Archive for Israel News

Power cuts to West Bank over unpaid bills brings payment & negotiations

 

For full resumption of power, the Palestinians agree to make immediate payment of  ‎₪20 million with promise to engage in negotiations on remaining $444 million within a week, or feel return to ‘darkness.’

By i24news

 

Israeli and Palestinian officials reached an agreement on Wednesday to stop several days of rolling blackouts in the West Bank over what Israel says is some $450 million in debt.


Israel returns power supply to Palestinian citiesby i24news-en

Under the agreement, the Palestinian Authority would make an immediate payment of  ‎₪20 million shekels ($5.2 million, €4.6 million) and engage in negotiations on the remainder, the state-run Israel Electricity Corporation said in a statement. Continue Reading »

Israel Police demolish ‘martyrs’ park in Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem 

 

After demolishing the obscene memorial garden in a Jerusalem Arab neighborhood commemorating terrorists who were killed while attacking Jews, Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said, ‘Police will act decisively against any display of incitement & support for terror against Israel.’

By Efrat Forsher

 

Jerusalem District police officers and city officials on Tuesday demolished a memorial garden in the Arab neighborhood of Ras al-Amud in east Jerusalem, which was created to commemorate terrorists — or “shahids” according to the garden’s founders — who have been killed during the current wave of violence.

A picture of a “shahid” at the park in east Jerusalem

The garden was created several weeks ago. Continue Reading »

2000yr-old synagogue unearthed by Sea of Galilee reveal ancient treasures

 

Second Temple era bronze incense shovel & jug were recently discovered at the excavation site of the ancient Jewish settlement of Mandala.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD

 

The excavation of a 2,000-year old Jewish settlement and synagogue from the Second Temple period in Mandala, located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, recently revealed rare and well-preserved antiquities, including a bronze incense shovel and jug.

An aerial view of the settlement uncovered in excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority at Migdal. – Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority

The dig, overseen by the Israel Antiquities Authority prior to the construction of a building there, took place in an area considered to be the crossroads of Jewish and Christian history for its historical and religious significance for both Jews and Christians.

Continue Reading »

IDF says Mideast arms proliferation jeopardizes IAF military edge

 

As Gulf countries acquire more & more sophisticated weapons, and sanctions relief begins to strengthen the Iranian economy, Jerusalem is concerned that the IDF’s qualitative edge in the region is being diminished.

By Reuters

 

Israel’s neighbors are buying arms on a scale that threatens its regional military superiority, the deputy Israeli air force chief said on Sunday, in remarks that appeared aimed at helping secure more defense aid from a reluctant Washington.

US military payouts to Israel, currently around $3 billion annually, expire in 2018, and Israeli officials have spoken of needing around $4.5 billion. US officials have balked at such an increase.  Continue Reading »

U.S. Energy Secretary & Israel’s Energy Minister sign extensive energy agreement

New joint energy agreement will deepen & strengthen cooperation between the US & Israel in areas of natural gas, fuels & fuel alternatives, smart grid technologies, desalination & water treatment, and the security & cyber-defense of energy and water installations.

By Shlomo Cesana

 

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and his Israeli counterpart, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, signed a new joint energy deal in Jerusalem on Monday, intended to tighten cooperation between the countries.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz at Masada on Monday

The agreement expands areas of cooperation to include fuels and fuel alternatives, natural gas, smart grid technologies, desalination and water treatment, and the physical and cyber-defense of energy and water installations. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Archeological council warns Western Wall mixed-prayer area will cause damage  

 

The ire of Israel’s Archeological Council was voiced in a letter warning of great damage to Western Wall heritage site, should the decision to expand the prayer area for Conservative, Reform & mixed-gender prayer be allowed at the planned designated area.

By Itay Blumenthal

 

Israel’s Archeological Council announced, in a letter that it sent on Monday to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that it greatly opposes what it called “the major damage to the archeological park at the foot of the Western Wall”, the place where the government decided last January to establish an expanded prayer area for Conservative, Reform and mixed-gender worship. Continue Reading »

WATCH Netanyahu call Abbas’ bluff: ‘I’ve cleared my schedule for the week’, …but he won’t talk

 

view videoFollowing PA President Abbas’ declaration on Israel TV2 of his willingness to meet Netanyahu ‘at any time’, Bibi responds, ‘any day he can come, I’ll be here’

 By Jesse Lempel/TPS

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took advantage of his meeting with the Czech foreign minister to challenge Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday to pay him a visit.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek – Photo: AFP

“President Abbas said on Israeli television a few days ago that if I invite him, he’ll come,” Netanyahu told Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. Continue Reading »

Palestinian envoy to UNHRC calls on Jews to ‘return to country of origin’

 

Palestinian envoy to the UNHRC Ibrahim Khreisheh suggested in an interview on Palestinian Authority TV, that Jews are not indigenous to the land of Israel, and the modern state is a product of colonization.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Palestinian Authority envoy to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Ibrahim Khreisheh, said that all Jews living in Israel “should all return to their country of origin,” according to The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

In an interview with Palestinian Authority TV earlier this month, Khreisheh posited that Jews are not indigenous to the land of Israel, and their presence today is a product of years-long colonization. Continue Reading »

Israel develops revolutionary prostate cancer treatment at Weizmann Institute

 

Prof. Avigdor Scherz & Prof. Yoram Salomon of the Weizmann Institute develop a groundbreaking treatment for prostate cancer patients that targets the tumor without damaging genitalia, urinary tract, or general quality of life.

