Archive for January 20, 2014

Norwegian Minister: We don’t see boycott as tool to promote positive change

 

Norway’s record of hostility towards Israel is now assuming a more balanced policy, enhancing cooperation in various fields such as energy & television. Norway’s PM Solberg is expected to make 1st visit to Israel this year.

By Eldad Beck

BERLIN – The new Norwegian government, which so far was considered one of the most hostile administrations facing Israel, is working towards bracing the ties between the two countries and enhancing mutual cooperation in an array of fields.

Norway’s PM Erna Solberg left, & right, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany – Photo: POLFOTO/AP

 

The conservative-progressive minority government, which was established some three months ago, included an article in its elections platform that states that the government will change its Middle East policy and implement a more balanced course of action. Continue Reading »

PLO official blasts Australia’s FM for admitting Israeli settlements are legal

 

Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi urged the Australian government to clarify its official position regarding settlements’ legality.

 

The Palestine Liberation Organization on Monday condemned recent remarks from Australia’s foreign minister, who said Israeli settlements may not be illegal under international law.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. – Photo: AP

 

PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi urged the Australian government to clarify its official position regarding settlements and to act in accordance with international law and consensus, Palestinian media reported.

RELATED:

 

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who was in Israel last week to attend the funeral of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, gave an interview to the Times of Israel, in which she cast doubt on the settlements’ illegality. Continue Reading »

Video: Palestinians Film Israel Border Police Being Ambushed at Anata

The 3rd intifada? Arabs ambush a police patrol, hurling cinder blocks, paint & fire bombs.

By Dalit Halevy

 

A “third intifada” may not have been officially declared, but conditions on the ground resemble those of the “first intifada” in the patterns of violence and the daring exhibited by the attackers.

Anata attack – Screenshot

The Palestinian Authority encourages what it terms “resistance” or “struggle” – adding the term “by peaceful means.” This is doublespeak, however, for struggle that includes severe violence, and the use of rocks and firebombs with intent to cause severe injuries or death among Israeli civilians and security forces. Continue Reading »

Israel sends terrorists’ bodies to Palestinian Authority

The remains of 36 terrorists to be transferred to the PA following court order.

Israeli official says the move was purely procedural & denies the move is any ‘gesture’.

By i24news

 

 

Israel late Sunday began the gradual handover of the remains of 36 Palestinians buried on its turf to the Palestinian Authority in a move reportedly aimed at boosting the ongoing peace talks between the two sides.

Bodies of terrorists transferred to Palestinians ( AFP )

The deceased were militants laid to rest in “numbered graves” at a specially designated cemetery for enemy fatalities.

The transfer became possible after Israel’s High Court of Justice acquiesced to release the bodies following an appeal by Israeli human right groups and the Palestinian families of the late militants. Continue Reading »

St. Dept allowed Muslim Brotherhood delegation to bypass U.S. airport security

 

In April 2012, American State Department official allowed a visiting delegation of Muslim Brotherhood officials to enter & continue traveling through the U.S. without undergoing routine inspection by U.S. Customs & Border Protection agents at the airports.

By Steven Emerson, IPT News

 

Continue Reading »

Congress members condemn ASA for unproductive path of boycott

Along with the U.S. Congress, close to 200 U.S. universities and the larger academic groups have criticized the boycott.

By JTA

WASHINGTON  — A bipartisan slate of 134 U.S. Congress members wrote a letter to the American Studies Association protesting its decision last month to boycott Israeli universities.

 Reps. Pete Roskam (R-Ill.) left & right  Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) - Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Pete Roskam (R-Ill.) left & right Ted Deutch (D-Fla.)  Photo: Wikimedia Commons

“Academic cooperation can be an important tool to help foster peace between Israelis and Palestinians, but you have chosen the unproductive path of isolation,” said the letter dated Friday, initiated by Reps. Pete Roskam (R-Ill.), the chief deputy whip of the U.S.

Continue Reading »

Israel to chair UN-linked Conference on Disarmament for month

This is Israel’s 2nd time to assume the rotating role to head the UN-linked Conference on Disarmament.

 

Israel will be in the driver’s seat of the UN-linked Conference on Disarmament starting on Monday, assuming the organizations’ presidency for one month.

Council Chamber at the UN in Geneva where the Conference on Disarmament holds its meetings. - Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Council Chamber at the UN in Geneva where the Conference on Disarmament holds its meetings. – Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Israel’s ambassador to UN organizations in Geneva, Eviatar Manor, will take the gavel at the first formal session to be held on Tuesday, in the presence of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The Conference on Disarmament is the sole multilateral body for negotiating agreements for disarmament and arms control, and Israel has been a member state since 1996. Continue Reading »

Hamas media in Gaza aired a video purportedly documenting an IAF airstrike

 

 

The hand held amateur video shows explosion, which Gaza sources say was result of IDF’s Sunday airstrike on Gaza, that Jerusalem reported to have been in retaliation for Hamas rocket fire on Israel’s south.

By Elior Levy

Hamas-affiliated Gaza media released a video which they claim presents Sunday’s IDF airstrike in Gaza.

