December 2009
99 posts
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Most Israelis Demonstrate Extraordinary... →
Calls for a freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria - while Arab construction, which far exceeds Jewish development, continues unfettered - are clearly biased and by itself a violation of international law.
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Enough with partition! →
A few weeks ago, on November 29, the anniversary was marked of the United Nations General Assembly’s 1947 decision to partition the western part of the Land of Israel into two states, one Jewish and the other Arab (not Palestinian). The decision was joyously received by the Jewish community here as it came only a short time after the Holocaust. Also, refugees, survivors of the Holocaust,...
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White House slams east Jerusalem plans →
The United States on Monday harshly criticized Israel’s plans to build more housing in Jerusalem neighborhoods over the green line.
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Showing Sderot to the World →
The completely independent Center for Social Communication in Sderot tries to provide an accurate picture of the situation in Israel’s South. Deep in the heart of Sderot, between the local bakery and a falafel stand, stands a low building with a quite regular exterior. Only when you enter, you understand that you have entered the front public relations center of Israel.
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Chutzpah! U.S. demands Israel explain terrorists'... →
The Obama administration yesterday demanded the Israeli government explain why its military eliminated three terrorists in an operation this weekend. “This is sheer chutzpah and is an unprecedented and strange request,” said an Israeli security official familiar with the U.S. request.
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Wild and wacky Israeli tales from 2009 →
Israel is not just the place of stories about settlement freezes and army operations. This unique country of 7 million people has its fair share of zany tales; here are a few from 2009. The two sons of the former Sephardi chief rabbi, Ovadia Yosef argued over what blessing should be recited over the popular kids’ peanut snack Bamba.
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Israel's PTA commander-in-chief →
Unbeknownst to most Israelis, this week marked a critical shift for the worse in the regional balance of power. While IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi was busy demanding that the government pay a ransom of more than a thousand terrorists for captive soldier Gilad Schalit, few paid attention to Iran’s newest strategic successes.
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Ahmadinejad calls Europe`s politicians `one more... →
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Saturday called European politicians “one more stupid than the other.” “These [European] politicians neither know anything about politics nor about history,” Fars news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in a speech at at Arak mosque in Tehran.
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Minister Ayalon: 2010 decisive year on Iran →
Deputy foreign minister says not only Israel, but entire world to be tested next year with regards to Iranian nuclear program.
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Al-Aqsa Brigades: Israel opening gates of hell →
Just hours after IDF forces kill gunmen behind Thursday’s shooting death of settler, Fatah’s armed wing threatens swift retaliation. In Gaza, PRC calls on armed groups to avenge killing of three Palestinians near border fence.
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IDF kills terrorists who murdered Meir Chai; 3... →
In a joint operation with the Shin Bet, IDF soldiers gunned down three terrorists in the West Bank overnight Friday, who murdered Rabbi Meir Chai in a shooting attack near Shavei Shomron on Thursday.
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Hamas: Response on Shalit deal in three days →
A member of Hamas’ political bureau in Damascus said that Hamas would give their response to the Shalit prisoner exchange deal within three days, Israel Radio reported.
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Anti-Semitism czar's first target is Israel →
In her first major interview since becoming President Obama’s newly appointed anti-Semitism czar last month, Hannah Rosenthal yesterday blasted the Israeli government for its criticism of a lobby group accused of anti-Israel activity.
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Israel's President Says Merry Christmas (Obama... →
President Shimon Peres on Thursday wished the Christian world a merry Christmas and a peaceful new year, as religious leaders ushered in holiday celebrations in the Holy Land.
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Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi: "Hezbollah does not rest" →
Chief of the General Staff speaks about the security situation at the northern border and the release of Gilad Shalit
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IDF blockades Palestinian Tulkarm after terrorists... →
Israeli forces placed the Palestinian West Bank town of Tulkarm under blockade Thursday night, Dec. 24, after Palestinian terrorists murdered Rabbi Meir Avshalom Chai, 45, father of seven, in a drive-by attack on his car close to his home in Shavei Shomron. He died of a head wound shortly after his car was hit by 10 bullets. The Fatah suicide wing, al Aqsa Brigades, claimed responsibility for the...
