Israelis & Lebanese irked by ‘Homeland’

U.S. TV series about Arab terrorists, American turncoats inadvertently becomes tale of 2 cities: Beirutis are angry over misleading depiction of their city as swarming with terrorists; Israelis are peeved that Tel Aviv & Haifa appear to be Middle Eastern after all

Associated Press

 

Militants carrying assault weapons clear the area around a street, shouting in Arabic for people to get out of the way. A jeep pulls up: The world’s No. 1 jihadi has arrived for a meeting with top Hezbollah commanders. On rooftops, US snipers crouch unseen, the kingpin in their crosshairs at last.

The scene, from a recent episode of the hit US Showtime series “Homeland,” is supposed to be Beirut. Continue Reading »

Gaza-bound ship ‘Estelle’ boarded by Israeli Navy

Israel’s Navy seizes ship carrying 30 pro-Palestinian activists, from breaking blockade of Gaza.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

The Israeli navy boarded the Gaza-bound “Estelle” ship seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza, an army spokesperson confirmed at 11:40 am on Saturday.

Navy boards Gaza bound ship – Photo: IDF

The army said the soldiers seized control of the ship, which is carrying pro-Palestinian activists, in accordance with the government’s decision and international law, diplomatic efforts to prevent the vessel from reaching Gaza’s shore had failed.

“When the passengers made it clear that they would not cooperate or accept the invitation to sail to southern port of Ashdod, it was decided to seize the vessel and rerouted to the Ashdod,” the army said in a statement. Continue Reading »

Beirut Terrorist Blast Kills Top Lebanese Security Officer

General Wissam al-Hassan, the intelligence chief of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces, among dead in blast in Beirut.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

A top security official linked to the anti-Damascus camp in Lebanon was among those killed in a powerful car bomb in Beirut on Friday, officials told AFP.

General Wissam al-Hassan – AFP/File

The rush-hour bombing in the predominantly Christian district of Ashrafieh killed at least two other people and wounded 96, Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told reporters at the scene.

A government official said the intelligence chief of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces, General Wissam al-Hassan, was among the dead in one of the highest-profile killings since the 2005 murder of former premier Rafiq Hariri. Continue Reading »

Jimmy Carter to visit Egypt & Israel

The Elders, a group of past heads of state that advocates for peace announced their visit Thursday.

 

Former United States President Jimmy Carter will travel to Egypt and Israel next week, where he will advocate for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. – Photo by Reuters

A group of past heads of state that advocates for peace called The Elders announced the visit Thursday.

Its news release says Carter will be joined by former Norway prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and ex-president of Ireland Mary Robinson. The three belong to The Elders. Continue Reading »

Donated Qatari Fuel to Enter Gaza

PA official: Israel allowing donated fuel by Qatar to be pumped into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing.

By Elad Benari

 

Despite ongoing rocket attacks by Gaza-based terrorists at southern Israel, Israel will allow fuel donated by Qatar to be pumped into Gaza via an Israeli crossing starting on Sunday.

The information was disclosed by a Palestinian Authority official who spoke to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency on Thursday.

Delivery of Qatari fuel began in July, Ma’an reported, but was cut off after a border attack on Egyptian officers on August 5.

The official, Nazmi Muhanna, told the news agency that fuel supplies will resume Sunday after delivery from Egypt and through the Israeli Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. Continue Reading »

An Arab Maverick Who’s Pro-Israel

Bucking convention from his village of Arara, Yousef Juhja sent three sons to join the IDF—and one paid the ultimate price.

Yousef Juhja’s cell phone number ends, coincidentally, with the digits 1948. It’s the year of his birth and that of the Jewish state—and for most of Juhja’s fellow Israeli Arabs, the year of the Nakba, the catastrophe of national dispossession and the dispersion of their Palestinian kin.

Standing by the Memorial: Yousef’s son Sa’id fell in the line of duty, blown up by explosives packed in a tunnel dug by Palestinian terrorists under a sentry box in Rafiah, Gaza in December, 2004. - Photo & caption: Lydia Aisenberg

Standing by the Memorial: Yousef’s son Sa’id fell in the line of duty, blown up by explosives packed in a tunnel dug by Palestinian terrorists under a sentry box in Rafiah, Gaza in December, 2004.

Continue Reading »

Cypriot agents foiled a terrorist attack against Israeli tourists

Cypriot media says agents discovered 100 grams of explosives at Limassol port targeting cruise ships carrying Israeli tourists.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

The Cypriot secret service foiled a terrorist attack against Israeli interests at the seaport of the country’s capital city Limassol, Cypriot daily Alithia reported on Thursday.

Cyprus port of Limmasol - Photo: Reuters

Cyprus port of Limmasol – Photo: Reuters

Cypriot agents discovered 100 grams of explosives they say was meant to target cruise ships carrying Israeli tourists in Cyprus and in other countries.

The IDF had no comment on the report.

Last month, Israel asked security forces around the world, including in Cyprus and Greece, to increase protection for Israeli tourists ahead of the High Holy Days.

Continue Reading »

IDF generals argue over Israeli-Canadian ‘deserter’

While soldiers watching, Chief military prosecutor Efroni tells army’s Personnel Directorate head Barbivai her decision to release ‘draft-dodger’ half way before the end of sentence sends ‘wrong message’

By Yoav Zitun

 

A heated argument erupted on Wednesday between IDF Military Advocate General Brigadier General Danny Efroni and IDF Personnel Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Orna Barbivai over the latter’s decision to grant clemency to Yana Gorelik, the 30-year old Canadian-Israeli who was imprisoned for allegedly dodging the IDF draft.

