Why the ‘Iranian crisis’ is on the back burner….for now.

According to Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak: “the moment of truth” had been delayed by “8 to 10 months.”

By Dore Gold

At the end of October, Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave a revealing interview to London’s Daily Telegraph in which he explained why the urgency around the Iranian issue had changed. Iran was still progressing toward its goal of obtaining nuclear weapons. Israel was still concerned with Iran’s stock of 20 percent enriched uranium that could be converted very quickly to weapons-grade uranium.

Dore Gold – from facebook

Dore Gold – from facebook

But during the course of 2012, Tehran took nearly 40% of its 20%-uranium stock and converted it into fuel rods, which could not be used for nuclear weapons.

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73 Senators sign AIPAC-backed letter urging more restrictions on Iran

The time for limited confidence-building measures is over.

By JTA

 

WASHINGTON  — A letter backed by AIPAC urging President Obama to keep up pressure on Iran even as he negotiates with the regime garnered signatures from 73 U.S. Senators.

US Senate

US Senate

“We strongly believe there should be absolutely no diminution of pressure on the Iranians until the totality of their nuclear program has been addressed,” reads the letter, initiated by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and signed by another 70 senators. “The time for limited confidence-building measures is over.”

The letter, sent Thursday and backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, says the senators “remain very skeptical of any proposal that would allow the current Iranian government to possess an enrichment capability in any form, given its long track record of deceptive and illicit conduct.” Continue Reading »

Israel’s PM: I will ignore int’l condemnation of building homes in Jerusalem

PM Netanyahu says Israel will continue to build in east Jerusalem despite condemnation from UN and the international community.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, HERB KEINON

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday said he would ignore the international community’s condemnation of prospective building plans for Jerusalem across the Green Line, in an interview aired in part on Channel 2.

The interview is scheduled to air in full on Saturday.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - Photo: Pool/Haim Zach

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – Photo: Pool/Haim Zach

“The Western Wall is not occupied territory, and I don’t care what the United Nations says,” Netanyahu declared in reference to the plans.

“We are living in the Jewish State,” Netanyahu said, and “The capital of the Jewish state, for 3,000 years, has been Jerusalem.

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IDF report: Soldier failed to discharge his weapon at intruders

Official inquiry into IDF base break-in finds that the soldier standing guard at the site called out ‘who’s there?’ twice, before opening observation post’s door.

Army: Soldier acted appropriately

Yoav Zitun

A probe into an incident that saw two Palestinians breaking into an IDF base found that the soldier guarding the entrance to the site failed to discharge his weapon before being overpowered by the intruders.

Observation tower (Illustration) Photo: Amit Magal

Observation tower (Illustration) – Photo: Amit Magal

The break-in occurred around 1:45 am Friday as a storm raged in the area of the base, which overlooks the Palestinian village of Al-Ram near Jerusalem. The intruders managed to cut the perimeter fence, taking advantage of the boisterous weather to slip into the military facility undetected. Continue Reading »

5 Palestinians wounded by IDF on Gaza border

IDF says troops reacted ‘according to set procedures’ when the Gazans did not heed calls to exit the border fence area.

Gaza medics say the men are lightly to moderately wounded & not in life threatening condition.

By Reuters

 

Israel Defense Forces troops patrolling the border with the Gaza strip on Friday shot and wounded five Palestinians who were in an area on the Gaza side which Israel deems off limits, the IDF and Gaza medics said.

An IDF patrol vehicle near the Israel-Gaza border.

An IDF patrol vehicle near the Israel-Gaza border. – Photo by Eliyahu Hershkovitz

Gaza medical officials said the five agricultural workers suffered light to moderate wounds and were not in a life threatening condition. Continue Reading »

PM Netanyahu: I don’t care what the UN says about settlement construction

With int’l criticism of Israel’s planned construction in E. Jerusalem, Judea & Samaria peaking, the PM says in a television interview it is Israel’s right to build in Jerusalem.

 

Amid increasing international criticism of Israel’s recent approval of construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a television interview on Friday that he doesn’t “care what the UN says.”

PM Netanyahu speaks at UN General Assembly Sept 27, 2012.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu seen through the glass of a television booth as he addresses the 67th UN General Assembly in New York, Sept. 27, 2012. – Photo by Reuters

In the wake of the UN vote on Palestinian non-member state status, Israel announced plans to advance a long-frozen project for the E-1 corridor, which links the city of Jerusalem with the settlement of Ma’aleh Adumim. Continue Reading »

Israel beefs up cyber defenses

This war is being fought from the keyboard, and when Israel presses ‘Enter’ it’s no less effective than a soldier opening fire on the battlefield.

By Ryan Jones

 

Israel’s Shabak internal security agency, also known as Shin Bet, has opened a new cyber defense division to help in the escalating cyber war with Iran and other enemies of the state.

In an interview with Yediot Ahronot, an officer in this new division said that in addition to the thousands of low-level cyber attacks Israel fends off every day from individual hackers, there are also a regular number of attacks by foreign government agencies. Continue Reading »

Egypt to allow once banned Pro-Palestinian activists to enter Gaza

“Welcome to Palestine” group blocked under Mubarak but not under Morsi gov’t, allowed to enter Gaza

French organization hopes to open new chapter in France-Gaza relations and prefers their supplies to Gaza arrive legitimately than through smuggling tunnels.

