Hamas & Fatah agree to implement unity Gov’t

Representatives of both Hamas & Fatah factions set end of January as target to form a Palestinian unity gov’t.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Hamas and Fatah agreed Thursday to implement, by the end of this month, previous reconciliation agreements signed between the two parties.

The new agreement was reached during talks between representatives of the two sides in Cairo.

PA chief Abbas and Hamas leader Mashaal in Cairo - Photo by ReutersAzzam al-Ahmed, head of the Fatah delegation to the talks, announced that the two parties agreed, among other things, to launch consultations over the formation of a Palestinian unity government, with the hope of reaching agreement within the next two weeks. Continue Reading »

Israel’s IDE to build largest desalination plant in San Diego worth $650m

Israeli Company signs 30-year deal with California’s Encina Power Station to design & maintain water project subbed ‘largest of its kind in western hemisphere’

Ynetnews

 

Israel-based IDE Technologies announced that it has signed a contract with one of the largest desalination construction companies in the United States to design and supply equipment for the largest seawater desalination plant in the country.

Desalination facility - Photo by MekorotAccording to the company’s press release, the facility will be located near the Encina Power Station in Carlsbad, California.

The company has also signed a contract directly with Poseidon Resources for Operation & Maintenance (O&M) of the plant for a period of 30 years. Continue Reading »

Not Surprising Report: Hizbullah Behind Burgas Bombing

Thursday, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov paid a surprise visit to Israel & shared their updates, confirming Israeli allegations on the Burgas bombing investigation.

 

By Maayana Miskin

 

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov paid an unannounced visit to Israel on Thursday. Mladenov updated Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres on Bulgaria’s progress in investigating the terrorist attack in Burgas last year in which five Israelis and one Bulgarian were murdered.

The bus that was destroyed in the Burgas terrorist attack – Reuters

The bus that was destroyed in the Burgas terrorist attack – Reuters

According to Channel 2, the report found the Hizbullah was behind the fatal bombing.

Bulgaria’s Interior Minister, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, is updating European leaders regarding Bulgaria’s findings. Continue Reading »

Hamas Bans Israeli Aid That Compete with Their Smuggling Operation

Hamas bans certain types of Israeli goods into Gaza at the expense of the people’s welfare. Israel nevertheless continues supplying the free goods.

By Elad Benari

 

Hamas is once again trying to punish the residents of Gaza by attempting to reduce the scope of Israeli goods entering the region.

Hamas’ Ministry of Economics announced this week its decision to ban the import of certain types of goods into Gaza through the Israeli crossings. These include office furniture, various types of foods, hygiene products, gas pipes, plastic, plastic bags and clothing.

The local population in Gaza expressed its dissatisfaction with the decision, especially since the Israeli products that enter Gaza are considered to be of much higher quality than the goods that are smuggled into Gaza from Egypt, through the tunnels in the Rafiah area. Continue Reading »

Israel Antiquities Archives are Now Online & Open to the Public

Israel’s Antiquities Authority has uploaded tens of thousands of original documents,  architectural plans, maps & photographs to its newly digitized collection

1st section available includes original architectural plan for the post-renovations Church of the Holy Sepulchre & even British espionage maps.

By Yori Yalon

 

 

The archaeological archive of Israel, administered by the Israel Antiquities Authority, has digitized and uploaded all of Israel’s archaeological archives to the Internet, slated to be publicly available this month.

Jerusalem 1941The archive allows visitors to explore the British Mandate Period, for example, and view the impressive and original architectural plan for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre following renovations, British espionage maps from World War I and blueprints for buildings on the Temple Mount.

Continue Reading »

2 Years Later, Israel’s Carmel Forest Begins to Rejuvenate

The authority plans to introduce more Jerusalem pines as well as oak, almond, olive & carob trees — all native to Israel and thus, in better sync with the environment. A wider range of trees will attract a wider range of wildlife to the forest.

 

By Ben Sales

 

CARMEL FOREST, Israel (JTA) — The rabbi’s yarmulke fluttered in the wind, his hand holding it to his head, as he recited El Malei Rachamim, the traditional prayer for the deceased.

A view of part of the scorched area of the Carmel Forest, burned in the 2010 Carmel Fire, with an intact area of the forest in the background, Jan. 2013.  (Ben Sales)

A view of part of the scorched area of the Carmel Forest, burned in the 2010 Carmel Fire, with an intact area of the forest in the background, Jan.

Continue Reading »

Israel hints at ‘letter of regret’ to Turkey over ‘Marmara Fiasco’

 

Ayalon tells Turkey’s ‘Hürriyet’ that Israel may attempt to smooth relations by using diplomatic language; FM Liberman advocates “expression of regret.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS

 

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told Turkish daily Hürriyet on Thursday that Israel may use diplomatic language inspired by the letter sent by Washington to Islamabad over the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in order end the impasse with Ankara.

Danny Ayalon“I see some kind of improvement and opportunities,” Ayalon was quoted as saying, citing the “American-Pakistani formula” as an idea to renegotiate relations.

“Remember, recently there were 24 Pakistani soldiers killed by mistake by American forces, and the Americans sent a letter that was accepted in Pakistan.

Continue Reading »

EU Parliament to mark Int’l Holocaust Remembrance Day

European Parliament President Martin Schulz adopts Int’l Holocaust Remembrance Day as part of European institution’s official ceremonies.

Ynetnews

 

For the first time since the European Parliament’s establishment, its president, Martin Schulz, has adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Day as part of its official ceremonies.

