Archive for Israel News

| May 10, 2013
No comments

Now, Lapid is Against ‘Social Protests’

Although, social protests previously brought Lipid to power, the Finance Minister explains why he no longer supports the public’s ‘cost of living’ rallies.

By Maayana Miskin

 

Finance Minister Yair Lapid explained Thursday night why he does not support the latest round of rallies calling to reduce the cost of living. Previous such rallies were credited with boosting his party’s showing in the elections.

Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid“They told me that there will be a demonstration on Saturday. All I want to do is to put on a black t-shirt again, go down to the rally and say, ‘People, you’re demonstrating against yourselves,’” he told Channel 10. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| May 10, 2013
No comments

US & PA condemn Israeli plans for building 296 homes in Beit El

Palestinian Authority says continued building of Jewish homes could sabotage US efforts to revive peace process.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF & KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

The Palestinian Authority and the US on Thursday condemned Israel’s decision to advance plans to build 296 homes in the West Bank Beit El settlement, warning that it could sabotage American efforts to revive the frozen peace talks.

Ulpana outpost near Beit El

Ulpana outpost near Beit El – Photo: REUTERS/Nir Elias

“We see this decision as a message to the US Administration and a blow to the peace process,” said PA presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rdaineh.

“The Israeli government is aiming at dragging the area toward violence instead of peace and stability by approving such plans.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| May 10, 2013
No comments

UN reports that Israel stifles East Jerusalem’s development

UN’s report says 77%

of non-Jewish population in East Jerusalem live below poverty line, compared to 25% of Jews.

Reuters

The report recommended that while a resolution to the conflict remains elusive, Palestinian investors and business leaders must take the lead in forming a development strategy.

Arab Women demonstrating in East Jerusalem neighborhood - Photo: Reuters

Arab Women demonstrating in East Jerusalem neighborhood – Photo: Reuters

The Israeli occupation of east Jerusalem is driving its Palestinian residents into deeper economic isolation and they face far greater poverty than Jewish neighbors, said a UN report on the city at the heart of the Middle East conflict.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report, published on Thursday, is the first comprehensive investigation into the east Jerusalem economy carried out by the United Nations. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| May 9, 2013
No comments

Deputy Defense Minister Danon: There is No Building Freeze

Dep Defense Minister: The IDF’s Academies for Command & Staff will have thousands of IDF soldiers transferred to Mount Scopus.

By Gil Ronen

 

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon spoke Thursday at the Moskowitz Prize ceremony and said that the IDF’s Academies for Command and Staff will be moved from Gelilot, just north of Tel Aviv, to Har Hatzofim (Mount Scopus), in the course of this year.

“Thousands of soldiers will live here on this mountain,” he announced, “and they will live beside hundreds of Jewish families that are taking care to preserve the Jewish presence here.”

“Look at Maaleh Hazeitim,” he added. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| May 9, 2013
No comments

Guardian: Prof. Hawking accused of hypocrisy for boycott of Israel conference

 

Hawking’s critics say that if he’s going to boycott Israel, he should stop using Israeli technology in computer equipment that allows him to communicate.

in Jerusalem

 

Stephen Hawking‘s decision to boycott an Israeli conference in protest at the state’s 46-year occupation of Palestine was derided as hypocritical by some, who pointed out that the celebrated scientist and author uses Israeli technology in the computer equipment that allows him to function.

Hawking, decision to boycott a conference in Israel has been described as hypocritical. - Photo AFPGetty Images

Hawking, decision to boycott a conference in Israel, has been described as hypocritical. – Photo: AFPGetty/ Images

Hawking, 71, has suffered from motor neurone disease for the past 50 years, and relies on a computer-based system to communicate.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| May 9, 2013
No comments

Latest Poll: 61% of Israelis trust Obama vs. 15% Palestinians

Poll: Israelis are much more confident in Obama’s foreign policy regarding world affairs than the Palestinians

By JTA

 

WASHINGTON– Israelis by a 4-to-1 margin are more confident than Palestinians in how President Obama handles his foreign policy, a poll found.

Netanyahu & Obama - Photo by Kobi Gideon

Netanyahu & Obama – Photo: Kobi Gideon

The Pew Research Center poll released Thursday found that 61 percent of Israelis “express confidence in the American president to do the right thing regarding world affairs,” as opposed to 15 percent of Palestinians.

Obama’s numbers numbers among Israelis are a 12 point increase over when the same question was asked in 2011. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| May 9, 2013
No comments

Netanyahu says Hawking needs to study up on facts about Israel

Member in PM’s entourage: ‘Intelligence’ doesn’t equated to the truth.

By HERB KEINON

 

 

 

BEIJING — Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slammed Stephen Hawking for joining the boycott against Israel and canceling plans to attend President Shimon Peres’ conference next month, saying the celebrated physicist should “study the facts.”

Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking – Photo: REUTERS/Valentin Flauraud

Asked by The Jerusalem Post about Hawking’s boycott at a press briefing, Netanyahu said, “he should investigate the truth, he is a scientist. He should study the facts and draw the necessary conclusions: Israel is an island of reason, moderation and a desire for peace.”

Netanyahu said that Hawking knows that there are many false theories in science. 

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| May 9, 2013
No comments

NGO: Civilians constituted majority of fatalities in Pillar of Defense

 

Rights group,  B’Tselem reports

87 civilians of the 167 Gazans were killed during Pillar of Defense.

 During 2nd half of op, 70 civilians died.

 

B’Tselem: ‘Civilians not given enough warning, IDF acted contrary to laws of war.’ – IDF: ‘Oversight committee concluded no justification for criminal investigation’

Elior Levy

 

 

Most of the Palestinians killed during Operation Pillar of Defense were civilians not involved in fighting. This according to a report released by B’Tselem on Thursday, some six months after the operation.

