World leaders ‘concerned’ over Syrian uranium stockpile

US & Mideast officials fear Iran may be trying take possession of uranium stockpile left over from Syria’s nuclear program.

By Ynet

 

Nuclear experts in the US and Middle East have raised concerns about the security of up to 50 metric tons of unenriched uranium in Syria, the Financial Times reported Tuesday.

Such a stockpile could be a vital resource to building a nuclear bomb and could have disastrous implications if seized by Iran.

נשיא איראן אחמדינג'אד עם אסד (ארכיון)                (צילום: רויטרס)

Syria’s Assad with Iran’s Ahmadinejad. – Photo: Reuters

Not much is known about the Syrian nuclear program, and the country denied ever having had one. Continue Reading »

Palestinian Authority: Israel Planning to Build its Holy Temple

Official with the Al-Aqsa Mosque says, “The construction of the false Temple on the Temple Mount is closer than ever before,”

By Elad Benari

 

The head of manuscripts at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Najeh Bkeirat, has accused Israel of trying to “Judaize” the Temple Mount by building a new Holy Temple.

Speaking on January 4 to the Palestine journal, which is affiliated with the Hamas terrorist group, Bkeirat claimed that “the construction of the false Temple is closer than ever before.”

Bkeirat claimed in the interview that an analysis of Jerusalem’s development plans finds there is an intention to Judaize the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and within this framework build the Temple on its ruins and to then reduce the number of Arab residents in the city. Continue Reading »

Israel Navy & IDF evacuate stranded citizens amid ongoing rainstorm

IDF Unit 669 uses helicopters to rescue 15 people in Baka al-Gharbiya as the Navy helps families escape flood in rubber boats in Hadera.

 

IDF soldiers on bridge over Saar falls in Golan Photo: REUTERS

Rescue services were called into action Tuesday night to help stranded residents throughout Israel, as flooding from the ongoing storm that has hit nearly the entire country this week continued.

IDF soldiers on bridge over Saar falls in Golan

IDF soldiers on bridge over Saar falls in Golan – Photo: REUTERS

In the Haifa area on Tuesday night, IDF helicopters and crews from Unit 669 rescued 15 people stuck on the roof of a building in Baka al-Gharbiya, as rising water levels threatened to sweep them away.

Continue Reading »

Palestinian camp in Damascus comes under fire

Five killed in Yarmouk camp, Palestinian representatives call for immediate cease-fire.

By the Associated Press

 

Representatives of Palestinian factions in Syria are calling for an immediate cease-fire after fighting flared at a refugee camp in Damascus.

מגייסים פלסטינים לשורותיהם ומחמשים אותם. מורדים סורים (צילום: רויטרס)

Syrian rebels enlisting Palestinians – Photo: Reuters

Activists say five people were killed in the Yarmouk camp Tuesday, including four who died when a shell struck their street and a fifth shot by a sniper.

The fighting pits gunmen loyal to President Bashar Assad against rebels, who now control much of the camp.

The camp was the scene of heavy clashes in the past, but the battles subsided last month after rebels battled the loyalists to a stalemate. Continue Reading »

Israel used as pawn in Washington’s political game

Republicans & Democrats alike fight over Hagel’s appointment as defense secretary using his ‘Israel record’,but as a senator, Hagel always voted in favor of military aid to Israel.

By  Yitzhak Benhorin

 

WASHINGTON – Israel has recently become a major issue in the Democrat-Republican feud in Washington. Even those genuinely worried about Chuck Hagel‘s appointment as defense secretary should be far more concerned that Israel is once again a pawn in the American capital’s political game.

The Emergency Committee for Israel was a major player in the fight for the Jewish vote in the latest US elections, taking care to represent Obama as anti-Israel and reluctant to fight Iran’s nuclear program. Continue Reading »

Poland Investigates Artist’s Claims of Holocaust Victims’ Ashes in Paint

Polish prosecutors have launched a probe into a Swedish artist’s claims that he used ashes of Holocaust victims mixed into the paint in his artwork.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

Polish prosecutors have launched an investigation into a Swedish artist’s claims that he used the ashes of Holocaust victims in his artwork, an official said Tuesday.

The artist, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, claims he stole ashes from a crematorium at Nazi Germany’s Majdanek concentration camp in Poland in 1989 then used them in one of his paintings by mixing them with water.

“The prosecution opened an investigation into this matter Monday,” Beata Syk-Jankowska, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office in Lublin, told AFP. Continue Reading »

Politician’s wife from Gaza: We must teach our kids to kill & die

A woman’s role is no less important than a man’s in “Palestine” because it is the mother who “instills in her children the love of Jihad & martyrdom for the sake of Allah.”

By Israel Today Staff

 

The wife of a Hamas member of the Palestinian parliament recently demonstrated the stark difference between the dominant values in Israeli Jewish society that those that have sadly taken hold in much of Palestinian society.

In a December 2 interview with Al-Aqsa TV, Umm Osama, wife of Hamas lawmaker Khalil Al-Hayya, stated that a woman’s role is no less important than a man’s in “Palestine” because it is the mother who “instills in her children the love of Jihad and martyrdom for the sake of Allah.” Continue Reading »

PM Netanyahu: After election, Iran will remain my top priority

 

PM Benjamin Netanyahu speaking at an event marking the 13th anniversary of Taglit-Birthright Israel program, calls on the world to wake up, saying that the real danger to int’l peace comes from Iran & Syria, not from Israeli construction in Jerusalem.

