WATCH: IDF’s mounted laser used to safely & remotely detonate roadside bombs

WATCH how IDF’s mounted Directed Energy Warfare system was used to safely and remotely detonate a Hamas IED, planted on the Gaza border to kill Israeli soldiers.

By Yoav Zitun

 

The IDF chose to make relatively rare use of a vehicle mounted Directed Energy Warfare (DEW) system called THOR—developed by the Israeli Rafael Advanced Defense Systems—in order to destroy a large explosive device that was discovered on the border of the Gaza Strip last December.

In the incident, observers from the Gaza Division identified two terrorists who tried to exploit the IDF’s focus on dealing with disturbances near the security fence in the area of the Gaza neighborhood of Shuja’iyya, in order to plant an explosive device. Continue Reading »

6 Hamas positions hit by air & ground forces after RPG fired at IDF patrol

IDF is checking the possibility that one of the two powerful bombs that detonated within a minute of each other near IDF soldiers this morning was actually an RPG or anti-tank rocket.

By Kobi Finkler

 

The IDF Spokesperson’s Office provided additional details about the security incident that took place this morning, Thursday, along the Gaza Strip border.

The details revealed so far indicated that two powerful bombs were detonated within a minute of each other as an armored force passed this morning near Nahal Oz .

IAF F-15i (Ra’am) – Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

It is possible that an RPG rocket was also fired at the force. Continue Reading »

Air raid sirens sound throughout Israel as civilians, US troops & IDF hold war drills

Israel held a nation-wide emergency drill, complete with air-raid  sirens throughout the country in preparation for a war “on six fronts,” while US ground troops drilled with IDF soldiers in the 2018 Juniper Cobra joint military exercises.

By Israel Today Staff

 

Last week at the graduation ceremony for new Israeli naval officers, IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Aviv Kochavi said that the Jewish state was preparing for war on no fewer than six fronts.

Kochavi did not list those fronts, except to say that Iran is among them.

Merkava tank along Israel’s border with Lebanon- Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

The others can be guessed at: Egyptian Sinai, where ISIS holds sway; Hamas-ruled Gaza; Lebanon; Syria; and the cyber realm. Continue Reading »

Quō vādis, Palestinians; envious of your brethren in Chile yet?

Op-Ed: Chile has the largest Palestinian Arab community outside the Middle East – 500,000 out of nearly 18 million – where they have prospered & successfully integrated into all avenues of society, yet 2.5 million of their mid-east brethren, destined to be manipulated, exploited and punished to yet another generation of indoctrination,  suffer as puppets to their kleptocratic leaders, who perpetuate the status quo for their personal self-enrichment and that of their families.

By Ron Jontof-Hutter

 

Palestinian Arabs are constantly urged by their leaders to engage in rage. Indeed, Abbas walked out of the UNSC meeting, not bothering to hear Ambassador Haley’s speech. Continue Reading »

Israel takes 11th for ‘Happiest Country in the World’, for 5th year in a row

For the 5th year in a row, Israel has been rated as the 11th happiest country in the world, according to Wednesday’s UN annual “World Happiness Report.”

By i24NEWS

 

Israel has not fallen below 14th in the history of the report, which first came out in 2012

For the fifth year in a row, Israel has been listed as the 11th happiest country in the world, according to the United Nations’ annual “World Happiness Report,” which was released on Wednesday.

Friends enjoying Saturday night dinner & drinks, by the Hatzbani River in northern Israel – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Israel has not fallen below 14th in the history of the report, which first came out in 2012. Continue Reading »

White House holds meeting on Gaza, with Israel, Arab Gulf states, despite Abbas

Ignoring the vapid Palestinian response, Israel and the Arab Gulf states were among 19 nations that attended the Trump initiative held at the White House on what needs to be done to alleviate the Gaza humanitarian crisis.
• Even though Abbas is foolishly boycotting the initiative, a senior administration official said, ‘Many of the projects could go ahead without the PA, but our goal is to involve it.’

News Agencies and Israel Hayom Staff

 

The White House on Tuesday hosted 19 nations, including Israel and Arab Gulf states, to address the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

But the Palestinian Authority, angered by the Trump administration’s policies on Jerusalem, boycotted the meeting. Continue Reading »

Mazel Tov!! Jewish fertility rate in Israel, higher than Israeli Arabs, highest in OECD

A newborn infant, seconds after delivery. Amniotic fluid glistens on the child's skin. - Photo: Wikimedia, Ernest F

Israel’s Jewish fertility rate, now at its highest level since 1983, has been on the rise since 2006, and is now higher than the Israeli Arabs.

By David Rosenberg

 

Israelis are having more children on average, defying global trends that have seen fertility rates plummet across the industrialized world.

According to a report by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday, 181,405 babies were born in the Jewish state during 2016 – a 92% increase since 1980.

A Jewish ‘brit’, circumcision ceremony is held on the child’s 8th day.- Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

Of those 181,405 children born, 73.9% were born to Jewish women, compared to 23.2% born to Arab women. Continue Reading »

U.S. & Israeli ground forces begin new phase in joint #JuniperCobra2018 drill

Now that Israeli & American aerial defense forces completed their joint training as part of the 2018 Juniper Cobra exercise, more than 1,000 U.S. Marines and Israeli paratroopers join in urban warfare scenarios. – Watch Video
– Marine battalion commander, ‘This increases our already rock solid relationship with Israel.’

