M E N O R A H

Palestinian whistleblower expects to be assassinated

Last week, Fahmi Shabaneh, until recently the head of the anti-corruption unit in the Palestinian Authority's General Intelligence Service, spoke openly to the Jerusalem Post about ongoing financial and administrative corruption and sexual scandals in the PA.

In short, Shabaneh revealed that most of the senior Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) officials who came from Tunis when the Palestinian Authority was established in 1993 have for years siphoned off taxes and foreign aid and today have millions of dollars stashed away and own extravagant palaces at home and abroad. More

U.S. pledges $11 million of your tax dollars toward jihadist rehab in Yemen

What could possibly go wrong? Oh, yeah. Jihadists go through the motions and resume the jihad. That's all. "Indonesia tries rehabilitation to wipe out extremism," by Anuj Chopra for The National, January 30:

JAKARTA // Imagine, for a moment, a possible headline in the future: "Osama bin Laden denounces terrorism and renounces jihad."

What are the odds? Is it even possible to wean an extremist like bin Laden off his violent ideology? The likelihood is hard to envisage. More

Ukraine to honor Nazi sympathizers

President awards medals to leaders of Ukrainian nationalist group, who helped Nazis murder Jews

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko announced this week that he had approved medals of commendation for members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), despite their cooperation with the Nazi regime during World War II. More

Hamas: Assassins affiliated with Minister Landau

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said he believes assassins of senior organization member Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai arrived in the region as part of Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau's entourage.

"A week before the assassination Uzi Landau visited the emirates and he may have had people traveling with him under false names and additional citizenships," he said. More

Sen. Scott Brown: Position Paper on the United States - State of Israel Relationship

I have always supported the important relationship between the United States and the State of Israel. Our two countries share a core set of national values including dedication to democracy, life, individual freedoms, religious faith & respect, the spirit of entrepreneurship and a vision of a peaceful future. As our closest ally in the Middle East, Israel lives every day under the threat often or yet shares with the United States an unbroken commitment to peace in the Middle East. Israel's accomplishments against the longest of odds are a testament to the power of these shared values. More

Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel to retain key West Bank settlement in any peace deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Friday that Israel would retain control of a large West Bank settlement under any future arrangement with the Palestinians.

During a tree-planting ceremony in the northern West Bank settlement of Ariel on Friday, Netanyahu reaffirmed the town's historic and strategic significance. "Anyone who understands the geography of the Land of Israel knows how important Ariel is," Netanyahu said. "The settlement enterprise here is the heart of our land." More

Israel should retain ALL of their land!

Tayyip Recep Erdogan has engineered a fresh assault on the already crisis-laden relationship between Turkey and Israel

Turkey's ruling Muslim party: Israeli intelligence ran eavesdropping station from Ankara

The Turkish WAQAT web site ran a long report claiming that for many years Israel kept watch on Syria and Iran from an advanced electronic surveillance station installed at Turkish military headquarters. It was allegedly manned by Israeli intelligence personnel and off-limits to Turks. According to this report, the Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) station eavesdropped on Iranian and Syrian communications networks. More

As I have stated previously, Turkey is one of the end-time countries that attack Israel.

Almond Flowers Produce a Poison Seductive to Bees

(IsraelNN.com) The beautifully-blossomed almond tree which features prominently in Israeli celebrations of Tu b'Shevat has a dark side. Nectar of almond flowers contains 4-10 milligrams per liter of amygdalin, which yields the potent poison cyanide.

It turns out, according to Professor Izhaki, that while amygdalin is poisonous for mammals, it is not poisonous for insects, such as the honey bee. In fact, it may act as a stimulant which attracts them.

The almond in the Tanach (Bible)
The relationship between the Jewish people and the tasty almond is traced back to the Torah.  Almonds were among the produce of the Land of Israel presented by Jacob to the Egyptian Pharoah via his sons in Genesis 43, when they went down to Egypt to buy food during the famine in Canaan.

When leadership roles were being clarified, the staff of Aaron sprouted almond buds to show that he was chosen by G-d in Numbers 17. Jeremiah also was shown an almond branch by G-d in his first prohpetic vision (Jeremiah 1). More

PM: IDF showed true colors

The Israeli aid mission to Haiti landed at the Ben Gurion Airport Thursday and was received at a state reception ceremony by IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Gabi Ashkenazi, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said, "You showed the world what the true IDF is all about."

"Whoever has come to know the IDF over the years is certainly not surprised," Netanyahu said and added, "Our greatest test as a people and a military is the ability to make quick rescue operations while making decisions on the move. You have proved these abilities and have done much more – you lifted men's spirits, the IDF's reputation and Israel. More

Holocaust: Anonymous No Longer

Names of men, women and children identified in the photographic display in the Holocaust History Museum at Yad Vashem.

Identifying the men, women and children who appear in the photographic display restores names and identities to unknown faces, thereby rescuing them from anonymity. Since the new Museum was inaugurated in 2005, survivors and individuals have come forward and identified themselves, their relatives and acquaintances in the photographs on display. More