Archive for December 31, 2016

Dershowitz: ‘The Obama legacy will go into the dustbin of history’

 

view videoWATCH: Prof. Alan Dershowitz, a longtime Democrat and once Obama supporter,  comes out with a scathing criticism of Obama’s conduct vis-a-vis Israel, the US’s closest ally in the mid-East.

By Ben Ariel, Canada

 

Prominent author and Harvard Professor Emeritus of Law Alan Dershowitz sharply criticized President Barack Obama in an interview with the Israel Hayom newspaper on Friday, saying he believes “Obama will join Jimmy Carter as somebody who will always stand against Israel, but who will be tossed into the dustbin of history when it comes to the Middle East.”

Dershowitz said he believes once U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20, there would be nothing left of the hostility of the current administration toward Israel. Continue Reading »

Google censured for directing ‘Holocaust’ searches to revisionist neo-Nazi websites

 

Google adjusts its algorithms after users asking “Did the Holocaust happen?” found they were being directed to white-supremacist, neo-Nazi forum.
• Google: Algorithms to best answer a query is a challenge, and we don’t always get it right.

By Israel Hayom Staff & News Agencies

 

An embarrassed Google announced it was adjusting its algorithms after users who entered the question “Did the Holocaust happen?” in online searches were directed to a neo-Nazi website.

The results of the Google search for "Did the Holocaust happen?" - Photo- Screenshot 

The results of the Google search for “Did the Holocaust happen?” – Photo- Screenshot

Until recently, the top result the search engine provided to the query was a link to Stormfront, a white supremacist online forum, and an article titled “Top 10 reasons why the Holocaust didn’t happen.” Continue Reading »

Canadian MP: After elected Prime Minister, Canada’s embassy will move to Jerusalem

 

Canadian candidate, Kellie Leitch wrote, “In the wake of the recent UN vote and the comments of John Kerry, Canada must demonstrate its support for Israel. As Prime Minister, I will move the Canadian embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.”

By Dalit Halevy

 

Following the passage of the recent anti-Israel resolution at the UN Security Council and subsequent condemnation by US Secretary of State John Kerry of Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem as being illegal, candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada Kellie Leitch vowed to move the Canadian Embassy to Jerusalem if elected as Prime Minister. Continue Reading »

Knife attack at Qalandiya checkpoint thwarted, Palestinian terrorist shot, neutralized

 

After multiple calls to stop did not halt her advance, a knife yielding Palestinian woman was shot & neutralized on Friday while quickly approaching Israel Border Guard officers at the Qalandiya checkpoint. She was subsequently arrested and given medical assistance.

By Elisha Ben Kimon

 

Security forces stopped a stabbing attack on Friday at the Qalandiya checkpost near Ramallah. The incident occurred when a Palestinian woman had approached the checkpoint, with a knife in her hand, despite being repeatedly called upon to stop.

The knife found next to the neutralized female Palestinian terrorist at the Qalandiya checkpoint. - Photo: Police Spokesperson's Unit

The knife found next to the neutralized female Palestinian terrorist at the Qalandiya checkpoint. – Photo: Police Spokesperson’s Unit

The woman was eventually shot and neutralized after security forces proceeded with the IDF rules of engagement. Continue Reading »

Huckabee: Defund United Nations, reallocate the financing to U.S. veterans

 

In the wake of the anti-Israel resolution, several American lawmakers have called for the U.S. to stop funding to the UN until the resolution is reversed. Former Arkansas Governor, “We ought to take that money that’s going to the UN and make it available to veterans.”

By Elad Benari

 

Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee suggested on Thursday that, in the aftermath of the United Nations resolution condemning Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria, that the United States pull its portion of the international body’s funding.

Speaking on Fox News, Huckabee said the hundreds of millions to billions of dollars could be better allocated to serve American veterans. Continue Reading »

UK lambastes Kerry for ‘focusing on settlements’ and ‘inappropriate’ attack on Israel’s gov’t

 

The British government takes an unprecedented step of criticizing U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech for its hyperbolic focus on Israeli settlements and being otherwise, ‘inappropriate.’