By Yoav Zitun

 

More than one thousand United States Marines and Israeli paratroopers have recently been training in Israel’s southern region’s Tze’elim base, as part of the massive joint 2018 Juniper Cobra exercise held this month.

With the air defense’s parts of the exercise already complete, the two armies have now moved to ground operations. Continue Reading »

Trump fires Sec of State Tillerson over his approval of Obama’s Iran deal

Tillerson has publicly contradicted Trump on the Iran deal in the past, including during the current negotiations, and has advised Trump not to rip up the nuclear accord outright, whereas CIA director Mike Pompeo, has disagreed, advocating for a full U.S. withdrawal from the 2015 pact led by former President Obama.

By MICHAEL WILNER

 

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump unceremoniously fired his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, on Tuesday morning, in part over “disagreements” on the Iran nuclear deal and amid a critical negotiation with Europe over its fate.

Continue Reading »

Arab militants attempt assassination of Palestinian PM with roadside bomb in Gaza

After having entered Gaza for an opening ceremony of their new sewage purification facility, the convoy of Palestinian PM Hamdallah was hit by a roadside bomb injuring 7 guards, but leaving the prime minister unharmed.
– Fatah says Hamas bears responsibility for the assassination attempt by the Palestinian militants.

By Ynet reporters, news agencies

 

An explosive device was detonated near the convoy of Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, who was visiting the Gaza Strip Tuesday morning accompanied by Palestinian General Intelligence chief Majid Faraj.

Seven were lightly wounded in the blast—all of whom were security guards of the convoy. Israel offered to give medical care to the wounded at the Erez Crossing. Continue Reading »

Hamas daily advocates the resumption of suicide bombings

The aftermath of a bus bombing in Haifa in 2003. Photo: Wikimedia, B. Železník

Hamas daily in Gaza publishes special edition calling for resumption of bombing attacks, marking wave of suicide bombings that devastated Israel before the construction of the security barrier that brought the carnage to a halt.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Mustafa al-Sawwaf, a columnist for the Hamas Al-Risalah daily, called for the renewal of suicide bombings against Israelis.

The article was printed as part of a special edition marking the 22nd anniversary of a series of suicide bombings in 1996.

In his article, which was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), al-Sawwaf asked, “Are we about to see actions similar to those carried out by the imprisoned commander Hassan Salameh?” Continue Reading »

White House to host Israel, Arab States on ‘brainstorming session’ for Gaza aid

Trump’s peace envoy Jason Greenblatt, along with his senior adviser Jared Kushner, will convene an international “brainstorming” session designed to deal with the tiny, overpopulated coastal enclave that’s suffering from gross fiscal mismanagement, misappropriation of humanitarian aid, and unbridled embezzlement, all by Hamas, the ruling government.

By i24NEWS

 

Top White House officials will convene an international “brainstorming” session on Tuesday to find ways of improving the acute humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Trump peace envoy Jason Greenblatt said.

Representatives of several countries will participate, along with Donald Trump’s embattled son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner.

Palestinian in Gaza forced to remain in squalor as Hamas redirects funds for food, health, and reconstruction to tunnel-construction and wages to Hamas militants.

Continue Reading »

OECD report: Israel is one of world’s strongest economies

– The Bad News:
There’s the need to improve productivity in the labor market, a need to improve infrastructure, investment in education, promoting consumer reforms and …
The Good News:
“The Israeli economy has grown faster & more consistently than nearly any other in the OECD for the past 15 years,” and “Unemployment is at historically low levels.”

By Ariel Whitman, Reuters & Israel Hayom Staff

 

A new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has found that the Israeli economy is one of the strongest economies in the world today.

OECD acting Chief Economist Alvaro Pereira, who is currently visiting Israel, presented the report Sunday to Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, Finance Ministry Director General Shai Babad and Chief Economist Yoel Naveh. Continue Reading »

Abbas invited to meet Jordan’s King Abdullah to discuss Trump’s peace plan

PA autocrat Abbas summoned to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah to discuss the ‘nearly finished’ US peace plan.
– Breaking from the strategies of past administrations, Trump’s peace initiative will be proposing specific solutions to ‘stickler points’ as opposed to a broad framework of principles suggested in past negotiations.

By i24NEWS

 

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will meet Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman on Monday to discuss US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, which officials in Washington say is nearly ready to be unveiled.

A report by the New York Times on Sunday cited senior US officials as saying that the Trump administration is putting the finishing touches on the plan which will break from the strategies of past administrations by proposing specific solutions as opposed to a broad framework of principles. Continue Reading »

Contestant challenges question, says Jerusalem is capital of Israel, not Tel Aviv

On-air controversy erupts on an Argentine TV game show when contestants are asked, “Tel Aviv is the capital of what country?”
• A contestant challenged the question, saying ‘Israel is probably what I should say, but that is not the correct answer.

By Shlomi Diaz

 

The popular Argentine game show “La Tribuna de Guido” outraged the local Jewish community last week when contestants on Friday’s show were asked, “Tel Aviv is the capital of which country?”

The program, which airs on the local Canal 13 station, pits contestants against each other with trivia questions, with the goal of winning a car. Continue Reading »