Archive for Israel News

| February 3, 2014
No comments

Palestinian Authority Report: Palestinians Prefer Purchasing ‘Made in Israel’

BDS steaming after a Palestinian Authority report showed 70% of the Authority’s imports were from Israel, with total imports worth $3.5 billion entering the West Bank from Israel.

By David Lev

 

Last month, BDS (Boycott, Divest, Sanction) activists slammed Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas for not joining in with them to boycott Israel – and on Monday, the PA revealed just how uninvolved it was in the BDS movement. According to a PA report, 70% of the PA’s imports were from Israel, with imports worth $3.5 billion entering the Authority from Israel.

It should be noted that Israel generally does not restrict imports of consumer goods to the PA, and that Israeli goods compete on Palestinian store shelves with goods from Arab countries and Europe as well as from the PA. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| February 3, 2014
No comments

Israel’s PM calls on gov’ts to pressure Abbas for refusing to recognize Jewish state

 

Prime Minister Netanyahu slams Abbas for his refusal to recognize Israel as Jewish state.

Bennett rejects Abbas’s suggestion to place NATO forces in Palestinian state saying, “Only the IDF will guard our kids.”

By GIL HOFFMAN, JPOST.COM STAFF
 

 

Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday attacked Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for his refusal to recognize Israel as the Jewish state.

Netanyahu and Abbas - Photo: REUTERS

Netanyahu and Abbas – Photo: REUTERS

“The chairman of the PA was quoted today as saying that he is not prepared to recognize the Jewish state. And this comes with him knowing that there will not be an agreement without recognition of the nation state of the Jews,” Netanyahu said at the Likud faction meeting. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags:
| February 3, 2014
No comments

Abbas suggests a NATO presence instead of IDF in future Palestine

Palestinian Authority president extends transitional period of complete IDF withdrawal & Jewish settlement residents from 3 to 5 years.

By

 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an American-led NATO presence in a future Palestinian state, according to a New York Times interview published Sunday.

Abbas speaks at the UN General Assembly.

Abbas speaks at the UN General Assembly. – Photo: AFP

The NATO mission Abbas proposed in talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would last indefinitely and include troop patrols throughout the West Bank and Gaza, at all checkpoints and within Jerusalem, according to the Times.

Abbas said Israeli military presence and settlements in the West bank could be gradually removed for up to five years after a peace agreement is signed – a departure from the three years he previously proposed. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| February 2, 2014
No comments

IDF Field Hospital Serving Syria’s Wounded Operates 24/7

 

 

Defense Ministry allows the IDF to publicize it’s efforts about its Golan field hospital established over a year ago to aid the victims of the Syrian civil war.

By Israel Today Staff

 

It sounds odd, and Israel is likely completely unique in this regard, but the Jewish state has established a field hospital in service to the citizens of an enemy state involved in a war that Israel has nothing to do with.

IDF Field Hospital Serving Syria - Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit

IDF Field Hospital Serving Syria – Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

It is already common knowledge that for the past year or so Israel has been taking in Syrians wounded in their own nation’s ongoing civil war. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| February 2, 2014
No comments

Saudi Prince compliments Israeli Minister at German conference

 

Justice Minister Livni engages in constructive dialogue with Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal during panel discussion at Munich Security Conference.

By LAHAV HARKOV
 

 

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni is the right person to lead Israel’s negotiating team, Saudi Prince Turki bin Faisal said at the Munich Security Conference Friday.

Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud is seen here in Bahrain - Photo: REUTERS

Prince Turki Al Faisal Al Saud is seen here in Bahrain – Photo: REUTERS

Livni’s office confirmed Sunday that during a question and answer session at the end of a panel on the peace process, featuring Livni, Chief PLO Negotiator Saeb Erekat and American Envoy Martin Indyk, the Saudi prince asked Livni about the Arab Peace Initiative. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| February 2, 2014
No comments

Jews who were exiled from Arab nations see compensation as historic justice

 

Echoing the claims requested by many Sephardic Jews attempting to find balance between past grievances & future prospects, Minister Silvan Shalom said the matter of paying compensation to Jews from Arab countries who were forced to leave behind homes, lands, and businesses in 1948, ‘We should get what we deserve’.

