Israel Speaks Loudly & Carries a Mini Carrot, According to Ayalon

Outgoing deputy FM said he doesn’t know why Avigdor Lieberman dismissed him from his position.

By Gil Ronen

 

Former deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon said Saturday that he does not know why former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman dismissed him from his position in the Foreign Ministry.

Former deputy foreign minister Danny AyalonWhen asked why Lieberman does not like him, Ayalon replied: “I don’t know. I was collegial toward Lieberman. He did not explain to me why he fired me but he should at least have given explanations to the party and to supporters.

“In the last four years,” Ayalon said at a live interview panel event in Holon. Continue Reading »

High Court demands gov’t explain tax exemption for only yeshiva students

High Court Justices order state to explain why only the yeshiva students are exempt from municipal tax where as students living in dormitories or other educational institutions are not exempt.

The head of the Hebrew University Student Union says the new regulation is discriminatory.

Edna Adato

 

High Court justices Elyakim Rubinstein, Yoram Danziger and Uri Shoham issued a decree on Thursday ordering the state to explain within the next four months why yeshiva students are exempt from paying municipal tax while students living in dormitories at other educational institutions are not.

According to a regulation implemented last year, yeshiva students are exempt from paying municipal tax, while students living in dormitories at other educational institutions are not.

Continue Reading »

IDF to seek solutions to Ethiopian troops’ adjustment problems

Brig.-Gen. Eli Shermeister, who heads the Israel Defense Forces Education & Youth Corps, set up the unit last month to tackle the anomaly.

 

By JTA

A new IDF unit will work on integrating Ethiopian recruits, who are over-represented in army prisons.

In its policy of supporting diversity in the IDF, new immigrants from Ethiopia and IDF officers plant trees for tomorrow. Israel has 120,000 Ethiopian citizens, many of whom proudly serve in the IDF. – Photo Courtesy of IDF Spokesperson Unit.

Army Radio reported that Brig.-Gen. Eli Shermeister, who heads the Israel Defense Forces Education and Youth Corps, set up the unit last month after senior IDF officers learned that half of all Ethiopian soldiers were sentenced to prison at some time during their military service. Continue Reading »

IDF foils building of another illegal Palestinian outpost

Once again, Palestinian activists try constructing outpost in West Bank.

IDF arrives to stops setting up tents, then confiscates equipment.

Activist says, ‘Palestinians own this land.’

Elior Levy

 

Some 20-30 Palestinian and foreign activists tried to construct a new Palestinian outpost overnight, south of Mount Hebron in the West Bank.

Outpost near Burin, last week – Photo: AFP

However, IDF troops arrived at the scene and confiscated their equipment, the activists reported.

The troops took down the only tent the activists had managed to set up and stopped them from any further activities in the area.

The IDF confirmed that some 20 Palestinians tried to build an illegal outpost Friday night in south Mount Hebron, and that “Soldiers who arrived at the scene evicted the people in the outpost. Continue Reading »

Egypt court orders YouTube Blocked for 30-days over anti-Islam film

Egyptian Court orders blocking of YouTube for 1 month as punishment for broadcasting ‘Innocence of the Muslims’, which sparked some unrest in Muslim world. (View full Movie)

By REUTERS

 

CAIRO – An Egyptian court ordered the suspension of online video service YouTube for a month on Saturday for broadcasting a film insulting the Prophet Mohammad, state media reported.

Screenshot from 'Innocence of Muslims'

Screenshot from ‘Innocence of Muslims’ – Photo: YouTube Screenshot

The country’s administrative court ordered the ministries of communication and investment to block YouTube, owned by Google , inside Egypt because it had carried the film Innocence of Muslims, said state news agency MENA.

Continue Reading »

The Hamas-Egyptian Lifeboat Alliance

 

The fall of Mubarak’s reign has been a blessing for Hamas, which has emerged as a major player. Now Hamas knows that it can always rely on Morsi & the Muslim Brotherhood to stay in power & increase Hamas’s influence.

By Khaled Abu Toameh

 

Did Hamas dispatch 7,000 militiamen from the Gaza Strip to Egypt to protect President Mohamed Morsi, who is currently facing a popular uprising?

Egyptian President Mohamed MorsiReports that appeared in a number of Egyptian opposition media outlets in the past few days claimed that the militiamen entered Egypt through the smuggling tunnels along the border with the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

Very Soon, Israel will rule the new Middle East

Instead of planning Israel’s annihilation, its Arab neighbors may find themselves seeking Tel Aviv’s favor the way the U. S. & Europe courted OPEC in the 1970’s & 1980’s.

By

 

If you still think the future of Israel looks bleak, think again.

A few months ago it looked like the Jewish state might not survive until 2013. Rockets were raining down from Gaza; revolution was about to install one Islamicist government in Egypt, and another was poised to take over in Syria. Iran was threatening to finish what Hitler’s Holocaust started, with an atomic bomb. The Obama administration seemed unwilling to stop that happening– while Israel’s only alternative to nuclear annihilation was a preemptive strike that was bound to start a major shooting war in the Middle East. Continue Reading »

Palestinian diplomatic mission to Cyprus upgrades to Embassy status

Cyprus continues to support the Palestinians after their successful bid last year in the UN General Assembly to have its status elevated from UN observer to ‘nonmember observer state’.

