What motives hide behind Israel’s prisoner release?

 

The reasoning behind Netanyahu’s “difficult decision” to free blood-soaked terrorists at present remains classified.

By Connie Fieraru

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s agreement to the Palestinian precondition of releasing 104 terrorists sporadically over the next nine months of peace negotiations has left many questioning his resolve and leadership ability. What most Israelis want to know is ‘why and at what cost?’

The motives behind Israel’s prisoner release

The motives behind Israel’s prisoner release – Israel Today

Unfortunately, as hard as it is to hear, this time round we are expecting nothing in return from the Palestinians – only the hope that Mahmoud Abbas will actually remain at the negotiating table for the full nine months. Continue Reading »

Haredim caught desecrating memorial fountain for 73 fallen IDF soldiers

 

Mushav Shear Yashuv residents digusted to find haredi tourists bathing in a memorial fountain, which was dedicated to the 73 IDF soldiers who were killed in a terrible 1997 helicopter accident.

Haredi tourists: “Memorials constitute idolatry.”

By Daniel Siryoti

 

 

A fracas erupted Tuesday between tourists at a memorial for the victims of a military helicopter accident near the Galilee town of Shear Yashuv, after several haredim were caught bathing in the monument fountain.

Continue Reading »

Tom Jones to perform in Israel

Welsh Pop Star to sing in Tel Aviv

 

 

The latest big-name musician to commit to a concert in Israel is Tom Jones,  according to The Times of Israel. The Welsh pop legend, 73, is slated to hit Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena on October 26.

Tom Jones performing at the House Of Blues, Anaheim, Calif., March 2009. Photo: Mykal Burns/Creative Commons

Audiences can look forward to hearing classics like “It’s Not Unusual,” “Love Me Tonight,” and “Kiss.”

Jones is joining an impressive list of artists who have played the Holy Land including Paul McCartney, Barbra Streisand, Cliff Richard, the Pet Shop Boys, Alicia Keys, and Rihanna. Continue Reading »

PA minister urges Gazans to ‘fatwa’ (revolt) against Hamas

PA Minister Habbash wrote on his Facebook account that the fatwa was the duty of Gaza Muslims to end Hamas’s control over the local Palestinians.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

A Palestinian Authority minister in Ramallah on Wednesday issued a fatwa [Islamic religious decree] obliging Palestinians to revolt against Hamas and end its control over the Gaza Strip.

PA Religious Affairs Minister Mahmoud Habbash

PA Religious Affairs Minister Mahmoud Habbash
Photo: Courtesy Palestinian Media Watch

The fatwa, issued by PA Minister for Wakf Affairs, Mahmoud Habbash, is yet another sign of mounting tensions between Fatah and Hamas in wake of the crisis in Egypt.

Fatah, the ruling faction of the PA, supports the ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, while Hamas has condemned it as a military coup against a legitimate and democratically elected leader.

Continue Reading »

US Intel Report: Syrian Yakhont missiles moved prior to alleged Israeli strike

 

NYT reports US analysts believe Syrians set fire to self-propelled launchers in Latakia to create impression of successful attack, but some Yakhont missiles remain intact.

By Ynet

American officials said on Wednesday that according to intelligence analysts, a recent Israeli airstrike on a warehouse in Syria did not succeed in destroying all of the Russian-made anti-ship cruise missiles that were its target, the New York Times reported.

File:Yakhont.jpg

Yakhont missile – Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

According to the New York Times, Israel carried out an attack on July 5 near Latakia to destroy the missiles, which Russia had sold to Syria. Continue Reading »

Synagogues on wheels goes deep into Russia

Known in Russia as ‘mitzvah tanks’, traveling synagogues make house calls to homes of Jews who are unable leave home for medical reasons.

By

 

Jewish activists have taken three synagogues on wheels on a journey into Siberia and central Russia.

A Mitzvah Tank at the entrance of the Moscow Jewish community center, June 2013.

A Mitzvah Tank at the entrance of the Moscow Jewish community center, Chabad Lubavitch, June 2013. – Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia

The activists, among them sons of emissaries to Russia for the Chabad movement, are driving three camper vehicles into the Russian outback along three different routes that will take them through dozens of cities over the next three weeks, according to the official website of the Chabad movement. Continue Reading »

Australian Professor Sued by ‘Shurat HaDin’ for Promoting Boycotts of Israel

 

Under Federal anti-discrimination laws, Israel’s ‘Shurat HaDin’ filed a class action complaint in Sydney against an Australian professor’s participation & his public support of boycotts of Israel.

By Rina Tzvi

 

An Israeli civil rights group, Shurat HaDin, has filed a class action complaint under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 with the Australian Human Rights Commission over a Sydney professor’s participation and public support of boycotts of Israel including an academic boycott of  Israeli universities.

Recently, faculty and students at Sydney University called for the severing of links with Israeli institutions, actions that would be deemed racist and in violation of Australian Federal anti- discrimination laws. Continue Reading »

Captured SA-8 missile system by Syrian rebels threatens Israel

 

Rebel video of chopper hit by SA-8 air defense system exposes a direct threat to Israeli,  Lebanese & Syrian airspaces.

