Israel’s exports to EU fall to 3 yr low

Israel Export Institute reveals exports to European Union totaled $1.9 billion in July-Aug 2012 – down 21% from last year, but Israeli exports to US up 16%

By Hadar Kane, Calcalist

 

Exports to the European Union totaled $1.9 billion in July and August 2012, a 21% drop compared to the same period last year and an 8% drop compared to the two previous months, according to an analysis of the economics division at the Israel Export & International Cooperation Institute (IEICI).

US passes EU in Israeli export volumes – Photo: Index Open

The analysis reveals that the export of goods (excluding diamonds) totaled some $7.7 billion in July-August 2012 – a 3.5% drop compared to the same period last year and a 6% increase compared to May-June 2012. Continue Reading »

Islamists by the thousands hit the streets to demonstrate in Jordan

Hours after Jordan’s King Abdullah II dissolves parliament, thousands of Islamists demonstrate in central Amman to demand reforms.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

Thousands of Islamists demonstrated in central Amman to demand reforms on Friday, just hours after King Abdullah II dissolved parliament and called early polls without any major political change, AFP reported.

King Abdullah II

King Abdullah II
AFP/File

“We demand constitutional reform before the people revolt. The people want to reform the regime,” the demonstrators chanted in the demonstration held outside Al-Husseini mosque in downtown Amman.

AFP correspondents estimated the crowd to number 15,000.

“Democratic electoral law, constitutional changes, parliamentary governments, independent judiciary, constitutional court, effective anti-corruption efforts and preventing security services from interfering in political life,” read a large banner carried by protesters spelling out their demands. Continue Reading »

U.S. citizen kills worker at Eilat hotel, then killed by police

The New Yorker, in his twenties, was working at the Leonardo Club Hotel as part of a program affiliated with Masa Israel Journey, for U.S. youth in Israel.

A 33-year-old Eilat hotel worker was killed on Friday morning by a gunman who stole a firearm from a security guard at the Leonardo Club Hotel in the southern city, and opened fire.

Police outside the Leonardo Club Hotel in Eilat.

Police outside the Leonardo Club Hotel in Eilat. – Photo by Jacky Poms

The shooter, a 23-year-old American citizen from New York, also an employee of the hotel, was later killed by police during an exchange of gunfire. Continue Reading »

Al Arabiya Reports that Syria Sought Security Cooperation with Israel

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad sought cross border cooperation with the State of Israel, according to Classified documents obtained by the Al Arabiya network.

By Elad Benari

 

Classified documents obtained by the Al Arabiya network and released Thursday have revealed that the Syrian regime moved a chemical weapons stockpile with the help of Iran and knowledge of Russia.

Furthermore, additional documents also reveal that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has also sought cross border cooperation with the State of Israel.

The confidential files were acquired by Al Arabiya with the assistance of members of the Syrian opposition who refused to elaborate on how they got hold of the documents. Continue Reading »

Israeli-Arab and Hezbollah agent passed intel on Peres’ security detail

Milad Khatib who’s Hezbollah handler is from Denmark, was charged with illegal association, contacting foreign agent, conspiring to aid the enemy during time of war & espionage.

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

An Israeli Arab man has been indicted on charges of operating as an agent for Hezbollah. Among the activities he was alleged to have carried out was collecting information on security arrangements for President Shimon Peres during the latter’s visit to an Arab village in the Galilee.

President Shimon Peres was apparently spied on by Majd al-Kurum resident when the former visited the Galilee town in August. – Photo: AP

The indictment against Milad Khatib, 26, a resident of Majd al-Kurum in the Galilee, was filed in the Haifa District Court. Continue Reading »

Greta Berlin: Zionists ran concentration camps

Free Gaza group’s head Tweets: “Zionists operated the concentration camps & helped murder millions of innocent Jews.”

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT

 

The US head of the pro-Palestinian group The Free Gaza Movement unleashed a wave of criticism over the last several days because of a Twitter post asserting that Zionists ran concentration camps and murdered Jews.

Greta Berlin, the American co-founder of the group Free Gaza, tweeted on September 30 “Zionists operated the concentration camps and helped murder millions of innocent Jews.”

Mavi Marmara

Mavi Marmara – Photo: Stringer Turkey/Reuters

Berlin’s tweet blaming Zionists for the Holocaust caught the eye of Avi Mayer, who oversees social media for the Jewish Agency for Israel. Continue Reading »

Erdogan: Turkey’s not seeking war with Syria

Prime Minister  Erdogan says Turkey wants peace, shortly after the parliament authorized military operations against Syria.

News agencies

 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that his country does not want war with Syria but that it is determined to protect its borders and people.

Erdogan was speaking at a news conference held hours after Turkey’s parliament approved a bill authorizing military operations against Syria.

Earlier Thursday, Turkey fired on targets in Syria for a second day following a Syrian shelling that killed five civilians in a Turkish border town.

חמישה אזרחים טורקים נהרגו מהירי הסורי (צילום: AFP)

Aftermath of Syrian strike – Photo: AFP

Erdogan suggested the Syrian shelling was not accidental, saying that such shells had fallen on Turkish territory on seven previous occasions since the civil war began there. Continue Reading »

Long-lost Jews are slowly returning to their roots in Southern Italy

A fervent congregation of about 35 ‘Returning Jews’ in San Nicandro have won the embrace of Italy’s Orthodox Jewish mainstream community.

By JTA

In the Christian cemetery of a sleepy farming town on the spur of Italy’s boot, Lucia Leone looks up at a row of tombs marked incongruously by Stars of David.

