Archive for Israel News

| October 21, 2012
No comments

The Sunday Times: Dagan faces threat from Iranian assassination squad

The Sunday Times: Mossad has sent enough agents to Minsk “not only to defend the hospital but the entire city.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Former Mossad chief and Yesh Sikuy director Meir Dagan is facing the threat of assassination by an Iranian hit squad as he recovers from a liver transplant in Belarus, The Sunday Times reported.

Meir Dagan with PM Binyamin Netanyahu. - Photo: REUTERS

Meir Dagan with PM Binyamin Netanyahu. – Photo: REUTERS

After Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko revealed last week that Meir Dagan was recovering in a hospital in Minsk, Israeli officials immediately increased his protection, The Times reported. It added that sources indicated Iran, or its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, would try to kill him.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| October 21, 2012
6 comments

IDF Reports: No Humanitarian Aid on Estelle Ship

The IDF has confirmed that the boat which sought to break Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza had no humanitarian aid on board.

By Elad Benari

 

The IDF has confirmed that there was no humanitarian aid whatsoever on the Estelle, the boat which sought to break Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza.

The Estelle

The Estelle – IDF Spokesman

Earlier on Saturday, Israeli troops boarded the boat, which was carrying 17 passengers, among them five parliamentarians from Europe and a former Canadian lawmaker. The IDF said the boarding was carried out only after “numerous calls to the passengers onboard” which went unanswered. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags:
| October 20, 2012
No comments

Massive natn’l exercise to simulate 7,000 deaths in devastating ‘earthquake’

“Turning Point 6” set to begin Sunday nation-wide, will last for 4 days & drill emergency teams, schools & citizens on how to act during a devastating earthquake

According to scenario, 170,000 people will become homeless.

By Lilach Shoval

 

The ground will “shake” this coming Sunday morning, at least in theory: The Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces Homefront Command are making the final preparations for a massive country-wide drill simulating a large-scale, devastating earthquake.

The training exercise, titled Turning Point 6, is scheduled to conclude on Thursday.

Soldiers from the IDF Homefront Command training for the “earthquake” they will face during Turning Point 6 next week.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| October 18, 2012
One comment

An Arab Maverick Who’s Pro-Israel

Bucking convention from his village of Arara, Yousef Juhja sent three sons to join the IDF—and one paid the ultimate price.

Yousef Juhja’s cell phone number ends, coincidentally, with the digits 1948. It’s the year of his birth and that of the Jewish state—and for most of Juhja’s fellow Israeli Arabs, the year of the Nakba, the catastrophe of national dispossession and the dispersion of their Palestinian kin.

Standing by the Memorial: Yousef’s son Sa’id fell in the line of duty, blown up by explosives packed in a tunnel dug by Palestinian terrorists under a sentry box in Rafiah, Gaza in December, 2004. - Photo & caption: Lydia Aisenberg

Standing by the Memorial: Yousef’s son Sa’id fell in the line of duty, blown up by explosives packed in a tunnel dug by Palestinian terrorists under a sentry box in Rafiah, Gaza in December, 2004.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| October 18, 2012
No comments

IDF generals argue over Israeli-Canadian ‘deserter’

While soldiers watching, Chief military prosecutor Efroni tells army’s Personnel Directorate head Barbivai her decision to release ‘draft-dodger’ half way before the end of sentence sends ‘wrong message’

By Yoav Zitun

 

A heated argument erupted on Wednesday between IDF Military Advocate General Brigadier General Danny Efroni and IDF Personnel Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Orna Barbivai over the latter’s decision to grant clemency to Yana Gorelik, the 30-year old Canadian-Israeli who was imprisoned for allegedly dodging the IDF draft.

Yana Gorelik Photo: Moti Kimhi

Yana Gorelik – Photo: Moti Kimhi

The argument took place following the traditional basketball game between IDF generals and former Maccabi Tel Aviv players during Combat Fitness Day at the Wingate Institute. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| October 18, 2012
No comments

First Female Christian Arab Combat Comander in IDF

Traitor or Hero?  Mona Abdo becomes 1st female Arab commander of IDF combat unit.

By Annie Lubin

 

On Wednesday night, a twenty year old Christian Arab is set to make history, as she becomes the first female Arab commander of an IDF combat unit.

Mona Abdo is the first female Arab combat commander

Mona Abdo is the first female Arab combat commander – IDF Spokesperson

Mona Abdo, who grew up in Haifa, but now lives in Kiryat Haim, will take her place at the graduation ceremony for the IDF commanders training course, where surrounded by family and fellow Jewish Israeli soldiers, she will become a commander in Caracal, the first of her sector to ever accomplish something of this magnitude. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| October 18, 2012
No comments

Israeli-Arab MKs Zoabi and Tibi are facing disqualification petitions

Israel must act strongly against MKs Hanin Zoabi & Ahmad Tibi who exploit Israel’s democracy with goal of destroying it from within.

By Gideon Allon

 

Three months before the general elections, the Central Elections Committee fielded two requests on Tuesday to ban Israeli-Arab MKs Hanin Zoabi (National Democratic Assembly) and Ahmed Tibi (Ra’am-Ta’al) from running for Knesset seats in the upcoming vote.

Arab-Israeli MK Hanin Zoabi. – Photo: AP

Likud MK Ofir Akunis demanded that Zoabi be disqualified, citing the legal clause stipulating that “a list of candidates will not participate in elections for the Knesset, and an individual will not be a candidate for the Knesset, if the stated goals or actions of the list or individual support armed struggle by a foreign nation or a terrorist organization against the State of Israel.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags:
| October 17, 2012
No comments

Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: French diplomat is ‘helping Palestinians rewrite history’

“It is unworthy of an official representative of France to provide assistance to this kind of propaganda, at the expense of fairness and historical truth,”

By JTA

Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused France’s consul general in Jerusalem of “denying Jewish connection to the Land of Israel.”

