Palestinian woman gives birth to 1st baby born in Gaza from smuggled sperm

As an act of defiance against Israel, a Palestinian woman arranged for her husband’s sperm to be smuggled from an Israeli prison into Gaza.

By Reuters

 

The wife of a Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail gave birth on Friday to a boy born from sperm smuggled into Gaza, her family said, the first successful pregnancy of its kind in the embattled coastal enclave.

Palestinian boy born from smuggled sperm - Reuters

Palestinian baby boy, who was conceived with the smuggled sperm of his father who is in an Israeli prison, after he was born in a hospital in Gaza City January 10, 2014. – Photo: Reuters

The procedure follows several similar cases last year in the West Bank, and Palestinians view such births as an act of defiance against Israel’s jail policies. Continue Reading »

French Firm Wins Bid To Construct Israel’s 1st Hydroelectric Plant

The new hydroelectric plant, which will be Israel’s “1st pumped storage power station,” is planned to be built 60 kms (37 miles) east of Haifa, and is anticipated to raise national power generation capacity by 2.5%.

By Ari Yashar

 

 

Israel’s first hydroelectric storage facility will be built by Alstom, a French engineering group. The company announced on Thursday that it has won a 120 million euro ($163 million) contract to build the facility, which will reportedly be operational by 2018.

The company said that the project, which will have the group operating and maintaining the 300 MW Gilboa plant for 18 years, “represents Alstom’s first entry into the Israeli hydro market.” Continue Reading »

UK student deported from Israel for internet posts ‘posed a security threat’

 

British activist intercepted at Ben-Gurion Airport, was subjected to full body search, interrogation then returned to Briton.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
 
British student Gary Spedding was deported from Israel on Friday because his social media activity allegedly posed a “security threat.”
British student and activist Gary Spedding.

British student and Palestine activist Gary Spedding. – Photo: Facebook

Spedding defines himself as an activist against anti-Semitism and in favor of finding a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.According to Sky News, Spedding arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday on a flight from London’s Luton Airport. At immigration, he was taken to an interview room where he was subjected to a full body search and interrogation.Immigration
Continue Reading »

Pricetag: IDF commanding officer in Samaria Brigade finds his tires slashed

 

IDF General Yoav Yarom found his car was vandalized after a meeting with Yitzhar settlement representatives on recent friction between settlers and the Palestinian.

By Yoav Zitun

 

The commanding officer of the Regional Samaria Brigade, Brig. Gen. Yoav Yarom, had his car tires slashed while meeting with the head of the West Bank settlement of Yitzhar on Friday.

The commanding officer's punctured tires

The commanding officer’s punctured tires

Yarom was meeting with representatives of the Nablus-adjacent settlement to discuss the recent friction in the last week between settlers and Palestinians near Yitzhar. After the meeting he returned to his jeep, which was parked inside the settlement, and found his tires were punctured. Continue Reading »

Finance Minister: Israel’s economy will be hurt if peace talks fail

Yair Lapid says Jerusalem’s announcement of plan to construct 1,400 more homes in settlements is harmful & will lead to int’l isolation.

 

Finance Minister Yair Lapid said Friday that Israel will be hurt economically by growing international isolation if it fails to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid. – Photo: Emil Salman

Yair Lapid said his ministry has run through various scenarios and found that “a continuation of the existing situation will hurt the pocketbook of each of us.”

Lapid spoke to the Israeli news website Ynet in response to an announcement Friday that Israel plans to build 1,400 more homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories the Palestinians seek for a state. Continue Reading »

Polish Bill: Jail For Those Who Say ‘Polish Death Camp’

 

Poland opposition’s bill would impose prison terms on those who say “Polish camps” instead of properly identifying them as “Nazi” camps.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

 

Poland’s conservative opposition on Friday called for use of the erroneous term “Polish death camp” in reference to Nazi German facilities to be punishable by jail time, AFP reports.

Jews carry Israeli flags at Auschwitz – Reuters

Users of the term could get up to five years in prison, according to a bill introduced in parliament on Friday by the Law and Justice party.

Lawmakers voted to have it sent back to committee for more work. Continue Reading »

‘David’s Castle’ to be Unveiled in Judea on Land Going to the Palestinians

 

 

Jerusalem initially tried to hide the find, as it could upset the peace process by proving once again an ancient Jewish presence in Judea

Israel Today Staff

 

We reported last year on the discovery of an ancient biblical-era palace probably dating back to the time of King David himself that was subsequently covered up for political reasons.

'David's Castle' to be Unveiled on 'Palestinian' Land

‘David’s Castle’ to be Unveiled on land going to the Palestinians

 

Now, the group that stumbled upon the unprecedented find tells Israel National News that they will publicly reveal the location of the buried palace next Friday, January 17, an event that is likely to cause a diplomatic earthquake. Continue Reading »

Jerusalem summons Dutch ambassador over divestments….Again

Dutch FM Frans Timmermans said that while the Netherlands is opposed to a boycott of Israel, its policy is to discourage Dutch businesses from conducting business with Israeli settlements.

Amb. Caspar Veldkamp holding a Kassam rocket in Sderot police station. - Photo: Calum Toogood

Amb. Caspar Veldkamp holding a Kassam rocket in Sderot police station. – Photo: Calum Toogood

On Friday, Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the ambassador to Israel of the Netherlands, Caspar Veldkamp, to provide clarifications on the decision of PGGM, a large pensions administrator, to divest from five Israeli banks because of their activities in West Bank settlements.

