Shimshon 9

Four Jordanian prisoners handed over by Israel last year to complete their life sentences in the kingdom were released from a jail north of the capital Amman on Wednesday.

The four, who were convicted of killing two Israeli soldiers in November 1990 four years before Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty, received a hero’s welcome from relatives as they walked out of Qafqafa prison carrying Jordanian flags.

(more…)

Absolutely unbelievable:

“How long did it take the Government to hold a discussion of the release of 200 terrorists, including two who caused the murder of Israelis? No more than three minutes All this without having an depth discussion and without hearing the positions of the security arms.

The discussion took place at the start of the Government meeting, and those who arrived late. did not participate in the vote. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who intended to explain at the meeting why she agreed to the move, was not given the floor on the matter and her statement on the matter was delivered by her spokesperson to the press. Moreover, the Shabbak and IDF confirm that they were not even approached on the matter and instead were advised of the matter as a finalized fact.” (Israel Hayom)

Good news:

The Government Press Office in Jerusalem will not provide services to the al-Jazeera television network in the wake of a festive show organized in honor of terrorist Samir Kuntar upon his return to Lebanon. (Ynet)

Next should be CNN & BBC!

This perfectly shows the Arab weakness. When Ahmadinedschad did an antisemitic cartoon contest, Israel responded with a better cartoon contest. Why don`t they respond with an advert- They are fooling themselves. How weak is the arab world, when they are outraged by a well done advert…. bravo !

See the Saudi Arabia’s MBC TV report on the Israeli TV commercial here.

Hamas Spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum said that:

“Barak’s declarations show that the Israeli government failed to cope with Hamas and the Palestinian resistance’s steadfastness, and they also failed because the Palestinian people supports the resistance.” (from Maan News)

Further he added:

“Barak and his fruitless government do not know that if they commit such follies, they will pay a heavy price. Violence, cruelty and terrorism can’t provide occupation with safety and security.”

Now we reached the point that they are laughing at us.

As part of evaluating the competitive landscape of the popularity of nations, in a process referred to in marketing circles as ‘place branding,’ Israel, to no one’s great surprise, comes up short in brand likability, ranking last out of 35 nations included in an August 2006 survey conducted by nation branding expert Simon Anholt, even less attractive to respondents than Indonesia, Estonia, and Turkey. (Read more…)

Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Monday that Israel knew who abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit and where he was being held. (Haaretz)

Instead of releasing more Terrorists in return for Gilad, Israel should just go in there and get him back. We know he is alive and we know where he is and we know who is holding him (Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi). Such an military operation might be very difficult, dangerous and risky, but if a success (the only option) it would give us back the respect we loss during the second Lebanon war and with the prisoner exchange with Hezbollah.

Haaretz reports:

A Hamas official on Sunday said a group of Fatah men returned by Israel to the Gaza Strip were immediately detained by the Palestinian militant group’s security forces.

Further it is reported that Abbas gave the order to send them back:

Israel sent the group back on Sunday after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad withdrew an earlier request for Defense Minister Ehud Barak to allow the Gazans entry to Israel and then to transfer them to the West Bank.

Can anyone out there explain to me why the PA refused to allow these guys into the West Bank? They must realize that Hamas is going to eliminate them.

The Jewish state may command outsized attention in the diplomatic arena, but Israel’s performance on the field of sport has been anything but impressive.

Israel has only won 6 medals  since it  started taking part at the Olympics in 1952. That’s the reason Israel is now on the list of the world’s worst Olympians. Only Peru got less medals than Israel, with 4 medals they are ranked last.

Border Police pulled over a vehicle in southern Israel which was packed with 38 Palestinian children aged 10 to 13 on Thursday. The vehicle was designed to carry only 10 people. The Driver was arrested and taken for questioning by Traffic Police. (Keshet)

According to the PA papers, the Israeli-Jerusalem rat is:
1. Immune to rat poison
2. Aggressive and larger than usual
3. Unafraid of cats and able to scare them away
4. Highly fertile, with females giving birth to 140 young rats a year, four times the normal average
5. Highly selective, as Jewish residents of Jerusalem apparently are not affected by these rats.

“[Israeli] settlers have been bringing chests filled with rats and releasing them in the Old City’s [Arab] neighborhoods; they breed and have become a major curse… the [Arab] residents’ efforts to counter this infestation have failed, especially since cats run away from these rats because of their size and ferocity… All of the conventional efforts to kill them have not succeeded, because they seem to be immune to poison and they breed in the sewers. It is known that this female rat gives birth seven times a year, each time giving birth to 20 babies, which compels Jerusalem’s [Arabs] today to face the dangers of settlement and the infestation of rats…” (Arutz 7)

Can you believe this?

CABINET COMMUNIQUE
(Communicated by the Cabinet Secretariat)

At the weekly Cabinet meeting today (Sunday), 27.7.08:

1. Israel Security Agency Director Yuval Diskin briefed ministers on current security matters. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made the following remarks: “I would like to commend the ISA Director and his fighters over the successful action in Hebron over the weekend (http://tinyurl.com/6jostw). We will not go into details here; it was a very successful action.” The Prime Minister asked to convey his, and the Government’s, gratitude to the ISA, and to the Israel Police special anti-terror unit and the IDF soldiers who also participated.

2. The Cabinet discussed various issues regarding the boards of directors of Government companies and subsidiaries, and of mixed companies. See http://tinyurl.com/6f3bgn for details.

3. The Cabinet approved various amendments to income tax legislation. See http://tinyurl.com/6f3bgn for details.

4. The Cabinet approved the principles of draft legislation regarding dairy production in Israel. Prime Minister Olmert noted that, “The Government of Israel is quietly - but assuredly and without shocks - a very major reform in Israeli agriculture.” See http://tinyurl.com/6f3bgn for details.

Haaretz is reporting that the Palestinian Authority is considering cutting off its diplomatic contacts with Israel and unilaterally declaring statehood.

Unilateral declaration of independence by the PA (or better yet by Hamas!) would have the following automatic effects:
1. Legally validates annexation to Israel of all territory IDF currently holds.
2. Nullifies all agreements Israel has with PA under Oslo, UN and Road map.
3. Frees Israel of any obligation, legal or moral, to allow transit across or over its territory of food and medicine to Gaza and any W. Bank “state”.
4. Shuts off all Israeli supplied water and electricity to Gaza and W. Bank.
5. Shuts off access to Israeli airports and harbors to the “PA state”, which has none of its own.
6. Ends travel documents of PA “citizens” in Jerusalem, turning them into enemy aliens subject to deportation. Ends “VIP” privileges of PA bigshots.
7. Permenently shuts off all diplomatic contact and financial aid from the US, per previous directives from Congress. EU/UN out of the picture.

Please go ahead…

Israel Aircraft Industries has unveiled its newest plane. The plane, whose purpose is airborne early-warning, intelligence-gathering, and air combat command and control (AEW&C), is already in service with the Israeli Air Force.

Can’t see the video? Click here

The aircraft has been modified to include an advanced airborne early warning phased array radar which covers 360 degrees around the plane while in flight. In addition, its command and control systems are heavily automated. The aircraft is based on the GulfStream G550 executive jet, which according the IAI, is extremely fuel efficient for long-range missions.
IAI is currently the leader in the AEW&C market and will present the plane formally at the world-renowned Farnborough Air Show in the UK shortly.