By i24news

 

A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s government strongly criticized US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday, for being overly critical of Israeli settlements during his remarks yesterday on the Middle East peace process.

John Kerry - YouTube screenshot

John Kerry’s more than hour long tirade on settlements was based on falsehoods, distortions, omissions and false moral equivalencies, rendering it entirely one-sided, hence, unrealistic and an obstacle to peace. – YouTube screenshot

“We do not believe that the way to negotiate peace is by focusing on only one issue, in this case the construction of settlements, when clearly the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is so deeply complex,” said the spokesman. Continue Reading »

REPORT: Foreign Minister Bishop said Australia wouldn’t have supported UNSC resolution

 

According to the Australian newspaper, FM Bishop indicated the gov’t would not have supported the Security Council’s move, saying, “In voting at the UN, the ­Coalition government has consistently not supported one-sided resolutions targeting Israel.”

 

The US may have worked for the passage of last Friday’s anti-settlement resolution in the UN, and western countries like Britain, France, Japan and Spain may have supported it, but if Australia was on the UN Security Council, it would likely not have voted for it, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop indicated on Thursday.

PM Netanyahu with Australian FM Julie Bishop. - Photo- Amos Ben-Gershom:Israel's GPO

PM Netanyahu with Australian FM Julie Bishop.

Continue Reading »

South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley will be the next US envoy to United Nations

 

Although Nikki Haley and her new boss Donald Trump have spared on a host of issues, she appears to be in line on how the Jewish State should be treated at the United Nations.

By MICHAEL WILNER

 

NEW YORK – When US President Barack Obama first tapped Samantha Power as ambassador to the UN in 2013, Israeli officials and media figures treated her record – militantly opposed to Western voyeurism in Syria and publicly critical of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians – as an indication of the president’s direction on the Middle East entering his second term.

Judging South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley, her likely successor, based on similar metrics, Israelis now expect a shift in its favor at the UN and against a growing movement to boycott, divest from and sanction the Jewish state given renewed energy last week after the Security Council voted to condemn Israel’s settlement activity as an illegal enterprise. Continue Reading »

Emboldened by White House, Abbas already demanding preconditions for peace talks

 

PA chairman Abbas responds within hours of Kerry’s anti-Israel speech by once again demanding preconditions from Israel before commencing peace talks.

By Elad Benari

 

Hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech on the Middle East peace process, Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday again imposed conditions on peace talks.

Abbas, reacting to Kerry’s remarks, said he was ready to resume peace efforts with Israel if it stops “settlement building”.

“The minute the Israeli government agrees to cease all settlement activities… and agrees to implement the signed agreements on the basis of mutual reciprocity, the Palestinian leadership stands ready to resume permanent status negotiations on the basis of international law and relevant international legality resolutions… under a specified timeframe,” he said in a statement quoted by AFP. Continue Reading »

PM Netanyahu: Obama & Kerry obsessed with settlements, silent on ‘root of conflict’

 

– Updated –

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s described the Obama administration’s focus on Israeli settlements as obsessive, calling Kerry’s comments “biased” due to their unwillingness to address the “root of the conflict.”
WATCH VIDEO – Netanyahu, “How can you make peace with someone who rejects your very existence?…This conflict is not about houses. This conflict is about Israel’s right to exist…It’s a shame that Secretary Kerry does not see this simple truth.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Israeli officials spanning across the political spectrum responded to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech after the American official outlined his vision for Middle East peace in Washington DC Wednesday. Continue Reading »

72 new immigrants (Olim) from North America land in Israel

 

Among the 72 Olim that landed at Ben Gurion Airport this morning are 20 future IDF Lone Soldiers – ‘present-day Maccabees,’ making for a wonderful Chanukah present.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

72 new immigrants (Olim) from North America, including 20 soon-to-be IDF Lone Soldiers, landed this morning, December 28, in Israel on a Nefesh B’Nefesh group Aliyah flight, in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah & Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel, JNF-USA.