תוצאות תקיפה ישראלית במהלך "עמוד ענן" (צילום: AP)

Boy views Gaza ruins – Photo: AP

According to the report, during the eight days of the operation, 167 Palestinians were killed, of whom 69 were “combatants” (with seven being assassinated);11 of those killed could not be identified as combatant or civilian. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| May 9, 2013
No comments

Netanyahu: Israel Can Learn From China’s Great Wall

On a tour of the Great Wall of China with his wife Sara, Thursday, PM Binyamin Netanyahu said that the wall was an apt simile for Israel’s situation.

By David Lev

 

On a tour of the Great Wall of China Thursday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that the wall was an apt simile for Israel’s situation. China had constructed a wall to defend itself, and Israel must do something similar, he said.

 

“Just like the Chinese defended themselves by locking themselves behind a great wall, we too will continue to do so in a similar manner on our southern border, on the Golan Heights, and on all the fronts we face,” Netanyahu said at the Great Wall. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| May 9, 2013
No comments

Minister Bennett’s compromise: Prayer shawls allowed but reading the Torah, not

Religious Services Minister, Naftali Bennett, meets the Women of the Wall organization & proposes allowing women to pray out loud & wear prayer shawls, but not wearing tefillin or reading an open Torah.

By Yehuda Shlezinger

 

Religious Services Minister Naftali Bennett (Habayit Hayehudi) met with the Women of the Wall organization on Tuesday after Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein instructed him to devise specific statutes defining what kind of religious observances would be allowed at the Wall.

Women at the Kotel in Jerusalem – Photo: Connec

During the meeting, Bennett proposed allowing women to wear prayer shawls and pray out loud, but not to wear tefillin and read from open Torah scrolls.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| May 9, 2013
No comments

P.A. Health Minister in historic visit to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital

P.A.’s Minister of Health, Dr. Hani Abdeen, visits patients at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital & emphasized the importance of cooperation in teaching, healing & research.

By JTA

 

JERUSALEM — A Palestinian Authority minister of health visited Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem reportedly for the first time.

Palestinian Authority Minister of Health Dr. Hani Abdeen visits eight-year-old Sarah Ghanem. a patient in the Pediatric Hemato-Oncology Department, from the village of Durah, near Hebron

Palestinian Authority Minister of Health Dr. Hani Abdeen visits eight-year-old Sarah Ghanem. a patient in the Pediatric Hemato-Oncology Department, from the village of Durah, near Hebron – Photo: .Hadassah.org

 

Dr. Hanu Abdeen, accompanied by other senior officials from the Palestinian Authority, visited the hospital on Sunday and met some of the dozens of Palestinian physicians who are doing their residency training there. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| May 8, 2013
No comments

Jews attacked on Jerusalem Day at the Temple Mount for praying

5 Jewish men faced Muslim mob for crime of praying on Temple Mount.

Knesset to review present law prohibiting non-Muslim worship at the Jews most holy site.

By Ryan Jones

 

Five Jewish men were arrested on Wednesday for quietly praying atop Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, an expression of faith that caused the many Muslims around them to explode in fury.

Police stationed at the sensitive holy site said a mob of Muslims gathered around the Jewish men, hurling insults and nearly coming to blows before Islamic officials stepped in to restore calm on the condition the Jewish worshipers be arrested.

Jews and Christians are forbidden to pray atop the Temple Mount for fear of upsetting the Muslims that currently control the complex. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| May 8, 2013
No comments

Hawking’s office wrote to Peres: ‘Hawking will respect the boycott’

 

Confirmation of the original story of Hawking’s boycott proves true, despite the statement from Cambridge University giving health excuses.

by The Commentator on 8 May 2013 14:41

 

Fresh reports are emerging about Prof. Stephen Hawking’s apparent boycott of Israel.

Stephen Hawking lecturing at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem 14-12-2006 – The Commentator

The Cambridge professor and renowned theoretical physicist was first reported to be boycotting Israel due to what anti-Israel activists called, “his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there.”

Following a letter to Hawking, as well as numerous online reports, Cambridge University issued a statement, claiming that the report was a “misunderstanding” and that Hawking was not boycotting Israel, but rather that he was not travelling to Shimon Peres’s conference next month for health reasons.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| May 8, 2013
No comments

Israeli state security arrest terrorist group planning to kidnap & kill IDF soldier

Hamas terror cell in W. Bank busted by the Shin Bet for plotting to fire rockets into Israeli cities and planning a kidnapping of an IDF soldier to kill him.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN

 

 

Security forces arrested a Hamas terror cell in the West Bank that plotted to manufacture and fire rockets, and kidnap and kill a soldier, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) announced on Wednesday.

Palestinian Hamas rally

Palestinian Hamas rally – Photo: REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini

The arrests, carried out by the Shin Bet and the IDF, occurred in January and February, and also disrupted plans by the cell to plant explosives, the Shin Bet added.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| May 8, 2013
No comments

Palestinian official: ‘If we had a nuke, we’d have used it this morning’

Senior PA official Jibril Rajoubs wears:
“If we had a nuke, we’d have used it
this very morning”

by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

 

Last week, Palestinian Media Watch reported that only hours after the murder, [of Evyatar Borovsky, an Israeli who was stabbed to death] the administrator of Fatah’s official Facebook page glorified Al-Zaghal as a “hero.”

Jibril Rajoub - YouTube screenshotAnother senior PA official, Jibril Rajoub, also praised the use of violence against Israel. During an interview on a Lebanese TV channel, the host referred to “the negotiations game” with Israel, and Rajoub expressed the view that negotiations are held because the Palestinians lack military strength:

“I swear that if we had a nuke, we’d have used it this very morning.”
Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »