Archive for February 19, 2015

Lapid slams British followers of ‘useful idiot’ Roger Waters for boycotting Israel

Israel Knesset Member Lapid writes in The Guardian:  ‘Everyone wants to be like Nelson Mandela, but no one has the patience to learn the details’

 

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid slammed a group of British artists Thursday for calling on their colleagues around the world to boycott Israel until it ends what they termed the “colonial occupation.”

Yair Lapid – Photo: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM

Lapid responded in an opinion piece published in The Guardian that the signatories were ignoring many painful truths. He singled out Roger Waters, a veteran critic of Israel’s policies who co-founded the band Pink Floyd 50 years ago. Continue Reading »

Get “I voted” button on Facebook page during Israeli elections

 

After launching similar initiatives during U. S., India & EU Parliament elections, Facebook will introduce voting button for Israeli users, in bid to help stimulate voter turnout.

By Ehud Keinan

 

Facebook announced Wednesday that it will offer Israeli users a feature which will allow them to share that they voted in the March 17 Knesset elections, and additionally receive information from Israel’s Central Election Committee on the polling station at which they cast their ballot.

Facebook ‘I voted’ feature in Hebrew

According to an announcement by the social media site, Israeli users will see the “I voted” button at the top of their news feed. Continue Reading »

MK Shaked Turns to Facebook for Suggestions in Peri’s ISIS Negotiations

After MK Yaakov Peri (Yesh Atid party) suggested negotiating with ISIS, Jewish Home’s MK Ayelet Shaked asks, ‘Will a building freeze in Jerusalem stop the beheadings?… or a withdraw from Maale Adumim halt the raping of Yazdi women in Iraq?’

By Moshe Cohen

 

What would ISIS want in a negotiation with Israel? What would satisfy the Islamists who have pledged to convert the citizens of every country to Islam – or kill them? MK Ayelet Shaked wants Israelis who have an idea on that issue to contact Yesh Atid MK Yaakov Peri and let him know, because, she said, he apparently believes that such negotiations are the way to deal with Islamists. Continue Reading »

UN Pressures Donors Countries to Make Good on Aid Pledged to Gaza

UN official warns the Security Council that if promised cash is given to Hamas, there may be more violence coming out of Gaza.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

The failure by world donors to deliver billions of dollars of aid to rebuild Gaza is jeopardizing efforts to avoid a new flareup in the Palestinian territory, a senior United Nations official warned Wednesday.

UN political affairs chief Jeffrey Feltman told the Security Council that donors who had promised $5.4 billion to the Palestinians at the Cairo conference four months ago “have yet to fulfill the vast majority of their pledges,” according to AFP. 

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American couple donate rare antiquities collection to Israel Museum

The Belfer collection, of over 350 rare artifacts are considered ‘among most significant private collection of antiquities in the world.’

By i24news

 

US donors are giving the Israel Museum a collection of more than 350 artifacts “considered among the most significant private holdings of antiquities in the world,” the museum said Wednesday.

2 coins

It said in a statement that “select objects” from the collection of New York art patrons Robert and Renee Belfer would go on show at the museum in Jerusalem from June, as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations.

“The Belfer collection features hundreds of ancient Greco-Roman and Near-Eastern glass vessels, recognized as some of the most impressive specimens of their kind, as well as important early examples of Greco-Roman sculpture in bronze, marble, and mosaic,” it said. Continue Reading »

Israeli Christians Urged to Vote in March Elections

 

A leading Christian figure, Shadi Khalloul, has even become a candidate for the Knesset with Yisrael Beiteinu, a top right-wing Zionist party.

By Israel Today Staff

 

Christian leaders in the Holy Land are urging their constituents to get involved in Israel’s upcoming national elections. And the call is being answered, with some going so far as to become candidates for Knesset themselves.

The Assembly of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land under Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal issued a statement this week encouraging local Christians to help improve the situation and make a positive impact on the Middle East conflict by exercising their right to vote in Israel. Continue Reading »

CNN poll stands alone: Majority of Americans against Netanyahu Congress speech

Contrary to earlier surveys conducted by YouGov/Huffington Post, a CNN poll finds majority of respondents think that without first having consulted with the White House, House Speaker Boehner should not have extended any invitation to Netanyahu to speak before Congress.

By Ynetnews

 

A majority of Americans think Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner should not have invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress without seeking approval of the White House, a CNN/ORC survey found on Wednesday, contrary to an earlier poll that reached the opposite conclusion.

