Israel

Source : Agencies | Jerusalem | 14 Jun 2012

Israel’s state watchdog criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday over his handling of a 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that left nine Turks dead and ties with Ankara in shreds.

Source : IslamTimes | 09 Jun 2012

Obama made the remarks at a meeting between White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew and a visiting delegation of the US Orthodox Jewish community, Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Wednesday.

The US president also called on the audience not to cast doubts on his loyalty to his Israeli allies.

Referring to his amicable personal relationship with Israeli hawkish Premier Benjamin Netanyahu, Obama highlighted that he understands that the Israeli official wishes “no restraints”.

By Pierre Klochendler | IPS | Jerusalem | 01 Jun 2012

A new super-weapon has entered the Mideast cyber arena. First detected on Monday by a Moscow-based security company, ‘Worm.Win32.Flame’ – just call it ‘Flame’ – might be "the most sophisticated cyber weapon yet unleashed" on Iran’s secret nuclear networks.

Source : The Guardian | 22 May 2012

A video released by an Israeli human rights group appears to show settlers shooting at a group of Palestinian protesters while police and soldiers stand by.

The incident was filmed by Palestinians from the West Bank village of Asira al-Qibliya on Saturday afternoon. A 24-year-old Palestinian, Fathi Asayira, was taken to hospital with facial injuries following the shooting.

Source : Al Arabiya | 22 May 2012

Israel is implanting “thousands of fake” Jewish graves in the land surrounding al-Aqsa Mosque “at the pretext of carrying out repair and maintenance works and new excavations” in a bid to lay hand on Palestinian and Islamic endowment lands, Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said in a report on Monday.

Source : The Guardian | 21 May 2012

The Israeli prime minister has stoked a volatile debate about refugees and migrant workers from Africa, warning that "illegal infiltrators flooding the country" were threatening the security and identity of the Jewish state.

By Chemi Shalev | Haaretz | 17 May 2012

Many American senators and congressmen “keep quiet” and refrain from criticizing Israeli policies because they “live in fear” and are “intimidated” by pro-Israeli groups such as the Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI), according to J Street founder and President Jeremy Ben-Ami.

By Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters | Gaza | 14 May 2012

Egypt has brokered a deal aimed at ending a hunger strike by 1,600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, a Palestinian source close to the negotiations said on Monday.

One in three of the 4,800 Palestinians serving time in Israeli jails began refusing food on April 17 in protest against detention without trial and to demand better conditions like an increase in family visits and ending solitary confinement.

By Jillian Kestler-D’Amours | IPS | Jerusalem | 11 May 2012

With more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners weeks into an open-ended hunger strike in protest against worsening conditions in Israeli jails, including two that have gone without food for 72 days, human rights groups say many lives are in danger and are calling for urgent intervention.

"At that stage of a hunger strike, death can happen abruptly. Something can happen to the heart and this is the fear now," said Hadas Ziv, public outreach coordinator at Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I).

By Elad Benari | Arutz Sheva | 12 May 2012

The United States is worried that Shaul Mofaz and his Kadima party’s joining a unity government with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu could result in an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities at any given moment, according to a report on Channel 10 News on Thursday.

U.S. government officials told Channel 10 News that they believe a Likud-Kadima joing government could make a decision about an Israeli attack on Iran at any moment and perhaps even before the U.S. presidential elections in November.