Archive for Mid-East News

| October 12, 2013
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Azerbaijan Court Sentenced Iranian Spy to 15 Years

The Baku Court in Azerbaijan sentences an Iranian spy to 15 years in jail for plotting a terror attack on the Israeli embassy in the country.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

A court in Azerbaijan on Friday sentenced an alleged Iranian spy to 15 years in jail for plotting an attack on the Israeli embassy in the country, AFP reports.

Iranian citizen Bahram Feyzi, who was arrested by Azerbaijani security forces in March, was sentenced by the Baku Court on Grave Crimes, court officials said.

According to court documents, Feyzi, who was also found guilty of espionage and drug possession, was accused of being an agent of the secret service of neighboring Iran. Continue Reading »

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| October 11, 2013
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Hamas Is the Palestinian’s Punishment

 

With the downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt turns its wrathful gaze upon Hamas who has now lost its open door to the Sinai Peninsula, a crucial supply route for the terror group.

Many Palestinians say the group is getting just what it deserves.

By Aviel Schneider

 

 

The Hamas regime in Gaza has found itself cornered between Israel and a now-unfriendly Egypt. “This is precisely what traitor (Hamas) deserves,” a Palestinian from Ramallah told Israel Today. “We will never forget what Hamas has done to us back in 2007 (when the group violently seized control of Gaza. Hamas is a punishment for the Palestinian people.” Continue Reading »

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| October 11, 2013
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Turkish court: IDF Commandos fired from helicopter in 2010 Marmara raid

 

Turkish trial in absentia of 4 retired Israeli commanders, including former IDF Chief of Staff Ashkenazi, resumed Thursday with testimony from those who were aboard & relatives of the dead.

By Reuters

An anti-war activist told a Turkish court on Thursday that Israeli commandos opened fire from a helicopter during a raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship three years ago, countering Israeli assertions that the soldiers had acted in self defense.

2010 Marmara raid – Photo: AP

Israeli marines stormed the Turkish owned Mavi Marmara, part of a flotilla carrying aid to Palestinians, on May 31, 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Palestinian-run Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

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| October 10, 2013
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Arabs furious at Czech President’s Jerusalem remark

 

Egypt summoned Czech ambassador after their president discussed moving embassy to Israel’s capital.

By Associated Press

The Cairo-based Arab League has condemned remarks by the Czech president about moving his country’s embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, calling them a violation of Palestinian rights and international resolutions.

Czech President Milos Zeman - Photo: Reuters

Czech President Milos Zeman – Photo: Reuters

In its Wednesday’s statement, the 22-nation organization called for summoning the Czech ambassador in Cairo to express “dangers of these remarks.”

The United Nations proposed an international jurisdiction for Jerusalem when it wrote the mandate for a Jewish Israel state in 1947, but a 1948 war divided the city between Israeli and Jordanian control. Continue Reading »

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| October 10, 2013
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After Surfing on Israeli Websites, Egyptian Accused of Spying

Owner of Internet cafe noticed an Egyptian lawyer surfing on Israeli websites, then reported him to security forces.

By Elad Benari

 

Israel and Egypt may have a peace treaty with one another, but studying Hebrew is apparently frowned upon in Egypt.

Illustrative – IsraelandStuff/PP

Egypt’s Al-Nahar TV aired a report last month about an Egyptian lawyer who was accused of spying for Israel because he was surfing on Israeli websites. The report was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).

According to the report, the lawyer was sitting in an Internet cafe when the cafe owner began to suspect he was a spy after seeing that the lawyer had entered the website of the Israeli Mossad, and was talking on the phone in many languages – Italian, French, and Hebrew, among others. Continue Reading »

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| October 8, 2013
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Intel Minister Steinitz: Iranian economy 18 months to total collapse

 

 

US led Sanctions on Iran have cost its economy $100 billion in damage. “The pressure works, it is effective,” Steinitz said. “If we add to this pressure a credible military threat, the chances will be greatly improved.”

By HERB KEINON

 

 

The Iranian economy is 18 months away from collapse, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said Monday.

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz - Photo: Hadas Parush

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz – Photo: Hadas Parush

Steinitz, speaking at a conference at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, said that over the last 18-24 months the international sanctions have caused about $100 billion in damage to the country’s economy, which has an annual $450 billion GDP.

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| October 7, 2013
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Saudi Report: Hezbollah received chemical weapons from Assad

 

The Saudi newspaper Al Watan quotes a Lebanese parliament member as saying that under Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ supervision and despite int’l agreement to surrender its chemical weapons, the Syrian regime has delivered to Hezbollah long-range missiles capable of carrying chemical warheads.

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

As Syria prepared to surrender its chemical weapons in compliance with international efforts, the Saudi newspaper Al Watan quoted a Lebanese parliamentarian on Sunday as saying that Syrian President Bashar Assad has already transferred large stores of chemical weapons to his ally, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

According to the report, Hezbollah now has long-range missiles capable of carrying chemical warheads [Illustrative picture] - Photo: AFP

According to the report, Hezbollah now has long-range missiles capable of carrying chemical warheads [Illustrative picture] – Photo: AFP

According to the report, Hezbollah now has long-range missiles capable of carrying chemical warheads.

