The appointment of Jacob Frenkel as Israel's next central bank governor has come under a cloud over his failure to disclose a past allegation of shoplifting, local media said Sunday.
The Haaretz newspaper said that a committee on senior civil service appointments has asked the JP Morgan Chase International chairman to explain why he failed to inform it of a 2006 incident in a duty-free shop at Hong Kong international airport.
"As he was leaving the store, a bottle of cologne that appeared not to have been paid for was found among Frenkel's belongings," the paper reported.
"A security guard then apprehended Frenkel and prevented him from boarding his flight, with the event captured on security cameras," it said.
It added that Frenkel was confined to an airport hotel for 24 hours before being allowed to travel.
He denies wrongdoing.
"Local authorities in Hong Kong reached the conclusion that this was an unfortunate misunderstanding, and expressed their apology and their appreciation that I did not sue them for compensation," he said in a statement published in newspapers on Sunday.
"I expect to take office as governor of the Bank of Israel in early October," he added.
Israeli public radio said that the appointments committee convened to discuss his case on Sunday but was likely to hold several more sessions before reaching any conclusions.
The body itself issued a terse statement which gave no details, not even confirming that it was meeting on Sunday.
"The committee for senior appointments headed by (retired) justice Jacob Turkel which is examining the appointment of Professor Jacob Frenkel to the post of governor of the Bank of Israel will convene in the coming days to continue its discussions," it said.
Frenkel, 70, was named last month to replace former World Bank chief economist Stanley Fischer, 69, who is stepping down from the central bank governorship after eight years on the job.
The nomination still needs cabinet approval.
Frenkel previously held the post from 1991 to 2000.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/07/14/shoplifting-allegation-dogs-incoming-israel-bank-chief/
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Shoplifting allegation dogs incoming Israel bank chief
Israel launches information war against Hezbollah
If you click on the Israeli army’s new Hezbollah website, you will see a red and black logo that reads, “Hezbollah, Army of Terror.” The site is a combination of graphics, text and videos, all focusing on the Lebanese-based, Iran-proxy terrorist organization and its leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.
One link refers back to what Israelis call the Second Lebanon War of 2006, and in fact, the site was launched on the seventh anniversary of that 34-day war between Hezbollah and Israel that was triggered by a cross-border raid by Hezbollah fighters that left eight Israeli soldiers dead and two captured. It ended with a United Nations – brokered cease-fire.
The website warns that Hezbollah today is stronger than ever.
“Seven years later, Hezbollah has developed capabilities to strike anywhere in Israel,” it says.
A neon-green graphic that follows the text shows the different weapons Hezbollah now in its arsenal and how far each one is able to reach. The missile with the longest range, the Scud-D, can travel more than 430 miles, potentially penetrating deep into Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well as Israel, as well as targeting American military assets in the region.
“Since the war, Hezbollah has tripled the size of its missile arsenal,” the website says. “In 2009, an IDF intelligence report revealed that Hezbollah had built close to 1,000 military facilities throughout southern Lebanon. The installations included more than 550 weapons bunkers and 300 underground facilities. Since the report’s release, Hezbollah has continued to build facilities in the region, enhancing its ability to strike at nearby Israeli towns and cities.”
The website says that Israel is in more danger than ever before.
“Hezbollah’s weapons are capable of causing far more substantial damage than its 2006 arsenal,” the website continues. “With its current abilities, Hezbollah is capable of bombarding Israel with continuous, precise attacks over an extended period of time.”
The website is the product of Israel’s new interactive media branch, a spin-off from the IDF Spokesman’s Unit. Lieutenant Colonel Avital Leibovich, the head of the new branch, says some 30 soldiers work there, and put out content in English, Hebrew, Arabic, French, Spanish and Russian. Two of the soldiers, she says, are native Egyptians who moved to Israel about seven years ago.
“This is the first time a military invests in such a platform using confidential information.” Leibovich told The Media Line. “When information will be interesting and high quality it will create a buzz about Hezbollah, and raise awareness about this organization that is sitting on our border with 60,000 rockets [pointed in Israel’s direction].”
Leibovich said some of the information came from classified sources, including combat intelligence troops based on the Lebanese border.
