Archive for December 28, 2014

IDF open fire on violent Palestinians protesting near Israel’s border fence with Gaza

Gaza demonstration turns violent as Palestinian group begins throwing stones at IDF near Israel’s border with Gaza.
– No injuries reported.

By Elior Levy

 

The IDF has reportedly opened fire on a group of Palestinian protesters who approached the border fence between Gaza Strip and Israel.

Hamas protest – Archive photo: AP

The incident, which has not yet been confirmed by the IDF, followed reports of a Hamas-backed protest held earlier in Gaza decring the Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza.

The march was attended by Hamas’ Gaza leader Isamil Haniyeh who demanded the world free Gaza from the siege.

According to Palestinian reports, a group of protesters neared the Erez Crossing border terminal, crossing the Palestinian checkpoint from the Gazan side of the border. Continue Reading »

Hamas Bars Gaza War Orphans from Visiting Israel

Shin Bet approved field-trip for Gaza’s orphans to visit Israel and the PA, to experience what life is outside of the Strip, but Hamas forbids attempt at ‘normalization.’

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Hamas on Sunday prevented dozens of children orphaned during its 50-day war with Israel from entering Israeli territory in a pre-arranged trip, organizers and officials said – despite Israel making the effort to allow the children to visit.

The week-long visit was planned for 37 children whose parents were killed by Israel in the Gaza Strip in July and August this year. It was organized by an Israeli kibbutz group and local Arab-Israeli officials.

Continue Reading »

MK Danon: Israel Must Annex Judea & Samaria, If UN Recognizes Palestine

Likud chairman Danon, who’s challenging Netanyahu for the party’s leadership, says if UN passes Palestinian resolution this week, Israel’s answer must be sovereignty over Judea and Samaria.

By Ari Yasha

 

 

Likud Central Committee chairman Danny Danon, who is challenging Binyamin Netanyahu for leadership of the party, on Saturday night called on Israel to respond to an expected UN recognition of the Palestinian Authority (PA) as the “state of Palestine” by declaring sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.

“We must clarify in the clearest terms to the world that every unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state will bring Israeli sovereignty,” declared Danon in a meeting with Likud activists in Judea’s Gush Etzion region. Continue Reading »

Ranking US Senator: American Congress may cease funds to UN if it ‘takes over’ peace process

 

Video icon JPEGSenator Lindsey Graham says Congress will ensure sanctions on Iran can be returned at a ‘drop of the hat’.

PM Netanyahu ridicules Erekat’s comparison of the Islamic State and Israel.

 

There will be a “violent backlash” by Congress against the UN, including suspended funding, if it tries to “take over the peace process,” visiting US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said Saturday night alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) & Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. - GPO Screenshot

US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) & Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. – GPO Screenshot

Graham, a staunchly pro- Israel senator whose name has been bandied about as a possible 2016 presidential contender, said there would be a violent pushback in the new Republican-controlled Congress “if there’s any effort by the UN Security Council to set the terms of peace negotiations, avoiding direct talks. Continue Reading »

Videos: Watch IDF Special Ops Arrest Molotov Cocktail Terrorists

Video icon JPEGShin Bet lifts gag order revealing details of how 2 terrorists, one a minor, hurled a Molotov Cocktail into an Israeli car, critically burning 11 yr-old girl.

By Ari Yashar

 

The Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) on Saturday night lifted a gag order on the arrest of the terrorists who committed the firebomb attack in Ma’ale Shomron in Samaria last Thursday, in which 11-year-old Ayala Shapira was critically wounded and her father Avner lightly wounded as their car went up in flames.

Several hours after the attack, roughly a dozen young Arab suspects from the nearby town of Kfar Azoun were arrested, according to the ISA report. 

Continue Reading »

Analysis: Will Israel’s Secret Cooperation With Gulf States Lead to Reconciliation?

The Gulf states are currently enjoying the benefits that come from unofficial ties since their leaders would pay a steep price in Arab public opinion if they were to have open relations with Israel.

Operation Protective Edge opened up a new diplomatic possibility that is not yet being taken advantage of.

By Yoel Guzansky

 

Many believed that Operation Protective Edge presented Israel with an opportunity to strengthen its ties with the Sunni-royalist bloc in the region, which, like Jerusalem, is not only interested in containing Iran but also seeks to weaken the regional powers (state and non-state actors) affiliated with radical Islam. Continue Reading »

Report: Israeli teens unequaled in use of technology

Despite being consumed by technology with about 90% of those between 13-18 that use WhatsApp, the report also finds the number of teenagers who  volunteer for community projects on a regular basis climbed from 17.8% in 2004 to 46.4% in 2011.
• Number of underage drinking has decreased.

By Yael Branovsky

 

Continue Reading »

US gov’t fines Israel’s Bank Leumi $400m in tax fraud case

Israeli financial institution admits tax evasion charges and agrees to pay $400m settlement to end probe of decade-long effort to fraudulently conceal US citizens’ assets.

By AFP

 

Bank Leumi Group has admitted to helping US taxpayers hide assets and agreed to pay a $400 million fine to settle a criminal probe, the Department of Justice announced Monday.

