The IDF’s “Na’mer” is ready for battle

Meet the Na’mer, the ‘tank-body’ APC, a 63.5-ton metal beast that’s the IDF’s main transport platform for carrying infantry troops into combat.


 

 
In the middle of the Negev Desert, a group of Namer (“Leopard”) armored personnel carriers are parked in formation, waiting for the order to open fire. Scattered among them are Merkava Mark 2 tanks.
A NAMER APC take part in a live-fire exercise in the Negev.

A NAMER APC take part in a live-fire exercise in the Negev. – Photo: IDF Spokesman’s Office

The Namer’s operators run through their last checks. Their commanders, situated on a mound overlooking the area, radio their instructions. The desert wind blows through the expansive training ground, marked by sandy hills and valleys.

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Abbas demands map for future Palestinian from Netanyahu as precondition

 

Abbas demands Netanyahu present US with map on 1967 borders for future Palestinian state before resumption of peace talks with Israel.

AFP

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu present a map for a future Palestinian state before any peace talks can resume, an aide said on Friday.

Mahmoud Abbas -  Photo Reuters

Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: Reuters

Abbas “wants to know, through a map to be presented by Benjamin Netanyahu to (US Secretary of State John) Kerry, what the prime minister’s view of a two-state solution would be, especially the borders,” political adviser Nimr Hammad told AFP.

The remarks came just days ahead of a visit by Kerry, who will hold fortnightly meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, local media say, as he tries to revive the stalled peace process. Continue Reading »

Complains of Financial Crisis, but PA Pays Salaries to Jailed Terrorists

Despite constant complaining that it is suffering from a severe financial crisis, the Palestinian Authority sees its commitment of paying ‘salaries/pensions’ to terrorists in Israeli prisons at $55.5 million a year a top priority.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

 

The Palestinian Authority, despite complaining constantly that it is suffering from a severe financial crisis, is continuing to provide monthly payments to terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons, the Makor Rishon newspaper reported Friday. This is not the first time that the enormous salaries the PA pays terrorists have been exposed.

According to Friday’s report, which was based on data collected by the research department of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, at least 4% of the PA government’s budget is allocated for terrorists’ salaries. Continue Reading »

The cyber-war starts Sunday

 

Hackers from all over the world are making final preparations for a cyber-attack against Israel — purported to be the most extensive attack to date.

They will try to infiltrate gov’t sites, hack into banks & infect users…. but, Israel is also preparing itself.

By Ilan Gattegno

 

For over a month now, Israel has been under cyberattack. It began with words and threats, which carry a hefty significance in and of themselves, due to their psychological impact, and because they prompt Internet activity from all levels to try to prevent the damage from such an anticipated attack.

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Sharansky: Women reciting Kaddish at Kotel won’t be arrested

At PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s request, Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky is drafting recommendations to decrease tensions at the Wall, ensuring that all Jews can pray in a comfortable manner at the Western Wall.

 

JERUSALEM  — Women who recite the Mourner’s Kaddish at the Western Wall will not be arrested, Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky said he has been assured, despite a police vow to enforce a ban.

2010 IN PICTURES JULY

Anat Hoffman, leader of the Women of the Wall, is arrested for holding a Torah scroll at Judaism’s holiest site. – Photo: Michal Fattal

 

Jerusalem police Commissioner Yossi Pariente in a letter sent Thursday to Women of the Wall Chairwoman Anat Hoffman said he would enforce the Justice Ministry’s strict interpretation of a Supreme Court ruling prohibiting women from violating the traditional practices at the site, which is overseen by haredi Orthodox officials. Continue Reading »

Syrian rebels trained by Hamas

London ‘Times’ reports the Hamas’ Kassam Brigades began training members of opposition in Damascus after braking ties with former ally Assad.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

The military unit of Hamas has broken ties with former ally Syrian President Bashar Assad and began training members of the opposition’s Free Syrian Army in Damascus, the Times of London reported on Friday.

Member of the Free Syrian Army

Member of the Free Syrian Army – Photo: REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

Anonymous diplomatic sources told the Times that members of the Izzadin Kassam Brigades were training FSA units in the rebel-held neighborhoods of Yalda, Jaramana and Babbila in the Syrian capital.

“The Kassam Brigades have been training units very close to Damascus.

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UNIFIL’s mandate to track Hezbollah arms a disaster

 

Israel’s national security adviser reports UNIFIL fails to report on Hezbollah armaments, as mandated by the UN.

UNIFIL spokesman: ‘Peacekeepers haven’t witnessed entry of illegal weapons into area of operations’.

Reuters

 

UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon have failed to report on Hezbollah guerrilla armaments as required, a senior Israeli official said on Thursday, arguing that Israel could not rely on foreign intervention for its security.

UNIFIL troops – Photo: Reuters

The remarks underscored the conservative strategies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as instability rocks Israel’s neighbors and world powers urge it to roll back its West Bank occupation to make way for Palestinian state. Continue Reading »

Israel’s the Mid-East’s upcoming energy superpower

The impact of Israel as the regional energy superpower plainly heralds imminent & significant changes in the Middle East & signals a very real change in the geopolitics of the region.

By Peter C Glover

Israel’s transformation from a land of milk and honey into a land awash with oil and gas money is under way. When the country’s offshore Tamar field finally started pumping domestic natural gas direct to Haifa on the last day of March 2013, it meant that Israel was no longer in the thrall of its Arab neighbours for gas imports. And it also signalled the beginning of Israel’s rise to energy superpower status.

