Hezbollah: Israel assassinated terror group’s arms chief outside his home

The hit on terrorist Hassan al-Laqis marks biggest blow to Shiite terror group Hezbollah, since the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh.

Official Hezbollah statement: ‘Israel automatically held responsible for the crime.’

 

 

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Wednesday that one of its commanders has been “assassinated” outside of his home in southern Beirut. It blamed Israel for his killing, something an official there quickly denied.

Scene of assassination of Hezbollah arms chief - AP

A Hezbollah flag hangs on yellow police tape sealing off the scene where Hassan al-Laqis, a senior commander for Hezbollah, was gunned down outside his home, near Beirut, Lebanon, Dec.

Continue Reading »

Victory in Court: Iran to pay $9 Million to Israeli Terror Victims

US federal court awarded families of victims to a 1997 Jerusalem terror attack, $9 million from frozen Iranian assets, in a ‘Chanukah miracle’ verdict.

By Ari Yashar

 

On Wednesday an unprecedented US court victory awarded $9 million in frozen Iranian assets to the families of 5 terror victims murdered in a triple suicide bombing in Jerusalem back in 1997.

The bombings, which took place in the capital’s busy Ben Yehuda street, was carried out by Hamas. Among the 5 murdered were three 14 year old girls.

Shurat HaDin (Israeli Law Center) began the petition in 2001 against Iran, which it claimed provided material and financial support to Hamas in conducting the attack. Continue Reading »

NYT displays Israeli woman’s breast for cancer photo

American readers were offended by the paper’s controversial front page photo citing partial nudity & Jewish tradition as cause.

By

 

 

An unnamed Israeli woman pictured in a controversial photo on the front page of The New York Times on Wednesday spoke out in response to critics of the paper’s choice of images.

NYT nipple photo

The front page of The New York Times Wednesday.- Photo Courtesy NYT

An image of the woman’s upper body – including an incision scar, a portion of her areola and a Star of David tattoo – was featured as the lead photo in the paper that day to illustrate a story about breast cancer screening in Israel. Continue Reading »

Ex-US & Israeli Intel Chiefs: Obama Let Iran become Nuclear

 

 

Both former American and Israeli intel chiefs agree: The P5+1 Geneva agreement has allowed Iran to become a nuclear power.

By Ryan Jones

 

 

Former Israeli and American intelligence chiefs this week said the deal US President Barack Obama and other Western leaders struck with Iran last week in Geneva had essentially allowed the Islamic Republic to become a “nuclear threshold state.”

fox

More accurately, former Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin said that the West had failed for decades to adequately confront the Iranian nuclear threat, and so had finally given up and signed a bad deal.

“The fact that Iran is a nuclear threshold state does not derive from this agreement, but because the Iranians have developed capabilities for years, and no one can stop them,” Yadlin said at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. Continue Reading »

1st ever Hasmonean-era home unearthed in City of David, Jerusalem


Large treasure of coins discovered on the site, dating back to the period of Antiochus II through  Antiochus VII.

 

 

The first-ever Hasmonean structure to be found in Jerusalem has been uncovered in recent months in the City of David area. The large structure Hasmonean-period is located in the Givati parking lot, across from the entrance to the City of David National Park and only a few dozen meters from the Temple Mount.

Hasmonean-era structure.

Hasmonean-era structure uncovered in Jerusalem archaeological digging.- Photo: Emil Salman

Hasmonean-era Jerusalem is well known from the historic descriptions of Josephus and small archeological finds, including pottery and coins, from the period. Continue Reading »

Norwegian delegation to appear at Knesset & apologize for Oslo Accords

 

Delegation of Christian leaders from Oslo wish to ask for forgiveness for the disaster of the Oslo agreements.

 

They are coming from Oslo – to apologize for “Oslo.” A group of more than 20 Christian leaders from Norway will be coming to the Knesset on Wednesday to ask for forgiveness for the diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians that began in their capital.

 Yitzhak Rabin ז"ל, Bill Clinton and Yasser Arafat at the White House during the Oslo Acords, Sept. 1993. - Photo: Reuters

Yitzhak Rabin ז”ל, Bill Clinton and Yasser Arafat at the White House during the Oslo Acords, Sept. 1993. – Photo: Reuters

The group will be delivering an apology for the Oslo Accords, which passed in 1993 and 1995, to Deputy Knesset Speaker Gila Gamliel (Likud), the co-chair of the Knesset’s Christian Allies Caucus and a vigorous opponent of the accords from the start. Continue Reading »

EU Source: 14 EU countries prepared to ban settlements products if talks fail

 

European Union source says 14 countries interested in implementing boycott on products manufactured in settlements and no financial aid to PA if talks fail.

By Elior Levy

A source with the European Union said on Tuesday that if negotiation between Israelis and Palestinians do not yield an agreement, the EU’s ties with both the Palestinian Authority and Israel may suffer.

EU Headquarters -  Photo: Yves Herman/Reuters

EU Headquarters – Photo: Yves Herman/Reuters

According to the source, if the peace talks fail, the EU might discontinue its annual donations to the Palestinian Authority and expan its ban of Israeli products manufactured in the West Bank.

The issue of marking products manufactured in Israeli settlements has spread across Europe, as 14 EU states, including Britain and France, have noted they would be willing to mark products of Israeli settlements. Continue Reading »

French experts: Arafat did NOT die of poisoning

Swiss forensic experts said last month that Arafat body samples consistent with polonium poisoning.

Russians forensic experts last month said no polonium residue could be found. Israel nuclear expert concurred.

