Report: Hezbollah replaces Lebanese Armed Forces on Lebanon-Israel border

UNIFIL personnel say the Lebanese Army  is gradually withdrawing from Israel border area, leaving it in Hezbollah control.

By Ynet

As tensions build up in the north, Hezbollah continues to tighten its grip on southern Lebanon while the Lebanese Armed Forces gradually withdraw their troops from the border area. Meanwhile, UNIFIL is reporting heightened standoffs with Hezbollah, Lebanon’s Daily Star reported Wednesday.

UNIFIL in southern Lebanon - Photo Reuters

UNIFIL in southern Lebanon – Photo: Reuters

UNIFIL patrols are finding paths blocked and former temporary observation points suddenly out of bounds in what is being interpreted as Hezbollah seeking to flex its muscles on the ground at a time of heightened regional uncertainty and aggressive postures by Israel, the paper reported. Continue Reading »

Labor prepared to join coalition gov’t for peace treaty

MK Ben-Eliezer says if Bayit Yehudi pulls out of coalition over Arab League Peace-Plan, Labor interested in replacing party to advance peace initiative.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

 

Labor repeated its commitment to enter the government, if necessary, should  it come close to reaching a peace treaty on Wednesday, a day after the Arab League said it would be open to land swaps.

Opposition leader Shelly Yacimovich (Labor) said Tuesday night that her party will “support positive, significant steps toward reaching an agreement.”

Labor Party Convenes

Labor Party Convenes – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

“If we are on the cusp of singing a treaty and [Economic and Trade Minister Naftali] Bennett threatens to quit, we won’t be the opposition, and will reexamine entering the government,” a spokeswoman for Yacimovich explained Wednesday.

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More UK Luck than Brains (Intel): Terrorists Caught by Chance

Muslim Terrorists prepared bombs & guns for EDL rally: Terrorists were late, caught while driving home by traffic cop.

By Maayana Miskin

Six British Muslim men ages 22-28 have pleaded guilty to plotting a terrorist attack on a rally held by the right-wing English Defense League, British media outlets report.

EDL Rally targeted my 6 Muslim terrorists – TV screenshot

Five of the six men took a bomb packed with shrapnel and other weapons to the rally. They had written a letter explaining their motives.

The message read, “This is a message to the kafir (non-believer) female devil and self-proclaimed Queen Elizabeth and her accursed jubilee, fooling a nation of blind sheep to your self-proclaimed royalty and majesty… Today is a day of retaliation for your blasphemy of Allah and his Messenger Muhammad.

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Arab League sweetening Israel-Palestinian peace plan brings rift to gov’t

Arab League suggestion puts Netanyahu in bind, straining both internal coalition parties, external pressure, as both domestic & int’l figures laud proposal. 

Associated Press

 

The Arab League‘s decision to sweeten its decade-old proposal offering comprehensive peace with Israel has placed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bind and swiftly exposed fissures in his new government.

In Washington Monday, Qatari Prime Minister Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani tried to allay some of the Israeli concerns. Speaking on behalf of an Arab League delegation, he reiterated the need to base an agreement between Israel and a future Palestine on the 1967 lines, but for the first time, he cited the possibility of “comparable,” mutually agreed and “minor” land swaps between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Continue Reading »

Nasrallah warns Sunni fighters of danger if Shiite shrine is destroyed in Lebanon

 

Hezbollah leader warned Sunni rebels & al-Qaida that Iranian fighters would enter to rescue Assad’s embattled regime if needed.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday that Syrian rebels will not be able to defeat President Bashar Assad’s regime militarily, strongly suggesting that Syria’s “real friends” including his Iranian-backed militant group would intervene on the government’s side if the need arises.

Nasrallah speaks via TV screen from secret location - AP - May 11, 2012

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah speaks via a TV screen from his secret underground hiding place, during a ceremony, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, May 11, 2012. – Photo: AP

The powerful Shiite Muslim group is known to be backing Syrian regime fighters in Shiite villages near the Lebanon border against the mostly Sunni rebels fighting to topple Assad. Continue Reading »

Langfan’s Op-Ed challenges Dershowitz’s peace plan

Attorney Mark Langfan’s open letter on Arutz Sheva leads to Prof. Alan Dershowitz’ re-thinking his support for the 1970 Allon Plan.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Prof. Alan Dershowitz, appearing at the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York this week, spoke about his plan to restart the peace talks. Dershowitz, who has not official position in Israel, spoke to PA President Mahmoud Abbas and suggested a version of the Allon Plan of 1970. His suggestion for a “tripartite settlement freeze” was panned by Israel’s Minister of International Affairs, Yuval Steinitz, as well as by former National Security Advisor to PM Netanyahu, Dr. Continue Reading »

Leading Jordanian object to ‘confederation’ with Palestinians

More than 1,000 leading Jordanians sign petition objecting to ‘confederation’ with Palestinians, calling it Obama’s “confederation conspiracy”.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 


More than 1,000 Jordanians have signed a petition opposing the idea of a confederation between the kingdom and a future Palestinian state.

