Cabinet to discuss Netanyahu’s proposal to purchase plane for PM & President

Finance Minister Lapid objects to PM’s proposal, saying gov’t should demonstrate austerity in times of financial hardship.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
 

 

The cabinet will discuss Sunday a proposal by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to purchase a private airplane for official state trips as well as building a new office and official residence for the prime minister.

PM Netanyahu boards a plane – Photo: Baz Ratner/Reuters

Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres are expected to make use of the airplane.

If passed by the cabinet, a public committee will be formed to examine the cost-effectiveness of the proposal.

Finance Minister Yair Lapid expressed objection to the proposal on Sunday morning, saying there is no financial justification to purchasing an airplane and building a new residence. Continue Reading »

Israel sends Hamas fuel for Gaza power plant

 

 

As cold weather & flooding takes its toll on Gaza, Hamas & Fatah come to agreement for Israel to begin transferring fuel to the only power plant in Hamas-ruled Strip after a 50-day shutdown.

By AFP

Israel began transferring fuel to the Gaza Strip’s sole power plant Sunday, a Palestinian official said, as the Hamas-ruled enclave struggled to deal with massive flooding caused by winter downpours.

Household gas enters Gaza - Screenshot from  Coordinator of Government Activities in Territories

Household gas enters Gaza – Screenshot from Coordinator of Government Activities in Territories

Raed Fatuh, a Palestinian Authority official in charge of the transfer of goods between Gaza and Israel, said Israel would be transferring 450,000 liters of fuel to the plant, which has been shut down for some 50 days. Continue Reading »

Knesset Considers Bill That Would Levy Heavy Tax on Anti-Zionism Support

Anti-boycott Bill would put 45% tax on support for involvement of foreign entities that contradict the decisions of the State of Israel.

By Tova Dvorin

 

An anti-leftist, anti-boycott bill which was discussed under the previous Knesset will come to the fore again Sunday, according to Maariv. The Knesset hearing will be headed by MK Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi/Jewish Home) and Robert Ilatov (Yisrael Beytenu).

The bill has sparked controversy for imposing a 45% tax on foreign donations to leftist groups. The goal of the bill is to “reduce the involvement of foreign entities within the affairs of the state of Israel.” Continue Reading »

IDF Chopper Gets Expectant Mother to Hospital on Time

IDF’s elite search and rescue unit, Unit 669, managed to land a helicopter in a snowbound Shomron community to fly a woman in labor to hospital in time to deliver. 

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

A woman living in the snowbound hilltop community of Yitzhar in the Shomron (Samaria) phoned the town’s crisis center on Shabbat (Saturday) morning and informed them that she is in labor.

Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk Entered into service in 1994. A transport helicopter which features in rescue and evacuation missions, as well as tactical assault transport actions. Its Hebrew nickname is ‘Yanshuf’ (‘Owl’). - IDF Spokesperson Unit

Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
Entered into service in 1994. A transport helicopter which features in rescue and evacuation missions, as well as tactical assault transport actions. Its Hebrew nickname is ‘Yanshuf’ (‘Owl’). – IDF Spokesperson Unit

The community’s medical team was rushed to the house and advised that she be taken to the hospital immediately. Continue Reading »

Time to acknowledge the truth: Abbas doesn’t aspire to reach any peace deal with Israel

If Israel’s P.M. Netanyahu offered Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas an interim deal, the truth would be revealed — Abbas doesn’t have the will nor the capability to sign any sort of peace agreement with Israel.

By Dan Margalit

 

The government is operating as if it was a carousel or a roller coaster. What was promised has not been fulfilled and what was decided has not been guaranteed.

President Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: Reuters

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Habayit Hayehudi leader Naftali Bennett will not leave the government, mainly because they are replaceable. There are bench players waiting to take their places on the court. Continue Reading »

UN: Flooded Gaza ‘disaster area’ with 4,000 Gazans evacuated from homes

 

United Nations Relief Works Agency calls northern Strip “disaster area” with reports of flood be two meter high in some places.

By REUTERS
 

 

GAZA – More than 4,000 people have been evacuated from flood-damaged homes in northern Gaza in what the United Nations has called “a disaster area”, officials said on Saturday.

 Palestinian civil defense members evacuate people from flooded houses in the northern Gaza Strip. Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Palestinian civil defense members evacuate people from flooded houses in the northern Gaza Strip. – Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Flooding has been so severe that access to many homes is by rowing boat and water is reported to be two meters (more than six feet) high in some places. Continue Reading »

Oxford and Cambridge Join to Purchase Ancient Jewish Archive

2 of Europe’s most prominent universities, & oldest rivals, come together to buy an impressive trove of 1000 yr-old Jewish manuscripts, including a handwritten parchment by Maimonides.

 

 

Preeminent British universities Oxford and Cambridge raised 1.2 million pound to purchase the Lewis-Gibson genizah collection, the BBC reported Wednesday.

Text from the Cairo geniza.

Text from the Cairo geniza. – Photo: Olivier Fitoussi

The universities, two of the oldest and highest-ranking institutions for higher education in the world, decided this February to put aside their historic professional rivalry and launch their first joint fund-raising campaign. With the immense sum raised, the “ancient universities” can now purchase the collection from its current owner, the United Reform Church’s Westminster College. Continue Reading »

Confirmed: Gazan shot by IDF on border fence

After shots fired, the IDF reported: “A suspect approached the security fence…& was engaged in suspicious activity along the fence.”