By Yael Baranovsky, Yori Yalon, Shlomo Cesana, Israel Hayom Staff and Reuters

 

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat would continue to be his top priority following the upcoming Knesset election on January 22.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Taglit-Birthright Israel participants on Monday. – Photo: Amos Ben Gershom / GPO

Speaking at an event marking the 13th anniversary of the Taglit-Birthright Israel program, Netanyahu dismissed international criticism of Israel’s construction policies in and around Jerusalem, saying that the real danger to world peace came from Iran and Syria.

Continue Reading »

Poll: 53% Israelis believe Netanyahu best candidate for Israel’s security

According to the last Israel Democracy Institute Peace Index poll, Yacimovich has highest approval on economic issues as 60% support a 2-state solution, while 58% oppose splitting Jerusalem.

 

Most Israelis find Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to be most suitable candidate to handle security issues, the Israel Democracy Institute Peace Index poll found on Tuesday.

Netanyahu meets Rimon unit on Egypt border fence

Netanyahu meets Rimon unit on Egypt border fence – Photo: GPO

Fifty-three percent of Israeli Jews chose Netanyahu as able to handle security matters, followed by Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman (28%), Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett (25%), former IDF chief of staff and Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz (22%), Tzipi Livni (19%), Labor leader Shelly Yacimovich (14%) and Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid, who scored lowest with 8%.

Continue Reading »

State of Palestine not to be written on ID or Passports

Declaration of Palestinian ‘State’ is one thing, but Mahmoud Abbas refrains from issuing new passports or IDs fearing Israeli retaliation

Associated Press

 

With UN recognition of a Palestinian state in his pocket, President Mahmoud Abbas wants official documents to carry a new emblem: “State of Palestine.”

But scrapping the old “Palestinian Authority” logo is as far as Abbas is willing to go in provoking Israel. He is not rushing to change passports and ID cards Palestinians need to pass through Israeli crossings.

“At the end of the day, the Palestinian Authority won’t cause trouble for its people,” Nour Odeh, a spokeswoman for Abbas’ self-rule government, said of the need for caution. Continue Reading »

Go Daddy chose Bar Refaeli for its Super Bowl ad campaign

Sexy Super Bowl ads may emit a tad less sizzle this time a round – but 2 will feature knock-out supermodels. One is Israel’s Hottest.

By SDM

 

Go Daddy, historically the Super Bowl’s raciest advertiser, on Friday will name supermodel Bar Refaeli as its newest Super Bowl-bound Go Daddy girl.

Bar Refaeli – Photo: facebook profile

She was ranked No. 1 on Maxim’s Hot 100 for 2012. The move comes just weeks after Mercedes-Benz announced that supermodel Kate Upton will star in its game spot.

Both models are former Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue cover girls.

But neither of the hotter-than-hot models will appear in racy attire. Continue Reading »

Israeli 2012 Tech bought out for record total of $5.5 Billion

2012 had 50 deals with an average deal size of $111 million, compared with 63 deals with an average size of $81 million in 2011.

By Ben Rooney

 

Israeli tech startups were bought out for a record total of $5.5 billion in 2012, according to a report published Monday. The report also suggests a maturity in the Israeli sector with fewer, but larger, deals transacted.

Source: PricewaterhouseCoopers

The report by analysts PricewaterhouseCoopers showed 2012 had 50 deals with an average deal size of $111 million, compared with 63 deals with an average size of $81 million in 2011. The report didn’t cover IPOs. Continue Reading »

Report: Obama Listened to Israel which Avoided Chemical War within Syria

Israeli surveillance identified Syria’s army preparing chemical bombs. Israel alerted the White House, who gained Russian support to stop Assad.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

Israeli surveillance that spotted Syria preparing chemical bombs to load them on airplanes spurred President Barack Obama into action to win rare support from Russia to stop the plan, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The report follows bits of information published over the past several weeks, according to which Syrian soldiers were spotted mixing chemicals, but details of Israeli surveillance and American involvement were not previously disclosed.

IDF commanders informed Washington in November, according to the newspaper, after satellite imagery showed Syrian soldiers filling 500-pound bombs with a substance that may have been the deadly “sarin” nerve gas. Continue Reading »

Photo Essay : Heavy Rains in Israel

Arutz Sheva’s readers sent in photos. Israel is flooded with welcome rains, which are also causing traffic congestion and power outages.

 pictures from Haaretz:
 wn in both directio... Photo by Moti Milrod

Ayalon Highway shut down in both directions due to flooding. January 8, 2013
– Photo by Moti Milrod

Stormy weather

Railway station in Tel Aviv – Ofer Vaknin

 

Ayalon Highway shut down in both directions

Ayalon Highway shut down in both directions – Moti Milrod

Rainbow in the Hula Valley

Rainbow in the Hula Valley – Yaron Kaminsky

Stormy weather - AFP

Stormy weather – AFP

Stormy weather

Rainbow over Judean Desert – AFP

Stormy weather

Tel Aviv’s Ayalon River between train & highway – Moti Milrod

Stormy weather floods Mall in Modiin - Gil Coen-Mahar

Stormy weather floods Mall in Modiin – Gil Cohen-Mager

A car blocked by a fallen tree - Yair Etinger

A car blocked by a fallen tree – Yair Etinger

View original HAARETZ photographs at: http://www.haaretz.com/ Continue Reading »

Giving ‘Love hormone’ produces more engaged Dads

Oxytocin is a hormone that facilitates bonding between mothers & newborns and also between men & women in personal relationships.

Oxytocin, dubbed “the love hormone,” has for years been known by scientists to facilitate bonding between mothers and newborn babies and between men and women in relationships.
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But a new laboratory study led by Dr. Ruth Feldman from Bar-Ilan University and recently published in Biological Psychiatry has found that giving oxytocin to fathers increases their parental engagement, with similar effects observed in their infants.

Oxytocin is a neuropeptide that plays an important role in the formation of attachment bonds.

Continue Reading »