Archive for June 8, 2015

RAND Study: Israelis, Palestinians Stand to Earn Billions From Peace

According to the RAND Corp. study, 2-state solution found to be by far the best scenario financially with the Palestinian economy benefiting by $50 Billion.

By The Associated Press, Attila Somfalvi

 

Israelis and Palestinians would gain billions of dollars from making peace with each other while both would face daunting economic losses in case of other alternatives, particularly in case of a return to violence, according to a new study released on Monday.

Kotel & Temple Mount, Jerusalem – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

The RAND Corp., a US-based nonprofit research organization, interviewed some 200 officials from the region and elsewhere during more than two years of research into the costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Continue Reading »

Alert Police Foil Jerusalem Stabbing Attack

Terrorist admitted to police that he had decided to stab Jews & that he had come to the Temple Mount for a last prayer before executing stabbing attack.

By Gil Ronen

 

Alert policemen foiled a terrorist stabbing attack Sunday in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Terrorist with knife – Illustrative file photo

The terrorist, an Arab man aged 25, from the Hevron area, had reached the Cotton Gate that leads to the Temple Mount, when officers the Temple Mount police spotted him and decided that he seemed suspicious.

They began to question him about what he was doing there but he managed to get away. Continue Reading »

Survey: 82% of Saudis don’t see Israel as greatest threat

Israel is no longer considered as a major threat to Saudi Arabia & the majority of Saudis surveyed are willing to live in peace with Israel under the Saudi-Arab Peace Initiative.

By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON

 

Most Saudis support the Arab Peace Initiative with Israel and say their country must obtain nuclear weapons if Iran does, a survey conducted by the Institute for Policy and Strategy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya shows.

Man takes a selfie in Meeca, Saudi Arabia. – Photo: REUTERS

Only 18 percent of Saudis see Israel as the greatest threat to their country. Iran was deemed the biggest nemesis (53%) followed by Islamic State (22%) and then Israel. Continue Reading »

Israel ranked 5th for country with highest gasoline prices

Israel takes 5th place with an average of $233 a month on gasoline, which equals 11% of the average Israeli monthly salary.

 

Israel is the fifth-priciest country in the world when it comes to how much consumers pay for unleaded gasoline, an international study by the financial website This is Money shows.

Israelis pay $5.79 per gallon for unleaded gasoline (Illustrative) – Photo: Yehoshua Yosef

Israelis are shelling out heavy sums at the pump — $1.53 per liter ($5.79 per gallon) — despite the fact that world oil prices have dropped to $66 per barrel since April 2012. Continue Reading »

Beijing refuses to allow Chinese nationals to work in West Bank

China’s refusal is delaying a deal on allowing thousands of Chinese construction workers in Israel because Jerusalem won’t promise to exclude them from the settlements.

By i24news

 

China is refusing to sign an agreement allowing its nationals to work in Israel, unless the Israeli government promises they will not be employed in the internationally disputed Jewish settlements of the West Bank.

C

Chinese construction workers – Photo: AFP /file

Israel has been trying to negotiate the agreement for a while and has so far refused to give in to the Chinese demand, according to The Marker, the economic daily of Haaretz. Continue Reading »

10 Swiss MPs: Gov’t Funding ‘Breaking the Silence’ a scandal & misuse of tax money

“Disinformation & the political ideology of hatred are being directed against the Jewish state…(by) one-sided, unbalanced non-scientific reports.”  The 10 Swiss parliamentarians said the NGO belongs to the BDS movement and its work is “propaganda.”

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL

 

The opening of the Breaking the Silence exhibit in Zurich on Thursday unleashed a firestorm of criticism from Swiss politicians who say the country’s Foreign Ministry misused public funds to finance a hate-filled exhibit targeting the Jewish state.

The Breaking the Silence exhibit at the Kulturhaus Helferei in Zurich, Switzerland. – Photo: AFP/MICHAEL BUHOLZER

“We condemn sharply the sponsorship of Breaking the Silence, with public monies through the EDA [Swiss Foreign Ministry] and the Zurich Finance Department, and expect in future a careful examination of projects and those organizations standing behind such projects before Swiss taxpayer money is misused,” 10 Swiss MPs from the parliamentary Swiss-Israel parliamentary group said in a statement dated Tuesday. Continue Reading »

Cyprus arrests 2nd Lebanese man in connection with Hezbollah bomb plot

Cyprus arrests 2nd Lebanese national, accused by Israel as Hezbollah agent, over the discovery of 5 tons of smuggled in ammonium nitrate, used in manufacturing bombs.

By Reuters

 

Cyprus detained a Lebanese man for questioning on Saturday over the discovery of five tons of chemical fertilizer capable of making explosives, in a case Israel says is a Hezbollah militant plot.

A Hezbollah rally in Lebanon (Photo:AFP)
A Hezbollah rally in Lebanon – Photo:AFP

 

The 62-year-old man, a resident of the Cypriot capital Nicosia, is the second to be arrested following the discovery of large amounts of ammonium nitrate at a home in the coastal city of Larnaca in late May. Continue Reading »

Israel Air Force Bombs Terror Targets After Rocket Fired From Gaza Strikes Israel

Israeli war-jets hit terrorist infrastructure in northern part of Gaza Strip, in response to their rocket attack on Ashkelon a few hours earlier.

