Israel and Stuff

Kerry Tells UN Human Rights Council They’re Obsessed With “Unbalanced Focus” on Israel

“We will oppose any group within the UN system (attempting) to regularly and arbitrarily de-legitimize Israel,” the top US diplomat warns the council in Geneva.

By i24news

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday slammed the for what he called its “unbalanced focus” on Israel and said he would defend the latter against allegations of abuses.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prays at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, on February 28, 2015 – Photo: Marc Sellem/Pool/AFP

Speaking to the Council in Geneva, Kerry also enjoined the group to probe human rights abuses in eastern portions of Ukraine by pro-Russian rebels as well as in North Korea. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: John Kerry, UN Anti-Semitism, UN bias, UN hypocrisy, UNHRC

Egyptian gov’t sanctions army to strike Gaza if needed

Although highly unlikely to happen, the government’s legal adviser sanctioned the legitimacy of a military response into Gaza, following the Egyptian Supreme Court’s decision Saturday to list Hamas a terrorist organization.

By Daniel Siryoti

The Egyptian military has received authorization from the government to carry out strikes in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian media reported on Sunday.

Egyptian security forces in the northern Sinai peninsula – Photo: AFP/File

According to the reports, the Egyptian government’s legal adviser sanctioned the legitimacy of an attack in Gaza following the Supreme Court’s decision to label Hamas a terrorist group on Saturday.

Senior Egyptian officials believe the likelihood of an Egyptian military attack in Gaza is slim, and that the decision was likely made as a deterrent measure and to hint that the military option is on the table in light of Hamas involvement in terrorist attacks in Egypt.

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: blacklist, Egypt Hamas, Egyptian court

Book: Mossad deciphering hidden al-Qaida, ISIS messages, encoded in Reddit, eBay & porn

Author Gordon Thomas claims that Israeli cyber warriors were tracking online encrypted messages, and “once the Mossad uncovers a specific plan abroad, it alerts the relevant intelligence agencies who act on the information & thwart the plot.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF

Mossad has used specially trained cyber warfare agents to crack coded messages sent by terrorists to their operatives through popular web sites like Reddit and eBay, according to a revised edition of a book about the Israeli spy agency.

Cyber hackers – Illustrative Photo: REUTERS

According to excerpts of the latest edition of Gideon’s Spies: The Secret History of the Mossad, author Gordon Thomas claims that Israeli cyber warriors were tracking message boards online in search of specially encrypted messages from the likes of al-Qaida and Islamic State. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: cyber defense, cyberwarfare, Israel intelligence, Mossad

Gag order lifted: 3 Israelis arrested for smuggling materials into Gaza for Hamas

Cleared for publication: Three Israelis indicted for smuggling materials into Gaza, in return for huge financial gains, thereby assisting Hamas rehabilitate and rebuild tunnels & destroyed infrastructure.

By Ilana Curiel & Yoav Zitun

Three Israelis were charged Monday with smuggling goods into the Gaza Strip, including materials used by Hamas to rehabilitate its tunnel operation in the wake of Operation Protective Edge last summer. During questioning, the three claimed that they had been trying to make a living.

The materials transferred by the three, one a resident of the Gaza border area, included iron, electronic equipment and other prohibited items. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Gaza, hamas, Israel Police, Israeli traitors, Shin Bet, smuggling

WATCH: Israel’s Natural Gas Revenues Begin Flowing , but Still ‘Drop in the Bucket’

Israel coffers took in NIS 744 million ($188 million) in 2014 royalties for offshore gas fields, a 39% increase over 2013, but far short from the NIS 3.2-3.4 billion expected in a few years.

By Yaakov Levi

Israel took in NIS 744 million ($188 million) in royalties for offshore gas fields – a 39% increase over the year before. That, however, is a drop in the bucket compared to the NIS 3.2-3.4 billion (about $750 million) expected by 2019, the Energy and Water Ministry said Sunday.

A natural gas rig west of Haifa, Israel. – Photo: Albatross Aerial Perspective/AP

The 2013 and 2014 royalties came mostly from the Tamar and Yam Thetis gas fields. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Delek Group, Energy and Water Ministry, gas exploration, Leviathan, Noble Energy, Tamar, Yam Thetis

Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan slams water deal with Israel just day after historic agreement

Ignoring the 3 extraordinary benefits to Jordan, the Islamic Action Front condemns yesterday’s historic agreement with the ‘Zionist enemy’ to construct the Two Seas Canal project that will rehabilitate the Dead Sea.

By i24news

The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan’s main opposition party, on Sunday slammed a deal signed between the country and Israel to build a pipeline to link the Red Sea with the shrinking Dead Sea and combat regional water shortages.

Jordanian protesters – Photo: AFP

The IAF, a political front for the Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, criticized the agreement with what it called the “Zionist enemy,” saying it links the “strategic interests [of the two countries] with regards to energy and water.”

Category: Israel News | Tags: Dead Sea, Israel Jordan, Muslim Brotherhood, Red Sea, Two Seas Canal

Christian Soldiers Proud to Defend Israel

Watching the ISIS brutality in Syria brought upon the non-Muslims, the young Israeli Christians say this is why they willingly & happily serve in the IDF to defend the Jewish State.

