Archive for Israel News

Code Red Siren Activated in Ashkelon But Terrorist’s Rocket Falls Short, Explodes in Gaza

‘Code Red’ alert siren sounds in southern Israel but rocket launch ‘failure’, as it falls & explodes in Gaza.

By Ynet

 

A Red Alert siren signaling an incoming rocket sounded in the Ashkelon area on Thursday at around 10 PM.

  Rocket launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel (Archive Photo: Reuters)Rocket launched from the Gaza Strip at Israel – Archive Photo: Reuters

 

Locals reported hearing a loud noise north of Ashkelon. No damage or injuries were reported.

The IDF later announced that the siren was prompted by a failed rocket launch from Gaza.

Yuval Sadon, Chairwoman of the Ashkelon Students Union, related her fear of a new round of violence in the wake of the recent attacks: “I want to start the summer with a smile, to start the vacation free of worry.” Continue Reading »

RFK’s daughter speaks of father’s legacy & devotion to Israel at IDC Conference

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the former Lt-governor of Maryland and victim to Palestinian violence, delivers moving tribute to her father at the IDC Conference in Herzliya.

By NOA AMOUYAL

 

As a war correspondent for The Boston Post during Israel’s War of Independence, Robert F. Kennedy saw the country as a beacon of hope in a world turned asunder after World War II.

KATHLEEN KENNEDY TOWNSEND addresses the Herzliya Conference at IDC Herzliya on Tuesday. – Photo: IDC

It was his firm commitment to Israel’s right to exist and America’s obligation to support its greatest friend in the Middle East that led Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan to assassinate Kennedy in the midst of his run for the White House 47 years ago. Continue Reading »

Palestinian Family Housed in Haifa Beat & Abused Local Holocaust Survivors

The 7 arrested Arab suspects who were housed by Israel on the same street for assisting authorities, allegedly bullied, stole, and beat up several elderly Holocaust survivors.

By Ahiya Raved

 

The Haifa police said Thursday it arrested seven Palestinians from the same family suspected of abusing Holocaust survivors.

Illustration (Photo: Shutterstock)
Illustrative Photo: Shutterstock

The seven are suspected of assaulting several of the elderly residents of a home for Holocaust survivors in Haifa’s Hadar neighborhood. The suspects allegedly stole from the survivors, bullied them and forbade them from walking on the sidewalk in an area near the home.

Police will bring the suspects for a remand extension on Thursday at the Haifa Magistrate’s Court. Continue Reading »

Netanyahu Praises Dempsey in Jerusalem as the ‘Grand Champion’ of US-Israel Relations

WATCH: Israel’s PM Binyamin Netanyahu thanks U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey in a meeting in Jerusalem, for America’s men & women that are fighting for freedom around the world.

By Cynthia Blank

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Thursday morning in Jerusalem with US of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Jerusalem with US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey on 11, June, 2015 – Photo: Amos Ben Gershom, GPO

“You’ve been a wonderful friend and a grand champion of America and of America-Israel relations,” Netanyahu greeted Dempsey warmly. Continue Reading »

Israel Air Forces and USAF Sign Strategic Agreement

Israel revealed that the IAF and the U.S. have signed an air force agreement last week covering a wide range of strategic cooperation between the 2 air forces.

By Yaakov Levi

 

Israel and the U.S. have signed an important strategic air force agreement, the Israel Air Force revealed Monday. The ASNR (Air Senior National Representative) agreement, signed last week, covers a full range of cooperation between the forces under one roof by building a joint annual work plan addressing these issues with the goal of promoting relevant interests of each force, the IAF said.

According to Brigadier General Ya’akov Sharabani, the IAF’s Attaché in Washington, the agreement “is a significant milestone in the cooperation between the forces, realized for the first time as signed agreement.”

Continue Reading »

1,500 yr-old church unearthed near Israel’s main highway

Byzantine Empire period church discovered during road work aimed at linking Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

By i24news

 

A 1,500-year-old church was discovered during work to broaden Israel’s main highway, which links Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, archaeologists said Wednesday.

Ancient church discovered in Israel in June 2015 – Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority

The church stems from when the Byzantine Empire ruled over what is now Israel and the Palestinian territories between 324 and 638 after Christ. The Byzantine Empire, spreading Christianity, was the mostly Greek-speaking continuation of the eastern parts of the Roman Empire during late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.
Continue Reading »

EU preparing guideline demands of Israel to label Judea & Samaria products

Israeli officials: Demanding Israel to label products made in Judea & Samaria rewards and emboldens the Palestinians, discouraging their leaders from returning to peace talks.

By The Associated Press & Israel Hayom Staff

 

Israel would be required to label products that are made in Judea and Samaria and exported to Europe under guidelines being prepared by the European Union.

A sign promoting the boycott of Israel – Photo: Reuters

The move is the latest sign of international discontent with Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria, as well as frustration over the bleak state of Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

It also comes as a grassroots movement promoting boycotts, divestment and sanctions against Israel appears to be gaining steam. Continue Reading »

WSJ report thinks Israel spied on hotels which hosted P5+1 nuclear talks

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Cybersecurity experts believe that Israel is most likely the party responsible for a wave of espionage targeting hotels used by negotiators in the P5+1-Iran nuclear talks, The Wall Street Journal is reporting on Wednesday.

Cyber hackers [illustrative] – Photo: REUTERS

According to counterhacking experts quoted by the Journal, analysts at a cybersecurity firm discovered traces of a viral software that is widely believed to have been used by Israel in the past to conduct sophisticated digital espionage.

