Archive for Israel News

| April 14, 2013
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Knesset honors Michael Levin fallen US-born IDF soldier

Philadelphia native Levin, fell while bravely fighting during the Second Lebanon War.

By LAHAV HARKOV



 
The Knesset and Defense Ministry will honor the memory of American-born IDF soldier Michael Levin in its Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel’s Wars ceremony on Sunday night.
Michael Levin

Michael Levin – Photo: Courtesy Lone Soldier Center

Short documentary videos will be combined with songs and poetry readings about the fallen.

Levin immigrated to Israel from Philadelphia in 2002 and joined the Paratroop Brigade. He fought in the Second Lebanon War, cutting short a vacation to the US to rejoin his comrades.

On August 21, 2006, a Hezbollah sniper killed Levin in the southern Lebanese village of Ayta a-Shayeb.

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| April 13, 2013
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Israel finally set to launch its 24-hour satellite news network

Israel has been debating setting up a 24-hour satellite TV news network for years, but now is seems the dream might actually become reality.

By Israel Today Staff

 

Israel has been talking about fielding a global news network to compete with the likes of CNN, the BBC and Al Jazeera for years. It appears that dream might finally come true this summer with the launch of i24news.

Israel set to launch 24-hour global news network

i24 New Network Logo

Privately funded so that it will not rely on government backing or donations from the Jewish community, i24news will be based in the greater Tel Aviv area from where it will broadcast worldwide in English, French and Arabic. Continue Reading »

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| April 13, 2013
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U.S. visa waiver bill hits wall over possible denial of Arab-Americans entering Israel

The American legislative effort that would allow visa-free entry for Israelis may be for naught because the Israeli gov’t is unable/unwilling to reciprocate, insisting on its right to refuse entry to certain U.S. citizens based on security concerns.

By

 

A legislative effort led by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to enable Israelis to enter the United States without visas may be stymied by the government – Israel’s government.

U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer


U.S. President Barack Obama shakes hands with U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Ca.), after he signs the U.S.-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act in the Oval Office of the White House.

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| April 13, 2013
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PA Pissed-Off After Canada’s FM John Baird Meets Livni in Eastern Jerusalem

Canada’s FM meeting Justice Minister Livni in her eastern Jerusalem office is a “slap in the face”, says former PA FM Nabil Shaath.

“The Canadians have been making a name for themselves by speaking out on the int’l scene in a way which is all too rare,” Israeli FM spokesman Yigal Palmor added, saying they were demonstrating an unusual “courage & moral stance”.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

The Palestinian Authority is fuming after Canada’s Foreign Minister, John Baird, met Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni in her eastern Jerusalem office this week.

John Baird visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem - Photo by Sebastian Scheiner-AP

John Baird visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem – Photo: Sebastian Scheiner/AP

Such a move is normally avoided by visiting diplomats since world countries do not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over eastern Jerusalem, which it liberated during the 1967 Six Day War. Continue Reading »

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| April 12, 2013
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IDF hits back on Syrian boarder after patrol target of Syrian artillery fire

Gunfire comes across Syrian border towards IDF patrolling in Golan Heights

IDF soldiers fire missiles at source of artillery fire, recording direct hit

Israel reports Syrian infraction to United Nations.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, JPOST.COM STAff

 

The IDF has confirmed that shots were fired from Syria on one of its border patrols on Friday evening.

There were no injuries or damages in the incident, an army spokeswoman said.

A tank battalion from the Armored Corps 401 Brigade held a war drill on the Golan Heights on Feb 20

A tank battalion from the Armored Corps 401 Brigade held a war drill on the Golan Heights on Feb 20 – Photo: IDF Spokesman Unit

IDF soldiers fired missiles at the source of the artillery fire, recording a direct hit. Continue Reading »

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| April 12, 2013
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‘Facebook Minister’ learns supporters lavished praise one day, & are out for blood the next

Yair Lapid, Israel’s new finance minister, prefers to respond to criticism from home on his Facebook page, rather than in the Knesset podium.

By Ryan Jones

 

When he first announced his intention to form a party and run for Knesset, popular television personality Yair Lapid was hailed far and wide as a kingslayer for being most capable of unseating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Yair LapidWhen it became clear Lapid would join Netanyahu’s new govrnment, he was instead held aloft as a kingmaker, because without Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, Netanyahu would not have a stable coalition.

Now that it has come to actually governing the nation, Lapid is being mercilessly attacked as the “Facebook minister” due to his preference to respond to criticism of his work as minister of finance via social media, rather than at the Knesset itself. Continue Reading »

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| April 12, 2013
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Abbas & Abdullah Playing the Jerusalem Card

Article IV of the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement agreement states the following:

“All necessary measures shall be taken to encourage and stimulate immigration of Jews into Palestine on a large scale, and as quickly as possible to settle Jewish immigrants upon the land through closer settlement and intensive” cultivation of the soil.

By Mudar Zahran

 

The “Judaization” of the British Mandate for Palestine was the very thing the Hashemites were committed to support, in exchange for establishing an Arab state under Hashemite rule. The terms of the agreement were clear: Jews were to settle in the British Mandate for Palestine with no exclusion of Jerusalem.

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| April 12, 2013
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Unnamed gov’t source: Israel’s planning to freeze settlement construction

Officials in Jerusalem suggest that while there won’t be a de jure freeze, expansion outside of major settlement towns will be halted.

‘It’ll take a while, but eventually talks will resume’ 

By Attila Somfalvi

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the Mid-East may have ended without any obvious results, but official sources involved in the preliminary talks said Thursday night that “eventually the negotiations will resume. Israel is expected to quietly freeze construction outside of the major settlement blocs in order to resume bilateral talks.”

