As rocket attacks escalate across Israel’s border with Hamas ruled Gaza, new immigrants to Israel face difficult challenges to their absorption into the general Israeli society. New immigrants from North America and other English speaking countries often find themselves having added stress that their native Israeli neighbors do not share, such as not having full…
Category Archives: Israel
VAT Rate Changes from Israel Tax Authority: Gidi Bar Zakai
In recent news, starting on September 1, 2012, the Israeli Tax Authority with Deputy Director Gidi Bar Zakai has said that the standard V.A.T. rate will increase. It will move from its current 16% rate to 17%. Certainly, this rate change is significant for large purchases. In addition, the government will increase some income tax…
Blair Blasted as Biased Quartet Envoy
The former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is being accused of “parroting” the same demands as Israel is making, de-legitimizing his role as unbiased mediator in the eyes of the leadership in Palestine. Blair Disappoints Palestinians One senior Palestinian leader, Nabil Shaath, has stated that Palestinian officials seriously considered whether or not to make a…
Popularity Rises as Abbas Returns to Ramallah
Thousands Greet Abbas President Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority, returned home on Sunday to a hero’s welcome. Thousands greeted him in Ramallah upon his return from delivering a controversial speech to the United Nations General Assembly in which he called for the creation of a Palestinian State. It is estimated that about…
Ofer Group Private Equity Group & Ofer Group Investments
The Ofer Private Equity Group is part of the larger Ofer Group owned by the Ofer Brothers. Established in 2006, they started to maximize the experience that was had by the Ofer Hi-Tech management team. They have, to date, had three successful exits with ECI Telecom, Tecnomatix and Pharmos. They are part of the controlling…
Israel Clashes with Protesters on Syrian Border
Despite several warnings from Israeli troops to stay away from the border, hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators stormed the fence on Sunday until Israeli troops fired across the Syrian frontier, scattering the crowd in a panic. Syrian television is reporting at least four dead, including a 12-year-old boy, and 15 wounded, with the number of dead…
Electric Cars Coming to Israel
Better Place, the Israel-based electric car company, released its pricing schedule in advance of its introduction of the world’s first nation-wide battery charging grid. Entire Country Within Driving Range The grid will be used to power-up Better Place’s electric cars, soon to go on the market. According to company press releases, the Better Place’s charging…
Israel and Lebanon File Protests at UN Over Border Confrontation
Diplomats representing Lebanon and Israel at the United Nations formally submitted protests concerning the violent border clashes that took place between Israel, Lebanon and Syria on May 15, Nakba Day, this past Sunday. Nakba is Day of Catastrophe May 15th is the day the Arab world calls Nakba, the Arabic word for ‘catastrophe.’ The day…
Abu Sisi Indicted in Beersheva Court for Rocket Attacks from Gaza
Dirar Abu Sisi the 42 year-old engineer who was arrested by Israel while traveling in the Ukraine, was indicted yesterday in an Israeli court for being a member of Hamas and for designing rockets for the Islamist group’s military branch. Indictment for Rocket Manufacture and Membership in Hamas The official summary of the court indictment,…
Israel Approves New Construction in Wake of Massacre
Reports that at least 30,000 people were in attendance at the funeral of five members of the Fogel family, who were brutally murdered on Friday night while asleep in their beds. According to the Israeli army, two terrorists entered the town of Itamar, not far from Nablus, at about 10:30pm. The first house they entered…
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Independent Middle East News
- Salam Fayyad Resigns April 11, 2013by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has reportedly tendered his resignation, after intense criticism against him within the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. It is not yet clear whether PA President Mahmoud Abbas will accept Fayyad’s resignation at this time, although the two have been at odds on several issues. PA offi […]
- Jordan & PA Coordinating Takeover of Jerusalem April 1, 2013by Eitam Abadi Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas signed an agreement on Sunday confirming their “common goal to defending” Jerusalem and their opposition to efforts to “Judaize” Israel’s ancient capital city. PA Religious Affairs Minister Mahmoud al-Habash said the agreement confirmed Jordan’s role as protector of the […]
- Palestinian Sentenced to 6 Months for Facebook ‘Like’ March 30, 2013by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh A Palestinian man who clicked “Like” on a Facebook status criticizing a high ranking official of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority has been sentenced to six months in a PA prison facility. Anas Ismail, 29, of Salfit, near Nablus, was found guilty of “libel and slander.” Ismail said that the PA’s American-trained […]
- PA Sentences Journalist to Year in Prison March 28, 2013by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh Palestinian journalist Mamdouh Hamamreh from Bethlehem was sentenced on Thursday to one year in prison for “insulting” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Facebook. He is the second Palestinian to receive this sentence on the same charges since the beginning of 2013. In early February, 26-year-old Anas Awwad from the village […]
- US Arming Syrian Rebels Through Regional Proxies March 26, 2013by Mahmoud Abu Ghosh Western-backed governments in the Middle East have dramatically increased military aid to the Free Syrian Army in recent months, the New York Times reported on Monday. America’s Central Intelligence Agency has been aiding these efforts, the newspaper added, citing air traffic data and interviews with unnamed officials as well as commande […]
- Salam Fayyad Resigns April 11, 2013