By Reuters and Israel Hayom Staff

 

 

A hundred French, European and Egyptian activists are hoping to enter the Gaza strip for the first time through Egypt next week, French coordinator Olivia Zemor, of the organization “Welcome to Palestine,” told journalists on Thursday.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. In April Israel detained and then released activists who had arrived at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

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Report: Hezbollah Weapons Depot that Blew-up, Held Missiles Capable of Delivering Chemical Warheads

There’s a significant risk of proliferation to other groups, such as Hezbollah, which could pose a global terrorist threat

 

Two days after a mysterious explosion at a Hezbollah weapons depot in southern Lebanon, the Kuwaiti website Al Jarida is reporting that Israel bombed the site because Syria had transferred missiles there that were capable of being equipped with chemical warheads. The missiles had been moved into Lebanon from Syria in the last several months and were being held inside warehouses owned by farmers in the area.

A soldier wearing protective gear.

The report also claimed that Hezbollah has many additional warehouses across Lebanon that are used for the same purpose. Continue Reading »

World’s 2nd-oldest Bible fragment posted online

 

Purchased by Dr Walter Llewellyn Nash from an Egyptian antiquities dealer in 1902, he presented the fragment that is said to have come from Fayyum, Egypy, to the Cambridge Library in 1903.

 

By JTA

The University of Cambridge posted online thousands of pages from fragile religious manuscripts.

nash

Nash Papyrus – Photo from the Cambridge Digital Library

One of the documents scanned and uploaded to the Cambridge Digital Library is the Nash Papyrus, a 2,000-year-old fragment containing the Ten Commandments and part of the Shema prayer discovered in Egypt in the late 19th century.

It is the world’s second oldest known manuscript containing a text from the Hebrew Bible. Continue Reading »

S. Africa’s ruling party supports boycott campaign against Israel

South Africa’s ruling party, the ANC passes resolutions endorsing Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions campaign to “pressure Israel.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel on Thursday.

South Africans protest Israel -  Photo: Reuters

South Africans protest Israel – Photo: Reuters

Adopted a series of resolutions blasting the Jewish state at its 53rd National Conference, the ANC adopted policies urging South Africans to support any Palestinian campaigns that “pressure Israel to end its violations of international law, respect Palestinian human rights and engage in fair negotiations for a just peace.”

Another resolution affirmed that “The ANC is unequivocal in its support for the Palestinian people in their struggle for self-determination, and unapologetic in its view that the Palestinians are the victims and the oppressed in the conflict with Israel.”

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Israel Foreign Ministry: Palestinians are ‘power-drunk’

Foreign Ministry warns PA’s pledge to take ‘far-reaching steps against Israel’ if Netanyahu wins elections is ‘suicidal & delusional’

Jerusalem gears for possible Int’l Criminal Court backlash

Itamar Eichner

 

“Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking to incite a confrontation with Israel no matter what,” the Foreign Ministry said Friday, following the Palestinian leader’s announcement that Ramallah will actively try to isolate Israel in the international arena.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: Reuters

On Thursday, the Palestinian Authority, bolstered by its new UN status, said that should the Right, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, win the coming elections – which is a near-certain possibility – it will actively try to destabilize both the Israeli government and Jerusalem’s standing worldwide. Continue Reading »

3 Iranian Stooges in botched bomb plot against Israelis claim innocence in Bangkok court

2 of the Iranians who allegedly targeted Israeli diplomats say they’re innocent & were stunned, shocked to discover hidden explosives in a cabinet in their rented Bangkok home.

 

BANGKOK – Two Iranians arrested after a botched bomb plot that allegedly targeted Israeli diplomats say they’re innocent and were stunned to discover explosives stashed in a cabinet in their rented Bangkok home, a lawyer said Friday.

Iranian Saeid Moradi

Iranian Saeid Moradi arrives at Bangkok South Criminal Court December 21, 2012 – Photo by AP

Both men appeared in court Friday, 10 months after the explosives blew apart their home in a residential Bangkok neighborhood on Valentine’s Day. Continue Reading »

Christmas Exploited for Israel Bashing: ‘O Boycott All ye Faithful’

PA-based Christian orgs are getting into ‘the holiday spirit’, with libelous attacks on Israel, including the ‘Jews killed Jesus’.

By Maayana Miskin

 

A new report from NGO Monitor reveals that several Christian organizations that support the Palestinian Authority are using Christmas to attack Israel. Holiday propaganda ranged from half-truths aimed at portraying Israel as oppressive to “crude anti-Semitism” based on historic Christian accusations of Jews being prophet-killers, the group said.

The report, titled, “O Boycott All ye Faithful,” criticized groups including Christian Aid, Sabeel, Kairos Palestine, and Israel Palestine Mission Network, Presbyterian Church (USA).

The latter group has published a daily advent devotional headed by a picture in which Mary and Joseph, parents of Jesus, are trapped behind a wall styled on Israel’s security barrier between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Continue Reading »

Israel petitions UN Security Council to condemn rearming of Hezbollah

Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prosor said in a letter to the 15-nation council that Hezbollah’s buildup in Southern Lebanon was in violation of a UN arms embargo & UN resolutions

By Reuters

 

Israel’s UN envoy urged the Security Council on Thursday to condemn what he described as significant rearming by Hezbollah, saying the Lebanese militant group now possessed an arsenal of tens of thousands of missiles capable of hitting Israel.

Hezbollah guerrillas prepare Katyusha rockets at their base near the Chebaa Farms area.

Two Hezbollah guerrillas prepare Katyusha rockets at their base near the Chebaa Farms area on the Lebanese-Israeli border, May 22, 2001.- Photo by AP

Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prosor said in a letter to the 15-nation council that the buildup was in clear violation of a UN arms embargo. Continue Reading »