Dead Sea Scrolls

Dead Sea Scrolls

 

The statement by Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came in response to remarks made last month by Consul General Frederic Desagneaux in a speech on archaeology. Desagneaux spoke of “the important archaeological projects that French archaeologists had helped to uncover in Palestine,” including the Qumran Caves. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags:
| October 16, 2012
No comments

Israeli expatriates returning home in record numbers

Immigration Ministry brings back 22,470 Israelis living abroad in 2.5 years; mostly from the US & Canada.

A record number of 22,470 Israelis who were living abroad returned to Israel in the past two-and-a-half years, according to a report by the Immigrant Absorption Ministry released on Monday.m
El Al airplanes sit on the runway - Photo: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

El Al airplanes sit on the runway – Photo: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

The ministry initiated a campaign to bring back Israeli citizens living abroad in May 2010.

Until then, a smaller number of Israelis returned each year; in the early 2000s, about 4,000 came back every year.

The amount started growing since 2008 and reached a peak in 2010 when about 11,000 citizens returned.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags:
| October 16, 2012
No comments

Elections set for January as Knesset Dissolves

Knesset approves bill to dissolve itself by a vote of 100 to 0.

Elections will be held January 22.

By Elad Benari

 

The Knesset officially voted on Monday night to dissolve itself and head for elections.

Shortly before midnight, the Knesset Committee approved the bill calling for the dissolution of the Knesset for a second and third reading. 15 members of the committee supported the bill and no one opposed or abstained.

The bill was then passed to the Knesset, which approved its second reading by a majority of 97 to one (the one who “opposed” was MK Tzipi Hotovely who had mistakenly pressed the button voting against the motion) and then approved its third reading by a majority of 100 MKs. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| October 15, 2012
No comments

Hebrew University: Jews are less than 0.2% of mankind

Hebrew University study reveals global Jewish population reached 13.75 million in 2012

43% of world’s Jewish population lives in Israel

Anav Silverman, Tazpit

 

The global Jewish population reached 13.75 million in the past year, with an increase of 88,000 people, a study by Hebrew University Professor Sergio Della Pergola reveals.

One out of every 514 people in the world is Jewish

One out of every 514 people in the world is Jewish

According to the study, one out of every 514 people in the world is Jewish, less than 0.2% of mankind.

About 43% of the world’s Jewish community lives in Israel, making Israel the country with the largest Jewish population. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| October 15, 2012
No comments

IDF Begins to Draft Hareidi, Ultra-Religious Youth

The IDF will draft hareidi ultra-religious 16-19 year-olds, but “will wait till after elections” for 20-28 year-olds, Defense Minister Barak says.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

The IDF will begin to draft hareidi-religious 16 to 19-year-olds, but “will wait till after elections” for 20 to 28 year olds, says Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

The IDF will send out the orders within the next few weeks, summoning about 15,000 hareidi-religious Jews for interviews at induction centers, Barak said at a Knesset committee hearing on Monday.

The IDF’s Netzach Yehuda combat battalion and the Shachar high-tech training unit were two of the hareidi service programs Barak said would be expanded to meet the increased recruitment of hareidi-religious Israelis. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| October 14, 2012
No comments

Netanyahu says that Israel subject to increasing number of cyber attacks

PM Benjamin Netanyahu reports in weekly cabinet meeting that there are ‘daily attempts’ to infiltrate the country’s computer systems.

By and DPA

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted this morning that Israel is recently the target of increasing cyber attacks. Speaking at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that “there is an escalation in the attempts to carry out a cyber attack on Israel’s’ computer infrastructures. There are daily attempts to break into Israeli systems.”

Looking for cyber specialists

A campaign to find the next generation of cyber specialists. – Photo by AP

So far, apart from isolated cases, Israeli officials have refrained from commenting on cyber attacks against Israeli targets. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| October 12, 2012
No comments

Stanley Fischer says Iran Affair Has Little Effect on Israeli Economy

Regarding the Israeli economy, Fischer stated “we recovered from the global economic crisis very swiftly & we have grown at a rate of close to 5% in the past few years.”

 

At a press conference in Tokyo on Thursday for the annual World Bank-IMF meeting, Israeli central bank head Stanley Fischer said that security threats, including the possibility of a conflict with Iran, have a small effect on Israel’s economy, which he called “good but not in excellent shape.”

Stanley Fischer, Governor of the Central Bank of Israel. – Photo: wiki commons.

“I’m frequently asked about the influence of the security situation on the economy including the tension with Iran,” Fischer said. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| October 12, 2012
No comments

‘J’lem Post’ poll: ‘Center-Left mega-party’ could defeat Netanyahu

Poll reveals party led by Olmert, including Lapid & Livni would win 31 seats, 4 more than Likud, in upcoming January election.

 

A party led by former prime minister Ehud Olmert that would include former Kadima leader Tzipi Livni, current Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid would win the January 22, 2013 election, a Smith Research survey carried out exclusively for The Jerusalem Post revealed Thursday.

Ehud Olmert at the Jerusalem Post Conference - Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

Ehud Olmert at the Jerusalem Post Conference – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

The poll, which was conducted Tuesday and Wednesday, found that the party would win 31 seats, four more than Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud, which would receive 27 mandates.

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