Israel News

‘Flytilla’ activists: Israel get out

PARIS – As hundreds of police officers are deployed at Ben Gurion Airport in order to prevent the entry of the “flytilla to Palestine” activists to Israel, in Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport’s departures hall dozens of activists gathered on Sunday to protest their “exclusion” from Israel.

As of about 9:30 am, four activists who arrived aboard an El Al flight from Paris have been detained at BG Airport. They were immediately questioned at a booth set up by the Interior Ministry at the airport and are expected to be deported later in the day.

Some of the activists received notices alerting them to the fact that their flights to Israel had been cancelledwhile others managed to issue their boarding cards but are not sure they will be able to reach the Palestinian Authority. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Flytilla

israelandstuffcom | April 15, 2012

‘Flytilla’ Activists Receive ‘Welcome’ Letter from Israel

The Israeli government has issued an official “welcome” letter to the pro-‘Palestinian’ “flytilla” activists who plan on arriving in the country on Saturday and Sunday. It reads as follows:

“Dear Activists,

“We appreciate your choosing to make Israel the object of your humanitarian concerns.

“We know there were many other worthy choices.

“You could have chosen to protest the Syrian regime’s daily savagery against its own people, which has claimed thousands of lives.

“You could have chosen to protest the Iranian regime’s brutal crackdown on dissent and its support of terrorism throughout the world.

“You could have chosen to protest Hamas rule in Gaza, where terror organizations commit a double war crime by firing rockets at civilians and hiding behind civilians. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Flytilla

israelandstuffcom | April 14, 2012

European airlines cancel tickets of pro-Palestinian ‘flytilla’ activists

Ahead of Sunday’s planned ‘fly-in,’ Israel’s Interior Minister sends airlines list of names of blacklisted activists, threatens punitive steps if companies allow them to board Israel-bound flights.

Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists were prevented from boarding Israel-bound flights on Friday, due to the fact that their names appeared on a blacklist distributed by the Israeli government to a number of European airlines.

Pro-Palestinian activists at Ben-Gurion International Airport - Photo by Ilan Assayag

The activists were on their way to participate in a fly-in protest against Israeli construction in West Bank settlements, scheduled to take place on Sunday. Last July, a similar “fly-in” took place, with over 300 international activists arriving in Israel, and 120 detained. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Palestinian insitement

israelandstuffcom | April 14, 2012

PA Governor Blocks Import of Israeli Produce to Shechem

The Palestinian Authority has blocked the import of Israeli produce to Shechem (Nablus).

According to a report published by the Bethlehem-based Ma’annews agency, the governor of the PA-controlled city stopped potatoes from entering the local market on Wednesday. The news outlet often serves as a semi-official mouthpiece for the Palestinian Authority.

The move, which prevents Israeli farmers from selling their produce to PA vendors, also prevents PA business people from doing business with Israel – a direct violation of the Oslo Accords and numerous foreign aid initiatives.

The decision was issued in line with a decision made by the PA Agriculture Ministry, according to the report. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: PA

Northern border fence subject to grave neglect

Israel remains vigilant vis-à-vis volatile situation in Damascus, but tour along Israeli side of Syrian border reveals outdated fence, defense systems

The defense establishment is on high alert on the northern front, but while Israel remains vigilant as to the developments in Syria, it seems that the massive deployment of advanced defense systems on the southern border, has yet to echo through to its northern counterpart.

The majority of the northern border fence, Ynet learned Thursday, has been grossly neglected and has not been renovated since 1975.

רווח מסוכן בין הכביש לציר הטשטוש שגרם לתאונות (צילום: יואב זיתון)

Rickety roads - Photos: Yoav Zitun

The defense establishment began upgrading the border with Syria after the events of the 2011 Nakba day, which saw the part of the fence bordering with Majdal Shams compromised. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News |

Hundreds of police to await ‘fly-in’ activists at terminal

Massive contingent of police and special forces will attempt to block entry of pro-Palestinian ‘fly-in’ activists on Sunday; activists say airport has no authority to deny them entry.

Hundreds of police and special forces will converge on Ben-Gurion Airport to block the entry of pro-Palestinian activists on Sunday, but human rights activists say the airport has no authority to deny entry to anyone intending to visit the Palestinian territories.

Police preparing for the 'flytilla' at Ben Gurion Airport - Photo by: Moti Milrod

Hundreds of police officers, most of them in plainclothes and unarmed, will await the so-called fly-in at Ben-Gurion on Sunday, while special forces will deploy outside the terminal.

