Gaza sniper fires at farmer near border fence

Farmer working in field in Eshkol Regional Council area hides behind tractor until IDF soldiers arrive to evacuate him.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

A Palestinian sniper in the southern Gaza Strip fired at an Israeli farmer working in a field near Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Eshkol Regional Council area on Thursday.

 

IDF soldiers near the Gaza border
Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen

 

The man was not injured, hiding behind a tractor until IDF soldiers arrived and evacuated him to safety. IDF soldiers returned fire toward the Palestinian sniper.

The tractor’s  windshield was shattered by the Palestinian sniper’s fire.

Last month, a palestinian snipper in the central-Gaza area shot and wounded two IDF soldiers.

Continue Reading »

Ex-IDF soldier seeks Palestinian citizenship

Freshly discharged from army, 23-year-old Andre Pshenichnikov moves to West Bank refugee camp, says he wants to be part of Palestinian resistance

Associated Press

 

 

In an odd twist to the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian saga, a former IDF soldier has embarked on a new fight: He wants to renounce his Israeli citizenship and move to a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank.

Andre Pshenichnikov, a 23-year-old Jewish immigrant from Tajikistan, was recently detained by Israeli police for residing illegally in the Deheishe Refugee Camp near Bethlehem. There he told police that he wants to break all ties with Israel, give up his Israeli citizenship and obtain a Palestinian one instead. Continue Reading »

Report: Turkey to buy $4b long-range missile system

In response to regional tensions, Turkey is looking to buy new air defense missile system, daily Zaman reports.

By DPA and Haaretz

 

 

Turkey is planning to spend 4 billion dollars on a new long-range air defense missile system, in response to increasing regional tensions, the pro-government daily Zaman reported Wednesday.

 

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, June 12, 2012.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses members of his party at the parliament in Ankara - Photo by AFP

 

According to the report, four systems are under consideration: The US PAC-3 Patriot missile system, Russia’s S400, China’s FD2000 and the SAMP-T missile produced by the French Italian consortium Eurosam. Continue Reading »

Obama: Peres is a True Founding Father

President Obama gives the Medal of Freedom to President Shimon Peres, says Peres “is nothing short of extraordinary.”

By Elad Benari

 

U.S. President Barack Obama gave the Medal of Freedom to Israeli President Shimon Peres in a special ceremony at the White House on Wednesday evening (Washington time).

Obama presents Medal of Freedom to Peres Reuters

Obama presents Medal of Freedom to Peres - Reuters

In remarks he made prior to handing Peres the medal, Obama described Israel as “one of our strongest allies and one of our closest friends.” He said that Peres “is nothing short of extraordinary.”

Obama noted that Peres joined the Haganah Jewish defense organization in 1947, when he was in his 20s, and that he ran for President at the age of 83. Continue Reading »

Perfectly preserved German bunker uncovered by IDF

Massive weapons’ reservoir believed to belong to German imperial army from WWI discovered in Dead Sea due to receding waterline; preserved in near perfect condition thanks to high salt content

By Yoav Zitun

 

 

The IDF‘s Combat Engineering Corps will soon uncover another layer of the ‘ancient German bunker’ which was concealed in the northern Dead Searegion.

The Dead Sea’s receding waterline led to the exposure of a massive weapons’ reservoir with thousands of artillery shells, bullets, rifles, guns, mines, explosives and even ancient walkie-talkies which were preserved in near perfect condition thanks to the high salt content in the water. Continue Reading »

N.J. cemetery pres. paid more than any other Jewish non-profit official in U.S.

Cedar Park general manager defends president’s compensation, citing the cemetery’s ‘state of the art facilities.’

By Josh Nathan-Kazis

 

 

Ask those in the know who the highest paid executives at Jewish not-for-profits are, and you are likely to hear about salaries at groups such as the Anti-Defamation League, the Simon Wiesenthal Center or any number of big-city Jewish federations. But as it turns out, a Jewish executive at a not-for-profit cemetery in northern New Jersey is paid more than nearly any other Jewish communal official in the country.

Cedar Park & Beth El Cemetery.

Cedar Park & Beth El Cemetery. - Photo by Shulamit Seidler-Feller / Forward

 

Cedar Park & Beth El Cemetery’s president, Herbert B. Continue Reading »

Anti-Israel Activists Target Queen’s 60th Anniversary Diamond

BDSers have demanded that Queen Elizabeth decline 60th anniversary diamond because of its affiliation with supporters of Israeli soldiers.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

 

Supporters of the Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel have demanded that Queen Elizabeth decline the 35.60 karat diamond placed in the Tower of London to mark her 60 years on the throne because of its affiliation with the Steinmetz family, staunch supporters of Israeli soldiers.

Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth - Reuters

According to the company’s website, Steinmetz supports the Tzabar Unit of the Israel Defense Forces Givati Brigade, a unit designed specifically for Diaspora Jews and children of Israelis who choose to move to Israel and serve in the army. Continue Reading »

BREAKTHROUGH: Israeli Researchers Grow Human Bones From Fat

Scientists have grown human bone from stem cells in a laboratory. The development opens the way for patients to have broken bones repaired or even replaced with entire new ones grown outside the body from a patient’s own cells.

 

 

The researchers started with stem cells taken from fat tissue. It took around a month to grow them into sections of fully-formed living human bone up to a couple of inches long.

The first trial in patients is on course to be conducted later this year, by an Israeli biotechnology company that has been working with academics on the technology. Continue Reading »

‘Hezbollah may move Syrian arms to Lebanon’

Israel expresses concern after reports state Assad may be losing control over military assets, including air defense base.

 

 

Concern is mounting inIsrael over the possibility that Hezbollah will try to move sophisticated weaponry, including Scud missiles, from Syria to Lebanon to protect them in the event of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s downfall.

The concern stems from reports that Assad might be losing control over certain military capabilities including an air defense base which was captured by rebels earlier this week.

 

 

Syria is believed to have allocated a number of Scud D missiles – the most advanced missile in its arsenal – to Hezbollah already in 2010 but they have been stored in bases in Syria.

Continue Reading »

MKs: ‘We must recognize Armenian tragedy’

Knesset debates whether to recognize mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I as genocide

By Moran Azulay

 

 

The Knesset held a special session Tuesday on the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I. “We must not politicize this matter,” said Knesset Speaker Rivlin, adding that in spite of the sensitivity of the issue, there is no intention to blame Turkey or the current Turkish government.

Remembering the atrocities Photo: AFP

Remembering the atrocities - Photo: AFP

MK Zahava Gal-On, chairwoman of the Meretz faction, who initiated the discussion, said that in recent years “the Armenian genocide has been swept under the rug” due to foreign relations concerns. Continue Reading »

Norwegian Student Fire Brands Jew with Burning Coin

Fear and loathing for Jews in Norway: A high school student grilled a coin at a barbecue and burned it into the neck of a Jewish boy.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

 

Anti-Semitism in Norway reached new depths this week when a high school student literally fire branded a Jewish student with a red-hot coin that was grilled at school barbecue. Even worse for the Jewish community was the reaction from the school – silence.

Fire branded. This is the burns the Jewish student sustained at a school barbecue, Monday, June 11, 2012. MIFF stresses that they have been unable to verify the story from another source.
Continue Reading »

Israeli wins World Food Prize for 1st time in history

Growing up in what was then Palestine, Prof. Daniel Hillel became fascinated with plants thriving in tough conditions.

 

 

Growing up as a young boy on a Jezreel Valley kibbutz in what was then Palestine, Prof. Daniel Hillel became fascinated with plants thriving in less than favorable conditions.“That’s where I discovered and became enthralled by open spaces – and land and water and plants and sunshine,” Hillel, now 81, told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday evening.
Produce, agriculture [illustrative photo]                        Agricultural fields – Photo: Thinkstock/Imagebank

Earlier that afternoon, the World Food Prize Foundation, in the presence of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, announced Hillel as this year’s winner of the World Food Prize at a ceremony in Washington. Continue Reading »

Soldiers beware: Agents to monitor ‘chatter’ on trains

Operations, deployments and secret units – soldiers who talk on the phone on their way to base occasionally reveal classified information. IDF to deploy undercover agents on trains in hopes of preventing leaks

Yossi Yehoshua

 

 

While the IDF is using advanced technological means to keep its secrets from leaking, it appears the most classified information can be easily accessed on Israel‘s railways.

Soldiers board train Photo: Ido Erez

Soldiers board train - Photo: Ido Erez

Commuters who regularly use the train are familiar with the phenomenon. IDF soldiers who talk among themselves or use their mobile phones occasionally reveal sensitive information such as military deployments, future operations or names of secret units. Continue Reading »

In joint appearance with Peres in Washington, Clinton condemns Syria for using attack helicopters to quash uprising

Secretary of State appeared alongside Israeli President at Washington event; Peres to raise issue of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard in a meeting with President Obama.

 

 

WASHINGTON – Israeli President Shimon Peres and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared on Tuesday at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, where they spoke about the escalating violence in Syria, the negotiations with Iran and the peace process with the Palestinians.

At the event, Clinton expressed deep concern over Russia’s reported shipment of attack helicopters to the Syrian regime. “Attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria will escalate the conflict quite dramatically,” she said. Continue Reading »

Israel in Secret Pact with Vatican

Will Israel give the Church sovereignty over King David’s Tomb? The sides are talking, but won’t make their agreements public for now.

By Elad Benari

A special meeting was held at the Pope’s palace on Tuesday, attended by delegations from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vatican. During the meeting, the sides discussed some of the unresolved issues between them.

At the conclusion of the meeting, which was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, the Foreign Ministry released a statement saying, “The talks took place in an open, balanced and constructive environment, during which significant progress was made towards an agreement.” Continue Reading »