Archive for Israel News

| June 1, 2014
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Palestinians lied: US rejects PA claims it invited unity gov’t PM to Washington

 

State Dept spokeswoman says the U.S. did not issue any invitation to PA Prime Minister Hamdallah to Washington, who is expected to head unity gov’t with terrorist organization Hamas.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH, TOVAH LAZAROFF
 

 

The US over the weekend rejected Palestinian claims that the Obama administration had already accepted the newly unified government between Fatah and Hamas and had invited its prime minister to Washington.

Prof. Rami Hamdallah, president of An-Najah National University.

Prof. Rami Hamdallah, president of An-Najah National University.- Photo: REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini

Although unity government won’t formally be announced until Monday, Palestinian media outlets reported over that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah — who is expected to head a unity government with Hamas — was invited to Washington for talks with US government officials.

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| June 1, 2014
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Israel Air Force operational capabilities to increase 400% by year’s end

 

IAF commander says Israeli fighter jets will be able to strike thousands of terror targets in a single day, by the end of 2014.

By Aryeh Savir, Tazpit

 

The Israeli Air Force’s offensive capabilities will quadruple by the end of 2014, IAF commander Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel said last week.

In a single day, Israeli planes will be able to strike thousands of terror targets and expand the IDF’s achievements during extended operations.

Eshel spoke last week at the Tenth Annual Conference for National Security on the contribution of air power to Israel’s strategic capabilities. He discussed the air force’s attack and defensive capabilities during times of war and routine operations. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| May 31, 2014
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Newsweek: Israel wiretapped Clinton’s phone during Camp David peace talks

 

Newsweek reports Israel’s intelligence services eavesdropped on diplomatic phone calls when then-US President Clinton conducted private conversations with Syria’s Assad, as well as calls regarding the Camp David peace talks with Arafat.

By Ynent news

 

Newsweek strikes again: A new report by Newsweek claims Israeli military’s intelligence unit 8200 eavesdropped on calls conducted by then US president Bill Clinton during a round of peace talks conducted between Israel and Syria, and the Camp David talks with the Palestinians in 2000.

Barak with Clinton (Photo: AP)

Barak with Clinton – Photo: AP

The report is based on a forthcoming book written by an Israeli expat and political scientist Ahron Bregman, and sites verbatim transcripts of the allegedly tapped phone calls given to him by unnamed “private sources”. Continue Reading »

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| May 30, 2014
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John Kerry: Israel’s response to Fatah-Hamas unity deal ‘appropriate’

 

US Sec. of State says Israel’s wait-&-see approach to formation of Palestinian reconciliation gov’t is “appropriate.”

By JTA
 

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Israel’s wait-and-see approach to Fatah-Hamas unity talks was “appropriate.”

John Kerry

John Kerry – Photo: REUTERS

He made the remarks in an interview Thursday night on PBS, adding that he was “disappointed that the [peace] process, what is in place, that that didn’t produce the next step.”

Asked about the negotiations on unity between Hamas and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement, Kerry said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “and Israel are waiting to see what happens with the Hamas reconciliation, with the announcement of a new government, with the question of what that new government may or may not choose to do. Continue Reading »

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| May 30, 2014
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PHOTO ALBUM: IDF Female combat soldiers mark end of training with 20k march

The IDF’s Caracal Battalion is a combat infantry battalion charged with patrolling the Israeli-Egyptian border and composed of both Jewish & Arab, male & female soldiers.

Israeli soldiers of the Caracal battalion carry their comrade on a stretcher. (Reuters)

 

Israeli soldiers of the Caracal battalion carry their comrade on a stretcher. (Reuters)

Israeli soldiers of the Caracal battalion help their comrade. (Reuters)

 

Israeli soldiers of the Caracal battalion carry their comrade on a stretcher. (Reuters)

 

An Israeli soldier of the Caracal battalion rests after finishing a 20k march. (Reuters)

Israeli soldiers of the Caracal battalion rest after finishing a 20k march.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| May 30, 2014
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Israel Security Forces Prevent Suicide Bombing in Samaria

Another in a series of Palestinian attempts to massacre Jews as an Arab terrorist wearing a bomb belt is apprehended near Ariel before he could attack.

By Ari Yashar

 

Security forces apprehended an Arab terrorist wearing a bomb belt at Tapuach Junction in Samaria, near the city of Ariel, on Friday morning.

The terrorist raised suspicions by wearing a large coat in the hot summer weather. After security forces called on him to take off his coat and be checked, the man refused and proceeded to lay on the floor, reports Channel 10.

When he finally removed his coat, he was found to be wearing a belt of explosives. Continue Reading »

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| May 30, 2014
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U.S. Asst. Sec. of State Deliberately Misleads Congress About Terrorists’ Salaries

The United States Assistant Secretary of State, Amb. Anne W. Patterson, disregarded documented evidence that money goes into Palestinian terrorists’ pockets, and not just to their families as mentioned in her testimony to Congress.

By Itamar Marcus, Nan J Zilberdik

 

In testimony to Congress, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Ambassador Anne W. Patterson, defended the Palestinian Authority (PA) practice of paying salaries to terrorists in prison saying “they have to provide for the families.”

Assistant secretary for the Near East Anne Patterson

Assistant secretary for the Near East Anne Patterson – Reuters

However, Palestinian Media Watch has documented repeatedly that this is not correct. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News |
| May 30, 2014
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Baltic states up number of Christian ‘Israel ally’ caucuses to 30

 

Israel MK Yuri Shtern established the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus in 2004.

By GIL HOFFMAN

 

 
Latvia and Estonia will become the 29th and 30th countries with Israel Allies Caucuses in their parliaments this week at events attended by MKs in the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus.

