Israel Air Force celebrates 5 years with Iron Dome after 8000 enemy launches

 

view videoWATCH: Iron Dome’s 1st interception of a Palestinian rocket was fired from Gaza towards Ashkelon, and has performed more than 1,000 successful terror rocket interceptions from 8000 fired the system had identified.

By Yoav Zitun

 

It began with the historic interception of a rocket fired from northern Gaza towards an Ashkelon neighborhood, and since then it has performed more than 1,000 anti-rocket interceptions from 8000 launches the system has identified. These were carried out in seven rounds of escalation and two operations (Operation Pillar of Fire and Operation Protective Edge). The system’s success rate after five years is about ninety percent.

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Historic achievement: Another 1,300 Ethiopian Jews ‘returning’ home

 

Even in the face of budget constraints, two Likud MKs forced Netanyahu’s hand, making him backtrack after scrapping resolution on Ethiopian aliyah.

By Hezki Ezra

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday reached an agreement with MK David Amsalem of his party, according to which 1,300 Ethiopian Jews will be brought home on aliyah to Israel over the course of the current year.

refused to vote with the coalition in protest since early March. The move came after Netanyahu’s office canceled the Knesset decision from last November to bring Ethiopia’s 9,000 remaining Jews to Israel, citing budget constraints as a reason. Continue Reading »

Hamas’ army of 1000 tunnel diggers keeps Gaza’s lucrative terror business alive

 

Beyond enabling smuggling from Egypt into Gaza, other tunnels are used by Hamas’ elite combat unit, Al Nukhbeh, which recently lost several fighters when a tunnel they were practicing attacks on Israel collapsed.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

While Hamas claims the Gaza Strip suffers from unbearable levels of poverty, the terror organization spends hundreds of thousands of dollars every month to build and maintain its massive terror tunnel network.

With operations along the Israeli and Egyptian borders, the Hamas tunnel system employs a veritable army of over 1,000 regular diggers.

According to a report on Israel Radio, these diggers are paid $300-400 a month. Continue Reading »

Palestinian Christians outraged over Hamas destruction of unearthed church ruins in Gaza

 

West Bank Palestinian Christian cleric asks, “How are the Wakf officials in Gaza different from ISIS when they bulldoze antiquities and a religious and cultural treasure?”

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Palestinian Christians on Wednesday expressed anger over the way the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have handled the ancient ruins of a Byzantine church that were uncovered in Gaza City last week.

They said that bulldozers removed the antiquities and continued with their work without supervision. They accused the two big Palestinian parties of seeking to obliterate Christian history and identity in the Holy Land.

Kids removing sand covering carving from ancient ruins, which archaeologists say may be part of a Byzantine church or cathedral dating from around 1,500 years ago, were found in Gaza City April 4, 2016.

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MK Michael Oren has a peace plan ‘that will also take the air out of BDS’

 

Israel’s former ambassador to the US, MK Oren has a plan that lays the groundwork for the 2-state solution, one he believes will ‘take the air out of BDS’ and the only suggestion to be made by this gov’t to the Knesset.

By Yuval Karni

 

Member of Knesset (MK) Michael Oren has expressed his frustration with the government’s lack of initiative in reviving the peace process and put forth his own proposal. He’s the first coalition MK to present any type of political arrangement to the current Knesset

Every MK who spoke at the Yedioth Ahronoth conference claimed that there’s no connection between political stagnation and Israeli policy, and the boycott against Israel. Continue Reading »

Watch Bahrani FM admit Iran is bigger threat to Gulf states than Israel

 

view videoBefore Bahrain listed the Shi’ite militia group Hezbollah a “terrorist organization,” they broke off formal relations with Iran at the beginning of 2016.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Iran presents a greater danger to Gulf States and the stability of the Middle East than Israel, a high ranking official in the Bahrain government told Arab Media in recent comments.

During an interview with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Arabiya TV last Tuesday, Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said that Iran is currently the coastal kingdom’s “biggest problem” and added that his country will not “hesitate to defend” itself if necessary, according to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Continue Reading »

As Israeli PM met US delegation, Palestinian call U.S. its “No.1 Enemy”

 

view videoWhile meeting Israeli officials this week, a bipartisan US Congressional delegation led by House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan acknowledged the Jewish State as one of America’s closest and most important allies. Senior Palestinian official reacts, insisting that America is ‘the number one enemy of the Palestinian people.’

By Israel Today Staff

 

Rep. Paul Ryan, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, was in Israel this week, and reiterated that the Jewish state is one of America’s closest and most important allies.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu met with bipartisan US Congressional delegation led by Paul Ryan. – Photo: Kobi Gideon, GPO

In an interview with Times of Israel, Ryan, who was Mitt Romney’s running mate in the 2012 US presidential election, said that with the rise of Islamic terror, Washington needs to bolster its ties with Israel now more than ever.
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Power cuts to West Bank over unpaid bills brings payment & negotiations

 

For full resumption of power, the Palestinians agree to make immediate payment of  ‎₪20 million with promise to engage in negotiations on remaining $444 million within a week, or feel return to ‘darkness.’

By i24news

 

Israeli and Palestinian officials reached an agreement on Wednesday to stop several days of rolling blackouts in the West Bank over what Israel says is some $450 million in debt.