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| October 7, 2013
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Chief PLO negotiator dismayed by Czech president’s call to move embassy to Jerusalem

PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat sends letter to Arab League saying move would undermine peace process, wants meeting on the issue.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN

 

 

 

Czech President Milos Zeman’s proposal to move the Czech Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem prompted Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator in the peace talks with Israel, to send a letter of protest to Prague stating that such a move would undermine the peace process.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat at construction site for Route 4, March 14, 2013.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat at construction site for Route 4, March 14, 2013. – Photo: TOVAH LAZAROFF

Zeman publicly voiced his views on the subject at the opening of the annual Days for Israel forum in Hradec Kralove in East Bohemia last week.

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| October 7, 2013
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Iran reports 4 arrested for attempts to sabotage nuclear site

Iran’s head of their Atomic Energy Organization announced individuals ‘were caught red-handed & their interrogations are ongoing,’

By Reuters and

 

 

At least four people have been arrested in Iran for trying to sabotage a nuclear site, Iranian media reported Sunday.

Rohani addresses UN, Sept. 26, 2013, Reuters

Iran’s President Hassan Rohani addressing a UN meeting on nuclear disarmament, New York, September 26, 2013. – Photo: Reuters

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, said officials had monitored and then arrested a “number of saboteurs” before they could carry out their plan.

“Four of these individuals were caught red-handed and their interrogations are ongoing,” he said, according to the Mehr news agency on Sunday. Continue Reading »

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| October 6, 2013
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PA Police begin security crackdown on Jihadists in Jenin

 

Hundreds of Palestinian police officers arrest wanted individuals in & around West Bank city of Jenin including a raid at the home of Jihadist leader Bassam Saadi.

By Elior Levy

The Palestinian Authority is trying to regain control of the problemtic refugee camps in the West Bank. The PA’s security forces began this weekend an arrest operation that concentrates mainly on the refugee camp in Jenin.

Palestinian forces arriving at Jenin – Photo: AP

The operation began on Wednesday, when hundreds of security forces entered the city. During the operation, forces raided the homes of suspects, some of whom are also wanted by the IDF. Continue Reading »

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| October 4, 2013
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Netanyahu in BBC interview: Iran’s nukes will mean slavery for Persians

Israel’s Prime Minister also told CBS that Iranian missiles could hit the U.S.

Lead U.S. negotiator with Iran suggests to lawmakers to delay imposing additional sanctions against Iran ahead of the talks.

By and Reuters

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told BBC Persian Thursday that if Tehran develops nuclear weapons, it will spell slavery for the Iranian people. The interview was one of several given in the wake of his United Nations General Assembly address.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in interview with BBC Persian.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in interview with BBC Persian (screenshot).

 

“If the Iranian regime gets nukes, the Iranian people will never be freed from tyranny and will live in slavery forever,” he said in his first interview to a Persian-language television channel, which broadcasts to around 12 million people every week, according to network figures. Continue Reading »

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| October 3, 2013
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Arafat’s death unclear as Arabs hide test results

 

 

10 months after Arafat’s body was exhumed & examined by 3 teams of int’l experts, there still is no published report to the public on what caused Yasser Arafat’s death.

By Stefanie Reinhardt

 

He was a symbol of the Palestinian people, co-founder of the PLO and Fatah, a self-confessed terrorist who for decades perpetrated attacks against Israeli targets in particular, and yet was honored with the Nobel Peace Prize.

Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat

 

In November 2004, Yasser Arafat died, much to the relief of some, and anguish of others. The officially announced cause of death was a cerebral hemorrhage. But almost immediately there was wild speculation that something else had killed the arch-terrorist, and those rumors have persisted until today. Continue Reading »

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| October 3, 2013
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Egyptian Army plans attack on targets in Gaza

SPECIAL REPORT FROM EGYPT

In response to Egyptian intel assessment that Gaza militants are responsible for some attacks in Sinai, Egyptian reconnaissance planes have identified potential hostile targets in Palestinian coastal territory, security official tells Ma’an.

By YASSER OKBI, THE POST CORRESPONDENT

 

The Egyptian army has planned military attacks on specific targets in the Gaza Strip in the event that the security situation in the northern Sinai peninsula deteriorates, a senior Egyptian security official told the Ma’an news agency.

Egyptian Army soldiers patrol in Sinai.

Egyptian Army soldiers patrol in an armored vehicle backed by a helicopter gunship during a sweep through villages in in Sheikh Zuweyid, northern Sinai, Egypt in May.

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| October 3, 2013
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Israel’s PM: Iran’s Khamenei leads a ‘messianic, apocalyptic radical cult’

In a NBC interview , Israeli PM Netanyahu says Iranians may want change, but realistically speaking, they are governed by an appointed Supreme Leader, not their ‘elected’ President Rohani.

By

 

In an interview with NBC on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei cannot be trusted because he heads a “cult” that is “wild in its ambition and aggression” adding it is a “messianic, apocalyptic, radical regime.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu in NBC interview, following UNGA speech


Prime Minister Netanyahu in NBC interview, following UNGA speech, October 2, 2013. – Photo: Screenshot

 

Asked whether he believes the Iranians chose to elect President Hassan Rohani because they want change and a lifting of the sanctions, Netanyahu said he’s sure they do, but stressed that Iranians are not governed by Rohani but by Ayatollah Khamenei. Continue Reading »

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| October 2, 2013
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Should there be a Turkish-Israeli alliance against Assad?

 

“Al Qaeda affiliated groups (in Syria) are a great problem and becoming an even greater problem” Kocaman explained.  “…The reasonable Muslims need to come together with the Jews and the Christians. We need to show the radicals they are wrong via the Quran.”

Analysis by Rachel Avraham

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