January 2015 Archives

Indo-Israel Relations are Modi-flying

From energy to cyber & missiles to irrigation, the once low-key, clandestine ties are now booming under India’s PM Narendra Modi.

By Aditi Bhaduri

“A lot of history and a lot of geography”– was how some years back the then Israeli ambassador to India had explained to this writer, the fascination India had for the numerous Israelis pouring into India. This legacy of history and geography is of course leavened with more mundane factors like a large market, cheaper goods and services and a relaxed milieu. In turn many Indians too have been looking to Israel – mostly for its spirit of enterprise and innovation. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: economic cooperation, Israel India, Narendra Modi

Israel Becomes Battleground in Mid-East Ketchup war

The Israeli company Osem, that almost holds monopoly on local ketchup sales, conducted its own tests on their competitor’s product, concluding Heinz does not meet Ministry’s criteria for ketchup.
• Heinz: Claims have no substance.

By Orna Yefet, Calcalist

Osem has launched a campaign against its main ketchup competitor Heinz, claiming the latter’s sauce does not meet the criteria for ketchup and instructing retailers to remove it from their shelves.

Ketchup wars: Heinz and Osem

After conducting lab tests on the Heinz product at its own initiative, Osem on Tuesday morning sent a letter to retailers asking them to remove the Heinz product from their ketchup section, and not place it next to Osem’s own product.

Category: Israel News | Tags: food, Health Ministry

Watch Netanyahu’s Clip Showing Livni & Herzog Squabbling Over Answering Obama’s Phone-call

Netanyahu’s campaign releases a video spoof depicting what would ‘really’ happen if left-wing Labor were to receive a phone-call from the White House.

By Tova Dvorin

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has released a humorous response to accusations from Labor-Hatnua leaders Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni Friday, after both accused him of “ignoring” US-Israel relations.

Labor-Hatnua leaders Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni in spoof ad, whining over who’s turn it is to answer Obama’s call. – screenshot

“The question of this election is not who will answer the phone in Jerusalem at three in the morning – but which Prime Minister will answer a phone call from Washington at three in the morning,” Livni fired in an Army Radio interview Friday.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israel Politics

Argentine prosecutor accuses his President of hampering 1994 Jewish center bombing

Argentina’s state prosecutor accuses President Fernandez of trying to cover up Iran’s part in the 1994 terrorist bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, where 85 people were killed.

By Reuters & Israel Hayom Staff

An Argentine prosecutor accused President Cristina Fernandez on Wednesday of trying to orchestrate a cover up in the investigation of Iran over the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

The aftermath of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Buenos Aires [Archive] – Photo: AP

State prosecutor Alberto Nisman, investigating the blast that killed 85 people, said Fernandez has pushed to drop the criminal investigation and normalize relations as a way of tapping Iranian oil needed to narrow Argentina’s $7 billion per year energy gap.

Category: The Diaspora | Tags: Argentine, Hezbollah, Iranian terrorists

Amb. Michael Oren explains Koolanu’s approach for ‘2-state situation’

As Michael Oren steps into politics, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States says “peace is the means for achieving the goal. Peace is not an end in itself.”

By FRONTLINES PODCAST

Michael Oren, Israel’s former ambassador to the United States who is running as the diplomatic voice in Moshe Kahlon’s Koolanu party in the March elections, unveiled his approach to the Palestinian problem on Wednesday.

Former Israeli ambassador to US Michael Oren – Photo: Bloomberg

“We all want the same thing, we want an Israel that is strong, an Israel that is democratic, an Israel that is Jewish, we want an Israel that is economically prosperous.

Category: Israel News |

France Honors Muslim Who Saved Jews in Terrorist Attack With French Nationality

An official ceremony will be held on Jan 20, giving Lassana Bathily his French passport for his bravery during the hostage taking in the Hyper Casher market.

By Reuters

A Malian Muslim who hid shoppers from an Islamist gunman during an attack on a Jewish supermarket in Paris will be given French nationality, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.

Lassana Bathily – Photo: Le Parisien

After the gunman had already killed people during a hostage taking in the store on Friday, 24-year old shop attendant Lassana Bathily hid several people.

Bathily saved the lives of six people whom he took to the supermarket’s freezer – sparing them from the scarring scene that was underway. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, The Diaspora | Tags: Israel-France, Jewish World, Paris Attack

After Palestinian Recognition Swedish Foreign Minister ‘persona-non-grata’ in Israel

Stockholm’s ‘utterly unfriendly’ decision to recognize the ‘state of Palestine’, without any previous consultation, leaves Minister Margot Wallstroem officially unwelcomed in Jerusalem by foreign ministry.

By Arutz Sheva

Israel said Thursday that Sweden’s foreign minister was not welcome for an official visit in the country, with relations strained over Stockholm’s recognition of “Palestine.”

Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem – Photo: Reuters

The minister, Margot Wallstroem, last week postponed a trip to Israel indefinitely, with Israeli media reports suggesting that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman did not want to meet her.

Sweden’s decision in October to recognize “Palestine” – the first major EU nation to do so – infuriated Israel, which temporarily recalled its ambassador to Stockholm.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israel Sweden

Israel’s Supreme Court Ruling: Terrorist working to destroy Israel cannot sue State

Lebanese terrorist, Mustafa Dirani, who was kidnapped by Israel & claims to have been tortured by interrogators, cannot have access to Israel’s legal institutions after “acting against the state and working to destroy it .”

