Archive for Israel News

Latest Israeli project: High speed rail from Tel Aviv to Western Wall in 30 minutes

 

Minister of Transportation Katz orders plans drawn for high-speed railway extension from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, allowing riders to get from an underground station in the Old City, close to the Western Wall, to Tel Aviv in under half an hour.

By Ofer Petersburg

 

Minister of Transportation and Road Safety Yisrael Katz has instructed the ministry’s staff to promote the planning of an extension to the upcoming high-speed railway line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem so that it extends into the Old City, near the Western Wall. As part of the project, an underground stop will be built in the Western Wall area. Continue Reading »

Israel trying to bar ‘Palestine’ from joining Interpol

 

Israeli officials point to concerns that Palestinian police will leak sensitive information to terrorist groups, while the PA would turn Interpol into a “political body” driven by external considerations, as they have in other forums.

By ELIYAHU KAMISHER

 

Israel is hoping to stop an attempt by the PA to join Interpol – the International Criminal Police Organization – at its 85th general assembly in Indonesia next week.

Israeli diplomats are extensively lobbying Interpol members to reject the Palestinian Authority’s bid, either by having it thrown out on a technicality or by swaying one-third of the 190 member states not to approve Palestinian membership. Continue Reading »

Israel’s PM Netanyahu to make historic visits to 3 countries

 

As an “indication of the major change that is taking place in Israel’s global relations,” Netanyahu is set to visit 4 countries, including 3 that have yet to be visited by a sitting Israeli prime minister.

By JTA

 

Binyamin Netanyahu will visit four countries in the coming months, including three that he said have never been visited by a sitting Israeli prime minister.

Netanyahu announced Sunday at the weekly Cabinet meeting that he will travel to Australia, Singapore and Kazakhstan, as well as Azerbaijan, where he made a quick stop in 1997.

natanyahus-trip-screen-shot-google-maps

In addition, Netanyahu said that President Reuven Rivlin will visit India in two weeks. Continue Reading »

EU’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini: Boycotting Israel falls under ‘Freedom of Expression’

 

Palestinian BDS National Committee member, Riya Hassan welcomed Mogherini’s statement, saying that “We welcome the EU’s belated defense of the right of European and other citizens to stand in solidarity with Palestinian rights, including through BDS tactics.”

By i24news

 

The European Union’s diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini has said that decisions by EU member countries to boycott Israel are protected as “freedom of expression” under the the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini - Photo: EPA 

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini – Photo: EPA

Mogherini’s statement came in response to an inquiry from an Irish member of the European Parliament which was submitted last month. Continue Reading »

UN accepts Israel’s invitation for peacekeeping forces to be trained in field medicine by IDF

 

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon said, “We are very proud to invite U.N. peacekeeping forces to Israel…We hope U.N. personnel will be able to implement our methods and save lives worldwide.”

By Shlomo Cesana

 

United Nations peacekeeping forces are scheduled to participate in a special emergency field medicine seminar headed by the Israeli military and local medical professionals, Israel Hayom learned Sunday.

IDF and U.N. troops on the northern border [Illustrative] | Photo credit: Eyal Margolin / JINI

IDF and U.N. troops on the northern border [Illustrative] – Photo: Eyal Margolin/JINI

The seminar, to be held in the next few weeks, aims to address one of the fundamental challenges U.N. peacekeeping forces face in their assignments in conflict zones worldwide: saving lives on the battlefield. Continue Reading »

Exposé: IDF Christian soldiers subject to threats and attacks by Muslim neighbors

 

Christian IDF soldiers finding themselves threatened by their Muslim neighbors is not unknown to Israeli officials and although some are still the recipients of violent attacks, nothing substantial has been done to protect them.

By NOAM AMIR/MAARIV

 

The compulsory military draft does not apply to them, but the values they grew up on and the strong desire to integrate into Israeli society has spurred in recent years a growing trend of Christian enlistment in the IDF and other security forces.

Father Naddaf of Nazareth with Christian Israeli IDF soldiers at a Christmas party on December 21, 2015. - Photo: ISRAELI CHRISTIAN RECRUITMENT FORUM

Father Naddaf of Nazareth with Christian Israeli IDF soldiers at a Christmas party on December 21, 2015. – Photo: ISRAELI CHRISTIAN RECRUITMENT FORUM

However, their willingness to enlist in the Israeli army and to contribute to the security of the country sometimes exacts from them a heavy price. Continue Reading »

Jerusalem thanks Tanzania for assisting Israel during UNESCO anti-Jewish resolution

 

Thanks to Tanzanian President John Magufuli, references to the Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem, during the discussions of the 2nd UNESCO resolution, were more respectful, and Israel was not referenced solely as an occupying force.

By Itamar Eichner

 

Tanzania, a once unlikely ally, made a significant impact in softening the langauge in a recent United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) resolution disregarding Jewish ties with Jerusalem, which followed another that was passed the previous week.

Due to Tanzanian interventions during the discussions of the second resolution, references to Jewish holy sites in Jerusalem were slightly more respectful, and Israel was not referenced solely as an occupying force. Continue Reading »

Archaeologists reveal early Muslims called Dome of the Rock by a Hebrew name of the Jewish Temple

 

 

1000 yr-old inscription discovered at a mosque outside Hebron calls Dome of the Rock “Bait al-Maqdess,” an Arabicized version of “Beit Hamikdash,” the Hebrew name for the Temple, proving Jewish ties to the Temple Mount
• Archaeologist: There’s plenty of evidence proving early Islam was influenced by Judaism.

By Yori Yalon

 

A 1,000-year-old early Muslim inscription provides yet more crucial proof of Jewish ties to the Temple Mount and Jerusalem.

