by Hillel Fendel
Avigdor Lieberman, whose Yisrael Beiteinu party is a critical part of Olmert's coalition, will meet with the Prime Minister on Tuesday - and is likely to announce his party's departure from the government on Wednesday.
Signs of Lieberman's discontent have been rife over the past two days. They include, most notably, the beginning of PA-Israel final-status negotiations today (Monday), and Olmert's statement on Sunday that the continued existence of the unauthorized outposts in Judea and Samaria "is a disgrace."
78 - 23= 55, or Less Than Half
Olmert's 78-member coalition is dependent on the continued presence of the 11 MKs of Lieberman's party, as well as the 12 Shas MKs. Without them, the coalition numbers only 55 - less than half of the 120-member legislature. It is widely felt that once Lieberman leaves the government, Shas will not be far behind - leading to the toppling of the government and new elections.
Some feel that Olmert actually wants Lieberman to quit - and that that is why he authorized Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to begin final-status negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Likud MK Silvan Shalom explained, "Olmert wants Lieberman to leave, in order to create an impression ... more »
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Wednesday, January 16
Analysts: Countdown to New Elections Has Begun
by
Jodie A.
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 11:12 PM EST
Lieberman Quits Government
by
Jodie A.
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 11:08 PM EST
by Avi Tuchmayer(IsraelNN.com) Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Is Our Home) party head Avigdor Lieberman announced at a Wednesday morning press conference that his party is quitting the government.
Chief rabbi: Bring all of Falash Mura to Israel
by
Jodie A.
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 11:02 PM EST
Rabbi Shlomo Amar slams cabinet ministers who 'view immigration of Ethiopians as curse,' calls on leadership to allow Falash Mura to immigrate to Israel despite contention of their Judaism by many within Beta Israel itself
"It pains me greatly to hear distinguished ministers make statements regarding the Ethiopian aliyah in such an irresponsible manner," said Israel's chief rabbi in a meeting with the community's kessim (Beta Israel spiritual leaders) at the Chief Rabbinate. "Their words imply that the immigration of millions of Ethiopians to this country is a curse. I wish millions would indeed come," continued Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who also said he has sent a letter on the matter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Several years ago Amar traveled to the Ethiopian city of Gondar to examine the validity of the Falash Mura's Judaism. In a ruling seconded by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Amar determined that their Judaism was not be questioned any further and that therefore under the Law of Return they must be brought to Israel. "I call for these Jews to be released and brought here, every Jew who wants to come here should be brought, after inspection of course, but regardless of whether he is from ... more »
Fast Day Called For Jailed Girls as Allegations of Abuse Surface
by
Jodie A.
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 10:34 PM EST
by Ezra HaLevi(IsraelNN.com) Allegations of police abuse and a call for a public fast day Thursday by leading rabbis herald the third week in jail for seven teenage girls arrested for building a hilltop outpost.
Police forced several of the girls, who are all under the age of 16, to strip in prison, according to their parents. Police also subjected the youngsters to sleep deprivation, a tactic used by the Shabak (General Security Service) when dealing with ‘ticking-bomb’ terrorists, to break their determination. The girls have been held under harsh conditions and have not yet been charged. They refuse to identify themselves or cooperate with the Israeli justice system, which they say has positioned itself contrary to the laws of the Torah. Judges have allowed the police to continue to incarcerate the seven girls, aged 13 to 15, at the Neveh Tirza prison near Ramle, east of Tel Aviv for entering a closed military zone and trying to establish the new hilltop community of Givat HaOr (Hill of Light) near Beit El, north of Jerusalem. The girls are demanding to be put on trial before a court of Jewish law set up by the nascent Sanhedrin. Police declined to respond ... more »
Iran Plans on Destroying Tomb of King Cyrus, Friend of the Jews
by
Jodie A.
