| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, Jan 3 '13, Tevet 21, 5773 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1. Bulgaria Arrest Warrant Issued in Bombing of Israeli Tourists
by David Lev and AFP  Sofia has identified and issued an arrest warrant for one of several foreigners believed to have assisted a man who killed six people plus himself in a bomb attack on Israeli tourists in the resort of Burgas in Bulgaria last July, a senior investigator was quoted as saying Thursday. “The investigation has evidence for the implication of three persons. The identity of one of them has already been established," Stanelia Karadzhova, head of the regional investigation unit in Burgas where the bombing took place, told the 24 Hours newspaper in an interview. A search warrant has been issued, Karadzhova said. She gave no details except to say that the suspect was male and that his country of origin was known, even if he has resided elsewhere for the past six years. Karadzhova also said that the suspected helpers -- thought to number two, possibly three -- and the bomber were never seen together. They also had no phones or laptops, making it unclear how they communicated. They were linked however on the basis of their similar fake identification documents -- all from the US state of Michigan -- and an identical way of life "with few needs, very ordered and simple, like in the army, which suggests they had the same type of training," she added. Bulgaria has already released through Interpol a composite portrait of the bomber, whose severed head and limbs were found at the site of the July 18 attack on a tourist bus at Burgas airport on the Black Sea, as well as a computer-generated image of one of his suspected helpers. The attacker, who Karadzhova said was aged between 20-25 and about 1.80 metres (5.9 feet) tall, was initially thought to have been a suicide bomber but new evidence about his moves in the days before the attack indicated that he did not intend to die. "The possibilities are two -- that he pushed the button himself by mistake or if there was some turmoil, which we do not know, that somebody 'helped' him" by triggering the explosion remotely," Karadzhova said. DNA samples and fingerprints from his remains have so far found no match on any of the available Interpol databases, preventing Bulgaria from identifying him and laying the blame for the attack at any organization. Immediately after the attack -- which killed five Israeli tourists and the Bulgarian bus driver and left around 30 people injured in the deadliest attack on Israelis abroad since 2004 -- Israel blamed Iran and Lebanese terror group Hizbullah. Iran has denied any involvement, but Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had “rock solid” intelligence and evidence that Iran was behind the attack. Comment on this story
2. Will Apple Buy an Israeli Navigation App?
by Elad Benari  The internet is ablaze with rumors that technology giant Apple is about to purchase an Israeli start-up. According to reports on Wednesday on technology website TechCrunch and Israeli website NewsGeek, Apple Inc. is in talks to buy the popular navigation app Waze, developed by Israeli start-up Waze Mobile, for $400 million. Representatives of both sides have declined to comment. Waze Mobile, founded in 2009, offers an application for smartphones, tablet computers, and in-car systems that provides navigation on roads in Israel and several other countries. The application also provides information on traffic congestion, police patrols, accidents, stuck vehicles and speed cameras provided by users who belong to this social network. Globes reported on Wednesday that Waze announced last October that it had raised $30 million from Horizon Ventures, belonging to Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka Shing, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) Digital Growth Fund, and iFund. Horizon Ventures was an investor in Facebook. Altogether, Waze Mobile has raised $67 million. Other investors in the company are Blue Run Ventures, Magma Venture Partners, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and Vertex Venture Capital. The company has over 20 million subscribers, and is active in 45 countries. If the report turns out to be correct, this will not be the first acquisition bid for Waze, reported Globes. It was reported in August that Facebook was in talks to buy the Israeli company. Waze already has a form of collaboration with Apple, as together with navigation device and software company TomTom it provides traffic updates, and apparently also maps, for Apple's navigation program. Comment on this story 
3. Israel Radio Poll Shows Right Running Away With Election
by David Lev  In contrast to more “conservative” polls released Thursday, the weekly poll taken on behalf of Israel Radio by the Geocartographia polling organization shows the solid right trouncing the left, and even the center, in the Knesset elections set for two and a half weeks from now. The poll shows Naftali Bennett's Bayit Yehudi party hitting 18 seats, tied for second largest party with Labor – and shows the Otzma Leyisrael Party, led by MKs Aryeh Eldad and Michael Ben-Ari, as getting six seats in the Knesset. If accurate, the poll indicates that together, Bayit Yehudi and Otzma Leyisrael parties would act as “kingmakers,” making establishment of any government without them virtually impossible. In the Geocartographia poll, the joint Likud/Yisrael Beiteinu list stabilizes its support level at 35, down one from last week. The increased strength for the Bayit Yehudi and Otzma LeYisrael parties seems to be coming from Shas, which, expected to receive 8 seats, weakens noticeably in the poll; last week Shas polled at 12 seats. There was also weakening among center-left parties Hatnua and Yesh Atid, which are polling at 6 and 5 seats respectively. Last week, the Geocartographia poll showed Yesh Atid with 10 seats Also strengthening is United Torah Jewry, which, according to the poll, would receive 7 seats, as would Meretz. The two Arab parties would receive 3 and 4 seats respectively, and far left Hadash would receive 4, according to the poll. Not making it past the minimum number of votes for Knesset representation are Am Shalem, Kadima, and Koach Lehashpia, the new party of Rabbi Amnon Yitzchak. The poll was taken of a sample of 500 respondents and has a 4.2% margin of error, the polling organization said. Experts said that as the elections get closer, more voters make up their minds, and the polls tend to reflect more realistic results.
