Nobel Laureate: Torah is Key to Intellectual Pursuit

 

 

“Torah study is an intellectual pursuit, and honoring this ultimate value transfers to other pursuits as well,” Nobel Laureate Robert John Aumann.

By Aviel Scheider

 

 

After two Israeli professors living in the US won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry this year, it begs the question: Why have Jews been so successful in this realm, despite their proportionately small population?

: Bible is Key to Jewish Genius

Nobel Laureate Robert John Aumann is an Israeli-American mathematician and a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences. He is a professor at the Center for the Study of Rationality in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.

Continue Reading »

Ron Dermer, Israel’s New Ambassador to U.S. presents credentials to Obama

 

Ron Dermer officially becomes Israel’s 18th ambassador to the U.S. 

Amb. Dermer jots a few words to Obama in White House guest book: “I look forward to working with you and your administration to make the bonds between Israel and America stronger than ever.”

Shlomo Cesana, Yoni Hirsch and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Ron Dermer presented his credentials to U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House on Tuesday, officially becoming Israel’s 18th ambassador to the U.S.

U.S. President Barack Obama and new Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer – Photo: Courtesy of the White House

Dermer, a former top aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is a 42-year-old Florida native who studied at the University of Pennsylvania and Oxford University before immigrating to Israel in 1997. Continue Reading »

Kinneret rises & snow on Mount Hermon in Israel’s 1st winter storm of season

Scattered showers from the Galilee to the Negev broke the unseasonably warm weather.

Rain & lower temperatures forecasted to continue over weekend.

By SHARON UDASIN, JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

The first winter storm of the season hit Israel on Thursday as the unseasonably warm weather experienced throughout November gave way to rainfall and even snow.

A SOLDIER enjoys the weather on Mt. Hermon [file]

A SOLDIER enjoys the weather on Mt. Hermon – File Photo: IDF Spokesman

Lake Kinneret rose for the first time since April on Thursday morning – by 1 centimeter – as a direct result of ongoing rains, the Water Authority said.

The Kinneret’s water level is now 211.40 meters below sea level, 2.6 meters from full capacity. Continue Reading »

Arab MKs petition Kerry to intervene on Bedouin’s behalf

 

Arab MKs address letter to visiting secretary of state to intervene on Bedouin’s behalf, calling Praver plan, ‘ethnic cleansing’

By Mati Siver

 

Some 800 demonstrators gathered outside the Beersheba court to protest a plan to resettle Bedouins in the Negev and the arrest of protesters in the Hura Junction on Saturday.

Protest in Beersheba (Photo: Haim Hornstein, Yedioth Ahronoth)

Protest in Beersheba – Photo: Haim Hornstein, Yedioth Ahronot

“Free the detainees!” the protesters chanted. Large police forces are at the scene.

Meanwhile, members of the United Arab List Ta’al party addressed a letter to visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry in which they stated that the Praver plan for Bedouin resettlement amounts to “ethnic cleansing” and asked his immediate assistance. Continue Reading »

American Studies leaders back Israeli boycott, ask members to vote

The 20-member national council approved the boycott resolution unanimously, but full body endorsement is still pending.

The boycott will not inhibit collaboration with individual Israeli academics, the statement said.

By

 

 

The American Studies Association leadership on Wednesday endorsed a boycott of Israeli universities, but also sought the approval of the body’s 5,000 members.The decision follows a contentious debate at the group’s annual meeting last month and 10 days of deliberations that were supposed to last a morning. The boycott resolution was approved unanimously by the 20-member national council.
Students at an Israeli university relax on the lawn.

Students at an Israeli university relax on the lawn.

Continue Reading »

1st Israeli Gov’t Minister Enters Turkey Since 2010

 

Israeli Minister Amir Peretz flies to Turkey to attend the United Nations sponsored conference about Mediterranean marine & coastal environmental issues.

By REUTERS
 
Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz flew to Istanbul on Wednesday, becoming the first Israeli cabinet minister to visit Turkey since ties ruptured in 2010 over a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla.
Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz - Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Environmental Protection Minister Amir Peretz – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters Peretz was attending a four-day UN sponsored conference about Mediterranean marine and coastal environment issues.

Confirming a report on Israel’s Channel 2 television, the official said Peretz was the highest-ranking Israeli in Turkey since ties soured after IDF commandos killed nine Turkish activists three years ago when their vessel violated an Israeli blockade on Hamas Islamist-ruled Gaza.

Continue Reading »

John Kerry has Returned to Jerusalem

What pearls of wisdom will we hear this time?
On his last trip to Israel, Kerry made a number of threats – including a “3rd intifada” if talks failed – & declared Israel’s presence in Judea & Samaria as “illegitimate.”

By Elad Benari

 

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Israel on Wednesday for the first time since world powers struck a nuclear deal with Iran that angered the Jewish state, and amid renewed efforts to broker Israeli-Palestinian Authority (PA) peace talks, reports AFP.

The two issues are expected to dominate Kerry’s meetings on Thursday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas when Kerry travels to Ramallah. Continue Reading »

Israel’s El Al Airlines posts record profits

 

Israel’s national flag carrier’s profit rose to record $57.9 million from $37.5 million the year before.

El Al’s chief executive complains gov’t boosts Turkish airlines expansion at expense of Israeli carriers.

