Israel News

Bono’s note found at Israeli hotel: ‘Hope is like a faithful dog’

U2 front man, who paid a surprise visit to Israel earlier this month, leaves a poetic note in the guestbook at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel.

U2’s front man Bono surprised Israeli passers-by earlier this month with his sudden visit to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

U2 singer Bono - Photo by: AP

On Wednesday, BuzzFeed published the note Bono left behind at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel, which consists of a poem about how “hope is like a faithful dog,” and his sketch of “a dog called Hope.””In Jerusalem, hope springs eternal,” the poem read.

“Hope is like a faithful dog, sometimes she runs ahead of me to check the future, to sniff it out and then I call to her: Hope, Hope, come here, and she comes to me.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Jerusalem

Ariel Mayor: IDF Commanders Lack Courage

Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman slammed IDF chief Benny Gantz charging he lacked the courage to deal with foreign anarchists

Ariel Mayor Ron Nachman on Wednesday sent a scathing letter to IDF chief of Staff Benny Gantz and Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon protesting the dismissal of Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner from his post as commander of the Jordan Valley Brigade.

“I, sir, protest the decision to dismiss the deputy commander which indicates that the IDF and Defense Minister’s aim was to stop criticism.

“The decision did not address that Palestinians and foreign citizens came to provoke us in Israeli territory and Judea and Samaria. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: IDF

IDF graduates first ‘Cyber Defenders’ class

Around 30 soldiers completed the course training soldiers to prevent online attacks against IDF networks.

The IDF made history on Tuesday with the graduation of its first class of Cyber Defenders, a new role established the C4I Directorate established to prevent online attacks against IDF networks.

IDF soldiers of the first-ever Cyber Defenders class - Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

Around 30 soldiers completed the course. Following their graduation, the soldiers will be assigned to the IDF’s various branches where they will be responsible for preventing online infiltrations of military networks.

The graduation ceremony comes a year after the IDF General Staff established a Cyber Defense Division in the C4I Directorate, which is responsible for protecting IDF networks from hackers and infiltrations. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: IDF

Police probing reports of group sex on TA beach

Eyewitnesses say half-naked woman who appeared intoxicated engaged in sexual acts with group of men in front of beach-goers

Criminal act or innocent fun? The police on Tuesday launched an investigation into eyewitness reports according to which a number of men had sexual intercourse with a woman on a public beach in Tel Aviv two weeks ago.

The incident, which was revealed in the press only two weeks later, took place on Bugrashov Beach in broad daylight, and was witnessed by many passersby and beach-goers, but police officials say they only received two complaints.

One eyewitness told Ynet that he was certain it was a group of young men who hired the services of a call girl. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Tel Aviv

Druse in Majdal Shams rally for Syria’s Assad

Chanting “the army and the people are with Assad“ around 200 people marched in Druse village of Majdal Shams.

Druse rally in Majdal Shams for Assad - Photo: Ben Hartman

Syrian President Bashar Assad may be a pariah in most parts of the world, but in parts of Israel the autocrat still has a diehard following, at least at first glance.

Around 200 people, chanting “the army and the people are with Assad,” marched around the central square of the Druse village of Majdal Shams on Monday, in a rally held to mark Syrian Independence Day and to show support for the Assad regime, whose forces have murdered thousands in a 13- month violent uprising.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Druze

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Lt. Col. Eisner: I didn’t put anyone’s life at risk

Deputy brigade commander suspended for striking pro-Palestinian activist with M-16 says, ‘What’s more important, fulfilling the task or looking good for the camera?’

Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner, the IDF officer who was suspended for striking a pro-Palestinian protester from Denmark with an M-16 rifle, said in a conversation with a supporter that he never put “anyone’s life in danger.”

“What’s more important, fulfilling the task or looking good for the camera?” he said in a chat that was broadcast on Channel 10 News. “I am familiar with these anarchists’ history. They came with sticks and broke my hand, but no one talks about that or films that. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: IDF

Fayyad Pulls Out of Netanyahu Meet

Without explanation, Palestinian Authority PM Salam Fayyad will not join the delegation delivering chairman Abbas’ letter to PM Netanyahu

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad pulled out of a planned meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netayahu on Tuesday.

The move scuttled what was set to be the highest-level talks between Israeli and PA officials in nearly two years.

Fayyad and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were scheduled to meet Tuesday evening in what the PA portrayed as “a last-ditch effort to salvage peace talks” before the US election season.

However, shortly before the meeting was to start, PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said that only he and a senior PA security official, Majed Faraj, would attend.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinians

Foreign activist draws swastika on BG Airport wall

Prior to deportation, pro-Palestinian activist leaves anti-Semitic drawing on holding facility wall

A swastika was found drawn on the wall of a holding facility for illegal aliens at Ben Gurion Airport, where several foreign pro-Palestinian activists who arrived in Israel as part of the “Welcome to Palestine” fly-in protest were held.

