Archive for July 17, 2014

France bans pro-Palestinian protest after violent antisemitic history

 

Paris bar pro-Palestine, anti-Gaza operation protests after previous demonstration grew violent, with attacks on Jews, their synagogues, and Jewish stores.

By The Associated Press

 

French authorities are forbidding pro-Palestinian protests in some cities after violence marred a recent march against the violence in Gaza, as Jewish-Muslim tensions in France have reached their highest level in years.

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A protester wearing a kaffiyeh and wrapped in a Palestinian flag raises his fist on July 13, 2014 in Paris, where anti-Israel protesters trap hundreds in Paris synagogue – Photo: AFP/ KENZO TRIBOUILLARD

Moderates on both sides called Wednesday for calm, and for a halt to fighting in the Mideast. Continue Reading »

Majority of Israelis have nowhere to go when rocket warning-sirens sounds

Even though Israel legislated the building of reinforced security rooms over 2 decades ago, much of the country still has no place to go in time of war.

 

“In any future war, three branches will be activated immediately: the Israel Air Force, Military Intelligence and the Home Front Command. The main problem will be the Home Front Command, since its soldiers are civilians. This requires special preparedness.”

neighborhood bomb-shelter entrance - Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Neighborhood bomb-shelter entrance – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

This is how Maj. Gen. (ret.) Matan Vilnai, a former deputy defense minister and the first minister of home front defense sees the next war. Continue Reading »

Video: Terrorist exit Gaza tunnel to Attack Israelis – Surprised by waiting IDF soldiers

2 videos detail major terror attack prevented as IDF soldiers identified and IAF eliminating a serious threat emerging from a Gaza terror tunnel.

By Yaakov Levi

 

 

The IDF released a video Thursday morning detailing the attempt by Hamas terrorists to conduct a major terror attack in Israel by infiltrating through a Gaza terror tunnel. The 13 terrorists involved in the attempted attack were apparently surprised that they were being observed by Israeli soldiers, an IDF official said, and attempted to return to Gaza via the tunnel, at which point an Israel Air Force plane destroyed the entrance to the tunnel. Continue Reading »

Hundreds of ‘Lefty Brits’ protest BBC’s ‘pro-Israel’ coverage of #OperationProtectiveEdge

British leftists protest broadcaster’s idea of balance, ‘airbrushing’ out Israel’s preexisting military control of Gaza, and the imbalance of power between the sides.

 

The BBC is widely believed in Israel to be biased in favor of the Palestinians. Yet in Britain, which can fairly be called the nerve center of Western pro-Palestinian sentiment, hundreds of left-wingers have protested in recent days over what they call the state broadcaster’s pro-Israel bias in its coverage of the fighting with Gaza.

Outside Broadcasting House, BBC London HQ

Protesters outside BBC headquarters in London, (illustrative). – Photo: AP

The Independent reported Wednesday that protesters have rallied outside Broadcasting House, the BBC’s London headquarters, as well as in Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle. Continue Reading »

Hamas Agreed to UN Ceasefire for Thursday, Then Fired a Rocket Salvo at Israel

Immediately after Hamas agreed to a temporary humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza for Thursday morning, they began firing another salvo of rockets towards Israel.

By Elad Benari

 

Hamas agreed on Wednesday night to a temporary humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, but not before firing another salvo of rockets towards Israel.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri – Reuters

“The group agrees to a ceasefire for five hours,” starting from 10:00 a.m. local time Thursday, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement quoted by the AFP news agency.

“The Palestinian factions agreed to accept the offer from the United Nations for a cooling-down on the ground for five hours starting from 10 in the morning,” he told the news agency. Continue Reading »

Hamas Offers Israel a 10-Year Truce, Take it….or else!

Apparently feeling Hamas won this war against Israel, they demand an end to Jerusalem’s and Cairo’s blockade on Gaza, that Hamas prisoners be released and someone builds them a new airport.

