Israel News

Two Syrian shells explode in Golan Heights

Once again Syrian shells land relatively near Israel’s border fence with Syria.

No injury or damage reported.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN

Two mortar shells exploded in the Golan Heights on Tuesday afternoon.

The shells were fired amidst battles between the Syrian army and rebels.

A SOLDIER from the Nahal Reconnaissance Company looks out at the border with Syria. – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

The explosions, which caused no injuries or damage occurred near the border fence between Israel and Syria.

Earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited a field hospital on the Golan Heights treating Syria’s wounded.

The Golan sees periodic fallout from the fighting in Syria in the form of mortar shells.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Golan Heights, IDF, Syrian unrest

Israel boycott fears facilitated 2 foreign bidders to withdraw ports tender

2 local joint concerns and a Chinese company remain in contention to build the private port facilities in Ashdod & Haifa.

By Avi Bar-Eli

The deterioration of Israel’s international standing has been evident this week as at least two leading international companies bidding to build private seaports here dropped out of the government’s tender due to concerns over the political repercussions.

The Haifa port. – Photo: Albatross Aerial Photography

Royal Boskalis Westminster, a Dutch operator of ports that had submitted a proposal under the name Holland Terminal in the prequalification stage last December, dropped out shortly thereafter. More recently, Italy’s Condote de Agua withdrew after passing the prequalification process.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Ashdod Port, BDS, Buisness, Haifa Port, Israel boycott

Rambam Medical Center in Haifa Saves Lives of 2 Pregnant Women from Gaza

Israel puts politics aside and continues saving the lives of Palestinian Arabs on a daily basis.

By Tova Dvorin

Israel accepts medical patients from Gaza for treatment on a regular basis, often as many as 70 patients per day.

The twins leaving Gaza – Piotr Flitr

But even the most seasoned Israeli doctors were surprised earlier this month when two separate, rare high-risk pregnancy cases were admitted to the same hospital, just days apart.

H., 35, was the first to arrive. The Gaza native was nine months pregnant and suffering from a rare blood clotting disorder which could endanger her life if she gave birth to her twins naturally. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Gaza, medical attention, Rambam Medical Center

El Al’s launches its low-cost carrier UP in late March

UP airlines will operate 36 discount flights to 5 European cities starting this spring. Just remember to bring your own lunch.

By Zohar Blumenkrantz

Cheap flights to Berlin, Budapest and three other European cities will be available 36 times a week when El Al Airlines’ new low-cost carrier takes to the air for the first time March 30, El Al announced Monday.

El Al CEO Eliezer Shkedi at the launch of UP, the airline’s new, low-cost brand. – Photo: Ofer Vaknin

The number of flights offered by the discount brand, called UP, will jump to 52 a week in July and August. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Ben Gurion International Airport, El Al

Israel’s PM Netanyahu: ‘Israel’s boycotters are classic anti-Semites’

Addressing the Conference of Presidents in Jerusalem, PM Netanyahu slams nuclear talks with Iran, saying they will lead nowhere, and repeated his calls for Palestinian recognition of Jewish Israel.

By i24NEWS

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed Monday evening the recent international wave of boycotts against Israel, focusing especially on the European boycotters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with his Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper (unseen) following their meeting in Jerusalem, on January 21, 2014 – Photo: Menahem Kahana/AFP

“There is a new campaign against us. [People] think the boycotts will hurt us. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: BDS, Conference of Presidents, Iranian nuclear program, Israel boycott

Google scoops up its 5th Israeli company

Google acquires its 5th Israeli company, SlickLogin, a 3-person company that developed tools to verify user ID through audio signals sent via a smartphone app.

By Ilan Gattegno

Google has purchased yet another company, continuing its Israeli buying streak. SlickLogin, the Tel Aviv-based startup, developed technology that verifies and authenticates user identity (when logging onto a website) by using an audio signal sent through a smartphone app.

Google purchases Israeli company SlickLogin – Photo: YouTube Screenshot

Founders Or Zelig, Eran Galili and Ori Kabeli began developing their program in August 2013; in September, they presented it at San Francisco’s technology startup conference TechCrunch Disrupt and only in December registered as an official company.

Category: Israel News | Tags: app, Buisness, Google

Huckabee in Jerusalem, lambasts BDS movement & peace negotiations

Huckabee praised Scarlett Johanssen saying boycotting Israel is “embarrassingly stupid since Israel is the one place (in the Middle East) where freedom exists.”

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD

Presumptive 2016 US Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee did not mince words regarding his stances on the burgeoning Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement and floundering Palestinian peace negotiations while visiting the capital Monday.

Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee in Jerusalem – Photo: DANIEL K. EISENBUD

During a press conference held at Jerusalem’s Bible Lands Museum, Huckabee patently denounced the BDS movement as “embarrassingly stupid,” and questioned the substance and viability of US-brokered peace talks. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: BDS, Israel boycott, Mike Huckabee, Scarlett Johanssen

IDF’s newest American recruit, the Talon – The perfect tunnel explorer

Lean, mean, & great in small dark places, the IDF’s elite engineering unit presents Talon, a new American robot recruit.

