Israel News

Peres tells Ban, ‘surprised’ Lebanon blamed Israel for car-bombing

Day after car-bombing Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut’s Dahiyeh quarter, Israel’s President Shimon Peres rejects Lebanon’s Michel Suleiman’s accusation that Israel was involved, during press conference in Jerusalem with UN’s chief Ban Ki-moon.

By Noam (Dabul) Dvi

President Shimon Peres said in a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Friday that he was surprised to learn that the Lebanese president had blamed Israel for Thursday’s Beirut bombing.

Ban Ki-moon and Peres in Jerusalem – Photo: AFP

On Thursday, Michel Suleiman condemned the explosion in the Dahiyeh quarter saying it had the fingerprints of Israel, and its purpose was to destabilize Lebanon. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Ban Ki-moon, Shimon Peres

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‘Dark Humor’ Video: Untrained Syrians Try to Move Bomb

Tragic-comic video shows rural Syrians attempting to safely move an unexploded bomb dropped by Syrian Army helicopter.

By Gil Ronen

A video with tragi-comic qualities posted to Youtube shows rural Syrians attempting to move a bomb that was dropped on them, using improvised means.

Moving the bomb – Screenshot

In the course of its war against rebel forces, explains Arutz Sheva‘s Dalit Halevi, the Syrian army has developed a new kind of bomb that is known as “the exploding barrel” – which is not much more than a metal container that holds explosive and flammable materials. These bombs are carried on combat helicopters and dropped on rebel forces and civilians. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Syrian rebels, Syrian unrest

Israeli data security firm acquired by IBM for as much as $1 billion

Trusteer & IBM announced that IBM has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Trusteer, a privately held Israeli security firm with locations in Boston, MA & Tel Aviv, Israel.

By JTA

JERUSALEM — IBM has agreed to acquire the Israeli data security firm Trusteer for an undisclosed sum that is believed to be up to $1 billion.

IBM. Trusteer. IBM to Acquire Trusteer to Help Companies Combat Financial Fraud and Advanced Security Threats

Trusteer, which has locations in Tel Aviv and Boston, develops software to help businesses protect themselves against financial fraud and security threats.

Upon the official closing of the deal, Trusteer will join the IBM Security Systems organization, IBM announced Thursday.

IBM, an American multinational technology and consulting corporation, is forming a cybersecurity software lab in Israel where Trusteer and IBM researchers will work on advanced software to address more complicated cyber threats.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israeli Technology

MK Shaked: Kerry’s hypocrisy is endangering Israeli lives

Israel’s Knesset Member Ayelet Shaked pens straightforward letter assailing US Secretary of State John Kerry over undue political pressure, murdering prisoner release, hypocrisy, & political foolishness during Arab Mid-East turmoil.

By LAHAV HARKO

US Secretary of State John Kerry is putting lives at risk by gambling on the peace process, Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman Ayelet Shaked wrote in a letter to him Thursday.

Bayit Yehudi faction chairwoman, MK Ayelet Shaked – Photo Courtesy

Shaked began the letter explaining that, due to the gravity of the situation, she feels that she “simply cannot be bound by the restraints of politically correct wording” and must be straightforward.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Ayelet Shaked, John Kerry, Peace Process

Jewish Agency brings 17 Yemeni Jews to Israel in secret mission

10 Jewish Yemenite children who were brought to Argentina in 2011, arrive in Israel Wednesday, to reunite with their families just as their parents land from Yemen in covert operation.

By Omri Efraim

17 Yemenite Jews landed in Israel Wednesday, in a Jewish Agency operation that brought about the bonding of two families, both of which were divided in August 2011 when several of their members were brought to Argentina by Satmar Hasidim and the rest remained in Yemen.

New Yemenite arrivals – Photo: Moshik Br

The families are to reside in one of the agency’s centers in Israel’s south until they move to permanent housing. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Jewish News | Tags: Aliya, Jewish Agency, Jews

1st Israel-PA Meeting in Jerusalem Ends After 5 Hours

First meeting in this round of Kerry’s peace initiative described as “long and serious”. Israeli newspapers & television reported the meeting was held at an undisclosed location in Jerusalem.

By Elad Benari

Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators met for around five hours on Wednesday evening.

US State Dept. Briefing on Israel-PA Talks

Israeli media reported that the meeting began shortly before 7:00 p.m. and ended just before midnight.

According to the reports, the talks were “long and serious” and the parties agreed to meet again within days.

Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni’s office said earlier that there would be no statements or pictures from the meeting, reported AFP. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: peace talks

End of an Era: Mercury Thermometers Banned in Israel

The Health Ministry in Israel, has banned the use of sphygmomanometers (blood pressure monitors) & thermometers that use mercury.

By Chana Ya’ar

Remember when the glass thermometer your mother would use to figure out if you could stay home from school would be drop for some reason, and break — and and the little silver droplets of mercury would roll around the floor?

An Israeli health fund clinic – Photo courtesy

Those days are over.