 

Cyprus’ foreign minister said Friday that the Palestinian diplomatic mission to her country has been upgraded to embassy status.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arriving in Cyprus last week - Amos Ben Gershon / GPO

By The Associated Press |Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arriving in Cyprus, February 20, 2012.          Photo by Amos Ben Gershon / GPO

Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis said after talks with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki on Friday that the upgrade is in line with Cyprus’ recognition of Palestinian statehood in 1988 along with seven other European countries that have also since become European Union members. Continue Reading »

Ahmadinejad Attacked in Egypt for 2nd Time

Now it’s an Egyptian citizen who attempted to assault Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

By Elad Benari

 

An Egyptian citizen attempted to assault Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Cairo on Thursday evening.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Cairo

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Cairo – Reuters

According to a report in the website of the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, the assault occurred at the residence of Mojtaba Amani, the acting Iranian ambassador in Cairo, during a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the Iranian Islamic Revolution.

The attacker attempted to physically assault Ahmadinejad as he chanted, “Down with Iran, he must leave,” Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

A journalist for the Turkish news agency Anadolu who was present at the scene said that the aggressor was swiftly removed by security guards. Continue Reading »

When will everyone get it? – Hamas does NOT accept Israel!

 

Western leaders & media jump all over Jordanian king’s assertion that Hamas accepts Israel’s existence, only to ignore Hamas’ leaders clarification that it, in fact, does not & will not….EVER.

By  Ryan Jones

 

 

Every once in a while, world leaders and diplomats try to spin a certain piece of news to make it appear that even Hamas is willing to compromise and accept Israel’s existence for the sake of peace.

The goal is obvious – to paint Israel and its policies as the sole obstacle to peace.

But every time, Hamas wastes no time clarifying what everyone already knows: that it, the group which won the last Palestinian general election, does not and never will accept Israel’s right to exist in this region. Continue Reading »

Dore Gold’s Lessons from the Eisenhower debate

According to former President Nixon, Eisenhower said that the Suez Crisis was the biggest foreign-policy “blunder” of his administration. There is substantial evidence that Eisenhower came to renounce his own Suez policy.

 

By Dore Gold

Israel should stay clear of the internal American debate over the candidacy of former Senator Chuck Hagel to be the next defense secretary. The identity of the defense secretary can have profound implications for Israel, but this is an internal American decision. At the same time, it is impossible to ignore one aspect of this issue which touches on the history of U.S.-Israel relations. Recently, David Ignatius, one of the leading columnists of The Washington Post tried to compare Hagel’s worldview to that of President Dwight Eisenhower, who had to contend with the joint operation of Britain, France, and Israel against Nasser’s Egypt.

Continue Reading »

Betar Jerusalem Football Club set ablaze after ‘hate speech’ charges

Although the fire was without injury, the trophy room of the Football Club & the office of the property caretaker were heavily damaged.

‘The history of Beitar has gone up in flames’

 

By JTA

 

Arsonists set on fire the trophy room of the Betar Jerusalem soccer team one day after the indictment of four of its fans for anti-Muslim hate speech.

Betar Jerusalem fans during match against Maccabi Umm el-Fahm, January 29, 2013.

Betar Jerusalem fans during match against Maccabi Umm el-Fahm, January 29, 2013. – Photo: Nir Elias/Reuters

Assaf Evers, a fire department spokesman, was quoted by Ynet as saying that the fire was caused deliberately early on Friday morning. Continue Reading »

What turned Nicky Larkin into an Irish Zionist?

 

Filmmaker, Nicky Larkin’s views were pro-Palestinian, but in a moment of clarity while making his film, his attitude changed.

“I remember thinking that if I was sitting in Dublin or Belfast or London, I wouldn’t have heard about the rockets or the kid getting killed – I’d have only heard about the nasty Israelis going in and bombing the s*** out of the poor Gazans.”

 

With red hair shorn to the scalp, a tattooed forearm, freckled white skin and a pint of beer in front of him (albeit Goldstar, not Guinness), filmmaker Nicky Larkin looks every inch your stereotypical Irishman. Continue Reading »

Brooklyn College supports BDS event, anti-Israel conference

Despite uproar after college’s political science department sponsors anti-Israel conference, BDS event goes ahead.

NEW YORK- Brooklyn College on Thursday evening hosted an event hosted by the Students for Justice in Palestine, during which two speakers, and dozens of their supporters, called for the boycott, divestment and sanctioning of the State of Israel.

Palestinians call for a boycott

Palestinians call for a boycott – Photo: REUTERS

The evening went ahead as planned despite an uproar that ensued after the public college’s political science department officially sponsored the event, sparking a debate over the weight of such a sponsorship and its appropriateness in an academic environment.

Continue Reading »

Chuck Hagel: U.S. Should ‘Reverse Optics’ in its Relationship With Jewish state

Former senator Chuck Hagel does not elaborate on his claim or explain how he believes Israel is keeping “Palestinians caged up like animals,” according to the Journal Star report. The comment is, however, consistent with Hagel’s long anti-Israel & anti-Jewish record.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations recently published a recording of a speech given by former senator Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s highly controversial nominee for secretary of defense, in which he said that the United States has to “reverse optics” in its relationship with the state of Israel.

Chuck HagelIn order to restore its credibility as an honest broker between Israelis and Palestinians, America has to “reverse optics” in its ties with the Jewish state, the former Republican senator from Nebraska said in 2007, as first reported by Breitbart.com. Continue Reading »