Archive for Israel News

| March 8, 2013
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MK Akunis: Likud accepts Yesh Atid’s ultra-Orthadox draft plan

Likud MK close to Netanyahu says the  Haredim won’t be part of next coalition gov’t & Foreign Ministry portfolio is reserved for Liberman.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Likud Beytenu accepted Yesh Atid’s plan for haredi draft into civil service, according to Likud MK Ofir Akunis, who is close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

MK Ofir Akunis (Likud)

MK Ofir Akunis (Likud) – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

“Regarding equality in the national burden, there’s definitely an agreement. We accepted the Yesh Atid plan, and unfortunately it appears like the haredim will not be a part of the next government,” Akunis told Channel 10.

A Yesh Atid source confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that Likud Beytenu’s negotiating team accepted the detailed plan for haredi enlistment, which would require them to join the IDF or national service at age 18, following a five-year period in which the ultra-Orthodox would be encouraged to join the workforce.

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| March 7, 2013
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190 ‘Lone Soldiers’ Complete IDF’s Hebrew Course – ‘Ulpan’

This week, some 190 “Lone Soldiers” finished an ‘Ulpan’, a special Hebrew crash-course run by the IDF’s education branch.

By David Lev

 

Some 190 “Lone Soldiers”, immigrants who have come to Israel without their families to serve in the Israeli army, finished a special Hebrew instruction course run by the IDF this week.

Lone soldiersThe soldiers, about 100 of whom are headed to combat units, recently made Aliyah from 25 countries from around the world: Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Peru, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, the United States, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela.

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| March 7, 2013
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Terra incognita: Separating Facts from Fiction on ‘Palestinian bus line’

Every published story about the ‘segregated Palestinian only’ bus line was a spin, based on ignorance or meanness, of the true situation.

 

The Twainist witticism of the “lie traveling halfway round the world while the truth puts on its socks” was never more true than with regard to this week’s story about Israel inaugurating “segregated bus lines.”
התור לאוטובוסים ביום הראשון להפעלתם (צילום: גור דותן)

Commotion on the bus lines – Photo: Gur Dotan

is story began with Israeli media reporting Sunday: “Israel introduces ‘Palestinian only’ bus lines, following complaints from Jewish settlers” (Chaim Levinson, Haaretz). The mainstream newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported on “Separate but equal bus lines?”

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| March 7, 2013
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Peres tells EU president: Israeli settlements not the obstacle to peace, Terror is!

On a tour of European countries, Shimon Peres rejects the generic criticism of West Bank settlements, saying that terrorism is what prevented the implementation of 2-state solution.

By DPA

 

President Shimon Peres rejected European Union criticism of his country‘s settlement policy during a visit to Brussels on Wednesday, arguing that it did not stand in the way of peace in the Middle East.

President Peres and European Union Council President Herman Van Rompuy in Brussels on March 6. (AFP)

President Shimon Peres and European Union Council President Herman Van Rompuy in Brussels on March 6. – Photo: AFP

EU President Herman Van Rompuy said there would be no sustainable peace until Palestinian aspirations for statehood and sovereignty, and those of Israel for security, were fulfilled by a comprehensive deal based on the two-state solution. Continue Reading »

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| March 6, 2013
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Locusts diverge on Israel, but are stopped dead in their tracks

Israeli authorities immediately began blanketing the entire region with pesticides, both from the air and on the ground.

Experts predict that shifting winds in the coming days will push the swarm toward Saudi Arabia.

By Israel Today Staff

 

A 1-million strong swarm of locusts that broke away from the plague-sized multitude that continues to attack northern Egypt invaded Israel on Tuesday, only to be stopped in its tracks a day later.

Locusts invade Israel, are stopped in their tracks

Locusts invade Israel, are stopped in their tracks – Israel Today

The locusts crossed the Sinai Peninsula into southern Israel overnight Monday. By Wednesday morning it had reached the northern Negev region, blotting out the sky in many areas. Continue Reading »

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| March 6, 2013
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Lieberman: Defense Committee Hearings Closed to Media

 

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz appeared before the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, and in line with a new policy, no information was passed to media on what was said.

Gideon Allon

 

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee decided on Tuesday to impose a blackout on an appearance of Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz before the committee, even though Gantz’s statements contained no secret information, according to people who were present.

The head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Avigdor Lieberman approved the decision to bar the media from reporting on some of the committee’s meetings.

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| March 6, 2013
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Israel’s Lee Korzits wins 4th world windsurfing title

Lee Korzits is the 1st female Israeli world champion in any sport, & the youngest World Title surfer.

By JTA

 

Israeli windsurfer Lee Korzits won the RS-X windsurfing World Championships for the fourth time.

Lee Korzits in London Olympics – Photo: AP

The gold medal Tuesday in Buzios, Brazil, was the third consecutive world title for Korzits, who won her first gold medal in the 2003 World Mistral Championships.

Korzits failed to medal at last summer’s London Olympics, finishing sixth after starting the final heat in second place.

In 2009, Korzits suffered a near-fatal surfing accident while working on the Professional Windsurfers Association’s tour in Hawaii. Continue Reading »

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| March 6, 2013
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Britain invites Israeli innovators to UK water summit

British Embassy in TA will be taking 14 Israeli water technology companies to an upcoming UK water summit

 

 

In an attempt to strengthen future water innovation partnerships between Israel and the United Kingdom, the British Embassy will be bringing 14 water technology companies to an upcoming UK water summit.
UK Ambassador Matthew Gould

UK Ambassador Matthew Gould – Photo: UK Embassy in Israel (YouTube)

Leading the companies to London for the World Water-Tech Investment Summit will be the embassy’s UK-Israel Tech Hub, whose mission is to encourage technological partnerships between the two countries as a mechanism for economic growth, according to the embassy.