Entry to the Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount - Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Entry to the Dome of the Rock, on the Temple Mount – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

At a conference on Thursday, archaeologists Assaf Avraham and Perez Reuven presented an ancient Muslim inscription that refers to the Dome of the Rock on the Temple Mount as “Bait al-Maqdess,” an Arabicized version of the Hebrew words for the Temple, Beit Hamikdash. Continue Reading »

PLO Official says Israel will prevent French int’l peace conference

 

Israeli official repeats calls for direct talks, instead of being forced to cater to the interests of each European country participating in the initiative, when some have clear anti-Israel positions.

By ADAM RASGON

 

Top Abbas advisor Ahmad Majdalani said on Sunday that the Palestinian leadership still hopes to participate in an international peace conference in Paris before the end of the year, but fears that Israel will prevent it from taking place.

Ahmad Majdalani (left) speaks to the press - Syrian News Agency

Ahmad Majdalani (left) speaks to the press – Syrian News Agency

“I cannot say with certainty that [the conference] will take place because the Israeli government is placing all the possible obstacles and impasses in front of it,” Majdalani, who also serves as a PLO Executive Committee member, told The Jerusalem Post, adding, “I don’t think Israel will participate and it is also pressuring its allies not to participate.” Continue Reading »

Palestinian Authority: Celebrating Terrorists & Murderers is Palestinian Culture

 

PA official defends decision to name school after mass-murderer, confirming last month’s Fatah Facebook post, calling the Munich Massacre a ‘heroic operation’, that the murder of unarmed Jewish athletes showed the ‘courage’ of Palestinian Arab terrorists.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

The Palestinian Authority refuses to budge following criticism of its decision to name a school after the mastermind of the 1972 Munich Massacre, according to a report by Palestinian Media Watch.

Munich terrorists - PMW

Armed Munich Massacre terrorists – PMW

Facing condemnation from Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, for naming a school after Salah Khalaf, who was the head of the Black September terrorist organization which carried out the kidnapping and murder of 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich. Continue Reading »

WATCH: Palestinian Woman Becomes Christian, Defends Israel

 

view videoIn a video interview, Sandra Solomon, the niece to one of Yasser Arafat’s top aides, speaks with authority on the hateful indoctrination of the Palestinians.

Israel Today Staff

 

Sandra Solomon is the niece of Saher Habash, one of the founders of the ruling Palestinian party Fatah and a leader in the campaign of terror known as the Second Intifada.

Sandra Solomon in a TV2 video interview (blow) – Facebook screenshot

She was born in Ramallah and later lived in Saudi Arabia. In both places, Solomon was raised to seek violence against the Jews. As a child she was taught to “hate the Jews, hail Hitler and praise the Holocaust,” Solomon said this month in an interview Israel’s Channel 2 News. Continue Reading »

US Sec. of State John Kerry admonishes UN Human Rights Council

 

After US is re-elected to UN Human Rights Council, John Kerry on Saturday tells council members to end its ‘excessive and biased focus on Israel.’

By i24new

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday admonished the UN Human Rights Council for what he said was an unfair focus on Israel, the Times of Israel reports.

Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room of the Palace of Nations, Geneva (Switzerland) is the meeting room of the United Nations Human Rights Council. - Photo courtesy: Wikipedia Commons

Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room of the Palace of Nations, Geneva (Switzerland) is the meeting room of the United Nations Human Rights Council. – Photo courtesy: Wikipedia Commons

“While important challenges remain, including ending the Council’s excessive and biased focus on Israel, we look forward to cooperating with other Council members to address human rights concerns, advance human rights around the world, and ensure the Council fully realizes its purpose,” Kerry said after the US was re-elected as a member. Continue Reading »

Israel, Japan open Far-East skies with direct commercial flights

 

The new agreement, also allowing Israeli cargo flights via Japan to 3rd countries, will allow 14 direct flights weekly between Israel and Japan.
• This year brought new flight routes to Beijing, Hong Kong, and now Tokyo. “The skies to the Far East continue to open,” Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz says.

By Ilan Gattegno

 

Israel and Japan on Thursday signed an agreement to form new, direct commercial flight paths between the two countries.

JAL - Photo courtesy.png

JAL – Photo courtesy

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz and Japanese Ambassador to Israel Koji Tomita signed the deal in Jerusalem in a ceremony attended by Transportation and Foreign Ministry officials, representatives from the Civil Aviation Authority, and the Japanese deputy ambassador and commercial attache. Continue Reading »

IDF fortifies defenses on northern border with Lebanon

 

The IDF has begun fortifying its northern border defense by installing new fences/walls, adding more obstacles and reinforcing existing infrastructure in preparation for a possible ‘Third Lebanon War’, in which Hezbollah fighters may attempt to infiltrate into Israel.

By Yoav Zitun

 

Wednesday’s cross-border shooting incident, which is still being investigated by the Northern Command as an attack by another terrorist group, has exposed one of Israel’s weak points in a sensitive sector, the border line separating roads, orchards and Israeli settlements, mainly in the Galilee panhandle.

IDF patrols Israel's border with Lebanon - Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

IDF patrols Israel’s border with Lebanon – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

The IDF believes that Hezbollah will seek to exploit this weak point and attempt to infiltrate its Radwan special forces troops into Israeli territory in the next Lebanon war.

Continue Reading »

Video Report: US planning to reclassify Israelis from ‘white’ to Middle Eastern

 

The ethnicity of Israeli-Americans may be re-categorized in US census reports as “Middle Eastern and North African descent.”

Video by ILTV

 

Watch to get the whole story:

 

View original Arutz Sheva publication at:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/219363 Continue Reading »