Pope Francis Passes on Passover Wishes to Jewish Community

Pope Francis relayed his Passover Greetings to the Jewish community in a gesture aimed at strengthening relations between the two religions.

By Arutz Sheva staff

 

Pope Francis on Monday extended his wishes to Rome’s chief rabbi and Jews worldwide in a gesture aimed at strengthening relations between the two religions, as the Jewish world marks the beginning of the holiday of Passover.

Pope Francis – Photo: Reuters

In his message to Rabbi Riccardo di Segni, the pope said he hoped “that the Almighty, who freed his people from slavery in Egypt by guiding them to the Holy Land, continues to free them from all evil and accompany them with his blessing”. Continue Reading »

Israeli-Arab Conflict: 10 Myths Preventing Peace

Obama smiled a lot & hit all the right notes to make Israelis like him just a little bit more, but many of the same old misconceptions & deceptions were never addressed.

By Ryan Jones

 

US President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel was widely seen as a success, given that the primary goal was to win over the hearts of an Israeli public that had been, at best, suspicious of the American leader.

Obama speaking in Jerusalem - Photo by AFP

Obama speaking in Jerusalem – Photo by AFP

But behind all the praise and admiration Obama heaped upon Israel, there was a gentle chiding that showed he still views the lack of peace in the region as primarily the fault of the Jewish state. Continue Reading »

Compensation discussions over IDF raid have begun between Israel & Turkey

AFP quotes Turkey’s deputy Prime Minister as saying countries began talks over compensation for families of victims of the 2010 Mavi Marmara raid.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister on Monday said Turkey has entered into talks with Israel regarding compensation for the families of the victims of the deadly 2010 Gaza flotilla raid, AFP reported.

“Officials delegated by the two sides will work on the compensation issue. We gave the kick-start for it today,” AFP quoted Bulent Arinc as telling reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting.

“This is a big success of Turkish foreign policy,” Arinc said.

He added that Turkey’s foreign minister “held talks with the other party and expressed the necessity to swiftly solve the issue,” AFP quoted the deputy prime minister as saying. Continue Reading »

Despite Chief Rabbinate’s disapproval, kosher cigarettes for Passover

Israel’s Chief Rabbinate says life-threatening practices like smoking have no place on any kosher list, and not just during Passover.

 

Observant Jews in Israel craving a smoke during the week-long Passover holiday that started at sundown Monday can now enjoy a rabbi-approved puff.

A man smoking a cigarette.

A man smoking a cigarette – Photo: Bloomberg

It’s the first time cigarettes have joined the long list of goods stringently checked to ensure they comply with Passover rules on what items are allowed, or kosher for the holiday – meaning they have not come in contact with grains or other forbidden ingredients. Continue Reading »

Turks Appreciate Israel’s Apology

Netanyahu did the right thing in the right manner and with the right words.

The Turkish newspaper’s headline reads: “Sorry.”

By: Sinem Tezyapar

 

It is unpleasant when two long-friendly countries behave like enemies. Many have been uneasy seeing Israel and Turkey growing distant, even if only in the political arena. Friendship, love, trust and affinity are most valued universally, so I would like my Israeli friends to know that we, the Turkish nation, cherish our friendship with the Israelis and thus appreciate the prime minister’s apology as a virtuous act, and we are excited to leave this regrettable incident behind and to be able to move forward. Continue Reading »

Hamas Condemns Gazan to Death by Strangulation for Spying for Israel

A man from Gaza was sentenced to death by strangulation by Hamas after he was convicted of spying for “an enemy entity”.

By Elad Benari

 

Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers have sentenced a man to death for collaborating with Israel.

A statement on Sunday by Gaza’s Interior Ministry, translated by Arab affairs expert Dalit Halevi, had said that a military court had sentenced the man to death by strangulation. He was, according to the statement, convicted of providing information to “hostile elements” in Israel.

Badr al-Din Badr, head of the communications department of the Interior Ministry, said in the statement that the agent who was sentenced to death was arrested quite some time ago by security forces, and had failed to turn himself in as part of two previous campaigns that allowed agents to turn themselves into the government and be pardoned under certain conditions. Continue Reading »

Entry from the PA Areas Closed by IDF until Tuesday Midnight

Defense Minister imposed a general closure from PA-assigned areas ahead of the Passover holiday. Closure remains in effect until Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.

By Elad Benari

 

The IDF imposed a general closure on the Palestinian Authority-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria ahead of the holiday of Passover. The closure went into effect as of 11:59 p.m. on Sunday evening, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced.

The decision on the closure was made by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon following an assessment of the current situation. It will be removed on Tuesday at 11:59 p.m., pending another assessment of the situation.

During the closure, entry from the PA into Israel will be allowed only in humanitarian, medical and other exceptional cases, all subject to the approval of the Civil Administration. Continue Reading »

Lapid refused diplomatic passport by Foreign Ministry

Foreign Ministry workers refuse to issue the new Finance Minister a diplomatic passport, as part of a heated labor dispute.

By Itamar Eichner

 

Employees of the Foreign Ministry are turning up the heat in a recent labor dispute by refusing to provide passport services to government officials. They are protesting an administrative stock regulation and the use of temporary workers to fill positions, plus they are demanding benefits for employees stationed in far-flung countries.