On the other side of the border, however, Lebanese journalists were not impressed with the website.
“This is the kind of information that any person can get on the web,” Farid Chedid, the editor of Lebanon Wire told The Media Line. “There is nothing new – it’s just a compilation of anti-Hezbollah propaganda.”
In Lebanon, Chedid says, Hezbollah is seen as an Iranian proxy, but it also runs a network of schools and clinics, providing salaries to thousands of Lebanese and social services to many more.
The website was put together by Pvt. Gabriel Freund, 25, an immigrant to Israel from Australia with a background in computer graphics.
“We tried to tell the story of the terrorist organization Hezbollah to the world in a way that is easy to share,” Freund told The Media Line. “We tried to make it as interactive as possible. You can see it is user friendly and you can easily access different parts of the site.”
The website also includes animations and videos showing how Hezbollah uses civilian homes from which to launch weapons. It was launched as Israel has undertaken a campaign to convince more of the international community to define Hezbollah as a terrorist organization. Seven states, including the US and Israel already define Hezbollah that way.
Leibovich says the interactive media branch has gained a large following with 340,000 followers on Facebook and more than 35 million page views on YouTube.
“This initiative shows the military has to adapt to a new media war zone which is interactive media,” Leibovich said.
A similar website on Hamas is currently being planned. The Hezbollah website can be found at http://www.idfblog.com/hezbollah/
http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Israel-launches-information-war-against-Hezbollah-319786
Report: Saudi missile sites target Iran, Israel
The discovery is a sign that Saudi Arabia has prepared for the possibility that Iran will become a nuclear power, and it's a reminder that a decades-long truce between Saudi Arabia and Israel is just that, and not a peace treaty, one analyst says.
Saudi Arabia has built missile launch pads that target both Iran and Israel with ballistic missiles, according to imagery and analysis by IHS Jane's, the British security consultancy.
While IHS Jane's analysts did not see actual missiles, the sites include command and control facilities and underground bunkers that likely conceal missiles and launchers nearby, said Allison Puccioni, a senior image analyst at IHS Jane's.
The discovery is a sign that Saudi Arabia has prepared for the possibility that Iran will become a nuclear power, and it's a reminder that a decades-long truce between Saudi Arabia and Israel is just that, and not a peace treaty, says Michael Rubin, an analyst at the American Enterprise Institute who briefs members of the U.S. military on Iran.
The Saudis' "predominant fear is that Iran will become a nuclear power," Rubin said. "They're showing they're serious."
Puccioni said one site, at Al Watah, is about 5 years old and others were apparently build in the mid-2000s. They resemble missile launch sites in China built for the Dongfeng-3 (DF-3), a medium-range missile that can launch a 4,700-pound payload with a range of 1,600 miles. The DF-3 launches from trucks known as transporter erector launchers (TELs).
"We've not seen the TELs but the entire area has drive-in bunkers." she said. "How far it goes into the mountain I can't tell you, but it's wide and tall enough to accommodate a transporter erector launcher."
IHS Jane's analysts concluded that unlike two previously-known sites at Al Sulayyil and Al Jufayr, the new site at Al Watah has a different layout than previously known missile bases and that the new site "potentially serves as a training and storage complex with the ability to perform operational missile launches as required."
Launch pads at the new site also bear markings on the ground that point in the direction of Iranian and Israeli targets, they said.
"Saudi Arabia is likely to begin re-arming its missile stock with more modern and accurate Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs)," said Robert Munks, deputy editor of IHS Jane's Intelligence Review.
Former Saudi intelligence chief Prince Turki al-Faisal said in 2011 that his country would purchase "off the shelf" nuclear weapons if Iran developed its own supply. "For such short notice, the foundations for both nuclear-capable launch vehicles and for acquiring the warheads will need to be laid in advance," Munks said.
Kenneth Pollack, a senior fellow in the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, said the Saudis started buying ballistic missiles from China in the 1980s at a time when Iran and Iraq were warring with similar weapons. The Saudis maintain the weapons as a deterrent to Iran, Iraq and Israel, its chief rivals in the region, Pollack said.
The most significant aspect of the IHS Jane's analysis is what it does not show, Pollack said: The review did not find that Saudi Arabia is investing in new missile capability to counter a growing threat from Iran.
