Israel News

Iron Dome Intercepts 1 of 2 Gaza Rockets Shot at Ashkelon

Gaza terrorists fire 2 missiles Thursday evening at the civilians of Ashkelon.

No one hurt with no damages, as one neutralized by Iron Dome & second falling outside the city.

By Gil Ronen

Gaza terrorists fired two rockets Thursday evening at Ashkelon. No one was hurt.

Iron Dome – IDF Spokesperson’s Office

The Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted one of the rockets over Ashkelon. It is not clear where the other rocket exploded.

Earlier Thursday, a Color Red siren sounded in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council following rocket fire at the region. No one was hurt and no damage was reported. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Gaza rockets, Iron Dome

israelandstuffcom | February 6, 2014

Galloway Joins Waters in Scolding Scarlett Over SodaStream

Anti-Israel British MP joins anti-Israel British rock musician to bash Scarlett Johansson for her support of SodaStream.

By Elad Benari

British MP George Galloway, who is known for his hatred towards Israel and his backing of the Hamas terrorist group, criticized actress Scarlett Johansson this week for her refusal to back down from an advertising campaign for SodaStream, an Israeli company with a factory in Ma’ale Adumim, a Jerusalem suburb located over the 1949 armistice lines.

SodaStream has been the target of boycott attempts by pro-Arab groups who take issue with the company being located in what they see as “occupied Palestinian territory”. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: anti-Israel, anti-Semitic propaganda, SodaStream

Muslim MK ejected from meeting on establishing special Christian-Arab representation

Muslim MK Zoabi was forced out of a Knesset meeting for implying that a Christian Arab who supports the bill deserves violence.

By LAHAV HARKOV

A Christian Arab representative accused Arab MKs of racism and MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad) was thrown out of a heated Knesset Labor, Health and Welfare Committee meeting Wednesday on a bill giving Christians separate representation in the Advisory Committee for Equal Opportunity in Employment Commission.

“Arab rights don’t interest [coalition chairman Yariv Levin (Likud Beytenu), who proposed the legislation],” MK Jamal Zahalke (Balad) said. “There isn’t an employment problem for Christians or Druse. It’s for the general Arab public. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Christians, Christians-Muslims, Israeli Christians, Knesset

ICRC stopped supplying tents for homeless Palestinians in Jordan Valley

According to a Red Cross official, Israeli military & civil officials took down tents it provided to residents after Israeli court ordered IDF to demolish illegal structures.

By Elior Levy

The International Committee of the Red Cross has stopped providing tents for Palestinian residents in the Jordan Valley whose houses were demolished by the IDF after the Israeli military destroyed them too.

ICRC Tents Destroyed by IDF in makeshift camps on public land in the Jordan Valley - Photo news screenshot

ICRC Tents Destroyed by IDF in makeshift camps on public land in the Jordan Valley – Photo: YouTube screenshot

The decision came after the IDF tore down the tents and also prevented the organization from taking tents into villages in the area, as part of a humanitarian aid supply. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ICRC, IDF, Illegal Arab Construction, Jordan Valley, UNRWA

2 Israeli Air Force pilots jailed after maps found on smartphones

IAF officials say incident undermines national security posed by mobile technology and enunciates that air force culture must be reconditioned.

By Gili Cohen

Two Israeli combat pilots were jailed for five days and 12 others were disciplined for storing maps and other classified information on their smartphones, Army Radio reported this week.

Israel Air Force pilots.- Photo: Daniel Bar-On

The incident underscores the security risks posed by mobile technology and demonstrates that the culture of the air force must be overhauled, Israel Air Force officials said.

“The ease of photographing and sending pictures, maps and classified information has become the enemy of information security and endangers operational activity,” an air force officer said.

Category: Israel News | Tags: IAF, IDF, Israel technology, Israeli culture

Leftists & Arabs Alike Angered Over Continued Jerusalem Building

On Wednesday 550 new housing permits were issued for growing Jerusalem neighborhoods.

Peace Now says it ‘shameful’.

By Arutz Sheva Staff and AFP

Left wing groups have condemned recently-announced decision to construct 550 housing units in Jerusalem Wednesday.

Archive photo of construction in East Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa. – Photo: AP

The newly-issued building permits include 386 units in Har Homa, 136 units in Neve Yaakov and 36 units in Pisgat Zeev, according to AFP.

Issuing permits is one of the last stages before construction begins, which means building is likely to start in the coming weeks, according to the far-left Peace Now NGO. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Jewish construction, new construction, Peace Now

Israel’s High Court cuts state funding for draft-dodging yeshiva students

High Court of Justice rules in an interim order forbidding the gov’t from funding yeshiva students whose draft date was delayed by defense minister.

By Aviel Magnezi

In a dramatic decision Tuesday, the High Court of Justice, composed of nine justices – with a majority of eight to one – issued an interim order forbidding the government from funding yeshiva students whose draft date was delayed.

An ultra-Orthodox soldier in the field. – Photo courtesy: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

The decision applies to yeshiva students aged 18 to 20, who were served with enlistment orders beginning in August 2013 and have not reported at the recruitment center because of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon‘s decision to delay the draft date because “the question of jurisdiction over them is doubtful.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: High Court, IDF soldier, ultra-Orthodox

Israel indicts Al-Qaida Palestinian for possession of biological weapons

West Bank Palestinian Samar al-Barak, intended on training others to use biological weapons, according to the charges in Israel’s military court.