Continue Reading »

Meryl Streep: Walt Disney was an anti-Semite

In Meryl Streep’s speech at the National Board of Review Awards, she said Disney is nothing like he was portrayed in the movie, “Saving Mr. Banks.”

 

 

During her speech at the National Board of Review Awards in New York on Tuesday, Streep ripped into Disney in a lengthy nine-minute rant saying the famous cartoonist “was supposedly a hideous anti-Semite” and a “gender bigot.”

Hollywood icon Meryl Streep says the legendary Walt Disney was anti-Semitic.- Photo Courtesy

“Disney, who brought joy, arguably, to billions of people, was perhaps, or had some … racist proclivities. He formed and supported an anti-Semitic industry lobby. Continue Reading »

Israel’s FM: Israeli Arabs are ‘schizophrenic’ – unable to decide whether Israeli or Palestinian

 

British Telegraph reports FM Avigdor Lieberman saying in an interview that the current peace deal with a Wadi Ara land swap is best future for Israel, but Israeli Arabs are divided, unable to decide whether they’re Israeli or Palestinian.

By Ynet

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Arabs with Israeli citizenship need to decide to whom they are loyal – to Israel or to the Palestinians.

President Shimon Peres and Avigdor Lieberman in a diplomats' meeting (Photo: Mark Neiman, GPO)

President Shimon Peres and Avigdor Lieberman in a diplomats’ meeting – Photo: Mark Neiman, GPO

“They live in some kind of schizophrenia,” he said in an interview with the British Telegraph. “They don’t know if they are Israeli citizens or if they are Palestinians. Continue Reading »

Ex-IDF hackers run cyber warfare bootcamp

 

 

Israeli cyber-tech company Cybergym runs company high-tech representatives  through a gauntlet of scenarios simulating realistic, everyday type cyber attacks.

By  

 

An Israeli company is using ex-IDF hackers to train companies against cyber-attacks, CNN reported.

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Cybergym is using ex-IDF hackers to train companies against cyber-attacks, CNN reported.

In Cybergym, located on a farm between Tel Aviv and Haifa, private companies’ cyber warriors are challenged with simulations of real-world (or real-virtual world) scenarios, designed to train them to contain both state and individual hostile hacking attempts.

 

View original HAARETZ publication at: http://www.haaretz.com/business/1.567928 Continue Reading »

Watch: Israel Air Force Eliminates Another Islamist Rocket Squad

The IAF precision airstrike hits a Palestinian terrorist squad in Gaza as they prepare to launch a missile at Israeli civilians.

By Arutz Sheva staff

 

The IAF released footage showing a missile fired by an Israeli aircraft wiping out a squad of Gaza islamist terrorists as it was about to launch a rocket at Israeli civilians.

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A moment before the IDF airstrike – Photo: Screenshot

The strike took place Thursday morning.

IDF sources described the airstrike, noting that it had “intercepted terrorists during their final preparations to launch rockets towards Israel”.

From the Gaza side, Hamas-run health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP that “two Palestinians were hit and injured by an Israeli drone while they were riding on a motorbike east of Khan Yunis.” Continue Reading »

After New Year’s eve vandalism, Germany commits to protect Berlin Holocaust memorial

 

YouTube Video clearly shows man urinating & others launching fireworks from middle of Berlin Holocaust memorial.

By REUTERS

 

BERLIN – Germany has promised to strengthen security at the Holocaust Memorial in the heart of Berlin after a video published on the Internet showed a man urinating and people launching fireworks from its grey concrete structure on New Year’s Eve.

Berlin Holocaust Memorial

Berlin Holocaust Memorial

“The incidents are outrageous and to be deplored,” German Culture Minister Monika Gruetters was quoted as saying by Bild newspaper on Thursday.

A foundation that supervises the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which was opened in 2005, will talk to police and arrange tighter security, Gruetters said. Continue Reading »

More Jerusalem restaurants giving up Kosher certification

 

In Jerusalem the owner of Italian trattoria cites high costs and unneeded inconvenience as reasons for parting with Rabbinate’s Kosher certification. ‘There are plenty of people who trust me & my word more than the Rabbinate’s word that we’re kosher,’the owner claims.

By Linda Gradstein of The Media Line

For three years, Shai Ghini paid $500 per month for a kosher inspector to pop into his small Italian trattoria just off Jerusalem’s famous Mahane Yehuda market. He wanted to be able to call his restaurant, Topolino, kosher to attract Jerusalem’s religious clientele. Three years ago he gave up the certification and hasn’t looked back. Continue Reading »

Report: Israeli military intel unit seeks Farsi speaking Iranian immigrants

 

20% of Farsi speaking Jewish immigrants from Iran serve in special IDF intelligence units.

By Reuters

 

 

Iranian-born immigrants to Israel are drafted to its military intelligence units in disproportionately large numbers, an official report said on Thursday. This fact reflects the military’s high demand for Farsi speakers to monitor the Jewish state’s arch-enemy.

IDF Unit 8200

Soldiers in Unit 8200, the IDF’s technological spearhead. – Photo: Moti Milrod

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees a mortal menace in Iran’s disputed nuclear program and has long hinted his country was waging a covert campaign to track and foil it.

Those efforts, security sources said, have been stepped up since world powers and Tehran agreed an interim nuclear deal in November. Continue Reading »