WSJ Reports: As Iran nuke talks advanced, Pentagon upgraded its ‘bunker-buster’ bombs

WSJ reported top Obama aides & officials split regarding Iranian deal as the Pentagon expedited work to create better weapon that could destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities if negotiations failed.

By Yitzhak Benhorin

 

WASHINGTON – The Wall Street Journal said on Friday that the Pentagon has been upgrading the biggest bunker-buster bomb in its arsenal as talks with Iran continued over Tehran’s nuclear program, readying a weapon that could destroy Iran’s facilities if negotiations failed.

Iran’s Qom facility – Photo: AP

Work to improve the design, guidance systems and anti-jamming capabilities on the so-called Massive Ordnance Penetrator began before the latest round of negotiations with Iran started. Continue Reading »

ISIS Beheading Syrian Palestinians in Damascus Suburb of Yarmouk

Islamic State has seized nearly all of the Yarmouk district, currently 18,000 Palestinians residing from the over 100,000 pre-war population.

By Arutz Sheva staff

The savage Islamic State (ISIS) organization has seized nearly all of the Palestinian district of Yarmouk in Damascus, activists said Saturday, and there are reports of beheadings and mass killings of Palestinians.

Inside Yarmouk (file) – Reuters

The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) watchdog group said the Islamist militants have taken over 90% of Yarmouk, on the southern edge of the Syrian capital.

The Financial Times cited activists who said that the jihadi group may succeed in cementing a foothold in the Syrian capital, thus increasing pressure on President Bashar al-Assad.

Continue Reading »

Israeli Officials Not Swayed by Obama’s Pitch to Layman’s Naïveté of the Real Iran

Israeli officials say America’s orchestrated deal with Iran “will make the world far more dangerous.”
– Agreeing with Israel’s ‘official opinion’, Lapid, Herzog & Livni also speak out on ‘Historic Mistake’.

By Elad Benari

 

Left and right in Israel were on Thursday night united in their opposition to the new framework agreement reached between Iran and six world powers on Tehran’s nuclear program.

Press conference at Lausanne – Reuters

Israeli government officials said that the framework deal will be remembered as a “historic mistake”.

“If an agreement is reached on the basis of this framework, it is an historic mistake which will make the world far more dangerous,” said the officials, briefing journalists on condition of anonymity.

Continue Reading »

Israel allegedly bombed Libya warehouses of Iranian weapons meant for Hamas

Arab media is reporting destroyed warehouses, allegedly stockpiled with weapons purchased by Iran for Hamas, were the result of IDF airstrike via authorized Egyptian airspace.

By i24news

 

An Israeli air force jet allegedly bombed warehouses in Libya placed in a small airfield in the south of the country, according to Arab media citing unnamed Libyan security sources.

An Israeli F-15 I fighter jet takes off during an air show at the graduation ceremony of Israeli air force pilots at the Hatzerim base in the Negev desert. – Photo: Jack Guez /AFP/File

According to the reports, the warehouses, which were completely destroyed, stockpiled weaponry purchased by Iran from Africa and were intended to be smuggled to Hamas in Gaza. Continue Reading »

Israeli Archeologists find Bronze Age Egyptian Artifacts

Even after Israeli archeologists discovered a cave in southern Israel was robbed by artifact thieves, several Egyptian-made artifacts were found dating back to the Late Bronze Age.

By Yori Yalon

 

Continue Reading »

Israel approves natural gas deal with Jordan

PM Netanyahu and Energy Minister Shalom authorized agreement to export Tamar natural gas to 2 Jordanian concerns.

Cementing Israel’s first natural gas export deal with Jordan, National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized an agreement to convey Tamar reservoir gas to two Jordanian companies on Thursday.

Israel’s natural gas platform – Photo: MINISTRY OF NATIONAL INFRASTRUCTURES

The ministerial approval follows the February 2014 announcement of the transaction between the Tamar reservoir partnership and the Jordanian firms. The approximately $500 million deal enables the provision of up to 2.2 billion cubic meters of gas to the Arab Potash and Jordan Bromine companies over 15 years, for use at their respective facilities near the Dead Sea. Continue Reading »

Young Israeli Man Missing in West Bank in Suspected Kidnapping

IDF & Police forces searching for young Israeli man in Hebron region after his friend called police claiming missing man went into Arab village searching for tools to change flat tire after being stranded.

By Itay Blumenthal, Yoav Zitun

 

IDF and police forces are searching the Hebron area in the West Bank between Kiryat Arba and Bayt Einun late Thursday afternoon for a missing Israeli man who is feared kidnapped.

Soldiers searching the area for the missing Israeli (Photo: Tazpit)

Soldiers searching the area for the missing Israeli – Photo: Tazpit

A friend of the missing person called the police at 4:17 pm, saying he and his friend were stranded with a flat tire and that his friend went to find work tools to replace the tire but never returned. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Intelligence Minister: We Will Attack Iran, If We Have No Choice

After Iranian General said, “Israel’s destruction is non-negotiable”, Israel’s Intelligence Minister Steinitz responded Thursday that if all else fails, military action against Iran remains a viable option.

