Israel, Kurdish fighters destroyed Iran nuclear facility, email released by WikiLeaks claims

In exchange released by website, worker at Stratfor intelligence firm doubts validity of a source claiming an Israeli ground force had already wiped out Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

The mega-leaks website, WikiLeaks, has partnered with the hackers cooperative Anonymous, to publish internal emails of the American strategic intelligence company Stratfor. In one of the hacked emails, Stratfor officials discuss information obtained from one of their sources who reports that Israeli commandos, in cooperation with Kurdish fighters, have destroyed Iranian nuclear installations.

WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, will hold a press conference today in London where he plans to reveal new details from the Stratfor emails, including details on the company’s dealings with the American government and major corporations, and its network of paid sources.

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Rare Video of Israeli Rabbi in Iran

A rare video shows last year’s visit to the tomb of Queen Esther and Mordechai in Iran. Tehran airport officials asked him, “Pray for us.”

Rabbi Yisroel Gabbai’s self-appointed mission is saving Jewish graves all over the world. A rare video shows his visit last year to Iran and the tomb of Queen Esther and Mordechai, the central Jewish figures iin the story of Purim, which Jews celebrate this week.

A member of the Breslov stream of Chassidism and now living in Israel, Rabbi Gabbai travels with a passport from France, where he was born and married. He has visited Gaza and Lebanon during wars and also has been to Damascus. Continue Reading »

Minor earthquake felt in northern Israel

Earthquake measuring 3.7 on Richter Scale felt north of Metula as well as in Kiryat Shmona and Safed. No injuries or damage reported.

3.7 on Richer Scale Photo: Shutterstock

3.7 on Richer Scale - Photo: Shutterstock

A 3.7 magnitude earthquakewas felt in northern Israel on Wednesday morning. The Geological Survey of Israel told Ynet that the quake’s epicenter was in south Lebanon and that it was primarily felt north of Metula. Israelis reported feeling the quake in Kiryat Shmona, Shlomi and Safed as well. No injuries or damage were reported.

“I suddenly felt the earth shaking below me,” Bracha Cook from Kiryat Shmona told Ynet. “It wasn’t scary, just odd. Continue Reading »

WATCH: IDF prepares for tunnel warfare in future Lebanon, Gaza conflicts

IDF special forces train at new underground training facility; training based on lessons from Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead.

The Israel Defense Forces introduced a new method of conducting underground warfare on Tuesday, in preparation for a war with either Hezbollah or Hamas.

Gaza smuggling tunnel - AP

Gaza smuggling tunnel - Photo by AP

The method, which has been developed since the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead, is meant to combat the underground tunnel systems used by Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, which are often used for weapons transfers.

The IDF believes that in Lebanon, the Hezbollah has dozens of underground bases, from which the organization operates its rocket launching operations. Continue Reading »

Fast Day in Memory of Esther’s ‘Life-Threatening Request’

Wednesday’s “Fast of Esther” is in memory of her risking her life by approaching the Persian king, her husband, to save the country’s Jews.

Wednesday’s “Fast of Esther” is in memory of her risking her life by approaching the Persian king, her husband, to save the country’s Jews.

The “Fast of Esther” begins Wednesday morning in memory of her risking her life by approaching the Persian king, her husband, in order to launch a series of events that ended with her asking him to save the Jews from the king’s wicked second-in-command, Haman.

The fast day started at 4.29 a.m. in Israel and ends at 6:04 p.m., Continue Reading »

Jordanian Ex-intel chief: Jordan can’t take in Syrian refugees

 General Abu Rashid visits J’lem, says that Israel must think carefully about having so many Palestinians on its border.

 

Jordan is fearful of receiving Palestinian refugees from Syria, as it has neither the resources nor the infrastructure to accommodate them, Gen.

Mansour Abu Rashid, chairman of the Amman Center for Peace and Development, said in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

Jordan Muslim Brotherhood supporters

Jordan Muslim Brotherhood supporters - Photo By Reuters/Muhammad Hamed

Abu Rashid, a former head of Jordanian intelligence, was participating in a symposium hosted by the Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace and the Israeli Council on Foreign Relations to honor the memory of Dave Kimche, who had been a central figure in the Mossad and a Foreign Ministry director-general.

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‘Hamas won’t aid Iran if war breaks out’

Salah Bardawil says Hamas ‘won’t do Iran’s bidding in any war’; adds group will not escalate situation with Israel simply at Tehran’s request

 

Hamas will not automatically side with Iran in case of a military conflict with Israel, the Guardian reported Tuesday.

Senior Politburo member in Gaza Strip Salah Bardawil said that Hamas “will not do Iran’s bidding in any war with Israel, and will not launch rockets at Israel at Tehran’s request.”

Salah Bardawil Photo: AP

Salah Bardawil - Photo: AP

“If there is a war between two powers, Hamas will not be part of such a war,” Bardawil was quoted as saying. Continue Reading »

Peres, Mark Zuckerberg launch president’s international Facebook page

Peres invited Facebook users around the world to ‘like’ his page and post their own suggestions for advancing world peace.

 

President Shimon Peres and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg launched the president’s international Facebook page on Tuesday, with Zuckerberg to first to press ‘like’ to the page.

