Disregarding regulations & protocol, Women of the Wall sneak miniature Torah into the Kotel

The religious feminist organization says this is 1st time in 25 years women have read from the Torah at the holy Jewish site.

Western Wall Rabbi condemns the group’s ‘deception.’

 

Defying regulations by Western Wall rabbinic authorities, members of Women of the Wall smuggled a tiny Torah scroll into the women’s section of the Kotel Friday morning, in what the feminist prayer group said was the first reading from the Torah by women at the holy site in 25 years.

Bat mitzvah girl Sasha Lutt reads from the Torah scroll smuggled into the Kotel.

Bat mitzvah girl Sasha Lutt reads from the tiny Torah scroll smuggled into the Western Wall, Fri.

Continue Reading »

Second Disaster in Nepal as 2 Israeli Women Killed in Bus Crash

Heavily overcrowded bus falls from cliff in second tragedy in the Himalayas this month, killing 11 – including 2 Israeli women.

By Tova Dvorin

 

A bus traveling from Kathmandu to Langtang has fallen off a cliff and into a ravine in the Himalayas, Nepalese sources told Arutz Sheva on Friday morning.

Nepal bus crash (file)

Nepal bus crash (file) – Reuters

The bus fell 150 meters (492 ft.) after coming off a narrow road in Belkot, Nuwakot district, about 75 kilometers (46 miles) northwest of Kathmandu, according to Kantipur Television.

Eleven people are reported to have been killed in the crash; 52 have been injured. Continue Reading »

Aliya makes historic shift as it went from ‘rescue’ to smart ‘choice’

 

During the last Jewish year of 5774, aliya from around the world increased by more than 30%, reaching around 25,000 immigrants.

By Natan Sharansky

 

The Zionist project of ingathering the exiles is undergoing a historic shift: We are moving from an aliya of rescue to an aliya of free choice.

french aliya

FRENCH JEWISH children at the historic Synagogue des Tournelles in Parisin July ahead of their aliya with their families. – Photo:EREZ LICHTFELD

During the most recent Jewish year, 5774, aliya from around the world increased by more than 30 percent, reaching some 25,000 immigrants.

Behind this huge increase are two highly symbolic developments. Continue Reading »

Nigerian president returns to Jerusalem for ‘Good Luck’

President Goodluck Jonathan seeks blessing from God prior to his upcoming elections.
Israel seeks to win his support by blocking Palestinian effort at the UN Security Council.

By Itamar Eichner

 

 

A year after his last visit, Nigeria’s president is returning to Israel after reaching a historic deal with the militant Islamist movement Boko Haram, in which 219 Christian girls who were abducted 6 months ago are expected to be released.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2013. (Photo: Atta Awisat)

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2013. – Photo: Atta Awisat

Israel considers the Nigerian president’s visit of great importance, as Nigeria is a current member of the UN Security Council. Continue Reading »

After French court ruling, Twitter clamps down on hate-speech & anti-Semitism

After the French court ruled Twitter must remove certain hate-speech & anti-Semitic content, social media companies, like YouTube & Facebook have implemented stricter rules against hate speech.

By

 

A little over a year after a French court forced Twitter to remove some anti-Semitic content, experts say the ruling has had a ripple effect, leading other Internet companies to act more aggressively against hate speech in an effort to avoid lawsuits.

Twitter

The 2013 ruling by the Paris Court of Appeals settled a lawsuit brought the year before by the Union of Jewish Students of France over the hashtag #UnBonJuif, which means “a good Jew” and which was used to index thousands of anti-Semitic comments that violated France’s law against hate speech.

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Japan Digs into Israel’s Market With Its Best Kosher Food & Drink

Japanese & Israeli trade officials and businessmen all agree: Japan has found a market in Israel, and the sake has just started flowing.

By Ari Yashar

 

 

As America and Europe become ever more critical in foisting political agendas on their relations with Israel, the Jewish state is turning its eyes to the east – where it has found a natural ally in Japan, holder of the world’s third-largest GDP.

Bringing Japanese food to the heart of Jerusalem

Bringing Japanese food to the heart of Jerusalem – Different View

That alliance is advancing rapidly under the guidance of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), a government-related group whose representatives at the Japanese Culture Week in Jerusalem told Arutz Sheva  on Monday night they are witnessing something of a renaissance in Japanese-Israeli trade. Continue Reading »

Israeli firm to guarantee Rio Olympics security in 2016 in $2.2 billion deal

Israeli firm plans to make 2016 Rio Games a ‘technology hotbed of Israeli security solutions’

By i24news

 

 

An Israeli company has been awarded the tender to plan and coordinate the security concept for the 2016 Rio Olympics in a deal worth $2.2 billion, the IsraelDefense magazine reported Wednesday.

Rio 2016 Olympic Games organizers launch their bid to recruit 70,000 volunteers for the first Games to be held in South America ( Yasuyoshi Chiba (AFP/File) )

Rio 2016 Olympic Games organizers launch their bid to recruit 70,000 volunteers for the first Games to be held in South America – Photo: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/File

International Security & Defence Systems (ISDS), a multi-national security company based in Nir Zvi, Israel with subsidiaries around the world, will act as a consultant as well as supply the security systems for the games. Continue Reading »

Arab Diplomat to Norway: Palestinian Movement About Destroying Israel, NOT About Humanitarian Considerations

Israeli Christian envoy serving as deputy Israeli ambassador to Norway tells it straight when he acknowledges today’s politicized Palestinian cause is really a weapon against Israel.

By Israel Today Staff

 

George Deek is a Christian Arab from the ancient Mediterranean city of Jaffa. He is also deputy to Israeli Druze poet and academic Naim Araidi, who currently serves as Israel’s ambassador to Norway.