By Arutz Sheva staff and AFP

 

An Arab man from Gaza was wounded by IDF gunfire on Saturday evening after approaching the border fence, sources on both sides said.

A Hamas health ministry official told AFP, without elaborating, that the man was hit east of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza by Israeli tank fire.

Eyewitnesses said Israeli tanks and one bulldozer were near the border at the time.

The army confirmed the incident, with a spokeswoman telling AFP “a suspect approached the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip and was engaged in suspicious activity along the fence.” Continue Reading »

Israel’s Legal Rights for Judea & Samaria

 

For decades, the int’l community has regarded Judea & Samaria as Palestinian territory ‘illegally occupied’ by Israel, but now a group of  jurists from Israel & abroad, hundreds in number, are fighting back in the battle for the historic and legal truth.

By Nadav Shragai

 

 

If international legitimacy for the settlement enterprise were a horse, one could say that it’s been long out of the barn. Those roaming the halls of power worldwide — from the White House in the era of Barack Obama and John Kerry to the United Nations — have for years regarded the territories of Judea and Samaria as Palestinian territory that is currently under occupation. Continue Reading »

Security Points of the Israel-Palestinian Negotiations Come into Focus

 

After months of secret backroom talks, US & Israel leaders finally provided some clarity this week as to what security solutions they’re trying to achieve and about Abbas’ intransigence.

 

 

IDF soldiers detain Palestinian in Jordan Valley, September 20, 2013 Photo: REUTERS

Finally, after some 4-1/2 months of Israeli- Palestinian negotiations, some kind of game plan is beginning to emerge. Finally, some sort of indication about how this is all supposed to work – the logistics of the process, what a number of the key actors (namely the US and the Israelis) are thinking – is coming out into the open. Continue Reading »

With storm winding down 35,000 households still without power

 

Electric Corp workers struggle to access electrical wires as 16 inches of snow in Jerusalem area leaves tens of thousands without electricity.

By Noam (Dabul) Dvir

As snow continues to pile up in Jerusalem and northern mountain tops, tens of thousands of Israeli households are still without power. The Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) said 35,000 households across the country are without power as a result of the tough weather conditions.

Armored carrier in Jerusalem (Photo: Almog Melichi)

Armored carrier in Jerusalem – Photo: Almog Melichi

They include 12,900 in Jerusalem, 7,000 in the north, 2,000 in central and southern Israel and thousands more in the West Bank. Continue Reading »

New luxury hotel built on 15th century Spanish synagogue opens new shul

The 600 yr-old synagogue was unearthed during the construction of a new 5-star hotel, which was opened last year.

The Hotel will also house a cultural center offering an overview of Jewish history in Spain.

By

 

 

A Spanish hotel built on the remains of a 15th century synagogue opened a new synagogue on its seventh floor last week.

Synagogue in Spain, illustration

The western wall of the Synagogue of Córdoba, Spain. – Photo courtesy: Wikipedia Commons

The opening at the four-star Parador de Lorca hotel in Lorca, a city in the southeastern region of Murcia, was the result of negotiations between management and the Sefarad Beitenu Jewish association, which will run the shul, according to a report in the Murcia Economia newspaper. Continue Reading »

Following UN request, Jerusalem sends water pumps to Gaza due to flooding

 

 

IDF coordinator of Gov’t Activities in Territories authorizes transfer of water pumps to Hamas due to heavy flooding in Gaza.

Israel sets up Joint Command Center for emergency response, with Palestinian security in West Bank.

Yoav Zitun

 

Israel set up a joint command center with Palestinian security in the West Bank to handle storm-related traffic and electricity problems.

Photo: Reuters

Photo: Reuters

Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories verified a Mekorot transfer of water pumps to the Gaza Strip due to heavy flooding across the strip.

The IDF said on Friday it had opened a crossing with Gaza in response to a UN appeal to let in aid supplies. Continue Reading »

PA President Formally Refuses to Recognize Israel as Jewish State

PA source says Abbas formally refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, and rejects Israeli security presence in ‘Palestine’ along Jordan border.

By AFP and Arutz Sheva Staff

 

A Palestinian Authority (PA) source on Friday told AFP that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas formally rejected US proposals for Israel to keep troops in a future Palestinian state along the Jordan border. The source further formally stated Abbas’ position of refusing to recognize Israel as the Jewish state.

Abbas’ rejection of US Secretary of State John Kerry‘s proposals in Ramallah Thursday night came after similar remarks to a public radio station earlier in the night.  Continue Reading »

This Summer the Israeli Opera returns to perform at Masada

 

 

Polish director Michal Znaniecki, who specializes in open-air productions, brings the Israeli Opera to the Judean desert in its performance of ‘La traviata’ in June 2014.

By 

 

 

The Israeli Opera is bringing Giuseppe Verdi’s much-loved opera, La traviata, to Masada in June 2014. Conductor Daniel Oren will take the podium as he has done in years past at the Masada International Opera Festival, while Polish director Michal Znaniecki – who specializes in open-air productions—will meld the Paris salon with the Judean Desert.

Aida at Masada: The desert backdrop was perfect for the improbable love story of the Ethiopian princess and the Egyptian army officer.

Continue Reading »