Analysis: Breaking down the economic impact of Israeli-Palestinian peace

 

Will a peace deal bring economic growth to both sides or will the only ‘boom’ be that of rockets bringing down Israel’s economy?

 

 

A rift has emerged between the two ministers most responsible for shaping Israel’s economy, Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett.

A McDonald's restaurant in Israel. - Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

A McDonald’s restaurant in Israel. – Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Though normally allies, even “brothers” on economic issues, politics pulled them apart in the past two weeks over the economic implications of peace talks with the Palestinians.

Bennett fired the first salvo. At a Bayit Yehudi faction meeting on January 20, he declared George H.W. Continue Reading »

Finance Minister stops money transfers to settlements

 

 

Following Friday evening’s news magazine on Channel 2 suggesting funds intended for West Bank settlements were illegally transferred to Yesha Council for anti-gov’t campaigns, Minister Lapid orders his office to freeze funds transfers pending examination.

By Ynet

 

Finance Minister Yair Lapid ordered a halt on all money transfers to the settlements pending the clarification regarding their specific use, a statement on his behalf said Saturday evening.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid

Finance Minister Yair Lapid – Photo: Yair Sagi

The decision was made after Channel 2 television reported Friday evening that settlements were misusing government funds. Additional information also reached the finance minister, claiming funds were illegally transferred from the settlements to Yesha (Judea, Samaria and formerly Gaza) Council. Continue Reading »

Denmark’s largest bank boycotts Israel’s Hapoalim over new home construction

Danske Bank accuses Bank Hapoalim of violating rules of int’l humanitarian law.

Danish bank already withdrew investments from 2 Israeli firms.

 

Denmark’s largest bank decided to blacklist Bank Hapoalim because of its involvement in the funding of settlement construction.

Construction site in the West Bank settlement of Modiin Illit.

Construction site in the West Bank settlement of Modiin Illit. – Photo: AP

Danske Bank added Bank Hapoalim to its list of companies in which the company cannot invest due to its corporate accountability rules.

In an announcement posted on its website, the bank stated that Bank Hapoalim was acting against the rules of international humanitarian law.

Israeli website Walla reported on the Danish bank’s decision earlier on Saturday. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Intelligence Minister: Israel Must Invade Gaza & Destroy Hamas

Minister Yuval Steinitz responds to Friday night’s rocket on Eilat, warning that at this rate the IDF will have to invade Gaza & replace Hamas with Abbas’ PA.

By Ari Yashar

 

After a rocket was fired at Eilat by Al Qaeda-inspired Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem) Friday night, and shot down by Iron Dome, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz warned Saturday that at the current rate, Israel will soon have to once again enter Gaza to destroy Hamas, the Islamist terrorist group which currently controls the territory.

“In the last year or two there has been an improvement in the security situation, fewer rockets have been fired at Israel and fewer Israelis have been injured,” noted Steinitz. Continue Reading »

Kerry brings up Israel boycott – AGAIN – if peace deal not made

 

US secretary of state makes another such remark, now at Munich Security Conference.

Deputy defense minister Danon condemns  Kerry’s remarks, responding that Israel will “not negotiate with gun to its head.”

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry believes Israel could face an economic boycott if the current round of peace negotiations with the Palestinians do not lead to a final deal. Kerry made the remarks on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference.

US Secretary of State John Kerry at the Munich Security Conference in Germany Photo: REUTERS

US Secretary of State John Kerry at the Munich Security Conference in Germany – Photo: REUTERS

“There’s an increasing de-legitimization campaign that has been building up. Continue Reading »

Sinai’s Salafis claim responsibility for last night’s rocket fire on Eilat

 

 

In message to Jerusalem, radical Salafi terrorist organization promises to continue fight against Israel for supporting Egypt.

IDF Spokesperson’s Unit says Iron Dome intercepted rocket with no injuries or damage reported.

By: Meir Ohayon

The radical Salafi organization Ansar Bait al-Maqdis took responsibility for the rocket fired towards Eilat Friday night.

Egyptian forces disperse Morsi supporters in a violent demonstration, January 2014.

Egyptian security forces try to disperse supporters of Egypt’s ousted President Mohammed Morsi protesting against the government in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Jan. 31, 2014. Photo by AP

In an announcement by the al-Qaeda affiliate, the organization said the rocket was launched towards the Jewish State because of the “cooperation between Egypt and Israel and the bombing of Gazan residents.” Continue Reading »

IDF shot Palestinian rioter throwing molotov cocktail

 

Riots in Jalazoun refugee camp comes 2 days after a terrorist from the camp was killed shooting at IDF.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

An IDF official said that ten Palestinians were injured on Friday when the army dispersed a riot in the Jalazoun refugee camp near Ramallah. The IDF Spokesperson confirmed that one Palestinian was injured by IDF live gunfire and was evacuated by the Red Crescent to hospital.

Palestinian Arab is about to throw a molotov cocktail towards Israeli soldiers during clashes with the IDF in the streets of Hebron April 2013. Photo: EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN

Palestinian Arab is about to throw a molotov cocktail towards Israeli soldiers during clashes with the IDF in the streets of Hebron April 2013. Photo: EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN

According to Palestinian news agency Ma’an the riot took place to mark two days since the IDF killed Muhammad Mubarak who was from the Jalazoun. 

Continue Reading »

Palestinian youths occupy abandoned houses outside of Jericho

 

Encourage by Israeli activists, some 300 Palestinians occupy remnants of abandoned homes in West Bank, in protest of Israel’s  continued construction of homes & refusal to withdraw from the Jordan Valley.