"These are really old missiles," Pollack said. "Wouldn't you want faster, better missiles if only to send a message to the Iranians?"
Rubin says Saudi Arabia's current alliance with the United States and its truce with Israel should not be taken for granted because the monarchy leadership is in flux.
The succession to the Saudi throne passes from brother to brother, and many of that generation are now in their 80s. "Each king may last a year or so if not less," Rubin said.
And among the 3,000 or so princes, there are pro-Western moderates such as Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, as well as others who dislike the United States and lean toward radical ideologies, Rubin said.
"Anyone looking at this structure must recognize that what seems safe today could pose a tremendous threat in the future," Rubin said.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/14/saudi-missile-sites-target-iran-israel/2510157/
US lawmakers call for penalizing Argentina over Iran ties
A number of lawmakers in the US House of Representatives listed Argentina’s conciliatory approach to Iran among reasons to penalize the country economically.
In separate letters, slates of lawmakers wrote John Kerry, the secretary of state, and Eric Holder, the US attorney general, asking them to reconsider a decision to back Argentina’s appeal to the US Supreme Court to reconsider lower court rulings ordering Argentina to come to an agreement with debtors from the country’s 1999-2002 economic crisis, when it defaulted on billions of dollars in debt.
Each letter cites Argentina’s recent improvement in relations with Iran, particularly its recent agreement with that country to resolve the issue of the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center through a truth commission.
The bombing killed 85 people and wounded hundreds.
“We find it extremely troubling that Argentina would be aiding and abetting any process designed to allow Iranian senior officials to rewrite history and disavow the findings from extensive judicial investigations and indictment of senior officials for their role in the 1994 AMIA bombings,” said the July 10 letter to Kerry.
The letter to Holder focuses more on what it depicts as Argentina’s bad faith in dealing with debtors, but also notes increased trade with Iran and the AMIA commission.
Both letters, first reported by the Washington Free Beacon, are top-heavy with Republican signatories, although two Democrats also signed: Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.) is one of five members to sign the letter to Kerry, which was spearheaded by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee; and Meng and Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) were among 12 signatories on the July 11 letter to Holder, spearheaded by Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the House’s Western Hemisphere subcommittee.
Separately, Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) — who both signed the letter to Holder — on July 9 introduced a non-binding resolution that would urge the Obama administration to take steps to remove Argentina from the G-20 forum of leading economies.
Like the letter to Holder, the resolution focuses principally on how Argentina has dealt with its debt, but it also cites Argentina’s recent increase in trade with Iran and the AMIA truth commission.
http://www.jta.org/2013/07/14/news-opinion/politics/u-s-lawmakers-call-for-penalizing-argentina-over-iran-ties
Israeli Official: US Leaks Re: Israeli Strike In Syria ‘Problematic’
Former National Security Council head says Israel careful not to 'push Assad into a corner'
"Israel can attack many targets in Syria, but according to foreign reports it chooses quality targets, such as the Fateh-110 missile, as well as the SA-17 and Yakhont missiles, which can fall into the hands of extremist elements," former National Security Council chief Giora Eiland explained on Sunday.
The New York Times and CNN quoted foreign sources as saying that Israel was behind the July 5 attack on an arms depot in the Syrian port city of Latakia. According to reports, the strike targeted advanced Russian-made Yakhont missiles.
Eiland said the "range of the attacks is very measured, in a way that is not perceived as an intervention in the civil war." He said the attacks in Syria "are clean in that they do not leave fingerprints and are conducted in a way that does not allow the Syrians to photograph the plane or ship which attacked, and in a way that does not push (President Bashar) Assad into a corner."
The former National Security Council head estimates that Assad may decide to retaliate "in a limited manner" at any moment. "In Syria there are hundreds of rockets and missiles that are pointed at Israel and are controlled by the regime. Some of them can reach the Golan Heights, while others are capable of hitting central Israel," he said.