More on this topic
Comment on this story
4. Education Minister Visits Ariel After Recognition
by Elad Benari & Yoni Kempinski  Education Minister Gidon Sa'ar (Likud) visited the Ariel University of Samaria on Wednesday, his first visit to the educational center since it was officially recognized as a full-fledged university. Last week, Defense Minister Ehud Barak confirmed a government decision to officially recognize the Ariel University Center as a university, after Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein upheld the Judea and Samaria Higher Education Council's (CHE-JS) decision to accredit the school. Major General Nitzan Alon, the Head of the IDF's Central Command, later signed a document that grants the center formal approval as a full-fledged university. The heads of the other universities in Israel have filed a motion with the Supreme Court, claiming that the CHE-JS' recognition of Ariel was riddled with the faults. The motion has yet to be discussed by the Court, but Bar Ilan University has already withdrawn its support for the motion. The other universities fear that having a new university in Israel would affect their government funding. Leftist groups have also condemned the decision to establish a university on "occupied territory". During his visit to Ariel on Wednesday, Sa'ar called on the other universities to follow Bar Ilan, saying, "After Bar Ilan made the right move and withdrew from the Supreme Court motion, I call on the heads of the other universities to embrace their little sister Ariel, and pull the petition." Sa'ar added that "The Ariel University is backed by the entire government, not just by me."
More on this topic
Comment on this story
5. Bennett Interviewer Was Too Tough, Says Govt. Watchdog
by David Lev  Veteran Channel Two broadcaster Nissim Mishal will get a “pass” over his treatment of Bayit Yehudi head Naftali Bennett in an interview two weeks ago, despite the dozens of complaints filed against him for what many viewers considered to be unfair, even nasty, treatment of Bennett. But, said David Regev, the ombudsman of the Second Broadcasting Authority, he had instructed Mishal to “go easy” on political candidates in future interviews. In the interview, Mishal, who has been working in news journalism for over three decades, concentrated on the issue of IDF soldiers disobeying orders they felt uncomfortable with. In the interview, Bennett said that while following orders – in the context of evicting Jews from their homes, as the government is attempting to do in several new communities in Judea and Samaria – was important, it would be understandable that soldiers might feel uncomfortable with those orders, and if that was the case, they should tell their commanders that they are unable to fulfill those orders. Dozens of viewers complained to Regev about Mishal's badgering of Bennett during the interview, his attempting to push the Bayit Yehudi leader for yes or no answers without letting him discuss the context of his response, and failure to give Bennett the opportunity to answer questions. In addition, the viewers said, Channel Two took statements Bennett made out of context, displaying half-answers as headlines and attributing to him statements and views he did not hold. It was, in the words of one complainant, a “hatchet job planned by Mishal to make Bennett look bad.” While he didn't use that term, Regev said that there was “a great deal in the interview to make me uncomfortable.” In a letter outlining his decision on the complaints, Regev said that “Bennett was being badgered by Mishal during parts of the interview. He did not let Bennett answer questions, and frequently cut him off.” The result of the interview was a media firestorm, in which Bennett was accused for nearly two weeks of advocating that IDF soldiers disobey orders if they are asked to remove Jews from their homes in Judea and Samaria in new communities (termed “outposts” by the government) that the government is attempting to eliminate. In a press conference several days after the interview, Bennett sought to deflect the accusations, saying that he had just been trying to express the difficulty soldiers face when being asked to throw anyone – Jewish or Arab – out of their homes. “An order to uproot an Arab village or a Jewish community is a fatal blow to the most basic human rights, and it places the soldiers before a heart wrenching dilemma between human rights on the one hand, and the obligation to obey orders on the other,” he said. Regev said that it was understandable that an interview would want to “uncover” the real views of someone like Bennett, who “according to polls is set to lead the third largest party in the next Knesset,” Regev said. However, he said, a balance needed to be reached. “Even if the interviewee is a public figure, interviewers must preserve the dignity of those they are interviewing, so as not to demean him in the eyes of viewers.” In response to the complaints, Channel Two responded that Mishal was a veteran journalist with a confrontational style, and that he was just doing his job. Although there was a great deal in the interview to justify the complaints, Regev said he was not taking any action against Mishal. Nevertheless, he added, he expected all interviewers to “go easy” on future interviewees.
