Pentagon to invest additional $395.9 million in Iron Dome

Washington intends to allocate $220 million in 2014, $176 million in 2015 for Iron Dome missile defense systems protecting Israel.

Hagel plans visit to Israel next week to discuss common military projects.

By AFP

The United States plans to finance the Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile by the amount of $220 million for the fiscal year 2014, despite the US’s budget cuts.

According Missile Defense Agency (MDA), the Pentagon plans to spend $220.3 million on the Iron Dome.

The Pentagon, which had already spent $204 million in 2011 and $70 million in 2012, also foresees a budget of 176 million for the Iron Dome system in 2015. Continue Reading »

US Senate FRC Resolution to Assist Israel in Iran Strike Approved

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee adopts a resolution which commits the U.S.to assist Israel in case of an attack on Iran.

By Elad Benari

 

The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee adopted on Tuesday a resolution which stipulates that the U.S. will assist Israel if it is forced to take action against Iran.

US Senate

US Senate

The resolution, Senate Resolution 65, was introduced last month by Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and was co-sponsored by 15 Senators, including Robert Menendez (D-New Jersey), Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Kelly Ayotte (R-New Hampshire), John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Chuck Schumer (D-New York).

It states that the United States has a vital national interest in and unbreakable commitment to, ensuring the existence, survival, and security of the State of Israel; reaffirms the United States support for Israel’s right to self-defense; and urges that if Israel is compelled to take military action in self-defense, the United States will stand with Israel and provide diplomatic, military, and economic support in its defense of its territory, people, and existence. Continue Reading »

Germany favors procuring Israel’s Heron attack UAV

 

German magazine Der Spiege Reports: Israel’s Heron TP has attack capabilities & is considered by Germany to be more cutting-edge than the U.S.-made Predator.

Germany’s air force chief was in Israel recently to attend a presentation on the Heron UAV.

By Eli Leon, Lilach Shoval, News Agencies & Israel Hayom Staff

 

Germany is examining the procurement of the Heron TP unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Israel Aerospace Industries, which has attack capabilities and is more technologically advanced than the American UAVs it currently uses, according to the German magazine Der Spiegel.

Continue Reading »

The Taglit-Birthright flip side: Fewer high school students coming to Israel

Spending $7,000 – $8,000 on a 2-week trip for your teen child, or nothing for a 10-day trip a year or two down the road “it’s a no-brainer.”

 

NEW YORK (JTA) — With the summer travel season fast approaching, providers of Israel programs for teenagers are bracing themselves for what several say could be a season of historically low travel in a year unaffected by major security concerns.

Taglit-BirthrightOver the past decade, Israel travel among those aged 13 to 18 has seen a dramatic falloff. Though exact figures are difficult to come by, leaders of several leading North American teen programs say they have seen drops of 30 percent to 50 percent in participation in their Israel trips since 2000. Continue Reading »

Boston Terror Blasts: Chief Dr. Credits Israelis With Setting Up Disaster Team

The Israelis came & “they helped us set up our disaster team so that we could respond in this kind of manner”.

By The Algemeiner staff

 

Hours following a pair of blasts at the Boston Marathon that left 2 dead and up to 100 wounded according to reports, a chief doctor at the hospital where many of the patients are being treated credited Israelis with teaching his team how to respond to such disastrous attacks.

Alastair Conn, Chief of Emergency Services at Massachusetts General Hospital. -  Photo Screenshot.

Alastair Conn, Chief of Emergency Services at Massachusetts General Hospital. – Photo Screenshot.

“About two years ago in actual fact we asked the Israelis to come across and they helped us set up our disaster team so that we could respond in this kind of manner,” said Alasdair Conn, Chief of Emergency Services at Massachusetts General Hospital, responding to a question about the preparedness of his staff to handle trauma on this scale. Continue Reading »

Natanyahu on Boston terror attack: Israel stands with US

In extending their condolences to the US, Peres & Netanyahu address heads of foreign diplomatic missions.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN

 

 

Israel stands shoulder to shoulder with America not only as friends but as partners in the quest for freedom for all humanity, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday in an address to heads of foreign diplomatic missions in Israel, consuls, honorary consuls and heads of religious communities.

Peres, Netanyahu greet heads of  foreign diplomatic missions

Peres, Netanyahu greet heads of foreign diplomatic missions Photo: Courtesy The President’s Residence

Netanyahu was speaking at the annual Independence Day reception for the diplomatic corps and the heads of churches and other faiths traditionally hosted at his official residence by the President of the State.

Continue Reading »

Gaza open Israeli jail replica to honor Palestinian prisoners

Honoring 12 prisoners who died in Saraya, a former Israeli prison in Gaza,  Palestinians refurbish the prison & open it to visitors.

Reuters

Palestinians opened a replica of a former Israeli prison in Gaza on Tuesday to help illuminate the plight of 4,800 kin jailed in Israel after weeks of protests that have triggered clashes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

Illustration Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg

Murals of famous leaders of Palestinian militant groups who were once held in the Saraya prison decorated walls at the site, along with a leather banner listing the names of 12 detainees who died in what locals dubbed “the slaughterhouse”. Continue Reading »

Jews Strip-Searched on Temple Mount to Avoid Israeli Flags Offending Muslim

On the 65th Independence Day, the time has come to correct the strange mistake made by Moshe Dayan, who capitulated on the Temple Mount & gave our holy Mount to our enemies.

By Maayana Miskin

Three yeshiva students were strip-searched Tuesday when visiting the Temple Mount, Temple Mount activists have reported.

The Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site for well over 3,000 years.

The Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site for well over 3,000 years.

 

The students were reportedly pulled aside by a commander of the police unit for protection of holy sites. They were asked to remove clothing and their bodies were searched for an Israeli flag.

The officer who performed the search apologized to the three for the invasive search. Continue Reading »

IDF Safeguarding Israel in the shadows

The IDF’s counter-terrorism school gives  a glimpse into its amazing world.


 
IN THE shadows, away from the public glare, several elite combat units operate to safeguard Israel’s security.
A counter-terrorism instructor holds his weapon at the IDF’s Mitkan Adam base near Modi’in.

A counter-terrorism instructor holds his weapon at the IDF’s Mitkan Adam base near Modi’in. – Photo: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post

Some gather intelligence behind enemy lines, others are sent to secure a strategic site, form Israel’s first response to hostage situations, while still others rescue soldiers in trouble.
Some units receive classified missions that will never be known to the public.But all of them have one thing in common – they train at the IDF’s counter-terrorism school at the Mitkan Adam base, near Modi’in.Headed
Continue Reading »

Fatah: Now that Fayyad Quit, Go Make Peace with Hamas

A member of the Fatah party says PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas must now form a gov’t with Gaza’s Hamas terror group.

By Elad Benari

 

 

Now that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has resigned, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas must form a government with the Hamas terror group, a high-ranking member of Abbas’s Fatah party said on Monday, according to an AFP report.

Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas

“The president must hold consultations with Palestinian movements to form a national unity government and set a date for elections,” Azzam al-Ahmed, a leader of the Fatah party, told Voice of Palestine radio.

Fatah, which controls the PA-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria, has been at odds for years with its bitter rival, the Hamas terror group that governs Gaza. Continue Reading »

And now, to the next 65 years in the Israeli-US partnership

American companies directly employ about 60,000 Israelis, a full 2 percent of Israel’s workforce. At the same time, Israeli companies are creating tens of thousands of jobs in the United States. This job creation in both our countries is one of the clearest and most tangible expressions of how the U.S.-Israeli partnership touches the daily lives of our citizens.

By Ambassador Daniel B. Shapiro

Congratulations to Israel on 65 years of independence! During his visit to Israel last month, President Obama celebrated 65 years of friendship between Israel and the United States and stressed that our bonds are built on our shared values, democratic ideals and a belief that by providing our citizens with opportunity and freedom we can create more just and righteous societies.

Continue Reading »

VIDEO: What Sharansky’s Western Wall compromise may look like

Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky, said the implementation of his plan to expand the non-Orthodox prayer site at the Western Wall could begin next month.

 

An illustration of Natan Sharansky's proposal, which will expand the Western Wall and create a permanent egalitarian space in the Robinson's Arch area. (Creative Commons)

An illustration of Natan Sharansky’s proposal, which will expand the Western Wall and create a permanent egalitarian space in the Robinson’s Arch area. – Creative Commons

JERUSALEM (JTA)

Natan Sharansky has presented what could be a historic proposal to expand space for egalitarian prayer at the Robinson’s Arch section of the Western Wall. JTA’s Ben Sales visits the scene to provide viewers with a better understanding of the proposal and the challenges it poses.

Continue Reading »

Hamas bulldozes 3,000-year-old Roman seaport for military training

Hamas military wing destroys part of ancient Roman, Byzantine harbor, slated as UNESCO heritage site, due to “urgent need” for military training site.

By JTA

 

 

The Hamas-run government in Gaza bulldozed part of a UNESCO heritage site to expand a military training zone.

Palestinian diplomats at UNESCO - Photo: REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Palestinian diplomats at UNESCO – Photo REUTERS Benoit Tessier

The military wing of Hamas, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, bulldozed a part of the ancient Anthedon Harbor in northern Gaza along the Mediterranean Sea last month, the Al-Monitor news website reported.

The 3,000-year-old seaport discovered in 1997 was named an international heritage site by UNESCO in 2012, and is the oldest harbor in Gaza.

Continue Reading »

French Jewish Students lodge new complaint over Twitter’s anti-Semitism

The suit filed concerns tweets which still appear on Twitter, which call for killing Jews & praising the Holocaust.

By

 

 

 

A French Jewish group which last month sued Twitter for hosting anti-Semitic content has lodged a fresh complaint against the company and accused it of lying.

Twitter logo.

Photo by Twitter

 

The latest complaint by the Union of Jewish Students of France, or UEJF, was filed on April 12 with the Paris Public Prosecutor’s office against Twitter President and Director Dick Costolo. UEJF and another group, J’ACCUSE, said in the complaint that Costolo was “responsible for racial defamation and publicly inciting to discrimination, hate or violence toward Jews.” Continue Reading »

‘I Represent 3 Generations of ‘Victims of Hatred” said Daniel Pearl’s Dad

Parents of slain Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl, light the flame at the Remembrance Day ceremony in Jerusalem.

By Arutz Sheva staff

 

Judea and Ruth Pearl, parents of Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl, who was murdered in Pakistan, lit a flame at the Yom Hazikaron ceremony held in front of the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem.

Parents of slain journalist Daniel Pearl light memorial candle - Sasson Tiram

Parents of slain journalist Daniel Pearl light memorial candle – Sasson Tiram

They attended the annual commemoration of the Jewish Agency to pay tribe to Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror, as well as to mark the memory of Jews murdered in acts of terrorism and anti-Semitic incidents around the world. Continue Reading »