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 10:03 PM EST
by Ezra HaLevi
(IsraelNN.com) Iran is planning on submerging the tomb of King Cyrus (Coresh), the Persian King known for authorizing the Jewish exiles to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Holy Temple. According to a report by Omedia, an Iranian organization is demanding that the International Criminal Court take action against those responsible. The Iranian ayatollahs are planning on destroying the tomb as part of a general campaign to sever the Persian people from their non-Islamic heritage; Cyrus was thought to be a Zoroastrian and was one of the first rulers to enforce a policy of religious tolerance on his huge kingdom. Journalist Ran Porat quoted a young Iranian who said that the measures being taken by the Islamic Republic's regime include the destruction of archaeological sites significant to this heritage. "The government is in the final stages of constructing a dam in southern Iran that will submerge the archaeological sites of Pasargad and Persopolis - the ancient capital of the Persian Empire," the report states. "The site, which is considered exceptional in terms of its archaeological wealth and historical importance, houses the tomb of the Persian King Cyrus." Cyrus, who lived from 576-530 BCE, liberated Babylonian Jewry from ... more »
Textbook: Islamic 'jihad' means doing good works
by
Jodie A.
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 09:34 PM EST
Also includes Muslims fighting 'to protect themselves from harm'
US officials 'sold nuclear secrets'
by
Jodie A.
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 09:30 PM EST
'Correspondents in Washington | January 07, 2008
A WHISTLEBLOWER has made extraordinary claims about how corrupt US government officials allowed Pakistan and other states to steal nuclear weapons secrets. Sibel Edmonds, 37, a former Turkish language translator for the FBI, listened into hundreds of sensitive intercepted conversations while based at the agency's Washington field office. She approached London's The Sunday Times last month after reading about an al-Qa'ida terrorist who had revealed his role in training some of the 9/11 hijackers while he was in Turkey. Ms Edmonds described how foreign intelligence agents had enlisted the support of US officials to acquire a network of moles in sensitive military and nuclear institutions. Among the covert tape recordings, she says she heard evidence that one well-known senior official in the US State Department was being paid by Turkish agents in Washington. The agents sold the information to black market buyers including Pakistan. The name of the official, who has held a series of top government posts, is known to The Sunday Times. He strongly denies the claims. However, Ms Edmonds said: "He was aiding foreign operatives against US interests by passing them highly classified information, not only from the State Department ... more »
No Muslims here – just us chickens
by
Jodie A.
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 09:23 PM EST
By Donald Hank
On Jan. 1, the world learned from major news sources that some churches and their occupants were burned in Kenya by Kenyans who didn't like the outcome of a recent election. Were these perhaps Methodists burning Baptist churches? Catholics burning Episcopalian churches? Incredibly, the accounts of online news sources didn't say, suggesting that religion played little or no role. I checked out the first five search results on Google using the search terms: Kenya church burning. These turned out to be the sites of the International Herald Tribune, USA Today, MSNBC, BBC and Los Angeles Times. I found no hint as to who these church incendiaries were. Were they sectarians? Atheists? What were the issues? Finally, I went to lesser-known sites and discovered that a Muslim link is suspected in the church burnings (although to their credit, Muslim clerics there are denouncing the act). No one knows for sure, but here is what we do know. Muslim-backed Raila Odinga lost the election; Christian leader Mwai Kibaki won. Now, nothing in Africa is ever cut-and-dried. Other issues are tribal conflicts, with Kibaki belonging to the Kikuyu and Odinga being of the Luo tribe. Odinga also is believed to ... more »
40-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax increase urged by federal panel
by
Publisher
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 07:02 AM AKST
By RAD SALLEE
A federal panel today recommended a steep increase in motor fuel taxes and an increased emphasis on mass transit to meet the nation's transportation needs and repair its deteriorating infrastructure. In its report, the 12-member National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, appointed by Congress in 2005, recommended increasing the federal gasoline tax by as much as 40 cents a gallon, at a rate of 5 to 8 cents per year. The current federal tax is 18.4 cents per gallon and the state tax is 20 cents. The price of a gallon of regular gasoline has hovered near $3 for months. The report, Transportation for Tomorrow, also recommends congestion pricing — tolls that increase with the volume or speed of traffic — in metropolitan areas. Other tactics suggested include "a freight fee for freight projects and ticket taxes for passenger rail improvements," according to the commission's announcement. Three of the commission members, including the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters, dissented from the conclusions. "Raising gas taxes won't improve traffic congestion. It will only perpetuate our ineffective reliance on fossil-based fuels," Peters said in a prepared statement. "A better way forward is to provide incentives to ... more »
Electoral college bypass approved by 2nd state
by
Publisher
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 06:47 AM AKST
'Current way to elect president no longer serves America well'
A second state has approved a plan that would bypass the U.S. electoral college, giving the presidency to the winner of a national popular vote. The move came this weekend when New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine signed legislation that specifies the state's 15 electoral college votes would go to the winner of the popular vote. Maryland, with its 10 electoral college votes, earlier approved a similar plan. Both are contingent on enough other states approving the plan to provide absolute control over presidential elections. Another state plan also is headed for the desk of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich after lawmakers approved it just days ago. Opponents say the plan threatens the nation's republican form of government and would give unstoppable control over the White House to any coalition the major population centers would choose to create. It would allow New York City to outvote much of the Midwest; Los Angeles could determine the course of a national agenda for the Pacific Northwest. Several other state plans are in various stages of legislative progress, with dozens of other proposals beginning the review process, according to the group National Popular Vote, which ... more »
Kids hitting puberty at three
by
Publisher
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 06:44 AM AKST
GIRLS in Britain are starting to hit puberty at the age of three.
