NIS 2M Compensation for Botched IAF Rescue

Award will go to the family of Alaa Aghbariya, who fell to his death from an IAF helicopter 3 years ago.

 

The state will pay NIS 2M in compensation to the family of Alaa Aghbariya, who fell to his death from an IAF helicopter during a botched rescue operation three years ago.

Aghbariya, 24, and two other men, all from the Arab village of Musheirfeh in Wadi Ara, had entered a mine field near Sdeh Trumot in northern Israel. A mine exploded and Aghbariya was severely injured in the explosion.

A rescue team and a helicopter from the army’s elite 669 rescue unit were called in and a failed attempt was made to extricate Aghbariya. Continue Reading »

A Moment Of Silence For The ‘Munich 11’: Politics As Usual For The IOC?

Jacques Rogge, IOC president, may have resolved that inclusion of the minute of silence is likely to fan the flames of the Arab-Israeli conflict and lead some nations to threaten to pull their delegations, if not actually do so.

 

 

With delegations from 205 countries, more than 100 heads of state, tens of thousands of journalists, hundreds of thousands of volunteers, and millions of fans planning to attend, this summer’s Olympic Games in London are seen as a prime backdrop for a terrorist attack. For the better part of the past decade, and armed with a £600 million budget, the stable of British security forces have been preparing to foil any such attempt.

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Israel says Hamas as strong as Hezbollah

Some of Hamas’ military capabilities are even better than Hezbollah’s

The Palestinian group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, has an armed force to rival that of Israel’s Lebanese foe Hezbollah, the head of the Shin Bet security service said on Wednesday.

Palestinian Hamas militants hold fake rockets during an anti-Israeli rally in 2009. The Palestinian group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, has an armed force to rival that of Israel's Lebanese foe Hezbollah, the head of the Shin Bet security service said on Wednesday. (AFP Photo/Mohammed Abed)

Palestinian Hamas militants hold fake rockets during an anti-Israeli rally in 2009. The Palestinian group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, has an armed force to rival that of Israel's Lebanese foe Hezbollah, the head of the Shin Bet security service said on Wednesday - AFP Photo/Mohammed Abed

“Hamas has military capabilities almost of a state,” a spokesman quoted Yoram Cohen as telling the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defence.

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Israeli Scientists Build Better Chemotherapy System

Israeli scientists have figured out a more efficient, “healthier” way to target cancer cells with chemotherapy.

 

Israeli scientists have figured out a more efficient, “healthier” way to target cancer cells with chemotherapy.

Professor Daniel Wreschner at Tel Aviv University’s Department of Cell Research and Immunology is developing antibodies that bind solely to the cancer cells.

The proteins produced by the immune system to fight infection target the cancer cells by binding to a protein  called MUC1. The antibodies can be used as an efficient means of delivering medication by depositing a parcel of toxins directly into the center of the diseased cells, Wreschner found. Continue Reading »

World may have to act without Security Council on Syria, says America’s UN envoy

Susan Rice thinks Bashar Assad is unlikely to abide by UN peace plan

 

UNITED NATIONS — US Ambassador Susan Rice said on Wednesday the worst and most likely scenario for Syria is that Kofi Annan’s peace plan will fail, spreading conflict and creating a major crisis across the region.

 

US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice (photo credit: courtesy UN)
US ambassador to the UN Susan Rice (photo credit: courtesy UN)

 

Speaking after a closed-door briefing to the UN Security Council by one of Annan’s deputies, Rice said that the Syrian government was unlikely to immediately implement the Annan plan.

If all other ways to resolve the crisis fail, member nations will have to decide whether they are ready to act “outside of the authority of this Council,” she said. Continue Reading »

Beduin tribesmen kidnap 2 US citizens in Sinai

Kidnappers demanding release of fellow tribesman who was arrested in a drug case; US, Egypt authorities coordinating response.

Armed Beduin tribesmen kidnapped two American tourists in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, Egyptian police said on Thursday. The perpetrators are demanding the release of a fellow tribesman recently arrested in a drug case.

The Palestinian Ma’an news agency identified the tourist as Jonathan Shizarlasky and Carter Brabon, both of whom are 31 years old. They were seized while driving near the resort of Dahab.

“There are negotiations now between the security forces and the armed gunmen to release the tourists,” a police source said, adding that the Beduin were seeking the release of one of their tribe who has been jailed in a drugs case.”We

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Ancient Bethlehem seal unearthed in Jerusalem

Antiquities Authority says archeologists found oldest artifact bearing Bethlehem’s name – 2,700 years old seal

 

The Israel Antiquities Authority says archeologists digging at a Jerusalem site have found the oldest artifact that bears the inscription of Bethlehem – a 2,700 years old seal with the name of Jesus’ traditional birthplace.

2,700 years old seal Photo: Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority

2,700 years old seal - Photo: Clara Amit, Israel Antiquities Authority

Eli Shukron, the authority’s director of excavations, says this is the first time the city’s name has appeared on an artifact from this period.

The clay seal, or bulla, was found in a Jerusalem dig.

Shukron said on Wednesday the seal bears the ancient Hebrew script used during the period of the first biblical Jewish Temple. Continue Reading »

Jordanian parliament votes to suspend nuclear power program

Lawmakers decide to halt program due to financial worries and amid rising anti-nuclear movement in the Jordan.

Jordanian lawmakers voted on Wednesday to suspend the country’s nuclear power program due to worries over financing – bringing to a halt a project prioritized by Amman as a solution to the country’s chronic energy woes.

