Done Deal: Barbra Streisand will perform in Tel Aviv on June 20

Highly acclaimed Jewish singer/actor will wrap up European tour at Tel Aviv’s Bloomfield Stadium.

Streisand also set to sing at President Peres’s 90th birthday party.

By DAVID BRINN

 

People who need Barbra Streisand are apparently the luckiest people in Israel.

Ending weeks of unconfirmed speculation, the iconic songstress/actress/diva has announced that she will perform for the first time ever in the country on June 20 at Bloomfield Stadium in Jaffa.

Accompanied by a 60- piece orchestra, the 70-yearold Streisand will end a select tour of Europe with the show at the stadium which holds 16,000 spectators.

Two days earlier, she is expected to perform privately at the Presidential Conference in Jerusalem in honor of President Shimon Peres’s birthday. Continue Reading »

IDF destroyed Syrian military post that shot at IDF

Tensions continue to escalate in the Golan Heights as IDF fires Tamuz missile at military post after Syrians fire bullets at IDF patrol.

On Saturday the Syrians hit an IDF jeep with rifle fire.

Yoav Zitun

 

The IDF opened fire at a Syrian military post on Sunday after the Syrians opened fire at IDF soldiers. The IDF used a Tamuz anti-tank guided missile at a Syrian post in the Tel Fares area in the southern Golan Heights. There were no casualties on the Israeli side. The Syrian post was destroyed and two armed Syrians were wounded.

IDF artillery – Photo Courtesy: IDF Spokesperson Unit

Following the incident, construction of the northern border fence was halted. Continue Reading »

Israel Warns Syria: IDF Will Destroy Those Who Fire at Us

Israel warned Syria on Sunday morning that the days of restraint in the face of cross-border fire from Syria are finished. The IDF will now respond.

By Chana Ya’ar

Israel warned Sunday that the days of restraint in the face of cross-border fire from Syria are finished.

Moshe Ya'alon - Photo Reuters

Moshe Ya’alon – Photo: Reuters

Israel will respond to any shooting or other attacks that cross the northern border with Syria, Defense Minister Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon warned.

“Any violation of Israeli sovereignty and fire from the Syrian side will be answered immediately with the destruction of the source of fire when we identify it,” Ya’alon declared. Continue Reading »

Portuguese island to hold its 1st Seder in decades

Jews from Morocco arrived in Madeira in 1819 and set themselves up in the cloth trade. A synagogue and cemeteries were built on the island but were abandoned decades ago.

By JTA

 

Descendants of Jews forcibly converted to Catholicism centuries ago will attend the first seder in decades on the Portuguese island of Madeira off the coast of Africa.

Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies in the north Atlantic Ocean

Thirteen Jews — some of them Bnei Anousim, the descendants of Portuguese Jews targeted for conversion during the Inquisition — will gather in Funchal, the capital of the archipelago, on Passover eve, according to Shavei Israel, an organization devoted to bringing so-called lost Jews back to Judaism. Continue Reading »

Kerry & Netanyahu met Saturday evening to restart peace talks

US Secretary of State met with Abbas & then Netanyahu to seek common ground to resume stalled peace talks.

Local poll shows Obama’s ‘charm offensive’ effective: 39% say they  feel better about the US president.

By HERB KEINON

 

After the pomp and ceremony of US President Barack Obama’s three day trip to the region, US Secretary of State John Kerry began nitty-gritty efforts at re-starting talks between Israel and the Palestinians with a late night meeting Saturday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

US Secretary of State John Kerry with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, March 23, 2013. Photo Amos Ben-Gershom-GPO

US Secretary of State John Kerry with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, March 23, 2013.- Photo: Amos Ben-Gershom-GPO

Kerry, who arrived in the region last Tuesday, accompanied Obama during his two days in Jerusalem and Ramallah, and also went with him Friday to Jordan. Continue Reading »

IDF Jeeps in Golan Hit By Gunfire from Syria

No injuries in the incident. Initial reports haven’t determined whether the gunfire was intentional.

By Gil Ronen

 

Someone on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights border fired a burst of automatic fire at IDF soldiers Saturday. The bullets struck patrol vehicles near Tel Fares in the central part of the Golan Heights, but caused no casualties.

IDF patrol seen from rebel positionIt is still not clear if the gunfire was deliberately aimed at the soldiers, or whether it was meant to hit one of the sides in the Syrian civil war and unintentionally “spilled over” into Israel.

About one month ago, a mortar round fired from Syria struck near Alonei Habashan in the northern Golan. Continue Reading »

Turkish & Israeli diplomats will meet to implement agreement

Both Israeli & Turkish diplomats will meet at a technical level over the next few days in order to discuss details of the compensation for the 9 Turks killed in the Mavi Marmara incident.

By Sevil Küçükkoşum

 

Now that Israel has issued a formal apology to Turkey and agreed to pay compensation over the Mavi Marmara killings of 2010, the first step in the process of normalizing relations between Turkey and Israel will be compensation for the Mavi Marmara victims.

Turkish and Israeli diplomats will meet at a technical level over the next few days, more likely the following week, in order to discuss details of the compensation for nine Turks killed in the Israeli raid.   Continue Reading »

Jewish doctor released from Abu Dhabi jail

Only when arrested at the airport, did the doctor learn that he had been charged with manslaughter & falsifying documents, found guilty in abstentia & sentenced to 3 years in prison.

