Archive for Israel News

WATCH: Israel’s Ancient Nabatean Village of Shivta

Aerial video shows a well-preserved Nabatean farming village, well off the beaten tourist track in the Negev, again shows the richness of Israel’s archeological history.

By Israel Today Staff

 

The following video offers stunning aerial footage of the ruins of Shivta, a Nabatean farming village situated along the portion of the ancient Spice Route that passes through Israel’s southern Negev region.

The outlines of the village, its houses, markets and large Byzantine-era church remain well preserved, and some of the community’s terrace farms have been recreated to give a more accurate look at desert life in that time.

Shivta lies far off the typical Holy Land pilgrimage route, and is just one more example of how saturated Israel is with tangible ancient history. Continue Reading »

White House Supports Israel Over IAF Retaliatory Airstrike in Gaza

White House spokesman throws in support saying: “Clearly the U.S. stands with the people of Israel as they defend their people & their nation against these kind of attacks.”

By Reuters & Israel Hayom Staff

 

The White House on Sunday reaffirmed its support for Israel’s right to defend itself after Israeli aircraft struck the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a series of Palestinian rocket attacks.

An Israel Police explosives expert surveys site where a rocket exploded near Ashkelon over the weekend – Photo: Reuters

Late Saturday, a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in an open area in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council in southern Israel. Continue Reading »

UN’s Ban slams the IDF but leaves Israel & Hamas off children’s rights blacklist

United Nations chief condemns Israel over IDF’s impact on Gaza’s children of last summer’s Operation Protective Edge but doesn’t mention how Hamas “obstruct humanitarian aid, fire from civilian population centers and use innocents as human shields.”

 

Israel on Monday welcomed a United Nations decision not to place Israel on a black list that included organizations such as ISIS, but criticized it for going easy on Hamas.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon – Photo: REUTERS

UN special envoy for children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui of Algeria, had placed the IDF and the terrorist organization Hamas on a blacklist of states and armed groups that violate children’s rights during conflicts. Continue Reading »

RAND Study: Israelis, Palestinians Stand to Earn Billions From Peace

According to the RAND Corp. study, 2-state solution found to be by far the best scenario financially with the Palestinian economy benefiting by $50 Billion.

By The Associated Press, Attila Somfalvi

 

Israelis and Palestinians would gain billions of dollars from making peace with each other while both would face daunting economic losses in case of other alternatives, particularly in case of a return to violence, according to a new study released on Monday.

Kotel & Temple Mount, Jerusalem – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

The RAND Corp., a US-based nonprofit research organization, interviewed some 200 officials from the region and elsewhere during more than two years of research into the costs of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Continue Reading »

Alert Police Foil Jerusalem Stabbing Attack

Terrorist admitted to police that he had decided to stab Jews & that he had come to the Temple Mount for a last prayer before executing stabbing attack.

By Gil Ronen

 

Alert policemen foiled a terrorist stabbing attack Sunday in Jerusalem’s Old City.

Terrorist with knife – Illustrative file photo

The terrorist, an Arab man aged 25, from the Hevron area, had reached the Cotton Gate that leads to the Temple Mount, when officers the Temple Mount police spotted him and decided that he seemed suspicious.

They began to question him about what he was doing there but he managed to get away. Continue Reading »

Israel ranked 5th for country with highest gasoline prices

Israel takes 5th place with an average of $233 a month on gasoline, which equals 11% of the average Israeli monthly salary.

 

Israel is the fifth-priciest country in the world when it comes to how much consumers pay for unleaded gasoline, an international study by the financial website This is Money shows.

Israelis pay $5.79 per gallon for unleaded gasoline (Illustrative) – Photo: Yehoshua Yosef

Israelis are shelling out heavy sums at the pump — $1.53 per liter ($5.79 per gallon) — despite the fact that world oil prices have dropped to $66 per barrel since April 2012. Continue Reading »

Beijing refuses to allow Chinese nationals to work in West Bank

China’s refusal is delaying a deal on allowing thousands of Chinese construction workers in Israel because Jerusalem won’t promise to exclude them from the settlements.

By i24news

 

China is refusing to sign an agreement allowing its nationals to work in Israel, unless the Israeli government promises they will not be employed in the internationally disputed Jewish settlements of the West Bank.

C

Chinese construction workers – Photo: AFP /file

Israel has been trying to negotiate the agreement for a while and has so far refused to give in to the Chinese demand, according to The Marker, the economic daily of Haaretz. Continue Reading »

Israel Air Force Bombs Terror Targets After Rocket Fired From Gaza Strikes Israel

Israeli war-jets hit terrorist infrastructure in northern part of Gaza Strip, in response to their rocket attack on Ashkelon a few hours earlier.

By Elad Benari

 

Israeli aircraft attacked a terrorist infrastructure in northern Gaza overnight Saturday, in retaliation for a rocket attack on Ashkelon several hours earlier, the IDF Spokesperson said in a statement.

Airstrike in Gaza

Airstrike in Gaza – Photo: Thinkstock

In addition, following several rocket attacks in recent days, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has decided to close the Erez and Kerem Shalom border crossings between Gaza and Israel, the statement said.

