Security Council head tells ambassadors: Quit or enter politics

National Security Council’s Amidror bats at criticism from envoys over policy, saying they should either represent Israel, resign or enter politics.

 

National Security Council head Yaakov Amidror’s irritated response to questions by Israeli ambassadors about E1 – that they should either represent Israel’s position, resign or go into politics – was representative of a government attitude that does not put a premium on explaining policy to those who must represent it,  Foreign Ministry officials said Monday.

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The officials were responding to a Yediot Ahronot story Monday that Amidror snapped a day earlier at ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor when he asked about the timing of the decision to announce planning for development of the E1 section between Jerusalem and Ma’ale Adumim.

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Elite IDF counter-terrorism force ‘busted’ in undercover operation

Palestinians reported an undercover IDF squad operating in Tamoun, near Jenin, was identified.

Riots erupt on site, soldiers injured.

Elior Levy, AP

 

Riots in Tamoun – Photos: AP

Raid gone wrong: Palestinian sources in the West Bank reported Tuesday that riots broke out in the West Bank village of Tamoun, near Jenin, after an undercover IDF unit operating in the area was exposed.

Three soldiers sustained mild injuries and were evacuated to a nearby hospital.

The Palestinians said that the troops were disguised as vegetable vendors and and sought to seize members of a militant group.

 

זירת עימות בטמון (צילום: AP)

Riots in Tamoun – Photos: AP

The force was apparently part of the Mistaarvim (“Arabized”) Unit – an elite counter-terrorism force whose members serve in various IDF divisions. Continue Reading »

U.N. Watch: Top 10 Worst UN Decisions of 2012

Top 10 Worst U.N. Decisions of 2012

Compiled by U.N. Watch

 

1. Electing genocidal Sudan to ECOSOC, a top U.N. council overseeing human rights bodies.

 

2. Adopting Cuba’s “Right to Peace” resolution, which endorsed terrorism, at the same time as the Castro regime was backing Assad’s murderous Syrian forces.
3. Keeping Richard Falk as U.N. investigator of “Israel’s violations,” even after he was removed from Human Rights Watch in wake of protests over his support for Hamas, 9/11 conspiracy theories and promotion of antisemitism.
 
 
5. Electing the Venezuelan dictatorship of Hugo Chavez to the U.N.
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PA report: Palestinian population to outnumber the Jews by 2020

At the end of 2012 the estimated number of Palestinians in the world is 11.6 million, of whom 4.4 million are living in the Gaza Strip, West Bank & East Jerusalem & another 1.4 million living inside Israel.

By DPA

 

The number of Arabs and Jews in Israel and the occupied areas will be equal by 2016, but the number of Arabs will exceed that of Jews by 2020, a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday.

Fatah supporters wave flags during a rally marking the 48th anniversary of the founding of the Fatah

Fatah supporters waving flags during a rally marking the 48th anniversary of the founding of the Fatah movement in the West Bank town of Bethlehem December 31, 2012.

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Watch: PM Netanyahu States his Vision for a “Palestinian State”

Israel’s Channel 2 reported that Prime Minister Netanyahu affirmed he still believes in the solution for a “Palestinian State” that he outlined in his Bar Ilan speech.

By Gil Ronen

 

 Binyamin Netanyahu - screenshot

Binyamin Netanyahu – screenshot

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has affirmed to Channel 2 that as elections approach, he stands behind the principles he outlined in his speech at Bar Ilan University in 2009. Channel 2‘s Knesset reporter, Amit Segal, did not say Monday evening whether the information came directly from Netanyahu, but from the way in which he reported the news, it was clear that it had been approved by the Prime Minister. Continue Reading »

Israeli population approaches 8 million in 2013

Israel has more than 6 million Jews and 1.6 million Arab citizens

A record 170,000 babies were born in Israel in 2012

Jerusalem is Israel’s most populated city, with 804,400 residents

By Zeev Klein

 

 

Pop open the champagne corks. The Israeli population totals 7,981,000 citizens.

This past year also saw the most babies born in Israel’s history: about 170,000 according to the Central Bureau of Statistics, which released these numbers to coincide with the secular New Year.

About 170,000 babies were born in Israel over the past year. – illustrative Photo: Shuki Yosef

The number of people who died in 2012 was 41,938.

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New Law against anorexic models in Israeli media begins

Models in Israel with a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18.5 will not be shown on Israeli websites, in media, or walk down catwalks at fashion shows.

 

Starting on Tuesday, female and male models who have a body mass index (BMI) of less than 18.5 may not be shown in the media or on Israeli websites or go down the catwalk at fashion shows.

modelThe law, initiated by then-Kadima MK Rachel Adatto, aims to protect impressionable teens from eating disorders.

Every year, an average of 30 young adults and teens die of anorexia or bulimia.