Category: Israel News | Tags: fly-in

U2 frontman Bono spotted in Israel

Lead singer of Irish rock band seen in Jaffa as part of what appears to be private visit in Israel

U2 frontman Bono is currently in Israel in what appears to be a private visit, Ynet has learned. Irish singer Paul Hewson, AKA Bono was spotted chatting with five friends at a restaurant in the Jaffa Port on Monday.

Bono’s visit in Israel has been kept under wraps and the media was not informed of his arrival.

Bono in Jaffa. Private visit - Photo: Jackey Yaakov

This is not the singer’s first visit in Israel. In 1997, he visited the country together with U2 for one concert in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News |

Israeli Arab MK threatens to file libel suit against envoy to U.S.

In letter of complaint, Ahmed Tibi criticizes Michael Oren for claiming the United Arab List-Ta’al MK supports suicide bombings, demands retraction.

Israeli Arab MK Ahmed Tibi submitted an official complaint to the Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, following an article by Israel’s envoy to the U.S. Michael Oren, according to which Tibi had retained his position as deputy Knesset speaker despite his support of suicide bombers.

MK Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List-Ta'al) - Photo by: Moti Kimche

In an article published last week in the Foreign Policy magazine, titled “Israel’s Resilient Democracy,” Oren claimed that Israel’s Arab citizens enjoyed equal rights, and that Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion emphasized that Arab citizens must be allowed to vote and be elected to the Knesset.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Knesset

israelandstuffcom | April 11, 2012

‘Flytilla’ organizers: Israel won’t determine who enters Palestine

Internal security minister says pro-Palestinian ‘provocateurs’ from Europe, North America ‘will be dealt with in a determined, quick manner. Bethlehem mayor: Let them enter without ‘humiliation’

Israel vowed Tuesday to prevent the entry of hundreds of pro-Palestinian activists from Europe and North America expected to arrive in the country this weekend, calling them provocateurs who are intent on disturbing public order.

The activists are set to board flights to Israel with the aim of participating in demonstrations against Israeli policy in the West Bank. Although organizers say all protests will be peaceful, Israeli officials said the activists would be deported.

Police at Ben-Gurion Airport - Photo: Yaron Brener

“The provocateurs will be dealt with in a determined and quick way,” said Israel’s public security minister, Yitzhak Aharonovitch. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News |

Mofaz: ‘Palestinians should get 100% of their territorial demands’

Kadima Chairman MK Shaul Mofaz gets flak from Right and his own party for interview given to The New York Times • Kadima MK Schneller: He who goes back to the warm embrace of the Left…cannot be prime minister.

In a New York Times profile on Friday, new Kadima Chairman and opposition leader MK Shaul Mofaz outlined what he believes should be Israel’s new public agenda.

In the article entitled “Defying an Image With a Tilt to the Left,” Mofaz is quoted as saying that while he believes Israel should keep its current settlement blocs, the Palestinians should get 100 percent of their territorial demands met via land swaps.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Mofaz, NYT

Police: Employees embezzled millions from Holocaust fund

Some 10 people arrested following lengthy undercover investigation over suspicions they pocketed funds from association for Holocaust survivors

They collected tens of millions of shekels in donations for Holocaust survivors – then swept the funds into their own pockets. Police on Sunday arrested 10 suspects, including the manager of fund in the Jerusalem area on charges of theft; fraudulently obtaining benefits and money laundering.

Supects arrested (Illustration) Photo: Shutterstock

“This is a cynical abuse of the plight of Holocaust survivors,” officials at the National Fraud Investigation Unit, who carried out the investigation, noted.

The lengthy undercover investigation was revealed just as the funds and associations are at the height of their activities – during the Passover holiday season and ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Holocaust

Essay: When Zionism was an Arab cause

The theory that the Arabs missed out on what was good for them is not any more true than the theory that the Zionists missed the chance to realize their dream without a war.

Isaiah Friedman focused most of his professional work as a historian on eight fateful years: 1915-1922. Now 91, Friedman, a professor emeritus of history at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, knows every person and every intrigue, every scheme and every document that led to the formation of the modern Middle East, including the establishment of the State of Israel. He also knows generations of scholars and waves of contradictory theories, and remains adamant: The century-old conflict over the Land of Israel was not inevitable.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Zionism

Israel Ranks 14th in World Happiness Poll

Israel ranks 14th in the United Nations’ World Happiness Report; Denmark, Finland, Norway and Netherlands top list; U.S. ranks 11th.

The report lists Denmark, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands as the world’s happiest countries, with the United States ranking at 11^th place and the United Kingdom at 18^th place.

The report aims to “review the state of happiness in the world today and show how the new science of happiness explains personal and national variations in happiness.”

The rankings, based on a “life evaluation score,” measure factors including health, job security, personal freedom and degree of political corruption. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: UN