Op-ed: Even in purely legal terms, Israel did not occupy a single inch of Judea and Samaria

Mitt’s fast-day faux pas with Sheldon Adelson’s ‘tainted money’

Romney says he will not hold a fundraiser dinner in Jerusalem on a fast day; Hillary Clinton prepares to visit Egypt & Israel.

By Natasha Mozgovaya

1. Romney: No Tish’a B’Av fundraiser

Even before landing in Israel as part of a foreign trip that includes Britain, Germany and Poland, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney experienced some of the complexities of Jewish politics – reports that he intends to attend a $50-60 thousand a plate fundraiser in Jerusalem on the day of the Tish’a B’Av fast raised some eyebrows.

Romney’s campaign was quick to point out that they were fully aware of the sensitivity of the date – and while Romney will be in Israel, he will not hold fundraising at the time of the fast. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Allen West, Mitt Romney

israelandstuffcom | July 13, 2012

Hevron Hills Residents Protest & say ‘Enough!’ to Road Terror

Open roads policy means deadly terrorism in the Hevron Hills’ roads.

By Maayana Miskin

Dozens of Israelis from the town of Negohot in the Hevron Hills blocked roads Thursday in protest of terrorism. Residents of Negohot and other Hevron area Israeli towns say that Israel’s open roads policy puts their lives at risk.

Three years ago Israel began opening highways in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) to Arabs living under the Palestinian Authority. Previously, PA traffic had run along parallel PA roads, while access to Israeli roads was restricted due to terrorism fears.

Since then, residents say, the simple act of driving to school or work has been fraught with danger. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: road terror, terror attack

israelandstuffcom | July 12, 2012

Olmert: Even before Lebanon War II, Israel knew it was hopeless to retrieve the abducted IDF soldiers

The capture of reservists Ehud Goldwasser & Eldad Regev in a cross border raid in July ’06 triggered a 34-day war in Lebanon; their bodies were returned in a 2008 prisoner-exchange deal.

By Gili Cohen

Israel’s leadership knew it was hopeless to try and retrieve Israel Defense Forces soldiers abducted in 2006, an action which sparked the Second Lebanon War, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday.

Ehud Olmert and Dan Halutz - 12.7.2012 - Moti Milrod

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, & former IDF chief Dan Halutz, in Tel Aviv, – Photo by Moti Milrod

The capture of army reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in a cross border raid in July 2006, exactly six years ago, triggered a 34-day war in Lebanon. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Hezbollah, Lebanon

israelandstuffcom | July 12, 2012

Israel deploying Iron Dome anti-missile system at Egypt border

Rocket intercepting system is to be set up near Eilat after the border with Egypt grew tense since their popular uprising ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak last year.

By Reuters

Israel said on Wednesday it would deploy a battery of Iron Dome rocket interceptors at a southern frontier town opposite Egypt, a move that follows cross-border attacks in the area.

Iron Dome battery is now stationed near the southern Israeli town of Netivot. – Photo by Eliyahu Hershkovitz

Israeli media reported that it was the first time the interceptors, which have been used against Palestinian rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip, were being set up at Eilat, near Israel’s borders with Egypt and Jordan. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Iron Dome

israelandstuffcom | July 12, 2012

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Kashmir separatist: All Muslims have a problem with Israel

The leader of the Hurriyat party says flow of Israelis & Tourism Department’s road show in Tel Aviv part of plot to occupy region in northwest India

By Imi Ginsburg

The leader of Muslim separatists in Kashmir has called on the government to prevent Israelis from entering the region due to the Jewish state’s “aggressive policy against the Palestinians,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday.

Anti-Israel rally in Kashmir – Photo: AP

In response to the Kashmir Tourism Department’s decision to send a delegation to Tel Aviv in a bid to woo Israeli tourists to the region, the leader of the separatist Hurriyat party, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said Friday that “although we welcome guests and visitors, we cannot accept agents of the Israeli intelligence agencies visiting Kashmir in the garb of tourists.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: anti-Semitism

Interior Minister Yishai warns Ivory Coast migrants of deportation

Interior minister says Ivory Coast migrants have less than a week to voluntarily leave & receive grants, or they will be deported.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

Interior Minister Eli Yishai said Wednesday that migrants from the Ivory Coast have less than a week to leave the country and if they do not, the Population, Immigration and Borders Authority (PIBA) will deport them.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

“In less that a week the deadline given to the migrants from the Ivory Coast to leave the country voluntarily will expire,” said Yishai.

The Interior Ministry offered any migrant who leaves of his or her own free will a grant of $500 per adult and $100 per child. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: illegal migrants

Negev to become ‘aircraft graveyard’?

Israel Land Administration greenligths plan to form aircraft disposal ground near Ovda. Society for Protection of Nature warns against ‘turning Negev into world’s dumpster’

By Billie Frenkel

A new plan to form an aircraft maintenance and disposal facility in southern Israel has been greenlighted by the Israel Land Administration and the Eilot Regional Council.

