Trying to Sell a Moderate Hamas

A Point to Remember: The ideological orientation in Hamas for its use of mass murder through suicide bombings & rocket attacks on Israeli population centers, has never been condemned by the Palestinian leadership in Gaza or in Ramallah.

By Dore Gold

 

Every time the profile of Hamas rises as a result of some development in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, there is an effort undertaken to repackage Hamas as a moderate organization.1

Ismail Haniyeh (R) with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaa (L) – Reuters

Right after the Palestinian elections in 2006, Musa Abu Marzuq, the deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, published an op-ed in the Washington Post declaring: “a new breed of Islamic leadership is ready to put into practice faith-based principles in a setting of tolerance and unity.” Continue Reading »

Major American Jewish Org. Rejects J Street’s Admission

51 American Jewish organizations rejected the admission of the far left-wing lobby into the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

 

 

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a non-profit U.S. group comprised of 51 national Jewish organizations, voted Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. EST to reject the dovish lobby J Street’s request for admission.

J Street supporters holding a rally in Boston for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

J Street supporters holding a rally in Boston for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. – Photo: Bob Nesson

The self-declared “pro-Israel, pro-peace” organization was founded in 2008 and presents itself as an alternative to AIPAC, the powerful, veteran pro-Israel lobby.

Continue Reading »

Intel Plans Investment of $6 Billion Dollars in Israel

Israeli Ministers welcome Intel’s plan to upgrade its Kiryat Gat plant, which involves a reciprocal investment in the Israeli economy.

By Yishai Karov

 

Major hi-tech and computing company Intel is investing 5-6 billion dollars to upgrade its plant in Kiryat Gat, the company announced Wednesday.

The investment plan includes a deal between the company and the state, by which Intel will receive a 750 million shekel ($216,706,500) construction grant from the government in return for its commitment to invest 5% of the investment money into the Israeli economy.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the investment plan Wednesday night.

“This investment plan is the result of the process we’ve been working on for several years,” the Prime Minister stated. Continue Reading »

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador: The Palestinian pattern, 1st Demand then Delay, then Desert

 

Israel’s Ambassador to the U.N.Ron Prosor criticizes European funding to Abbas’ PA, saying: “I wonder how taxpayers in London, Luxembourg and Paris would feel knowing that they will enable Hamas to launch more rockets into Israel.”

By Daniel Siryoti, Shlomo Cesana, Yoni Hirsch & news agencies

 

Continue Reading »

IDF, Shin Bet arrest Arab cell planning terror attacks on Jewish Israelis

 

The Palestinian terror cell, affiliated with Hamas was arrested just before executing planned bombing and shooting attacks against Israelis.

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

Security forces led by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) arrested members of a Hamas-affiliated terrorist cell in Kalkilya in recent months, who were plotting a campaign of bombings and shootings against Israeli targets, the Shin Bet announced Wednesday.

Israel Police counter-terrorism - Photo: Or Many

Israel Police counter-terrorism – Photo: Or Manny

Security sources told The Jerusalem Post that the suspects, who were arrested in a series of raids between December and March, were in the early phase of planning terrorist attacks on Israeli targets in the West Bank and within the Green Line.

Continue Reading »

Online petition demands IDF commander to reinstate soldier

 

‘David’, who was caught on camera cocking his weapon at a Palestinian teenager, was court-martialed for violent offenses by his commander, just prior to this incident.

By Yoav Zitun, Michal Margalit

 

A Nahal soldier, who was removed from his combat position in the brigade after he was documenting cocking his weapon and aiming it at a Palestinian teenager earlier this week, but a Facebook page with over 71,000 likes is demanding his reinstatement.

‘I’m with David’

An investigation of the incident, in which the soldier cocks his weapon at a 15-year-old Palestinian teenager in Hebron, found that the soldier was removed from the brigade before the incident. Continue Reading »

40 year debate: Did archaeologists find the last Maccabean king hidden in Jerusalem?

 

For 4 decades, the crucified remains with broken jaw have confused scientists, but maybe the last Hasmonean king has been discovered in an ossuary buried under a private house in Jerusalem.

 

In 1970, a rock-cut tomb was discovered by workers building a private house in Jerusalem’s Givat Hamivtar neighborhood. Inside the two-chambered burial, dating back to the first century BCE, archeologists found a decorated ossuary – a limestone box containing the bones of the deceased – and an enigmatic Aramaic inscription affixed to the wall.

The nails and part of the lower jaw found in the Abba cave ossuary (Ariel David)

The nails and part of the lower jaw found in the Abba cave ossuary.

Continue Reading »

AGAIN from Fatah: ‘2-State Solution Is Dead, Time for Armed Struggle’

Fatah official on Hezbollah TV calls for ‘historic solution’ of armed conflict; claims all of Israel is ‘Palestine.’

By Ari Yashar

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction espouses the same ideology of destroying Israel as Hamas, with which it signed a unity deal last Wednesday, according to newly revealed video segments of a senior Fatah official.

Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi last week posted a video to YouTube of his comments from a pro-terrorist ceremony in Gaza. In his speech mere days before the unity deal, Tirawi said Gaza “will return to the bosom of legitimacy.”

Tirawi added “the homeland…is…all of Palestine, from its [Jordan] River to its [Mediterranean] Sea,” describing a map that effectively wipes out the Jewish state. Continue Reading »

Contrary to Popular Thought Israel is Not Facing Demographic Threat

From Khameini to Obama, even Netanyahu,  is using flawed data to maneuver Israel into a 2-state solution

By Israel Today Staff

 

 

From the American secretary of state to left-wing Israeli politicians to the mullahs of Iran, many subscribe to the notion that if Israel does not surrender the “West Bank” for the creation of a Palestinian state, it will be overwhelmed by an Arab population that will destroy the Jewish character of the state.

Dr. Guy Bachor – Photo courtesy

Not so, argued an Israeli expert citing such reputable sources as the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics and the CIA World Fact Book. Continue Reading »

China seeks to publish Dore Gold’s book on Israel’s legal rights to a unified Jerusalem

 

PM Natanyahu’s adviser, Dore Gold’s best-selling book, “The Fight for Jerusalem,” details Israel’s historical links & legal rights to a unified Jerusalem, is being translated to Chinese.

By Shlomo Cesana

 

Continue Reading »

Zahar: Unity deal with Fatah won’t make Hamas recognize Israel’s right to exist

 

One of Hamas’s most influential voices, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, says unity deal will not change Gaza status quo, dismissing Abbas’ promises that the Palestinian unity agreement will ever recognize Israel.

By REUTERS

 

A Palestinian unity deal will not lead Islamist group Hamas to recognize Israel’s right to exist and will not result in any Gaza militants coming under President Mahmoud Abbas’s control, a senior Hamas official said on Tuesday.

gaza

Veteran Hamas strategist Mahmoud Al-Zahar – Photo: REUTERS

Veteran Hamas strategist Mahmoud Al-Zahar told Reuters the group, which runs the Gaza Strip, was waiting for Abbas to form a unity government, but said the Palestinian leader was taking his time in an effort to overcome US and Israeli opposition. Continue Reading »

Mysterious Explosion Sinks the Protest Ship, ‘Gaza’s Ark’

Israel accused of ‘sabotage ‘by Pro-Hamas organizers of ‘Protest’ boat meant to breach Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.

By AFP and Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Gaza’s Ark, a “protest” boat that was preparing to breach Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza, which is ruled by the terrorist organization Hamas, was sunk in a mysterious explosion on Tuesday.

Gaza's Ark

Gaza’s Ark

The blast occurred in Gaza City’s port, and was preceded by an anonymous telephone call warning the guard of the ship that it was about to be blown up, organizers of the “protest” project told AFP.

The ship, a large fishing vessel which was being readied to challenge Israeli naval authority in June, sustained major damage and sunk in the shallow waters of the port, leaving three-quarters of it submerged. Continue Reading »

Surprise! Hamas Refuses to Recognize Israel….Yet Alone a ‘Jewish’ State

 

Actually, no one really believed Mahmoud Abbas’ declaration that Hamas would recognize Israel, because of course, Hamas again rejects recognizing Israel’s right to exist.

By Ryan Jones

 

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas tried to soften the impact of his reconciliation with Hamas by insisting that the unrepentant terror group would “recognize Israel” upon joining his government. But, leave it to Hamas, the group is now setting the record straight, saying Abbas is dead wrong on that score.

Recognize Israel? Ismail Haniyeh (R) with Hamas chief Khaled Mashaa (L) – Reuters

In fact, Hamas spokesman Taher Nunu is threatening to sue The Washington Post for quoting him as being far more conciliatory toward Israel than he was. Continue Reading »

From Tokyo to the IDF with eyes on Paratroopers Brigade

 

Tokyo-raised Sol Kikuchi, 20, the son of a Japanese Buddhist mother & American Jewish father comes to Israel to serve as a lone soldier in the IDF .

By Danny Brenner

 

Continue Reading »

Erdoğan: Agreement with Israel almost reached; normalization a matter of days, weeks

Turkish PM says in an exclusive interview with American journalist Charlie Rose, the only delay to assigning ambassadors & resuming diplomatic relations is final agreement on Turkish aide to Palestinians.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
 

 

In an exclusive interview with American journalist Charlie Rose on Tuesday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that an agreement on compensation between Turkey and Israel had been reached and that normalization between the two countries was, “a matter of days, weeks” away. However, he also stated that discussions about Turkish humanitarian aide to Palestinians was holding up a finalization of the agreement.

Turkish PM Erdogan

Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan addresses members of the parliament from his ruling AK Party (AKP) during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara on January 28, 2014 – Photo: Adem Altan /AFP

Israeli diplomatic officials disputed assertions by the Turkish media on Monday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was delaying approval of a compensation agreement with Turkey that would bring to an end the Mavi Marmara saga. Continue Reading »