Lapid to ‘Time’: “You make peace with foes, not with friends.”

Yesh Atid chief Lapid says he believes Netanyahu wants a 2-state solution, but until now, hasn’t had the right coalition to advance any peace process.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid voiced his support for resuming peace talks with the Palestinians in excerpts of a Time magazine interview released Thursday, stating that “you make peace with foes, not with friends.”

Yair Lapid“Israelis convinced themselves that there is no use in talking to the Palestinians because they’re not to be trusted. I think they’re wrong. I think the Palestinians are not to be trusted and this is exactly why we should talk to them,” Lapid said in the interview. Continue Reading »

UK’s Foreign Secretary Hague, ‘not right to criticize Israel over Syria strike’

British foreign secretary says real issue is a 2 year Syrian civil war, but does criticize int’l community and U.N. for its failure to address the crisis.

By Ynetnews

 

British Foreign Secretary William Hague commented on reports of an Israeli airstrike in Syria and stressed he will not condemn Jerusalem over the matter, the BBC reported Thursday.

William Hague“I’m not going to give any condemnation of Israel or rush into any criticism,” he said in an interview. “There may be many things about it that we don’t know, or the Arab League or Russia don’t know.”

The British secretary said that the real issue is Syria’s civil war which has been raging in the country for the past two years killing a reported 60,000 people. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Northern Border Towns Getting ‘Ready’

With IAF jets flying overhead, Kiryat Shmona is carrying out maintenance of its bomb shelters, in case of unexpected escalation.

By Gil Ronen

 

Civilians in Israel’s northern communities are carrying on with their daily routines, but there is tension following the reported attack on a Syrian chemical weapons factory and ensuing threats from Iran and Syria.

As of Friday morning, the IDF has not instructed authority heads to take any special steps, but Kiryat Shmona, Israel’s northernmost city, has embarked on a project of cleaning and maintenance of its bomb shelters.

The Home Front Command noted Thursday that no special instructions have been issued, and there is no need to raise the level of alert. Continue Reading »

Educating Muslims on the Qur’an

Turkish activist says hatred of Jews in Muslim world stems from misinterpretation of Qur’an

Sinem Tezyapar

 

Anti-Jewish slogans of an Egyptian Muslim cleric and past statements by President Morsi to “nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred” for Jews have come to the fore in the recent days. As it is well-known, anti-Jewish propaganda is not limited to Egypt. Millions of Muslims all over the Middle East have been conditioned to regard Jews not only as the enemies of them but also of all humanity, and hatred for Jews can be found even in textbooks of children going to kindergarten. Continue Reading »

Lieberman: UNHRC Baseless Report Belongs in Garbage Heap of History

Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Lieberman: “The UN Human Rights Council once again proved today that there is no connection between its name and its nature,”

By Elad Benari

 

Yisrael Beytenu chairman, former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman,on Thursday evening launched a scathing attack on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which said earlier that Israel must withdraw all of its citizens from the regions of Judea and Samaria.

Avigdor Lieberman

Avigdor Lieberman – Photo: Hezki Ezra

“The UN Human Rights Council once again proved today that there is no connection between its name and its nature,” said Lieberman, noting that the UNHRC does not show any interest in the ongoing mass murders in Syria. Continue Reading »

Israel-based developer to build solar power field in the Galapagos

Energiya Global hope they’ll break even from the field in 15 years, so they’ve committed to donating all the profits back into the Galápagos community through the Charles Darwin Research Station.

By JTA

 

JERUSALEM (JTA) — With the help of American comedian Sarah Silverman, an Israel-based developer of solar projects is using online crowd funding to bring solar energy to the Galapagos.

future solar fieldEnergiya Global has announced the launch of an Internet campaign to install 1,200 solar panels on the site of a former garbage dump in the Galápagos UNESCO World Heritage Site, located about 550 miles west of the Ecuadorean mainland. Continue Reading »

Syrian Hackers attack Israeli guesthouse websites for revenge

Assad-affiliated hackers say they are ready to take on anyone who threatens Syria’s ‘pure’ lands, so they attack ’50 Zionist entity websites,’ guesthouses in north & an online furniture retailer.

By Roi Kais

 

What damage is caused to Israeli security by downing the website of an online furniture retailer? The connection between the two seems vague, however that was one of the targets of an Assad affiliated hacker group, who attacked Israeli websites in response to the alleged attack on their country.

A number of hours after Damascus admitted that an attack took place, the organization, which calls itself the Syrian Electronic Army, claimed: “We have hacked into 50 central Israeli websites.” Continue Reading »

Convoy was Ruse, Israeli F-16 droped Bunker-Buster on Syria’s Chemical Site

London-based Arab newspaper says many Iranian Revolutionary Guards that were guarding the installation were killed.

By Gil Ronen

 

The site allegedly attacked by Israel in Syria manufactured chemical and biological weapons, according to a report in Iraqi newspaper Azzaman that appears in London.

The newspaper quoted Western diplomats who are close to the regime of Bashar al-Assad. It says that the classified installation, which is located just 12 kilometers (7 miles) from the presidential palace, was guarded by a large contingent of Iranian Revolutionary Guards, many of whom died in the attack.

