Moscow protests Israeli ‘unprovoked attack’ on Syria

Addressing reports of Israeli strike in Syria, Russia says it is ‘concerned about  attacks on the territory of a sovereign country.’

Hezbollah demands int’l condemnation of ‘aggressive, criminal’ Israel

Ynet

 

Russia said on Thursday it was very concerned about reports of an Israeli attack in Syria and that any such action, if confirmed, would amount to unacceptable military interference in the war-ravaged country.

Soviet made SA-17 anti-aircraft rocketsThe remarks were issued as Hezbollah called on the international community to condemn the alleged strike.

“If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Continue Reading »

Hamas Denies Discussing Two-State Solution or End of ‘Resistance’

Hamas has denied a Saudi report where the terrorist organization has expressed support for a 2-state solution to end the Arab- Israeli conflict.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

Hamas has denied a Saudi media report the terrorist organization has expressed support for a two-state solution to end the Arab- Israeli conflict.

Jordan's King Abdullah meets Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal at the Royal Palace in Amman

Jordan’s King Abdullah meets Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal at the Royal Palace in Amman – Reuters

Hamas political bureau chief, Khaled Mashaal, reportedly asked Jordan’s King Abdullah II to inform U.S. President Barack Obama at a meeting at the end of February that Hamas would support the plan, according to Jordanian officials quoted Wednesday by the Al-Sharq newspaper. Continue Reading »

Geneva to receive the annual UNHRC report on Jewish settlements

The annual settlements investigation is the 6th council probe into Israeli activity in the Palestinian territories, or at its borders.

 

A UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission on West Bank settlements is set to release its report in Geneva late Thursday morning.

UNHRCIsrael cut its ties with the council when it first ordered the probe last March. Jerusalem refused to cooperate with the three-member mission or to allow it entry into Israel, including into Area C of the West Bank, where the settlements are located.

The settlements probe is the sixth council investigation into Israeli activity in the Palestinian territories or on its borders, including in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

Saudi Report: Hamas chief agreed to 2-state solution

Saudi newspaper reported that King Abdullah II set to inform President Obama of Hamas’ willingness to accept 2-state solution

By Elior Levy

 

Hamas Politburo chief Khaled Mashaal has asked Jordan’s King Abdullah II to inform US President Barack Obama that Hamas accepts the principle of a two-state solution, Saudi Arabia’s al-Sharq newspaper reported.

According to the report, which quoted Jordanian sources, Mashaal expressed willingness to stand behind a solution that will see a Palestinian state being established on the 1967 borders during a meeting with the king on Monday.

King Abdullah is scheduled to visit Washington in late February and convey the message to Obama, according to the report. Continue Reading »

US Law Enforcement Officials in Israel for Counter-Terrorism Training

15 U.S. participants from 6 North-East states begin a counter-terrorism training program in Israel.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

A delegation of law enforcement executives from the United States is participating this week in a counter-terrorism training program in Israel sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League.

The 15 participants from Connecticut, Maine, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania are meeting with commanders from the Israel National Police, security experts and intelligence analysts to learn how the nation prevents and responds to terror attacks.

The group is attending high-level briefings on the operational response to terrorism, border and airport security, maintaining safety and access to holy sites, the role of advanced technology in policing, and the effective use of the media during a crisis. Continue Reading »

Syria: Israeli planes attacked research center near Damascus

Syrian army command claims 2 people were killed & 5 wounded in the attack on the site in Jamraya, and denies earlier reports that IAF planes had struck a convoy carrying weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

By REUTERS

 

 

Israeli warplanes attacked a military research center in Damascus province at dawn on Wednesday, Syria’s military command said, denying reports that the planes had struck a convoy carrying weapons from Syria to Lebanon.

Two people were killed and five wounded in the attack on the site in Jamraya, which it described as one of a number of “scientific research centers aimed at raising the level of resistance and self-defense.”

Continue Reading »

Israel reach historic agreement with Vatican, seating them at Last Supper site

The Pope will finally have official seat in the Last Supper room on Mount Zion, Jerusalem

Outgoing Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon: This is a historic achievement and a symbol that will encourage Christian tourism.

By Shlomo Cesana

 

 

A historical agreement has been signed between Israel and the Vatican, ending a 20 year dispute. Israel has granted the pope an official seat in the room where the Last Supper is believed to have taken place, on Mount Zion in Jerusalem.

Pope Benedict XVI and Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel did not give up its control over the room, as the Vatican had demanded, but Israel did decide to allow Vatican representatives a special modicum of control over the site.

Continue Reading »

Cartoonist of anti-Israel illustration apologizes for timing of publication

“I am not, and never have been, anti-Semitic.” declares Gerald Scarfe

By JTA

 

The illustrator of an editorial cartoon depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu building a wall on the bodies of Palestinians and using their blood as cement apologized for the timing of its publication.

This anti-Israel cartoon that appeared in the Sunday Times of London on International Holocaust Remembrance Day was called a 'modern day evocation of the ancient blood libel charge.'  (From Sunday Times)

Anti-Israel cartoon appeared in the Sunday Times of London on Int’l Holocaust Remembrance Day

In a statement printed on his official website, Gerald Scarfe emphasized that “I am not, and never have been, anti-Semitic.”

