Category: Israel

.com | ‘Israel bias’ row enters UN rights council stage

A United Nations rights expert issued a blistering criticism of Israel’s policies on Monday, deepening a row over alleged anti-Israel bias within the UN following US pressure. In a report, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Michael Lynk, charged Israel with “the subjugation of humanity” and intensifying a crackdown on human rights campaigners.

.com | Trump wants to work with Palestinians – official

US President Donald Trump sees Mahmoud Abbas as a “strategic partner” and the Palestinian leader wants to engage with him to work towards a two-state solution, a senior Palestinian official said on Monday. Jibril Rajoub, a high-ranking member of Abbas’s Fatah party seen as a possible successor to the 81-year-old president, said he believed Trump could be less beholden to certain interest groups than previous US presidents.

Settler leader blasts lack of new settlement construction

A settler leader vowed that there would be construction in all the West Bank settlements, and expressed frustration that limitations have not been lifted since the January inauguration of US President Donald Trump. “The decision of the leadership of the Yesha Council is that there will be construction in every settlement, we are longer in the Obama era and it can’t be that the Trump era is even worse than the Obama era,” Army Radio on Monday quoted Avi Roeh, the leader of the settler umbrella group the Yesha Council, as telling a meeting of the group.

March 20, 2017Rivlin responds to public broadcasting saga from Vietnam

Antisemitism in the US is on the rise – what do US senators and Israeli ministers have to say about it? Save your seat In Hanoi and Beijing, they’re talking about Israel’s public broadcasting crisis, or more accurately why the crisis should not be a pretext for holding new elections. Reporters traveling in Vietnam with President Reuven Rivlin and in China with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were more inclined to report on the broadcasting dilemma and possible election crisis than on bilateral relations.

Jordan releases soldier who killed 7 Israeli girls in 1997

In this Sunday, March 16, 1997 file photo, King Hussein of Jordan shakes the hand of members of the Badayev family in Beit Shemesh who are in mourning after their daughter Shiri was killed by a Jordanian soldier. King Hussein came to Israel to offer condolences to the seven families who had lost their daughters in an attack on a class trip.

PA officials: Abbas is a ‘peace partner’

Palestinian Authority officials claimed on Saturday night that PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday refutes Israel’s claim that Abbas isn’t a partner for peace. During Friday’s conversation, the first between Trump and Abbas since Trump took office, the President invited the PA leader to the White House.

Uttarakhand: Chief Minister Harish Rawat loses Haridwar seat to BJP

The people in Uttarakhand seem to have voted against Harish Rawat’s Congress government this time as the exit poll predicted a clean sweep by the BJP which is expected to get over 50 out of 71 Assembly seats. The BJP fared poorly in the last UP elections, winning only 47 out of 403 assembly seats, but it clinched 73 out of 80 parliamentary constituencies in 2014 with Modi standing in the holy city of Varanasi.

Trump invites Palestinian leader to the White House

Abbas has spent many hours on the phone and in meetings with USA presidents and secretaries of state over the past decade but he has been unsuccessful when reaching out to Trump. “President Trump has extended an official invitation to President Abbas to visit the White House soon to discuss ways to resume the political process, stressing his commitment to a peace process that will lead to a real peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis”, said Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah.

Palestinian leader invited to White House in Trump call

In this Feb. 23, 2017 file photo, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas listens to his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun address a speech, at the presidential palace, in Baabda east Beirut, Lebanon. Abbas will speak by telephone with U.S President Donald Trump in the first contact between the two leaders since Trump took office.

Putin hosts Netanyahu for talks set to focus on Syria

Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday for talks focusing on the situation in Syria and Israeli concerns about the role of Iran and its proxies there. Greeting Netanyahu at the start of their Kremlin negotiations, Putin emphasized a high level of trust between them.

UN Rights Chief Decries Trump’s US Immigration Policies

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein chronicled a litany of human rights concerns worldwide, including “chilling indifference” among some leaders in the European Union toward migrants, a crackdown on lawyers and activists in China, and a new Russian law that may have been used “arbitrarily” to curb free expression. The US was among more than 40 countries examined in a wide-ranging speech on Wednesday, where the United Nations was warned that 2017 could prove to be a “pivotal year” for human rights amid terror attacks, security crackdowns, populism and the rise of “authoritarian-minded leaders”.

UN Rights Chief Decries Trump’s US Immigration Policies

Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein chronicled a litany of human rights concerns worldwide, including “chilling indifference” among some leaders in the European Union toward migrants, a crackdown on lawyers and activists in China, and a new Russian law that may have been used “arbitrarily” to curb free expression. The US was among more than 40 countries examined in a wide-ranging speech on Wednesday, where the United Nations was warned that 2017 could prove to be a “pivotal year” for human rights amid terror attacks, security crackdowns, populism and the rise of “authoritarian-minded leaders”.

