Archive for July 14, 2015

Nuclear Agreement Made With Iran: Here’s the Deal’s Main Points

Iran to reduce advanced centrifuges from 20,000 to 6,104, convert Fordow facility into research centre, and reduce enriched-uranium stockpile from 5 tons to 300 kg.

Associated Press

 

After 18 days of intense and often fractious negotiation, world powers and Iran struck a landmark deal Tuesday to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from international sanctions – an agreement designed to avert the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran and another US military intervention in the Muslim world. Here are the main points.

The Iran Deal Read the the full text of the deal

Enrichment: Iran will reduce the number of uranium-enriching centrifuges it has from almost 20,000 to 6,104, and reduce the number of those in use from nearly 10,000 to half that. Continue Reading »

Iran-U.S. nuclear deal should herald improved covert Israel-Arab cooperation

Former Arab affairs adviser to Israel’s Prime Minister’s Office: When it comes to the Arab world and the Jewish State, there is “no love, only interests.”

 

If a nuclear deal is reached between world powers and Shi’ite Iran, it could stimulate covert cooperation between Israel and Sunni Arab states.

Continue Reading »

Madonna’s daughter Lourdes, in Israel for wedding

view videoWatch: Eighteen year-old Lourdes photographed with her boyfriend strolling through Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard before attending their friends’ wedding. 

Yoni Froim, Efrat Vachtel 

 

If there’s something we Israelis really like it’s a surprise visit, just like the one Madonna‘s daughter has paid us. 

Lourdes and her boyfriend – Photo: ‘Erev Tov with Guy Pines’

The 18-year-old Lourdes was spotted over the weekend taking a stroll on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard with her boyfriend by a crew of the “Erev Tov with Guy Pines” entertainment show. Lourdes arrived in Israel without her famous mother in order to attend the wedding of her friends Julia Moshkin and Shlomi Salant, who live in New York but decided to get married in Israel. Continue Reading »

Watch: Iron Dome Destroys UAV Entering Israeli Airspace

view videoRafael, maker of the Iron Dome system, showed in tests that the missile defense system is also effective against enemy UAVs.

By Koby Finkler

 

Iron Dome isn’t just for incoming missiles from Gaza or Lebanon. The missile defense system is also effective against drones (UAV), tests by Rafael, maker of the system, showed. The tests were documented in videos released by the companies Monday.

Iron Dome anti-missile system – Israel Air Force

A spokesperson for Rafael said that the system had long had the capability of hitting drones, even before it was first used against missiles in 2011. Company sources said that the videos would be used to help market the system to countries that may not be concerned about incoming short-range missiles, which Iron Dome is generally used for, but wish to better defend their skies against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Continue Reading »

‘Cursed’ Antiquity Thief Returns Roman ‘Catapult Balls’ With Letter

‘They brought me nothing but aggravation,’ admits anonymous culprit in a letter he attached to the 2,000 yr-old Roman projectiles stolen 20 years earlier.

By Itay Blumental

 

Museum robberies are rare, but rarer still is the thief who anonymously returns his prize. 

Photo: Dr. Dalia ManorPhoto: Dr. Dalia Manor

That’s exactly what happened Monday morning when two ancient projectile stones that were stolen from the Gamla Nature Reserve 20 years ago were found at the Museum of Islamic and Near Eastern Cultures in Be’er Sheva with a note from the culprit.

“These are the two Roman catapult balls from Gamla… I stole them in 1995,” wrote the thief. Continue Reading »

After School Ignored Severe Anti-Semitic Abuse, 5 NY Students Awarded $4.5 Million

U.S. Federal judge rules in favor of $4.5 settlement for 5 students from a NY school district that ignored ongoing anti-Semitic verbal & physical assaults.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

A New York state federal judge last Thursday ruled in favor of five Jewish students who suffered severe anti-Semitic abuse at schools in upstate New York, approving for them a $4.5 million settlement from the school district.

Swastika graffiti (illustration) -Reuters

The case has dragged on for years, after the students and their families initially sued the Pine Bush school district back in 2012 for ignoring swastika graffiti as well as verbal and physical abuse of Jewish elementary, middle and high school students, reports the New York Post. Continue Reading »

Israeli Imam Openly Supports ISIS in Sermon , Calls Netanyahu “Jewish Dog”

Arab Imam from the Israeli town of Umm al-Fahm openly called for the support of the ISIS in a July 2, speech, and accused Hamas of being too moderate, having collaborated with Israel.

Israel Today Staff

 

The Imam of the Al-Tawhid Mosque in the Israeli town of Umm al-Fahm openly called for support of the Islamic State in a July 2nd sermon. He accused Hamas of being too moderate and accused the organization of collaborating with Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was also denigrated by Imam Muhammad Abd Al-Ghani as a “Jewish dog”. The Muslim cleric further accused the Jews of being behind every disaster that plagued the Islamic people. Continue Reading »

OECD places Israel to head list of countries that spend the most on R&D

According to the OECD Israel is the country investing the most resources into Research and Development (R&D). R&D comprises of creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of human knowledge and to devise new applications based upon it. The World Economic Forum describes R&D as “the bedrock of innovation.”

By Paul Muggeridge

 

Research and development is the bedrock of innovation. A big investment in R&D indicates a thriving and entrepreneurial industrial spirit, and figures from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) highlight the countries spending the most – and least – on this important driver of economic growth, which covers three activities: basic research, applied research and experimental development. Continue Reading »

From the IDF to the Kurdish YPG, Canadian-Israeli woman returns to Israel

view videoAfter fighting jihadist group in  Syria & Iraq, Canadian-Israeli woman says, ‘I trained with the IDF & the Kurds taught me how to fight ISIS’.