NEVER forget!

In a special letter sent to Rabbi Avi Tawil, president of the European Jewish Community Center (EJCC), Schulz acknowledged EJCC’s seven-year contribution to the Holocaust Day commemorations in European Union institutions, and promised that the European Parliament was committed to the perpetuation of the Holocaust and the promotion of democracy and human rights.

The decision to hold an official ceremony is a result of ongoing efforts by the EJCC. Continue Reading »

German court convicts & fines British Holocaust-denying Expelled-bishop

 

Ultra-conservative anti-Semitic British bishop to pay a fine of e1,800 for Holocaust denial during a television interview in 2008.

By

 

A German court has fined an ultra-conservative British bishop e1,800 for denying the Holocaust in a television interview.

Bishop Richard WilliamsonGerman news agency dpa reported that an administrative court in Regensburg convicted Richard Williamson of incitement and levied the fine on Wednesday. The case was retried after an earlier conviction of Williamson was overturned on procedural grounds.

The 72-year-old Williamson told a Swedish TV station in 2008, during an interview conducted near Regensburg, that he did not believe Jews were killed in gas chambers during World War II.

Continue Reading »

Russia Slams US Court Ordered Fine, Over Disputed Jewish Archive

Russian official criticized the ruling by a U.S. District Judge to fine Moscow $50,000 a day for failing to return a historic Jewish library seized in Poland, to the Chabad-Lubavitch.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has criticized a ruling by a United States judge to fine Moscow $50,000 a day for its failure to return a historic but disputed Jewish library to the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish group.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin

Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of the U.S. District Court ruled Wednesday that Russia should pay the fine until it complies with the 2010 order to return the collection of tens of thousands of religious books and manuscripts, some hundreds of years old, to the Chabad-Lubavitch group based in Brooklyn, New York. Continue Reading »

Netanyahu rebuffs Obama; White House spooked by the nationalist parties

Past prime ministers who succumbed to American pressure left Israel with devastating results. For instance, Ehud Barak was convinced by Bill Clinton to meet nearly all of Yasser Arafat’s demands, only to be thanked with the outbreak of the “Second Intifada.”

By Ryan Jones

 

The Obama White House appears to be engaging in a very thinly veiled effort to influence next week’s Knesset election by suggesting to Israelis that voting for right-wing parties will further strain US-Israel relations and isolate the Jewish state.

NetanyahuOn Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu politely suggested that the American administration butt out.

“Only the Israeli people will determine who best represents the State of Israel’s vital interests,” Netanyahu said during a tour of the Gaza security fence. Continue Reading »

Hollande: France to commence peace initiative after Israeli elections

Israel Radio reports: France considers renewed Israel-Palestinian peace talks an urgent matter, and condemns new construction in Judea & Samaria, arguing, “It fuels tensions on the ground and constitutes an obstacle to peace.”

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

 

France will introduce a new initiative to jump start Middle East peace talks, French President François Hollande told Israel Radio on Wednesday. According to the report, French diplomats said France and the U.K. were in lockstep over the Middle East but had yet to formulate a joint plant.

French President François Hollande

French Ambassador to Israel Christophe Bigot told Israel Radio on Wednesday his government considered it urgent to have the Palestinians and Israelis renew negotiations.

Continue Reading »

Sen. Paul: Cuts to Israel’s assistance would not be ‘immediate or dramatic’

Something I would be in favor of would not be immediate, dramatic or draconian, it would be evolving…. I’m for an independent, strong Israel that is not a client state and not a reliant state.

By JTA

 

WASHINGTON  — Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he does not favor immediate cuts to defense assistance to Israel and favors intelligence and development cooperation, but he believes that Israel would ultimately benefit from economic independence from the United States.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul in JerusalemPaul, in a conference call Wednesday marking his return from a week-long visit to Israel, said his first priority in targeting foreign assistance would be those nations where people “burn the American flag and say death to America.” Continue Reading »

World Bank Study: Red-Dead pipeline is feasible project

Project connecting the Red Sea to the Dead Sea would be an environmental disaster, according to green activists.

 

While there may be environmental and social impacts on the region, a trilateral plan to construct a 180-kilometer pipeline transporting water from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea is feasible, a World Bank study has determined.

The Dead Sea - Photo by Marc Israel SellemAfter nearly a decade of pondering the project in Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority, the World Bank recently released its final draft version of its Red Sea-Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Program: Feasibility Study.

Published as part of a series of studies, the World Bank printed the report alongside an environmental and social assessment study and a study of strategic alternatives, as well as various other studies and models of the Dead and Red seas – all done simultaneously, but conducted by different companies. Continue Reading »

Video: 8 IDF soldiers were killed in accidents during 2012

Army data for 2012 shows a rise in casualties in accidents with decline in deaths of soldiers on leave.

Unfortunately, dozens were injured in training accidents.

Yoav Zitun

 

An IDF report revealed that 2012 saw an increase in the number of soldiers killed in accidents and a decline of in deaths of soldiers on leave.Overturned jeep

According to the security branch of the Israeli Ground Forces, eight soldiers were killed in accidents last year, compared to only one in 2011 and 20 in 2010

The accidents include a jeep crash in the Golan Heights that killed an Artillery Corps soldier, a lighting fixture collapse in Mount Herzl that killed an officer,  a car accident that claimed the lives of two Navy officers, a bus crash that claimed the life of a military police officer and an incident in which a tank ran over a soldier while training in the Golan Heights, among others. Continue Reading »