‘Peace partner’ Abbas meets terrorists

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is often touted by the West as a “peace partner” for Israel, recently met with Palestinian Arabs who carried out terrorist attacks and with the family of a terrorist, the Middle East Media Research Institute reveals. On March 5, he received in his office in Ramallah the family of Muhammad Al-Jallad, who died of his wounds after being shot while attempting to carry out a stabbing attack at a checkpoint in November 2016.

‘Peace partner’ Abbas meets terrorists

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who is often touted by the West as a “peace partner” for Israel, recently met with Palestinian Arabs who carried out terrorist attacks and with the family of a terrorist, the Middle East Media Research Institute reveals. On March 5, he received in his office in Ramallah the family of Muhammad Al-Jallad, who died of his wounds after being shot while attempting to carry out a stabbing attack at a checkpoint in November 2016.

iSpy with my little iPhone

The annual Education Conference organized by Yedioth Ahronoth and its website Ynet provides the Hebrew-language newspaper with a myriad of juicy quotes about the current political state in the country, and even on the proper way for parents to raise their children. “The leaders are heating up the debate in order to gain political power,” reads the daily’s front page, quoting President Reuven Rivlin, the conference’s keynote speaker.

Trent Reznor, Hans Zimmer & Massive Attack Record Music for Banksy’s…

Anonymous street artist Banksy has opened another dystopian destination, The Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem, a commentary on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with a piano bar reportedly featuring music from Trent Reznor ‘s Nine Inch Nails , composer Hans Zimmer and Massive Attack . The project includes an art gallery and hotel in the occupied West Bank city that is being operated by the local community.

Israeli police question Hollywood mogul in Netanyahu probe

An Israeli police official says Israeli investigators questioned Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan in the U.S. last week as part of a corruption investigation into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The investigation, dubbed “File 1000,” reportedly concerns claims that Netanyahu improperly accepted lavish gifts from wealthy supporters, including Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer.

Avigdor Liberman Heads To Washington For Talks With Team Trump

Palestinian laborers work at a construction site in a new housing project in the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim near Jerusalem Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, addressing a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting on Monday, expressed opposition to the efforts of some other coalition members to incorporate Judea and Samaria into Israel. Lieberman said Israeli annexation would mean “an immediate crisis” in US-Israeli relations, and was too risky even before considering the ramifications under worldwide law for extending Israeli sovereignty to include 2.7 million occupied Palestinians.

Israel makes it official: Cannabis is not a crime

Israel’s Cabinet decriminalized the recreational use of cannabis, or marijuana, at its weekly meeting on Sunday March 6, 2017 in a move hailed by politicians from across the spectrum. Israel’s Cabinet decriminalized the recreational use of cannabis, or marijuana, at its weekly meeting on Sunday March 6, 2017 in a move hailed by politicians from across the spectrum.

Rep. DeSantis visits Israel, tours possible US embassy sites

While President Trump has backed away from moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a ranking Republican Congressman visited the country Sunday, pushing for the controversial move. Ron DeSantis, the chair of the Subcommittee on National Security, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and toured four possible sites for the embassy relocation, including the two current U.S. consulates in West Jerusalem.

Andrew Cuomo in Israel for whirlwind trip

The Governor of New York Andrew M. Cuomo lays a wreath at the Hall of Remembrance at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, in Jerusalem, Sunday, March 5, 2017. ORG XMIT: DB109 The Governor of New York Andrew M. Cuomo lays a wreath at the Hall of Remembrance at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, in Jerusalem, Sunday, March 5, 2017.

Cuomo calls anti-Semitic attack in New York ‘reprehensible’

Visiting New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday that a recent rash of anti-Semitic acts in the United States was “reprehensible” and his state would have no tolerance for them. In a visit to Israel, Cuomo made his first comments following the toppling of headstones at a Jewish cemetery this weekend in Brooklyn.

Report: Israeli leader briefly offered pro-peace government

An Israeli newspaper is reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered the country’s opposition leader a unity government late last year that would promote a regional peace initiative – before backing out. Haaretz reports Sunday that Netanyahu sent a document to Isaac Herzog detailing a willingness to make compromises for the creation of a Palestinian state and to rein in West Bank Jewish settlement construction.

Jewish event a proud moment

Congratulations to Las Vegas’ Jewish University for the Feb. 15 Night of Tolerance, a tribute to eminent Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel. Wiesel died last year at the age of 87. He was a Holocaust survivor of the Nazi death camps.

Why Trump won’t tear up Iran nuclear deal

He was referring, of course, to the Iran agreement that is meant to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of the ayatollahs for at least a decade. Candidate Trump boasted he would rip up the agreement, then renegotiate a much better document.

Facebook’s Grovelling Apology To Fatah

A few days it was widely reported that Fatah had their Facebook page closed down, due to the “campaign the social media platform is carrying out against accounts that promote violence.” Munir Jaghoub, a spokesman of Fatah’s Mobilization and Organization commissariat, told The Jerusalem Post that he believes Facebook closed the account because of a historic photo of former PA president Yasser Arafat grasping a rifle, while standing alongside Fatah Vice Chairman Mahmoud al-Aloul.