Analysis: The process of Islamization has become an assault on the region&#8217;s Christian communities

Intel Officials: Iran’s Ability to Attack Israel Minimal

Iran’s retaliatory capability to attack Israel has been significantly compromised this past year, intelligence officials reported.

By David Lev

Iran’s ability to attack Israel has been compromised significantly in the past year, Israeli diplomats meeting in Jerusalem were told by Defense Ministry intelligence officials. According to the study by the officials, Iran’s attempts to prop up Bashar al-Assad and the weakness of Hizbullah has taken a great toll in manpower and treasure from the Islamic Republic.

The officials, quoted in Maariv, said that neither Syria nor Hizbullah are in any position to not only start a war with Israel, but would also be largely unable to respond on behalf of Iran in the event of an Israeli strike at Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Hizbullah, Iran

Israeli peppers put Lebanese Army on High Alert

Shocked customer picks up a pack of peppers with ‘Israel’ printed on the sales tag, calls police.

Police refer the peppers to the Lebanese Army, who launched an investigation into the forbidden fruit’s unlawful infiltration into Lebanon.

By Israel Hayom Staff

A supermarket in the Lebanese city of Sidon had a ‘hot potato’ on its hands Tuesday when a shopper discovered Israeli bell peppers in the produce aisle, Lebanese media reported.

Clear and present pepper! – Photo: Yossi Zeliger

The shopper called the police, who immediately contacted the army. When members of Lebanese military intelligence arrived at the Spinney’s supermarket, one of Lebanon’s largest chains, their search bore fruit.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: boycotts, Israel Lebanon

Washington Post Editorial: Jewish Settlements are not main obstacle to Peace

Abbas’ Overheated rhetoric on Israeli settlements, are counterproductive and the int’l community’s incessant criticism of prospective Israeli plans to build new housing units, primarily in Jerusalem, only reinforces 2 mistaken but widely held notions: that the settlements are the principal obstacle to a peace deal and that further construction will make a Palestinian state impossible

This is a Washington Post Editorial:

Overheated rhetoric on Israeli settlements

Note from the Editor:

Editorials represent the views of The Washington Post as an institution, as determined through debate among members of the editorial board. News reporters and editors never contribute to editorial board discussions, and editorial board members don’t have any role in news coverage.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: E-1, Mahmoud Abbas, negotiations, Peace Process

Watch rifles, rockets & axes in Fatah rally in Bethlehem Terrorist Parade

With Christmas over, and the Christian tourists gone, watch dozens of veiled Fatah men march in Bethlehem with their axes, guns and rockets, while Palestinian security forces are conspicuously missing from the scene.

Elior Levy

A video posted online shows dozens of veiled men taking part in a march marking 48 years since Fatah‘s inception. The men are seen marching at the Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem carrying knives, axes, clubs and rifles.

With Christmas over, and the Christian tourists gone, Watch Fatah march in Bethlehem with their axes, guns and rockets. – screenshot

Two men were also seen carrying a rocket model. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Bethlehem, Fatah, Palestinian terrorists

Jerusalem passes intel to EU for ban on Hezbollah

Information was given on the terror group’s connection to the 2005 Hariri murder, narcotics & money-laundering operations, their ongoing role in destabilizing Syria, and the 2000 kidnapping of an Israeli businessman.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT

Hezbollah supporters in Beirut – Photo: REUTERS

BERLIN – The Israeli government is redoubling its efforts to convince the European Union to outlaw Hezbollah within the 27-member body because of the Lebanese group’s record of terrorism.

According to reports in the Hebrew media, Israel’s new case involves showing Hezbollah’s role in the 2005 murder of Lebanese president Rafik Hariri, based on evidence culled from the international tribunal that investigated the bombing.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: EU, Hezbollah

Likud’s Feiglin: Pay Palestinians to leave Judea & Samaria

Likud’s most far-right members suggest paying each Palestinian family in Judea & Samaria $500,000 to move to West.

Akiva Novick

Several Likud officials called for the annexation of the West Bank on Tuesday, in contradiction with the party’s official policy.

Moshe Feiglin – Photo: EPA

Despite being instructed by the Likud campaign not to give interviews, Moshe Feiglin made controversial statements during a conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

The Women in Green conference was attended by several Likud officials who discussed operative ways to impose Israeli sovereignty beyond the Green Line.

Feiglin, who earlier on Tuesday was detained by police after trying to pray at the Temple Mount, proposed paying Palestinians to leave Israel. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Israel Politics, Likud

3 Attempts to Smuggle Weapons into Gaza Foiled by Egypt

Sources: On 3 occasions since Operation Pillar of Defense, Egypt has prevented the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.

