hz, Author at Netzach Yisrael

Israel fumes as UN board censures ‘apartheid’ and ‘racial domination’ over Palestinians

hzMarch 15, 2017March 15, 2017News

Times of Israel

Israel’s UN ambassador Danny Danon

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations slams the UN’s Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), after the commission releases a report accusing Israel of “apartheid.”

“The attempt to smear and falsely label the only true democracy in the Middle East by creating a false analogy is despicable and constitutes a blatant lie,” says Danny Danon in a statement. “It comes as no surprise that an organization headed by an individual who has called for boycotts against Israel, and compared our democracy to the most terrible regimes of the twentieth century, would publish such a report. We call on the Secretary General to disassociate the UN from this biased and deceitful report.”

Danon was referring to ESCWA Executive Secretary, Rima Khalaf, a Jordanian national.

hzMarch 15, 2017Articles

Algemeiner

Jason Greenblatt meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

By Barney Breen-Portnoy: The Trump administration seems to be adopting a “bottom-up” approach to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking that represents a dramatic shift from that held by the Obama administration over the past eight years, a former State Department Middle East negotiator told The Algemeiner on Tuesday.

“I think it is too early to tell about the details, but if you look at the elements of what Trump is trying to do, they are fundamentally different from what Obama tried to do,” Aaron David Miller — a vice president at the Wilson Center think tank in Washington, DC and a CNN global affairs analyst — said. “However, whether or not they end up in the same place is another matter.”

The Trump administration’s apparent goal, in Miller’s view, is not to reach a comprehensive peace deal now, but rather lay the groundwork for a potential future one — “by working with the Israelis on a set of confidence-builders on one hand, and trying to engage the Arabs states on the other, to get them to press the Palestinians and offer the Israelis incentives to go farther.”

hzMarch 15, 2017News

JTA

The site of a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed 15 people in Jerusalem, August 9, 2001

The United States charged a Jordanian woman with involvement in a suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed 15, including two Americans.

The U.S. Justice Department unsealed Tuesday the charge against Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi, who is in her mid 30s and is also known as “Khalti” and “Halati,” for conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against American citizens.

The criminal charge for Al-Tamimi, which had been under seal since July 2013, was for involvement in a suicide bombing at a Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem that left 122 injured, including four Americans.

According to the U.S. affidavit, Al-Tamimi traveled with the suicide bomber, lead the bomber to a crowded area and provided instructions on how to detonate the weapon, according to the U.S. Justice Department. She had agreed to carry out attacks on behalf of Hamas’ military wing, the affidavit said.

hzMarch 14, 2017News

Algemeiner

A Kuwait Airways Airbus 340

Kuwait Airways is once again facing a legal challenge over its discriminatory policy of refusing to fly Israeli passengers.

The Lawfare Project — a US-based pro-Israel nonprofit legal group — has filed a complaint with a German court in a bid to shut down the carrier’s layover flights that link Europe with non-Arab League countries, such as India and Thailand.

Past Lawfare Project efforts have already led to Kuwait Airways halting service on US-Europe and inter-European routes.

hzMarch 14, 2017March 14, 2017News

Times of Israel

US President Donald Trump and Saudi Deputy Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman

US President Donald Trump hosted Saudi Arabia’s powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House Tuesday, for talks expected to focus on the economy and rolling back Iranian influence.

Trump welcomed the young prince to the Oval Office, as both countries expect to improve ties that were frequently strained under Barack Obama’s administration.

Saudi Arabia is likely to welcome Trump’s harder line on its arch-rival Iran and there is likely to be less friction over Riyadh’s war against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

hzMarch 14, 2017March 14, 2017News

JTA

hzMarch 14, 2017March 14, 2017News

Bloomberg

The shekel’s recent rally means it will likely take longer for Israel’s inflation rate to reach the target range, according to a senior official at the central bank.

The shekel gained 3.5 percent against the dollar in February, the second-biggest gain in an expanded basket of major currencies tracked by Bloomberg, after Israel’s economy unexpectedly grew 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter.

The Bank of Israel has been trying to slow the advance of the shekel, which is trading near its highest level since 2014 and hurting exporters whose overseas sales account for about a third of gross domestic product. It lowered the benchmark interest rate to a record low 0.1 percent in 2015 to boost inflation and rein in the currency, and held it there for a 25th month in February.

hzMarch 14, 2017March 14, 2017News

Times of Israel

In this March 5, 2011 file photo, an anti-government rebel sits with an anti-aircraft weapon in front an oil refinery in Ras Lanouf, eastern Libya

Russia has reportedly dispatched special forces to western Egypt near the Libyan border, amid growing US concerns over increasing Russian involvement in Libya.

The deployment of Russian soldiers, reported on by Reuters Monday, was apparently made in order to further boost Russia’s involvement in war-torn Libya and support Khalifa Hifter, a militia commander in eastern Libya who despite being backed by Egypt has been shunned by the US.

According to unnamed US security officials who spoke with Reuters, the Russian contingent of special forces and drones are operating in the area of Sidi Barrani, some 60 miles from Egypt’s border with Lybia.

hzMarch 14, 2017News

Times of Israel

Scene of an alleged arson attack in the city of Holon in central Israel

A man burned a worker to death at a clinic in the central city of Holon Tuesday morning, before escaping the scene, police said.

The incident occurred at a Clalit HMO clinic on Kaplan Street in the working-class Tel Aviv suburb.

According to initial reports, a patient at the clinic doused the worker and the room she was in with flammable material and set a fire, burning the woman.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders. Several other people were treated for shock, according to the Magen David Adom emergency rescue services.

hzMarch 14, 2017News

JTA

From left: Amnon Shahua, chairman and chief technology officer of Mobileye, Klaus Froehlich, member of the management board at BMW, and Brian Krzanich, chief executive officer of Intel Corp., at a press event at Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Jan. 4, 2017

The U.S. chipmaker Intel will pay $14.7 billion to acquire the driverless technology firm Mobileye in what reportedly is the largest-ever purchase of an Israeli high-tech company.

In a joint announcement Monday, the companies said the combination “is expected to accelerate innovation for the automotive industry and position Intel as a leading technology provider in the fast-growing market for highly and fully autonomous vehicles.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel called Mobileye CEO Ziv Aviram to congratulate him, calling the deal in a tweet a source of “Israeli pride.”

Israel fumes as UN board censures ‘apartheid’ and ‘racial domination’ over Palestinians

Middle East Expert: In Dramatic Shift From Obama, Trump Appears to Be Adopting ‘Bottom-Up’ Approach to Israeli-Palestinian Peacemaking

US charges Jordanian woman for involvement in 2001 Jerusalem bombing that killed 15

Kuwait Airways Faces Further Legal Action Over Its Discriminatory Policy of Refusing to Fly Israeli Passengers

Trump meets top Saudi prince in bid to rein in Iran

Team Israel baseball gear a home run with kvelling American Jewish fans

Strong Shekel Will Delay Return to Inflation Goal, Bank of Israel Says

Russian special forces reportedly deployed to Egypt

Worker burned to death by patient at health clinic

Intel to acquire Israeli tech firm Mobileye for $14.7 billion