Archive for Israel News

Conan O’Brien: Israel Deserves Nobel Peace Prize For Its Treatment of Syrian Civilians

Amid plenty of laughs the popular TV host & comedian is in Israel filming for his documentary series, tweets the realities of Israel and the Middle East conflict.

By Israel Today Staff

 

Popular late night television host Conen O’Brien has been in Israel for the past week filming a segment of his documentary series “Conan Without Borders.”

While there have been a lot of laughs, Conan’s also made some very serious stops as he makes his way through the Holy Land. Continue Reading »

WATCH: New Macedonian Prime Minister emerges as ally to defend Israel in int’l arena

VIDEO: In an effort to stabilize the region, Israel’s Netanyahu praises Macedonian PM Zoran Zaev’s pledge of cooperation with Israel, seeking greater security and world peace amid this significant diplomatic visit as representative of Macedonia’s new government.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF

 

Macedonia stands with Israel in its fight against extremism and on behalf of world peace, the country’s prime minister Zoran Zaev told his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu at the start of their meeting in Jerusalem on Monday.

“We are very happy that we are here in Israel. We’re hoping that our cooperation will be mainly on two levels. The first level is cooperation for security and for world peace,” said Zaev. Continue Reading »

IDF’s training female soldiers as tank crew successfully moving forward

Preparing to qualify as an IDF tank crew member, 15 handpicked women have been undergoing special training, a first in IDF history, performing maneuvers on Merkava Mark III tanks, and will continue through the next eight months until the program’s conclusion.

By Yoav Zitun

 

Despite a relatively low profile, the past few days have seen commencement of the main and most meaningful step in the IDF’s new project allowing women to serve in tank crews for the first time in the army’s history.

Two weeks ago, 15 infantry corps female soldiers were handpicked to participate in this experimental program at the conclusion of the four-month gunner training course at the Ktzi’ot training base, where female combat soldiers from the Caracal Battalion are trained. Continue Reading »

Israel: After new Swiss court ruling, Israel is “required” to deport Eritrean migrants

Since the Swiss Federal court ruled that no visible impediment exists in the forcible deportation of migrants back to Eritrea, the Israeli Immigration Policy Center said, ‘The time has come for the Israeli gov’t to begin implementing a policy based on the European courts’ decisions.’

By Shimon Cohen

 

In a ruling issued by the Swiss Federal Court, it was determined that there is no legal impediment to forcibly deporting an Eritrean immigrant who has been denied asylum. The immigrant, a married woman in her early thirties, filed a request for asylum in Switzerland after she claimed to have deserted military service at the age of 29. Continue Reading »

Anti-Israel Jewish group campaigns to dissuade students from free Birthright trips

Alt-left Jewish Voice for Peace group begins anti-Zionist campaign at American universities to persuade Jewish students to sign pledge against accepting free ‘propaganda’ Birthright trips to Israel.

By i24NEWS

 

A pro-Palestinian Jewish group in the United States is waging a campaign to convince young Jews to shun Birthright – a program that offers free 10 day trips to Israel to strengthen diaspora Jews’ connection with the Jewish state.

The Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) advocacy organization is urging 18-26 year-olds eligible for the trips to sign a ‘pledge’ that they will “not go on a Birthright trip because it is fundamentally unjust that we are given a free trip to Israel, while Palestinian refugees are barred from returning to their homes.” Continue Reading »

American liberal rabbis are on the wrong side of America’s ‘Culture War’

After hurling insults at the president, it actually appears that if anyone is “lacking in moral leadership and empathy” for the victims of hatred, it’s surely the liberal rabbis, who once fell over themselves to have their annual Rosh Hashana conference call with Barack Obama, the president who refused to say that the 2015 slaughter at the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Paris was an antisemitic attack.

ON THE WRONG SIDE OF AMERICA’S CULTURE WAR – By Melanie Phillips

 

In America, four liberal rabbinic organizations have scrapped their participation in the annual conference call in which the president traditionally offers his greetings for the Jewish New Year. Continue Reading »

Israel exposes Hizbollah ‘mole’ within Lebanese Army to UNIFIL command

IDF officers presents UNIFIL with intel establishing a senior officer in the Lebanese army, operating in south Lebanon in a command position, is acting as an agent for the terror group Hezbollah.
– Israel’s ambassador to the UN: “We expect UNIFIL to act against Hezbollah in light of this unambiguous information.”

By Itamar Eichner

 

Israel has informed the UN peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon that a senior officer in the Lebanese army, who presides over a command position near the country’s border with Israel, is using his position to advance interests of the Hezbollah terror group in the area.

UNIFIL observer stationed in Israeli territory.

Continue Reading »

Turkey’s strongman Erdogan fuming over ‘scandalous’ US indictment of his security team

After viewing video of Erdogan’s security detail viciously assaulting protesters during an official White House visit this past May, 21 counts of assault and/or hate crimes were leveled against his bodyguards by Washington DC district attorney.

By AFP

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday criticized the indictment in Washington of members of his security detail who were charged with assaulting protesters during an official White House visit in May.