“That’s my mother,” she said. “And that’s my grandmother and great-grandmother. And that’s Donato Manduzio, who started everything.”

Manduzio, who died in 1948, was a self-taught local peasant, a disabled World War I veteran who in 1930 embraced Judaism on his own after having a visionary dream. A charismatic figure with a reputation as a faith healer, Manduzio attracted dozens of followers among his poverty-stricken neighbors. Continue Reading »

Prominent Jerusalemites Concerned 0ver Missionaries

Israel is “selling its soul” to Evangelical Christian Missionaries for political support, according to two Jerusalemite activists

By David Lev

 

While many Israelis welcome the support shown by evangelical Christians for the State of Israel, at least two prominent Jerusalemites – city council member Mina Fenton and real estate activist develop Aryeh King – believe that Israel is “selling its soul” to Christian missionaries. And, they say, they represent many other Israelis who are uncomfortable with the idea of Christian missionaries taking such a prominent role in support for Israel.

The organizers of the Christian “Feast of Tabernacles” celebration, who have brought more than 3,000 tourists to Israel for the week of Sukkot, “have their own interests, namely the spreading of the vision of their messiah and the arrival of his kingdom,” said Fenton. Continue Reading »

What about the People of Iran ?

Op-ed: Netanyahu’s UN address was  an opportunity for the Iranian people to hear the truth

By A.B. Yehoshua

 

When Prime Minister Netanyahu delivers a speech at the UN General Assembly, it is usually intended for three or four target audiences: First of all he is speaking to the American government and people; he is also addressing the US Jews and the representatives of countries that are more or less friendly to Israel – in Europe, South America and Asia; and, of course, he is also addressing to the Israeli public, although this public has many other opportunities to hear what he has to say. Continue Reading »

18th Century Jewish headstones recovered from Vistula River in Poland

The 17 headstones pieces from the Jewish cemetery in Brodno were recovered from the bottom of the Vistula River.

By JTA

 

Pieces of Jewish gravestones found at the bottom of Poland’s longest river have been returned to a Jewish cemetery.

The 17 gravestone pieces from the Jewish cemetery in the Brodno district were found at the bottom of the Vistula River, which is at a record low water level due to drought.

Historians salvage 17th century marble and alabaster decorative structures in the Vistula River.

Historians salvage 17th century marble and alabaster decorative structures in the Vistula River. – Photo by AP

In addition to the gravestones, fittings of the Royal Palace in Warsaw including a fountain, vases and marble steps, which the Swedes tried to take out of the city in the seventeenth century, were also discovered. Continue Reading »

Trouble at Maariv And Haaretz – Strike set for Thursday

Maariv & Haaretz newspapers suffer economic aftershocks of Israeli “social protest” that they fueled themselves last year.

By Gil Ronen and AFP

 

Ultra-leftist newspaper Haaretz will not be printed Thursday. Its workers prepared Wednesday for an expected eight-hour strike against planned layoffs.

Haaretz itself reported that employees would begin the work stoppage at 4:00 p.m. (1400 GMT) “in protest over the planned dismissal of up to 100 employees and the claim that management is not negotiating with them over the firings and other cutbacks.”

“The sanctions may affect publication of Thursday’s Haaretz newspaper in both Hebrew and English, but are not expected to affect Friday’s paper,” it added. Continue Reading »

Hezbollah admit 3 members of 9 killed in militia’s munitions explosion

Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group reported explosions that hit arms stockpile in building under construction ‘led to martyrdom of 3 fighters’ & that 4 Syrian workers were wounded

By Elior Levy, AFP

 

A series of blasts killed at least nine people and wounded seven in the Hezbollah-controlled Beqaa Valley of eastern Lebanon on Wednesday, a security official told AFP.

Archives – Photo: AFP

The Shiite terror group announced that three of its members were killed and a few others were injured in the blasts, which hit an arms stockpile in a building under construction in an uninhabited area between the villages of Nabishit and Khodr. Continue Reading »

Dozens of Syrians approaching Golan border cause evacuation

IDF: Possibility of armed suspects nearing border (without infiltrating) facilitates tourists being evacuated from Mt. Hermon.

The IDF evacuated tourists from the top of Mount Hermon Wednesday afternoon, after sighting dozens of possibly armed Syrians approaching the border in the Golan Heights.
Druse resident looks out at Syria from the Golan -Photo: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

Druse resident looks out at Syria from the Golan -Photo: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters

The IDF said the suspects did not infiltrate the border into Israel. It was not clear whether they were armed.

Last week, mortar shells fired by the Syrian army strayed into Israel, striking northern Israeli farmlands.

The shells landed harmlessly in open fields, but exploded a short time after farmers were in the area. Continue Reading »

Human Rights Watch: Hamas Abusing Citizens in Gaza

Int’l human rights group releases detailed report detailing severe abuses such as unfair trials, torture of their detainees & arrests without warrants.

Human Rights Watch released a report Wednesday which revealed that Hamas’ security forces in Gaza are committing severe abuses, including torture of detainees, arrests without warrants, forced confessions, unfair trials and mock executions.

Palestinian prisoner at Hamas prison in Gaza - AP - 2007


In this July 9, 2007 file photo, a Palestinian prisoner is seen at the Hamas-controlled Saraya prison in Gaza City. – Photo by AP

The leading international rights group released a 43-page report on Wednesday and called on the militant Hamas group to reform its various security forces. Continue Reading »