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Israel: US Consulate car tried to run over... →
A dispute is rumbling between Israel and the US Consulate in Jerusalem after a US diplomatic car allegedly tried running over a Defense Ministry security guard recently at an IDF checkpoint in the West Bank. The car had been stopped after the occupants refused to present identification papers.
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Lutherans Denounce Israel, Just in Time for... →
Led by a Palestinian Lutheran bishop, 16 Palestinians Christians have blasted Israel in a new declaration that the 4.9 million Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is obligingly disseminating.
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Israel Prepares National Gas Mask Distribution →
The Israel Postal Company will be working with the IDF to distribute gas masks, including a new mask for children, to all residents.
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For Obama, 2010 in the Middle East Looks More Like... →
The year 2010 is going to be interesting. Well, all years in the Middle East are interesting; many of them are far too interesting.
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Report: Hamas agrees to deport 123 prisoners in... →
Hamas yet to formally respond to Israeli swap offer, but Lebanese daily quotes Palestinian sources as saying prominent prisoners have given their consent to Jerusalem’s demand to deport 97 of them to Gaza, 20 to Qatar and the rest to Europe
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Schalit exchange hinges on deal over prisoner... →
Giving a conditional green light for a deal with Hamas to free captured soldier Gilad Schalit, Israel on Tuesday reportedly gave a German mediator a list of 125 Palestinian key security prisoners and the terms under which it would agree to their release. In many cases, Channel 1 reported, their release would be contingent on their deportation.
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Media falsely reporting Bethlehem Christmas →
Like clockwork, every year at this time reporters file misleading and, in some cases, outright false reports about the state of Christmas in Bethlehem.
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Israel, Arab countries plan for war with Iran →
Intelligence officials from Israel, Egypt, Jordan and the U.S. held a meeting last week to discuss specific responses to Iranian retaliatory attacks during a potential war with Tehran, WND has learned.
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Cabinet meeting ends without decision on Schalit... →
The inner cabinet has given Israeli mediator Hagai Hadas a “green light” to continue negotiations with Hamas over a deal to secure the release of captured IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit.
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For the Very First Time: A Residential Building... →
The remains were discovered in an archaeological excavation of the Israel Antiquities Authority near the Church of the Annunciation. An archaeological excavation the Israel Antiquities Authority recently conducted has revealed new information about ancient Nazareth from the time of Jesus.
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The Debacle of Demographic Fatalism →
By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger. Demographobia – the illogical fear of Arab demography – has become a central element shaping Israel’s state of mind in general and the attitude toward Judea & Samaria in particular. However, all projections dooming Jews to become a minority between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean have been crashed at the rocks of reality.
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'Time has come for a decision on Schalit' →
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet the parents of captive soldier Gilad Schalit on Monday morning ahead of a full cabinet meeting on a proposed prisoner exchange with Hamas, sources in the Prime Minister’s Office said on Sunday night
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Palestinian prof admits Arab denial of Temples is... →
A prestigious Palestinian professor told WND that the Muslim denial of a Jewish connection to the Temple Mount is political and that historically Muslims did not dispute Jewish ties to the site.
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Israel pressures Vatican as wartime pope is moved... →
Pope Benedict XVI is facing criticism after he put a controversial wartime predecessor one step closer to sainthood. Jewish groups say Pope Pius XII did not do enough to save Jewish lives during the Second World War.
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Six foiled Hezbollah attacks likely behind... →
The series of attacks on Israeli targets in Turkey planned by Hezbollah, as reported in the Turkish media, which was foiled by Turkish security forces two months ago, is likely to have caused the tension between Israel and Hezbollah along the Lebanon border this past summer and fall.
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Obama gives Iran another year's grace for nuclear... →
US president Barack Obama’s tough talk of sanctions has melted into soft soap for luring Iran into further dialogue. Adopting the reverse tactic, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sounds almost reasonable for a change, even as Tehran pushes its revolutionary goals as pugnaciously as ever.
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Military will use 'paralyzing power' to enforce... →
The military plans to use “paralyzing power” to demolish illegal settler construction where building has continued in defiance of the 10-month freeze on such activity, according to an IDF document obtained by The Jerusalem Post on Saturday night.