By Chaim Levinson

A Palestinian has been indicted in a military court on suspicion of being an Al-Qaida activist who possessed biological weapons and planned to train other Palestinians in their use.

Fighters from an al-Qaida-linked Islamist group in Mali.

Fighters from an Al-Qaida-linked group in Mali. Israel is also a target. – Photo: AP

Samar al-Barak was indicted after spending more than three years in administrative detention without trial – a detention the state defended before the High Court of Justice on the grounds that it was essential for security reasons.

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: Al-Qaida, chemical weapon, Israel Supreme Court, Palestinians, terrorism, West Bank

Kerry intensifies the drama to pressure Israel in any way possible

Kerry’s pretension in saving the world is unnecessary, because the world does not want to be saved. Neither the Jews, nor the Arabs, want to participate in this party, because they know they will not benefit from it.

By Karni Eldad

In American movies, there is usually good and evil and a clear end. More than that; American directors give so little credit to their viewers, that they instruct the composers of the soundtrack to prepare us for each scenario: If something is about to be scary or funny or romantic – we will know in advance.

US Secretary of State John Kerry at the Munich Security Conference in Germany – Photo: REUTERS

Secretary of State John Kerry is trying to intensify the drama and pressure us in any way possible, and he scares us with background music for the end of the Jewish state (because we will be outnumbered by the Arabs if we don’t give them a separate state). Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News |

Gaza Brigade reservists to be deployed in sector 1st time in years

Gaza Brigade reservists are set to relieve regular Givati Brigade soldiers departing the sector for a routine, 3-week training rotation.

Move prompted by changes to military’s training, deployment plans following defense budget cuts.

By Lilach Shoval

The Israel Defense Forces has announced plans to reintroduce the operational deployment of reserve units in the Gaza sector within the next few months. Reserve soldiers in the Gaza Brigade will be deployed in the sector to relieve regular soldiers from the Infantry Corps’ Givati Brigade.

The Gaza sector is considered one of the military’s most active theaters [Illustrative] – Photo: Gideon Markowitz

The decision, made public on Monday, follows the IDF’s revision of its overall training plans as a result of cuts in the 2014 defense budget.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Gaza, Givati Brigade, IDF

London Daily: Hamas leadership blocks military section from striking Israel

Pay-back for IAF retaliatory strikes had been planned for last week but gov’t leaders held back.

Instead, Hamas re-deploys its rocket prevention force on their border with Israel.

By YASSER OKBI

Hamas canceled plans for retaliatory strikes against Israel last week at the urging of the head of the organization’s administration in Gaza, the London-based pan-Arabic daily Asharq Alawsat reported on Tuesday.

IDF units prepare their tanks for the evening on the Gaza border. – Photo: Israel Spokesperson’s Unit

The Izzadin Kassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, had planned to launch rocket attacks on southern Israel in response to the Israel Air Force’s bombing of its headquarters last Thursday, but the political leaders of the terrorist organization vetoed the move. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Gaza, hamas

Rice slams Israeli officials on Twitter for ‘unfounded & unacceptable’ criticism of Kerry

Former US envoy to UN goes after Netanyahu & his cabinet ministers on Twitter for criticizing Kerry’s warning of growing boycott calls.

By Ynetnews

Kerry is not the only person who has warned of a looming increase in boycotts. Israeli business and political leaders have been vocal about their concerns on this matter. Last month, a delegation of captains of industry flew to the annual international business conference in Davos to warn Netanyahu that maintaining a growing and stable economy requires Israel to make peace with Palestinians.

Israeli ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor with former US counterpart Susan Rice – Photo: Shahar Azra

The US National Security Advisor Susan Rice has rapped Israeli officials for comments directed at Secretary of State John Kerry over the ongoing peace process with the Palestinians. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, The Diaspora | Tags: Israel boycott, Peace Process, Susan Rice

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Captain Tal Nahman, 21 – IDF Soldier Killed by Friendly-Fire

IDF officer killed in friendly fire incident when mistaken as a terrorist.

Captain Tal Nahman was 21 year-old from Nes Ziona. Family in shock.

By Tova Dvorin

The identity of the soldier killed Monday due to friendly fire near Gaza has been released: Captain Tal Nahman, 21, from Nes Ziona.

Capt. Tal Nahman - Courtesy of the Nahman family

Capt. Tal Nahman (ז”ל) – Courtesy of the Nahman family

Nahman was promoted to Captain posthumously. The funeral will take place at 3:00 pm Tuesday with a military ceremony at the cemetery in Nes Ziona.

Reportedly the incident occurred during a routine operation to prevent the placement of explosives on the Gaza security fence, as well as infiltration by Gazan terrorists. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Gaza, Givati Brigade, IDF soldier

For many parts of Israel January was driest month in ages

Expert reports Israel’s record setting dry winter is caused by a phenomenon called “blocking,” where most rain systems are “stuck” in Western Europe.

By SHARON UDASIN

Although the northeastern US may have spent January pummeled by snowstorms and frigid temperatures, Israel last month was troublingly dry, experts from the Water Authority and Israel Meteorological Services said on Monday.

Sunset at the Kinneret - Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Sunset at the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) – Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Throughout the month, Lake Kinneret’s water level only rose 11 cm., while that of the Dead Sea dropped eight cm., according to the Water Authority’s Hydrological Services.

Nationwide the country has received only about 64 percent of its average annual precipitation since the beginning of the rainy season, the Water Authority said. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israel Meteorological Services, rainfall, Water Authority