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Israel Approves Town of ‘Trump Heights’ in Golan in Honor of US President

June 16, 2019 News

Golan Heights Cabinet meeting recognizing “Trump Heights”.
Photo courtesy of Kobi Gideon / Israeli GPO

United States President Donald Trump made history earlier this year by recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the strategic Golan Heights region at Israel’s northern border, and on Sunday, Israel made history in return by naming a town for a US President for the first time in 70 years. Ramat Trump, or “Trump Heights” in English, was formally approved by the Israeli cabinet and a sign with the special name was unveiled in a special ceremony in the Golan.

“This is an historic day for us,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in comments released by his office. “We are going to do two things: Establish a new community on the Golan Heights, something which has not been done for many years. This is an act of settlement and of Zionism of the first order.

“The second thing is to honor our friend, a very great friend of the State of Israel, President Donald Trump, who recently recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. He is the first international leader to have done so. He tore the mask off this hypocrisy, which does not recognize what is self-evident.” … Continue Reading

US Accuses Iran of Another Attack on Oil Shipping, Threatening ‘International Peace’

June 13, 2019 News

Iran is attacking oil shipping. Oil Tanker. Illustrative. Photo Courtesy of U.S. Navy. Photo by Mass Communication 2nd Class Nathan Schaeffer

The United States took less than one day to publicly accuse Iran of another attack on oil shipping the Middle East, while also saying Iran is threatening “international peace and security.” And it’s not just world peace that’s at stake. The same day, an organization representing shipping warned the situation could threaten the oil supply of the “entire Western world.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday listed off a series of threats and attacks carried out by Iran in the last two months, starting with a warning to disrupt the sea-borne oil trade in the region’s Strait of Hormuz. Since then, he said, Iran or its proxies have attacked multiple ships, oil pipelines, US soldiers, and an airport in Saudi Arabia.

“Taken as a whole, these unprovoked attacks present a clear threat to international peace and security, a blatant assault on the freedom of navigation, and an unacceptable campaign of escalating tension by Iran,” said Pompeo in comments to the press published on the State Department website. … Continue Reading

Israel Scores against BDS as 30 Financial Accounts of Orgs Promoting Boycotts Shut Down Due to Terrorist Ties

June 10, 2019 News

Israel is pushing back against the boycott movement and their ties to terror. Israeli flags. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock

Organizations in the “Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions” (BDS) movement against Israel are trying to harm the Jewish State financially in an effort to achieve anti-Israel political goals. Recently, Israel’s government and partner groups have turned the tables on them, exposing the links between dozens of those groups to terrorists and pushing financial entities to close their accounts. So far, 30 financial accounts of such anti-Israel organizations have been shut down, according to an Israeli press release.

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan, in a press release by his ministry on Monday, said, “boycott promoters” raised tens of millions of euros from Western countries by disguising themselves as “human rights activists”. Now, the truth comes out.

“We have revealed that the supposed ‘human rights’ NGOs are in reality, filled with anti-Semitic operatives with deep ties to terrorist groups fixated on destroying the State of Israel,” Erdan was quoted as saying. “As a result of our actions, countries and financial institutions are now distancing themselves from these organizations. Our efforts have drastically undermined the boycott campaign, leading to it having much less finances to operate, and barred from receiving financial services.” … Continue Reading

Israeli President ‘Proud’ that Israel the One Place in Middle East Where the Christian Community Growing

June 4, 2019 News

President Rivlin with Christian leaders. Photo courtesy of Mark Neiman (Israeli GPO)

Israel is home to three major world religions—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin is not only glad to see Israel’s commitment to freedom of religion, but also the status of the Christian community in the Jewish State. “These are difficult and painful times for Christians in the Middle East. I am proud that Israel is the only country in our region where the Christian community is not shrinking, but in fact is growing,” said Rivlin on Monday in comments published by Israel.

Rivlin was speaking to leaders of the Christian community in honor of Ascension Day—the day the Catholic Church marks the ascension of Jesus into heaven as recounted in the Biblical Book of Acts.

“The State of Israel, as guardian of this city, is deeply committed to the religious rights of worship and activity of all communities of faith in Jerusalem and Israel,” said Rivlin. “Christians, Muslims and Jews will always be free to worship here. Israeli sovereignty will never compromise religious freedom.” … Continue Reading

Egyptian Help Symbolizes Peace as Nations Assist Israel in Battling Wildfires

May 26, 2019 News

Israel and Egypt worked together on battling the wildfires. Illustrative photo of Israeli PM Netanyahu and Egyptian FM Shoukry. Photo courtesy of by Haim Zach / GPO

Multiple nations assisted Israel in battling the latest outbreak of wildfires that raged in the Jewish state, and Israeli officials made a point of expressing their thanks over the weekend to the foreign countries that helped—including one particular act of support that shows the potential for Middle East peace. “Israeli fire fighters and an Egyptian helicopter were working together yesterday in order to put out a huge fire that broke out in southern Israel. This is what peace is all about,” tweeted Israeli Prime Minister’s Office spokesman Ofir Gendelman on Saturday.

Egypt and Israel were once open enemies engaged in multiple conflicts until a US-brokered peace treaty took effect 40 years ago. Gendelman’s comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi “my friend” in his thanks for Egypt sending a pair of helicopters to fight the fires, according to a press release from Israel’s office.

Even the Palestinian Authority—which has repeatedly rejected peace talks with Israel—reached out to Israel during the crisis, according to Netanyahu, whose comments were published by his office on Friday. Two days later, the Israeli Premier not only took time to thank the countries who helped, but noted their aid says something about Israel too. … Continue Reading

Palestinian Government Senior Official Arrested for Shooting Attacks

May 20, 2019 News

A Palestinian government official was arrested for shooting attacks on busses. M-16 used in the attacks. Photo courtesy of the ISA.

A senior official in the Palestinian Authority Prisoners Ministry was arrested by Israel earlier this year along with a partner for “a series of shooting attacks,” and he even used a vehicle given to him by the Palestinian government to carry out the terrorism, according to the Israel Security Agency (ISA). An ISA press release on Monday said the official, Zakariya Zbeidi, worked with an Arab partner who not only holds an Israeli ID card, but was an Israeli attorney and member of the Bar Association. The partner, Tarek Barghut, also worked with the PA Prisoners Ministry as an attorney.

“That a senior Palestinian Authority Prisoners Ministry official and an Israeli attorney who worked for the Prisoners Ministry carried out severe terrorist attacks while using an official PA vehicle is very grave,” a senior ISA official was quoted in the press release as saying.

The ISA press release said the two were arrested in February following the foiling of another attack. … Continue Reading

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