Gazan Terrorists Testing new Rockets by firing into Sinai, Israeli Sources Say

Israelis say there is evidence that Egypt’s northern Sinai region has become a testing range for Gaza’s rocket builders.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

Israeli sources told Reuters on Friday there is evidence that Egypt’s north Sinai region is becoming not only a rallying point for terrorists but a firing range for Gaza’s rocket builders.

It was soon after the 2011 revolt in Egypt toppled President Hosni Mubarak that Israeli rocket radars began to spot unusual launches from the Gaza, the report noted.

While the rockets normally towards Israeli border towns, or north towards coastal cities, some are now aimed at the empty desert wastes of Sinai. Continue Reading »

Defense-Update Report: F-35 fighter conducts 1st weapons test

Wednesday’s low altitude test checked the futuristic fighter-bomber drop a 1,000-lb (454 kg) GBU-32 JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition)  inert smart bomb • Israel, the 1st foreign country to obtain the advanced stealth jet is expected to be allowed to outfit the plane’s systems with  Israeli technology.

By the Israel Hayom Staff

 

The F-35 Lightning II fighter jet successfully completed its first weapon separation test on Wednesday (August 8, 2012) on a test flight. The release was the first time for any version of the F-35 to conduct an airborne weapon separation, and the first time a full separation test was performed with a weapon dropped from the internal weapon bay, the Defense-Update website reported Friday.

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Egypt Reports: Sinai terrorists given use of Hamas tunnels

Evidence suggests Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades facilitated Sinai terror attack, says Egypt. President Morsi visits troops in Sinai, says  he will use ‘grip of steel’ to crush the terrorists

By Elior Levy, Roi Kais

 

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi visited the city of el-Arish in North Sinai Friday, as his military continued to hunt down the terrorists responsible for the Rafah border attack on Sunday.

Egyptian forces in Sinai – Photo: AFP

Sunday night saw a large group of terrorists ambush and kill 16 Egyptian soldiers at the Rafah border crossing, en route to a terror attack in Israel.

The IDF foiled the attack, intercepting the terrorists as they were trying to breach the Kerem Shalom crossing. Continue Reading »

Rights groups accuse the IDF of catching African migrants inside Egyptian territory

Israeli human-rights orgs reported that IDF soldiers have been intercepting migrants in Egypt, then turning them over to Egyptian forces.

By The Associated Press and Gili Cohen

 

Israel has been sending soldiers into Egypt’s Sinai desert to stop African migrants before they reach the border, handing them over to Egyptian forces, human rights groups charged in a report released Friday.

The report, published by Amnesty International and several Israeli groups, including Hotline for Migrant Workers and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, said that Israeli soldiers have entered several hundred meters into Egyptian territory to catch migrants and hand them over to Egyptian police. Continue Reading »

Israel’s Financial System Preparing for Strike on Iran, Says Fischer

Bank of Israel Governor says the financial apparatus is taking steps for an Israeli strike on Iran & its expected downturn in the economy.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said on Friday that the financial system is preparing for an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities and for a possible downturn in the economy which may result.

Speaking to Channel 2 News, Fischer said, “The primary responsibility of each country is to maintain its security. It is possible to describe situations of widespread war which would be very difficult to deal with. We are preparing for a major crisis and for security situation which is much worse.” Continue Reading »

Dore Gold’s analysis : Meanwhile, in Jordan…

King Abdullah has to juggle between the Jordanian Bedouin who feel economically deprived and the Palestinians who want more political power.

By Dore Gold

International attention over the Arab uprisings has been naturally drawn in recent weeks to Egypt and especially Syria. Yet, Jordan is clearly the Arab state whose internal stability affects Israel’s security most directly. From a purely geographic standpoint, Israel’s border with Jordan is its longest international boundary. King Abdullah has managed to assure his kingdom’s security and avoid the kind of internal disruptions that have afflicted most of his neighbors though he had to deal with a wave of protests in the spring of 2011.

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Israel’s Ambassador Michael Oren’s Iran article in WSJ gets ‘thumbs-up’ from Bahraini FM

Bahrain’s Foreign Minister’s Tweet shows Iran’s nuclear program not solely an Israeli concern, explains Israel’s ambassador to U.S.

By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER, JPOST CORRESPONDENT

 

WASHINGTON – When Bahrain’s foreign minister tweeted an article about Iran by Israeli’s US envoy, it underscored the shared nature of the Iranian threat, according to the envoy.

Michael Oren - Photo: JP

Michael Oren – Photo: JP

“It shows that the Iranian nuclear program is not solely an Israel concern but one of the entire Middle East,” Ambassador Michael Oren told The Jerusalem Post Thursday.

Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa tweeted a link to a piece Oren posted in The Wall Street Journal, which appeared on the website on Monday, titled “Time is short for Iran diplomacy.”

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Netanyahu & Barak advocate an attack this coming fall

Israeli daily reports PM & defense minister in favor of striking Tehran’s nuclear facilities before US elections despite IDF’s objections

By Ynet

 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak advocate an attack of Iran‘s nuclear facilities in the upcoming fall, Yedioth Ahronoth’s senior commentators Nahum Barnea and Shimon Shiffer reported Friday.