"Assad can order his forces to launch two surface-to-surface missiles with conventional warheads at northern Israel, and even if such an attack causes zero damage, it will pose a problem because Israel will have to ask itself how it wants to respond."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4404790,00.html
Egypt swears in zionist Agentur ElBaradei
Egypt took two large steps toward completing the makeup of its interim government Sunday, as former opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei was sworn in as vice president and former ambassador to the US Nabil Fahmy accepted the post of foreign minister.
Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi, who was appointed last week by interim president Adly Mansour, is expected to announce his full cabinet later this week.
ElBaradei, a Nobel Prize laureate and former International Atomic Energy Agency chief who headed the opposition umbrella National Salvation Front group, was originally considered a candidate for prime minister, but was blocked by the ultraconservative al-Nour Party on the basis of being too secular.
While el-Beblawi is from the same liberal-secular camp as ElBaradei, he is not as prominent or as controversial.
According to NSF spokesman Khaled Dawoud, ElBaradei no longer heads the coalition.
“He is now a vice president for all Egyptians,” Dawoud said.
Mansour oversaw the swearing in of ElBaradei, the latest move by the country’s new leadership to push ahead with a transition plan following the military’s ouster of president Mohammed Morsi nearly two weeks ago.
Thousands of Morsi’s supporters, though, have vowed to continue their sit-in in Cairo until he is reinstated. They have refused to accept his ouster or the military-backed timeline for transition, which calls for changes to the constitution and new elections for parliament and president.
ElBaradei’s NSF group under Morsi was among the president’s strongest critics. The coalition stood with Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi as he announced Morsi’s ouster amid massive protests against his rule.
Fahmy, the new foreign minister, served as Egypt’s ambassador to the US from 1999 to 2008, after holding the top diplomatic post in Japan. Since leaving Washington, he has served as the Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s ambassador at large.
Fahmy takes over from Mohamed Kamel Amr, who submitted his resignation from the post on June 30, the day massive protests against Morsi erupted, leading to his ouster at the hands of the military.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/egypt-swears-in-elbaradei-names-foreign-minister/
Shas leader: National religious Jews ‘aren’t Jewish’
Bennett rebukes Rabbi Shalom Cohen, a member of Council of Torah Sages, for calling non-Haredi Orthodox ‘Amalek’
Economy Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday morning railed against what he called “incitement” by one of the most senior religious figures of Shas. In a video posted Sunday morning (Hebrew) on the Haredi website Kikar Hashabbat, Rabbi Shalom Cohen, a member of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages and the head of the influential Porat Yosef Yeshiva, is seen calling national religious Israelis “Amalek” and suggesting that they aren’t Jews.
Amalek was a Biblical tribe that attacked the Israelites from behind while they wandered in the desert. In the Biblical narrative, its members were designated a special evil deserving of extermination.
Referring to the national religious Israelis by the colloquial Hebrew term for “knit kipa” — the preferred headgear for such Jews — Cohen declared in a sermon delivered Saturday night that “as long as there are knit kippot, the [divine] throne is not whole. That’s Amalek. When will the throne be whole? When there is no knit kipa.”
Bennett did not mince words in response.
“Shame on you,” he wrote on Facebook within an hour of the video’s publication.
“For those who don’t know, Amalek is an expression referring to someone who must be wiped off the face of the earth. No less. At this very moment, thousands of knit-kipa wearers are standing guard from the Syrian border to the Egyptian, from brigade commanders down to the lowliest soldiers, and are spitting blood to defend even the honorable rabbi,” he wrote.
Bennett added: “In these very days, memorial services are being held for my comrades-in-arms who sacrificed their lives in the [2006] Second Lebanon War, some of them secular and others wearers of knit kippot. Some of them fell in ways that earned them medals for valor. The rabbi is calling them, too, Amalek, for God’s sake.”
Bennett bemoaned the fact that Cohen’s words were delivered as he stood next to a seated Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Shas’s spiritual leader, who is viewed by many Sephardi Israelis as the most influential living rabbi.
Bennett has sought in recent weeks to soften what many ultra-Orthodox leaders see as a hardline tone from the current government, which has pursued higher Haredi participation in military and national service and in the workforce. Part of that effort was apparent in his Sunday message as well.
“These days, the Jewish Home [party] is working tirelessly and successfully to lessen the damage to the world of Torah [from government bills forcing Haredi men to work and enlist in the military],” Bennett wrote. “But the Jewish Home, too, is Amalek.”