Finance Minister, Yair Lapid - Photo Hezki Ezra

Finance Minister, Yair Lapid – Photo: Hezki Ezra

One of the responsibilities of employees at the ministry is to issue diplomatic passports to ministers and new Knesset members. Continue Reading »

Toronto Student Union Passed Anti-Israel BDS Resolution

Toronto’s York University’s  undergraduate students’ union overwhelmingly passed a resolution to endorse the BDS campaign against Israel.

By Elad Benari

 

One of the largest student unions in Canada has passed a resolution to endorse the Global Campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel.

Pro-Palestinan protestsLast week, York University’s undergraduate students’ union, the York Federation of Students, voted overwhelmingly in favor of the resolution, according to a statement by the group “Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) York.”

The statement said that with 18 votes in favor and 2 opposed, the board of the York Federation of Students passed the resolution to endorse the BDS campaign, as well as demand that York University abide by the BDS call. Continue Reading »

New Interior Minster Sa’ar to consider extending Daylight Savings Time

Public uproar caused legislatures to expended Daylight Savings Time to 193 days. Because some say it is not enough, new Interior Minister Sa’ar says he will examine the issue.

By Omri Efraim

 

On Monday Israel welcomes the spring, and will transition into Daylights Savings Time (DST) during the weekend it, pushing the clocks one hour forward.

DST

Ynet

This year, in the wake of new legislation, Daylight Savings Time will stay in effect longer than usual and end on October 6, three weeks after its original ending – Yom Kippur – which falls on September 13, and two weeks later than it did last year – September 23. Continue Reading »

Fellow Alawites call for rebellion in Syrian army

For the 1st time, fellow Alawites who support the rebellion call for unity among Syrians.

By Reuters

Opposition activists from Syrian’s President Bashar Assad‘s Alawite sect called for his overthrow on Sunday and urged their co-religionists in the army to rebel.

A woman and a child walk by graffiti praising Allah and the Syrian revolution in Aleppo. – Photo by AFP

In the first meeting of its kind by Alawites who support the revolt, delegates distanced themselves from Assad’s crackdown against an uprising in which 70,000 people have been killed.

“We call on our brothers in the Syrian army, specifically members of our sect, not to take up arms against their people and to refuse to join the army,” the delegates said in a statement after two days of meeting in the Egyptian capital. Continue Reading »

Int’l Law Group: Erdoğan should be charged for deaths of activists

Shurat HaDin’s Nitzana Darshan Leitne says, “Turkey’s Tayyip Erdoğan should be tried for (facilitating) the deaths of the activists on the Marmara”.

By Arutz Sheva staff

 

“Israel’s decision to apologize to Turkey is pathetic pandering to an Islamic extremist who compared Zionism to fascism and is still trying to indict Israeli officers for war crimes,” said Nitzana Darshan Leitner,director of Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan - Reuters

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan – Reuters

The comments come in response to reports Friday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, voiced regret for the 2010 Marmara flotilla incident in which nine Turkish citizens were killed after they attacked Israeli soldiers enforcing the Gaza blockade. Continue Reading »

Mossad man Zygier suckered & exposed names of Lebanese spies

For 5 years he worked for the Mossad, and then took his own life: Ben Zygier, also known as Prisoner X, according to a SPIEGEL investigation, sought followers of Hezbollah, betrayed secret information – with serious consequences, and then got caught.

By Der Spiegel staff

 

Ben Zygier, the Mossad agent who hanged himself in an Israeli jail cell on 15 December 2010, had apparently passed sensitive information before his death to the Hezbollah.  That in turn led to the arrest of several Lebanese informants who were watching the Hezbollah. This information is the results of an investigation, by the German news magazine SPIEGEL. Continue Reading »

Syria’s Jihadist Rebels Seize the Jordan-Israeli DMZ Buffer Zone

Jihadist rebel militias in Syria have seized a 25-km (15 mile) demilitarized buffer zone from the Jordanian border to the Golan Heights.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

Syrian rebel forces have seized a 25-kilometer (15 mile) buffer zone stretching from the Jordanian border to the Golan Heights.

Syrian rebelsAccording to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog agency, “Fighters loyal to Al Nusra Front, Al Yarmuk Brigade, Al Mutaz Billah Brigade and others took control of Al Rai military checkpoint” east of Sahem al-Golan, in the Dara’a province.

“The fighters seized the site after regime forces retreated,” the statement continued. “The 25-kilometer area located between the towns of Muzrib (near the Jordanian border) and Abdin (in the Golan Heights) is now out of regime control,” AFP reported. Continue Reading »

Apartheid state? Israeli Christian Arab wins popular singing contest

For those who believe Israel is a state that practices racism against its minorities, the choice should have been obvious. Of course the Jew would win! Those racist Israelis would never vote for an Arab!

By Israel Today Staff

 

In yet another example of just how silly are the claims that Israel is a racist apartheid state, 19-year-old Lina Mahoul, an Arab Christian from the northern town of Acre, became the second winner of Israel’s wildly popular singing competition show, The Voice.

Apartheid state? Israeli Arab Christian wins popular singing show

Lina Mahoul, wins the popular singing show, The Voice – Photo: Screenshot

Nearly every Israeli eye was glued to the television Saturday evening as Mahoul faced off against Ophir Ben Sheetrit, an Orthodox Jewish girl from Ashdod, in the final. Continue Reading »