Archive for February 19, 2017

Saudi Arabia echoes Israeli warnings against Iran at Security Conference

 

Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Turkey’s foreign minister joined Avigdor Lieberman and the Saudi Foreign Minister urging the international community to punish Iran’s aggression and activities that are undermining regional stability.

By Itamar Eichner and Reuters

 

Israel and Saudi Arabia presented a united front on Sunday, issuing almost identical warnings of caution against Iranian aggression Sunday as the two countries urged the international community to punish Tehran for a myriad of activities undermining regional stability.Speaking at the Munich Security Conference, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and the Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir closed ranks, despite their respective countries having no official diplomatic relations, as they rebuffed statements made by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif calling on Sunni Muslim Gulf states to help reduce violence in the area. Continue Reading »

Customs authorities nab Palestinian smuggling ancient Roman coins out of Jordan

 

Returning Palestinian from the Arab village of Tulkarem was caught attempting to cross the Allenby Border Crossing from Jordan with a ‘heavy coat’ containing 53 historical coins from the Roman period.

By Ido Ben Porat

 

Customs authorities at the Allenby Crossing between Jordan and Israel foiled on Sunday an attempt to smuggle coins from the Roman and Mameluke periods into Israel.

The smuggler, a resident of the Palestinian Authority city of Tulkarm, was crossing back into Israel from Jordan when he was tagged for a more thorough search by the Israeli Customs Authority.

After the customs officer asked the suspect to empty his pockets, he noticed the suspect’s coat contained something heavy. Continue Reading »

EU awards Israel’s Technion €7.7 million for extending food shelf-life project

 

The three year project aims at improving nanotechnology-based antimicrobial packaging for perishable foods, thus enhancing food safety and reducing food waste caused by early spoilage.

By Anav Silverman/TPS

 

The European Union recently awarded €7.7 million to the international NanoPack Project, led by the Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology, to develop a solution for extending food shelf life. NanoPack is funded as part of HORIZON 2020, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

Dr. Ester Segal – Photo: Nitzan Zohar/Technion Spokesperson’s office

According to Dr. Ester Segal, NanoPack’s coordinator and associate professor at Haifa’s Technion, NanoPack is working to introduce nanotechnology-based antimicrobial packaging solutions to further food safety. Continue Reading »

Obsessed UN angered over deer photo included in Israeli Nature Exhibition

 

UN officials ask Israel’s delegation to remove the picture of two deers from THE NATURAL SIDE OF ISRAEL photo exhibition, because they claim it was taken in the Jordan Valley, which is outside the 1949 cease-fire line, not really ‘in Israel’.

By Gary Willig

 

UN officials contacted Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, to ask him to remove a picture of two deer from an Israeli exhibition at the General Assembly headquarters in New York.

The exhibition, scheduled to be shown in two weeks, was set up by the Israeli delegation to the UN and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and is meant to show the beauty of Israel’s environment. Continue Reading »

REPORT: Australian Foreign Minister open to 1-state solution if both Israelis & Palestinians agreed

 

PM Malcolm Turnbull’s affirmation of Australia’s committed to the 2-state solution policy to the Israel-Palestinian conflict contradicted those made by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who stated that if both sides agree upon a 1-state solution, Australia would recognize it.

By i24news

 

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Thursday that she would support a one-state solution if it were agreed upon by both the Israelis and the Palestinians, Sky News reported.

The comment comes ahead of Prime Minster Netanyahu’s visit to Australia, slated for Monday, making it the first time an Israeli prime minister has ever travelled to the country in an official capacity. Continue Reading »

Palestinian officials purposely leak unpublicized meet between Abbas & CIA chief

Not to be ignored by the press while Israeli PM meets with Trump, Palestinian officials leak news of ‘secret meeting’ between PA autocrat Abbas and CIA Director Mike Pompeo. 
• Abbas reportedly warns Pompeo that moving their Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem could prompt violence.

By Daniel Siryoti

 

CIA Director Mike Pompeo met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Tuesday, in the presence of Palestinian intelligence chief Majid Faraj, the Palestinian Maan news agency reported.

While the meeting was intended to be secret, Palestinian officials leaked news of it to media outlets in the West Bank ahead of the meeting Wednesday between U.S. Continue Reading »

WATCH: Trump’s nominee as US envoy to Israel, heckled by Palestinians at Senate hearing

 

At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Attorney David Friedman expressed regret over a past derogatory comment he once made comparing liberal American Jews to the Kapos, who assisted the Nazis during the Holocaust.
-WATCH Video

By REUTERS

 

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s nominee to be US ambassador to Israel faced repeated heckling at a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday as well as tough questions on views he has expressed about liberal American Jews, Jewish settlements and a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

David Friedman, a bankruptcy lawyer who Trump has called a longtime friend and trusted adviser, has supported Israeli settlement building and advocated for the annexation of the West Bank, which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 war. Continue Reading »

With strong economic growth, Israel’s economy surged since mid-2016

 

Israel’s economy surges with a growth of 4% since the final months of 2016, even after a Bank of Israel forecast of a mere 2.8% growth.

By Reuters

 

Israel’s economy shot up in the final three months of 2016 and looks set to have grown annually by 4 percent, easily outstripping the central bank’s expectations.