The company, Kaspersky Lab ZAO, conducted an investigation which revealed that it had been targeted by an “improved version” of Duqu, a spyware that American officials believe has been used by Israel in the past to hack into computer systems. Continue Reading »

What’s Israel’s internet porn consumption compared to global average?

SURVEY: With the global average of 4.21%, Israelis spend 4.16% of their Internet traffic time to pornographic sites. Iraq, at 10.27%, leads the world in traffic dedicated to porn.

By Sagi Cohen

 

Israelis are in a good place in the middle in terms of online porn consumption compared to the global average. According to figures compiled by Israeli information technology company SimilarWeb, an Israeli spends 3:29 minutes in each porn site he visits – slightly higher than the global average of 3:16 minutes. During that time, he enters an average of 4.27 different pages.

Porn sites are less popular than news and shopping sites, but more popular than game and travel sites – Photo: Shutterstock

 

About 4.16% of the Internet traffic of adult Web surfers in Israel is to pornographic sites – less than news websites, shopping sites, social networks and search engines, but more than the traffic to other popular sites. Continue Reading »

Arab Terrorist Shot While Hurling Explosive Device at Israel Border Police

Terrorist dead after being shot as he targeted Magav force with an improvised explosive device, as they were conducting a routine arrest in Jenin.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

An Arab terrorist was killed while attacking Israeli forces in Jenin located in northern Shomron (Samaria) early Wednesday, medical and security sources said.

Magav Police in Hevron - Photo courtesy: IP Spokesperson's Division

Magav Police in Hevron – Photo courtesy: IP Spokesperson’s Division

A statement from the police said a Border Patrol force was in Jenin to conduct arrests of terror suspects, reports AFP.

“Upon leaving the camp, the force identified a suspect trying to throw an explosive device at them,” it said. Continue Reading »

UK’s new business minister blasts BDS promoters & promising to expand trade with Israel

 

LONDON – Newly appointed Business Secretary Sajid Javid condemned Britain’s National Union of Students on Monday for supporting a boycott of Israel, declaring bluntly that the group’s recent move to join the BDS movement was not only an isolated view, but one that the government and most of the country did not share.

UK BUSINESS SECRETARY Sajid Javid speaks at the UK Israel Business annual awards dinner on Monday.

Continue Reading »

Google chief: Israelis succeed because you challenge authority & question everything

Google boss tells students & researchers at the Weizmann Institute that, ‘I’m here because the impact Israelis are having on science & technology is immense.’

By Sagi Cohen

 

“Israel is booming in terms of entrepreneurship because you have a culture that allows you to challenge authority and question everything. You don’t follow the rules,” Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt said on Sunday in an address to hundreds of students and researchers at the Weizmann Institute. Schmidt is currently on a short visit to Israel.

Eric Schmidt. Israeli culture ‘allows you to challenge authority.’ – Photo: Reuters/Archive

Schmidt was accompanied on his visit to the Weizmann Institute by Yossi Matias, vice-president for engineering and chief executive for R&D of Google Israel, as well as executives from the investment fund he heads, Innovation Endeavors, one of the most active funds in Israel in recent years. Continue Reading »

Int’l Legal Experts Criticize IDF For Exaggerated Steps In Warning Gazans Before Strikes

Military law experts from Germany & US say IDF’s worries over automatic int’l condemnations based on double-standards, sets impossible yardstick for democracies fighting future asymmetric wars against terrorists.

By Ari Yashar

 

The IDF went to extraordinary lengths last summer to prevent civilian casualties while fighting Hamas terrorists in Gaza, achieving a remarkable 1:1 civilian to combatant ratio, but according to international legal experts it went too far in avoiding casualties among the enemy population.

IDF (illustration) – Photo: IDF Spokesperson Unit

Willy Stern of Vanderbilt Law School, in an article to be published next Monday in the Weekly Standard, details what he found while spending two weeks with attorneys in the IDF’s international law department dubbed “Dabla” as well as front-line commanders, and documents the IDF’s “legal zeal” which as he notes has not stemmed the deluge of international criticism against it. Continue Reading »

Survey: 71% of Israeli Jews feel the world unjustly condemns Israel by double standards

IDI & Tel Aviv University’s latest report shows Israelis feeling more isolated and “The countries of the world make moral demands of Israel that they do not make of other countries.”

By Ynet

 

The Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) and Tel Aviv University have released the monthly Peace Index poll which has a primary focus on three major issues: attitudes toward Jewish settlement in the territories, the diplomatic arena, and the distribution of cabinet posts in the government.

Israeli youth at a concert (Photo: Yaron Brener)
Israeli youth at a concert – Photo: Yaron Brener

According to the report’s findings, the Jewish public is aware of the deterioration that has occurred in Israel’s international status, which seems to stem from the intensification of voices calling to boycott Israel and its institutions. Continue Reading »

Visiting Czech FM tells Netanyahu: Expect isolation if no change on West Bank, Gaza policies

 

The Czech Republic’s foreign minister warned Monday that it will become increasingly difficult for his country to maintain its pro-Israel position if Israel fails to take viable steps toward establishing a Palestinian state.

Czech Republic’s foreign minister Lubomír Zaorálek – Screenshot

Lubomír Zaorálek said that Israel risks suffering international isolation if it doesn’t change its policies in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

“As a close friend of yours, it is important for the Czech Republic to say that if the situation does not change it will be hard to maintain our position,” Zaorálek said in an interview with the Walla news site during a trip to Israel. Continue Reading »