazi camp and of other crimes against humanity.”

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Morsi supporters & Muslim Brotherhood torch Egyptian churches

 

Canadian MP Irwin Cotler reports how anti-Coptic violence is taking place throughout the country within “a general culture of impunity,”

 

 

Islamic supporters of Egypt’s ousted president Mohamed Morsi launched on Wednesday arson attacks against churches, resulting in the destruction of at least three buildings. Muslim Brotherhood supporters wreaked havoc on Coptic Christian businesses and property throughout the country.

ISLAMISTS TAKE cover as they battle riot police and soldiers in Cairo’s Rabaa Adawiya Square, Aug 14

ISLAMISTS TAKE cover as they battle riot police and soldiers in Cairo’s Rabaa Adawiya Square, Aug 14 – Photo: REUTERS

There may have been more than 20 incidents of burning of churches and attacks on Christian institutions, based on unconfirmed reports on Twitter from Coptic leaders and organizations who are closely following the outbreak of anti-Christian violence.

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Jewish Agency brings 17 Yemeni Jews to Israel in secret mission

 

10 Jewish Yemenite children who were brought to Argentina in 2011, arrive in Israel Wednesday, to reunite with their families just as their parents land from Yemen in covert operation.

By Omri Efraim

17 Yemenite Jews landed in Israel Wednesday, in a Jewish Agency operation that brought about the bonding of two families, both of which were divided in August 2011 when several of their members were brought to Argentina by Satmar Hasidim and the rest remained in Yemen.

New Yemenite arrivals – Photo: Moshik Br

The families are to reside in one of the agency’s centers in Israel’s south until they move to permanent housing. Continue Reading »

1st Israel-PA Meeting in Jerusalem Ends After 5 Hours

First meeting in this round of Kerry’s peace initiative described as “long and serious”. Israeli newspapers & television reported the meeting was held at an undisclosed location in Jerusalem.

By Elad Benari

 

Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators met for around five hours on Wednesday evening.

US State Dept. Briefing on Israel-PA Talks

Israeli media reported that the meeting began shortly before 7:00 p.m. and ended just before midnight.

According to the reports, the talks were “long and serious” and the parties agreed to meet again within days.

Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni’s office said earlier that there would be no statements or pictures from the meeting, reported AFP. Continue Reading »

Syrian Palestinians are Being Displaced at best, or Slaughtered

Where are the Palestinian leaders? Where are the Palestinian representatives? Where are the  ‘pro-Palestinians advocates?

Where’s Abbas, Barghouti, Ashrawi, Haniya, Zoabi, Zahar, Erekat, Mashaal, or Ashrawi?

Thousands of Palestinians are suffering or butchered and the world is silent. No ‘flotillas’ of aid or rescue are on the drawing-board. No one cares only because they can’t demonize,  delegitimize or blame Israel.

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UN rights chief urges Hamas to cancel prisoner executions in Gaza

 

Pillay “deeply concerned” after Hamas declares that men sentenced to death are to be executed as planned after Ramadan.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
 

 

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Wednesday urged Hamas in the Gaza Strip not to carry out planned executions.

Hamas forces executes Majdi Mikkawi [file]

Hamas forces executes Majdi Mikkawi [file] – Photo: REUTERS/Stringer

In a statement, Pillay expressed deep concern “at the possibility that executions might be carried out over the course of the next weeks in Gaza and urgently appeal to the de facto authorities there not to implement any death sentences.”

The attorney general in Gaza made several announcements during Ramadan that after the Eid al-Fitr celebrations, which have just ended, executions of people sentenced to death would take place. Continue Reading »

Islamist terror organization Hamas getting closer to Iran

 

 

Resumption of peace talks only intensifies internal disagreements between Palestinian factions.


Most Palestinians are still skeptical about results of peace negotiations.

By The Media Line

The Islamist Hamas movement has sharply criticized the Palestinian Authority for resuming peace talks with Israel, saying that President Mahmoud Abbas is giving in to American pressure. The criticism comes as Hamas moves toward a rapprochement with Iran, despite differences over Syria.

Members of Hamas police take part in a graduation ceremony in Gaza City, Dec. 17, 2012. - Photo REUTERS-Suhaib Salem

Members of Hamas police take part in a graduation ceremony in Gaza City,. – Photo REUTERS-Suhaib Salem

“The (Israeli-Palestinian) negotiations will not lead to anything – it’s just wasting time,” Hamas deputy foreign minister Ghazi Hamad told The Media Line. Continue Reading »

End of an Era: Mercury Thermometers Banned in Israel

 

The Health Ministry in Israel, has banned the use of  sphygmomanometers (blood pressure monitors) & thermometers that use mercury.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

Remember when the glass thermometer your mother would use to figure out if you could stay home from school would be drop for some reason, and break — and and the little silver droplets of mercury would roll around the floor?

An Israeli health fund clinic

An Israeli health fund clinic – Photo courtesy

Those days are over.

In Israel, the end of an era has arrived: The Health Ministry has banned the use of thermometers and sphygmomanometers (blood pressure monitors) that use mercury, also known as “quicksilver” 

The directive was prompted by a decision issued earlier this year by the World Health Organization to minimize use of the elemental metal – mercury – which is poisonous when ingested. Continue Reading »

Miraculous recovery: 15 yr-old Syrian girl amazes Israeli doctors


 

Israeli doctors, after having treated dozens of wounded Syrian civilians in northern Israeli hospital, were shocked when a 15-year-old female shrapnel victim, gets up and walks about her room day after surgery.

By Tommy Mueller

 

A 15-year-old Syrian girl critically wounded in her nation’s ongoing civil war has made a miraculous recovery at a hospital in northern Israel.

Doctors at Ziv Hospital in the Galilee town of Safed (Tsfat) were shocked when the girl got up and walked around just one day after having her leg amputated as a result of massive shrapnel injuries.

The young girl had been hit by shrapnel all over her body. Continue Reading »

Israeli Bedouin: “Yes, this is my country, and I want to serve it.”

Marzuk Suaed, Master-Sgt., a Bedouin father of three, “Mostly, I want the Bedouin/Arab sector to understand and internalize that military service will only do our society good. Social distancing and separation will lead us nowhere.”

Gadi Golan

 

Master Sgt. Marzuk Suaed, 37, a Bedouin father of three residing in northern Israel, sees his job as a recruiter of Bedouin, Arab, Christian and Muslim youths to the Israel Defense Forces as a personal and Zionist mission.

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2 Hebrew U. of J’lem grads on “AI’s 10 to Watch” list

 

 

Dr. Ariel Procaccia & Dr. Aviv Zohar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, have just been named among Artificial intelligence’s 10 to Watch by IEEE Intelligent Systems magazine.

 

Published biennially, the list chooses 10 researchers who are rising stars in the field.Artificial intelligence (AI) is a branch of computer science that studies and develops intelligent machines and software. First coined as a term way back in 1955 – before computers – AI is defined as the study and design of intelligent agents, which are systems that recognize where they are and make moves to maximize their chances of success.

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