In the video of his Saturday evening sermon, Cohen is heard quoting Exodus 17:16, in which Moses declares that “the hand upon the throne of the Lord, the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”
“The Sages said [in interpreting the Biblical verse] that ‘the throne will not be whole as long as Amalek exists,’” Cohen said. “That throne [hints at] a knit kipa,” since the letters of “throne” — kes — can be read as an acronym of “knit kipa,” or “kipa sruga” in Hebrew.
“As long as there are knit kippot,” Cohen continued, “the throne is not whole. That’s Amalek. When will the throne be whole? When there is no knit kipa.”
Cohen also rejected the appointment of rabbis who wear knit kippot, and said he had expressed his opposition while standing alongside Israel Prize laureate and knit kipa-wearer rabbi Hayim Druckman “and all the people of Amalek.”
“Those are Jews?” Cohen said.
Bennett concluded his own message with a direct political demand. “Even if you’re not in the government, even if there are political disagreements — you must condemn and reject such discourse,” he wrote to Haredi leaders. “I ask and expect that you do it this very morning, before it’s too late. I won’t allow this incitement against the knit kipa-wearing public to continue.”
A spokesperson for Shas declined to comment Sunday morning on the video of Cohen’s sermon or Bennett’s response.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/shas-leader-says-modern-orthodox-not-jewish/?utm_source=The+Times+of+Israel+Daily+Edition&utm_campaign=27675e3a5e-2013_07_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_adb46cec92-27675e3a5e-51333857
Netanyahu on CBS: Decision On Iran Strike Close
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an interview with CBS
News airing Sunday, said the international community and the United
States have “no sense of urgency” when it comes to Iran’s nuclear
ambitions.
Netanyahu suggested the various conflicts in the Middle East have
diverted the West’s attention and allowed Iran to move forward with
pursuing a bomb.
“I have a sense that there’s no sense of urgency … on Iran,”
Netanyahu told CBS’s “Face the Nation,” according to an advance
transcript. “And yet Iran is the most important, the most urgent matter
of all.
“Because all the problems that we have, however important, will be
dwarfed by this messianic, apocalyptic, extreme regime that would have
atomic bombs. It would make a terrible, catastrophic change for the
world and for the United States.”
Netanyahu didn’t place the blame squarely on the United States,
speaking broadly about the entire international community, but his
comments suggest frustration with the lack of action.
“You know, our clocks are ticking at a different pace,” Netanyahu
said. “We’re closer than the United States. We’re more vulnerable. And
therefore, we’ll have to address this question of how to stop Iran,
perhaps before the United States does.”
Netanyahu also criticized new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whom
the United States has expressed optimism about as a more moderate
alternative to former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
“He’s criticizing his predecessor for being a wolf in wolf’s
clothing,” Netanyahu said. “His strategy is be a wolf in sheep’s
clothing, smile and build a bomb.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/07/14/netanyahu-criticizes-no-sense-of-urgency-on-nuclear-iran/
Yad Vashem ranked a top museum by travel website
Yad Vashem was ranked fourth in the top 25 museums in the world by the travel website TripAdvisor.
Israel’s Holocaust memorial and museum also was awarded the website’s
2013 Certificate of Excellence award given to sites that consistently
receive outstanding traveler reviews.
TripAdvisor is a popular travel website driven by reviews and comments of tourists and travelers.
To qualify for a Certificate of Excellence, tourist sites must
maintain an overall rating of 4 or higher out of a possible 5, as
reviewed by travelers on TripAdvisor. Yad Vashem is currently listed as
first among 146 recommended sites to visit in Jerusalem.
Visitors who commented on the site applauded the “moving and
informative displays” and the “incredible use of architecture, audio
visual, photos, and actual items to recreate a time in history that
should never happen again.”
They called Yad Vashem an “emotional, educational and inspiring
experience” and an “unbelievably moving experience” that is a “must-see”
for any traveler to Israel.
Some 1 million people visit Yad Vashem annually.
Report: Israeli airstrike hit Syrian missile warehouse
Israel was responsible for an attack earlier this month on a missile warehouse in Syria, unnamed U.S. officials said.
