February 22, 2018
Haley to Abbas: We are ready to talk, but we will not chase after you
UNITED NATIONS – The United States is “ready to talk” Middle East peace with the Palestinians, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday (20th) in remarks directed at Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas during a meeting of the UN Security Council.
“Our negotiators are sitting right behind me, ready to talk. But we will not chase after you. The choice Mr. Abbas is yours,” Haley said. Abbas did not stay in the council chamber to listen to her.
(reuters.com)
AJC: The PA pays people lifetime salaries for committing terrorist attacks on Israelis
Responding to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ UN speech, Tuesday (20th), AJC CEO David Harris said, “Instead of traveling a short distance from Ramallah to Jerusalem to negotiate directly with Israel, Abbas chose yet again to come to UN headquarters in New York to ostensibly advance peace by internationalizing the conflict.”
Harris dismissed as “off the wall” Abbas’ assertion that the Palestinians descend from “Canaanites who lived on the land of Palestine 5,000 years ago.” He added: “Is there no limit to his capacity to rewrite history?” As for Abbas’ claim that he is committed to nonviolence, Harris said, “The PA, in fact, pays its people a lifetime salary for committing terrorist attacks on Israelis. To call that nonviolence is straight out of George Orwell’s 1984.”
(prnewswire.com)
IDF cyber warriors thwart major aviation terror attack
Soldiers in IDF Unit 8200 thwarted a major Islamic State terror attack this past summer which aimed to bring down a civilian airliner headed from the Australian city of Sydney to Abu Dhabi, the army has revealed.
In cooperation with Israel’s intelligence community, soldiers provided exclusive intelligence that they had gathered on an attack that was being planned. This information led to the arrest of the suspects, even as they were in a very advanced stage of executing their terror plot, the army said.
“The thwarting of the attack led to the saving of dozens of innocent lives and demonstrated that Unit 8200 is a player in the intelligence war against the Islamic State,” the army stated.
With operations similar to those of the NSA in the United States, the soldiers of Unit 8200, intercept and collect digital communication and intelligence on Israel’s enemies.
Spread across the country, these online soldiers are on the front line of Israel’s cyber wars 24/7, 365 days a year to identify possible threats and effectively neutralize them.
(jpost.com)
Netanyahu hails Israel’s role in thwarting terror worldwide
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Conference of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem on Wednesday (21st) that Israeli intelligence was responsible for thwarting major terror attacks around the world.
The Israeli intelligence services thwarted the downing of an Australian plane, an unimaginable slaughter,” said the prime minister. “This would have caused a major disruption in global air transport and this is one of dozens of terrorist attacks we have foiled around the world. I think that Israeli intelligence must be thanked for protecting not only Israelis but many civilians around the world.”
(israelnn.com)
Sweden upsets Iran by granting citizenship to alleged Mossad spy
Sweden has granted citizenship to an Iranian scientist who was sentenced to death in the Islamic Republic for the crime of spying for Israel, sparking Tehran’s rage.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency says the foreign ministry has summoned Sweden’s ambassador over the Nordic country’s decision to grant citizenship to the researcher, Ahmad Reza Jalali.
(irna.ir; worldisraelnews.com)
Sharansky warns on building ties with European pro-Israel, anti-Semitic groups – Tamara Zieve
Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky warned the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem on Tuesday (20th) against the growing phenomenon of political groups on the Right in Europe returning to their Nazi pasts, while supporting Israel for its stand against Islamic extremism. “Those who love Israel and hate Jews and those who hate Israel and love Jews are not our partners,” he affirmed.
Sharansky is stepping down from the helm of the Jewish Agency in June after nine years.
(jpost.com)
Egypt’s president says country ‘scored a goal’ with Israel gas deal
Egypt’s president says his country “scored a goal” by signing a $15 billion deal with an Israeli company to get natural gas that will help turn Egypt into a regional energy hub.
Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said in televised comments Wednesday (21st) that the project “has lots of advantages” for Egyptians.
Delek Drilling and its U.S. partner, Noble Energy, signed the agreement on Monday (19th) to sell a total of 64 billion cubic meters of gas over a 10-year period to Egyptian company Dolphinus Holdings. The gas is expected to begin flowing next year.
(timesofisrael.com)
5 years later, Syrian wounded no longer surprised to be let into Israel
Despite mounting tensions between Israel and Syria in the wake of last weekend’s border incidents, the IDF continued this week to provide medical care for seven Syrians who fled the fighting in the war-torn country.
Over the past five years, Israel has opened its gates to 4,071 Syrians who sought help from the country they were taught to hate.
But while Israel will continue providing medical aid to Syrians even if an all-out war breaks out, the project will likely be reduced to only life-saving urgent cases.
Among the seven who came to Israel this week were five adults and two children.
(ynetnews.com)
Portugal says it wants Jews and Jewish investment in country
Portugal wants to encourage more Jews to emigrate to the country and to encourage Jewish investment, its secretary of state for tourism said in the U.S. on Tuesday (20th).
“We want a Jewish presence in Portugal,” said Ana Mendes Godinho,” and we look to Jewish investment.”
“We have a vast Jewish heritage and a very ancient and profound connection to Jewish communities – we have evidence of Jewish presence since 390 AD. It is quite interesting to remember that in the 15th century, 20 percent of the Portuguese population was Jewish, so we always say that many of our citizens may be Jewish,” said Godinho.
In 1497, following the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition, Portugal gave its Jews the choice of conversion or expulsion. The Portuguese Inquisition did not end till 1821, by which time thousands of Jews had been killed, including 2,000 in a pogrom in Lisbon in 1506, and thousands more had been forced to leave the country.
In 2013 Portugal passed a Law of Return for Sephardic Jews and their ancestors to encourage Jews to return.
(timesofisrael.com)
Human bone tissue grown in lab used to repair Israeli man’s leg – Tim Collins
“Game changing” surgery to regrow part of a leg bone using human tissue created in a lab has been undertaken at Emek Medical Center in Afula, Israel. The man involved lost two inches of his shin bone in a serious car accident.
For the experimental tissue-engineering technology, fat cells extracted from the patient were used to create constituent parts which were then grown on a biodegradable scaffold over the course of two weeks. Semi-solid live bone tissue that resulted were then placed back into the patient’s body. Because the cells used to grow the bones are from the patient, this helps to minimize the risk of rejection.
(dailymail.co.uk)