He said the drawing, published Jan. 27 — International Holocaust Memorial Day — in the Sunday Times, was “a criticism of Netanyahu, and not of the Jewish people: there was no slight whatsoever intended against them.” Continue Reading »

Australian elections scheduled for Yom Kippur

Liberal MP protests decision saying, “disenfranchises many Jewish Australians.”
Jewish leader responds: “not a problem…”

By SAM SOKOL

 

Australia’s upcoming national elections will be held on September 14 -which is the date on which Yom Kippur falls this year, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced on Monday, arousing heated debate among politicians and Jewish community leaders.

Australia's new Prime Minister Julia Gillard - Photo by APAfter her announcement at the National Press Club in the capital Canberra, MPs from both Labor and the Liberal party were quick to attack the decision, both due to the long campaigning season that it has inaugurated and because some believe it to be insensitive to Australia’s Jewish community.

Continue Reading »

Foreign reports: Israel Air Force hit target on Syria-Lebanon border

Arab media claim IAF fighter jets conducted 3 separate aerial incursions into Lebanon overnight. US website says target was weapons convoy; IDF remains hushed

By Roi Kais

 

“Israeli forces have attacked a target on the Syrian-Lebanese border overnight,” foreign and Arab media sources alleged Wednesday, saying that 12 IAF jets breached Lebanon’s airspace on Tuesday.

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

The US-based Al-Monitor website quoted Lebanese sources as saying the target was a weapons convoy traveling near Syria’s border with Lebanon. The report has not been corroborated by any Israeli source and the IDF refused to comment on the matter. Continue Reading »

Zionist Rabbi Teaches: ‘Equal Burden’ Means More Work for Everyone

Leading Zionist Rabbi warns that forcing hareidi men to join the IDF could become a bigger burden to the army. He suggests learning from kibbutz, for alternative idea.

By Maayana Miskin

 

Coercing hareidi-religious men into joining the IDF could make life harder for all Israelis by creating a burden on the military, Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed warned Wednesday, speaking to Arutz Sheva. Rabbi Melamed is a leading figure in the religious-Zionist world, where army service is valued as a mitzvah (positive command) and is dean of the Beit El Yeshiva in Binyamin as well as rabbi of the community. Continue Reading »

High Court overrules Rabbinical Court, man refusing divorce stays jailed

High Court blocks Rabbinate in unprecedented move, to allow wife’s civil damages suit against husband to be heard as he remains jailed.

 

In an unprecedented move, the High Court of Justice last week intervened in a case being heard by the Supreme Rabbinical Court and blocked the release of a husband who had been jailed for refusing to divorce his wife.

The High Court of Justice

The High Court of Justice – Photo by Michal Fattal

 

The rabbinical court − the top court of appeals in the state rabbinical court system − was chaired by Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and included Rabbi Tzion Boaron and Rabbi Eliezer Igra, a candidate for the post of chief rabbi. Continue Reading »

Israel preparing for possible war in north

This week the IDF deployed 2 of its vaunted Iron Dome anti-missile systems to the northern port city of Haifa in anticipation of armed action.

Israel cannot accept a situation where Hezbollah holds the threat of chemical weapons over its citizens.

 

By Israel Today Staff

 

Israel is growing increasingly concerned that Syria’s ongoing civil war is going to result in open conflict between Jewish state and either Syrian forces or Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist militia.

Israel’s border with Syria – Photo: Israeltoday.co.il

Israel has warned that if Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons finds its way into Hezbollah hands, Israeli forces will take preemptive action. Continue Reading »

Rivlin: Time for Knesset to pass constitution

Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin says conditions are ripe for permanent constitution, saying “The election results show that Israelis have reset their priorities & prove that many are no longer resigned to having the peace process top the agenda,”

By Gideon Allo

The next Knesset is more likely to draft a constitution, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin told a forum at the Israel Democracy Institute on Monday.

Speaker Reuven Rivlin says Israel may get a constitution because of the election results. – Photo: Dudi Vaaknin

“In the 19th Knesset conditions are going to be more ripe for drafting a constitution. The election results show that Israelis have reset their priorities and prove that many are no longer resigned to having the peace process top the agenda.

Continue Reading »

Christians United For Israel press to block Hagel confirmation

CUFI  presence in Hagel’s opposition shows conservatives’ determination in stopping Chuck Hagel’s confirmation

By Ron Kampeas

 

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Chuck Hagel has made strides in his bid to secure Senate confirmation as defense secretary, winning the endorsement of leading Jewish Democratic senators and meeting with the leaders of major American Jewish groups.

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, shown speaking to CPAC, a convention of political conservatives, in February 2012, has been key to the Republican pushback against the nomination of Chuck Hagel as defense secretary.  (Gage Skidmore/creative commons)

Texas Sen. John Cornyn, shown speaking to CPAC, a convention of political conservatives – Photo: Gage Skidmore/creative commons

But conservative pro-Israel opposition remains fierce, bolstered by the pivotal role being played by Christians United For Israel, the Texas-based group founded by Pastor John Hagee.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), the first senator to come out against Hagel’s nomination, did so at Hagee’s behest, both men revealed on Monday. Continue Reading »