Embattled Christians: Jews & Israel Support Us, but Where is the Church

 

At Jerusalem press conference, the Vicar of Baghdad lauds Jewish support for the Mid-East’s persecuted Christians, but blasts the Church’s relative  silence.

By Israel Today Staff

 

In an impassioned plea delivered at a press conference in Jerusalem on Monday, Canon Andrew White, the “Vicar of Baghdad,” noted that Israel and the Jews are openly standing up for embattled Middle East Christians, while much of the global Church remains conspicuously silent.

Canon Andrew White – Israel Today

Speaking to reporters t the Feast of Tabernacles celebration hosted by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ), White pointed to fellow panelist Ron Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, and wondered, “Here we see Jews standing with us, but where is the Church?” Continue Reading »

UN chief ‘shocked & alarmed’ by Gaza terror tunnels – but investigates Israel not Hamas

U.N. Secretary-General visits southern Israel & Gaza Strip
• UN Chief: The build-destroy, build-destroy cycle in Gaza must be broken
• UN Chief tours Hamas’ terror tunnel near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, calls threats posed by rockets & tunnels “not acceptable.”

By Shlomo Cesana, Gadi Golan, Daniel Siryoti, Israel Hayom Staff and News Agencies

 

The U.N. Human Rights Council’s investigation of Operation Protective Edge will go ahead as planned, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when the two met in Jerusalem earlier this week. Israel tried to convince Ban that an internal Israeli probe of the recent Gaza operation would be sufficient, but Ban made clear he would await the results of the U.N.
Continue Reading »

One name of 3 Israelis killed in Nepal avalanche has been released

 

Of 23 people rescued, about 15 climbers, including 12 Israelis, were recovering in a hospital in Kathmandu. Searches for any additional casualties resumed on Thursday morning.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS

 

Agam Luria, a 23 year old from Yifat, a kibbutz in the northern Galilee, was named as one of three Israeli hikers killed in a Himalayan avalanche on Wednesday.

Himalayan range

Himalayan range. – Photo: REUTERS

A fourth Israeli is still missing, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday. The names of the two other casualties have yet to be released to the public.

At least 85 climbers are still unaccounted for after a blizzard dumped snow and triggered avalanches along a mountain trekking route popular with backpackers, the Trekking Agencies’ Association of Nepal said on Thursday. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Defense Minister: The Palestinians Will Have Autonomy – Not Sovereignty

Defense Minister Ya’alon says a political separation between Israel & Abbas’ PA has already come about, and he calls for demilitarized autonomy for the Palestinian Authority.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

The Palestinian Arabs will not have a “state” but rather an “autonomy”, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon told the Israel Hayom daily newspaper in an interview published Wednesday.

“Our efforts to create shortcuts over the last two decades — from Oslo until present day — have all failed,” he said. “We know how to live with it. It is certainly not necessary to control them. We can give them political autonomy like they have now,” said Ya’alon. Continue Reading »

Palestinians’ envoy to the Netherlands hopes to avoid taking Israel to the ICC

‘Going to the International Criminal Court is the finale divorce,’ says Nabil Abuznaid, ‘I don’t think Palestinians & the Israelis are ready for a final divorce.’

By

 

JTA — Loading a newly released video of a beheading in Syria on his smartphone, Nabil Abuznaid, the Palestinians’ ambassador here in The Hague, shakes his head in disbelief.

Criminal Court

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki (left) at the International Criminal Court in The Hague. – Photo: AFP

“Look at those animals,” he says, referring to the fighters from the Islamic State jihadist group who carried out the decapitation. “Do you think Israelis are immune from this craziness?

Continue Reading »

Planned Riots on Temple Mount Force Israel Police to Restrict Muslim Entry

 

Israel Police to allow the entry of Muslim male worshipers over 50 yrs-old onto the Temple Mount following intelligence information about additional planned riots.

By Uzi Baruch

 

The Israel Police will restrict the entry of Muslim worshipers to the Temple Mount on Wednesday, due to intelligence information that was received about plans by Arabs to riot at the compound, as they have done several times already in recent days.

The decision was made by the Jerusalem District Commander of the police following an assessment conducted Tuesday evening.

According to the decision, only Arab men over the age of 50 and women of any age will be allowed to enter the compound. Continue Reading »

Natanyahu to visiting UN chief: Direct negotiations only path to Israel-Palestinian peace

At a meeting in Jerusalem with visiting UN chief, PM Netanyahu says Palestinian extremists continue to incite recent Temple Mount violence by rioting & spreading baseless lies of imagined Israeli threat.

By and DPA

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday at the beginning of his talks with visiting United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that real peace between Israel and the Palestinians would only be possible through bilateral negotiations with those who want peace.

Netanyahu and Ban shake hands before their meeting in Jerusalem, October 13, 2014.

Netanyahu and Ban shake hands before their meeting in Jerusalem, October 13, 2014. – Photo: Reuters

Unilateral Palestinian steps in the United Nations will not advance the cause of peace, Netanyahu told the UN chief.

Continue Reading »

Hamas’ weapons smuggling to suffer from rift between Iran and Sudan

Gaza’s arms suppliers are in the middle of a diplomatic snafu after Khartoum closed its Iranian culture centers out of concern Tehran was promoting Shi’ite ideology in Sunni Sudan.