A New York Times report on Saturday cited the officials in saying
that Israel carried out the July 5 air attack near Latakia, a major
Syrian port city, targeting advanced anti-ship cruise missiles sold to
the Syria government by Russia.
Israeli officials and Pentagon officials declined to comment to The
New York Times on the report. Syrian rebels have said they were not
behind the Latakia attack.
It would be the fourth Israeli airstrike against weapons targets in Syria in recent months.
Israel has said it will not get involved in Syria’s two-year civil
war, but has indicated that it will attack weapons stockpiles in order
to prevent them from falling into the hands of Hezbollah, a terrorist
group.
Israel in January reportedly struck a weapons convoy in Syria
carrying Russian-made missiles en route to Hezbollah. In May, Israel
reportedly twice struck Syrian missile stockpiles.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the attacks, though U.S.
officials have identified Israel as the attacker in all three incidents.
Russia said last month it would honor its commitment to deliver the
advanced air defense missile system to Syria, despite objections from
the United States, Israel and other Western nations.
Italian Jewry offers support to black gov’t minister targeted by racism
Italy’s Jewish leadership expressed “all the solidarity of Italian
Jews” to a black Italian government minister who has been targeted by
racist slurs and death threats.
In the most recent slur against Minister for Integration Cecile
Kyenge, the vice president of the Italian senate, Roberto Calderoli, at a
rally on Saturday of his Northern League party compared Kyenge to an
“orangutan.”
Kyenge, Italy’s first black national official, immigrated to Italy
from the Democratic Republic of the Congo nearly 30 years ago.
In a statement Sunday, Renzo Gattegna, the president of the Union of
Italian Jewish Communities, called Calderoli’s remarks “shameful” and
“an offense against the institutions and against Italian society as a
whole.”
He added, “There are no misunderstandings when phrases like this are
concerned, only a sense of profound uneasiness and shame for whoever has
made them. All the solidarity of Italian Jews goes to minister Kyenge.”
Since being named to Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s center-left
government two months ago, Kyenge has had to contend with an avalanche
of hate speech, mainly from extreme right political groups. Death
threats have been posted on Facebook.
Letta called Calderoli’s words “unacceptable, beyond all limits.”
Other politicians also condemned Calderoli; some called for his
resignation.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Iran Jewish Leader Criticizes Ahmadinejad for Lauding Holocaust Denial
An Iranian Jewish activist is criticizing outgoing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his remarks hailing his challenges over the extent of the Holocaust.
Nosanchuk is New White House’s Associate Director for Jewish Outreach
WASHINGTON, DC- National Jewish Democratic Council Chair Marc R. Stanley issued the following statement:
“Congratulations to Matt Nosanchuk on becoming the White House’s new Associate Director for Jewish Outreach. Mr. Nosanchuk brings with him a breadth of impressive experience and we look forward to working with him as he serves as the Obama Administration’s official liaison to the Jewish community. Mr. Nosanchuk’s predecessors have been an essential resource for us and they have all demonstrated the President’s deep and personal ties with Jewish-Americans.”
Egypt requests Israeli permission for Sinai offensive
The Egyptian military has asked Israel to allow it to send troops
into the Sinai Peninsula for an offensive against terrorists there.
Egypt made the request this week, the Times of London reported, as
clashes between the military and Islamist factions continue in Egypt.
Under the terms of the 1979 Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, Egypt must
ask Israel for authorization before sending troops into the Sinai.
Egypt received authorization for troop movement in the Sinai earlier
this month, and has asked for such authorization repeatedly since unrest
in the country began in early 2011.
Report: Israel urged Canada to maintain Palestinian aid despite U.N. bid
Israel asked Canada not to cut aid to the Palestinians in retaliation
for their bid for upgraded status at the United Nations, newly revealed
documents show.
Postmedia News reported this week that briefing notes prepared for
Canada’s minister of international development show that Israel urged
Canada to continue its financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority
in the
face of the P.A.’s controversial bid for recognition at the United Nations last fall.
Canada was one of nine countries that voted against the move by the
U.N. General Assembly to grant the Palestinians recognition as a de
facto state.