The activist responsible for the drawing was deported back to his country of origin on Monday. “This was the gift the ‘peace activists’ left Israel,” a source at the Immigration Authority said.

The swastika was discovered by the detention facility employees after two foreign activists – citizens of France and Spain – were removed from the building. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Jewish News | Tags: protesters

Click here for the pdf from the Simon Wiesenthal Center

2011 Top Ten Anti-Israel/Anti-Semitic Slurs – according to the Simon Wiesenthal Center

1. “I come before you today from the Holy Land, the land of Palestine, the land of divine messages, ascension of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and the birthplace of Jesus Christ peace be upon him, to speak on behalf of the Palestinian people…”

– Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at his UN General Assembly address, September 23, 2011. Speaking to the world, Abbas omitted any reference to the Jewish people’s connection to the Holy Land. No reference to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, nor King David, King Solomon, or Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Jewish News | Tags: anti-Semitism

Fayyad Ignores Israeli Sovereignty, Launches New Dam

PA Prime Minister inaugurates new PA construction project, despite the fact that it is located in an area under full Israeli control.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has inaugurated a new PA construction project, despite the fact that it is located in an area under full Israeli control, the PA-based WAFA news agency reported on Monday.

Salam Fayyad Reuters

According to a statement issued by Fayyad’s office, he inaugurated on Monday stage one of a water dam to be built in “Palestine” at a cost of over $1 million.

The statement quoted by WAFA said that during a visit to the village of Ouja and the Jordan Valley, Fayyad inaugurated the Ouja Dam, which he said is one of the projects to develop Area C, which falls under full Israeli control. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: Palestinian Authority

PA crackdown on journalists angers PLO official

Saleh Ra’fat accuses the Palestinian Authority attorney-general of “cloning the policy of administrative detention.”

The Palestinian Authority’s attorney-general, Ahmed al-Mughni, is unlawfully detaining journalists and bloggers, Saleh Ra’fat, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said on Monday.

Palestinian boy looks over rally in Ramallah
-Photo REUTERS/Darren Whiteside

Voicing outrage and discontent over the recent PA crackdown, Ra’fat accused the attorney-general of “cloning the policy of administrative detention” by ordering the arrest of journalists and bloggers exposing corruption in the PA and criticizing Palestinian leaders.

Over the past few weeks, PA security forces in the West Bank arrested four journalists and a blogger on orders of the attorney-general.

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: Palestinian Authority

israelandstuffcom | April 16, 2012

‘Video may not be enough to convict officer’

Inquiry into skirmish between IDF officer, Danish activist underway. Investigators seek incident’s full video, depose witnesses; legalists doubt footage’s admissibility

The Military Police launched an official inquiry Monday into the incident in which Lt.-Col. Shalom Eisner struck a Danish pro-Palestinian activist with an M-16 rifle, over the weekend.

Admissible?

Eisner has been suspended pending the inquiry’s results. Investigators are now trying to obtain the full video depicting the incident.

The IDF maintains that the version posted on YouTube was heavily edited and did not show the events leading up to the incident, in which the activists assaulted IDF soldiers.

Investigators are also set to depose witnesses in the case. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: IDF soldier

israelandstuffcom | April 16, 2012

Israel’s right to say ‘no’

Op-ed: State of Israel has right to ban entry of two-faced ‘peace activists’ consumed by hatred

Every host has the right to stand at the door and decided who shall be welcomed and who shall be denied entry.

Activists at Ben Gurion Airport Photo: Reuters

When a US embassy official refuses to grant a certain person a visa because he was born in Iran or “has the face of a terrorist” in his passport photo, that’s apparently fine. Yet when we dare to prevent the entry of the pro-Palestinian fly-in because the passenger list includes kind souls whose official profession is hatred for Jews and for Israel, all the bleeding hearts rise up against us. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ‘Palestinian’ incitement

israelandstuffcom | April 16, 2012

New I.D.F. tank shells can penetrate reinforced targets

Such a capability is believed to be crucial for the IDF as it faces future conflicts with Hezbollah and Hamas.

In an effort to improve its ability to accurately target terrorists hiding inside homes, the IDF will receive new tank shells developed to penetrate reinforced targets in the coming weeks.

New IDF tank shells - Photo: IMI

Such a capability is believed to be crucial for the IDF as it faces future conflicts with Hezbollah and Hamas, both terrorist groups which embed themselves within civilian infrastructure, according to the military.

Called M339, the new 120 mm. shell was developed by Israel Military Industries together with the IDF Ground Forces Command.

Category: Israel News | Tags: IDF

israelandstuffcom | April 15, 2012