Negev Illustration – Photo: Roee Talbi

The future compound, which will be built near Ovda, will stretch across 642.5 acres and serve an as aircraft maintenance and disposal facility for Airpark Ltd.The company is expected to store some 500 aircrafts and airplane parts in the facility and perform maintenance on both civilian and military planes from all over the world; including scrapping about 25 planes a year. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Negev

Israel at the 2012 Olympic Games

The following programs are a special project of iMMERSE, a joint initiative of the iCenter and ISRAEL21c and will be implemented at Jewish summer camps, synagogues, youth groups, and schools across the United States. ISRAEL21c’s full coverage of the 2012 Olympic team can be found at http://olympics.israel21c.org/ .

VIDEO SPOTLIGHT OF ISRAELI OLYMPIANS

Opening Ceremony

Program Idea #1: Ayze hu gibor: Who is a Hero?

Aizeh hu gibor? Ha’oseh soneh ohavo. Who is a true hero? The one who turns an enemy into a friend. (Avot d’rabbi Natan, chapter 23)

Aizeh hu gibor? Ha’kovesh et yitzro. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Olympics

Boeing to Market Israeli UAVs

Israel’s Elbit Systems soars in the international market with a new agreement with Boeing to market the company’s Hermes UAVs.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

Israel’s Elbit Systems has soared into the international market with a new agreement with Boeing to market the company’s Hermes UAVs, American military and defense media reported Monday.

Hermes 900 – Elbit

The companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the Farnborough Air Show in London. The agreement covers marketing and sales of Elbit’s Hermes 450 and 900 UAS product lines.

The agreement gives Elbit a long-desired stronger foothold in the U.S. market.

Its Hermes 450 UAV are exported to several countries, including Britain, Singapore, Georgia and Brazil. Continue Reading »

Category: Innovations & Discoveries, Israel News | Tags: UAV

Israel’s No. 1 handcyclist heads to the Paralympics

How an overweight high-tech exec got to be an athletic powerhouse despite two devastating accidents.

By Abigail Klein Leichman

Until a crippling motorcycle accident in 1999, Israeli high-tech exec Nati Gruberg was a paunchy couch potato. In August, he’ll be one of three Israeli handcyclists among 4,200 athletes from 160 nations heading to the London Paralympic Games.

Nati Gruberg is the top handcyclist in Israel.

It’s easy to pick out Gruberg from other cyclists rounding the trail at Tel Aviv’s Ganei Yehoshua Park. His muscular arms power a custom-fitted German handcycle as his barefoot legs stay tucked beneath him. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Olympics

U.S. opposes report recommending legalization of West Bank settlements

Obama administration rejects report claiming Israel isn’t occupying the West Bank: ‘we do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity.’

By Natasha Mozgovaya

The U.S. State Department criticized on Monday night the Edmond Levy committee report which recommended legalizing most outposts in the West Bank, based on the assertion that Israel is not an occupying power.

The Migron outpost in September, 2011. – Photo by AP

Patrick Ventrell, a U.S. State Department spokesman, spoke to reporters in Washington. “Obviously, we’ve seen the reports that an Israeli Government appointed panel has recommended legalizing dozens of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but we do not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlement activity and we oppose any effort to legalize settlement outposts,” siad Ventrell. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israel US

Woody Allen Urged to Film Next Movie in Israel

Actress Noa Tishby to Woody Allen: “Don’t worry, we’re gonna bring you home.”

By Rachel Hirshfeld

The Los Angeles Jewish Journal has launched a new Internet campaign aimed at persuading Woody Allen to film his next movie in Israel.

The Oscar-winning filmmaker makes one movie a year and, according to what he told The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and LA Weekly, he chooses the locations based on “where the money is.”

Within recent years, Allen has filmed in London for “Matchpoint”, in Barcelona for “Vicky Christina Barcelona”, in Paris for “Midnight in Paris”, and most recently, in Rome for “To Rome With Love.” Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Jewish News | Tags: Woody Allen

Israel to spend big to protect gas rigs from terrorist threats at sea

“Shield” naval defense plan to cost extra 3 billion shekels ($757 million), includes four new ships and advanced equipment

• Hezbollah trying to stockpile sophisticated anti-ship missiles • Rigs expected to supply 70 percent of Israel’s gas needs; if they are compromised Israel could be brought to a standstill.

By Lilach Shoval and Israel Hayom Staff

In light of increased verbal threats from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to target Israel’s economic interests in the Mediterranean Sea, Israel Defense Forces Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz has authorized a plan to add four new ships to the navy’s fleet to safeguard the country’s gas rigs, located some 185 kilometers (about 115 miles) off the Israeli coast.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Israel Navy. Hezbollah