Bank Leumi branch in Tel Aviv

Bank Leumi branch in Tel Aviv

From at least 2000 until early 2011, Leumi sent private bankers from Israel and elsewhere to meet with US taxpayers and help them conceal assets at Leumi locations in Israel, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Leumi, a unit of Bank Leumi, also helped US taxpayers prepare and present false tax returns, prosecutors said. Continue Reading »

Molotov Cocktail Throwing Terrorist Caught, Defense Minister Informs Mother

Video icon JPEGThe Arab terrorist who broke window to throw Molotov cocktail into the car of Avner Shapira and his 11 yr-old daughter Ayala, has been apprehended, Defense Minister tells mother.

By Ari Soffer

 

Security forces believe they have apprehended the terrorists responsible for Thursday night’s firebomb attack, which left a young girl in critical condition.

firebomb JPEGSpeaking to 11 year-old Ayala Shapira’s mother on Friday, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon revealed that it appeared the attacker had been apprehended. His identity has not yet been released.

IDF forces quickly deployed in a massive operation to track down the terrorist responsible for the attack, which also left father Avner lightly injured.

Continue Reading »

UN Corruption Stifles Gaza Reconstruction Plans

The UK’s The Guardian reported that officials are taking bribes to produce more concrete than is needed, in order to sell on the black market.

By i24news

 

Barely four months after a bloody conflict battered Gaza, experts warn that a new war could be in the offing if reconstruction is not accelerated and Palestinian divisions remain.

Mahmud Hams/AFP

Palestinian men in a horse cart make their way through a flooded street in Gaza City on November 27, 2014 – Mahmud Hams/AFP 

Since the end of the deadly 50-day war between Israel and Hamas, which killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians and 73 Israelis, little has changed on the ground in Gaza. Continue Reading »

Israeli Politicians Play ‘cat & mouse’ In Jarring Whatsapp Group

Israeli media publish transcript of raucous Whatsapp group, that includes Knesset members from all across Israel’s political spectrum.

By Aviel Schneider

 

Think Whatsapp is only something you use with families or amongst groups of friends? Not in Israel, where Whatsapp has become something of a raucous digital town hall. Case in point, Israel’s Channel 2 News reported on a Whatsapp group that includes a large number of Israeli Knesset members from across the political spectrum.

The group includes Ofir Akunis (Likud), Miri Regev (Likud), Moshe Feiglin (Likud), Arab Knesset member Ahmed Tibi, Itzik Shmueli (Labor), Eitan Cabel (Labor), Miki Rosenthal (Labor), Boaz Toporovsky (Yesh Atid), Karin Elharar (Yesh Atid), Alex Miller (Yisrael Beiteinu), Danny Dayan (Jewish Home), Tamar Sandberg (Meretz) and many others.

Continue Reading »

11 yr-old Severely Burned in Critical Condition From Samaria Firebomb Attack

 

Arabs break window and throw Molotov cocktail into the car of Avner Shapira and his daughter Ayala as they were driving home.

• Ayala is fighting for her life in hospital with 3rd-degree burns all over her body
• Ayala’s Mother: “I am asking everyone to pray for her recovery.”

Continue Reading »

Kuwaiti daily newspaper reports Qatar freezes support for Hamas

 

In attempts to reestablish relations with Cairo, Qatar will try to stop Hamas’ incitement against Egypt, as well as end Gaza’s illegal transfer of weapons to Sinai terrorist groups.

 

Doha has informed the Hamas leadership that it intends to temporarily stop its support for the Gaza-based organization in an attempt to pressure it to change its policies vis-a-vis Egypt, according to Al-Jarida, a Kuwaiti daily newspaper.

An aerial view of Doha, Qatar's capital

An aerial view of Doha, Qatar’s capital. – Photo: REUTERS

Qatar seeks to stop Hamas’ incitement against Egypt as well as put an end to the illegal transfer of weapons from the Gaza Strip to terrorist groups in Sinai, a senior Egyptian official told the Arabic-language paper. Continue Reading »

Israel’s State Comptroller Rules Lieberman’s Secret Vienna Meetings ‘kosher’

 

After MK Shelly Yachimovich lodged complaint that Israel’s foreign minister held unreported meetings on previous European trip, the State Comptroller’s inquiry concluded the ‘secret’ meetings would have been approved.

By Aviel Magnezi

 

 

The State Comptroller has concluded that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s secret trip to Vienna was justified, after former Labor leader Shelly Yachimovich complained the Lieberman conduct secret meetings that were not reported to the media during the September visit.

Lieberman's secret Vienna meetings okayed. (Photo: AFP)

Lieberman’s secret Vienna meetings okayed. – Photo: AFP

In the report sent to Lieberman by the State Comptroller retired judge Yoseph Shapira, who sent Lieberman the report before its publication in order to get his comments, states that after an inquiry by the State Comptroller’s office and after a meeting conducted with Lieberman, Shapira and the senior advisor to the State Comptroller on special matters were “convinced by the words of the minister and accepted them.” Continue Reading »

Residents from Israel’s border communities angered by NIS 70m. security cutback

 

Disagreement between Public Security Ministry and the Defense Ministry will leave dozens of communities on Israel’s border without a security budget beginning January 1.

By Matan Tzuri

 

A NIS 70 million cut to the security budget for 50 Israeli border communities will go into effect on December 31, leaving problems with the border fence unsolved, removing arms from military warehouses, and hindering the ability of security coordinators to monitor the border 7 days a week, Ynet learned on Thursday, while the Defense Ministry and Public Security Ministry both say the matter does not fall under their responsibility.

Damage to the kibbutz’s security fence will be left unfixed after the budget cut comes into effect.

Continue Reading »