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Israel to begin Biometric Database Test Project

Today Israel starts amassing biometric data on its citizens despite protests by privacy groups.

The test program will continue for 2 years, will be voluntary for Israelis 16 & older.

By David Lev

 

Despite protests by privacy groups, Israel will begin amassing biometric data on its citizens beginning Tuesday. The pilot program for the biometric database will greatly enhance the ability of authorities to identify terrorists, supporters of the project say – while those opposed believe that the program will give the state unprecedented opportunity to control the lives of Israelis.

The test program, which will continue for two years, will be voluntary. Continue Reading »

What Does Abbas’s Latest Threats to Quit Really Mean?

 

 

Why doesn’t Abbas consider the possibility of handing the “keys” to another Palestinian? Abbas apparently believes that if he cannot lead the Palestinian Authority no one else should — that if he comes down, then the entire Palestinian Authority should also collapse. A changing of the guard is something that the US and the EU, the major funders of Abbas and his associates, could play a major role in bringing about.

By Khaled Abu Toameh

 

Mahmoud Abbas has once again threatened to dismantle the Palestinian Authority which he heads in the West Bank.

This time he chose to make his new old threat in an interview with the daily Haaretz. Continue Reading »

2013: Israel Falling off Newspaper’s Headlines

Int’l media seem to be beginning to get fed up with Abbas & his PA issues.  Syria & Iran will be taking the headlines.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

Major media outlets’ reviews of 2012 and predictions for big news stories in 2013 indicate that Israel finally may have to spend less time defending itself as the Palestinian Authority’s demands become old hat and pale in the shadows of events in Syria and Iran.

The Council of Foreign Relations, considered to be the most influential American think tank, predicted that the Middle East is a major issue for the Obama administration but not because of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Continue Reading »

UK English textbook erases Israel

Not only in the Middle East, students are taught that Israel has no right to exist. The more students around the world are fed this brand of propaganda, the more remote prospects for any true peace to happen.

By Ryan Jones

 

A popular textbook used by institutions and teachers to teach English as a second language to students in the UK has been found to have a serious anti-Israel bias.

British textbook erases Israel

British textbook erases Israel

“I teach English as a foreign language in a further education college in Nottingham, England. I came across the attached map and couldn’t believe my eyes!” Continue Reading »

50 Year Low in Road-Deaths Despite Increase in Road Vehicles

Yisrael Katz, the Transportation and Road Safety Minister says the number of road deaths in Israel in 2012 dropped 25% from 2011

According to the Transportation Minister, Israel is now 10th in the world in terms of fewest road accidents per kilometers driven.

By Dan Lavie

 

 

The number of deaths in road accidents in Israel in 2012 was the lowest in 50 years, Transportation and Road Safety Minister Yisrael Katz announced on Sunday.

Moving in the right direction: Road deaths are down 25 percent, said Transportation and Road Safety Minister Yisrael Katz. – Photo: Yossi Zeliger

Since the start of the year, there were 287 deaths in road accidents in Israel, a 25 percent drop from 2011.

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Education Minister of Israel fires back at British criticism

“A university is an obstacle to peace? And as long as it was not a university there was a chance for peace?”

“The incitement in the Palestinian educational system is the true obstacle to peace,” Saar said.

By JTA

 

The education minister of Israel responded to British condemnation of planned construction in eastern Jerusalem and accreditation of Ariel University Center.

Education Minister Gideon Saar in the Northern Galilee – Photo: facebook profile pic

“Our connection to Ariel is at least as strong as the UK’s connection to the Falkland Islands,” Gideon Saar said late Saturday.

“A university is an obstacle to peace? Continue Reading »

Poll: Majority of Israelis back peace plan that guarantees security

2 separate polls find that 2/3 of Israelis would vote for peace accords, including more than 1/2 of Likud Beytenu and Bayit Yehudi supporters.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

About two-thirds of Israelis would vote in favor of a peace agreement with the Palestinians if a deal which took Israel’s security concerns into account was brought to a referendum, two polls conducted on behalf of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace found.

Abbas and NetanyahuThe Dahaf Institute poll found that 67% of  Israelis say they would support a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians if it takes into account Israeli security concerns.

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Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Top anti-Semites for 2012

Top spot on Simon Wiesenthal Center’s list are 2 of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood officials for their inflammatory statements against Israel & a public prayer calling on Allah to destroy Jews & their supporters.

jn1.tv

 

VIDEO – International human rights group Simon Wiesenthal Center has recognized 2012’s biggest anti-Semites in its annual top 10 list of worst offenders.

Video courtesy of jn1.tv

Tied for the top spot were Muhammad Badie and Futouh Abd al-Nabi Mansour of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. The two earned the title for the Brotherhood after making a number of inflammatory statements against Israel, as well as for a public prayer by Mansour earlier in the year, calling on Allah to destroy Jews and their supporters. Continue Reading »