Archive for August 22, 2013

Israel & Jordan Working on Water Deal

 

The Kingdom of Jordan, thirsty for water from the huge influx of displaced Syrian refugees, are to get Kinneret water from Israel’s north, in return for supplying desalinated water from Jordan’s soon to be built, southern Aqaba plant.

By Roi Kais

 

 

Israel and Jordan are holding advanced negotiations over water exchanges between the two sides, Ynet has learned.

The Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) – Photo: Hagai Aharon

According to the developing outline, a water desalination plant will be built in Aqaba, and Jordan will supply Israel with the product to be used in the Negev.

In return, Israel will supply Jordan with water from the Kinneret to be used in the north of the Hashemite Kingdom. Continue Reading »

Thai court convicts 2 Iranian terrorists for bomb plot near Israeli embassy

The 2 Iranians were arrested after bomb destroyed their Bangkok apartment less than a km from the Israeli embassy.

 

 

Two Iranian men were convicted Thursday of taking part in a botched bomb plot that was exposed last year when an accidental explosion blew apart the Bangkok villa where they were staying.

Bangkok apt - Reuters - Feb 2012

The Bangkok apartment where the bomb exploded. Feb 2012 – Photo: Reuters

Israeli and Thai officials have said the plot was aimed at Israeli diplomats in Bangkok, the capital, though Iran denied the allegations and neither defendant was charged with terrorism or attempting to kill Israelis. Continue Reading »

Hamas Tells Egypt: Open the Border Crossing

Gaza’s terrorist rulers urge the Egyptian gov’t to reopen the Rafiah border crossing that was closed after the latest terrorist attack left 25 Egyptian security personnel executed.

By Elad Benari

 

Gaza’s Hamas rulers urged Egypt on Wednesday to reopen the border crossing with Gaza that was closed after Islamist terrorists killed 25 Egyptian security personnel in northern Sinai earlier this week.

The officers were killed as they were travelling in two buses which came under attack from armed men close to the town of Rafiah, on the Gaza border. As a result of the attack, Egypt closed down the Rafiah crossing between the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza. Continue Reading »

Liberman plans to turn the Negev’s Arad into Israel’s Hollywood

 

Bayit Yehudi MK pictures Angelina Jolie, Sean Connery & Brad Pitt among a host of Hollywood’s greatest coming to Israel’s future state-of-the-art movie studio he hopes will be built in Negev town.

 

 

When casual observers arrive in the sleepy Negev Desert town of Arad, they see Sudanese workers, cacti, and a lot of dust.
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. – Photo: REUTERS

But on a visit to the city Wednesday, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairman Avigdor Liberman said he sees Hollywood stars Sean Connery, Angelina Jolie, and Brad Pitt coming soon to a state-of-the-art movie studio he hopes will be built there.

Continue Reading »

Netanyahu names deputy Mossad chief Israel’s new National Security Advisor

Yossi Cohen, Israel Defense Prize recipient  to replace out-going Major-General Yaakov Amidror as Israel’s latest National Security Advisor.

ByAttila Somfalvi

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to appoint Deputy Mossad Director Yossi Cohen as the new national security advisor. Cohen, 52, married and the father of four, was only known as “Y” until recently. He will be replacing Major-General Yaakov Amidror.

Mossad Emblem

Mossad Emblem

Cohen has been serving in Israel’s security establishment for the past 30 years. In the last two years he served as deputy to the chief of Mossad, Tamir Pardo. He was also the director of Tzomet, the international network operation headquarters of the Mossad, and received the Israel Defense Prize. Continue Reading »

PA Threatens to Sue Israel in Int’l Court Over Building New Homes

Contrary to the spirit of making peace with Israel,  Palestinian Authority member is threatening to sue Israel over building plans they were informed about prior to the commencement of negotiations.

By Ari Soffer

 

The Palestinian Authority threatened Wednesday to sue Israel through international bodies if it continues expanding Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, warning that they would put an end to talks unless building in Jewish areas came to a halt.

“These are not just dots on a map,” PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization) executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi said of more than 2,000 new Jewish homes which were approved for construction ahead of a resumption of peace negotiations late last month. Continue Reading »

Comptroller: Feiglin, Danon & Bennett raised too much campaign money in US

 

Contrary to PM’s directive, Deputy Defense Minister Danon was absent from this year’s budget votes to be at a fundraiser.

 

 

 

State Comptroller Joseph Shapira singled out three politicians with close ties to the US Wednesday for raising too much funds on their primary campaigns: Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon and Likud Beytenu MK Moshe Feiglin.

Naftali Bennett.

Naftali Bennett. – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Shapira expressed disapproval of politicians who raise money for their primary campaigns abroad, saying that, in his opinion, it should be illegal.

Donations from abroad consisted of a quarter of the total contributions candidates received in the six parties that held primaries: Likud, Bayit Yehudi, HaTikva, Kadima, Meretz and Labor.

Continue Reading »

IDF returns doctors to combat battalions

 

In special initiative led by the Medical Corp, in response to 2010 discovery that only 1/3rd of combat battalions have a doctor, the rest only maned with a paramedic, IDF General Command finally succeeds in manning each battalion with  a doctor of its own.