By Itay Blumenthal

 

A prominent minister and senior politician of Sephardic descent praised Israel’s bid to achieve refugee status for Jews who fled their Arab nation homes on the eve of the State’s foundation, calling it a “rectification of an historic injustice,” echoing claims made other Sephardic Jews.

Cohen family on vacation in Ras al Bar, Egypt (Phot courtesy of the family)

Cohen family on vacation in Ras al Bar, Egypt – Photo: courtesy of the family

The Cohen family left behind a residential building in Cairo while the Kalif family were forced to abandon a number of apartments and stores which were later nationalized by the Iraqi government.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags:
| February 2, 2014
No comments

Palestinian workers praise Scarlett Johansson & SodaStream – Glad Boycott Unsuccessful

‘It’s time to stop blaming Israel for all our problems,’ a Palestinian employee at SodaStream remarks.

By , and Nathan Jeffay

 

MISHOR ADUMIM – WEST BANK — “I can bring a million people who want to work here,” boasted Ahmed Nasser, taking a break from his job as a SodaStream assembly line worker.

A Palestinian woman works at a SodaStream factory on January 30, 2014 in the Mishor Adumim

A Palestinian woman works at a SodaStream factory on January 30, 2014 in the Mishor Adumim industrial park, next to the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim. – Photo: AFP

Nasser spoke to the Forward from SodaStream’s main production plant, which is located in the Mishor Adumim industrial park within the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim in the West Bank. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| February 2, 2014
No comments

Was Scarlett Quitting Oxfam About Human Rights Issues or Dollar Signs?

Now that Coca-Cola is revealed as one of Oxfam’s major donors, was corporate donations  what motivated the NGO’s attack on Israeli soda company SodaStream?

By Maayana Miskin

 

The Israeli company SodaStream has come under fire in recent weeks over the fact that it has a factory in Maale Adumim, a Jerusalem suburb that lies east of the 1949 armistice line.

Fanta products

Coca-Cola products – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

The controversy hit a new high last week with the Oxfam charity’s criticism of actress Scarlett Johansson, who has signed on as a spokeswoman for SodaStream. Johansson has said she will stick with her commitment to SodaStream – and has stepped down as an ambassador for Oxfam in protest of its anti-Israel stance. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| February 2, 2014
No comments

Analysis: Breaking down the economic impact of Israeli-Palestinian peace

 

Will a peace deal bring economic growth to both sides or will the only ‘boom’ be that of rockets bringing down Israel’s economy?

By NIV ELIS
 

 

A rift has emerged between the two ministers most responsible for shaping Israel’s economy, Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett.

A McDonald's restaurant in Israel. - Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

A McDonald’s restaurant in Israel. – Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Though normally allies, even “brothers” on economic issues, politics pulled them apart in the past two weeks over the economic implications of peace talks with the Palestinians.

Bennett fired the first salvo. At a Bayit Yehudi faction meeting on January 20, he declared George H.W. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| February 2, 2014
No comments

Finance Minister stops money transfers to settlements

 

 

Following Friday evening’s news magazine on Channel 2 suggesting funds intended for West Bank settlements were illegally transferred to Yesha Council for anti-gov’t campaigns, Minister Lapid orders his office to freeze funds transfers pending examination.

By Ynet

 

Finance Minister Yair Lapid ordered a halt on all money transfers to the settlements pending the clarification regarding their specific use, a statement on his behalf said Saturday evening.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid

Finance Minister Yair Lapid – Photo: Yair Sagi

The decision was made after Channel 2 television reported Friday evening that settlements were misusing government funds. Additional information also reached the finance minister, claiming funds were illegally transferred from the settlements to Yesha (Judea, Samaria and formerly Gaza) Council. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| February 2, 2014
No comments

Denmark’s largest bank boycotts Israel’s Hapoalim over new home construction

Danske Bank accuses Bank Hapoalim of violating rules of int’l humanitarian law.

