Egypt beefs up security in Sinai after 2 Bedouin were killed in clashes with police

Egyptian Police reported that after they found drugs in a vehicle on Saturday the passengers fired at them, as they tried to escape.

By DPA

 

Security was increased Sunday in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, in southern Sinai, following the death of two Bedouins in clashes with police.

An official told DPA that security was beefed up to prevent any retaliatory attacks.

Army trucks carry Egyptian military tanks in El Arish - AP - August 9, 2012

Army trucks carry Egyptian military tanks in El Arish, Egypt’s northern Sinai Peninsula, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012. Photo by AP

Police said they found drugs in a vehicle on Saturday and the passengers fired at security forces as they tried to escape. Continue Reading »

Ahmadinejad & Morsi Did Not Discuss Renewing Ties

Spokesman for Egyptian President says Ahmadinejad & Morsi did not address the issues of bilateral relations during their meeting.

By Elad Benari

 

The spokesperson for Egypt’s President, Yasser Ali, said on Friday that the meeting Thursday between President Mohammed Morsi and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned summit in Tehran, did not address the issues of bilateral relations or raising the level of diplomatic representation between the two countries.

Morsi shakes hands with Ahmadinejad

Morsi shakes hands with Ahmadinejad – Reuters

Ali told the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm that the meeting did not discuss the issue of opening the Egyptian Embassy in Tehran, and the re-normalization of relations between the two sides, but focused on the issues on the regional arena. Continue Reading »

Hamas takes on Gaza’s Salafists terrorist groups

London’s Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reports the Gaza gov’t is trying to curb radicals’ terror activities fearing Israeli retaliations 

Elior Levy

 

Hamas government in Gaza Strip has ordered its security forces to crackdown on the Salafi groups operating in the Strip, the London-based Arab newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday.

(Illustration) Photo: Reuters

(Illustration) – Photo: Reuters

The order reportedly followed the recent increase in rocket fire on Israel, which Hamas fears may lead to a wide-scale Israeli operation in the area.

“Hamas forces deployed en masse yesterday and raided various areas in Gaza in search of Mujahideen Shura Council operatives,” a Hamas security source was quoted as saying. Continue Reading »

Many Western countries warn tourists: Visit Israel at your own risk

The latest int’l travel advisory warns tourists that Israel periodically conducts military operations in the West Bank & Gaza, with no prior notice, & also advises travelers to avoid demonstrations.

By Ilan Lior

Israel has long starred in other countries’ travel advisories, and reading these warnings isn’t particularly flattering.

The warnings about terror attacks are predictable: Most countries urge their citizens to stay alert while visiting Israel and to avoid certain areas, such as Gaza, the Lebanese and Egyptian borders, and sometimes the West Bank – though no country has yet included a warning about the Iranian threat.

Travel advisories to Israel.

Travel advisories to Israel.

Continue Reading »

U.S. Scales-Back Joint Military Exercise with Israel, Affecting Potential Strike on Iran

U.S. feels a smaller contingent may make it more difficult for the Israeli gov’t to launch a successful pre-emptive strike on Tehran’s nuclear program.

 

Seven months ago, Israel and the United States postponed a massive joint military exercise that was originally set to go forward just as concerns were brimming that Israel would launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The exercise was rescheduled for late October, and appears likely to go forward on the cusp of the U.S. presidential election. But it won’t be nearly the same exercise. Well-placed sources in both countries have told TIME that Washington has greatly reduced the scale of U.S.

Continue Reading »

IAF Strikes Back at Terror Targets in Gaza

IAF aircraft hit 2 centers of terrorist activity in Northern Gaza in response to a rocket that hit a home in Sderot yesterday.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

IAF aircraft struck two centers of terrorist activity in northern Gaza on Friday night, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit reported.

The statement said that direct hits were identified and all aircraft returned safely to their bases.

The attack came in response to high trajectory fire into Israeli territory, said the statement.

“The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers and will continue to operate against anyone who uses terror against Israel,” said the statement, adding that the “Hamas terrorist organization” is responsible for any terror activities which are launched from Gaza. Continue Reading »

Ultra-Orthodox men spit & verbally assault young woman on public bus

Haredi  men curse & spit at woman traveling on an Egged bus from Ramat Gan to Nes Ziona after she refuses their demand to move to the back of the bus • Egged bus company reports that its driver told them she doesn’t have to move.

Shlomie Diaz

 

The controversy over the exclusion of women in Israel resurfaced on Thursday when Dolev Karazi, a young woman who boarded an Egged bus in Ramat Gan, claimed that ultra-Orthodox men told her to sit at the back of the bus and proceeded to curse and spit at her.

Dolev Karazi endured a frightening ride on a Egged bus on Thursday when haredi men tried to force her to move to the back of the bus.

Continue Reading »

Iran’s long arm snagged in Syria

Iran’s The Quds Force, first set up during the Iran-Iraq war, has been linked to terrorist attacks on Israeli & Jewish targets.


 

Earlier this month, a group of 48 men from Iran entered Syria, ostensibly to visit a Shi’ite shrine.

The group’s alleged purpose was to pay tribute to the tomb of Sayeda Zeinab, granddaughter of Islam’s prophet Muhammad, who is buried south of Damascus.