20 future Lone Soldiers - ‘present-day Maccabees' arrive in Israel 28 Dec 2016. - Photo/ Ben Kelmer, courtesy of Nefesh B'Nefesh

20 future Lone Soldiers – ‘present-day Maccabees’ arrive in Israel 28 Dec 2016. – Photo: Ben Kelmer, courtesy of Nefesh B’Nefesh

These young men and women are drafting with the Tzofim-Garin Tzabar program and will serve in the IDF as part of the Nefesh B’Nefesh Lone Soldiers Program. Continue Reading »

Local Christian Clergy Praise Complete Freedom of Religion in Israel

 

President Reuven Rivlin welcomed in Jerusalem, the clergy of Christian communities in Israel to mark the civil New Year, wishing all the Christian leaders and their congregations, “A good and healthy New Year,” adding, “May it be a year of mutual understanding and respect. A year of justice and fairness.”

By Israel Today

 

With Christians suffering in most of the surrounding nations, local Christian leaders took this Christmas season as an opportunity to thank Israel for protecting them and their freedoms.

 President Reuven Rivlin welcomed the leaders of Christian communities in Israel to mark the civil New Year. - Photo- Facebook, Israel in the USA by Mark Naiman, GPO

President Reuven Rivlin welcomed the leaders of Christian communities in Israel to mark the civil New Year. – Photo- Israel in the USA/Facebook, Mark Naiman of Israel’s GPO

That message was delivered by Greek Patriarch Theophilos III during the annual Christmas and Hanukkah gathering at the presidential residence in Jerusalem. Continue Reading »

Israel’s hotels hosting foreign tourists surge 38% over Nov 2015

 

Record number of foreign tourists visited Israel in November 2016, generating more than 1.5 billion shekels ($390 million) in revenues for the month.

By Ilan Gattegno

 

Some 970,000 tourists stayed at least one night in Israel in November, an increase of about 38% compared to November 2015, the Israel Hotel Association said in a statement Monday.

Hotels along the North Beach, Eilat - Photo Attribution- Henrik Sendelbach/Wikimedia Commons

Hotels along the North Beach, Eilat – Photo: Henrik Sendelbach/Wikimedia Commons

The number of tourists who stayed overnight in November this year was also 23% higher than in the equivalent period in 2014, which followed Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, and on par with November 2013. Continue Reading »

GOTCHA! Egypt leaks transcripts prove Obama orchestrated UN draft with PA cooperation

 

According to leaked transcripts to an Egyptian daily newspaper, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Susan Rice met with Palestinians Saeb Erkat and Majed Faraj in Washington, for the purpose of drafting the upcoming Egyptian proposal to the UN Security Council.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Prior to the UN Security Council vote on anti-Israeli settlement resolution 2334, US Secretary of State John Kerry met with a Palestinian delegation in early December in Washington to discuss the draft, agreeing to cooperate, according to transcripts released by Egyptian daily Al-Youm Al-Saba’a.

According to the report, Kerry along with US National Security Adviser Susan Rice, met with Secretary General of the PLO Executive Committee Saeb Erkat and Majed Faraj, head of the Palestinian Authority’s General Intelligence Service. Continue Reading »

Amb. Bolton Reveals REAL Reason Obama Orchestrated UN Security Council’s Anti-Israel Vote

 

According to John Bolton, former US Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, President Obama’s intentions were far more devious than just betraying America’s closest ally in an act of utter cowardice.

By Chris Golden

 

When Barack Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations abstained from a vote condemning Israel at the global body, it was the final perfidy of a president who has alienated and bullied the Jewish state for the entirety of his presidency.

Barack Obama’s Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power speaks to the UN Security Council after abstaining on an anti-Israel resolution, December 23, 2016 – UN video screenshot

According to John Bolton — former U.S. Continue Reading »