By Roi Kais

 

After 20 years in which Sudan, a Sunni-majority state, maintained close strategic ties with Shi’ite Iran, cracks have begun to appear in the relationship between the two countries, who, according to foreign reports, have also cooperated against Israel.

Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir (left) with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei (right) – Photo: AP

There have been several reports in recent years about air raids on Sudanese territory against arms convoys reportedly transferring weapons to the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

3 Israeli Arabs reportedly entered Syria to join Islamic jihad

According to a report in a local Nazareth magazine, the families of the three men tried to have them arrested before they crossed the Turkish-Syrian border.

Four residents of Yafia, a town near Nazareth, left Israel for Turkey during Eid al-Adha earlier this month with the intent of enlisting with the rebel groups in Syria, or with the Islamic State, according to a report in a local Nazareth paper.

ISIS fighters in Raqqa, Syria.

Fighters from the Islamic State marching in Raqqa, Syria, January 2014. – Photo: AP

One of the four dropped out en route and returned home, where he told the families of the other three that they were planning to travel to Syria.

Continue Reading »

Israel’s Navy Successfully Tests ‘Iron Dome’ for Ships

Israel’s Barak 8 missile was successful in intercepting an anti-ship missile that imitated Russia’s Yakhont cruise missile.

By Gil Ronen

 

The Israel Navy has conducted a successful secret test of the Barak 8 missile, which is designed to defend ships from the much-vaunted Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles, reports Channel 2.

The Yakhont missiles are one of the greatest threats to the Navy’s vessels, mostly because of their potential use by Syria and Hezbollah. The missile flies at a very high speed – almost the speed of sound – from the moment it is launched.

The test was carried out with the cooperation of an Italian firm, which provided a missile that imitated the Yakhont and similar missiles. Continue Reading »

Cairo’s conference of donors pledge $5.4 billion for Gaza reconstruction

Int’l powers outperform Abbas’ expectations with generous donations from  EU, US, Qatar, Turkey, and UAE.

By the Associated Press

 

A donor conference in Cairo to raise money to rebuild the Gaza Strip after this year’s war between Hamas and Israel ended with pledges of $5.4 billion for reconstruction there, Norway’s foreign minister said Sunday.

Palestinians return to destroyed homes (Photo: Reuters)

Palestinians return to destroyed homes – Photo: Reuters

Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende offered the figure at the end of Sunday’s one-day conference, far beyond the $4 billion initially sought by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

“The message was clear to the international community that the Palestinian brothers are not alone,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Health Ministry directs hospitals to hold Ebola drills

The Health Ministry has instructed all hospitals in Israel to hold training drills to make sure they are able to deal with patients who have the deadly virus.

 

In the wake of a meeting convened Sunday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Ebola outbreak in Africa — the second such meeting within a week — the Health Ministry has instructed Israeli hospitals in Israel to hold training drills to make sure they are ready to deal with patients who have or may have the deadly virus. Ministry officials will hold their own hospital drills and also carry out inspections to gauge the readiness of the country’s hospitals, starting toward the end of the month.

Continue Reading »

Dozen’s of Jewish Graves Desecrated by Mount of Olives Vandals

Even after millions of Shekels were spent on security cameras, Arab vandals again entered, this time destroying the grave-site of the Hassidic leader, the Grand Rebbe of Modzitz, along with dozens of others, including other well-known rabbis.

By Moshe Cohen

 

Arab vandals destroyed the gravesite of the Hassidic leader, the Grand Rebbe of Modzitz, according to Modzitz hassidim who visited the site. The gravestone of the leader, Rabbi Yisrael Dan Taub, who died in 2006, was destroyed, along with dozens of others, including several well-known rabbis. The destruction took place at a special section of the Mount of Olives cemetery reserved for rabbinical leaders. Continue Reading »

Lieberman on Palestinian bluff, Gaza reconstruction, U.S. Support, Ebola & the Islamic State

In candid interview with Israel’s Foreign Minister Lieberman, a unilateral Palestinian push to set deadline for Israeli withdrawal is a useless endeavor that will fail, since all involved parties accept Israeli security needs must be at forefront of any renewed peace effort. 

By Attila Somfalvi

 

 

Hours before the Gaza aid conference in Cairo begins on Sunday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Ynet that “there are no American demands” of Israel and that the two countries have reached an understanding on Israel’s role in the reconstruction of the Strip.

Lieberman meets with American counterpart John Kerry (Photo: AFP)

Lieberman meets with American counterpart John Kerry – Photo: AFP

Lieberman, who spoke to US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday night, said that Israel was “definitely interested in the civil restoration of Gaza. Continue Reading »

Israeli Defense Company Signs $12.7M Contract With U.S. Army

In never-ending US-Israel cooperation, the Pentagon deal with Elbit Systems Ltd. strengthens ties even further.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

The US subsidiary of Israeli defense company Elbit Systems Ltd. was awarded an approximately $12.7 million contract to provide Apache Aviator Integrated Helmets (AAIH) to the United States Army, it announced Sunday.

Apache helicopter

Apache helicopter – Photo courtesy: US Army/Elbit

As part of the contract, work will be performed over a two-year period at Elbit Systems of America’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas.

“We have specifically designed the helmet modifications of the AAIH and Apache Integrated Helmet and Display and Sight System to improve safety features and add greater comfort for the Army Aviator,” stated Raanan Horowitz, president and chief executive officer, Elbit Systems of America, LLC. Continue Reading »