By i24news

 

After nearly a year of fighting against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, a Canadian-Israeli woman is back in Israel.

Gill Rosenberg with Kurdish fighters in Syria – Facebook

In an exclusive interview with i24news aired on Sunday, Gill Rosenberg, 31, said that she joined the Kurdish YPG (People’s Protection Units in Syrian Kurdistan) to help them fight the radical Islamist group that has claimed swathes of territory in region.

“It feels very surreal, but I’m glad to be home,” Rosenberg said.

Continue Reading »

Second Israeli UAV Crashes in Lebanon

Lebanese army reported  Saturday: “Around 8:30 a.m., a drone belonging to the Israeli enemy fell in the port of Tripoli,”
• Photographs taken at the scene appear to identify an unarmed Hermes drone.
• IDF declines to comment – Again.

By Daniel Siryoti, Israel Hayom Staff & Reuters

 

An Israeli surveillance drone crashed into the sea near the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Saturday morning, according to Lebanese officials.

A drone, claimed to be Israeli, is pulled out of water near Tripoli, Saturday – Photo: EPA

Keeping with its policy regarding foreign reports, the Israel Defense Forces declined to comment. Continue Reading »

#BDSfail: Mayim Bialik, ‘Coming to Israel was not a political act’

In Interview: After her recent trip to Israel, TV’s ‘Big Bang Theory’ star tells how she dealt with the social media backlash of her trip to the Jewish State.

Actress Mayim Bialik is known for many things, among them old and current TV shows Blossom and The Big Bang Theory, her PHD in neuroscience, and her love for Israel. Last week she combined her passion for the holy land and her successful acting gig as the Big Bang Theory’s Amy Farrah Fowler, drawing an international CBS team to Israel for a photo shoot.

Mayim Bialik

Selfie outside house of relative and poet Hayim Bialik – Photo: MAYIM BIALIK

“I went with them to Paris two years ago and when they asked me where I wanted to do it this time, I said Israel.” Continue Reading »

Death Penalty Advocate says ‘Israel Needs to Change the Rules of the Game’

view videoVictims rights advocate says Israel needs to break the vicious cycle of being forced to release convicted terrorists as ransom, that just kill again – by legislating the death penalty.

By Eliran Baruch

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has blocked, at least temporarily, a bill which would require judges to impose the death penalty on convicted terrorist murderers.

That move provoked anger from the bill’s sponsor, Yisrael Beytenu MK Sharon Gal, who accused the prime minister of not being serious about fighting terrorism.

The proposed law is fiercely opposed by some MKs – primarily, though not exclusively from the Left – who oppose the death penalty in principle and have argued that it would simply turn terrorists killers into “martyrs.”

Continue Reading »

Israeli caricaturists unite on Facebook to fight the BDS hypocrisy

A group of Israeli cartoonists frustrated with Israel’s ineffectiveness at combatting the hate campaign, gathered on Facebook to post sarcastic caricatures exposing the hypocrisy of BDS supporters.

By Adva Cohen

 

Israeli diplomacy has been diligently working in recent months to thwart the efforts of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS), and now the country is receiving assistance from an unlikely group: Illustrators.

Caricature by Guy Morad
Caricature by Guy Morad

A new Facebook page recently created by Israeli illustrators seeks to fight the boycott efforts via sarcastic cartoons that paint Israel in a positive light, and unmask its hypocritical detractors. 

After Britain’s National Union of Students decided last month to join the BDS movement calling for a boycott of Israel, Asaf Finkelstein, a public relations person specializing in branding, decided that he could no longer bury his head in the sand. Continue Reading »

45 ISIS Insurgents Die of Food Poisoning From Ramadan Feast

Kurdish media reports the poisoning of 45 Islamic State fighters who died eating the Iftar meal, after the day’s Ramadan fasting.

By: Jewish Press News Briefs

 

45 ISIS fighters died on Monday night after eating poisoned food at a group Iftar meal in Mosul, Iraq. The report was released by Al Sumaria News, a Kurdish paper.

Islamic State (ISIS) insurgents – Photo courtesy: Wikipedia

The Iftar meal is the one Muslims consume after the day’s Ramadan fasting is over.

While the source of this poisoning is unknown, in November, the Times of Iraq reported that Syrian Free Army Rebels and the local cooks had poisoned the food of ISIS fighters in the Fath El-Sahel camp, killing dozens of them. Continue Reading »

Arab News: IDF enters Syria with tanks & bulldozers to clear refugee camp near border

IDF task force with tanks and bulldozers crosses half-kilometre into Syria to dismantle a Nusra Front controlled refugee camp, according to Arab media reports
• IDF declines to comment.

By Daniel Siryoti & Israel Hayom Staff

 

An Israeli military task force, accompanied by tanks and bulldozers, crossed about 500 yards into Syrian territory near Quneitra recently and dismantled a refugee camp in the area, Arab news outlets reported Thursday.

Israeli Druze look over the border with concern at the fighting in Syria – Photo: AP

According to the reports, the refugee camp, consisting of tin huts and tents, was built in an area controlled by the Nusra Front and was home to dozens of Syrian families that had fled the nearby fighting. Continue Reading »