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Israel to build new settlements in full force says... →
The freeze imposed by Israel on the construction of new settlements is the result of a tactical move, according to the nation’s foreign minister.
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Reconsidering the Suez Campaign →
It is hard to seize the initiative. The consequences of acting are frightening. It is always better to let others go first. But sometimes that is impossible. Today it is becoming clear that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has no choice but to lead.
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2 wheels, 5 years, 80,000 km, and a whole lotta... →
“I need only five minutes with people, it doesn’t matter the language or anything. If I come with my energy, I’m at home. People invite me home, suddenly I’m eating with chiefs and sleeping in their houses, and some of them offer me their daughters to marry. But I always say no because I need to go.”
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Report: Israel to notify Egypt on Shalit deal... →
Sources say by Sunday Jerusalem will announce whether it agrees to include release of 50 ‘heavy’ prisoners in possible exchange; in any case, they say, Barghouti not on list
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One strike could have ended Iran nuclear program... →
It is possible that years ago, the problem of Iran’s nuclear project could have been solved by one tough blow and with relatively minimal risk. At that time, the project was dependent on one facility: the uranium conversion plant in Isfahan.
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Guardian Ed - In Israel They Murder Each Other a... →
“The Israeli Defense Forces murder people because they don’t like their political style…” What does the IDF have to do with the recent assault on Italian PM Sylvio Berlusconi? Absolutely nothing. But that didn’t stop The Guardian’s Associate Editor Michael White from making the following comment during a discussion on BBC Radio London’s Breakfast Show...
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Obama told China: I can't stop Israel strike on... →
U.S. President Barack Obama has warned his Chinese counterpart that the United States would not be able to keep Israel from attacking Iranian nuclear installations for much longer, senior officials in Jerusalem told Haaretz.
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New Hamas West Bank commanders set to revive... →
Since early 2007, Hamas has refrained from orchestrating terrorist activity against Israel from the West Bank, focusing mainly on its missile barrage against southwestern Israel from the Gaza Strip. Now, DEBKAfile’s military sources report, the Palestinian extremists have changed course. Hamas’ military chief Muhammad Jabry has established a new regional West Bank command corps for a...
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Iran test-fires improved Sejil-2 missile, state TV... →
Iran has successfully test-fired a long-range, improved Sejil 2 missile, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday, an announcement likely to add to tension with the West.
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Activists planning Temple Mount ascent →
A group of activists dedicated to bringing Jews to the Temple Mount told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday that they were hoping to see hundreds of participants take part in a planned “mass pilgrimage” to the mount scheduled for Thursday morning in honor of Hanukka, which celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple after it was recovered from Hellenist Greeks more than 2,000 years...
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Abbas names 1967 borders as precondition for talks →
PLO Central Committee convenes in Ramallah to discuss plan aimed at resolving its political crisis. Palestinian president clarifies he will not seek another term and slams building freeze, which he says ‘is not considered a halt of settlement activity’
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Hamas: All Islamist groups will unite with Iran if... →
Hamas leader Khaled Meshal warned on Tuesday that Islamist militant groups would back Iran if the Islamic Republic was attacked by Israel, Iranian state television reported.
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Israel fury over British war crimes warrant for... →
Israel’s Government issued an angry warning today that its ties with Britain were in jeopardy over a UK arrest warrant briefly issued against the Jewish state’s Opposition leader and former Foreign Minister.
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US to exercise missile defense focusing on... →
A top Pentagon official said Monday that a US missile defense drill will simulate an Iranian attack, a departure from the usual scenario of a North Korean attack, according to Reuters.
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'Arrest warrant for Livni issued in UK' →
A British court on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Opposition leader and former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, Channel 10 reported, citing an Al-Jazeera report. The warrant was issued for “war crimes” when she was foreign minister during Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip last winter
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Fatah fighters buying guns instead of food for... →
Members of Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades are arming themselves for war against Israel by buying guns instead of food for their kids and by selling their wives’ jewelry, according to the official Fatah website.
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We're not going to take it anymore →
One of the most overrated American movies of all-time featured a character who would scream “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” Over and over throughout its history, Israel has been invaded, attacked by bombs planted by terrorists, blockaded, attacked by missiles fired by terrorists, hijacked, attacked by terrorists blowing themselves up and assaulted by...