By Elad Benari

 

Israeli aircraft attacked a terrorist infrastructure in northern Gaza overnight Saturday, in retaliation for a rocket attack on Ashkelon several hours earlier, the IDF Spokesperson said in a statement.

Airstrike in Gaza

Airstrike in Gaza – Photo: Thinkstock

In addition, following several rocket attacks in recent days, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has decided to close the Erez and Kerem Shalom border crossings between Gaza and Israel, the statement said.

The crossings will only be opened in humanitarian cases, and the decision on the opening of the crossings will be made on the basis of a security assessment and in accordance with security considerations. Continue Reading »

Emergency Sirens Triggered in Ashkelon Area by Incoming Gaza Rocket

—– SPECIAL SECURITY REPORT —–

A rocket fired at Israel from Gaza on Saturday night triggered air raid sirens in the Ashkelon and Hof Ashkelon regions. The projectile apparently exploded in an open area, and security forces said they had begun to search for the rocket .

gaza rocket

Rocket fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel. – File Photo: REUTERS

The incident comes two days after the Israel Air Force struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for two Gazan rockets fired into southern Israel. Continue Reading »

Rajoub now detested by Arab nations after FIFA backstep is stuck in Ramallah

Former terrorist & heroic symbol of Palestinian resistance, Rajoub is now in Ramallah, deemed persona non grata, and unable to travel to Jordan, Dubai as well as Israel.

By Smadar Perry

 

Up until last Friday morning, Jibril Rajoub was still viewed as a symbol of the Palestinians’ struggle against Israel. Rajoub, the chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, arrived then at the FIFA congress in Switzerland with the objective of getting Israel booted out of all international soccer tournaments and competitions, and only a last-minute and behind-the-scenes deal prevented a vote on the matter. Today, Rajoub finds himself under attack from all sides. Continue Reading »

Drenched in Mistrust, Corruption & Personal Interests, Palestinian Leadership Block Elections

Fatah & Hamas are only concerned about its own interests, while at the same time lying to the world that it’s Israel’s fault. Both parties continue to incited and reward violence, & Hamas continues to invest reconstruction aid in digging new attack tunnels for its next war with Israel.

 

One year after Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas announced the establishment of the Palestinian Fatah-Hamas “national consensus” government, the two rival parties remain as far apart as ever.

Mahmoud Abbas (L) & Ismail Haniyeh (R) More interested in Palestinian money than Palestinian interests. – Google Images

The “national consensus” government, headed by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, was formed after a series of “understandings” between Fatah and Hamas on the basis of previous “reconciliation” agreements between the two sides.

Continue Reading »

Israeli 11th grade students to compete in int’l science competition at MIT

High school students from Kiryat Shmona, working in the field of synthetic biology, will present their project at the iGEM competition this fall at MIT.

By Goel Beno

 

Twenty-three 11th grade students from the Darca Danciger high school in Kiryat Shmona will represent Israel at an international science competition in the US in September.

Students from the biotechnology program at the Darca Danciger high school presenting one of their developments – Photo: Efi Sharir

 

The 2015 iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition, an annual contest founded by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), has only recently been opened to high school students. Continue Reading »

Hamas Terrorist Dies When Gaza Terror Tunnel Collapses

Hamas ‘armed wing’ reported one of their members died after collapse of ‘resistance tunnel,’ with source revealing ‘work-accident’ occurred during terror activities.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

A member of the Al-Qassam, the “armed wing” of the Hamas terrorist organization, died Friday when an attack tunnel he was in collapsed in Gaza near the Israeli border, Hamas and medical sources said.
Al-Qassam Brigades showing Gaza tunnel post-operation – Photo: Reuters
The sources did not say why the tunnel, located in eastern Shejaiya in northern Gaza, collapsed, according to AFP.

A statement from the Al-Qassam Brigades said a member was killed in the collapse of “a resistance tunnel.”  Continue Reading »

First US state to illegalize boycotts based on nationality hinders BDS efforts

#BDSfail: South Carolina’s newly signed law prohibits public entities from contracting with companies that boycott ‘based on religion, race, gender, color, or national origin.’

By MICHAEL WILNER

 

WASHINGTON – South Carolina’s governor has signed into law a bill to stop efforts to boycott, divest and sanction Israel on Thursday afternoon, in a first for the nation on a statewide level.

South Carolina Govenor Nikki Haley

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley – Photo: REUTERS

The bill makes no mention of Israel directly, but prevents public entities from contracting with businesses engaging in the “boycott of a person or an entity based in or doing business with a jurisdiction with whom South Carolina can enjoy open trade.” Continue Reading »

Israel Increases Water Supply to West Bank, Jordan & Gaza

Israel’s national water authority says ability now exists to double the amount supplied to Gaza, with water supplies to Palestinian West Bank and Jordan to substantially increase as well.

By Ilana Curiel

 

Israel’s national water company Mekorot, in accordance with the Water Authority’s guidelines, recently doubled its water supply to the Gaza Strip by 5 million cubic meters. The annual supply will now amount to 10 million cubic meters of water.

Palestinian woman carrying water in the Gaza Strip. – Photo: Reuters

 

The new water supply of 5 million cubic meters to the Gaza Strip will come from two sources including the Nahal Oz pipeline in the south and an older line in the Kissufim area that provides water to the center of the Strip. Continue Reading »