Obama with Abbas in Ramallah

Obama with Abbas in Ramallah

Recent reports have suggested that US and Western security advisers have arrived in Jordan to train Syrian rebels and help the Jordanians face a growing influx of Syrian refugees.

Some Palestinians have also voiced opposition to the confederation idea, saying it should be discussed only after the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

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Arab MK after Terrorist Kills Jew: “Settlers have no right to self-defense.”

Arab MK Zahalka refuses to condemn the stabbing to death of a young father of 5 saying ‘Settlers have no right to self defense.’

By Maayana Miskin

 

Member of Knesset Jamal Zahalka has refused to condemn the murder Tuesday of a young father-of-five. A terrorist stabbed actor Evyatar “Napo” Borovsky to death as he waited for a ride at the Tapuach Junction.

Zahalka, of the controversial Balad party, declined to condemn the slaying during a heated debate with MK Orit Struk and others over a proposal to allow Jews living in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) to shoot home invaders, as is legal elsewhere in Israel. Continue Reading »

Pope Francis accepts President Peres’ invitation to visit Jerusalem

The Vatican’s new pontiff accepted an invitation by Israeli President Shimon Peres to visit Israel ‘with willingness & joy,’ says spokesman.

By Reuters

 

President Shimon Peres invited Pope Francis on Tuesday to visit Israel, at his first meeting with the new pontiff who has appealed for peace in the Middle East.

Israeli President Shimon Peres meets with Pope Francis - Photo by Kobi Gideon , GPO

Israeli President Shimon Peres meets with Pope Francis – Photo by Kobi Gideon , GPO

The pope accepted the invitation “with willingness and joy,” a Vatican spokesman said, but there was no indication when a trip would be made.

“I am expecting you in Jerusalem, not just me but the whole country of Israel,” Peres told the pope in the presence of reporters after 30 minutes of private talks in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. Continue Reading »

Arab League offers new Peace Plan motivated by “a strategic choice”

 

Arab League agrees to potentially dramatic changes in Saudi’s suggested plan.

Justice Minister Livni: “This is a positive development” ,but no comment yet from the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Associated Press, Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

 

While the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem had yet to respond on Tuesday to a renewed Arab League endorsement for Israeli-Palestinian peace, Israeli Tourism Minister Uzi Landau (Likud-Beytenu), a staunch opponent of the two-state solution, poured cold water on the League’s proposals.

Tourism Minister Uzi Landau – Photo: Lior Mizrahi

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Sharansky’s Western Wall prayer plan loses support from both sides

Sharansky’s Kotel plan loses support from both Religious and Women’s groups. Neither side willing to compromise.

The plan would expand the egalitarian section of the Western Wall Plaza – called Robinson’s Arch – and create a unified entrance to the Wall’s traditional and egalitarian sections. Continue Reading »

US official: Plans for possible military action in Syria are being evaluated

Senior White House official tells reporters that the Pentagon is looking into plans to strike Syrian military installations, though a ground offensive looks unlikely.

 

The U.S. in stepping up planning for military intervention in Syria, CNN reported on Monday. The report quoted a senior administration official as saying that “there is intensified planning in the works as more precise information comes in on the Syrian regime’s potential use of chemical weapons and the body of evidence grows.”

U.S. troops in Gulf


A UH-1N Huey with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit flies past the USS Rushmore, in the South Arabian Gulf, March 29, 2013.

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Iranian, Lebanese & Saudi Students take Hebrew University’s Online Course

The Hebrew University course, Synapses, Neurons and Brains, has approximately 40,000 students from around the world registered, including students from Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, India, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco and Algeria.

 

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem has started teaching its global course in partnership with Coursera, which provides free online courses from senior lecturers at some of the world’s leading universities.

brainThe course, Synapses, Neurons and Brains, has approximately 40,000 students from around the world registered, including students from Lebanon, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nepal, India, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco and Algeria, as well as  Europe, South America, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Continue Reading »

IAF eliminates Gaza jihadist terrorist linked to rocket fire on Eilat

In 1st targeted assassination by IAF since end of Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012, terrorist named as Hitham Mashal, a rocket manufacturing expert & member of jihadist group operating in Gaza & Sinai was killed in a surgical strike.

 

 

A Gaza-based terrorist linked to a rocket attack on Eilat earlier this month was killed at around 10 a.m. Tuesday morning in a targeted strike by the Israel Air Force, as he drove his motorcycle in the northern Gaza Strip.

Smoke rises from IAF strike in Gaza during Operation Pillar of Defense, Nov. 2012

Smoke rises from IAF surgical strike in Gaza during Operation Pillar of Defense, Nov. 2012 Photo: REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah

Israeli security sources named the man as 24-year-old northern Gaza resident Hitham Mashal, calling him a Salafist who was active in multiple jihadist organizations. Continue Reading »

PM Netanyahu address nation after IDF’s assassination of terrorist

After Palestinian Arab attacks & kills Israeli with knife and after successful surgical strike by the IAF eliminating a jihadist rocket manufacturing expert who was linked to to the rocket fire on Eilat, the PM addressed the nation.

Terrorists behind last week’s twin rocket attacks on Eilat came from the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said during a government meeting on Sunday. Continue Reading »