Israel returns power supply to Palestinian citiesby i24news-en

Under the agreement, the Palestinian Authority would make an immediate payment of  ‎₪20 million shekels ($5.2 million, €4.6 million) and engage in negotiations on the remainder, the state-run Israel Electricity Corporation said in a statement. Continue Reading »

Israel Police demolish ‘martyrs’ park in Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem 

 

After demolishing the obscene memorial garden in a Jerusalem Arab neighborhood commemorating terrorists who were killed while attacking Jews, Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said, ‘Police will act decisively against any display of incitement & support for terror against Israel.’

By Efrat Forsher

 

Jerusalem District police officers and city officials on Tuesday demolished a memorial garden in the Arab neighborhood of Ras al-Amud in east Jerusalem, which was created to commemorate terrorists — or “shahids” according to the garden’s founders — who have been killed during the current wave of violence.

A picture of a “shahid” at the park in east Jerusalem

The garden was created several weeks ago. Continue Reading »

2000yr-old synagogue unearthed by Sea of Galilee reveal ancient treasures

 

Second Temple era bronze incense shovel & jug were recently discovered at the excavation site of the ancient Jewish settlement of Mandala.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD

 

The excavation of a 2,000-year old Jewish settlement and synagogue from the Second Temple period in Mandala, located on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, recently revealed rare and well-preserved antiquities, including a bronze incense shovel and jug.

An aerial view of the settlement uncovered in excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority at Migdal. – Photo: Israel Antiquities Authority

The dig, overseen by the Israel Antiquities Authority prior to the construction of a building there, took place in an area considered to be the crossroads of Jewish and Christian history for its historical and religious significance for both Jews and Christians.

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IDF says Mideast arms proliferation jeopardizes IAF military edge

 

As Gulf countries acquire more & more sophisticated weapons, and sanctions relief begins to strengthen the Iranian economy, Jerusalem is concerned that the IDF’s qualitative edge in the region is being diminished.

By Reuters

 

Israel’s neighbors are buying arms on a scale that threatens its regional military superiority, the deputy Israeli air force chief said on Sunday, in remarks that appeared aimed at helping secure more defense aid from a reluctant Washington.

US military payouts to Israel, currently around $3 billion annually, expire in 2018, and Israeli officials have spoken of needing around $4.5 billion. US officials have balked at such an increase.  Continue Reading »

Bernie Sanders claims IDF was too indiscriminate, killing ‘10,000 innocents’ in Gaza

 

Apart from the IDF having the lowest combatant-to-civilian casualty ratio of any conflict ever recorded, democratic presidential candidate Sanders is of the opinion “Israel’s force was more indiscriminate than it should have been,” having killed “over 10,000 innocent people,” when in fact it was around a fifth of what Sanders suggested.

By Ari Soffer

 

Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders has accused Israel of killing over 10,000 innocent civilians during 2014’s war with Gazan terrorists – in a gross inflation of the casualty statistics enough to make even Hamas’s own propaganda chiefs blush.

Sanders, who trails Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton by a significant margin, made the comments in a meeting with the New York Daily News editorial board, a transcript of which was published Tuesday. Continue Reading »

Israeli Humanitarian Group Aids Refugees Europe’s Returning to Turkey

 

The Israeli humanitarian aid agency IsraAID, continues its work helping Muslim refugees as they are forcibly deported from Greece back to Turkey.

By Israel Today Staff, IsraAID in Greece

 

In accordance with the European Union’s decision and its agreement with the Turkish government, the deportation of refugees from Greece to Turkey began this week.

IsraAID website

 

This decision determines that every refugee arriving after March 20th 2016 will be immediately deported back to Turkey. In return, Turkey will receive a financial compensation from the EU.

IsraAID, an international humanitarian aid agency, has been working since last year in Greece and other parts of Europe, including Serbia, Croatia and the refugees’ final destination countries. Continue Reading »

U.S. Energy Secretary & Israel’s Energy Minister sign extensive energy agreement

New joint energy agreement will deepen & strengthen cooperation between the US & Israel in areas of natural gas, fuels & fuel alternatives, smart grid technologies, desalination & water treatment, and the security & cyber-defense of energy and water installations.

By Shlomo Cesana

 

U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and his Israeli counterpart, Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, signed a new joint energy deal in Jerusalem on Monday, intended to tighten cooperation between the countries.

U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz at Masada on Monday

The agreement expands areas of cooperation to include fuels and fuel alternatives, natural gas, smart grid technologies, desalination and water treatment, and the physical and cyber-defense of energy and water installations. Continue Reading »

First Jericho, now Bethlehem suffers electric shortages over massive debt 

 

Israel Electrical Corporation reduced power flow to the large West Bank city because the Palestinian Authority refuses to pay its electrical bills, amounting to the serious sum of $460 million.
• Meanwhile, Israel expands Gaza’s fishing zone.

By The Associated Press

 

Israel’s state electric company on Monday reduced power to a major West Bank city, saying it would take similar steps in other Palestinian areas over the next two weeks because of unpaid debt.

The Israel Electric Corporation said it had reduced its supply to Bethlehem by 50 percent, days after doing so in the city of Jericho. The company said the internationally-backed Palestinian Authority owes it nearly $460 million. Continue Reading »