Iran revolutionary guards - Photo: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters

Iran revolutionary guards – Photo: Raheb Homavandi/Reuters

As they were making their way to Damascus airport, gunmen from the Free Syrian Army kidnapped the men and have held them ever since. The FSA dismissed the men’s claim that they were innocent pilgrims, saying they were in fact active members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and its elite covert unit, the Quds Force. Continue Reading »

Romney asserts that Obama threw Israel under the bus

In Mitt Romney’s presidential acceptance speech he wishes to ‘restore promise of America,’ criticizes Obama for abandoning Israel & other US allies

By Yitzhak Benhorin

 

WASHINGTON – Mitt Romney accepted the Republican presidential nomination on Thursday night with a promise to “restore the promise of America.”

חשף את הצד האישי שלו. רומני (משמאל) וראיין (צילום: AP)

Romney with running mate Ryan – Photo: AP

In what is the most important speech of his career so far, Romney pledged to make US energy independent, cut the deficit, negotiate new free trade agreements and create 12 million jobs.

In his speech he made an attempt to appeal to two of the weaker Republican demographics – women and Hispanics, and criticized US President Barack Obama for throwing “allies like Israel under the bus.” Continue Reading »

Iran attacks Egypt’s Morsi over remarks about Syria

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Non-Aligned Movement, Morsi said that ‘solidarity with the Syrian people’ against Assad is ‘a moral obligation.’

By DPA

Iran on Friday criticized Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi over his remarks on Syria at the Non-Aligned Movement summit, saying he did not have “the necessary political maturity.”

Mohammed Morsi - Reuters - 30.8.2012

Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi, left, speaking to Iran’s Executive Vice President Hamid Baghai, right, during their meeting at Mehrabad airport in Tehran, August 30, 2012. Photo by Reuers

Morsi said at the opening ceremony Thursday that “solidarity with the Syrian people against an oppressive regime that lost its legitimacy is a moral obligation.” Continue Reading »

Sderot Home Hit By Gaza Rocket

DIRECT HIT! Woman from Sderot suffers shock after terrorists fire a rocket and hits her home.

By Elad Benari

 

Residents of the city of Sderot reported hearing the “Red Alert” siren twice on Friday morning.

Shortly afterwards, a rocket fired by terrorists from Hamas-controlled Gaza hit a home in the city. One woman suffered from shock and the home sustained minor damage.

A second rocket exploded in an open area of the Shaar HaNegev Regional Council.

On Thursday evening, a rocket launched by terrorists in Gaza exploded in an open area of the Ashkelon Coast Council region.

There were no reports of physical injuries or damage. Continue Reading »

Israel is to return stolen sarcophagus lids to Egypt

After lengthy negotiation, Cairo says Israel agreed to return 2 stolen sarcophagus covers that were found in Jerusalem’s Old City, back to Egypt.

By Roi Kais

 

Israel will return to Egypt two wooden artifacts that had been plucked out two ancient caskets dating to the Modern Kingdom, Cairo said Wednesday.

Inspectors of the Unit for Prevention of Antiquities Robbery foundparts of two stolen Egyptian sarcophagus covers in April while checking shops in a marketplace in the Old City of Jerusalem.

אחד ממכסי ארונות הקבורה שחלקים ממנו נתפסו בשוק בירושלים (צילום: קלרה עמית, באדיבות רשות העתיקות)

Sarcophagus cover -Photo Clara Amit, courtesy of Antiquities Authority

The two plaster-covered wooden lids had been sawed in two, causing irreparable damage. Continue Reading »

Shoe Seller Shoos Away BDS Boycotters

After anti-Israel activists target store for selling Israeli shoes, Australian politician says BDS tactics “are not the Australian way”

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

Australian anti-Israel activists associated with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement launched a new campaign last weekend, targeting businesses they accuse of “selling the products of apartheid Israel.”

Shoes (illustrative)

Shoes (illustrative) – Reuters

Approximately 50 members of the Justice for Palestine group in Brisbane, Australia, staged what they called the first “Brisbane BDS walking tour,” stopping at local stores they accuse of selling Israeli-made products and handing letters to their managers demanding that they stop, The Australian reported. Continue Reading »

Check the Map to See Exactly How Important Israel is to the U.S.

A New York attorney & supporter of Israel explains the rational for U.S. support of Israel, & the geopolitical consequences for the U.S. should Israel ever fall

By David Lev

 

For those who think that Israel is a $3 billion-a-year strategic liability for the U.S., the cause of Muslim terrorism, Mideast instability, and high gas prices, New York attorney and Israel advocate Mark Langfan has a message: Get a map.

Preferably, the 3D topographic raised-relief map system of Israel that Langfan developed back in 1991, which gives viewers a perspective on Israel – and on the Middle East – that they may not have had before. Continue Reading »

Israel may be soon exporting over 50% of its natural gas finds

Israel’s developing its new gas fields & is seeking to become less dependent on Egyptian gas imports. The Tzemach Committee on Energy Policy says Israel will legally be able to export 500 billion cubic meters of its newly found natural gas.

By Hezi Sternlicht & News Agencies

 

The Tzemach Committee on Energy Policy declared on Wednesday that Israel will legally be able to export 500 billion cubic meters of natural gas. The recommendation came as a surprise because an intermediary report by the committee referred to a considerably lower quantity of exportable gas.

Israeli-owned oil rig in the Mediterranean Sea.

Continue Reading »