Wednesday’s “historic” agreement between Hamas and Fatah should be seen in the context of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s efforts to send a message to Israel and the US concerning the crisis in the peace talks.
Mahmoud Abbas and Ismail Haniyeh – Photo: REUTERS
Abbas’s message: Look what I’m capable of doing if you don’t comply with my demands.
The timing of the Fatah-Hamas accord is not coincidental. Continue Reading »
By Reuters
Celebrity psychic Uri Geller is the beaming new face of Israeli disaster-readiness, starring in army-sponsored TV and Internet advertisements on how to take shelter from missile attacks or earthquakes.
Uri Geller – Photo: UriGeller.com
Launched on Wednesday, the campaign marks Geller’s return to his native country from Britain and aims to keep Israelis vigilant, though public fears of any imminent war with Iran, Syria or Lebanese and Palestinian guerrillas have receded. Continue Reading »
Tony Blair. – Photo: Bloomberg
Text of speech Tony Blair to be deliver at Bloomberg London HQ on April 23, 2014
From The Office of Tony Blair:
It is unsurprising that public opinion in the UK and elsewhere, resents the notion that we should engage with the politics of the Middle East and beyond.
By AFP and Arutz Sheva Staff
An Israeli warplane struck the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday wounding six people, one very seriously, the territory’s Hamas rulers said.
The raid came as thousands took to the streets of Gaza City to celebrate the announcement by Hamas and the PLO of an agreement to form a unity government to end seven years of divided administration. There seems to be no direct connection between the two developments.
The IDF Spokesman said that in a joint anti-terror operation by the IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet), an attack was carried out in northern Gaza. Continue Reading »
By Israel Today Staff
A senior Palestinian Authority (PA) government official is facing a fierce public backlash after condemning last week’s terrorist murder of 47-year-old Baruch Mizrahi as he was driving to the Passover Seder with his family.
PA Endowments Minister Mahmoud El Habash told a reporter with Israel’s Army Radio that he was “pained” by the slaying of Mizrahi and the wounding of his pregnant wife and young son.
“We condemn the killing of all people irrespective of their background,” El Habash went on to say. Continue Reading »
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has instructed Israel Defense Forces commanders across Judea and Samaria to accelerate the razing of illegally built structures in settlements and outposts where security forces meet violence from extremists, Army Radio reported Wednesday.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon – Photo: Dudi Vaaknin
According to the report, the order, which was given in a closed forum, extends to police and Civil Administration forces in the area as well.
The Anti-Defamation League has reacted harshly to reports that several members of US Congress and representatives of the country’s intelligence community have cautioned against admitting Israel into the State Department’s visa waiver program due to concerns over espionage.
Israeli & US Passport holder – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP
During an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday, ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said he could not square such worries with the “special relationship” and high level of intelligence cooperation between the two nations. Continue Reading »
By AFP
TUNIS – Mehdi Jomaa, the head of the Tunisian government, urged officials on Tuesday to avoid creating controversy on the coming normalization of relations with Israel.
Tunisian Tourist Minister Amel Karboul says that Jewish pilgrams are key to seeing profits from tourism. – Photo: AP
The decision was made with the intention to help boost tourism to the country by making it easier for Israeli Tunisian Jews to make the yearly pilgrimage to El Ghriba Synagogue on the island of Djerba where many visit during the May holiday of Lag BaOmer. Continue Reading »
Hamas and Fatah were preparing to implement a historic reconciliation deal on Wednesday, nearly seven years after a schism between the rival Palestinian factions.
Jubilant Palestinians releasing balloons in the colors of the Palestinian flag during a Fatah & Hamas May 4 2011 rally. – Photo: AP
“There has been great progress, and we are near ready to sign a deal, at 11 A.M.,” Continue Reading »
An astonishing archaeological discovery has been made at the feet of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The find is an ancient chisel, which apparently was used by the builders of the Western Wall of the Second Temple.
Chisel found on Temple Mount – Photo: Clara Amit, Courtesy of Antiquities Authority
Archaeologist Eli Shukrun, who managed the excavations and found the rare tool, told Arutz Sheva that the chisel is “a moving discovery.” Continue Reading »
Israel is fearful that a collapse of peace talks with the Palestinians could result in an international boycott and isolation. In fact, even the Americans have been warning of such an outcome.
Former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar, Friends of Israel.
Photo: Screenshot / HJS.
But, it is important to remember that Israel has no shortage of loyal friends. Some of those friends recently came to Israel under the banner of the “Friends of Israel Initiative” to hold their annual meeting. Continue Reading »
By Yoni Kempinski, Ari Yashar
Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yiftah Ron-Tal, Director of the Israel Electric Company (IEC), spoke Thursday at the Ramle Conference on financial policy, where he addressed the Palestinian Authority (PA) electricity debts of 1.4 billion shekels (nearly half a billion dollars).
“If it were up to me, I would cut off their electricity tomorrow,” commented Ron-Tal. “Any private company would have cut off their electricity a long time ago. We’re demanding the PA to pay every last penny.” Continue Reading »
By Elior Levy
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time spoke about the Palestinian demands for extending peace talks: A three months freeze in settlement construction during which time talks would focus on delineating the border of the future Palestinian state.
“If Israel believes in the two state solution… let us define the borders – where Israel will be and where Palestine will be,” he said in a special press conference to Israel journalists covering peace talks Tuesday. Continue Reading »
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday that he does not believe Habayit Hayehudi party will leave the coalition if Israel releases Israeli Arab prisoners as part of a deal to extend peace talks with the Palestinians.
Foreign Minister Lieberman at press conference in Knesset, March 25, 2014. Photo: Olivier Fitoussi
Speaking at a press conference with his Austrian counterpart Sebastian Kurz, Lieberman was referring to recent threats made by Habayit Hayeudi leader and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett.
The Director of the Home Front Ministry, Major General (res.) Dan Ronen, tendered his resignation Tuesday.
Ronen explained that the ministry does not have the necessary tools to successfully discharge its responsibilities. “The ministry was founded unprofessionally in 2011 without a leg to stand on,” he fumed in his letter of resignation.
There has been extensive bickering between the Defense Ministry and the Home Front Ministry over the responsibility and authority to be granted to the latter. Continue Reading »
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