By i24news

Israel’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Lebanese terrorist Mustafa Dirani, who claims he was tortured in an Israeli prison, has no right to sue Israel.

Mustafa Dirani (C) in 2004 – Photo: AFP

The expanded panel of seven justice narrowly overturned its earlier 2011 ruling which had allowed the $1.5 million suit to go forward.

Diranu was the head of security of the Amal movement in Lebanon, which is associated with Syria.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israel Supreme Court, Mustafa Dirani, terrorist

Seriously? Mossad shape-shifting Jews Attacked France to Feed Islamophobia

French Algerian Muslims to the Mayor of Turkey’s capital, believe (Mossad or shape-shifting) Jews carried out the French murders to further inflame Islamophobia.

By Ryan Jones

It’s inevitable. Any time there is a high profile terrorist attack, someone, somewhere will say the Jews did it. And that is precisely what is starting to happen following last week’s string of shootings that took the lives of 17 innocent people in Paris.

I’m not talking about the BBC reporter who told a Jewish descendant of Holocaust survivors, of all people, that in the eyes of some, the Paris attacks could appear justified in light of what he called Israel’s maltreatment of the Palestinians.

Category: Jewish News | Tags: anti-Israel Propaganda, anti-Semitic propaganda, anti-Semitism, Mossad

British Survey: Most UK Jews feel they have no future in Europe

UK poll finds a quarter of Britain’s Jews have considered leaving the country in the past 2 years.
• Additionally, 45% of all Brits agree with at least 1 anti-Semitic sentiment.
• Most French Jews are weighing pros & cons of immigration to Israel.

By Reuters & Israel Hayom Staff

A quarter of Jews in Britain have considered leaving the country in the last two years and well over half feel they have no long term future in Europe, according to a survey published on Wednesday.

Jewish men talk in Golders Green, London, January 10, 2015 – Photo: Reuters

Additionally, anti-Semitic beliefs are widely prevalent among the wider public with 45 percent of Britons agreeing with at least one anti-Semitic sentiment, the YouGov poll for the Campaign Against Antisemitism group found.

Category: The Diaspora | Tags: Diaspora Jews, Jewish World, survey

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Nasrallah Reports: ‘Hezbollah has weapons that the enemy (Israel) aren’t expecting.’

Hezbollah’s leader says that his Shi’ite group has arms Israel can’t even imagine.

By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUA

Hezbollah has more types of weapons than Israel can imagine, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah told the Arab-language Al-Mayadeen television network during an interview on Wednesday.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah – Photo: REUTERS

“Hezbollah has weapons that the enemy can expect and we have ones that they aren’t expecting. Our resistance has not been damaged, and Israel is mistaken if it thinks it has,” Nasrallah said.

According to the Hezbollah leader, Israel is interested in a conflict that would be a landslide victory for it, however he claims that such a win is completely unrealistic. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah

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US consulate in Jerusalem arms Palestinian guards in breach of Israeli law

Ignoring Israeli law, the U.S. consulate’s chief security officer is arming 35 Palestinian security guards, prompting the Israeli guards, who resigned in protest.

By Itamar Eichner

A scandal has erupted in the American Consulate in Jerusalem, as three Israeli security guards have quit following a plan to hire 35 armed Palestinian guards from East Jerusalem. The Palestinians have been undergoing weapons training in Jericho in recent days.

The American Consulate in west Jerusalem

The decision to hire and arm the Palestinian security personnel was made by the consulate’s chief security officer, Dan Cronin. The plan is to employ them mostly as escorts to American diplomats’ convoys in the West Bank.

Category: Israel News | Tags: US Consulate

Hamas Blackmail: Pay to Rebuild Gaza or Face “the consequences”

Hamas terrorist organization makes ironic demand, warning delay in aid (that is exploited to rebuild terrorist attack tunnels) may make the Gaza Strip ripe for ‘extremism & terrorism.’

By Ari Yashar

An official with the Hamas Islamist terrorist organization warned on Wednesday that Gaza could “become” a breeding ground for extremism, unless the world forks over more funds to rebuild after Hamas’s latest terror war against Israel.

“Our message to the world, which is scared of terrorism and extremism, is that the delay in rebuilding Gaza and the continuing blockade against it will make it a ripe environment for the spread of extremism and terrorism,” Khalil al-Haya told a Gaza City meeting of Hamas MPs.

Category: Israel News | Tags: hamas

SA Jews Condemn BDSers For Inviting Convicted Palestinian Hijacker to South Africa

Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled, convicted in 2 separate incidents of air piracy in 1969 & 1970, is invited to South Africa for a speaking tour, where she’s compared to Mandela, by local BDS activists.

By SAM SOKOL

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement has announced that it will bring convicted terrorist Leila Khaled to South African next month for a speaking tour, drawing harsh condemnations from the country’s Jewish community.

Hijacked planes – Palestinian terrorism

Khaled, now 70, is a former member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and took part in two airplane hijackings between 1969 and 1970. Continue Reading »

Category: The Diaspora | Tags: BDS, Palestinian terrorist, South Africa