Archive for October 12, 2014

Israel’s Health Ministry directs hospitals to hold Ebola drills

The Health Ministry has instructed all hospitals in Israel to hold training drills to make sure they are able to deal with patients who have the deadly virus.

 

In the wake of a meeting convened Sunday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Ebola outbreak in Africa — the second such meeting within a week — the Health Ministry has instructed Israeli hospitals in Israel to hold training drills to make sure they are ready to deal with patients who have or may have the deadly virus. Ministry officials will hold their own hospital drills and also carry out inspections to gauge the readiness of the country’s hospitals, starting toward the end of the month.

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Dozen’s of Jewish Graves Desecrated by Mount of Olives Vandals

Even after millions of Shekels were spent on security cameras, Arab vandals again entered, this time destroying the grave-site of the Hassidic leader, the Grand Rebbe of Modzitz, along with dozens of others, including other well-known rabbis.

By Moshe Cohen

 

Arab vandals destroyed the gravesite of the Hassidic leader, the Grand Rebbe of Modzitz, according to Modzitz hassidim who visited the site. The gravestone of the leader, Rabbi Yisrael Dan Taub, who died in 2006, was destroyed, along with dozens of others, including several well-known rabbis. The destruction took place at a special section of the Mount of Olives cemetery reserved for rabbinical leaders. Continue Reading »

Lieberman on Palestinian bluff, Gaza reconstruction, U.S. Support, Ebola & the Islamic State

In candid interview with Israel’s Foreign Minister Lieberman, a unilateral Palestinian push to set deadline for Israeli withdrawal is a useless endeavor that will fail, since all involved parties accept Israeli security needs must be at forefront of any renewed peace effort. 

By Attila Somfalvi

 

 

Hours before the Gaza aid conference in Cairo begins on Sunday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Ynet that “there are no American demands” of Israel and that the two countries have reached an understanding on Israel’s role in the reconstruction of the Strip.

Lieberman meets with American counterpart John Kerry (Photo: AFP)

Lieberman meets with American counterpart John Kerry – Photo: AFP

Lieberman, who spoke to US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday night, said that Israel was “definitely interested in the civil restoration of Gaza. Continue Reading »

Israeli Defense Company Signs $12.7M Contract With U.S. Army

In never-ending US-Israel cooperation, the Pentagon deal with Elbit Systems Ltd. strengthens ties even further.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

The US subsidiary of Israeli defense company Elbit Systems Ltd. was awarded an approximately $12.7 million contract to provide Apache Aviator Integrated Helmets (AAIH) to the United States Army, it announced Sunday.

Apache helicopter

Apache helicopter – Photo courtesy: US Army/Elbit

As part of the contract, work will be performed over a two-year period at Elbit Systems of America’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

“We have specifically designed the helmet modifications of the AAIH and Apache Integrated Helmet and Display and Sight System to improve safety features and add greater comfort for the Army Aviator,” stated Raanan Horowitz, president and chief executive officer, Elbit Systems of America, LLC. Continue Reading »

Lightning Sets Golan Heights Ablaze

Golan Heights fire broke out after a lightning strike, but nature reserve personnel were quick to explain how the area will rehabilitate itself with most of the forest green again in few months.

By Ahiya Raved

 

 

A wildfire in the Golan Heights caused by lightning, which raged for 12 hours until it was extinguished Saturday afternoon, has destroyed 750 acres of forested land, and killed numerous wild animals.

Fire at Gamla (Photo: Shmulik Cohen, Nature and Parks Authority)

Fire at Gamla – Photo: Shmulik Cohen, Nature and Parks Authority

The fire broke out on Friday at around 10pm, following the lightning strike.

“I arrived at the area around midnight and realized that if we didn’t stop the fire immediately it would spread rapidly and become uncontrollable,” said Eldad Eitan, head of Gamla Nature Reserve in the Golan Heights. Continue Reading »

New Guinness World Record: 6 Israelis swim from Cyprus to Israel

Last year’s attempt was cut short after a fierce sea storm, but a group of 6 Israelis just swam for 6 days breaking the Guinness World Record for longest group relay swim in open sea.

 

An Israeli team broke the Guinness World Record for the longest open sea group relay swim on Saturday, reaching the Israeli coast after swimming 380 km from Cyprus.

Six Israeli swimmers at the Marina in Herzliya after swimming Cyprus.

Six Israeli swimmers at the Marina in Herzliya after swimming Cyprus. – Photo: AFP

The six-man team, Udi Arel, Ori Sela, Doron Amosi, Ben Anosh, Luke Shetbon and Oded Rahav, set off from the beach at Paphos on Sunday, swam in four-to-five kilometers turns for six days. Continue Reading »

UK Labor MPs Rebel Against Dictated ‘Palestine’ Vote

Opposition MPs are ‘furious’ for being directed to vote for recognition of Palestinian state, admitting it makes ‘peace’ process more difficult.

By Ari Yashar

 

The UK is anticipated to pass a non-binding vote on Monday recognizing “Palestine,” but members of the Labor party which proposed the move are reportedly holding an internal revolt against the forced vote.

Ed Miliband

Ed Miliband – Reuters

MP Ed Miliband is head of the Opposition and the Labor party, whose member Grahame Morris proposed the vote. His shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander has told Labor shadow ministers that they must vote in favor of the motion, reports the British Independent. Continue Reading »

Israel’s designation of Christian Arabs to Aramean causing tension between Muslims, Christians

Israel’s Muslim Arabs claim Jerusalem’s recent recognition of Aramean as a nationality, is part of Israel’s ‘divide & conquer’ policy toward Arabs.