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UN aid distribution suspended in Gaza after rioters demanded more cash

66% of Gaza’s population, some 800,000 Palestinians have become dependent on the United Nations Relief & Works Agency’ free handouts of food & cash.

By Reuters

 

The main UN humanitarian agency for Palestinians said on Thursday it was suspending operations in the Gaza Strip after demonstrators angered by aid cutbacks stormed its headquarters.
The Shati refugee camp, Gaza City, October 6, 2012.


A Palestinian boy sits behind bags of flour donated by various aid agencies as part of their food assistance programs, in the Shati refugee camp, Gaza City, October 6, 2012. – Photo: AP

 

Some 800,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of Gaza’s population, depend on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the shuttering could exacerbate hardship caused by Israeli and Egyptian controls on the isolated enclave’s borders. Continue Reading »

Hamas Arrests 2 Salafists for Rocket Attacks on Israel

Gaza’s ruling Hamas terrorist movement has arrested 2 hardline Islamists for their participation on rocket attacks at Israel.

By Elad Benari

 

 

The Hamas terrorist movement, which rules Gaza, has arrested two hardline Islamists in connection with rocket attacks on Israel, sources close to a Salafist group told AFP on Thursday.

Gaza Salafists wave Al-Qaeda flag during protest – Photo: AFP

The Hamas interior ministry, however, denied that any arrests had been made for “resistance against the occupation.”

Hamas’s “internal security apparatus in the last two days arrested two mujahedeen. One was released after several hours. The other is still detained,” a Salafist source told AFP on condition of anonymity. Continue Reading »

Arab protesters & IDF clash at West Bank funerals

Thousands gather for funeral of Palestinian prisoner Abu Hamdiyeh in Hebron, protesters hurl rocks at police & IDF soldiers.

Funerals for 2 Palestinian youths shot by live IDF fire were held in their home village near Tulkarm.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, TOVAH LAZAROFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN

 

 

 

Dozens of Palestinians threw stones at IDF soldiers on Thursday during the funerals of three Palestinians in the West Bank, Army Radio reported. A policeman was lightly wounded in Ramallah, and a CNN cameraman was lightly wounded in Hebron, according to sources.

Body of Maysara Abu Hamdeya before his funeral in the West Bank city of Hebron, April 3, 2013.

Body of Maysara Abu Hamdeya before his funeral in the West Bank city of Hebron, April 3, 2013.

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Palestinian Arab at Yad Vashem: ‘A tragedy beyond words’

Bassam Aramin, whose 10 yr-old daughter was killed by an IDF rubber bullet, visiting Yad Vashem, said ‘I surely can identify with feeling like a refugee, humiliated, weak, lost… but the tragedy of the Holocaust is very different’.

Noam (Dabul) Dvir

Ahmed al-Jaafari, a 43-year-old Deheishe refugee camp resident, stands opposite the list of Jews who were sent to the Sobibor death camp. At a certain point, he turns to the guide, Roee Hanani, and asks “why did they keep such an organized list if they planned on killing them all along?”

Hanani replied him in Arabic “the Nazis were very organized. Continue Reading »

Women banned by Jerusalem Police from holding Kaddish quorum at Kotel

Jerusalem police commander alerts Anat Hoffman, Women of the Wall chairperson of prohibition in letter, warning that women will be arrested & charged with breaking the law if they breach prohibitions.

Add Kaddish to the list of Jewish prayers and ritual objects women are not allowed to be engaged with at the Western Wall, according to the commander of the Jerusalem police.

2010 IN PICTURES JULY


Anat Hoffman, leader of the Women of the Wall, is arrested for holding a Torah scroll at Judaism’s holiest site. – Photo: Michal Fattal

 

In a March 14 letter to Anat Hoffman, chair of Women of the Wall, Commander Yossi Pariente of Israel Police department’s Southern District wrote that he met with a deputy attorney general for the government of Israel to go over the rules pertaining to Women of the Wall, which include prohibitions on:

“…Wrapping yourselves in tallitot [prayer shawls], holding a minyan [prayer quorum] of women including the Kaddish or Kedusha prayers, and reading from the Torah.” Continue Reading »

Israeli Tourists Kept in Jordan After Cop Disappears

An Israeli tourist group in Jordan have been held there because their Jordanian police officer assigned to the group went missing.

By David Lev

 

 

Touring Jordan

Touring Jordan – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP

A group of Israeli tourists in Jordan have been stuck there since Wednesday, and are not allowed to leave their lodgings, because the Jordanian police officer assigned to the group has gone missing.

The group of 21 Israelis left for Jordan last Sunday on a tour of the country’s northern hills. They had been set to return to Israel on Wednesday night via the Hussein Bridge, over the Jordan River. Continue Reading »

ICC rejects Palestinian bid to investigate Israeli war crimes during Operation ‘Cast Lead’

The ICC in The Hague says reason for rejection is Palestine is currently recognized by the UN as an ‘observer,’ not a ‘Non-member State’.

 

The International Criminal Court prosecutor announced Tuesday that he has rejected a bid by the Palestinian Authority to have the war crimes tribunal investigate Israeli conduct during ‘Operation Cast Lead’ in Gaza.

IAF uses white phosphorus in air strike during Operation Cast Lead

Gazans flee an Israeli air strike in Beit Lahiya during Operation Cast Lead on January 17, 2009. – Photo: AFP

The reason for his decision was that under the ICC’s founding treaty, the Rome Statute, only internationally recognized states can join the court. Continue Reading »