A diplomatic source interviewed by the newspaper said that the attack took place 48 hours before it was first reported. Continue Reading »

After Syria Threatened Israel, White House Warns Syria on Weapons

Syria warns it reserves the right to retaliate to alleged Israeli air strike on its military research center.

By Gil Ronen

 

The White House on Thursday warned Syria not to transfer weapons to Hizbullah, as tensions mounted following reported Israeli raids on a military research center and a weapons convoy.

“Syria should not further destabilize the region by transferring weaponry to Hizbullah,” said Ben Rhodes, a US deputy national security advisor.

Syria on Thursday warned that it reserves the right to retaliate to what it says was an Israeli air strike on a military research center near Damascus, as it lodged a complaint with the United Nations. Continue Reading »

After U.S. & Arabs confirm Israel hit Syria, Iran threatens retaliation

Iranian threat: The Israeli air strike will “have serious consequences for Tel Aviv.”

By Israel Today Staff

 

Syria, Hezbollah and several Western officials on Wednesday confirmed that Israel had bombed a military target in Syria hours earlier, though Jerusalem itself is remaining very tight-lipped about the strike.

Iran threatens retaliationUS officials told the New York Times that Israel has notified Washington ahead of time that it was preparing to bomb a convoy transporting sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles from Syria to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah also posted messages to its Al-Manar website acknowledging that Israel had hit a military site connected to the terror group. Continue Reading »

Morsi’s “apes and pigs” slur pursue him in Germany

Morsi in Berlin to gather financial aid for rebuilding his crumbling Egyptian economy, however questions about the hateful, anti-Semitic comments he made, calling Jews “apes and pigs”, pursue him throughout the day.

Morsi: I’m not against the Jewish faith or the Jewish people.

 

By The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

Egypt’s Islamist President Mohammed Morsi turned aside repeated criticism of his past comments referring to Jews as “the descendants of apes and pigs” as he visited Germany on Wednesday, insisting that the remarks were taken out of context and were aimed at criticizing Israeli attacks on Palestinians.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, right, and President of Egypt Mohammed Morsi, left, address the media during a joint press conference after a meeting at the chancellery in Berlin – Photo: AP

A key focus of Morsi’s one-day visit to Berlin was to seek support to rebuild a crumbling Egyptian economy.

Continue Reading »

Will Hezbollah use Chemical Weapons?

Reports of Israeli attack come amid mounting concerns over transfer of Syrian chemical weapons to terrorist organizations.

Israelis in the meantime are making sure their gas masks are up-to-date.

By Ben Sales

 

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israeli planes reportedly struck a Syrian weapons transport on the Lebanese border amid increasing fears that the country’s chemical weapons stockpile could fall into the hands of Hezbollah.

The strikes, which occurred in the early hours of Wednesday morning, were reported to Reuters by a Western diplomat and anonymous regional sources who said that warplanes had struck the convoy as it passed from Syria into Lebanon. Continue Reading »

Thursday’s Updates of Israel’s reported strike on the Syria-Lebanon border

The target of the IAF attack was apparently an arms convoy moving from Syria to Lebanon, but it is still not clear exactly where the strike occurred because of contradicting reports, or whether the SA-17 Missile cache also included chemical weapons.

International media reported Wednesday that Israel launched an overnight air strike on Lebanon’s border with Syria, after carrying out four separate flyover missions in Lebanese air space.

Map of Israel-Syria-Lebanon borders

The target of the reported attack was apparently an arms convoy moving from Syria to Lebanon, but it is still not clear precisely where the strike occurred, or whether the cache included chemical weapons. Continue Reading »

UN calls for immediate withdraw from settlements and sanctions against Israel

In the UNHRC’s harshest condemnation of Israeli since 1967, the 3 UN investigators report Israel is in violation of the Geneva Conventions and must ‘cease all settlement activities without precondition’.

By JTA

 

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A United Nations investigation into the impact of Jewish West Bank settlements on the Palestinian population said that Israel should immediately begin to withdraw all settlers from the territory.

The report issued Thursday by the U.N. Human Rights Council based in Geneva said that settlement violate the 1949 Geneva Conventions and that failure to withdraw could lead to a finding of war crimes at the International Criminal Court. Continue Reading »

WSJ: U.S. knew in advance of Syria strike by IDF

Wall Street Journal quotes U.S. gov’t official as acknowledging the IDF strike targeted a convoy of trucks in Syria carrying Russian-made advanced missiles to Hezbollah.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, YAAKOV LAPPIN

 

American officials have told the New York Times that Jerusalem had given the US advance warning of an Israeli air strike at dawn on Tuesday on a convoy carrying weapons in Syria, close to the Lebanese border.

IAF F-16i (Sufa) – Photo courtesy: Israel Air Force

IAF F-16i (Sufa) – Photo courtesy: Israel Air Force

American officials said overnight Wednesday that the strike had targeted a suspected shipment of anti-aircraft missiles, the Wall Street Journal and Times reported.

Wednesday’s strike on the the convoy, which has not been officially confirmed by Israel, came after hours of what Lebanese army sources described as repeated invasions of its airspace by Israeli warplanes.

Continue Reading »