Shocked doctors blame hormones in food and water for some toddlers showing signs of breast growth, The Sun reports. Other pre-school youngsters even experience periods that normally start in their teens – and have temper tantrums just like adolescents. The phenomenon is feared to have become more common since the 1990s – with doctors having to give increasing numbers of tots jabs to keep puberty at bay. The mum of one girl, who at three was found to have the “bone age” of a nine-year-old, told how she was stunned when her daughter began acting like a ratty teen. Hayley Holden said: “She used to slam doors and try and hit me. We’d go to supermarkets and she’d lie on the floor screaming. “At the time, I just thought I had an ‘Omen’ child.” She was stunned when medics told her Ellie-May – now eight – needed hormone injections to stave off puberty. Harley Tedds, now ten, also has the painful jabs. Her mother Bernie said: “At five-years-old Harley was shaving her armpits and legs. “Her face and hands were appearing puffy – the nurse noticed she ... more »
7-year plan aligns U.S. with Europe's economy
by
Publisher
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 06:22 AM AKST
Rules, regs to be integrated without congressional review
By Jerome R. Corsi German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Bush and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at a White House summit meeting last April where they launched the Transatlantic Economic Council Six U.S. senators and 49 House members are advisers for a group working toward a Transatlantic Common Market between the U.S. and the European Union by 2015. The Transatlantic Policy Network – a non-governmental organization headquartered in Washington and Brussels – is advised by the bi-partisan congressional TPN policy group, chaired by Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah. The plan – currently being implemented by the Bush administration with the formation of the Transatlantic Economic Council in April 2007 – appears to be following a plan written in 1939 by a world-government advocate who sought to create a Transatlantic Union as an international governing body. An economist from the World Bank has argued in print that the formation of the Transatlantic Common Market is designed to follow the blueprint of Jean Monnet, a key intellectual architect of the European Union, recognizing that economic integration must inevitably lead to political integration. As WND previously reported, a key step in advancing this goal was ... more »
Battalion of Deborah Tour Date Change By Popular Demand !
by
Publisher
on Wed 16 Jan 2008 12:02 AM CST
Battalion of Deborah
Extreme "Up to Zion Tour" March 28-April 8 Come join the Battalion of Deborah on the Israel Extreme , Up to Zion Tour. This tour date was changed by popular demand. Due to Israel 60th year birthday, tourism is amazing this year. Getting air flights,hotels, has been a challenge to say the least.You know when it is the Lord, doors open, and we were able to keep the same price! Read each day because we have had many changes and great additions to our itinerary. Day 1 March 28 Fri. Leave for Israel Day 2 March 29- Sat. We will arrive at Ben Gurion airport around three in the afternoon.We will have our guide we have had for many years Gilla Tribech who has worked hard trying to get in all of our unusual request.We will board the bus and head up to the Golan Heights to our most favorite place Hagoshrim Kibbutz hotel. We will be stopping at many places on the way depending on when we are able to leave the airport. This hotel is located near the base of Mount Hermon, the tributaries of the Jordan River flow behind your room. For those who ... more » |
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