Christians Love Israel – Photo: .the peoples voice

The MKs will join together with World Jewish Congress and International Christian Embassy Jerusalem representatives to meet with Christian and political leaders in the two Baltic states to mobilize support for Israel.

There will be meetings with senior leaders from a spectrum of Christian denominations, with hopes of garnering further support for Israel, concentrating on shared Judeo-Christian values.

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| May 30, 2014
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IDF: Only rubber bullets were fired in Beitunia – Pallywood clip surfaces

 

IDF soldier suspended, reportedly fired rubber bullets without authorization.

As IDF probe continues, Pallywood film shows it took a few ‘takes’ before the ‘actors’ got it right.

By Lilach Shoval, Israel Hayom Staff and Reuters

 

Following a Haaretz report detailing the suspension of an Israel Defense Forces soldier in relation to the May 15 clashes in the West Bank town of Beitunia in which two Palestinian youths were killed, IDF officials said on Wednesday that the soldier in question was firing rubber bullets, not live bullets, and was not aiming at rioters, but at a nearby wall.

An image from the video that purportedly shows the shooting deaths of two Palestinians in Beitunia on May 15 – Photo: Defense for Children International Palestine website

No apparent evidence links the suspended soldier, reportedly belonging to a communications unit, to either fatality. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| May 29, 2014
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Hamas operative details terrorist activities on Temple Mount

 

Israel’s Shin Bet security services reveal how Hamas paid young men monthly salaries to prevent a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount.

By i24news

 

The Shin Bet (Israel’s Security Agency) announced Thursday that a senior Hamas operative arrested at the Allenby bridge last month revealed during interrogation that Hamas uses the Islamic Movement in Israel as a front to promote its activities within Israel, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Policemen guard the Esplanade of the Mosques in jerusalem on May 26, 2014 – Photo: Thomas Coex / AFP

The operative, Mahmoud Toama, a member of the main economic council of Hamas as well as Hamas’ General Shura Council, provided the security agency with information on Hamas activities in Jerusalem as well as the organization’s funding sources and international relationships. Continue Reading »

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| May 29, 2014
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SEEKING: Ride to the Moon for One Torah

 

The Israel based ‘Torah on the Moon’ project has commissioned the European Space Agency to carry a special capsule designed to protect the Torah for at least 10,000 years.

By

 

 

The European Space Agency has been commissioned to participate in a project to carry a Torah scroll to the moon, according to New Scientist magazine.

Scribe completes Torah scroll

An ultra-Orthodox scribe completing a Torah scroll. Combining all five books together revolutionized Hebrew printing. – Photo: AP

The commission, which was confirmed by the agency’s engineering arm in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, came from a Tel Aviv-based group called, appropriately, the Torah on the Moon project.

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Category: Israel News, Jewish News | Tags: , , , ,
| May 29, 2014
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Former South African President: ‘Israel Not an Apartheid State’

 

The man who would know, former South African President de Klerk says it’s nonsensical to refer to Israel as an apartheid state.

By Israel Today Staff

 

It is wrong for anyone to refer to Israel as an apartheid state, the man who brought an end to South Africa’s apartheid regime said to Israeli media on Tuesday.

Israel Not an Apartheid State, Says the Man Who Would Know

Former South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk says, “Everyone has closed boarders, also the United States has closed boarders.” – Channel 2 News screenshot.

In an interview with Channel 2 News, former South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk suggested that it is nonsensical to label Israel an apartheid state simply because it has closed off the border that the world insists exists between Israel-proper and the “West Bank.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| May 28, 2014
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U.S. Seminary Girl Hit in Face by Arab Stone-Throwers in Jerusalem

In yet another Jerusalem Day Arab attack, residents in Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter reportedly throw rocks at Jewish youths, hitting a girl in the face.

By Ari Yashar

 

Arutz Sheva has received exclusive reportage on yet another violent Arab attack Tuesday on Jewish youth in the Old City of Jerusalem. Again, Jews celebrating the 47th year since the unification of the 3,000-year-old Jewish capital were targeted.

Ahuva Schwartz, a resident of Jerusalem, reports that a group of 60 Jews, mostly Israeli high school boys along with some families and American seminary student girls, met at the Kotel (Western Wall) on Tuesday night. Continue Reading »

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| May 28, 2014
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Netanyahu: Jerusalem is Our Heart – We’ll Never Divide Our Heart

At the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Jerusalem Day celebrations said Jerusalem is Israel’s eternity.

By Elad Benari

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday night that Jerusalem is the heart of Israel and, as such, will never be divided again.

Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva

Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva – Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO

Netanyahu made the comments in a speech he gave at the annual Jerusalem Day celebrations at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva.

The celebration at Merkaz Harav is traditionally attended by the important figures of Religious Zionist rabbinic and political leadership. This year the dais included, among others, Economy Minister and Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett, Housing Minister Uri Ariel, Chief Rabbis David Lau and Yitzchak Yosef, Former Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, Dep. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| May 28, 2014
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Israeli Christians Ask Israel to Rebuild its 1948 Village

 

Israel’s Maronite Christians hope to exploit the Pope’s visit to spark revival of their ancient Galilee village.

By Ryan Jones

 

Another interesting aspect of Pope Francis’ visit to the region this week involved the Maronite Church, whose Lebanon-based patriarch defied hostile Arab voices and joined the pontiff in Israel.

Israeli Christians Urge Israel to Rebuild Their Village

Ruins of the ancient synagogue at Kfar Baram – Photo source: Israel Today

The Maronite Church is part of the broader Catholic Church. It has traditionally been far less hostile toward Israel than other churches in the Middle East. That is especially true of the Maronites living in Israel, a great many of whom volunteer to serve in the IDF. Continue Reading »

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