Yana Gorelik Photo: Moti Kimhi

Yana Gorelik – Photo: Moti Kimhi

The argument took place following the traditional basketball game between IDF generals and former Maccabi Tel Aviv players during Combat Fitness Day at the Wingate Institute. Continue Reading »

Revolutionary Guard commander: Iran will Destroy Israel, if Attacked

Acting commander Gen. Hossein Salami claims Israel’s ‘defense mechanism is not planned for big & long wars’ 

Asserts that Israel’s ‘threats are only psychological.’

By Reuters

Israel will “definitely” face fierce retaliation if it attacks Iranian nuclear sites, the acting commander of Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard warned Thursday.

The remarks by Gen. Hossein Salami appear to be part of Iranian efforts to portray any strike against it as the trigger for a regional conflict that could draw in Iranian proxies, such as Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, on Israel’s borders.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard troops - AP

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard troops march, during a military parade, in front of the mausoleum of the late revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran, Sept.

Continue Reading »

First Female Christian Arab Combat Comander in IDF

Traitor or Hero?  Mona Abdo becomes 1st female Arab commander of IDF combat unit.

By Annie Lubin

 

On Wednesday night, a twenty year old Christian Arab is set to make history, as she becomes the first female Arab commander of an IDF combat unit.

Mona Abdo is the first female Arab combat commander

Mona Abdo is the first female Arab combat commander – IDF Spokesperson

Mona Abdo, who grew up in Haifa, but now lives in Kiryat Haim, will take her place at the graduation ceremony for the IDF commanders training course, where surrounded by family and fellow Jewish Israeli soldiers, she will become a commander in Caracal, the first of her sector to ever accomplish something of this magnitude. Continue Reading »

Israeli-Arab MKs Zoabi and Tibi are facing disqualification petitions

Israel must act strongly against MKs Hanin Zoabi & Ahmad Tibi who exploit Israel’s democracy with goal of destroying it from within.

By Gideon Allon

 

Three months before the general elections, the Central Elections Committee fielded two requests on Tuesday to ban Israeli-Arab MKs Hanin Zoabi (National Democratic Assembly) and Ahmed Tibi (Ra’am-Ta’al) from running for Knesset seats in the upcoming vote.

Arab-Israeli MK Hanin Zoabi. – Photo: AP

Likud MK Ofir Akunis demanded that Zoabi be disqualified, citing the legal clause stipulating that “a list of candidates will not participate in elections for the Knesset, and an individual will not be a candidate for the Knesset, if the stated goals or actions of the list or individual support armed struggle by a foreign nation or a terrorist organization against the State of Israel.” Continue Reading »

Israeli innovation for Renewable energy suited to India

Economic partnerships formed as Israeli ‘Green Energy’ entrepreneurs meet with Indian gov’t delegation

 

With its wide expanses of open space and ever-increasing energy needs, India would be an ideal place for Israeli renewable energy innovators to take their business, experts from both sides of the equation agreed on Tuesday.

Hiker walks past wind turbines in the Golan Height - Photo: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

Hiker walks past wind turbines in the Golan Height – Photo: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

Representatives from both the Indian and Israeli governments, as well as leaders from around 50 Israeli renewable energy companies, gathered on Tuesday morning in Tel Aviv to discuss such opportunities – which seem to be plentiful.

Continue Reading »

Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: French diplomat is ‘helping Palestinians rewrite history’

“It is unworthy of an official representative of France to provide assistance to this kind of propaganda, at the expense of fairness and historical truth,”

By JTA

Israel’s Foreign Ministry accused France’s consul general in Jerusalem of “denying Jewish connection to the Land of Israel.”

Dead Sea Scrolls

Dead Sea Scrolls

 

The statement by Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, came in response to remarks made last month by Consul General Frederic Desagneaux in a speech on archaeology. Desagneaux spoke of “the important archaeological projects that French archaeologists had helped to uncover in Palestine,” including the Qumran Caves. Continue Reading »

Israel & the U.S. to Begin Major Air Defense Drill

US forces begin to arrive in Israel ahead of largest joint military exercise yet

Air defense drill to cost over $37 million

By Yoav Zitun, AP

The US and Israel are embarking on the largest exercise in their long military relationship, against a backdrop of tension with Iran and sharp rhetoric in the American presidential election.

משאיות שמובילות טילי פטריוט. תורגש תנועה ערה (צילום: אבי רוקח)

Trucks transporting Patriot batteries – Photo: Avi Rokach

An air defense drill planned for late this month will involve more than 3,500 Americans and 1,000 Israelis, practicing their ability to work together against a range of threats facing the main US ally in the Mideast. Continue Reading »

Qatar funds major reconstruction project to rebuild Gaza

A $254 million plan, due to begin within 3 months, is the largest injection of reconstruction aid to Gaza since parts of it were left in ruins after Operation Cast Lead.

By Reuters

 

Qatar on Tuesday launched a $254 million plan to rebuild and modernize Gaza, the biggest injection of reconstruction aid for the Palestinian enclave since parts of it were devastated in Operation Cast Lead nearly four years ago.

doha

A view of Doha, Qatar. – Photo by Wikipedia

Projects announced at a news conference by Qatari ambassador Mohammed Al-Amadi will require the cooperation of Israel and Egypt to admit building materials and heavy machinery to Gaza,  which is under a partial blockade. Continue Reading »