נתניהו וברק. לא סומכים על אובמה (צילום: אליעד לוי)

Netanyahu, Barak. Attack in the fall? – Photo: Eliad Levy

According to Barnea and Shiffer, “Not a single state official or military official or even the president – supports an Israeli attack in Iran.”

The report stated that Netanyahu and Barak believe that setting back Iran’s nuclear project is worth the risk – while defense officials believe the opposite to be true. Continue Reading »

IDF guarding African migrants hiding in underground viaduct on Israel-Egypt border

Migrant Workers’ Hotline writes to IDF legal adviser, allow asylum-seekers into Israel.

By Talila Nesher

 

A group of African migrants that attempted to enter Israel through Sinai is currently located in a viaduct in Israeli territory, close to the Israel-Egypt border, and under guard of Israel Defense Forces soldiers.

The group descended into the viaduct three days ago, while attempting to cross the border through the water passageway, which is open on the Egyptian side of the border. The group was stopped by IDF forces on the Israeli side of the border near the Carmit post. Soldiers from the post, responsible for patrolling the border, have given the migrants food and water. Continue Reading »

U.S. State Department report: Israel bars non-Muslims from worshiping at Temple Mount

State Dept issues Int’l Religious Freedom Report for 2011, criticizing Israel’s policy of barring non-Muslims from worshiping at Temple Mount • Israel Police cite “security considerations” for doing so.

By Shlomo Cesana

 

A U.S. State Department report published on Wednesday criticizes Israel for allowing only Muslims to pray on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

The report, the “International Religious Freedom Report for 2011,” states that Israeli government policy is to grant freedom of religious expression to all, but despite an Israeli Supreme Court ruling, police continue to prevent many people from praying in the area due to what they say are “security considerations.”

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Hamas’ Ismail Haniyeh urges Egypt to re-open Rafah crossing

Haniyeh calls on Morsi to re-open Gaza border crossing closed since Sunday’s Sinai attack, says ‘Gaza could never be anything but a source of stability for Egypt’

By Reuters

 

The head of the Hamas government in Gaza urged Egypt on Thursday to open a vital border crossing closed since gunmen killed 16 Egyptian guards in neighboring Sinai on Sunday.

Rafah border crossing Photo: Reuters

Ismail Haniyeh pledged his support for Egypt’s investigations of the attack, which has led to the biggest Egyptian military assault in the Sinai Peninsula in nearly 40 years.

“At the same time I call upon my brother, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to open the Rafah crossing, to regain a lifeline for Gaza,” Haniyeh said at a dinner ending the daylong Ramadan fast. Continue Reading »

Massive blackouts plague Egypt

Blackouts, water cuts, & fuel shortages have enraged Egyptians, sending many to the streets to protest.

 

 

A massive blackout hit many parts of the Egyptian capital on Thursday, briefly halting traffic on much of its crowded subway and delaying the start of trading on the stock exchange.

Egypt has been beset by frequent power outages across the country since the hot summer months began. The blackouts, together with water cuts, have enraged Egyptians, sending many to the streets to protest.

Cairo

A general view of mosques is pictured before sunset during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Old Cairo August 9, 2012.

Continue Reading »

Golan Commander: “We must be prepared for the worst.”

Golan Commander: As Syria battles, be prepared for worst-case scenario.

By Maayana Miskin

 

The IDF structure of command in the Golan changed this week, with Colonel Oren Cohen replacing Colonel Mounir Amar as head of the Hermon Brigade.

“In these days when a bloody civil war is happening just meters from here, we are changing the command of the Hermon Brigade, which is responsible for defending the eyes of the country,” said Brigadier-General Tamir Hyman, speaking at a ceremony in which Cohen took command.

“We are in a historic period. We do not know how the day after the fall of the Assad regime will look,” he said. Continue Reading »

Egypt requests extradition of 3 Hamas terrorists for Sinai attack

East Jerusalem newspaper al-Quds reports: Demands made to PM Haniyeh to turn over three militants that provided support to radical groups in Sinai

By Avi Issacharoff and Reuters

Egyptian intelligence made a request to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, using senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar as an intermediary, to extradite members of  the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ paramilitary wing, according to an al-Quds newspaper report on Thursday.

Militants in northern Sinai.

Militants in northern Sinai. – Photo by AFP

A senior official informed the newspaper that the three militants provided indirect support to radical groups in Sinai, and are connected to weapons smuggling as well. Continue Reading »

Egypt in Political Uproar Over a 5 Minutes Interview With an Israeli

An interview with an Israeli reporter on common problems has led for calls of ministerial resignation in Egypt

By David Lev

 

Egypt was in an uproar Thursday, with Egyptians and officials demanding that the country’s communications minister resign his post, after an Israeli reporter was interviewed on Egypt’s Nile TV. The reporter, from Israel Radio’s Arabic service, was discussing the problem of Sinai terrorism, a problem common to Israel and Egypt.

According to reports in the Egyptian media Thursday, the Israeli reporter, Ayal Alima, spoke to the host of a news magazine program on Nile TV, and called on both the IDF and Egyptian army to derive lessons from the attack in Sinai earlier with week, in which 17 Egyptian soldiers were killed. Continue Reading »