In Israel, the end of an era has arrived: The Health Ministry has banned the use of thermometers and sphygmomanometers (blood pressure monitors) that use mercury, also known as “quicksilver”

The directive was prompted by a decision issued earlier this year by the World Health Organization to minimize use of the elemental metal – mercury – which is poisonous when ingested. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Medicine

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Miraculous recovery: 15 yr-old Syrian girl amazes Israeli doctors

Israeli doctors, after having treated dozens of wounded Syrian civilians in northern Israeli hospital, were shocked when a 15-year-old female shrapnel victim, gets up and walks about her room day after surgery.

By Tommy Mueller

A 15-year-old Syrian girl critically wounded in her nation’s ongoing civil war has made a miraculous recovery at a hospital in northern Israel.

Doctors at Ziv Hospital in the Galilee town of Safed (Tsfat) were shocked when the girl got up and walked around just one day after having her leg amputated as a result of massive shrapnel injuries.

The young girl had been hit by shrapnel all over her body. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Syrian unrest, Tikon Olam, Ziv Hospital

Israeli Bedouin: “Yes, this is my country, and I want to serve it.”

Marzuk Suaed, Master-Sgt., a Bedouin father of three, “Mostly, I want the Bedouin/Arab sector to understand and internalize that military service will only do our society good. Social distancing and separation will lead us nowhere.”

Gadi Golan

Master Sgt. Marzuk Suaed, 37, a Bedouin father of three residing in northern Israel, sees his job as a recruiter of Bedouin, Arab, Christian and Muslim youths to the Israel Defense Forces as a personal and Zionist mission.

Chief Sergeant First Class Marzuk Suaed: “I really am very proud in what I am doing” – Photo: Hagai Aharon

“I really am very proud in what I am doing,” says Suaed, who hails from a large family in which everyone enlisted into the IDF, many of them serving in combat units.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Bedouin, IDF soldier

Report: No. 2 city for tech startups is Tel Aviv

Boston Globe names Israel’s metropolis as 2nd best city for technological startup entrepreneurs after the United States’ Silicon Valley.

Itamar Eichner

VIDEO – The Boston Globe, one of the most important newspapers in the United States, has named Tel Aviv the world’s second best city for tech startups, after Silicon Valley in California.

Israel Air Force Flight for Israel’s 63rd Independence Day over Tel Aviv – Photo Courtesy Israel Air Force

Startup Genome, a resource for tracking and building startups, formed a list of the world’s leading high-tech cities for startup entrepreneurs. Tel Aviv precedes New York, which only made it to the fifth place, Los Angeles (3) and London (7). Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israel start-up, Tel Aviv

26 Palestinian terrorist released from Israeli prisons as ‘offering’ for Peace

Hundreds, including President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed 26 prisoners that left Ayalon Prison in vans with tinted windows.

Abbas: ‘We won’t rest until all prisoners are released’, then rocket explodes in western Negev.

By Ynet reporters

After weeks of cabinet discussions, protests and High Court petitions, 26 Palestinian prisoners were released Tuesday night as part of an Israeli gesture to the Palestinian Authority in the wake of resuming peace talks.

Convoy leaves Ayalon Prison – Photo: Motti Kimchi

Two convoys left the Ayalon Prison Tuesday night en route to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The first convoy, carrying 15 prisoners, reached the Erez checkpoint and shortly after 1 am was allowed to cross into Gaza. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Palestinian prisoners, Peace Process

israelandstuffcom | August 13, 2013

Kerry warned Israel faces demonization campaign ‘on steroids’ should talks fail

Columnist Jeffery Goldberg criticizes Netanyahu’s ‘self-destructive West Bank settlement policy’.

He also claims Kerry believes Prime Minister is afraid of int’l isolation, telling him that if peace-talks fail, Israel would face a demonization campaign ‘on steroids’.

By Ynet

In a new article, Bloomberg columnist Jeffery Goldberg claims that despite Israel’s West Bank settlement construction, US Secretary of State John Kerry managed to grab Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s attention by highlighting growing isolation Israel would face should peace talks fail.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Photo: AP

In his op-ed, Goldberg slammed Israel’s self-destructive” West Bank construction” and quoted a source close to negotiations as claiming Kerry believes Netanyahu fears delegitimization as much as he fears the Iranian threat and wants nothing but to remain in power. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu, demonization, John Kerry, peace talks

israelandstuffcom | August 13, 2013

Gen. Dempsey in Israel for Meetings with P.M. Netanyahu

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs is in Israel for meeting that will deal with the Syrian civil war, Sinai terrorism & unrest in Egypt, and on Iran’s ongoing nuclear aspirations.

By Gil Ronen

General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, is in Israel for a visit that will deal with the Syrian civil war and Sinai terrorism. He was received by an IDF honor guard.

Dempsey with Gantz – IDF Spokesman’s Unit

During the visit, General Dempsey is scheduled to meet with Lieutenant-General Gantz and other IDF commanders to discuss cooperation and common security challenges.

Dempsey is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israel US, Martin Dempsey

israelandstuffcom | August 13, 2013