Ahead of the vote, Canada’s staunchly pro-Israel Conservative
government had warned of “consequences” should the Palestinians push
ahead with the initiative, and there were rumblings that Canada might
stop its assistance to the P.A.
In 2008, Canada committed $300 million over five years for
development projects within the Palestinian territories, of which at
least $40 million was still waiting to be disbursed at the time of the
General Assembly vote, according to Postmedia News.
“There have been increasing references in the past months during
high-level bilateral meetings with the Israelis about the importance and
value they place on Canada’s assistance to the Palestinian Authority,
most notably in security/justice reform,” reads the briefing note, dated
Nov. 2, 2012, and signed by Canadian International Development Agency
President Margaret Biggs. “The Israelis have noted the importance of
Canada’s contribution to the relative stability achieved through
extensive security co-operation between Israel and the Palestinian
Authority.”
The document, obtained by Postmedia, is “heavily censored,” but said
“the emergence of popular protests on the Palestinian street against the
Palestinian Authority is worrying, and the Israelis have been imploring
the international donor community to continue to support the
Palestinian Authority.”
Even though Ottawa responded to the U.N. move by saying it would be
reviewing its current and future aid commitments, it said later that it
would fulfill its $300 million commitment, which expired at the end of
March.
Last month, the Canadian government announced $25 million in new aid to Palestinians.
ex-AIPAC chair, running for Mass. governor
Former AIPAC chairman Steve Grossman, now the treasurer in Massachusetts, said he will run for governor in the state.
On Wednesday, Grossman told a local television station that he plans to announce his candidacy for the November 2014 election at the state’s Democratic Party convention on Saturday. Gov. Deval Patrick is not seeking re-election.
Grossman, a 67-year-old businessman, is a longtime influential Jewish community leader and Democratic activist. He served as chairman of the American Israel Political Action Committee from 1992 to 1997. He has headed the national and state Democratic parties.
The former campaign chair for Boston’s Jewish federation is a philanthropist who has served on the boards of many Jewish institutions.
“Being governor of the Commonwealth is about leadership, and providing leadership that leaves no one behind,” Grossman said.
Grossman, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial primary, is among a growing list of Democratic contenders for the post, including Donald Berwick, former chief of Medicare and Medicaid in the Obama administration, and Daniel Wolf, a businessman and state senator.
No Republican candidates have announced their intentions to run, though many speculate the list may include Scott Brown, a former U.S. senator.
http://www.jta.org/2013/07/11/news-opinion/politics/steve-grossman-ex-aipac-chair-running-for-mass-governor
Report: Mossad agents detained Gaza man in Sinai
Israeli Mossad agents detained a Palestinian in Egypt's Sinai in June, Israeli media reported Wednesday.
An
Israeli judge cleared news of the arrest for publication on Wednesday
and said Wael Abu Rida, from Gaza. He was detained on suspicion of
"offenses of national security," the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth
reported.
A magistrates' court in Beersheba on Wednesday extended Abu Rida's remand by eight days, the report said.
Judge
Yuval Livadaro allowed the publication of some details in Israeli
media, but extended the gag order of other details by 10 days.
The
detainee's wife, Amani Abu Rida, had told Ma'an on July 3 that her
husband disappeared during a visit to Egypt for medical treatment.
The
couple traveled together to Egypt on June 6. Wael Abu Rida suffers
cerebral atrophy and sought treatment at a hospital in central Sinai,
his wife said.
On June 21, Wael received a phone call and left without returning, his wife said.
The
family later received a phone call from the International Committee of
the Red Cross informing them that Wael was in Israeli custody, without
giving any reason for the arrest.
After the phone call, Amani returned to the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=612828
Israel Social TV Video on Mossad Sinai Kidnapping
Via: http://www.richardsilverstein.com/
This is my latest video for Israel Social TV about the Mossad’s kidnapping of Wael Abu Rida in Sinai. Unfortunately, due to the massive unrest presently in Egypt it appears this story will not receive the attention it should from the Egyptian media and citizens. But with this video I’m doing my bit to bring Abu Rida’s plight to the attention of the world.
Unfortunately, due to Israeli censorship and gag orders the video could not mention Abu Rida’s name or the fact that there was a gag order against doing so. That’s Israel!