By Yoav Zitun

The IDF’s newest recruit is a versatile little American who proved he can handle himself on the battlefields of Iraq. Drafted for use in the dangerous tunnels on the Gaza Strip border, the Foster-Miller military robot Talon 4 will be deployed instead of soldiers to reduce risks to troops.

IDF’s newest American recruit, the Talon – screenshot

“We don’t rush to put fighters in tunnels,” explains members of Yahalom, the IDF’s Special Operations Engineering Unit. For this reason, this Wall-E lookalike is expected to be a hit with the unit’s members. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: IDF, Robitics, US Army

WSJ reports: Israeli-US Internet shopping site files for IPO

Unnamed source reports Israeli-American e-commerce concern Borderfree, turns to Wall Street to seek $100 million in offering.

By Inbal Orpaz and Orr Hirschauge

Borderfree, an American-Israeli company that is provides American retailers with a platform to reach customers overseas, has confidentially filed for an initial public offering, the Wall Street Journal reported in a blog over the weekend, citing a source it did not identify.

Israeli internet shopping (illustrative) – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

The company, which was previously known as FiftyOne Global Ecommerce, is headquartered in New York, but has an office in Tel Aviv. Its clients include a number of major American retail chains, including Saks Fifth Avenue, Pottery Barn, Sears, Sephora and Neiman Marcus.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Buisness, Internet, Stock Exchange

Revealed: Mossad’s Rabbi’s Identity is Top Secret

With so many religious recruits joining the Mossad in recent years, Israel’s covert organization has added an official rabbi to counsel agents.

By David Lev

So many religious recruits have joined the Mossad in recent years that the organization has hired an official rabbi to advise agents and employees on a wide range of issues, a report said Monday.

Mossad’s Emblem – Israel news photo

Among the questions the rabbi deals with are those relating to religious practices, keeping kosher, Sabbath observance, and other matters that may require compromise or adjustment regarding Jewish Law on the part of an agent during a mission. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Jewish News | Tags: Mossad, Rabbis

Israeli Star Wars ‘Iron Beam’ inches closer to deployment

A Rafael Advanced Defense Systems spokesman reports: “It’s exactly like what you see in Star Wars. You see the lasers go up so quickly, like a flash, and the target is finished.”

Iron Beam will complement the already proven Iron Dome.

By The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

A laser-based missile shield that evokes “Star Wars” technology is moving closer to becoming a reality deployed over Israel, according to the state-owned arms company that is developing it.

Manufacturer’s impression of the Iron Beam engaging an inbound projectile – Photo: Rafael

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems said the development of the Iron Beam system was advanced enough for the company to be comfortable with publicizing it at this week’s Singapore Airshow, Asia’s largest aerospace and defense exhibition.

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: Iron Beam, Rafael

Hamas & PA worried over Knesset proposal to ‘impose Israel’s sovereignty’ on Temple Mount

This week the Knesset is scheduled to discuss a proposal that places the Temple Mount under Israeli sovereignty.

Hamas official criticizes Abbas’ Fatah Minister for saying Jews would be allowed to pray at the Western Wall under the future Palestinian state.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

The Palestinian Authority and Hamas warned Sunday of Israeli “plans” to impose Israeli sovereignty on the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

The Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site for well over 3,000 years.

PA Minister for Religious Affairs Mahmoud al-Habbash said that there would be no sovereignty over the Aqsa Mosque and Islamic and Christian holy sites other than Palestinian sovereignty. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Hamas Fatah, Jerusalem, Knesset, Kotel, Sovereignty, Temple Mount

Abbas: Temple Mount to be in Palestine, but Jews can pray at Western Wall

PA President Abbas, addressing 300 Israeli students in Ramallah, says East should go to the Palestinians, West to remain in Israel.

By Jack Khoury and The Associated Press

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday the Palestinian Authority would not agree to share sovereignty over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in the course of a peace deal with Israel, but would allow freedom of worship for Jews in the Western Wall Plaza.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (center), February 16, 2014.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (center), in a meeting with Israeli students in Ramallah. February 16, 2014. – Photo: AFP

Addressing about 300 Israeli students at a meeting in Ramallah, organized by the Lobby for the Promotion of a Solution for the Israeli-Arab Conflict and by a Palestinian group for promoting Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, Abbas added that he sees no reason to re-divide Jerusalem, adding that a Palestinian municipality could be established in East Jerusalem, which will coordinate with an Israeli-controlled West Jerusalem via a higher body.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israel Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, Middle East peace

Knesset Committee for Legislation Approves Canceling Benefits for Terrorists

Israeli citizens convicted as terror murderers will no longer benefit from National Insurance benefits even if they’re released early in ‘deals,’ or ‘gestures.’

By Gil Ronen

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation voted Sunday in favor of the bill to prevent Israeli Arab terrorists released in deals or “gestures” to the Palestinian Authority from receiving the “acclimation stipends” that are paid to newly released prisoners, and make them ineligible for basic social security stipends.

MK Yariv Levin (Likud-Beytenu), who proposed the bill, thanked the committee for its decision and voiced hope that the legislation would be completed quickly.

“The situation whereby a terrorist who has not served the full term of his sentence and is released receives full social security and benefits from the government is absurd and unacceptable,” MK Levin stated Saturday night. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Knesset, National Insurance, Prisoners

israelandstuffcom | February 16, 2014