By AFP

 

 

Some 300 Palestinians accompanied by Israeli activists occupied around a dozen abandoned houses Friday near Jericho in the West Bank, an AFP journalist said.

Photo: AFP

Some 300 Palestinians gathered – Photo: AFP

The protest was aimed at denouncing the repeated refusal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dismantle Jewish settlements and agree to a pullout from the Jordan Valley.The protesters arrived by bus and car and paraded a banner proclaiming “No peace with settlements,” signed by the Youth Against Settlements group. Continue Reading »

Terrorist rocket fired at Eilat intercepted by Iron Dome

Police searching the area for remnants after the 2nd Sinai attack on Israel’s southern vacation city this month.

 

An Iron Dome battery deployed near the southern city of Eilat intercepted on Friday a rocket fired from Sinai.

Iron Dome

Iron Dome intercepting rocket launches.- Photo:Eyal Toueg

There were no reports of damage or injuries.

Rocket alert sirens went off on Friday evening in Eilat. Residents reported hearing at least two strong blasts at around 9:40 P.M. The municipality called on residents to go into sheltered areas.

Police started combing the area to find the projectile shortly after the blasts. Continue Reading »

French court rescinds terrorist of his honorary residency

 

Montreuil Court vacated the city council of Bagnolet’s declaration making the incarcerated Lebanese terrorist, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, an honorary resident.

 

A French court nullified an honorary title conferred on the murderer of an Israeli diplomat.

George Ibrahim Abdallah - Photo: France24

George Ibrahim Abdallah – Photo: France24

The administrative court of Montreuil on Thursday nullified the honorary residency that the suburb of Bagnolet conferred on Georges Abdallah, according to a report published on Friday by the Le Figaro daily.

Abdallah, a pro-Palestinian militant, was sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for his role in the 1982 assassinations of  Yacov Bar-Simantov, a second counsellor at the Israeli embassy in Paris, and Charles Ray, a U.S.

Continue Reading »

Peace talks with Abdullah in the middle

Kerry’s current peace plan was reportedly proposed by Jordan’s King Abdullah II to President Obama last year in order to keep Jordan from becoming recognized as Palestine.

 

Since January 8, 2014, the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper has published three reports on the alleged details of the Kerry peace plan.  Al-Quds Al-Arabi is one of the most prominent Arab newspapers and considered a major source of inside information on most Arab regimes. According to Al-Quds Al-Arabi, US Secretary of State John Kerry’s plan revolves around Jordan’s king settling Palestinian refugees living in Arab countries in his kingdom and in exchange he would receive $55 billion for “Jordan’s role in hosting refugees for over five decades”. Continue Reading »

Signed Israeli-Palestinian gas deal still bogged down in politics

 

Agreement signed earlier this month involving Israel’s natural gas field and Palestinian power firm, may need top-level gov’t support to succeed.

By Reuters

A billion-dollar deal signed this month involving an Israeli natural gas field and a Palestinian power firm marked a rare private-sector victory over political conflict, but it may need top-level support to succeed.

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

The Tamar gas rig off the coast of Israel – Photo: Albatross Aerial Perspective/AP

Palestinian officials say implementation will depend on guarantees by the governments of both sides, whose mutual distrust has grown amid troubled US-backed peace talks.

The deal’s Palestinian backers say Israel has pledged that any future political or security crisis will not interrupt the gas supply. Continue Reading »

BDS to New Zealand: ‘Refuse visas to Israeli dance troupe’

BDS & Pro-Palestinian activists are trying to prevent Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company from performing in February at the New Zealand arts festival.

 

 

Pro-Palestinian activists in New Zealand have called on the government there not to issue visas to members of Israel’s Batsheva Dance Company, which is scheduled to perform at next month’s New Zealand Festival of the Arts.

In letters to New Zealand’s immigration and foreign ministers, activists from several different pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel boycott groups expressed their “concern” about the scheduled Batsheva performance, according to J-Wire, a Jewish news source from Australia and New Zealand. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Defense Minister: ‘We Will Hurt Those Who Hurt Us’

Minister Moshe Ya’alon vows not to allow Hamas to attack Israelis ‘just because they are Jews.’

By Tova Dvorin

 

Ya’alon spoke at a ceremony from Germany’s Platform 17 Friday, where he vowed to hold Hamas accountable for Thursday’s rocket fire on Israel.

“We view Hamas as responsible for what is happening in Gaza, and if it doesn’t know how to impose its authority over the [terror] cells that fire [rockets] and attack Israel, it will pay a heavy price,” Ya’alon declared. “The IDF and security forces will continue to pursue anyone who shoots at Israel or tries to carry out attacks against it, and will not hesitate to hurt him and the people who send him.” Continue Reading »

Reuters News Headline Falsely Accuses Israel of Threatening Lebanese Civilians

Reuters’ classic anti-Israel bias in it’s news is adequately demonstrated in this purposely misleading and erroneous headline.

By RH / CAMERA

 

A Reuters article about an Israeli military general’s warning to Hezbollah over its establishment of thousands of terrorist bases within residential buildings was published under the following erroneous headline:

 

 

reuters israel threatens civilians.jpg

Reuters Headline screenshot

 

In fact, the article makes clear that Israel did not threaten any Lebanese civilians. Rather, Israel’s Air Force chief, Major General Amir Eshel called out Hezbollah for establishing thousands of terrorist bases within residential buildings and warned that the Israeli army would not be deterred from retaliating for attacks launched from within these quarters. Continue Reading »