Archive for May 31, 2017

WATCH: Israel celebrates Shavuot

 

The festivities of Shavuot began Tuesday evening, with the kibbutzim and agricultural settlements throughout Israel displaying their first harvest.

By Ahiya Raved

 

The celebrations of the holiday of Shavuot began Tuesday evening. Among the main celebrations are many kibbutzim and moshavim, as Shavuot marks the harvest of the first fruits of the land and the receiving of the Torah.

Girls in Balfuria raise their arms skyward as the sun sets upon Moshav Balfuria – Photo: Jezreel Valley Regional Council’s Spokesperson’s Office

A large Shavuot ceremony was held Tuesday evening at Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, which was celebrating its 95th anniversary. Continue Reading »

Trump has till Thursday to determine fate of US Embassy location

 

White House press secretary Spicer says President Trump has yet to make a decision on relocating the embassy to Jerusalem now, but a report in Israel indicated that Trump had decided and that the U.S. Embassy would remain in Tel Aviv, at least for the upcoming 6 months.

By Elad Benari

 

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump has yet to reach a decision on whether or not to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Haaretz reported.

Trump only has one day left to make a decision, before he will have to either sign or not sign a presidential waiver that will delay the implementation of a 1995 decision by Congress to move the embassy. Continue Reading »

Amb. Nikki Haley, US envoy to the UN is coming to Israel

 

 

Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has criticized the UN Human Rights Council as “corrupt” for it’s bias ‘Israel-bashing’, will be the first US ambassador to address the rights council.

 

By AFP

 

Haley has won applause from the Israeli government for pledging to stand up to what ‘Israel-bashing’ at UN

US Ambassador Nikki Haley, who has accused the United Nations of anti-Israel bias, will travel to Israel next week and deliver an address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Haley will be the first US ambassador to address the rights council at a session on June 6 that will be followed by a speech on the US role at the council, the US mission said. Continue Reading »

UN follows Norway’s lead, refusing to fund Palestinian center named after mass-murderer

 

* FINALLY a change in the status quo *

 

Since President Trump’s speech calling on the world to stop the funding that glorifies terrorists last week in Saudi Arabia, and again in Bethlehem, Norway & now the United Nations have condemned their being exploited to fund a Palestinian Women’s Center named after infamous terrorist who took part in the massacre of 37 unarmed civilians on a public bus.
• U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, “The glorification of terrorism, or the perpetrators of heinous terrorist acts, is unacceptable under any circumstance.”
• Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu praised the U.N. for its decision.

Continue Reading »

IDF: Syrian infiltrator arrested after apprehended in Northern Israel by armed forces

 

The IDF arrested and subsequently took into questioning a suspicious unarmed man Tuesday after ascertaining he illegally entered Israel from Syria.

 

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

The IDF arrested a man on Tuesday afternoon after he was caught crossing the Syrian border into Israel, according to the IDF’s Spokesperson’s Unit.

The man was unarmed and was subsequently taken in for questioning.

IDF arrest terror suspect [illustrative] – Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

The IDF neglected to comment on how the man succeed in crossing over into Israeli territory and no further details were provided.

This rare incident comes on the heels of another attempt to infiltrate Israeli territory through the northern border.Just Continue Reading »

Palestinian teens caught with backpack containing Molotov cocktails, fuel and knife

 

The 2 Arab 17 yr-olds from Jabel Mukaber, south-east of Jerusalem, were surveilled by Border Police conspicuously holding a bag unusually full & heavy, that after inspection, contained nine glass bottles, 2 of them already prepared as petrol-bombs, 2 large plastic bottles of gasoline and a knife.

By Ynet

 

A prosecutor’s statement was filed Monday against two 17-year-old residents of Jabel Mukaber in south-east Jerusalem, for carrying and manufacturing weapons. The two are expected to be indicted sometime during the week after having been caught with Molotov cocktails, fuel and a knife.

Israel Border Guard police (MAGAV) on patrol – Photo: Israel Police Spokesperson’s Division

The two were caught at the beginning of last week after they were surveilled by a police force and by Border Police operating in the area, who noticed that they were carrying a school bag that looked abnormally heavy and full. Continue Reading »

Lebanon Bans Wonder Woman, Starring Israeli IDF Veteran, Gal Gadot

BDS in Lebanon succeeded in banning the movie staring ex-IDF soldier Gal Gadot.

Arutz Sheva staff

On Tuesday, the Lebanese Ministry of Economy and Commerce announced that it has sent a letter to the state’s general-security administration to take steps to prevent the screening of the film “Wonder Woman,” which stars Israeli actress Gal Gadot, according to Yediot Ahronot.

Gal Gadot – Photo: Selfie/Facebook

The campaign against Wonder Woman began in April, when the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement sent a letter to the ministry’s Office for Boycott of Israel in the Lebanese Economic Ministry. It was noted that Gadot is the former beauty queen of Israel, who served in the IDF and publicly supported 2014’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.

Continue Reading »

Report: Study shows Jerusalem’s Arab population growth less than Jewish

 

A Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies report that Jerusalem’s population growth per capita has remained steady since 1967, and that due to education, modernization ushering women’s advancements, the argument that Jerusalem will have a non-Jewish majority in the future is no longer accurate.

By Amit Cotler

 

The population in Jerusalem has been steadily increasing since 1967 while the increase in the city’s Arab population is on a steady decline, according to new research.