CNN

In a survey of 1,027 adult Americans interviewed from February 12-15, 2015, 63 percent of respondents said it was a bad move for Republican congressional leaders to coordinate the speech without consulting with the Obama administration.
Continue Reading »

Watch: Iraqi shows his Support of Israel from in the Middle of Baghdad

Anonymous Arab activist posts a video on his Facebook page declaring his support for Israel & the IDF, from the center of Iraq’s capital city.

By Ari Soffer

 

Rising anti-Israel sentiment and anti-Semitism has made supporting Israel a tough job for activists in places like Western Europe, particularly on university campuses where Islamist extremism and far-left sentiment are rife and students often face harassment and abuse for expressing pro-Israel views.

Bagdad

But have you ever tried being an Israel-advocate in Iraq?

Well, one brave man has – and even uploaded the proof from a bridge over Baghdad’s Tigris (Dijla) River. Continue Reading »

NY Times: European officials admit US asked them to limit reports to Israel on Iran talks

US officials are neither being honest or transparent about P5+1 nuclear talks with Iran and have launched campaign to discredit Natanyahu for exposing truth in upcoming Congressional address.

By i24news

 

Last week, Israel’s Channel 2 TV News aired a dramatic announcement, saying top US officials had stopped updating Israel about the status of the P5+1 nuclear talks with Iran.

Wendy Sherman No. 2 US diplomat – US Mission in Geneva

The US State Department quickly denied the report, saying it continues to regularly update Israel regarding developments in the talks.

The White House also called the report “patently false. National Security Adviser (Susan) Rice maintains regular contact with her Israeli counterpart, National Security Adviser Cohen on the full range of issues of mutual concern to our nations, and will in fact meet with him later this week at the White House.”

Continue Reading »

VIDEO: Israel’s Bird’s Eye View of Medieval Castle Near Rosh Ha’ayin

 

Get a drones perspective of one of the many stunning medieval castles situated throughout Israel’s countryside.

Israel Today Staff

 

The medieval castle at Migdal Tzedek, near the central Israel town of Rosh Ha’ayin, is not only historically interesting, it is a stunningly beautiful location that demonstrates the vast array of archeological gems packed into this tiny country.

The medieval castle at Migdal Tzedek, near the central Israel town of Rosh Ha’ayin – Screenshot

The following video provides a drones-eye-view of the castle situated in the hills of Samaria. As can be seen, the castle is currently being renovated, and is open to visitors. Continue Reading »

REPORT: ISIS now targeting Libya as jumping-point for its eventual invasion of Europe

The UK newspaper Telegraph, reports ISIS jihadists are planning to “flood Libya with militiamen from Syria & Iraq, who will then sail across the Mediterranean posing as migrants on people-trafficking vessels.”

Continue Reading »

Israeli economy grew by a whopping 7.2% in 4th quarter of 2014

Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reports the Israeli economy’s performance in 4th quarter of 2014 indicates strong recovery from slowdown after summer’s Operation Protective Edge
• Data affirms projections saying Israel’s economy likely to grow during 2015.

By Zeev Klein & Hezi Sternlicht

 

The Israeli economy has recovered from the relative slowdown that followed last summer’s Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip, marking 7.2 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2014, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday.
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Bennett tells Europeans: Israel on front lines in war against radical Islam

 

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Argentina Asks U.S. to Include Jewish Center Bombing in Iran Nuclear Talks

Argentine Foreign Minister asked his American counterpart John Kerry, to include the 1994 terror attack on AMIA Jewish center in its Iran nuclear program negotiations.

By Reuters

 

Argentina wants the United States to help it get to the bottom of a deadly 1994 bombing of a Jewish center at the heart of a current political scandal by including the crime in the US nuclear talks with Iran, its foreign minister said on Tuesday.

1994 bombing of AMIA Jewish community center – Photo: AFP

Argentine courts have accused a group of Iranians of planning the attack on the AMIA Jewish community center that killed 85 people.

Continue Reading »

Iran’s Shi’ite Militia in Yemen Begin Battle to Control Israel’s Red Sea Entry

After replacing Yemen’s gov’t, the Shi’ite Houthi militia, launches conquest of strategic port city of Aden, that controls Eilat access.

By Dalit Halevy, Ari Yashar

 

The Shi’ite Houthi militia which is loyal to Iran and receives support from the Islamic regime has moved its conquest of Yemen into a new stage, opening its battle for the southern port city of Aden which controls access to the Red Sea and ultimately to Eilat and Israel.

Aden, Yemen

Earlier this month the Houthis established their temporary government, the Supreme Revolutionary Council, in the presidential castle in the capital city of Sana’a after besieging the previous government in the castle until it disbanded.

Continue Reading »