Archive for April 3, 2014

1,500 yr-old Greek Monastery discovered in Israeli Bedouin town

 

Vivid mosaics, kitchenware & coins were also found at the excavation in the Israeli Bedouin town in the northern Negev Desert.

By i24News

 

An impressive monastery dating to the Byzantine period, some 1,500 years ago, has been discovered at the entrance to the Israeli Bedouin town of Hura in the northern Negev Desert.

Dining room floor in Byzantine monastery located in Negev ( Israel Antiquities Authority )

Dining room floor in Byzantine monastery located in Negev – Photo courtesy: Israel Antiquities Authority

The structure, measuring 20 × 35 meters, is divided into halls built along an east–west axis, the most outstanding of which are the prayer hall and dining room with their mosaic carpets. Continue Reading »

IDF Aids Palestinian Traffic Accident Victims Until Red Crescent Arrives

 

Israel’s soldiers regularly go out of their way to help Palestinians, but unfortunately, the media often portrays them as heartless oppressors.

By Israel Today Staff

 

The Israeli army is regularly painted as a heartless oppressor of Palestinian Arabs. But the reality on the ground more often then not simply does not support that view.

Israeli Army and Red Cresent Helps Palestinian Traffic Accident Victims Together

Cpt. Yamin’s team and Red Crescent Helps Palestinian Traffic Accident Victims – Photo courtesy: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

For instance, on Tuesday a Palestinian minibus was involved in a traffic accident in central Judea (the southern part of the so-called “West Bank”). Israeli army forces stationed in the area were notified, and did not hesitate to dispatch a medical team to the scene. Continue Reading »

Massive Biblical Fortress Unearthed in City of David

 

With walls that were built from massive stones ranging from 6-10 feet high, the ancient Canaanite-era structure is believed to have been the largest fortress in the Land of Israel, until the time of King Herod.

By Yori Yalon

 

Continue Reading »

Supreme Court rules against Rabbi kicked out of frequent-flier program

 

The  Supreme Court agreed with the carrier that a ‘kvetcher’ who abuses the program, having complained 24 times in 7 months, can be ejected.

 

By JTA

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled against a Minnesota rabbi who claimed he was cut from an airline’s frequent flier program for earning too many miles.

Northwest Airlines Boeing 747-400

Northwest Airlines Boeing 747-400

The court issued its unanimous ruling on Wednesday.

Rabbi Binyomin Ginsberg was one of Northwest Airlines’ top fliers when he was cut from its program in 2008. Northwest has since been absorbed by Delta.

The rabbi, who acquired his frequent flier miles by consulting with educational organizations throughout the country,  says the airline was targeting top miles earners. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Navy carries out over 50% of total IDF’s operational activities

Vice Admiral Marom reports how the ongoing covert war targeting arms smuggling to Israel’s enemies and Iran’s nuclear program makes up half of IDF’s operational activities.

 

 

The Israel Navy plays a crucial role in the covert war against Iranian arms smuggling to its terrorist proxies, former navy chief V.-Adm. (Res.) Eliezer Marom told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

Israel Navy vessel in the Mediterranean – Photo courtesy: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

Marom, who will be a featured speaker at the third Jerusalem Post Annual Conference in New York on Sunday, added that during his tenure as navy chief, from 2007 to 2011, “over 50 percent of the IDF’s operational activities were carried out by the navy. Continue Reading »

Imprisoned in Iran: ‘After a few weeks, they knew I was Jewish’

 

Josh Fattal tells the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent, “I was so scared in those first months about being a Jew with an Israeli father, but at a certain point I embraced it.”

By Ynet

 

Three American hikers, who accidentally strayed over the Iranian border from northern Iraq during a hiking trip in 2009 and were imprisoned for more than two years, tell of their horrific ordeal at the Tehran prison in a new memoir. Two of the three Americans – Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd – recount the story of their engagement in jail – and the third – Josh Fattal – reveals that his captors knew he was Jewish. Continue Reading »

Palestinian Authority negotiating deal to pay Israel its electricity bill

Negotiations with the Palestinians over its ballooning debt to the Israel Electric Corp are making process, even as peace negotiations unravel.

By Avi Bar-Eli

 

 

Even as United States-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians unravel, quiet negotiations over 1.4 billion shekels ($402 million) in unpaid electricity bills owed by the Palestinians are making progress.

A camel

The Israel Electric Corporation provides the Palestinians about 7% of its total production via high-voltage electricity lines. – Photo: Reuters

The debt, which has been run up by the Palestinian Authority’s refusal to pay the Israel Electric Corporation for power supplied in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has almost doubled in the past year.

Continue Reading »

Hezbollah Terrorist Invited by Arab Students to Speak at Tel Aviv University

Both left-&-right wing student groups unite in a campaign effort to prevent a convicted terrorist from his speaking engagement on the Tel Aviv U. campus next week.

By Moshe Cohen

 

Students at Tel Aviv University are hoping to prevent the appearance of a convicted terrorist at an event organized by Arab students next week. According to Lev Solodkin, head of “The Israelis”, a Zionist activist group on campus, Arab groups have invited Mohammed Cana’ana, who was convicted of planning a terror attack against Israelis, for which he spent several years in prison.