By Lily Galili

 

September 16th 2014 was a big day for the Christian community in Israel: The Ministry of the Interior recognized “Aramean” as a nationality. Since then, about 20,000 Israeli Christians of Aramean descent going back to the time of the Bible and early Christianity, are entitled to be registered as having “Aramean” rather than “Arab” nationality. A new nation was born, or rather resurrected.

Nazareth Billboard warning Christian minority – Photo: Julie Eltes

The decision, having obvious political implications, has triggered a chain reaction. Continue Reading »

Syrian intelligence base on Golan Heights to spy on Israel captured by rebels

 

 

A 4-minute video clip was uploaded to the Internet by Free Syrian Army fighters, who are seen in a building in Quneitra just near the int’l border between Israel & Syria.

By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUA

 

Syrian rebel forces fighting the government of President Bashar Assad overran a military intelligence base on the Golan Heights that served as a joint Russian-Syrian forward post for information-gathering on Israel.

Syrian rebels take control of military intelligence base on Golan Heights. – Photo: YOUTUBE SCREENSHOT

In a four-minute video clip which was posted on the Internet by the rebels, Free Syrian Army fighters are seen in a building in Quneitra, just near the boundary between Syria and the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. Continue Reading »

Tel Aviv Cocktail Bar voted Best Bar in Africa & Middle East

Israel’s Imperial Craft Cocktail Bar in Tel Aviv was voted the Best Bar in Africa & The Middle East at the World’s 50 Best Bar Awards.

 

Ever wondered where in the Mideast you should go for the perfect Manhattan or the dirtiest Dirty Martini? It turns out that the region’s best bar is hidden away in a small, unassuming hotel in Tel Aviv.

Imperial Craft Cocktail Bar.

Imperial Craft Cocktail Bar. – Photo: Courtesy

On Thursday, the Imperial Craft Cocktail Bar in the Imperial Hotel on the city’s Hayarkon Street, was voted the Best Bar in Africa and The Middle East at the World’s 50 Best Bar Awards. Continue Reading »

Israel’s 2nd international airport to be built in Galilee

 

The new airport, to be located at Ramat David, was chosen because it had an infrastructure already in place to support a large new airport.

By Ilan Gattegno

 

The government recently approved plans to construct a new international airport in northern Israel, ending a 15-year-long search for a complementary airport to Ben-Gurion International Airport, which is already nearing operational capacity.

The Ramat David air base may become Israel’s second international airport in 2019 [archive] – Photo: Ancho Josh / JINI

The new airport will be located in Ramat David in the Galilee and will be the second largest airport in the country.

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After UNRWA Facilities Assisted Hamas in War, Now Seeking $1.6b in Aid to ‘Rebuild Gaza’

 

Chutzpah? UN Palestinian body makes largest single plea in UNRWA’s 64-year history asking $1.6 billion to rebuild Hamas’ institutions & constituency.

By AFP

 

The UN’s Palestinian refugee agency is to make its largest ever financial plea to donors, it said on Thursday, asking for $1.6 billion (1.26 billion euros) to rehabilitate war-battered Gaza.

(Reuters)

(Reuters)

The conflict between Israel and Hamas-led Gaza militants, which ended on August 26, killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 people on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.

“This is the largest single ask in UNRWA’s 64-year history,” spokesman Christopher Gunness told AFP ahead of an October 12 donors’ conference in Cairo. Continue Reading »

Palestinian brewery cancels its 2014 Oktoberfest

Taybeh Brewery, the only Palestinian microbrewery, has cancelled its 2014 October festival in the wake of Gazans still suffering after war with Hamas.

 

The Taybeh Brewery, located in the West Bank town of the same name, has cancelled its annual Oktoberfest this year following the summer war in Gaza, according to USA Today.

Oktoberfest

A scene from the 2013 Taybeh Oktoberfest. – Photo: Screenshot

“The blood in Gaza still did not dry, so we felt we needed better times to celebrate,” said master brewer Nadim Khoury, who runs the family-owned business.

This is the first time the brewery has not hosted the October festival in the town in a decade. Continue Reading »

New Political Con Satisfies US & EU but Gaza Facing ‘Donor Fatigue’

Unparallelled deceptions & corruption by Palestinians escapes US & EU leadership, but int’l aid conference has shown global community become a little wiser to Hamas’s numbers game.

By Tova Dvorin

 

A conference that aims to raise billions of dollars to “rebuild Gaza” after Hamas’s latest terror war on Israel faces “donor fatigue,” an insider told AFP on Friday.

The United Nations’ Palestinian Arab “refugee” agency, the UNRWA, has described the financial needs as “unprecedented” ahead of the Cairo meeting, which follows Hamas’s third war on Israeli civilians in six years.

But it is unclear how generous the world is willing to be given the intractability of the conflict and other priorities in the region, such as the fight against jihadists in Syria and Iraq. Continue Reading »

Report: Iran orders Hezbollah to Hurt Israel for Sabotage at its Parchin Nuclear Plant

Kuwaiti paper reports Hezbollah’s attack on IDF soldiers was in retribution for sabotage that caused explosion at Iran’s nuclear site.

By Gil Ronen

 

Kuwaiti newspaper A-Rai reported Thursday that the explosion that took place earlier this week at the Iranian nuclear site in Parchin was not the result of a malfunction, but an intentional act of sabotage.

A section of the Parchin military facility in Iran

A section of the Parchin military facility in Iran – Reuters

The report relies on European diplomatic sources in Washington, DC, who said that a foreign country carried out the attack in order to foil experiments in the mounting of nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles. Continue Reading »