By Cynthia Blank

 

As Iran and the P5+1 world powers struggle to eke out a deal on Tehran’s nuclear program in Switzerland, Israel says it will do everything possible to prevent a nuclear Iran.

Speaking on public radio Thursday, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said that all options were on the table in the face of the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.

This, he added, includes military action.

Iran has repeatedly called for Israel’s destruction.

Continue Reading »

U.S. Survey: American support for Palestinians hits 20-year low

Latest Washington Post-ABC News poll finds 39% of US public support creation of Palestinian state, with 36% who oppose it & 25% who just don’t care.
• Survey further shows half of Americans disapprove of how President Obama is handling US-Israel relations.

By Daniel Siryoti, Yoni Hersch, News Agencies, & Israel Hayom Staff

 

A new Washington Post-ABC News poll has found the American public’s support for a Palestinian state is at a 20-year low, as only 39% of Americans support the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, while 36% oppose the notion. Some 25% of those polled said they had no opinion on the matter.
Continue Reading »

Israel Police recover 150 yr-old Jewish ledger stolen in Prague

 

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Police this morning identified an ancient book of historical Jewish significance allegedly stolen in 2007 from a Jewish museum in Prague and arrested several suspects in the matter.

Photo courtesy: Israel Police, Lahav 333

The book is a record of the Jewish community in the Czech Republic, which was written between 1835 and 1860. It was apparently stolen from the synagogue located inside the museum.

As part of a cooperative effort between Czech law enforcement and Israeli intelligence services, investigators were able to to detect the stolen artifact. Continue Reading »

Israel: With Abbas’ PA in Cahoots With Hamas, it’s Absurdly Hypocritical Going to ICC

Emmanuel Nachshon from Israel Foreign Ministry’s calls the Palestinian decision to join the Int’l Criminal Court “political, cynical & hypocritical.”

 

“Palestine” has no right to join the International Criminal Court, because there is no Palestinian state in accordance with international law, Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon said Wednesday.

ICC Second Vice-President Judge Kuniko Ozaki, in the presence of the President of the Assembly of States Parties, H.E. Sidiki Kaba, presents Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad Al-Malki with a special edition of the Rome Statute. – Photo: ICC

Nachshon said that for this reason, the ICC’s prosecutor erred earlier this year in accepting the Palestinian request for a preliminary examination into alleged war crimes stemming from Operation Protective Edge over the summer. Continue Reading »

“Hamas cannot conquer the Negev & Hezbollah cannot take the Galilee”

Despite the level of bravado from Iranian Generals or Hezbollah leaders, Israel’s enemies today are far weaker now than the armies of 1967, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi opines.

By Tova Dvorin

 

The threat level Hezbollah poses against Israel has been overhyped, former IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi stated Wednesday – despite a recent IDF simulation predicting some 1,500 rockets on Israeli citizens per day.

Hezbollah military parade – Reuters

“Hamas cannot conquer the Negev and Hezbollah cannot take the Galilee,” Ashkenazi stated at a ceremony for Kineret Academic College in Tel Aviv.

Ashkenazi also opined that Israel’s enemies are, if anything, weaker than they were in 1967.

Continue Reading »

After a Decade in Prison, Muslim Scientist Finds Refuge in Jewish State

A modern story of Exodus: After imprisoned for 11 years, tortured & left handicapped for suspicion of spying for Israel, Egyptian nuclear scientist Noha Hashad sought refuge in Israel after fleeing to Jordan.

Continue Reading »

Watch: In successful test, David’s Sling shoots down incoming missile

Israel’s Defense Minister Ya’alon: This successful project will become operational in 2016

By YAAKOV LAPPIN

 

Following recent assessments on the significant rocket threat posed by Hezbollah to the Israeli home front, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday that it carried out a successful test of the David’s Sling anti-projectile system, which is designed to shoot down short to medium-range rockets and missiles.

During the trial, carried out this week in central Israel by the Defense Ministry and the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency, David’s Sling radar identified a mock Sparrow missile heading into its air space, and fired an interceptor that struck and destroyed the target. Continue Reading »

State of Palestine officially becomes signatory to ICC

Erekat says ICC probe into Israel is already underway, despite the fact they have no borders, currency, or are recognized by its neighbors, and reports of a deal with Israel to not file charges.

By Ynet & AP

 

The Palestinians officially joined the International Criminal Court at The Hague on Wednesday, a move initiated by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after the failure of the US-brokered peace talks last year.

Abbas, accompanied by Erekat, signing requests to join international institutions in December – Photo: EPA

The televised broadcast in December of Abbas signing applications to join dozens of international institutions, including the ICC, prompted an angry response by Israel, which in January froze the transfer of millions of dollars in tax revenue that Israel had collected for the Palestinians. Continue Reading »