By JTA

 

CAPE TOWN, South Africa — An Abu Dhabi judge dismissed charges against Cyril Karabus, a Jewish doctor who had been detained in the United Arab Emirates in connection with a patient’s death.

Cyril Karabus

Cyril Karabus pioneered treatment for cancer and blood disorders at the Red Cross hospital in Cape Town, where he worked for 35 years.- Photo: The Guardian

The 77-year-old Karabus, a pediatric oncologist from South Africa, was arrested last August in Abu Dhabi while in transit on his way home to South Africa after attending his son’s wedding in Canada. Continue Reading »

Third day of deadly clashes in Lebanon after PM resigns

After Lebanese PM Makati resigns, deadly violence escalates  for third day in Tripoli.
UN’s chief, Ban Ki-moon impotently calls for calm & unity.

By REUTERS

 

Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli was the scene of deadly clashes on Saturday, leaving one man dead and two others wounded, according to local residents.

Arrests during deadly clashes in Tripoli - Photo Reuters-Omar Ibrahim

Arrests during deadly clashes in Tripoli – Photo: Reuters/Omar Ibrahim

The violence, which has lasted for three days, has escalated in the wake of the resignation of former prime minister Najib Mikati which has been brought about as a direct result of failed talks with terrorist faction Hezbollah who have over shadowed the Lebanese political landscape in recent years. Continue Reading »

US Congress releases $500M for Palestinians

US St. Dept. spokeswoman Nuland reported that the aid money, which had been frozen by Congress for months, was freed to support Abbas, as the PA faces worst economic crisis in years.

By AFP

 

The United States has quietly unblocked almost $500 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority which had been frozen by Congress for months, a top US official said Friday.

US SenateThe news that the funds had finally been freed up came after US President Barack Obama met top Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a landmark visit to Israel and the West Bank earlier this week.

“To date, we have moved $295.7 million in fiscal year 2012 money… and $200 million in fiscal year 2013 assistance,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. Continue Reading »

Still the President who wants to ‘throw Israel under a bus’?

After this Presidential visit, seen with such support & sympathy, Obama’s rivals will have to muster all their cynicism to claim the US President has Israel’s worst interests at heart.

 

One can only speculate what history might have looked like if United States President Barack Obama had made his “Jerusalem Speech” on June 5, 2009, immediately after his “Cairo Speech”, and how the Middle East would have developed if his attempt to turn a page in U.S. relations with the Arab world had been accompanied by the kind of effort to touch the hearts of the Israeli public that Obama made in Jerusalem on Thursday. Continue Reading »

Report: Obama to Abbas – Don’t charge Israel at the ICC

Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported that during the Ramallah talks US president urged Abbas to refrain from charging Israel at the int’l court in the Hague for any reason.
The PA leader defiantly threatens to haul Israel to court as soon as the Jewish state should start building in the E-1 area.

By Roi Kais

 

US President Barack Obama asked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to refrain from taking Israel to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for any reason, the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday.

Obama and King Abdullah, Friday

The newspaper quoted a Palestinian official as saying that during their meeting in Ramallah on Thursday Abbas told Obama he would wait two months before talking any measures against Israeli settlement construction, but stressed he would turn to the ICC immediately should the Jewish begin building in the E1 zone between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim. Continue Reading »

Palestinian MK Hanin Zoabi: Netanyahu’s Apology ‘Not Enough’

Arab MK Hanin Zoabi, who was on the Marmara with the IHH terrorists when they brutally attacked Israel’s soldiers, says Netanyahu’s apology is “not enough”.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad), who was on the Mavi Marmara when IHH terrorists attacked IDF soldiers who boarded the ship, said Friday that Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu’s apology to Turkey over the Marmara incident is “not enough”.

Earlier, Netanyahu spoke on the phone with his Turkish counterpart and apologized for the deaths of nine Turks in a 2010 raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla. The two agreed to normalize the relations between the two countries. Continue Reading »

Israel, Turkey to normalize ties with legal steps against IDF soldiers canceled

Both PMs agreed to restore normalization between Israel & Turkey, including the dispatch of ambassadors and the cancellation of legal steps against IDF soldiers.

By JTA

 

WASHINGTON — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to normalize relations after Netanyahu apologized and agreed to compensation for the 2010 Israeli raid on a Turkish-flagged ship that left nine Turks dead.

The two men talked on Friday by phone, according to statements by Netanyahu’s office and the White House.

“The two men agreed to restore normalization between Israel and Turkey, including the dispatch of ambassadors and the cancellation of legal steps against IDF soldiers,” said the Israeli statement. Continue Reading »

2 arrested by Hamas for firing Gaza rockets into Israel

Israel Radio: Hamas arrest members of a Salafi terrorist group after they claimed responsibility on the internet for shooting the rockets during Obama’s visit.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

Hamas on Friday arrested two members of an Islamic jihadist organization in connection with in firing rockets from Gaza into southern Israel on Thursday, Israel Radio reported.

The report cites Gazan sources as saying Hamas arrested two members of the Salafi Magles Shoura al-Mujahddin organization, who yesterday claimed responsibility for firing rockets into Israel. In an Internet statement the group said it had fired the rockets to show that Israeli air defenses could not stop attacks on the Jewish state during Obama’s visit. Continue Reading »