Senior Hamas official: No Israel-PA deal will be permanent

Moussa Abu Marzouk’s statements reflect a harder line than the stance of the group’s political leader, Khaled Meshal,

 

Any agreement the Palestinian Authority might reach with Israel would be subject to significant changes, a senior Hamas official has told the American newspaper The Forward.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, left, shaking hands with the imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque.

Moussa Abu Marzouk, left, shaking hands with the imam of Cairo’s Al-Azhar Mosque, on a recent visit to Egypt - Photo by AP

Moussa Abu Marzouk said in an interview to be published next Friday that if Hamas came to power, any treaty would be an interim truce, a hudna, not a permanent accord. This would be the case even if a referendum ratified the deal.

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Israeli Volunteers Provide Free Surgery to Thousands in Ethiopia

The Israeli volunteer organization Eye from Zion is providing free cataract surgery to thousands of people in Ethiopia.

The Israeli volunteer organization Eye from Zion is providing free cataract surgery to thousands of patients in Ethiopia, according to a press release issue by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday.

When the delegation of volunteers first arrived in Ethiopia in February, they were expecting to treat dozens of patients. Instead, they were confronted with thousands of people in need of medical care, who were on the verge of being blinded by cataracts.

“They told us 70, and when we arrived there were 1,400 waiting for us,” said Nati Marcus, Founder of Eye from Zion. Continue Reading »

Israeli Harvard students take to ‘Hasbara’

After Harvard hosts controversial “One-State Solution” conference, Israelis try to change students’ perceptions on home country.

 

Israeli students at Harvard University have long felt that many aspects of their country get overlooked in the campus dialogue. This week, they hope that will change.

Harvard University - Photo: Thinkstock

Harvard University - Photo: Thinkstock

Last month, Harvard students hosted the controversial ‘One-State Solution’ conference. But long before that meeting took place, a group of Israeli Harvard students has been hard at work planning a two-day inaugural Israel Conference at Harvard to shine a light on the reality of Israel.

On April 19 and 20, a group of non-partisan Israeli Harvard students will gather to feature a confab of top leaders in Israeli discourse and innovation to promote another face of Israel.The

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‘PRC behind Eilat missile attacks’

Defense establishment source says it is highly likely that Popular Resistance Committees was behind missile fire at southern city of Eilat two weeks ago

 

A defense establishment source said Thursday that it is highly likely that the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) was behind the missile fire at the southern city of Eilat two weeks ago.

Grad rocket explodes near Eilat Photo: Yair Sagi, Yedioth Ahronoth
Grad rocket explodes near Eilat – Photo: Yair Sagi, Yedioth Ahronoth

Israeli officials believe that the terror cell that carried out the attack infiltrated the Sinai Peninsula from Gaza and fired the missiles as an act of revenge over the assassination of the secretary general of the PRC Zuhair Qaisiat the beginning of last month

The missile fire on Eilat did not result in any injuries or damage, yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear after the attack that those responsible would pay the price. Continue Reading »

Defense establishment source says it is highly likely that Popular Resistance Committees was behind missile fire at southern city of Eilat two weeks ago

 

A defense establishment source said Thursday that it is highly likely that the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) was behind the missile fire at the southern city of Eilat two weeks ago.

Grad rocket explodes near Eilat Photo: Yair Sagi, Yedioth Ahronoth

Grad rocket explodes near Eilat - Photo: Yair Sagi, Yedioth Ahronoth

Israeli officials believe that the terror cell that carried out the attack infiltrated the Sinai Peninsula from Gaza and fired the missiles as an act of revenge over the assassination of the secretary general of the PRC Zuhair Qaisiat the beginning of last month

The missile fire on Eilat did not result in any injuries or damage, yet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear after the attack that those responsible would pay the price. Continue Reading »

Thousands attend March of the Living in Auschwitz to honor Holocaust victims

This year, American veterans that participated in the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz also joined in the annual march commemorating the memory of Holocaust victims.

Thousands of youth from Israel, the United States and other countries marched Thursday between Auschwitz and Birkenau, the two parts of Nazi Germany’s most notorious death complex, to honor the millions killed in the Holocaust.

Israel Police Auschwitz

Israel Police officers marching through the gates of Auschwitz - Photo by: Reuters

Some 10,000 Jewish youths from Israel and 30 other countries participated in a three-kilometer march from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the two sections of the largest concentration camp complex during World War II.

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First Synagogue Inaugurated in Basel in Over 80 Years

The Feldinger Chabad Jewish Centre is first synagogue in the city since 1929.

A synagogue has been dedicated in Basel for the first time in more than 80 years.

The Feldinger Chabad Jewish Centre is the first synagogue inaugurated in the city since 1929.

Rabbis and government officials were present at the opening ceremony.

The inauguration of the centre was supported by Sami Rohr, one of the most notable philanthropists to Chabad-Lubavitch causes worldwide.

Mr. Rohr was born in Berlin but escaped Germany prior to the outbreak of World War II.  His parents were sent to a refugee camp but their 16-year-old son, found refuge with Shlomo Zalman and Recha Feldinger, a Jewish couple living in Basel. Continue Reading »

No compensation for Gaza businesses damaged in raid

Court deems state not liable for chicken coops destroyed in 2006 air attack on terrorist tunnels.