By Rotem Elizera

 

The incidence of prostate cancer, especially among men, in Israel has increased in the past two decades. However, Professor Avigdor Scherz and Professor Yoram Salomon of the Weizmann Institute have developed a groundbreaking treatment, bearing good news for the patients diagnosed with the deadly disease.

Special prostate cancer treatment. – Photo: Yariv Katz

Prostate cancer patients face a dilemma today: Undergoing prostate surgery and radiation, which often causes erectile dysfunction and urinary retention, or staying under “active surveillance,” which could allow the cancer to metastasize. Continue Reading »

Israel Air Force to send its pilots to train on F-35 stealth jets

 

Brig-Gen Tal Kalman says the F-35 will further boost IAF’s regional advantage, that the IAF is already “more lethal than it was in the past & can attack thousands of targets daily, while producing intelligence with a low signature.”

By Gil Ronen

 

The IAF is set to begin sending its pilots to train on F-35 stealth jets in the US and according to Brigadier General Tal Kalman, Head of IAF Staff, media criticism of the jet is not justified. The IAF is supposed to receive its first F-35s in December.

Speaking at a conference sponsored by Israel Defense and the Fisher Institute, Kalman said that many of the changes that took place in the Middle East in recent months had not been anticipated by the IDF. Continue Reading »

UN censors Israeli exhibition by @StandWithUs highlighting Zionism, Israeli Arabs, Jerusalem

 

View the 3 of 13 displays for the exhibition that were disqualified by the UN including one about Zionism, another about Israeli Arabs and the 3rd about Jerusalem.

By DANIELLE ZIRI

 

NEW YORK – An exhibition initiated by Israel’s permanent mission to the United Nations with the organization StandWithUs and expected to open at the UN headquarters on Monday, was partially censored by the international body this weekend.

Three out of 13 displays put together for the exhibition were disqualified by the UN, including one about Jerusalem, another about Israeli Arabs and a third about Zionism.

One of the Israeli delegation and advocacy organization StandWithUs’s censored displays.

Continue Reading »

Law professor challenges EU envoy to debate legality of Judea & Samaria

 

Professor Eugene Kontorovich, a renowned expert on int’l law at Northwestern University calls on the EU’s ambassador to Israel to publicly defend the UN’s position by debating the legal status of Israel.

By Shoshana Miskin

 

The EU Ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, participated last week in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper’s anti-Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) conference where he reiterated the EU’s stance that Israeli “settlements” are “illegal under international law” and are “a hindrance to the peace process.”

Lars Faaborg-Andersen, EU Amb. to Israel – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Faaborg-Andersen additionally termed the 1949 armistice line an “internationally recognized border” even though the 1949 line is neither internationally recognized, nor is it a border. Continue Reading »

Under curious circumstance Abbas’ PA police interrogate prominent Christian clergyman

 

Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad, of the Syriac Orthodox Church is the highest ranking Christian clergyman to be arrested by the Palestinians since the Palestinian Authority was created in 1994.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Palestinian Authority security forces on Saturday night arrested the head of the Syriac Orthodox Church, Archbishop Swerios Malki Murad.

Palestinian policemen clash with stone throwers in Gaza. – Photo: REUTERS

He is the most prominent Christian clergyman to be arrested by the PA since its inception in 1994.

The Syriac Orthodox Church of Jerusalem is one of 13 official Churches in the Holy Land. The church is widespread not only in Syria, but also in Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Iraq and India. Continue Reading »

#BDSfail: Paris hosts exhibit titled ‘Open a Door to Israel’

 

Paris’ Israeli Innovation Day exhibit, opens on April 6, and will be composed of 9 doors, each in a different color & design, all opening into huge interactive screens, featuring the best of Israeli hi-tech.

By RINA BASSIST

 

PARIS – Diplomats, French officials, actors, artists and leaders of the Jewish community gathered at the Carousel du Louvre for the launching of an unusual exhibit, titled “Open a Door to Israel.”

The Eiffel Tower is seen at sunset in Paris. – Photo: REUTERS

The exhibit is composed of nine doors, each in a different color and design, all opening into huge interactive screens. Continue Reading »

102 Gazans unable to enter Bethlehem for Palestine Marathon

 

Israeli authorities say ‘Palestinian officials are being provocative’ since the Palestinian Olympic Committee submitted the Gaza runners’ names late, leaving insufficient time for COGAT to prepare permits, then exploiting the sport for political gain by blaming Israel.

By Elior Levy

 

4,300 runners competed in the fourth annual Palestine Marathon on Friday in Bethlehem.

Despite the festive atmosphere, the event was not free of political tensions between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. 102 Gazans requested permission to participate in the race including Nader Al-Masri, who represented the Palestinians at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and won the Palestine Marathon last year. Continue Reading »