By Elad Benari

Western sources have revealed that Egypt has prevented three instances of large-scale smuggling of weapons into Gaza since the end of Operation Pillar of Defense, the Israel Defense website reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, the activity against the weaponry smuggling is part of Egyptian-U.S. coordination, agreed upon in the discussions involving Secretary of State Hillary Clinton two days before the end of the operation.

Western sources said that the agreement includes assistance with U.S. technological measures made available for Egyptian use, and intelligence cooperation in order to counter the smuggling of weapons. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Egypt, Egypt-Gaza, Gaza, weapons smuggling

israelandstuffcom | January 1, 2013

Elite IDF counter-terrorism force ‘busted’ in undercover operation

Palestinians reported an undercover IDF squad operating in Tamoun, near Jenin, was identified.

Riots erupt on site, soldiers injured.

Elior Levy, AP

Riots in Tamoun – Photos: AP

Raid gone wrong: Palestinian sources in the West Bank reported Tuesday that riots broke out in the West Bank village of Tamoun, near Jenin, after an undercover IDF unit operating in the area was exposed.

Three soldiers sustained mild injuries and were evacuated to a nearby hospital.

The Palestinians said that the troops were disguised as vegetable vendors and and sought to seize members of a militant group.

Riots in Tamoun – Photos: AP

The force was apparently part of the Mistaarvim (“Arabized”) Unit – an elite counter-terrorism force whose members serve in various IDF divisions. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Palestinian attack, Palestinian violence, West Bank

israelandstuffcom | January 1, 2013

U.N. Watch: Top 10 Worst UN Decisions of 2012

Top 10 Worst U.N. Decisions of 2012

Compiled by U.N. Watch

1. Electing genocidal Sudan to ECOSOC, a top U.N. council overseeing human rights bodies.

2. Adopting Cuba’s “Right to Peace” resolution, which endorsed terrorism, at the same time as the Castro regime was backing Assad’s murderous Syrian forces.

3. Keeping Richard Falk as U.N. investigator of “Israel’s violations,” even after he was removed from Human Rights Watch in wake of protests over his support for Hamas, 9/11 conspiracy theories and promotion of antisemitism.

4. Praising the Qaddafi regime’s human rights record.

5. Electing the Venezuelan dictatorship of Hugo Chavez to the U.N.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: U.N. Watch, UN

What Does Abbas’s Latest Threats to Quit Really Mean?

Why doesn’t Abbas consider the possibility of handing the “keys” to another Palestinian? Abbas apparently believes that if he cannot lead the Palestinian Authority no one else should — that if he comes down, then the entire Palestinian Authority should also collapse. A changing of the guard is something that the US and the EU, the major funders of Abbas and his associates, could play a major role in bringing about.

By Khaled Abu Toameh

Mahmoud Abbas has once again threatened to dismantle the Palestinian Authority which he heads in the West Bank.

This time he chose to make his new old threat in an interview with the daily Haaretz. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Arab-Israeli conflict, Israeli politics, Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority

2013: Israel Falling off Newspaper’s Headlines

Int’l media seem to be beginning to get fed up with Abbas & his PA issues. Syria & Iran will be taking the headlines.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

Major media outlets’ reviews of 2012 and predictions for big news stories in 2013 indicate that Israel finally may have to spend less time defending itself as the Palestinian Authority’s demands become old hat and pale in the shadows of events in Syria and Iran.

The Council of Foreign Relations, considered to be the most influential American think tank, predicted that the Middle East is a major issue for the Obama administration but not because of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Mahmoud Abbas, PA, Syria

One comment

UK English textbook erases Israel

Not only in the Middle East, students are taught that Israel has no right to exist. The more students around the world are fed this brand of propaganda, the more remote prospects for any true peace to happen.

By Ryan Jones

A popular textbook used by institutions and teachers to teach English as a second language to students in the UK has been found to have a serious anti-Israel bias.

British textbook erases Israel

“I teach English as a foreign language in a further education college in Nottingham, England. I came across the attached map and couldn’t believe my eyes!” Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: anti-Israel, Propaganda

Israeli crosses border from Golan Heights into Syria

A man from Kfar Qassem said to be mentally unstable crosses border to Syria with hope of convincing Assad to stop the bloodshed.

Maor Buchnik

An Israeli citizen crossed the border into Syria in the Golan Heights region on Saturday. IDF forces called to the border fence identified the man as a 37-year-old resident of Kfar Qassem after finding his car.

Golan border – Photo: EPA

The IDF said he is still in Syria and may be returned to Israel soon.

The man’s family said he was mentally unstable. “They publically stated that he traveled to Syria to tell Assad to stop massacring his people,” Golan District Police chief Yossi Katab said. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: Syria