By Israel Today Staff

 

Hamas officials on Wednesday officially rejected an Egyptian proposal to bring an end to the current Gaza war, but did reportedly offer their own ceasefire agreement.

IDF Artillery

The Egyptian proposal, which Israel accepted and briefly implemented unilaterally on Tuesday, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities on both sides, followed by negotiations in Cairo to hammer out the terms of a lasting truce.

But Hamas appears to feel it’s holding better cards than that, and, according to Palestinian sources cited by local media, has presented a 10-year truce in return for far-reaching Israeli concessions.

Continue Reading »

Gaza’s civilians receive uninterrupted medical care in Israel ‘without discrimination’

‘Save a Child’s Heart’, an Israeli-based humanitarian project, hasn’t slowed down bring Palestinian children to Wolfson Medical Center for treatment

• Palestinian grandmother from Gaza: ‘We did not face discrimination. I don’t care what they will say in Gaza, I saw the reality here.’

By Meital Yisor Beit-Or

Even as Gaza Strip-based terrorists continue to fire rockets at Israel, Palestinian children are receiving medical care at the Edith Wolfson Medical Center in the central Israeli city of Holon.

Gazan newborn Abdul Rahman Wahdan received surgery in Israel for a serious heart defect – Photo: Gideon Markowicz

On Tuesday, as on every Tuesday for the past 18 years, children from Gaza and the West Bank arrived at the hospital for routine medical checks as part of the Israeli-based international humanitarian project Save a Child’s Heart, which provides life-saving medical care for children born with heart defects.

Continue Reading »

Israel calls 8,000 additional reservists -now 56,000 strong for Gaza ground assault

The IDF is bringing the total number to 56,000, and once the additional forces are called up, an assault appears imminent.

 

The cabinet on Wednesday authorized the call-up of 8,000 additional reservists to assist in the military operations along the Gaza frontier.

Benny Gantz

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz, June 24, 2014. – Photo: IDF SPOKESMAN’S OFFICE

The IDF has already called up 48,000 reserves, bringing the total number to 56,000, once the additional forces are called up.

Last week, the IDF began actively calling up the 40,000 reserves approved to it by the cabinet for Operation Protective Edge. Continue Reading »

Norwegian Foreign Minister & Lieberman run for shelter in Ashkelon as Gaza rocket explodes

 

Touring Ashkelon with Norwegian counterpart, FM Lieberman says Israel doesn’t need to control Gaza or build Jewish settlements, just eliminate Hamas.

By Itay Blumental, Attila Somfalvi

 

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Norwegian Foreign Minister Børge Brende were forced to run for cover Wednesday, when a rocket fired by Gaza militants struck a building in Ashkelon during their visit to the city.

Borge (left) and Lieberman tour Ashkelon (Photo: Yaron Sharon)

Borge (left) and Lieberman tour Ashkelon – Photo: Yaron Sharon

Lieberman had taken his Scandinavian counterpart to the city, which has been battered by rockets from Gaza, and the two top diplomats ran when the siren sounded. No one was hurt in the attack. Continue Reading »

Anti-Israel protests going violent & viral in Europe & the U.S.

The pro-Palestinian narrative has become “more vicious” with chants that say “Death to Israel” and signs that refer to Jews, not Israelis.

 

Fallout from the hostilities between Israel and Hamas is spreading across Europe and the United States. Protests about the conflict have flared up, much like they did during past battles, increasingly turning confrontational, notably in the United States, Israel’s staunchest ally.

Detroit, Michigan July 13, 2014.

Arab-American demonstrators march down Woodward Avenue waving U.S and Palestinian flags as they protest against Israeli military strikes on Gaza, in downtown Detroit, Michigan July 13, 2014. – Photo: Reuters

Although the violence from Palestinian supporters at pro-Israel rallies in Los Angeles and Boston has not approached the seriousness of recent incidents in Paris and Berlin, many community leaders on both sides have noted an upswing in the level of vitriol and frustration reflected in the rhetoric emanating from the pro-Palestinian camp.