Danish bank already withdrew investments from 2 Israeli firms.

By

 

Denmark’s largest bank decided to blacklist Bank Hapoalim because of its involvement in the funding of settlement construction.

Construction site in the West Bank settlement of Modiin Illit.

Construction site in the West Bank settlement of Modiin Illit. – Photo: AP

Danske Bank added Bank Hapoalim to its list of companies in which the company cannot invest due to its corporate accountability rules.

In an announcement posted on its website, the bank stated that Bank Hapoalim was acting against the rules of international humanitarian law.

Israeli website Walla reported on the Danish bank’s decision earlier on Saturday. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| February 1, 2014
No comments

Israel’s Intelligence Minister: Israel Must Invade Gaza & Destroy Hamas

Minister Yuval Steinitz responds to Friday night’s rocket on Eilat, warning that at this rate the IDF will have to invade Gaza & replace Hamas with Abbas’ PA.

By Ari Yashar

 

After a rocket was fired at Eilat by Al Qaeda-inspired Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem) Friday night, and shot down by Iron Dome, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz warned Saturday that at the current rate, Israel will soon have to once again enter Gaza to destroy Hamas, the Islamist terrorist group which currently controls the territory.

“In the last year or two there has been an improvement in the security situation, fewer rockets have been fired at Israel and fewer Israelis have been injured,” noted Steinitz. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| February 1, 2014
No comments

Kerry brings up Israel boycott – AGAIN – if peace deal not made

 

US secretary of state makes another such remark, now at Munich Security Conference.

Deputy defense minister Danon condemns  Kerry’s remarks, responding that Israel will “not negotiate with gun to its head.”

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry believes Israel could face an economic boycott if the current round of peace negotiations with the Palestinians do not lead to a final deal. Kerry made the remarks on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.

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

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

“There’s an increasing de-legitimization campaign that has been building up. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| February 1, 2014
No comments

Sinai’s Salafis claim responsibility for last night’s rocket fire on Eilat

 

 

In message to Jerusalem, radical Salafi terrorist organization promises to continue fight against Israel for supporting Egypt.

IDF Spokesperson’s Unit says Iron Dome intercepted rocket with no injuries or damage reported.

By: Meir Ohayon

The radical Salafi organization Ansar Bait al-Maqdis took responsibility for the rocket fired towards Eilat Friday night.

Egyptian forces disperse Morsi supporters in a violent demonstration, January 2014.

Egyptian security forces try to disperse supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi protesting against the government in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. Photo by AP

In an announcement by the al-Qaeda affiliate, the organization said the rocket was launched towards the Jewish State because of the “cooperation between Egypt and Israel and the bombing of Gazan residents.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| February 1, 2014
No comments

IDF shot Palestinian rioter throwing molotov cocktail

 

Riots in Jalazoun refugee camp comes 2 days after a terrorist from the camp was killed shooting at IDF.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

An IDF official said that ten Palestinians were injured on Friday when the army dispersed a riot in the Jalazoun refugee camp near Ramallah. The IDF Spokesperson confirmed that one Palestinian was injured by IDF live gunfire and was evacuated by the Red Crescent to hospital.

Palestinian Arab is about to throw a molotov cocktail towards Israeli soldiers during clashes with the IDF in the streets of Hebron April 2013. Photo: EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN

Palestinian Arab is about to throw a molotov cocktail towards Israeli soldiers during clashes with the IDF in the streets of Hebron April 2013. Photo: EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN

According to Palestinian news agency Ma’an the riot took place to mark two days since the IDF killed Muhammad Mubarak who was from the Jalazoun. 

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »