Archive for Israel News

Israel Reaches Historic Low: Unemployment Rate Drops to 4.9%

Looking Good: Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reports number of employed Israelis has reached 3.64 million, for an all-time high of 60.9%.
• Bank of Israel leaves interest rate unchanged at 0.1%, acknowledging economy is “growing at moderate rate” with Consumer Price Index up 0.6%.

By Zeev Klein

 

Unemployment in Israel has fallen to an all-time low and the number of employed Israelis has reached an all-time high, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday.

An Israeli employment office – Photo: Yehoshua Yosef

According to the bureau’s data, the April jobless rate was just 4.9%, below the psychological threshold of 5%. Continue Reading »

Israir Airbus Passenger Jet Confiscated in Portugal Over Alleged Debt

Israir Airlines says 7 yr-old court proceedings are still ongoing and was ‘very surprised’ of the seizure by Portuguese airlines, EuroAtlantic.

By Itay Blumenthal

 

An Israir Airlines plane was confiscated in Lisbon on Monday night following a claim by EuroAtlantic Airways that the Israeli company owes “tens of millions of euros”.

Israir Airbus A320 (Photo: Zohar Azar)
Israir Airbus A320 – Photo: Zohar Azar

Sources told Ynet that the seizure of the plane led to the cancellation of a flight from Eilat to central Israel, leaving dozens of Israelis stranded in the southern city.

The timing was unfortunate for Israir, which saw another one of its planes make an emergency landing earlier in the day because of a faulty engine. Continue Reading »

Soldier Court-Martialed For Publicly Debasing IDF Has Become Left’s Hero

Israel’s left-wing daily, Haaretz, praises soldiers who said to German TV audience that IDF conditions its soldiers to treat Arabs as subhuman.

By Gil Ronen

 

The Left’s new hero is Corporal Shachar Berrin, who serves as a combat soldier in the Home Front Command (HFC). Berrin was lauded in Haaretz‘s main editorial Monday and was glorified in at least two articles by the paper’s pundits, Gideon Levy and Uri Misgav, as well as in other left-wing and anti-Israeli websites.

Corporal Shachar Berrin, screenshot

Berrin’s “heroic” action was a monologue on German TV channel Deutsche Welle‘s show, The New Arab Debates, hosted by Tim Sebastian, which was taped in Jerusalem about two weeks ago.

Continue Reading »

UN Runs Palestinian Schools That Indoctrinate Hatred Of Jews & the West Pays For It

In an exclusive interview, Col. Richard Kemp, former commander of British Forces in Afghanistan says peace is far from breaking out, as he comments on the conflict with Hamas, the battle for public opinion, the ethics of war, & changes needed for peace.

By Judith Bergman

 

Col. Richard Kemp, CBE, has been spending time in Israel, where he spoke at Shurat Hadin’s “Towards a ‎New Laws of War” Conference, and at Bar-Ilan University, which bestowed him with an honorary ‎doctorate in recognition of his stalwart battle against terrorism and terrorist organizations. Kemp, now ‎retired from the British Army, was commander of the British forces in Afghanistan in 2003 and served in ‎Iraq, the Balkans and Northern Ireland. Continue Reading »

Diplomatic Disaster Averted by Israel’s Cooperation With Nuclear Ban Treaty Diplomats

In a dramatic show of support for Israel at the UN nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference last week, the US vetoed an Egyptian-led drive for a Mid-East nuclear weapons ban.

 

Israel’s ongoing cooperation with diplomats involved in efforts to set up a regional dialogue over weapons of mass destruction helped it avoid a bad outcome during a UN conference last week, an arms control expert said on Monday.

A nuclear test explosion from April 1954 is shown in this undated photo from the US Defense Department – Photo: REUTERS

In recent days, the US vetoed an Egyptian-led drive on a possible Middle East nuclear weapons ban at a UN nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) conference. Continue Reading »

Economist Reports: Israel’s new right-wing gov’t harms its foreign relations

Report in UK based publication details series of political challenges before Israel’s latest coalition gov’t, implying PM Netanyahu is leaning further right.

By Ynet

 

The influential magazine The Economist, claimed in an article published Sunday that the guidelines of the new Israeli government further undermine the already fragile relations between Jerusalem and the world.The Economist page on facebook

The article analyzes the sensitive situation of Israel’s foreign relations, detailing a list of difficulties with which Netanyahu is dealing with these days, starting with the French initiative to recognize a Palestinian state, then the possible European Union boycott of products made in the settlements, and concluding with the demand to suspend Israeli football from international play. Continue Reading »

Muslim Incitement backfires at the Temple Mount

Waqf incitement boomerangs badly after Arab mob drives Sheikh Ahmed Helayel, Jordan’s head Islamic Judge out of Al Aqsa Mosque for not ‘leading Islamic army.’

By Ari Soffer

 

Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem have long been the target of a campaign of harassment and intimidation by Islamist groups.

Muslim extremists regularly confront Jewish visitors with verbal – and occasionally physical – abuse, often in large crowds, with the aim of discouraging Jews from setting foot on the holiest site in Judaism – which also houses the Al Aqsa Mosque complex that is built atop the ruins of two Jewish temples. Continue Reading »

A Dozen Countries With Different Problems Look to Israel to Boost Milk Production

Israel’s dairy cows have become the most productive in the world through the use of technology and science.

By Reuters

 

Decades ago Israeli dairy farmers confronted a quandary – how could they provide milk to a fast-growing population in a country that is two-thirds desert, with little grazing land?

Cows wearing digital collars eat at dairy farm in Kibbutz Yad Mordechai – Photo: Reuters

They turned to technology, developing equipment that boosted output – from cooling systems to milk meters and biometrics – and have made Israeli cows the most productive in the world.

Science rules today, with cows’ health, output, genetics and fertility closely monitored by management systems. Continue Reading »

2 millennia old, 13-mile subterranean aqueduct unearthed in Jerusalem

Road workers in Umm Tuba, a neighborhood in Israel’s capital, discovered section of subterranean aqueduct built by Hasmonean kings to bring water to Jerusalem for 2 millennia, up until a century ago.

By Yori Yalon

 

A section of a subterranean aqueduct that brought supplied water to the city of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago was recently unearthed in the neighborhood of Umm Tuba during preparations to lay a new sewer pipe.

The section of the ancient conduit, which was the city’s main source of water for two millennia – Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority/Assaf Peretz

Now that part of the aqueduct has been uncovered, the Israel Antiquities Authority has set up an official archeological excavation at the site. Continue Reading »

WATCH: Whenever a disaster strikes, the IDF is one of the first to volunteer

Israel’s national policy of ‘Tikun Olam’ (repairing the world) has been consistent, by sending 24 delegations to 22 countries, that have been struck by disasters in the last 30 years.

By Israel Today Staff

 

When countries have been struck by natural disasters, the IDF regularly lends a helping a hand and has sent delegations of medical and rescue staff to those places. The delegations consist mostly of specially trained reserve soldiers from the IDF’s Search and Rescue Unit.

IDF soldiers at humanitarian field hospital assembled in Nepal – Photo courtesy: IDF Spokesperson unit

In total, 24 delegations have been sent to 22 countries that have been struck by disasters in the last 30 years. Continue Reading »

Video + Photo Album: Israel’s Navy Patrol Boat Squad

An up close view of the #914 Patrol Boat Squad of the IDF’s Navy.

By Yissachar Ruas

 

Haifa Navy Base. It’s just another standard day in the #914 Patrol Boat Squad, where various types of weapons are laid out for inspection after having been thoroughly oiled and cleaned.

After inspection, all weapons are reassembled and mounted on to the “Dvora” class patrol boat #814 which, as goes with an old Navy tradition, has the un-complimenting name – “The Monsters”.

#814 is leaving the harbor with the Commander of the #914 Patrol Boat Squad – Captain Yishai Cohen.  Cohen studied at the Kfar HaRoe Yeshiva High School before graduating from the Navy’s Academy. Continue Reading »

A score of Israeli technologies offers pragmatic solutions for future agricultural problems

Arid climate and barren land in Israel forced its settlers to find innovative ways of farming, that is helping deal with the planet’s ever-increasing demand for food.

By Robert Swift from The Media Line

 

Ten billion people. That is the number of mouths that farmers will have to feed in another two decades. In order to do this food production needs to increase by 70 percent.

Israeli farmer in southern Israel (File photo)
Israeli farmer in southern Israel (File photo)

“In recent years, due to the over usage of soils there are more problems with insects and diseases. At the same time, there is increased regulation on the usage of chemicals,” Yuval Fradkin, the head of Futura Graft told The Media Line.

Continue Reading »

US Administration Pressing Israel to Destroy Its Nukes

Thomas Countryman, the Assistant Secretary of State under John Kerry, traveled to Israel to convince Israel’s Foreign Ministry officials about turning the Middle East to a nuke-free zone.

By Nitsan Keidar

 

Assistant US Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation,  recently visited Israel and held talks with senior Foreign Ministry officials, about the possibility of making the Middle East nuclear-free.

Thomas Countryman

Thomas Countryman, Assistant Secretary of State

Washington seeks to advance the idea after reaching agreement with Russia about the matter.

The State Department confirmed Countryman’s visit and sources in the US Administration said that Israeli agreement to the idea would be a catalyst for bringing additional countries into discussions on the matter. Continue Reading »

India Reports Deal Soon To Be Sealed on Joint Missile Development With Israel

The Times of India reported Thursday morning that India and Israel are close to signing a deal on developing a joint missile system.

By Moshe Cohen

 

Israel and India are close to a deal on developing a joint missile system, the Times of India reported Thursday.

PM Netanyahu with India’s PM Narendra Modi – Photo: Avi Ohayon/GPO

Negotiators had “virtually sealed” the deal for medium-range surface-to-air missile system (MR-SAM) missiles which the Indian Army will purchase from Israeli developers, including Israel Aerospace Industries. The manufacturing will mostly take part in India.

Over the past 15 years, Israel has sold over $10 billion in defense systems and arms to India making Israel “among the top defense suppliers to India,” the Times of India said.

Continue Reading »

Jerusalem Plans a Face-Lift For 2017, 50 Year Jubilee For Capital’s Unification

Billions to be spent on projects, including massive visitors center at Western Wall, a fertility center, upgrading transportation infrastructure and more.
• “We are moving full steam ahead in Jerusalem,” PM  Netanyahu said at the cabinet meeting, warning that the opposite, a division of the city, would restore “barbed wire & snipers.”

 

The government announced major construction projects in Jerusalem on Tuesday during a special cabinet session marking the 48th anniversary of the city’s reunification.

The Western Wall will see a new visitors center built over the next few years – Photo: iStock

At the meeting, which was held at the Israel Museum, the cabinet approved the construction of a large visitors center in the Western Wall area, to be inaugurated in 2017 when the city marks 50 years since reunification following the 1967 Six-Day War. Continue Reading »