Reuters

Net profit at Israel’s flag carrier rose to a record $57.9 million from $37.5 million a year earlier, El Al said on Wednesday. Revenue increased 6.2 percent to $643.3 million – the highest in five years – as passenger revenue grew 6.1 percent while cargo revenue dipped 0.8 percent.

File:El Al Boeing 737-8HX.jpg

El Al 737 – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons.

Chief Executive Elyezer Shkedy said the airline faced increased competition in the quarter as foreign airlines increased the number of seats offered by 14 percent. Continue Reading »

Nearly Bankrupt, Hadassah Hospital is on its Last Leg

Having fallen victim in the Madoff scheme & internal disputes that followed, Hadassah Medical Center can’t eliminate its growing monthly debt.

By & Nathan Guttmanzz

 

 

In the past few years, Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, has struggled with a multimillion-dollar loss from the Bernard Madoff scandal and downsized its operations. Now it faces its greatest challenge yet: saving its flagship program — the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Hadassah Ein Kerem.

Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, Jerusalem – Photo Courtesy

The group’s famous hospital is on the brink of financial collapse.

The medical center has been bleeding tens of millions of dollars in the past few years, and efforts by the American women’s organization to save it have resulted in a rupture with the hospital’s Israeli leadership. Continue Reading »

Video: Israel’s elite Yamam unit perform rooftop rescue

 

Mentally disturbed man takes niece hostage, and locks himself in his apartment. After 2 hours of failed negotiations to secure niece’s release, Magav’s elite counter-terrorism unit members rappels down side of building and performs dramatic rescue operation.

By Matan Tzuri

A 25-year-old Ashkelon resident, who according to initial estimates suffers from mental issues, kidnapped his niece and locked himself in an apartment.

Israel's elite SWAT team performs rooftop rescue - Screenshot

Israel’s elite SWAT team performs rooftop rescue – Screenshot

After two hours of negotiations failed to secure the little girl’s release, Israel‘s Special Central Unit (Yamam) – an elite counter-terrorism unit – rappelled down the side of the building and performed a daring rescue. Continue Reading »

Rockefeller initiative to aid Israeli city become ‘calamity-proofed’

 

Ashkelon accepted in New York’s Rockefeller program devoted to assisting cities become more crisis-resilient.

 

The Rockefeller Foundation in New York announced Wednesday that the Israeli city of Ashkelon will be one of the first 33 cities to be part of its 100 Resilient Cities Challenge.

The beach near Ashkelon National Park.

The beach near Ashkelon National Park. – Photo: Moshe Gilad

The challenge, launched after superstorm Sandy devastated New York in 2012, is a $100 million initiative aimed at making cities around the world more resistant to both natural and man-made calamities.

Selected out of hundreds of applicants, Ashkelon will have to instate its own “chief resilience officer” who will work with the Rockefeller team to conceive and implement a broad plan to shock-proof the city from myriad threats, according to media reports. Continue Reading »

Canadian Arrested for ‘Insulting Abbas’

Mohammed Al Sabawi, the father of a Canadian businessman was arrested & held for 9 hours after calling for PA Chairman’s downfall. ‘Hurt his feelings and he’ll arrest you’.

By Ari Soffer

 

The father of a Canadian businessman was detained for nine hours by Palestinian Authority security forces after calling for the ouster of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Monday.

Khaled Al Sabawi said his 68 year-old father, Mohammed Al Sabawi, was arrested after PA police accused him of insulting Abbas when he refused to allow PA security forces to use his roof during the recent visit by French President Francois Hollande. Continue Reading »

Every day delayed to initiate P1+5 nukes deal gives Iran time to acquire bomb

“Every day that goes by where Iran is not bound to roll back its nuclear program, but still can benefit from a shift in the market psychology, from fear to greed, puts money in the regime’s pocket, without doing anything to address their growing nuclear weapons capacity,” said the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

 

Under the terms of an agreement reached last month, Iran has vowed not to make “any further advances of its activities” at its reactor in Arak.

Continue Reading »

New Knesset bill: Public can petition Knesset to discuss issues

 

The newly proposed legislation, which allows in the Knesset a similar practice from the European Parliament, passed its preliminary reading today.

 

 
The public will be able to more actively participate in the Knesset’s work, as a bill proposed by MK Hilik Bar (Labor) allowing people to sign petitions on the Knesset’s website, is on its way to becoming law.
Labor Party MK Hilik Bar

Labor Party MK Hilik Bar – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The J’lem Post

The legislation, which brings a practice from the European Parliament to the Knesset, passed its preliminary reading Wednesday with 40 in favor and one opposed.

“This is an unprecedented, historic bill that changes the way we relate to the citizens who sent us to the Knesset to represent them and their involvement in our work,” Bar explained.

Continue Reading »

3 Palestinian Arabs hijack car with baby in back

 

After mother is forced out of car she calls husband. Then father with friend enter hostile Arab village, finds his car abandoned with daughter sitting safely inside.

Father: ‘I wasn’t scared. I was only thinking about one thing – my daughter’s life’.

By Akiva Novick

Three Palestinian men hijacked a Dolev resident’s car Tuesday, when in the back seat sat her three-month-old daughter.

The car that was hijacked (Photo: Police Spokesperson)

The car that was hijacked – Photo: Police Spokesperson

The baby’s life was saved due the father’s resourcefulness, who found his daughter in the car, abandoned, between two hostile villages.

The incident happened in the Binyamin Hills Tuesday afternoon, around 4 pm. Continue Reading »