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| March 6, 2013
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Israeli singer Rita, rocked the UN with songs in Hebrew, Farsi & English

Persian-born Israeli singer rocks the United Nations General Assembly hall in the presence of UN secretary-general, ambassadors & even an Iranian television crew.

Yitzhak Benhorin

 

WASHINGTON – The State of Israel on Tuesday night presented its Persian weapon at the United Nations General Assembly building: Iranian-born singer Rita.

מסר לעולם. ריטה (צילום: AP)

Message to the world. Rita – Photo: AP

Under the banner, “Tunes for peace,” the Israeli singer performed at the UN headquarters in New York in the presence of the UN secretary-general, the General Assembly president, ambassadors, diplomats and Jewish community leaders.

An Iranian television crew was also spotted in the auditorium. Continue Reading »

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| March 6, 2013
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Sometimes necessary to ignore UN’s position on illegal African migrants

The Sofer Committee, established by Interior Minister Eli Yishai, says Israeli laws prohibiting the hiring of illegal African migrants should be enforced & recommends economic incentives, that could be offered to facilitate their return to their countries of origin or even go to a 3rd country.

By Yori Yalon & Israel Hayom Staff

 

The Sofer Committee, which was established by Interior Minister Eli Yishai on the issue of African migrants illegally living in Israel, presented its recommendations at a press conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday. The committee said Israel should monitor the situations in the home countries of the migrants and not always abide by the United Nations’ positions on economic migrants and asylum seekers.

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| March 6, 2013
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The US’s sequester cuts to Israel’s MilitaryAid expected to be $155 million

Israeli officials said they’re worried about the cuts, but added that they don’t expect to be exempt from them.

By JTA

 

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The sequester is expected to cost Israel $155 million in defense assistance.

US Vice President addresses AIPAC – Photo: AP

US Vice President addresses AIPAC – Photo: AP

A senior staffer on the U.S. House of Representatives Armed Services Committee told JTA that defense assistance to Israel would likely be cut by 5 percent, or between $150 million and $160 million of the $3.1 billion Israel was to have been allocated this year, under the sequester, the across-the-board cuts mandated by 2011 legislation.

A pro-Israel official confirmed the number as $155 million. Continue Reading »

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| March 6, 2013
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Tel Aviv to stop prostitutes’ business cards from cluttering streets

Ahead of Int’l Women’s Day, inspectors & city workers will take part in lecturers on women trafficking and the sex trade.

 

The Tel Aviv Municipality’s enforcement branch will team up with the Task Force on Human Trafficking, to clean up the business cards for sex workers scattered across the city, the municipality stated on Tuesday.
Prostitute [illustrative]

Prostitute [illustrative] – Photo: Edgard Garrido / Reuters


Ahead of International Women’s Day on Friday, the municipality said city enforcement workers will take part in lectures on the trafficking of women and the sex trade in the city, “in order to gain a deep understanding of the problems and importance of this phenomenon.”
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| March 6, 2013
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Australian FM Carr asserts Zygier did work for Israel

Australia’s Bob Carr confirms Zygier’s dual citizenship & that he worked for Israeli gov’t, though not specifying Mossad spy agency.

Carr says Australia will strongly protest if its passports were misused.

By the Associated Press

 

Australia’s foreign minister has confirmed for the first time that an Australian-Israeli man who mysteriously died in a maximum-security Israeli prison had been working for Israel’s government.

Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr – Screenshot

But Foreign Minister Bob Carr did not say if Ben Zygier was working for the Mossad spy agency as has been reported.

Carr stressed however, that Zygier was not connected to the 2010 assassination of Hamas henchman Mahmoud al-Mabhouh. Continue Reading »

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| March 6, 2013
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UNICEF reports that Israel mistreats Palestinian children in custody

UNICEF (The United Nations Children Fund)  estimated that about 700 Palestinian children aged 12-17, most boys, are arrested, interrogated and then detained by the Israeli Police, IDF and/or security agents in the West Bank each year.

By Reuters

 

Palestinian children detained by the Israel Defense Forces are subject to widespread, systematic ill-treatment that violates international law, a UNICEF report said on Wednesday.

Palestinian protest UN - AP - 22.9.2011

Palestinians school children participating in a demonstration in support of the Palestinian bid for statehood recognition in the UN in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Sept. 22, 2011. – Photo by AP

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) estimated that 700 Palestinian children aged 12-17, most of them boys, are arrested, interrogated and detained by the Israeli military, police and security agents every year in the West Bank. Continue Reading »

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| March 6, 2013
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Israel Security at Tapuach Checkpoint prevent Terror Attack

IDF Soldiers at a Samaria checkpoint nab Arab terrorist with a knife & what appears to be a possible bomb.

By Maayana Miskin

 

Soldiers at the Tapuach checkpoint in Samaria have arrested a Palestinian Authority resident who had planned to commit an attack.

The would-be attacker approached the checkpoint late Wednesday morning. When he was around 40 meters away, he began to show signs of stress. Soldiers noticed that he was carrying a bag, which caused them to suspect he may have a bomb.

The man was ordered to stop and remove some items of clothing, a process which revealed a knife. Continue Reading »

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