It came on the back of robust exports, but also increased consumer spending.

Bank of Israel, in Jerusalem – Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Ester Inbar

On an annualized basis, gross domestic product soared 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday, as it also revised up the annualized third-quarter 2016 growth estimate to 4.2 percent from 3.6 percent. Continue Reading »

Netanyahu: We asked Trump to recognize Golan Heights as part of the State of Israel

 

In a historic departure from the dictated ‘Two State Solution’ Netanyahu, who also spoke with reporters after his meeting with Trump, did not mention it, rather touched on other subjects.

By Hezki Baruch,

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday held a press briefing following his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, in which he revealed that he asked Trump to fully recognize Israel’s presence in Golan Heights as part of the State of Israel.

He noted that Trump did not rule out the possibility and was not surprised by the request.

Netanyahu also hailed the friendship between the United States and Israel, saying, “I’ve felt quite a few miracles in my life and I can say that we have never had a greater friend than Trump. Continue Reading »

Fallacy: Israel receives largest share of US military aid

 

Most detractors of the Jewish State cite the myth that Israel receives the largest share of US military aid, but in fact, Israel receives only a small fraction of American military aid, and no less than 70% of that must be spent in the US to the benefit of American workers and the economy.

Myth: Israel is the largest beneficiary of US Military Aid – By Prof. Hillel Frisch

 

Countless articles discrediting Israel (as well as many other better-intentioned articles) ask how it is that a country as small as Israel receives the bulk of US military aid. Israel receives 55%, or $US3.1 billion per year, followed by Egypt, which receives 23%. Continue Reading »

From Uzbekistan, the twins Fatima and Zukra join the IDF as Yael and Noga

 

After discovering their Jewish roots, 19yr-old twin sisters Fatima and Zukra from Uzbekistan, began an extraordinary journey of becoming IDF soldiers, Jewish, ‘Yael’ & ‘Noga’ and then finally Israeli.

 

They were born 19 years ago in Uzbekistan and have attended a Muslim school. When they learned of their father’s roots, they decided to come to Israel with their families. Today,  Islambakov serve in the Israel Defense Forces. One of them has converted to Judaism and the other will soon finish the conversion process. They have both changed their names. Yael and Noga’s spectacular story.

Fatima and Zukra Islambakov, twins to a Muslim mother, were born 19 years ago in Uzbekistan. Continue Reading »

Pro-Palestinian reporter explains how covering conflict changed his mind

 

After a year working and living in Israel as a journalist covering  the conflict with the Palestinians, New England born & raised Hunter Stuart was forced to rethink his positions after seeing first-hand the truth about the conflict.

A View From The Frontlines, By Hunter Stuart

 

IN THE summer of 2015, just three days after I moved to Israel for a year-and-a-half stint freelance reporting in the region, I wrote down my feelings about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A friend of mine in New York had mentioned that it would be interesting to see if living in Israel would change the way I felt. Continue Reading »

Netanyahu to Trump: ‘Palestinian state lacks practical feasibility, a waste of time’

 

Israel TV2news reports PM Netanyahu plans to explain to President Trump that a Palestinian state simply lacks practical feasibility, which explains Israeli readiness to negotiate vs. a consistent Palestinian refusal.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet tomorrow (Wednesday) for the first time with Donald Trump in his capacity of President of the United States.

Channel 2 reported that according to estimates, Netanyahu will refrain from mentioning the words “Palestinian state” and explain to the president the lack of feasibility in setting up such a state.

Netanyahu in preparatory meeting for Trump summit –  Photo: אבי אוחיון/GPO

It is believed that Netanyahu will tell the president that he is willing to negotiate with the Palestinians but there is no practical feasibility to establish a state. Continue Reading »

Spanish courts nullify 2 anti-Israel resolutions passed by local municipalities

 

With Spain having the highest number of anti-Israel municipal rulings in Europe, Spanish Courts have begun to take a hard line against the BDS movement, as panels of judges in Barcelona & Valencia begin overturning those decisions to boycott Israel.

By Amit Mizrahi

 

Judges in the Spanish cities of Valencia and Barcelona have overturned two anti-Israel decisions passed by Spanish municipalities under the auspices of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement (BDS).

The decisions were passed by the local councils of Xeraco, south of Valencia, and Olesa de Montserrat, near Barcelona in the Catalon region.

Under pressure, SodaStream relocated from the West Bank to Israel’s Negev, employing Israeli Bedouin, when 600 Palestinians lost their jobs as a result of the move.

Continue Reading »

District Court orders Haifa Chemicals to empty ammonia tank

 

Mayor Yona Yahav accuses Haifa Chemicals of ‘misleading and lying to the public’ after backtracking on pledge not to appeal court decree to close the potentially catastrophic facility.

By Amir Ben David, Lior El Hai and Ilana Curiel

 

Haifa Chemicals has been ordered to empty the Haifa ammonia tank within 10 days and has been banned from restocking until the end of discussions on a petition to close the facility filed by the city of Haifa.

Haifa Chemicals are expected to appeal the decision, which was taken by Judge Ghada Bsul of the Haifa Court for Local Affairs, despite an earlier pledge to “respect the decision of the court.” Continue Reading »