 

Israel is not liable to pay damages to two Gaza companies whose property was demolished during a July 2006 IDF aerial raid on the southern Gaza Strip, the Beersheba District Court ruled on Wednesday.

Gaza Tunnel Destroyed - Photo: REUTERS

Gaza Tunnel Destroyed - Photo: REUTERS

The air force conducted the raid on July 16, 2006, to destroy the infrastructure of a tunnel intended to be used to carry out terrorist attacks in Israel. Three days later, on July 19, 2006, the IDF bulldozed the tunnels. The army said it carried out these military actions to prevent terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.

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Jordanian prince, Egypt’s mufti visit Temple Mount

King Abdullah’s cousin, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, pays visit to Jerusalem holy place together with Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa. Israeli officials: It’s important to let Jordanians come here

Royal visit to Jerusalem – The cousin of Jordan‘s King Abdullah, Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad, arrived on Wednesday for a visit at Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

He was likely accompanied by the Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, a top Egyptian Islamic cleric, who wrote on his Twitter account that the symbolic visit was in solidarity with the Palestinians’ claim to east Jerusalem. He prayed in the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, during his two-hour visit. Continue Reading »

‘Tamar gas may be available before April 2013’

Noble Energy CEO tells PM Netnayahu that he would make every effort to meet and even beat April 2013 target date for Tamar gad field production

 

The Energy Ministry is claiming that Noble Energy has not supplied the ministry with essential data pertaining to the production of natural gas in Israel.

In a meeting held on Monday between Energy Minster Uzi Landau and Noble Energy CEO Charles Davidson who is currently visiting Israel, ministry officials laid out a list of claims regarding the company’s recent actions.

(Illustration: Shutterstock)

Tamar may be operational next year - Photo Illustration: Shutterstock

Davidson and Noble Energy Director of Eastern Mediterranean Operations, Lawson Freeman also met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his office. Continue Reading »

Israeli airline Arkia stops flights to Stockholm over security inspections

Swedish capital’s international airport refuses to allow Israeli methods of security inspections dictated by the Shin Bet security service; easyJet set to launch a new line between Tel Aviv and Manchester in November.

Arkia has to stop flying to Stockholm because the Swedish capital’s international airport now refuses to allow Israeli methods of security inspections dictated by the Shin Bet security service, TheMarker learned yesterday. Thus, Stockholm’s airport joined those in Malmo, Sweden and in Copenhagen in refusing to allow Israeli security inspections, which involve ethnic and personal profiling, extensive questioning and selective inspections based on the perceived degree of risk to security.

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Essay: How the Sinking of the Titanic Changed Israel Forever

The children that lost their lives that April 15th were never to grow up and have families of their own. Men and women were widowed, lives changed forever.

On a chilly night in the mid-Atlantic, the tragic sinking of the RMS Titanic 100 years ago cemented itself as the most iconic maritime incident in history. Everyone from historians to pop-culture junkies know about the Titanic. Over 1,500 people lost their lives, but like a butterfly effect, there’s no telling how many lives were affected in some way or another. The children that lost their lives that April 15th were never to grow up and have families of their own. Continue Reading »

Innovative and Poignant Poster Marks Holocaust

Bezalel Academy graduate Dorielle Rimmer Halperin has produced a haunting poster in honor of her grandparents, who survived the Shoah

 

Yom Hashoah Poster
Yom Hashoah Poster
Dorielle Rimmer Halperin, Bezalel Academy, With Permission

In honor of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust and Heroism Remembrance Day, the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem has produced an innovatinve and poignant poster.

Dorielle Rimmer Halperin, the Bezalel graduate who created the poster, said the poster was dedicated to her grandparents – David and Esther Rimmer – who survived the Holocaust, as well as their family members who did not.

“This was an exciting challenge for me,” said Rimmer, who graduated from Bezalel in 2003. Continue Reading »

Jerusalem hospital shows off vaccine that destroys cancer in 2 shots.

Early human test results suggest a vaccine can train cancer patients’ bodies to seek out and destroy tumour cells.

The therapy, which targets a molecule found in 90 per cent of cancers, eventually could provide an injection that would allow patients’ immune systems to fight off common cancers including breast and prostate cancer.

The first results of trials in people, at the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem, suggest the vaccine can reduce levels of disease. The human work is so preliminary it has yet to be published in a scientific journal.The scientists behind the vaccine hope to conduct more extensive trials to prove it can be effective

against a range of cancers. Continue Reading »

Israeli universities received NIS 1.5b. for R&D

2008-2009 figure rose over 5 percent from the previous year, according to Central Bureau of Statistics.

Psychology building in Bar-Ilan University

Psychology building in Bar-Ilan University - Photo by Avishai Teicher

Research expenditures at the universities granted by outside sources and intra-university grants – excluding funding from the universities’ budgets – totaled NIS 1.5 billion shekels during the last recorded 2008-2009 academic year, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The CBS relied on data from the Science and Technology Minister’s National Council for Research and Development.

Announced on Tuesday, the figure rose over 5 percent from the previous year, in which research using “special financing” reached NIS 1.45 billion.

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