US police are deployed in front of the Turkish embassy in Washington during President Erdogan’s visit on Tuesday May 16, 2017 – ديف كلارك (اف ب)

A total of 19 people including Turkish security officials have been identified from video footage of the May 16 clashes with Kurdish protesters following a meeting between Erdogan and President Donald Trump. Continue Reading »

Israel Border Police bust makeshift arms factory, seize weapons, arrest Palestinian

A male Palestinian was arrested during an early morning police raid, with over a dozen weapons, hundreds of ammunition rounds, IDF uniforms, and related paramilitary equipment seized.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD

 

Border Police raided a makeshift arms factory in the West Bank village of Beit Arush early Thursday morning, arresting one man and seizing a cache of illegal rifles, improvised automatic weapons, IDF uniforms, binoculars and ammunition.

Some of the weapons seized by Border Police in Beit Arush Thursday. – Photo: POLICE SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT

According to police, the operation took place overnight after intelligence was received about illegal activity in the warehouse, which was used primarily to manufacture Carl Gustav-type and Kalashnikov (AK-47 knockoff) rifles. Continue Reading »

REPORT: Jordan’s King asked President Trump to replace Obama’s envoy to Kingdom

With Amman displeased by Obama policies, Ambassador Wells, who was due to transition out this summer, was rotated out in March after King Abdullah asked for her swift replacement.

By MICHAEL WILNER

 

WASHINGTON — A career US diplomat who served as ambassador to Jordan under the Obama administration was pushed out of her role by President Donald Trump shortly after he took office, allegedly at the request of the nation’s king, Abdullah II, a US magazine reported on Wednesday.

The article, published in Foreign Policy, claims that Alice Wells had a tense relationship with Abdullah throughout the final stages of Obama’s nuclear talks with Iran. Continue Reading »

WATCH: US Army eyes Israel’s Trophy active protection system for M1A1 Abrams tanks

Should the US Army decide to acquire the added defensive technology, they will be the first army outside the IDF to install the battle-tested, ‘Trophy’ active protection system.

By ANNA AHRONHEIM

 

After years of testing Israel’s Trophy active protection system, the US Army is close to giving the green light to having it installed on the M1A1 Abrams tank.

Trophy LV By Rafael Advanced Defense Systems for all combat vehicles. – YouTube

The US Army would then be the first army outside the IDF to use the system.

Maj.-Gen. David Bassett, who is in charge of the US Army’s programs in the area of ground combat systems, was quoted by the DefenseTech website as saying that he plans to make the decision on the system as soon as possible. Continue Reading »

Israeli actors unite to restore forsaken ancient Jewish cemetery in Macedonia

Actors from Israel’s Cameri and Habima theaters stage a joint performance of the Polish play ‘Our Class,’ about the Jewish persecution during WWII. All the revenues are to be dedicated to the restoration and preservation of thousands of headstones in the ancient Jewish cemetery in Bitola, Macedonia, the only surviving remnant since the Nazi-annihilated community perished.

By Itamar Eichner

 

Actors from the Israeli Habima and Cameri theaters will join forces to preserve the ancient Jewish cemetery of the city of Bitola in Macedonia, Which lost its entire Jewish population during the Holocaust.

Two years after the actors visited, they decided to put on a special show whose proceeds would be devoted to the rehabilitation of the cemetery and about 6,000 of its neglected tombstones. Continue Reading »

Victory for Israel: UN Security Council resolution requires UNIFIL to confront Hezbollah

Revised Security Council Resolution now requires supplemented UN forces to demonstrate a robust physical presence on the ground, to now enter every village and to report, in real time, Hezbollah’s violations of Security Council Resolution 1701.

By Nitsan Keidar

 

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, on Wednesday welcomed the adoption of a new UN Security Council resolution regarding the mandate of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

According to the decision made upon the annual renewal of this mandate, UNIFIL is now required to expand its reports to the Security Council and take deliberate action against Hezbollah’s violations. Continue Reading »

Immigrant to Israel trades tropical heat for military service in Jerusalem hot zone

Yonatan Herrera made aliyah from tropical Honduras, then spent almost 3 years in a religious yeshiva in Jerusalem where the rabbis tried to convince him not to enlist into the military.
• Jonathan met Devorah, his wife, then their daughter Avital was born just as Herrera started his combat service with the Border Police.

By Itsik Saban

 

Yonatan Herrera, 23, is proof that nothing is impossible.

Three years ago, Herrera made aliyah from Honduras and began studying at a haredi yeshiva in Jerusalem. After his course of study, he said he wanted to enlist in the military. But then he encountered pressure from the rabbis at the yeshiva, who tried to talk him out of it. Continue Reading »

US envoy Jason Greenblatt: World should know Israel treats thousands of wounded Syrians

In a US Embassy statement, about 3,500 Syrian injured have sought and received treated in Israeli hospitals, including over 1,000 at Ziv Medical Center in Israel’s Galilee.

By HERB KEINON

 

The world should hear about Israel’s quality treatment of Syrian patients in its hospitals, US Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt said on Tuesday after visiting Ziv Medical Center in Safed.

Map to the Ziv Medical Center, Safed, Israel – Google Maps

“These are the stories of Israel the world needs to hear, and stories like this show how peace in the region can be possible,” Greenblatt said after visiting the hospital, which has taken care of hundreds of Syrians wounded in their country’s civil war. Continue Reading »