By Ryan Jones

News has been swirling that ISIS is again on the rampage against Christians in Iraq and Syria.

Father Gabriel Naddaf, spiritual leader of the Israeli Christian Recruitment Forum, joins several young Arabic-speaking Aramean Christians as they are inducted into the Israel Defense Forces.

Reports indicate that no fewer than 35 Assyrian Christian villages have been targeted in northeastern Syria in recent weeks. Most of these villages are now empty of inhabitants.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Aramean Christians, IDF, IDF volunteers, Israeli Christians

Obama’s conspiracy to oust Netanyahu serious display of hypocrisy

Republicans say Obama’s former aid, who’s working for Likud’s opposition, reflects “White House hypocrisy”, noting how Obama is more than “quietly rooting” for PM Netanyahu’s defeat in the upcoming Israeli election.

By Dan Lavie

A former adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama is currently working to unseat Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a New York Times headline suggested this weekend. The accompanying article detailed the efforts of Jeremy Bird, the architect of the Victory 2015 movement, to replace the existing Israeli leadership.

Former Obama aide Jeremy Bird – Photo: GettyImages

Bird is a founding partner of the political consulting firm 270 Strategies.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Barack Obama, Israel US, White House

Singapore seeks closer ties with Israel

Since both countries are high-tech nations with small populations, they have to turn to broader markets to expand and thrive.

By NIV ELIS

Singapore is looking to increase its investments in Israel, and serve as a bridge to the wider Asian market.

A guest swims in the infinity pool of the Skypark that tops the Marina Bay Sands hotel towers in Singapore. – Photo: REUTERS

“We notice there’s a gap down there. Israeli companies don’t come to Asian that often. We realized that this is an opportunity for us,” said Alex Lim, Global Head of Infocomm Investments (IIPL), a new $200 million Singaporean Government backed fund to invest in start-ups & growth stage companies around the world. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: Asia, Buisness, Israel, Singapore

Report: Obama Threatened to Shoot Down Israeli Jets in Preemptive Iranian Strike

Kuwaiti paper reported on Saturday that an (unnamed) Israeli minister with good ties to White House, ‘revealed the attack plan to John Kerry.’

By Mark Langfan

The Bethlehem-based news agency Ma’an has cited a Kuwaiti newspaper report Saturday, that US President Barack Obama thwarted an Israeli military attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities in 2014 by threatening to shoot down Israeli jets before they could reach their targets in Iran.

Barack Obama – Reuters

Following Obama’s threat, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was reportedly forced to abort the planned Iran attack.

According to Al-Jarida, the Netanyahu government took the decision to strike Iran some time in 2014 soon after Israel had discovered the United States and Iran had been involved in secret talks over Iran’s nuclear program and were about to sign an agreement in that regard behind Israel’s back.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Barack Obama, Iran Strike, Netanyahu - Obama, Zbigniew Brzezinski

Congress to Hear Netanyahu and Hopefully Help Save the Entire World

‘For the past 2 years, Obama has enabled Iran take over Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, & Yemen. P.M. Netanyahu is going to Washington because Obama has left him no choice.’ – Caroline Glick

By Hillel Fendel

American organizations continue to line up behind Binyamin Netanyahu as he nears what is likely his most controversial speech in his nearly nine years as Israel’s prime minister.

The Kansas-based Unity Coalition for Israel states that “this one man holds the safety of the entire world in his hands. Everything else is a side issue.” It is thus “fortunate that Congress has an opportunity to hear” him, writes the organization’s president Esther Levens.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Binyamin Netanyahu, Caroline Glick, CJHS, Congress speech, Iranian nuclear program

israelandstuffcom | February 28, 2015

Livni and Herzog Met By Angry Arab Mob – Police Arrest Three

New union party seeking Arab supporters found instead radical groups calling Livni & Herzog ‘murderers’ when they visited the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, in north central Israel.

By Yedidya Ben-Or, Gil Ronen

There is growing tension between the Labor-Hatnua list, officially known as The Zionist Camp, and the Arab sector in Israel.

Dozens of people protested Saturday against the visit by party leaders Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni – as well as the Arab candidate on the list, Zohair Bahalul – at Umm al-Fahm, in north central Israel. Three were arrested when a scuffle broke out with police.

Category: Israel News | Tags: Elections 2015, Israel Politics, Labor-Hatnua, Umm al-Fahm

israelandstuffcom | February 28, 2015

Egyptian Court Rules: Hamas Blacklisted As Terrorist Organization

The court’s updated ruling to list Hamas as terror org comes a month after an Egyptian judge listed the political party’s ‘armed wing’ as a terrorist group.
• A source from Hamas says the group will no longer allow Egypt broker between it and Israel.

Reuters

An Egyptian court listed the Palestinian group Hamas as a terrorist organization, judicial and security sources said on Saturday, one month after a judge listed the group’s armed wing as a terrorist group.

Hamas training camp in Gaza.

Hamas is an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood which the authorities have also declared a terrorist group and have repressed systematically since the army ousted one of its leaders, Mohamed Mursi, from the presidency in 2013. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: blacklist, Egyptian court, hamas, terrorist organization

israelandstuffcom | February 27, 2015