“The Jewish populace is, of course, the majority, and although that majority is diminishing, the rate in which it is doing so is slowing down,” said Yair Assaf-Shapira, a researcher in the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies. Continue Reading »

Israel to seek replacing Palestinian curriculum in East Jerusalem with Israeli syllabus

 

Israel’s cabinet approved a plan to encourage schools in East Jerusalem to begin teaching the Israeli curriculum instead of the current Palestinian curriculum to “influence the future youth in the Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem and their integration into Israeli society in the long term.”

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI

 

The cabinet on Sunday approved a plan submitted by Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Jerusalem Affairs Minister Ze’ev Elkin to encourage schools in east Jerusalem to teach an Israeli curriculum as opposed to the Palestinian school curriculum.

Education Minister Naftali Bennett visiting Israeli classroom – Photo source: Naftali Bennett/Facebook

“The time has come that also in east Jerusalem [pupils] will learn the Israeli curriculum from first grade,” Bennett said. Continue Reading »

Jerusalem cable car to the Western Wall receives gov’t approval

 

The cost of Jerusalem’s express cable car is expected to be $55 million, most of which will come from the Ministry of Tourism, and the 40 cars will carry 3,000 passengers an hour across 1.4 km beginning in 2021.

By Itamar Eichner

 

In honor of the 50th anniversary of the unification of Jerusalem, the government approved the cable car project in Jerusalem on Sunday, led by Tourism Minister Yariv Levin.The cable car will provide a solution to the problem of difficult access to the Western Wall and will provide quick and convenient access to about 130,000 visitors and tourists visiting the Western Wall every week. Continue Reading »

EXPOSED: President Trump called PA despot Mahmoud Abbas a liar in Bethlehem meeting

 

New details of President Trump’s meeting with the Palestinian autocrat in Bethlehem emerged as Trump was reportedly angry, accusing Abbas of having lied to him at their Washington meeting “about commitment to peace,” acknowledging having since, seen proof Abbas is “personally responsible for incitement.”

By Daniel Siryoti, News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

 

New details emerged Sunday about the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem last week, suggesting it may not have been as friendly as the Palestinians sought to portray it.

President Trump condemns terrorism in Bethlehem, calls terrorists ‘losers’ to PA leader Abbas – Screenshot: White House/Youtube

A senior Palestinian official privy to the details said the 20-minute meeting “started on a positive note, but it deteriorated after Trump accused Abbas of supporting incitement and terrorism with the salaries paid to prisoners.” Continue Reading »

Knesset and U.S. Congress to jointly celebrate 50 years of Jerusalem’s reunification

 

Being hosted by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, the reunification of Jerusalem celebration was organized by Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer, with all the Members of Knesset, Congress, Senate invited.

By LAHAV HARKOV

 

The Knesset and the Congress will jointly mark 50 years since the reunification of Jerusalem in an event scheduled to be broadcast on live video link between the two legislatures next Tuesday. The move could be viewed as tacit recognition by the White House of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and spark controversy.

VP Pence with President Trump. – Screen Shot: White House/YouTube

Sources told The Jerusalem Post that either President Donald Trump or Vice President Mike Pence will participate in the event on Capitol Hill, alongside Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, its host. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Cannabis Decriminalization Policy Starts Now

 

The reclassification to misdemeanor by Israel’s Knesset finally takes effect thanks to Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, who moved forward with a softer approach towards social marijuana use.

By Eli Senyor

 

The new cannabis decriminalization policy, which treats cannabis use as a misdemeanor, has now come into effect one month after it was approved in the Israeli legislature.

While full legalization still remains off the table, the new reform in is a vital step towards moving cannabis enforcement away from the hands of the police and into the hands of civil authorities.

A dried bud of cannabis, which can be used for medical therapy – Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Evan-Amos

Police note that “even under the new enforcement policy, cannabis use will stay illegal in the public sector,” emphasizing that people should still refrain from using cannabis, especially in public spaces, and that holding more than 15 grams is sill illegal.A

Continue Reading »

Israeli gov’t acknowledges UN ignores buildings laws in Jerusalem

 

• Israel’s gov’t says it is in contact with UN officials to resolve the issue of illegal construction on government land.
• Regavim attorney: UN’s immunity is not for “the theft of land from the country that hosts him free of charge.”

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

After repeated delays, the state finally responded Sunday to the request for an interim injunction filed by Regavim against the illegal construction carried out by the UN at the Government House in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood.

The state admitted for the first time that the extensive construction activity there, including works to preserve the historic buildings in the compound, as well as the construction of additional illegal structures in the compound, were carried out without permits. Continue Reading »

Palestinian Land Rights and International Law

 

Attempts by the United Nations and their surrogate NGO’s to politicly present Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria (a.k.a. the West Bank) as illegal, and “colonial” in nature, completely ignores the complexity of the history of the land and disregards the legal precedents of this case.​​

By IDF News

 

Land registries from Ottoman and British Mandate times show that local Arabs in Palestine owned approximately 8% of the land area west of the Jordan River. The vast majority of the land was state land, which was not owned by any individual. The remaining 16% was split more or less evenly between Jewish landowners and groups and absentee Arab landlords who lived outside of Palestine (mostly in Cairo, Beirut, Damascus and Constantinople). Continue Reading »