Jordanian parliamentarians voted to suspend both the country’s first ever nuclear reactor and uranium-mining activities, pending the completion of economic feasibility studies in light of what they said was officials’ “misleading” claims over project financing.

Jordan's King Abdullah speaks in Amman, February 20, 2011.

Jordan's King Abdullah speaks in Amman - Photo by Reuters

Under the Jordanian constitution, the motion is legally binding. Continue Reading »

In Another ‘Gesture,’ Israel Releases Terrorists’ Bodies to PA

Israel released the bodies of 91 terrorists to the Palestinian Authority early Thursday morning, but refused to release their identities.

Israel released the bodies of 91 terrorists to the Palestinian Authority early Thursday morning. The release of the bodies is another in an ongoing series of “gestures” by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the PA, in an effort to encourage PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to agree to return to negotiations with Israel. So far, the PA has refused, although Abbas has accepted Israel’s “gestures.”

Some of the bodies have been held by Israel for decades. Among those to be handed over to the PA are the remains of seven terrorists who attacked the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv in 1975, the terrorist who killed six people at Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem in 2003, and terrorists who bombed buses in Ashkelon and Be’ersheva in 1996. Continue Reading »

Iran official: Fallout from western military action in Syria will bury Israel

Iranian Parliamentary Speaker and top aide to Supreme Leader Khamenei says Syrian crisis is not similar to situation in Libya, warning West of their ‘dangerous game.’

A western military intervention in war-torn Syria will result in a regional upheaval that would undoubtedly engulf Israel, a senior Iranian official said on Wednesday, following a massacre in the Syrian city of Houla, which garnered severe criticism in the West.

Syria - AP - 23.5.2012

Image released by Shaam News Network, purporting to show a building on fire from shelling in Homs province, Syria - Photo by AP

Russia said on Wednesday that the UN Security Council should not consider new measures to resolve the crisis in Syria at this point and signaled it would block any effort to authorize military intervention, the Interfax news agency reported. Continue Reading »

Wanted: Cyber warfare expert to fend for Israel’s major banks

The new expert will be in charge of implementing computer infrastructure security guidelines for Israeli commercial banks, and will work alongside the Shin Bet.

Israel’s central bank is looking for an expert on cyber warfar, according to an advertisement published on its website on Wednesday.

The person who is chosen for the new position in the Bank of Israel’s banking supervision department will be reponsible for forming guidelines for securing essential computer infrastructure against cyber warfare and terrorism in Israel’s banking system, monitoring its implementation, and identifying potential threats.

Computer server room.
Computer server room. Photo by AP

The cyber warfare expert would liaise with the National Information Security Authority, and with the Shin Bet security service. Continue Reading »

Peace Now Head Upset over Latma Satire

Peace Now head says “right wingers” are libeling him “under the guise of a satirical skit.”

Yariv Oppenheimer, who heads the ultra-leftist Peace Now group, is angry about a satirical imitation of him, in the form of a character named “Yariv Googleheimer” on the Latma website.

While Googleheimer is a regular on Latma’s weekly Tribal Update shows, it seems a particularly strong satire in the latest Update caused Oppenheimer to lose his cool.


 

The skit is a version of a number from the 1960s musical Kazablan. The original version of the song – “We are All Jews” – celebrates Israelis’ solidarity with each other despite the differences between the ingathered communities. Continue Reading »

Greener ties for Jordan and Israel

A cooperative triangle involving Jordan, Israel and the US turns its attention to producing alternative fuels for the two Mideast neighbors.

 

In wealthy Western countries, renewable energy developments are a source of progress, pride and smart business. For Israel and Jordan, two Middle Eastern countries severely lacking in water and energy resources, renewable energy is a matter of survival.

That’s why there’s been a new green twist to the Trilateral Industrial Development Foundation (TRIDE), founded in 1996 as a pilot project under the wing of the BIRD Foundation – the Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation — to create joint ventures between Israeli, Jordanian and American companies. Continue Reading »

White house apologizes for Obama’s Holocaust gaffe

Polish Foreign Minister says President’s slip up during award ceremony to honor anti-Nazi war hero was a matter of ‘ignorance and incompetence’

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said President Barack Obama misspoke on Tuesday when he referred to a “Polish death camp” while honoring a Polish war hero.

 

President Barack Obama upset Poles by describing German death camps located in Poland as 'Polish' camps. (photo credit: Official White House/Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama upset Poles by describing German death camps located in Poland as 'Polish' camps. - Photo: Official White House/Pete Souza

 

The president’s remark had drawn immediate complaints from Poles who said Obama should have called it a “German death camp in Nazi-occupied Poland,” to distinguish the perpetrators from the location. Continue Reading »

Poll: Majority of Palestinians think PA is corrupt

If new Palestinian elections were held today, West Bank’s ruling Fatah faction would still win, survey reveals.

More than 80 percent of Palestinians believe there is corruption in the Palestinian Authority, but Fatah, the ruling faction in the West Bank, would still win if new elections were held today, according to a public opinion poll published Tuesday.

Fatah member looks at list of candidates [file]

Fatah member looks at list of candidates - Photo: Fadi Arouri / Reuters

The poll, which was conducted by the Jerusalem Media & Communications Center, included 1188 Palestinians who were interviewed face-to-face in the West Bank and Gaza Strip last week. The poll has a margin of error of 3%.

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