#Breaking: picture of the motorcycle in the Israeli assassination in Gaza city. #Israel #Gaza #USA #KSA #Egypt #Syria #Jordan #Lebanon

Tweeted by: Abdulla M. Al Hamarna Translator at Free-lance Journalist

An Islamic Jihad terrorist and a Palestinian boy were wounded in the targeted which the IDF launched in retaliation for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip on southern Israel.

Official Palestinian sources identified the two as a 22-year-old who was seriously wounded, and a 12-year-old boy who sustained moderate injuries. Continue Reading »

Security cabinet: Gas mask distribution ends after February

 

The inner cabinet’s decision will be reevaluated at the end of the year, following their assessment by defense authorities.

 

 

Israel will discontinue the distribution of gas masks to the public at the end of February, the security cabinet decided on Sunday.

Trying on my gas-mask - Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Trying on my gas-mask – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

The decision was taken in accordance with the assessment of the defense establishment that the danger of a chemical attack against Israel had declined substantially – primarily due to Syria’s decommissioning of its chemical weapons.

The manufacture of gas masks will continue at a reduced pace after February, the Prime Minister’s Bureau said in a statement, but they will be for the use of emergency teams only and won’t be distributed to the public. Continue Reading »

Canadian Prime Minister Harper praised by Netanyahu for ‘Great Moral Leadership’

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in Jerusalem for first official visit and will address Israel’s Knesset Monday.

By Gil Ronen

 

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in Israel and will address the Knesset on Monday. This is Harper’s first visit to Israel.

 PM Netanyahu welcomes PM of Canada Stephen Harper - Photo: Screenshot PMO

PM Netanyahu welcomes PM of Canada Stephen Harper – Photo: Screenshot PMO

In welcoming Harper, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that while this world is “often cynical and hypocritical, you have shown great moral leadership. When it comes to fighting terrorism, you know that there cannot be any politically correct double talk, but only unequivocal condemnation and united international action. Continue Reading »

Sri Lankan president makes historical visit to Jerusalem

 

 

 

Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaska visits President Peres in Jerusalem to offer his assistance in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN

 

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa is on an unprecedented official visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. He is his country’s first head of state to come to Israel since both countries gained independence in 1948.

President Shimon Peres greets Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaska in Jerusalem Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO

President Shimon Peres greets Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaska in Jerusalem – Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO

In welcoming his Sri Lankan counterpart to his residence on Thursday, President Shimon Peres hailed him as a great leader who was successful in bringing peace, reconciliation and restoration to his people, “which is not a small achievement.”“You
Continue Reading »

Arabs Proudly Serve in the Israel Defense Force

As it turns out, Israeli Arabs & other Arabic speaking minorities in Israel, proudly & unabashedly speak of their service in the Israeli army.

By Israel Today Staff

 

Israel is often portrayed, even from within, as racist and hateful toward Arabs. Naturally, there couldn’t be any Arabs serving in the Israeli army, and certainly none proudly doing so.

Arabs Proudly Serve in Israeli Army

Mona Lisa Abdo, proud to have served (in a combat unit) in the IDF – Photo courtesy: Screenshot

Not so! The reality is that many thousands of Arabs and Arabic-speakers are not only Israeli soldiers, but outspoken advocates of both the IDF and the Jewish state they serve. Continue Reading »

Young Wounded Syrian Couple Being Treated in Israeli Hospital

 

“We hesitated coming to Israel, because we were taught to hate it. We were taught this is a brutal enemy state, but we learned that reality is different. People here have a conscience. Our enemy is in Syria, not in Israel.” the young pregnant Syrian woman said.
By Danny Brenner

 

Continue Reading »

UK Report: Pope Francis agrees to review Pius’ WWII conduct before deciding his sainthood

 

Sunday Times reports: The Vatican agrees to examine Holocaust-era archives, acquiescing to decades of Jewish pleas for historical accountability.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
 

Pope Francis will open the Vatican archives from the era of Pius XII in order to determine if the controversial pontiff, who has been accused of failing to speak up during the Holocaust, can be considered for sainthood, according to a report in The Sunday Times.

President Shimon Peres with Pope Francis at the Vatican, April 30, 2013 – Photo: Kobi Gideon / GPO

The newspaper quotes a close friend of Francis, Argentinean rabbi Abraham Skorka, as saying that the pope will follow through on his promise to examine Pius’ wartime role.

Continue Reading »

IDF to deploy laser interceptor ‘Iron Beam’ to neutralizer short-range artillery threats

 

Another Israeli technologically advanced defensive system that deals with threats that fly on too small a trajectory to be engaged efficiently by Iron Dome, to be deployed in 2015.

Reuters

 

Israel plans to deploy a new missile shield known as “Iron Beam” next year which would use a laser to blow up short-range rockets and mortar bombs, a defense industry official said on Sunday.

 

The system is designed to deal with threats that fly on too small a trajectory to be engaged efficiently by Iron Dome, the Israeli interceptor credited with an 80% success rate against rockets fired by Palestinian terrorists. Continue Reading »