The crossings will only be opened in humanitarian cases, and the decision on the opening of the crossings will be made on the basis of a security assessment and in accordance with security considerations. Continue Reading »

Emergency Sirens Triggered in Ashkelon Area by Incoming Gaza Rocket

—– SPECIAL SECURITY REPORT —–

A rocket fired at Israel from Gaza on Saturday night triggered air raid sirens in the Ashkelon and Hof Ashkelon regions. The projectile apparently exploded in an open area, and security forces said they had begun to search for the rocket .

gaza rocket

Rocket fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel. – File Photo: REUTERS

The incident comes two days after the Israel Air Force struck Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for two Gazan rockets fired into southern Israel. Continue Reading »

Israeli 11th grade students to compete in int’l science competition at MIT

High school students from Kiryat Shmona, working in the field of synthetic biology, will present their project at the iGEM competition this fall at MIT.

By Goel Beno

 

Twenty-three 11th grade students from the Darca Danciger high school in Kiryat Shmona will represent Israel at an international science competition in the US in September.

Students from the biotechnology program at the Darca Danciger high school presenting one of their developments – Photo: Efi Sharir

 

The 2015 iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition, an annual contest founded by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), has only recently been opened to high school students. Continue Reading »

Israel Increases Water Supply to West Bank, Jordan & Gaza

Israel’s national water authority says ability now exists to double the amount supplied to Gaza, with water supplies to Palestinian West Bank and Jordan to substantially increase as well.

By Ilana Curiel

 

Israel’s national water company Mekorot, in accordance with the Water Authority’s guidelines, recently doubled its water supply to the Gaza Strip by 5 million cubic meters. The annual supply will now amount to 10 million cubic meters of water.

Palestinian woman carrying water in the Gaza Strip. – Photo: Reuters

 

The new water supply of 5 million cubic meters to the Gaza Strip will come from two sources including the Nahal Oz pipeline in the south and an older line in the Kissufim area that provides water to the center of the Strip. Continue Reading »

Israeli Druze Leaders Beg US & Israel to Protect Brethren in Syria From ISIS Attacks

Leaders from the Israeli Druze community met with Dan Shapiro, US Ambassador to Israel, to request airstrikes from Israel & the US, and help by arming the Druze in Syria fighting ISIS.

By Tova Dvorin

 

The Druze community in Israel has reached out to the US this week, begging Washington to protect Druze across the border in Syria.

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro met with Druze community leaders Thursday, according to Channel 2, during which community leaders begged Shapiro to get the US more involved in the fighting between rebel forces and the regime army of President Bashar Al-Assad. Continue Reading »

As EU countries seek publicly ‘2 State-Solution’, they paid $27M to NGOs to Undermine it

According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, NGO Transparency Law now prove foreign governmental bodies have paid left-wing Israeli groups $27M that was used to promote anti-Israel activities that hinder normalization efforts with the Palestinians.

By Shlomo Cesana

 

Some 24 Israeli non-governmental political advocacy organizations dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict reported a total of nearly 105 million shekels ($27 million) in direct and indirect funding from foreign governments, especially in the European Union, from 2012 to 2014, according to an NGO Monitor report from earlier this year.

An anti-Israel demonstration – Photo ByGettyImages

The organizations are required by Israel’s NGO Transparency Law to disclose funding from foreign governmental bodies. Continue Reading »

REPORT: Israel & Saudi Arabia team up in secret diplomacy to thwart Iran

Admitting their secret diplomacy for first time, Bloomberg reports Israel & Saudi Arabia have discussed curtailing Iranian influence in the Middle East.

By DANIEL J. ROTH

 

Israel and Saudi Arabia have held five secret meetings since the beginning of 2014 to discuss the common threat Iran posses to the region, it was revealed for the first time Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, according to Bloomberg.

 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General Dr. Dore Gold - Photo: Israel's Gov't Press Office

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Director General Dr. Dore Gold – Photo: Israel’s Gov’t Press Office

Although the two are considered to be historic enemies, with Saudi Arabia refusing to recognize the Jewish State’s right to exist, they never-the-less have engaged in a campaign of clandestine diplomacy in an effort to thwart the Islamic Republic’s growing influence in the Middle East. Continue Reading »

IDF: Israel Will Evacuate a Million Lebanese to ‘Unsheild’ Hezbollah in Event of War

IDF source says new strategy made to undermine Shiite terror group’s ability to exploit Lebanese civilians as human shields.

By i24news

 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would evacuate over a million civilians from southern Lebanon should a new war with Hezbollah erupt, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday, citing a senior military source.

Israeli troops on Golan Heights (i24news )

In the event of large-scale Hezbollah rocket and missile attacks on Israeli, the IDF would proceed with mass evacuations within 24 hours before conducting aerial strikes and a ground offensive, the source said.

According to the Jerusalem Post, Israel would use this new strategy to counter the Shiite Islamist group’s battle doctrine of using civilian areas as military bases. Continue Reading »