More on this topic
Comment on this story
6. Study: Gaza Rockets Worse for Bedouin Kids than Jewish Kids
by David Lev  Bedouin youth were angrier and more psychologically distressed than their Jewish counterparts by the rocket fire in November, according to a new Ben-Gurion University of the Negev study. It is the first follow-up study after the two weeks of rocket fire and subsequent Operation Pillar of Defense. Prof. Shifra Sagy, Dr. Sarah Abu-Kaf and Dr. Orna Braun-Lewensohn of the Conflict Management and Resolution Program interviewed 78 Jewish youths and 91 Bedouin youths from the South of Israel about their reaction to the barrage of rockets fired at the South by Hamas in Gaza. During the week of the war in late November, over 1,000 rockets were fired at Israel by Gaza Arab terrorists. Many of those rockets fell in open areas of the Negev - areas where Bedouin encampments were likely to be found. Thus Bedouins in southern Israel were in at least as much danger - perhaps more - than Jews and Arabs living in cities, where it was far more likely that the Iron Dome system would be used to shoot down rockets before they hit population areas. “The Bedouin youth were not only more anxious but also much angrier about the situation than their Jewish counterparts,” said Sagy, director of the Program and chairperson of The Martin-Springer Center for the Study of Conflict Management and Resolution. “The lower level of their coping resources appears as a contributing factor to the Bedouins’ psychological distress.” Many more Bedouin youth than Jewish youth also believed that Operation Pillar of Defense would have neither a short- nor a long-term effect on stopping the rockets, the researchers found. Conversely, the Bedouin youth were much more likely to believe that the Israeli-Arab conflict would be resolved peacefully than their Jewish counterparts, who believed that more wars and conflict were likely before peace could be achieved, the study showed. According to Sagy, one of the ways to prevent psychological distress is to have a high level of personal resilience, which is dependent on coherence – a psychological term referring to how one deals with the world cognitively, emotionally and behaviorally. Measurements of Bedouin youths’ coherence were lower than Jewish youths, “which would also explain their increased psychological stress,” explained Sagy.
More on this topic
Comment on this story
7. Officials: Iran's Ability to Hit Back at Israel Limited
by David Lev  Iran's ability to attack Israel has been compromised significantly in the past year, Israeli diplomats meeting in Jerusalem were told by Defense Ministry intelligence officials. According to the study by the officials, Iran's attempts to prop up Bashar al-Assad and the weakness of Hizbullah has taken a great toll in manpower and treasure from the Islamic Republic. The officials, quoted in Maariv, said that neither Syria nor Hizbullah are in any position to not only start a war with Israel, but would also be largely unable to respond on behalf of Iran in the event of an Israeli strike at Iran's nuclear facilities. Syria is too badly divided at this point to respond, and without the material support in men and weapons from Damascus, Hizbullah would be too feeble to respond effectively. Only if Iran were to directly aid Hizbullah could the Lebanese terrorist group fight Israel as it did in 2006, the officials said, but Iran was likely not to do so, because violating Lebanon's sovereignty was likely to bring the U.S. and Europe directly into the conflict. Hizbullah realizes its weakened position, the officials said, and was unlikely to provoke Israel into a massive invasion of Lebanon, which would put Hizbullah into a much more vulnerable position than it has been in the past. The officials also discussed Egypt, and said that after Operation Pillar of Defense Israel was in a better position, because Cairo was taking active steps to prevent Gaza terrorists from attacking Israel. Egypt fears that it would be dragged into a Hamas conflict with Israel, and Egypt, which is practically broke, cannot afford to alienate foreign governments and banks that it is relying on for an economic recovery, they said. Comment on this story
8. 11 Year-Old Ping Pong Champ Won't Play on Shabbat
by Rachel Hirshfeld  An 11-year-old Jewish girl opted out of competing in the 2012 U.S. National Table Tennis Championships because the final match fell out on Shabbat. Estee Ackerman told The New York Post that she was greatly disappointed to see that her match would be taking place on December 21, a Friday night, and therefore would not be able to compete. “[O]f course I’m disappointed,” she told the paper, adding that she practiced and trained for six months to prepare for the competition. “Ping pong is important to me, but my religion of Judaism is also very important to me,” said Ackerman, who is ranked fourth nationally in the 8-to-11 age bracket. “She had a Shabbos-over-sports moment,” her father Glenn Ackerman, a funeral-home director, told The Post. “She had to withdraw from the event as tournament officials would not reschedule it for after Shabbos.” “Hopefully, other Jewish athletes will also look to Estee to pursue their dreams in whatever sport they choose,” he said. While Estee is only 11 years old, she often beats players in their 20s and 30s, her father told the paper. While she expressed great disappointment at not being able to compete, Estee said she does not blame event organizers for the scheduling conflict, adding that she hopes to one day represent the United States in table tennis at the Olympics. “I hope to try out for the Olympic team and one day bring back a medal for my country,” she said.
More on this topic
Comment on this story
More Website News:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Everyday of Freedom is an Act of Faith for my writings ============> http://robertoscaruffi.blogspot.com for something on religions ===> http://scaruffi1.blogspot.com
Thursday, 3 January 2013