If you can post it to your own social media accounts and disseminate and promote it, I’d be grateful.
UPDATE: Possibly as a result of our efforts, Israel’s security apparatus just partially lifted the gag order which now permits naming Abu Rida. He of course still remains imprisoned and subject to the whims of the Israeli secret police.
Domestic conflicts in Egypt only benefit Zionists
In a statement released on Thursday, the scholars noted that internal conflicts can push “this important country” toward an “ambiguous and complicated fate and affect the entire region.”
The religious body advised conflicting parties “to stop fratricide,” adhere to the principle of dialogue, and avoid violence as the sole solution to the ongoing crisis in Egypt.
“The Egyptian-Egyptian conflicts have no other result but to make the sworn enemies of the Islamic Ummah happy, especially the Zionist regime [of Israel] which has been wounded by the wave of the Islamic Awakening," they added.
Egypt plunged into violence after the country’s powerful military ousted President Mohamed Morsi, suspended the constitution, and dissolved the parliament on July 3. The military overthrow followed days of mass protests against Morsi.
The army also declared chief justice of Egypt’s Supreme Constitutional Court, Adly Mansour, as interim president.
The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood condemned the move as a military coup and called mass protests demanding the reinstatement of the deposed president.
On Wednesday, the Egyptian Prosecutor General ordered the arrest of Muslim Brotherhood leaders including the supreme leader of the group, Mohammed Badie, on charges of inciting violence.
Many people have been killed in violent clashes involving supporters and opponents of Morsi and security forces over the past few days, with more than 80 deaths reported on July 8 alone.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/07/11/313325/egypt-turmoil-benefits-zionists/
Israel conducts drill to train soldiers for fighting Hezbollah
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| IDF Cowards weeping after defeat |
The war games are underway in a training camp at Elyakim military base near the northern Haifa city.
The camp, built in 2006 following the Israel-Lebanon war, is modeled on a village in south Lebanon. Israeli soldiers undergo training in the camp to learn to fight Hezbollah in the future.
In 2006, Hezbollah forces caused havoc on invading Israeli forces in the south and eastern parts of Lebanon. Israel was forced to retreat without achieving any of its objectives.
The Israeli military frequently violates Lebanon's airspace, territorial waters and border.
The violations contravene United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006.
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which brokered a ceasefire in the war of aggression Israel launched on Lebanon in 2006, calls on Tel Aviv to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/07/11/313358/israel-trains-troops-to-fight-hezbollah/
Another ‘Prisoner X’ in a High-Security Prison: Lawyer Hints This Israeli Spy’s Crime ‘Amazing’
Based first on court filings by the family of Australia-born Ben
Zygier, the so-called Prisoner X who hanged himself in a high-security
Israeli prison cell in December 2010, the newspaper Yediot Ahronot is reporting that another prisoner is being held in similar conditions — including, apparently, a court-ordered ban on naming him or her.
Government authorities claim that the defendant’s rights are still fully respected — including the right to be represented by a lawyer. The attorneys who work on such cases have security clearance, a process usually handled by the Shin Bet domestic security agency.
One of those lawyers, Avigdor Feldman, said on Tuesday that the second anonymous prisoner had also worked for Israel’s security services. Feldman, for some reason, used some tantalizing words in a radio interview (reported by The Forward).
When asked how the second detainee’s alleged crimes compared with those of Zygier, Feldman said: “Without getting into details? Much more grave. Much more sensational. Much more amazing. Much more riveting.”
Rather than teasing us with highly incomplete information, those in the know might consider a serious discussion of treason within Israel’s security services. Was there an epidemic of disloyalty in the Mossad? One or two cases per decade are, perhaps, to be expected. Yet with intelligence officers arrested secretly, and then held without their names being uttered, who is able to weigh exactly what is going on?
As an extra detail of the Zygier tragedy, the Yediot report also said that hi’s Israeli wife visited him in the high-security prison and told him that she had decided to end their marriage. Sources had suggested that a few months ago, as a possible contributing factor to Zygier’s depression.
http://israelspy.com/another-prisoner-x-in-a-high-security-israeli-prison-wing-who-knows-maybe-even-more/
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