Iran says new combat drone has range to reach Israel
(JNS.org) Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said his country’s new reconnaissance and combat drone, Fotros, has a range of 1,250 miles, meaning it could reach Israel from Iran.
“This drone is able to carry out reconnaissance missions and carry air-to-surface rockets for combat operations,” Dehghan said, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
Dehghan said Iran sanctions by “enemies” cannot “create an obstacle in the path of progress for our defense industries.”
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Israeli flights prepare for possible Iran strike, former national security adviser says
(JNS.org) The Israel Air Force has been conducting “very long-range flights” around the world to prepare for a possible independent military strike on Iran, former Israeli national security adviser Yaakov Amidror said Sunday.
“We are very serious, preparing ourselves for the possibility that Israel will have to defend itself by itself,” Amidror told the Financial Times. “From here to Iran, it is 2,000 kilometers [1,243 miles], and you have to be familiar with such destinations. All those who have radar cover of the Middle East know what we are doing.”
Israel is capable of halting Iran’s nuclear weapons capability “for a very long time,” Amidror said.
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Palestinian Authority offers released terrorists $50K grants, monthly stipends
(JNS.org) The Palestinian Authority has offered the Palestinian terrorists who have been released by Israel over the past three months a $50,000 grant each, as well as a monthly stipend, according to official PA documents obtained by Israel Hayom.
Israel pledged to release 104 prisoners for Israeli-Palestinian conflict talks, and two of the four release stages are complete. According to the documents, the PA has promised prisoners who served 25 or more years in an Israeli jail a monthly stipend of $3,975. Prisoners who were jailed for 15-25 years were promised a stipend of 2,840 a month.
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France’s Hollande in Israel: No deal until Iran renounces nuclear arms
(JNS.org) French President François Hollande, at the start of his visit to Israel on Sunday, assured that his country would maintain opposition to a sanctions relief deal between Iran and world powers that stops short of Iran giving up its nuclear weapons capability.
“France will not give way on nuclear proliferation,” Hollande said. “So long as we are not certain that Iran has renounced nuclear arms, we will keep in place all our demands and sanctions.”
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Saudi Arabia would reportedly join Israel in possible strike on Iran
(JNS.org) Israel and Saudi Arabia, ostensibly sworn enemies, are secretly working together on contingency plans for a possible attack on Iran if the emerging diplomatic deal between world powers and Iran does not significantly curb Iran’s nuclear program, The Sunday Times reported.
According to an unnamed diplomatic source, Saudi Arabia has agreed to let Israel use its airspace for an aerial strike on Iran’s nuclear sites. The Saudis would also cooperate with Israel on the use of drones, rescue helicopters, and refueling tanker planes.
“The Saudis are furious and are willing to give Israel all the help it needs,” the source said.
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Jonathan Pollard’s wife says Peres comments ‘a knife in my heart’
(JNS.org) Imprisoned Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard’s wife, Esther, wrote to President Shimon Peres that he disregarded America’s refusal to free her husband when he recently said, “There is no Israeli request that President [Barack] Obama has not responded to [favorably].”
“Just a week before my husband enters his 29th year in prison, your words, Mr. President, were like a knife in my heart,” Esther wrote. “You sent the message that, as far as you are concerned, my husband does not exist.”
Jonathan Pollard, 59, is the only person in U.S. history to receive a life sentence for spying for an American ally.
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‘Israel Apartheid Week’ endorsed by University of Toronto Scarborough students
(JNS.org) The student union at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) voted to include “Israel Apartheid Week” on its list of student programs. Israel Apartheid Week is part of the larger Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign to isolate and delegitimize Israel.
“The passage of this racist resolution at the University of Toronto Scarborough is a clear declaration of hate and intolerance for Jewish and Israeli students, and an effort to add to the voices calling for the destruction of the Jewish homeland,” said Avi Benlolo, president of Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Center.
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Baby born in IDF Philippines field hospital named ‘Israel’
(JNS.org) The first baby born in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) field hospital in the Typhoon Haiyan-ravaged Philippines was named “Israel,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit tweeted Friday.
The Israeli army’s 148-member IDF Medical and Rescue Response Team, which is being coordinated by Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center, arrived in the Philippines last week with more than 100 tons of humanitarian and medical supplies from Israel.
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Palestinian Authority incitement complaint filed by Israel’s U.N. ambassador
(JNS.org) The murders of three Israel Defense Forces soldiers and one reservist over the last two months—most recently 19-year-old Cpl. Eden Attias—has prompted Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor to file an official complaint on Palestinian Authority incitement with the U.N. Security Council.
“This is the result of education that teaches people to hate. Prejudice and intolerance begin in kindergarten and school and continue on television and in the mosques. The most recent murder (Atias) is further proof of the destructive results of the PA’s goring incitement,” Prosor said.
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Solo Israeli strike on Iran would succeed, nearly 70 percent of Israelis say in poll
(JNS.org) A new Israel Hayom-New Wave Research poll found that 52.4 percent of Israeli Jews are in favor of an independent strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, and 68.8 percent believe a solo Israeli military strike on Iran would be successful.
Asked whether Israel is right to oppose the Iran sanctions relief deal brewing between Iran and the West, 65.5 percent said Israel should continue to oppose the deal, while 16.2 percent said that Israel should support an agreement with Iran.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org