November 2014 Archives

Suggested legislation requires MKs to swear loyalty to ‘Jewish State of Israel’

MK Miri Regev’s (Likud) bill that would require new Knesset members to swear allegiance to the Jewish State of Israel, will likely inspire the ire of Arab Knesset members.

By Moran Azulay

New legislation being put forth by a firebrand Likud Knesset member could force new Israeli legislators to swear loyalty to Israel as a Jewish state before they can join the Knesset ranks; a move which will likely infuriate Arab and leftist MKs.

With neither the wintery weather nor the stormy session on the ‘Jewish nationhood’ bill yet to pass, the Knesset is gearing up for another contentious debate next Sunday, when the Ministerial Committee for Legislation will discuss the proposal, by MK Miri Regev, which will put into a law the demand that parliamentarians swear allegiance to the Jewish state of Israel. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israeli politics, Knesset, Miri Regev

IDF responds with artillery fire after IDF army jeep shot at near Gaza border

Today was 1st time since Israel’s summer ‘Operation Protective Edge’ that IDF forces opened fire on the coastal enclave.

IDF jeep’s bullet-proof window was damaged, but no one was hurt.

By Gili Cohen

An Israel Defense Forces jeep patrolling the Gaza border was fired at on Thursday, prompting the army to respond with artillery fire, for the first time since the summer’s Operation Protective Edge.

IDF 155m”m self-propelled Howitzer artillery piece responds to attack. – courtesy

The jeep’s window was damaged, but no one was wounded in the incident.

The IDF Spokesman said that light arms were fired at Israeli soldiers along the border near central Gaza, and the army responded with artillery fire. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Gaza attack, IDF Artillery Corps, IDF response

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Polish Officials Target Desecrated Jewish Cemetery for Housing Project

A Jewish cemetery in Grodzisk, originally destroyed during the Holocaust & is now partly used as a junkyard & storage site, is currently targeted, as residential building plans threaten its very existence.

By Chaim Lev, Ari Yashar

The Jewish community of Poland is working urgently to try and save the Jewish cemetery in Grodzisk, after the city’s council began work on a construction project in the northern part of the city where the graveyard is located, putting it in direct danger.

Jewish graves in Poland – Photo: Hezki Ezra

The cemetery was destroyed during the Holocaust, and afterwards most of the grounds were transferred to the “Independent Peasants Aide” organization, under whose proxy machines and building materials were stored on the site. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News, The Diaspora | Tags: Grodzisk Poland, Holocaust, Jewish cemetery, Poland

Report: Israel among first nations eligible for India’s new e-visa

Business Standard reports Israel is among 43 countries in the first phase of an Indian initiative to issue paperless visas to entering tourists.

By Haaretz

India phasing in Tourist Visa on Arrival program, which will eventually be open to almost all of the 180 countries which host its diplomatic mission.

Travelers walking in Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai, India, March 8, 2012. – Photo: Bloomberg

Israel will be among 43 countries in the first phase of India’s new program to issue electronic visas to visitors with which it has diplomatic relations, Business Standard announced Wednesday.

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The list will be issued Thursday, as is expected to include most European Union states, as well as Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Oman, Argentina and Kazakhstan.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israel India, Israel tourism

Palestinian Leader Accuses Israeli ‘Beast-masters’ for Unleashing Wild Boars

Another fantastical accusation is the latest in a long tradition of Muslim leaders’ claim that Israel employs supernatural means to harass its enemies.

By Israel Today Staff

If Israel’s antagonists in the region are to be believed, the Jewish state employs all manner of bizarre and even mythical tactics against its foes. The latest, according to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, is the unleashing of wild boars upon the fields of Arab farmers.

Wild boar – Israel Today

“Every night, they [Israelis] release wild boars against us,” Abbas said during a conference in Ramallah last Friday. “Why are they doing this to us?”

Category: Israel News | Tags: animal spy, anti-Israel Propaganda, Palestinian propaganda, Propaganda

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Three Religious Girls Make Aliya to Serve in IDF Combat Unit

Being a religious woman and serving in the IDF are definitely not mutually exclusive as proven by 3 ‘lone soldiers’ Pnina Abraham, Sarah Goldberg, & Pnina Sankovich who come from religious households in North America & now serve together in an Egyptian border field intelligence unit.

By Danny Brenner

Three young religious women from North America have come to Israel to enlist in the Israel Defence Forces and serve in combat units.

From left to right: Pnina Sankovich, Sarah Goldberg, and Pnina Abraham – Photo courtesy: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

The national-religious community has long debated the issue of young women enlisting in the IDF, as opposed to signing up for civil service, though recently there has a been rise in the number of religious women enlisting to field units and combat support roles.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Aliyah, IDF girls, Religious soldiers

ISIS vows their flag will wave over Jerusalem, even if Jews & Crusaders don’t like it

The Islamic State says it will expand its rule over Islam’s holy places in Mecca & Medina, and to Rome & Jerusalem.

By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUA

The Islamic State has threatened to make it all the way to Jerusalem “even if the Jews and Crusaders despise it.”

ISIS fighter – Photo: REUTERS

The threat appears in the foreword of the fifth edition of the organization’s official magazine, Dabiq – named for a town in the suburbs of Syria’s Aleppo, in which the group’s members believe their will be a great war between Muslims and the West after its armies conquer Syria.

Category: The Diaspora | Tags: ISIS

Sarkozy: After synagogue massacre, ‘No’ to Palestinian recognition

Former French president in a speech to party members, objects to a Palestinian bid to attain statehood through recognition via local parliaments, citing deadly terror attacks and the lack of peace talks.