Yossi Yehoshua

 

Three years after it was revealed that a third of the IDF‘s permanent combat battalions had no doctors, the Medical Corp searched for a creative solution and managed to man the missing posts. From now on, every combat battalion will have a doctor of its own.

Nachal combat soldiers – Photo courtesy: IDF Spokesperson’s Office

Brigadier General Itzhak Kreis presented the new data today, revealing the new arrangement which includes shifting doctors from non-combative bases to combative ones and increasing the number of medical students being funded by the IDF. Continue Reading »

IDF Soldier Sentenced to 20 Days Imprisonment For Hitchhiking

An IDF  soldier is going to prison for hitchhiking: “There is a real danger of attempted kidnappings” officers say.

By Kochava Rozenbaum

 

A student in a yeshivat hesder program, which combines military service with Torah learning, was tried and sentenced to 20 days in prison after he asked for a ride contrary to IDF orders which prohibits hitchhiking.

Israeli hitchhiker waits for a ride in Samaria – Photo: Hillel Meir

It was reported on Wednesday that an IDF investigating officer determined the hesder soldier to have been caught hitchhiking. As a result, the offending soldier is spending 20 days of confinement in a Tel Hashomer base. Continue Reading »

Israel & India: 2 Great Democracies that Should Widen their Strategic Ties

India-Israel ties have been deepening for many years now, but there are still many more  common endeavors the 2 countries could be working on together.

By Noah Beck

 

At first glance, Hindu-majority India, with approximately 1.2 billion people and an entire subcontinent, would seem to have little in common with Jewish-majority Israel, which has only about eight million people living on territory that’s just roughly 15 times the size of India’s capital city. While full diplomatic relations were established between Jerusalem and New Delhi only in 1992, the two countries actually have much in common.

Both countries are homelands for ancient peoples who gained their indepndence from the British in the 1940s. Continue Reading »

Amb. Prosor reports to UNSC: Hezbollah’s Nasrallah has no regard for human life

 

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor delivered a scathing attack on Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, in his address to the U.N. Security Council, saying,  ‘Hezbollah is a ruthless terrorist group committing double war crimes again, this time in Syria, by operating among civilians & directing attacks against civilians.’

By Shlomo Cesana and Israel Hayom Staff

 

 

Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Ron Prosor has delivered a scathing attack on Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah over the group’s involvement in the Syrian civil war.

Continue Reading »

Egyptian Jews: We support Army’s opposition to ‘terrorism’

For the very small Jewish community in Cairo, the Army’s leaders removal of the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood President Mohamed Morsi and its opposition to his supporters’ violent demonstrations are cause for hope for a more tolerant Egyptian future.

Supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi scream chants at Egyptian soldiers during a protest in Cairo, Aug. 12, 2013. – JTA PHOTO: Ed Giles/Getty

“Not even a Jew would do this,” she heard him say.

Continue Reading »

Punjab dairy farmers learn Israeli farming techniques

 

Punjabi dairy farmers delegation visit moshavim & kibbutzim across the country to learn Israel’s newest techniques.

Since local weather conditions are similar to Israel’s, we’re learning ‘special arrangements to control heat stress’ says delegation member.

Anav Silverman, Tazpit

A 10-member delegation of dairy farmers from the Punjab region of India recently visited Israel to participate in a training program about modern dairy farming techniques.

The delegation – Photo: Mashav

The unique program was especially designed for the group by the Center for International Agricultural Development Cooperation (CINDACO) of Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Times of India reported that in late July, the Punjab farmers visited modern dairy farms located on kibbutzim and moshavim across Israel and learned the latest dairy farming techniques from Israeli farmers. Continue Reading »

MK Liberman: Turkey’s PM Erdogan is Nazi propagandist

MK Avigdor Liberman reacts angrily to PM Erdogan’s decoration that Israel was behind  Morsi’s downfall in Egypt, saying the Turkish PM’s “hate & incitement” only proves he was right in opposing Jerusalem’s apology to Ankara over Mavi Marmara affair.

 

 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s hateful and incitement filled words against Israel is reminiscent of Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels, Yisrael Beytenu MK Avigdor Liberman said Wednesday.

Avigdor Liberman

Avigdor Liberman – Photo: reuters

Liberman, currently the head of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and former foreign minister, spurned the restraint demonstrated by the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry toward Erdogan’s charge Tuesday that  Israel was behind the downfall of deposed Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi.

Continue Reading »

PA Erekat: The U.S. Guaranteed us Every Preconditions Will be Met

Chief PA negotiator claims: Before Abbas agreed to enter into peace talks, the U.S. guaranteed the PA, in writing, that all demanded preconditions will be met.

By Elad Benari

 

The Palestinian Authority (PA) agreed to resume peace talks with Israel without preconditions? Not according to chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.

Erekat revealed, in an interview with the Nazareth-based Arabic language A-Shams radio station on Tuesday, that the PA would not have returned to the negotiating table with Israel had it not received a letter of assurances from the United States, guaranteeing its main negotiating preconditions.

Erekat said in the interview that the U.S. Continue Reading »