George Deek deputy Israeli ambassador to Norway

Late last month, Deek addressed a gathering hosted by the Norwegian group “With Israel for Peace.” He delivered what some in that country are calling “the best speech an Israeli diplomat ever made.”

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Israel & Australia sign 1-yr work visa agreement

 

18-30 yr-old Israelis with no children will be eligible for a 1-year Australian work visa
• Israel decided that draft dodgers won’t be eligible for the work visa, with exceptions, including Israeli Arabs and those who did national service instead.

By Shlomo Cesana

 

Israel and Australia signed an agreement on Wednesday that will allow young adults from both countries to get work visas from the other. The deal was part of a recent effort to secure work arrangements for young Israelis abroad, to prevent them from getting in legal trouble when looking for work.

Israelis will soon be able to apply for one-year Australian work visas – Photo: Rafael Ben Ari

The agreement was signed by Israeli Ambassador to Australia Shmuel Ben Shmuel and Australian Deputy Immigration and Border Protection Minister Senator Michaelia Cash.

Continue Reading »

Report: Abbas accepted US request to postpone Palestinian Security Council bid for statehood

 

Sources in Ramallah told the London-based daily that the Palestinian Authority is prepared to return to the negotiation-table with Israel, but not according to “old mechanisms.”

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

The London-based pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat reported on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority has agreed to delay by two months its plan to seek a Security Council resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines within three years.

Palestinians in Gaza celebrate cease-fire

Palestinians in Gaza celebrate cease-fire. – Photo: REUTERS

The paper quoted Palestinian sources in Ramallah as saying that the PA leadership will give US Secretary of State John Kerry a two-month window to present his own plan for peace. Continue Reading »

Arabs Again Attack Jewish Kindergarten in Jerusalem

Arabs continue with rock-throwing incidents in Israel’s capital as clashes continued overnight & early Thursday morning in Silwan & Shuafat neighborhoods, causing damage to city’s light rail – no one was hurt.

By Noam (Dabul) Dvir

 

Following the deadly attack at the Jerusalem Light Rail, stones were hurled on Thursday morning at a kindergarten in the Ma’ale ha-Zeitim neighborhood in East Jerusalem, near the Arab neighborhood of Ras al-Amud.

Stones hitting the kindergarten's roof.

Stones hitting the kindergarten’s roof.

Border police and police forces started searching for the suspects who fled the scene. No damage was caused and no one was hurt.

“We heard booms in the morning coming from the kindergarten,” said Shlomi, the father of one of the kids at the kindergarten. Continue Reading »

Israel Navy opting acquisition of German missile ships

 

Germany’s offer to sell missile ships taken seriously as Israel has installed multiple  defenses tiers around its underwater gas reservoirs & offshore platforms.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN

 

The Ministry of Defense said this week that it is examining a proposal by the German government to sell Israel navy ships for the protection of Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the Mediterranean Sea.

The navy patrols off the coast of Gaza on Monday

The navy patrols off the coast of Gaza on Monday. – Photo: YAAKOV LAPPIN

The bid came months after the Ministry of Defense issued a tender for the purchase of ships to defend the zone, which contains underwater gas reservoirs and offshore platforms. Continue Reading »

3 wounded in suspected terror attack in Jerusalem – culprit shot by police

Baby among the 3 wounded when car hits people waiting for Light Rail at the Ammunition Hill station in Israel’s capital.

By Noam (Dabul) Dvir

 

Three people were wounded near Jerusalem’s Light Rail Ammunition Hill station in a possible terror attack. Initial reports said the train had derailed but the recent reports say a car attempted to run over people waiting at the station.

Photo: Hillel Meir, Tazpit

Photo: Hillel Meir, Tazpit

The car’s driver attempted to flee the scene but was shot, apparently by the police.

According to MDA paramedics at 5:54 pm they received a report saying that a car hit a number of pedestrians near the Ammunition Hill station. Continue Reading »

EU Hypocrisy: Financial Assistance to Abbas’ PA Violate Oslo Accords

NGO finds European Union funding illegal Palestinian Authority settlements in Israeli territory as breach of Oslo Accords, especially as EU makes new push for sanctions on Israel.

By Ari Soffer

 

An Israeli NGO is set to release a report it says shows tens of cases in which the European Union has actively worked to breach the Oslo Accords signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, by changing the facts on the ground in Area C to unilaterally harm Israel in final status talks with the Palestinians.

Illegal Palestinian building in Area C

Illegal Palestinian building in Area C – Regavim

The report is significant as it comes at the same time as the EU has made a renewed push to threaten Jerusalem with sanctions if Israel makes “unilateral moves” which European states deem to be harmful to their vision of a “two-state solution.” Continue Reading »

2 IDF soldiers wounded on Israel-Egypt border

Large Israeli forces sweeping the area to eliminate possible terrorist infiltration from the Sinai.

Unrelated: 5 IDF soldiers injured when their jeep flips over nearby.

 

Two soldiers were wounded on Wednesday in a shooting incident near the border with Egypt, the Israeli military confirmed.

Wounded soldiers being evacuated to the Soroka Medical Center, Be'er Sheva.

Wounded soldiers being evacuated to the Soroka Medical Center, Be’er Sheva, October 22, 2014.- Photo: Eliyahu Hershkovitz

The two were soldiers from the mixed Caracal infantry battalion, one of them a female company commander. They were evacuated by helicopter to the Soroka Medical Center, Be’er Sheva.

Large forces were immediately mobilized to the area, near Azuz. Continue Reading »