Roi Kais

The video released by Syrian opposition forces which allegedly documents the tracking and interception of an army helicopter shows that rebels have managed to get their hands on Russian-made SA-8, or OSA, air defense system, and now pose a direct threat on the Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian airspaces.

SA-8 in rebels’ hands

However, the system is relatively outdated, and the Syrian army holds a far more dangerous development of the same system, the SA-17, which it purchased from Russia with Iranian funds. Continue Reading »

Israeli math & science students advance from Virtual High School lessons

Over 100 10th graders from 28 schools across Israel took part this past academic year in an initiative that addressed the decline in math & science education.

 

 

More than 100 10th-grade students from 28 schools all over Israel, mostly in the periphery, attended high-level math and physics classes sitting in front of a computer through distance learning this past academic year.

Archive image showing students at a computer lab.

Archive image showing students at a computer lab. – Photo: Tess Scheflan

 

The classes were held inside the schools as part of the regular curriculum, but the classes comprised students from different schools and teachers communicating with them via their computer screens. Continue Reading »

WHO Physician: Polio Virus Found in Israel came from Pakistan

Tests proved the polio virus discovered in southern Israel originated in Pakistan. Israel to commence emergency inoculation program.

By Gil Ronen

 

 

The strain of polio virus recently discovered in southern Israel is exactly the same kind as the type of virus that is prevalent in Pakistan, and which existed exclusively in Pakistan until recently, reports the Pakistan-based publication Dawn.

Dr. Nima Abid, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Pakistan, told Dawn that the virus was “definitely” from Pakistan, since “The virus genotype (genetic make-up) is the same as prevalent in Pakistan and this is what the research has indicated.” Continue Reading »

Hamas accuses Abbas’ PA for attacks on group in Egyptian media

Fatah officials speaking for Abbas, dismiss the Hamas charges, saying the documents they presented at the press conference were forged.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
 

 

 
Hamas leaders on Tuesday released documents that, they said, prove that Fatah and the Palestinian Authority are responsible for an Egyptian media campaign against the Islamist movement.
HAMAS GUNMEN hold a poster depicting Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza City June 2012.

HAMAS GUNMEN hold a poster depicting Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza City June 2012. – Photo: Mohammed Salem/Reuters

Over the past few months, reports in several Egyptian media outlets have accused Hamas of meddling in Egypt’s internal affairs.

Some reports claimed that Hamas had dispatched gunmen to Sinai and other parts of Egypt to kill civilians and soldiers.

Continue Reading »

EU pays $17 Million to keep east Jerusalem hospital operational

 

Palestinian health minister says PA committed to hospitals which ‘oppose Israeli occupation’s practices in holy capital’.

The Media Line

One of the issues on the agenda for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians currently underway in Washington is the future of east Jerusalem. Israel says east Jerusalem, which it annexed in 1967, will remain part of its united capital while the Palestinians say it must be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

Augusta Victoria Hospital Photo: Amod Ben Gershom, GPO

In one respect, though, east Jerusalem is already part of the West Bank through a network of six hospitals – including the well-known Augusta Victoria and Al-Makassed hospitals – which treat thousands of Palestinians each year. Continue Reading »

Peres attends opening of Latvia museum dedicated to rescuers of WWII Jews

President Shimon Peres & Latvian President Andris Berzins attend opening ceremony at the Riga museum.

 

 

President Shimon Peres took part in a ceremony marking the opening of a museum in Latvia dedicated to a couple who saved some 50 Jews from extermination.

The museum in downtown Riga, Latvia’s capital, is located next to the property once owned by Zanis Lipke, a port worker who together with his wife hid Jews in an underground pit measuring some 9 square meters.

Peres at Riga Holocaust museum.

Peres, center, and Berzins, left at the Zanis Lipke Memorial in Riga, June 30, 2013. – Photo: AP

 

The three-story museum resembles an overturned ship and is designed to give visitors a claustrophobic sense of life in a tiny bunker. Continue Reading »

PA minister: Peace process is first step to conquer Israel later

 

Abbas has no mandate, not from the PFLP of the PLO, not Hamas, and not from many of those he rules over. But one thing is in common. Palestinians see peace process as part of long-term plan to defeat and eliminate the State of Israel.

By Ryan Jones

 

There are more than a few in the Palestinian Authority who are upset over the pending renewal of peace talks with Israel. Hamas in particular believes the move to be a detriment to the Palestinian cause.

This symbol is adorning the “Palestinian embassies” all over South America. Pay attention to the map.

Continue Reading »

Seeking Final Solution, Abbas Wants ‘Judenrein’ Palestinian State

 

Palestinian & Israeli negotiators meet for dinner in Washington on Monday, then to hold first work session on Tuesday.

PA President Abbas in Egypt: Not a single Israeli can remain on Palestinian lands.

By Shlomo Cesana, Yoni Hirsch, Israel Hayom Staff and News Agencies

 

After three years of stalemate, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process resumed in Washington on Monday and it remains to be seen whether this round of negotiations will yield a different result than past efforts.

Continue Reading »