Hezbollah military parade – Reuters

The Arab groups are organizing a “Land Day” event to protest against the establishment of Jewish towns and villages within the 1949 armistice lines that they claim as theirs. Continue Reading »

Israel’s FM Liberman says Palestinian move to UN was big mistake

 

Israeli Foreign Minister defends Sec. of St. Kerry, praises his tireless attempts at bringing about an agreement with the Palestinians.

 

 

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman continued his recent efforts to play the role of the “responsible adult” in Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians on Wednesday when he advised Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to continue negotiations rather than turn to the UN.

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman.

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman. – Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Speaking to a hall packed with Yisrael Beytenu activists in Jerusalem, Liberman said Israel should not run after the Palestinians if they do not want to negotiate.

Continue Reading »

Gen Martin Dempsey: Jerusalem believes Washington would strike Iran if need arises

 

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ‘I think Jerusalem is satisfied that we have the capability to use a military option if the Iranians choose to stray off the diplomatic path.’

By Ynetnews

 

Israel and the United States have reached a general understanding regarding the Iranian threat to the Middle East, said the top American general, USA Today reported on Tuesday.

Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz and Gen. Martin Dempsey in Jerusalem (Photo: EPA)

Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz and Gen. Martin Dempsey in Jerusalem – Photo: EPA

“I think they are satisfied that we have the capability to use a military option if the Iranians choose to stray off the diplomatic path,” said Gen. Continue Reading »

IDF Injured From Gunshot by Suspected Egyptian Smugglers

IDF Spokesperson report confirms one of its soldiers lightly injured during operation to disrupt Sinai smugglers.

By Ari Soffer

 

An IDF soldier has been lightly injured by gunfire from suspected smugglers along Israel’s southern border with Egypt.

Israeli-Egyptian Border – Reuters

The IDF’s spokesperson’s office would only confirm that the soldier was injured whilst travelling in a jeep near the Sinai Desert, but refused to say in what circumstances.

However, several sources have claimed the soldier was hit by gunfire when the military disrupted an attempt by smugglers to infiltrate the border.

 

View original Arutz Sheva publication at: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/179204#.UzyUDleLUYB Continue Reading »

Israel’s ‘Iron Beam’ laser defense system ‘brings down mortars like flies’

‘Iron Beam’ by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems company is designed for threats too small to be dealt with by Iron Dome anti-missiles defense system.

 

 

A new air defense system being developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, which uses lasers to shoot down low altitude threats, is able to bring down “mortars like flies,” Rafael’s CEO told the Israel Defense website on Wednesday.

US laser weapon technology

US laser weapon technology – Photo: US Navy Illustration

Vice Admiral (Ret.) Yedidia Yaari, former chief of the Israel Navy, said the Iron Beam system will be “very effective” once it becomes operational.

Israel Defense cited Yaari as saying that that Iron Beam successfully passed a feasibility test, and is currently in development stages. Continue Reading »

E. Jerusalem lawyers passed messages from Gaza to Hamas prisoners in Israel

 

Shin Bet & Police investigation exposes 6 members of a Palestinian law office used to transfer messages between Hamas officials & the organization’s members incarcerated in  Israeli prisons.

By Noam ‘Dabul’ Dvir

 

Two law office managers and four lawyers from Isawiya in East Jerusalem were arrested on suspicion of abusing their attorney-client privilege, passing messages between Hamas prisoners and the organization’s operatives in Israel and abroad, and paying lawyers to visit the prisoners.

A Palestinian inmate stands behind the bars of a Hamas-run jail in Gaza City, July 23, 2012. - Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

A Palestinian inmate stands behind the bars of a Hamas-run jail in Gaza City, July 23, 2012. – Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

They were arrested following an investigation by Jerusalem District police, with the cooperation of the Shin Bet. Continue Reading »

Contrary to Kerry’s statement, PA has submitted official bid to join 15 int’l conventions

 

Palestinians say because Israel won’t free more prisoners, Palestine has formally requested to become signatory to treaties on apartheid & the laws of war.

 

The Palestinian Authority officially asked Wednesday that the state of Palestine become a signatory to 15 international conventions.

Abbas addresses the UN

PA President Mahmoud Abbas addressing the UN General Assembly in New York, November 29, 2012.- Photo: Reuters

The request was made by Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Maliki, who met with Robert Serry, the United Nations special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, and Swiss and Dutch envoys to the Palestinian Authority.

Maliki told the diplomats that the Palestinian request came in response to Israel’s failure to release the fourth batch of prisoners it said it would free if peace talks progressed.

Continue Reading »

Pat Robertson: Jews are too busy ‘polishing diamonds’ to do chores

Coinciding with drop in anti-Semitic incidents report, CBN televangelist Pat Robertson says Jews are too busy ‘polishing diamonds’ to do chores.

By i24News

 

A new report shows a 19 percent decrease in anti-Semitic incidents in the US in 2013.
CBN televangelist Pat Robertson - From YouTube screenshot

CBN televangelist Pat Robertson – Photo credit: YouTube screenshot

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), in its Annual Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, reported Tuesday that there were 751 incidents in 41 states and Washington, DC — among the lowest numbers since 1979.

The audit includes assault, vandalism and harassment targeting Jews and Jewish property and institutions.

“In the last decade we have witnessed a significant and encouraging decline in the number and intensity of anti-Semitic acts in America,” said Abraham Foxman, ADL’s national director, in a statement. Continue Reading »