By Ynetnews, AFP

Former French president Nicholas Sarkozy urged members of his party to vote against a new resolution which would see France join a string of European nations in symbolically recognizing a Palestinian state.

Former French Presidetn Nicholas Sarkozy (Photo: Reuters)

Former French President Nicholas Sarkozy – Photo: Reuters

Speaking to members of his UMP part this Tuesday, Sarkozy said “I will fight for the Palestinians to have their state. But unilateral recognition a few days after a deadly attack and when there is no peace process? Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israel-France, Nicholas Sarkozy, Palestinian recognition

Israelis protest against Jerusalem’s planned water pipeline to Jordan

Government says channel, costing approximately $15.8 million less than alternative plan, is slated to pass through land of 4 Jordan Valley kibbutzim, and won’t harm their farmland.

By Noa Shpigel

About 100 Jordan Valley residents held a demonstration on Tuesday to protest a planned pipeline that would convey water from Lake Kinneret to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, claiming that the pipeline will ruin large open areas through which it is slated to pass. Israel is obligated by its bilateral peace agreement to provide water from Lake Kinneret to its neighbor.

The southern part of the Jordan River. – Photo: Yaron Kaminsky

Opponents to the plan want the water to be sent to the Jordanians via the existing Jordan River channel, from the Degania dam to the old Naharayim electric power station, and from there to Jordan.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Environment & Nature, Israel economy, Israel Jordan, Jordan Valley, Lake Kinneret, Sea of Galilee, water

Israel’s Security Minister Introduces Law to Ban ‘Rock-throwing’ Islamist Gangs from Entering Temple Mount

Minister Aharonovich advances bill in the Knesset to ban Hamas affiliated Islamist organizations that attack police and harass Jews, on Judaism’s holiest site.

By Ido Ben-Porat, Ari Yashar

Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich (Yisrael Beytenu) is advancing a new bill to declare the groups of Muslim extremists coordinating unrest on the Temple Mount in order to block Jewish visits as illegal gatherings.

Arab rioters at Temple Mount (file) – Reuters

The new bill was revealed on Wednesday by Haaretz, and targets the organized gatherings of Muslim men and women in recent years on the Mount, the holiest site in Judaism, who curse and shout at Jewish visitors and assault police with rocks and fireworks. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Arab riots, Sheikh Raed Salah, Temple Mount, Yitzhak Aharonovich

East Jerusalem Arab posed as Border Police Officer to extort Palestinians

Arrested Arab male posed as Israel Border Guard officer to ‘arrest’ Palestinians, then demanded a ransom for their ‘release.’

By Noam (Dabul) Dvir

A Palestinian resident of the Al-Ram neighborhood in East Jerusalem was arrested on Tuesday on the suspicion he posed as an Israeli Border Police officer, “arrested” Palestinians, and then blackmailed them for their “release.”

Israel Police items found in possession of the suspect. (Photo: Israel Police)

Israel Police items found in possession of the suspect. – Photo courtesy : Israel Police

According to initial reports, the Palestinian man, around the age of 40, had an Israeli police uniform identified with officer tags, a military vest, a radio, and a report pad for issuing fines. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Border Police, Israel Police, MAGAV

Al-Sisi’s peace plan: Cairo deploys Army into PA controlled areas & Gaza

Analysis: Egypt’s President al-Sisi would like to send his forces into the West Bank & Gaza, as a temporary ‘peace-force’, until Israel & the Palestinians reach a peace deal.

By Yaron Friedman

During his first trip to Europe, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gave an interview to the Italian media in which he voiced a far-reaching and highly significant proposal concerning the peace process – the deployment of Egyptian military forces to monitor the implementation of the peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Al-Sisi with Pope Francis on his European tour. – Photo: Reuters

It’s safe to assume that every Israeli cringes on hearing the phrase “the deployment of military forces to Palestine,” with all the negative connotations it evokes (the War of Independence, the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War). Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, Egypt Army, Egypt Hamas, Israel Egypt

South Africa’s High Court ends BDS protests at Woolworths stores

In October, BDS organizers placed a pig’s head in the Kosher meat section of a Woolworths in Cape Town because it continues to sell products from Israel.

By JTA

A court in Johannesburg has ordered the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to stop the organizing and encouraging of protests of the Woolworths chain of department stores.

A shopper selects yoghurt at a Woolworths Ltd. supermarket in Sydney, Australia. – Photo: Bloomberg

The Johannesburg High Court in its ruling issued Tuesday also ordered representatives of the BDS movement and Woolworths to meet face-to-face by December 10 “in an attempt to settle the entire matter,” the South African Press Association reported.

Category: The Diaspora | Tags: BDS, Israel boycott, South Africa

Israeli & Palestinian dance troupes to ‘pirouette’ together in Ireland

After many failed attempts to dance together, both Israeli & Palestinian dance troupes will seek to make a change through ballet in Ireland.

By i24news

Only a few dozen meters separate two dance troupes, a Palestinian one from the West Bank town of Beit Jala and the other from the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, who have attempted to meet with each other on a number of occasions, but have been unsuccessful as yet.

Members of the Beit Jala swing dancing group – YouTube screenshot

After being in touch via Facebook and a number of failed attempts to meet in person in Tel Aviv, the troupes will finally be able to dance together when they travel to Ireland for a dance festival, according to Israeli daily Ha’aretz. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Arab-Israel conflict, co-existance