Continue Reading »

Large Rocket Salvo Fired at Metro Tel Aviv – Iron Dome Intercepts 4

Sirens & explosions heard throughout the metro-Tel Aviv area, including Petah Tikva, Bat Yam, Raanana, Herzliya, & Kfar Shemaryahu. – No injuries reported.

By Uzi Baruch, Gil Ronen

 

Hamas fired a large salvo of rockets Wednesday morning at the Greater Tel Aviv area. Four rockets were intercepted.

Israeli Air Force F-16I Sufas over Tel Aviv for Israel’s 63rd Independence Day – Photo: Wikipedia/Flickr

Sirens and explosions sounded throughout Tel Aviv, Bat Yam, Petah Tikva, Herzliya, Raanana and Kfar Shemaryahu.

There is no report yet regarding possible injuries.

The sirens sounded at 9:20.

Earlier Wednesday morning, a woman was lightly hurt in one of the communities in the Be’er Tuvia region, from fragments of a rocket that exploded near her. Continue Reading »

US Senate Allocates Double White House Proposal for Israel’s Iron Dome

 

The allocation is double what the Obama administration requested; ‘it works,’ says Senate chairman of the subcommittee.

By i24news

 

 

Israel has every right to be proud of the Iron Dome missile defense system and the US Senate on Tuesday reinforced its feeling. The Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee backed the Israeli Government request for $621.6 million in 2015 for Israeli missile defense programs in general, including $351 million allocated specifically for Iron Dome.

Iron Dome – Israel Air Force – Photo: Nehemia Gershuni

“It works,” Senator Dick Durbin, chairman of the subcommittee, said.

“For decades, Defense Department technologies have revolutionized the world.

Continue Reading »

Gaza Resident to Israel: ‘Reoccupy us, only way to be rid of Hamas’

 

Gaza residents are fed up with Hamas’ corrupt, violent agenda, prefer Israel, ‘the least of two evils’.

By Israel Today Staff

 

While observers of the latest round of violence between Israel and Hamas are certain to hear many negative claims against the Jewish state, the residents of Gaza are also quietly expressing ire at their terrorist overlords.

Patriot missile launched in the Negev desert

A Patriot missile launched in the Negev desert (archives) – Photo: Reuters

“Everybody here hates Hamas,” Gaza taxi drive Abu Ali told the Associated Press. “But they’re too afraid to say so publicly. Our food comes from Israel but what we give them in return is rockets — rockets that don’t even make little holes in the ground.”

Continue Reading »

Israel Aerospace Industries to produce 1622 wings for F-35 stealth fighter jet

 

Israel Aerospace Industries’ production line for the F-35 stealth fighter jet wings to open in September, according to IAI CEO Yossi Weiss at the Farnborough Airshow.

By Aharon Lapidot

 

“The Defense Ministry’s $250 million debt to Israel Aerospace Industries is burdening its activities,” IAI CEO Yossi Weiss told Israel Hayom at the Farnborough Airshow on Monday. “We are slowing our pace, and even moving people between projects.”

F-35 Stealth Jets. – Photo : IAF

“However, this is a not a lost debt,” Weiss continued. “For our part, we will continue to work and do all that is necessary, particularly given these tough times [the security situation in Israel].

Continue Reading »

First Germany, now Dutch travel firm cancels its Israel trips

The cancellations in Holland have so far only affected only a few dozen passengers with flight tickets & vacation reservations.

By JTA

 

 

Following its German sister company’s lead, the Dutch branch of Europe’s TUI travel giant has called off all tours of Israel due to the rocket fire there.

Eilat, Israel – Photo courtesy: Ester Inbar

TUI Nederland, which is Holland’s largest travel group, on Tuesday announced the cancellation of its tours and flights to Eilat, Israel’s southern port city and holiday destination, following a similar move over the weekend by the much larger German branch, which is Germany’s largest travel group and the operator of the TUIfly airline.

Continue Reading »