By Reuters

 

 

French forensic tests have concluded that former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat did not die of poisoning, as had been suggested by an earlier report, a source who saw the conclusions of the report said on Tuesday.

Yasser Arafat Gaza mural

Palestinian boy touching a mural of Yasser Arafat in Gaza City, November 2009.- Photo: AP

“The results of the analyses allow us to conclude that the death was not the result of poisoning,” the source told Reuters, quoting from conclusions of a report by French forensic experts handed over to Arafat’s widow Suha. Continue Reading »

EXPOSED: Israel providing humanitarian assistance to Syrian civilians

Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon says the IDF has sent food & water across the border, and has been helping the Syrian refugees prepare for winter rains.

 

The Israel Defense Forces has been providing humanitarian aid to Syrians living near the border, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon revealed on Tuesday during a tour of the frontier.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon on a tour of the Syrian-Israeli border on Tuesday, December 3, 2013.

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on a tour of the Syrian-Israeli border on Tuesday, December 3, 2013.- Photo: Ariel Hermoni/Defense Ministry

According to Ya’alon, Israel has sent water and food, including baby foods, across the border, and has been helping the Syrians prepare for winter. Continue Reading »

U.S. Ambassador Power Welcomes Israel to UN Human Rights Council’s WEOG

The United States’ Ambassador at the UN tells the UNHRC. “For far too long Israel has been unfairly excluded.”

By Elad Benari

 

Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, has welcomed Israel’s admittance into the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) Western European and Others Group (WEOG).

 

OVERVIEW OF the Human Rights Council at the UNHRC – UN Photo/Pierre Albouy

In a statement she issued on Monday, Power said, “For far too long Israel has been unfairly excluded from regional bodies at the United Nations. I applaud the decision to admit Israel into the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) at the UN in Geneva beginning January 1, 2014, providing Israel membership into one of the regional bodies that shape policy and determine leadership posts in UN fora.” Continue Reading »

Palestinian Investigators to name people responsible for Arafat’s death

 

A decade after he started searching for suspects, a Palestinian investigator said he would name Arafat’s murderer.

Abbas’ PA Accuses Jews of Poisoning Arafat.

Suha Arafat said that a member of Arafat’s own inner circle was responsible.

By REUTERS
 

 

RAMALLAH – A Palestinian investigator said on Tuesday he would soon name the people he believed were responsible for the death of former leader Yasser Arafat, almost a decade after he started searching for suspects.

Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat, not yet dead

Arafat, a guerrilla leader who became the first Palestinian Authority president, died in 2004 from a sudden illness contracted while under an Israeli siege at his Ramallah headquarters in the occupied West Bank. Continue Reading »

Israel holds 36th place in Gov’t Corruption Index

 

Israel climbs 3 spots from 39th to 36th place of 177 countries in level of transparency.

By Avital Lahav, Reuters

Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index ranks Israel 36th out of 177 countries, giving it a score of 61 out of 100 for its level of transparency. This suggests a minor improvement from last year when Israel was ranked 39th with a score of 60. However, 64% of OECD members were rated above Israel.

graft Illustration - Photo: Shutterstock

Graft Illustration – Photo: Shutterstock

Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index ranks more than four-fifths of countries in the Middle East below 50 on a scale where zero is a country perceived to be highly corrupt and 100 perceived to be very clean. Continue Reading »

Lady Gaga is coming to perform in Israel

 

Two strikes for the BDS movement: Justin Bieber’s Israeli concert set for May 14th,  then Lady Gaga will be here for her show in summer of 2014.

 

 

Lady Gaga will arrive in Israel in the summer of 2014 for her second performance in the country, Channel 2 reported.

Lady Gaga

Pop music superstar Lady Gaga poses next to her look-alike doll called “Gagadoll” during a press conference in Tokyo on December 1, 2013.- Photo: AFP

Israel will be one stop on a tour promoting the release of her new album ARTPOP. She launched off in London and is expected to hit New York City in March and April. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Housing Minister: Jerusalem will Keep Negotiating – and Building

Uri Ariel calls PA Abbas’ threats to leave negotiations if Jerusalem continues more building in Judea and Samaria, “nonsense.”

By Tova Dvorin

 

Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) revealed Tuesday in an interview with Arutz Sheva Radio that he will keep plans to build over 20,000 housing units in Judea and Samaria on the agenda, calling the Palestinian Authority’s threats to quit negotiations “nonsense.”

“Whoever thinks we should engage in negotiations with them, can engage in negotiations with them,” Ariel stated, “but we will continue to build in Jerusalem – and that’s the way it has to be.”

MK Ariel participated Monday in a joint tour of the Neot Kedumim Nature Reserve with economics and real estate moguls, which included a night tour and lighting a hanukkiah. Continue Reading »

IDF’s Gaza Division Commander: Hamas Cooperates with the IDF

The head of the army’s Gaza Division, Gen. Mickey Edelstein, reveled in a Channel 10 interview that Hamas is ‘Gaza’s cop’ – for now.

By Tova Dvorin

 

Brigadier General Mickey Edelstein, head of the IDF’s Gaza Division, admitted to Channel 10 to a certain degree of cooperation between the IDF and Hamas.

“Hamas is in trouble and now it finds itself isolated,” said Edelstein, in conversation with the Gaza residents released Monday on the television network.

He stressed that “Leaders of Hamas, both the political and military branches, do everything to maintain restraint.” He also claimed that “Hamas soldiers have been prevented from shooting at or mounting charges at the IDF.” Continue Reading »