The festivities began at 7 P.M. Israel time (9 A.M. P.S.T.), with a live press conference with web surfers from around the world. Peres and Zuckerberg then launched the page officially at 8 P.M. Israel time (10 A.M. P.S.T.).

Shimon Peres and Mark Zuckerberg - GPO - 6.3.2012

Shimon Peres and Mark Zuckerberg launching Peres' international Facebook page, March 6, 2012. - Photo by: GPO

Answering a question on the role of social media in promoting peace in the Middle East, Peres said that what networks such as Facebook were doing was “convince people they don’t have reason to hate.

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Gingrich Vows to Replace Iran’s Regime

GOP contender Newt Gingrich all but declared war on Iran’s Mullahs during the AIPAC conference saying he would do away with their regime.

GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich sought to upstage his fellow Republican contenders on Tuesday by saying he would “undermine and replace the Iranian dictatorship.”

Gingrich made his pledge at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference on Tuesday, where would-be Republican presidential candidates are seeking to score Jewish votes.

Newt Gingirch

Newt Gingirch - photo by Reuter

“[I will] undermine and replace the Iranian dictatorship by every available method short of war,” Gingrich said via satellite to AIPAC attendees. Continue Reading »

Obama: There’ll be a price to pay for premature Iran strike

There will be consequences for both US and Israel for such a move, the US president says, warns against “casualness” of talk by American politicians “beating the drums of war.”

 

WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that there would be consequences for the United States as well as Israel if a premature strike is launched on Iran.

“This is not just an issue of Israeli interests. This is an issue of American interests,” he said at a last-minute press conference. “It’s also not just an issue of consequences for Israel if action is taken prematurely. There are consequences for the United States as well.” Continue Reading »

‘Israel is world leader in medical marijuana use’

Anesthesiologist and pain relief expert tells Knesset Committee on Drug Abuse that Israel is leader in the field.

Marijuana or cannabis

Medical Marijuana or cannabis (pot or weed) - Photo By MCT

Israel is the world leader in medical marijuana use, anesthesiologist and pain relief expert Dr. Bareket Schiff-Keren told the Knesset Committee on Drug Abuse on Tuesday.

In addition, Israel Police representative Eyal Zilberman told the committee that medical marijuana is being sold on the black market, and the fields to grow the drug are not properly secured to prevent theft.

Approximately 15 tons of medicinal cannabis are stolen each year, according to the police.

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French PM knocks halal, kosher laws as campaign heats up

Francois Fillon suggests Muslims, Jews give up ritual slaughter as President Sarkozy steps up their efforts to woo far-right voters

France’s prime minister urged Muslims and Jews to consider scrapping their halal and kosher slaughter laws on Monday as President Nicolas Sarkozy and his allies stepped up their efforts to woo far-right voters.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon made the suggestion after Sarkozy called at the weekend for butchers to clearly label meat slaughtered according to religious laws and his allies warned immigrants might impose halal meat on French schoolchildren.

Prime Minister Francois Fillon Photo: Reuters

Prime Minister Francois Fillon - Photo: Reuters

Fillon and other conservative leaders linked this tough stand on ritually prepared meat to issues such as immigration and French identity that the far-right National Front uses to tap into resentment against Europe’s largest Muslim minority. Continue Reading »

Chief Rabbis: Don’t Ascend Temple Mount

Chief Rabbis Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Rabbi Yonah Metzger joined by other top rabbis in proclaiming Mount off grounds.

Chief Sephardic Rabbi (Rav) Rabbi Shlomo Amar has published a call to believers not to ascend to the Temple Mount. The call appears under the heading “avoid ascending to the Mount and touching its edge,” which is attributed to Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Kotzk.

Rav Amar’s declaration was co-signed by former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Rav Eliyahu Bakshi Doron; Rav Shalom Cohen, Head of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in the Old City of Jerusalem’ Old City Rabbi Rav Avigdor Neventzal, and Kotel Rabbi, Rav Shmuel Rabinovich. Continue Reading »

In Egypt, Honor killings defy attempts at reform

Two murders in Egypt point to persistence of practice that crosses class, religion

Honor killings defy attempts at reform

By Reuters/Mohammed Salem

Sarah, a 23-year-old university graduate from Aswan, recalls the day she heard that her cousin had been killed. “I was at university here in Cairo when my mother called me last summer.” It was months later, but Sarah had rarely spoken about it and tears welled up even as she tried to gather her thoughts and recollections.

“My mom told me that my cousin, who I had grown up with and had played with all the time, had been killed,” she continues. But how and under what circumstances her mother wouldn’t say. Continue Reading »

Turkey’s Jewish narrative: Tolerance and dark side

Turkey has opened its doors to Syrians fleeing violence but the anniversary of the deaths of more than 750 Jewish refugees who were denied shelter by Turkey in World War II is constant reminder of perennial tensions

As Turkey welcomes Syrians fleeing violence, the anniversary last Friday of the deaths of more than 750 Jewish refugees who were denied shelter by Turkeyin World War II was a reminder of perennial tension between pragmatic and humanitarian impulses.

The SS Struma, whose passengers fled Romania and docked in Istanbul, was denied entry to Palestinian territory by colonial power Britain. On February 23, 1942, Turkey towed the vessel to the Black Sea and set it adrift. Continue Reading »