Settlement construction - Photo Ynet Archives

Settlement construction – Photo Ynet Archives

A few days ago Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas demanded that Prime Minister Netanyahu present a permanent agreement border outline. Continue Reading »

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| April 12, 2013
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Israel detains Palestinian-American teen for throwing rocks

The boy’s father said his 14 yr-old son was taken into custody early last Friday morning by 8 rifle-wielding IDF soldiers.

By Gili Cohen &

 

Israeli forces have been holding a Palestinian-American teenager in a military lockup for nearly a week after bursting into his family home and arresting him in an overnight raid for allegedly hurling rocks at Israeli motorists in the West Bank, his father said on Thursday.

IDF soldiers in Hebron, Feb. 24, 2013

IDF soldiers in Hebron, Feb. 24, 2013.- Photo: Emil Salman

The case highlights Israel’s system of military detention for Palestinian minors, which has been frequently criticized, most recently by the UN which said in March that an in-depth study showed it systematically and gravely violated their rights. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| April 12, 2013
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Yair Lapid ‘vigorously opposes’ Israel – Canada Potash deal

Finance minister Yair Lapid to form a committee to review state’s rights to its natural resources. Lapid opposes ICL purchase by Canadian company Potash & says the Israeli public should be the 1st to enjoy the nation’s natural resources.

By Zeev Klein & Hezi Sternlicht

 

 

Finance Minister Yair Lapid announced Wednesday that he opposes the sale of Israel Chemicals (ICL), which produces potash from mineral reserves in the Dead Sea region, to the Canadian company Potash.

The Dead Sea. Finance Minister Yair Lapid says natural resources are for Israelis to enjoy. – Photo: Reuters

“I will vigorously oppose the merger,” Lapid said.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| April 11, 2013
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Palestinian NGO accuses Israel of ‘water apartheid’ in West Bank

Israel Water Authority dismisses West Bank NGO’s claims as just a ‘political weapon,’, claims Palestinians are actually breaching water agreement.

By SHARON UDASIN

 

 

The Water Authority dismissed as a “political weapon” a Palestinian report that condemned Israel for depriving Palestinians of their “rightful water supply.”
Jordan River

Jordan River – Photo: Daniel Easterman

Titled “Water For One People Only: Discriminatory Access and ‘Water-Apartheid’ in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” the report is a product of the Ramallah-based non-governmental organization Al-Haq.

The document slams Israel for providing “discriminatory access” to water and enacting “water apartheid” policies that result in the 500,000 Israelis in the West Bank and east Jerusalem receiving six times the amount of water that the 2.6 million Palestinians in the same area do.

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| April 11, 2013
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Israeli source: ‘There will be no more goodwill gestures towards Palestinians’

Israel refused to give in to demands of gestures of goodwill, as the Palestinians continue to

 seek

more & more preconditions in their bid to sabotage peace talks before they start.
Jerusalem: ‘We are ready to discuss everything – in direct talks’

By Attila Somfalvi

Talks yes, gestures of goodwill no. Senior officials in Jerusalem who were present during talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Wednesday that Israel does not intend to present any confidence building measures towards the Palestinians. The sources claim that the “preliminary demands presented by the Palestinians attest to the fact that they are peace refusniks. Continue Reading »

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| April 11, 2013
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Reuters: Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad tenders resignation

Sources report that Palestinian PM Fayyad offered his resignation to PA President Abbas on Wednesday.

By Reuters

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad offered his resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday following a rift between the two men over government policy, two sources told Reuters.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Jan. 6, 2013.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Jan. 6, 2013.- Photo: AP

Abbas was due to return to the West Bank from Jordan on Thursday, and it was not immediately clear whether he would accept the resignation of the U.S.-educated economist.

A spokeswoman at Fayyad’s office declined to comment on the reports, which followed persistent rumors that Abbas wanted to sack Fayyad following internal political wrangling. Continue Reading »

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| April 11, 2013
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Planned U.S. Budget with Increase in Defense Aid for Israel

President Obama announced that the new U.S. budget for the coming year, includes increased American defense aid for Israel.

By Elad Benari

 

The planned U.S. budget for the coming year, which was announced by President Barack Obama on Wednesday, maintains and even increases the American defense aid to Israel, Channel 10 News reported.

Netanyahu & Obama - Photo by Kobi Gideon

Netanyahu & Obama – Photo: Kobi Gideon

According to the numbers published, the United States will provide Israel with $3.4 billion in defense aid, a record number, according to Channel 10.

The budget proposal submitted to Congress also includes a request for the addition of approximately $220 million to finance the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system, a request that was not included in last year’s budget proposal, but was added later on. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| April 10, 2013
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Jews Still Planning to Sue Jimmy Carter over Anti-Israel Book

“It is, indeed, a sad day for all of us as Americans, when a former President demeans the dignity of his office by intentionally misstating critically important facts concerning events of great historic significance and public interest, simply to advance a personal anti-Israel animus and to foster the agenda of the enemies of Israel who pump so much money into the Center which bears his name.”

By: Yori Yanover

 

Asserting that no individual has done more than former President Jimmy Carter to defame Israel and to challenge its right to exist, a group of readers filed a class action suit against Carter and the Simon & Schuster publishing company, back in February, 2011, alleging that Carter’s book, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,” contains numerous false and knowingly misleading statements intended to promote the author’s agenda of anti-Israel propaganda and to deceive the reading public instead of presenting accurate information as advertised. Continue Reading »

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