"The Israeli Navy and Air Force rescued a crew of 11 Ukrainians whose ship began sinking in a savage winter storm Sunday morning on the Mediterranean Sea eight miles west off the Israeli port of Ashdod.
The Moldovan vessel, carrying more than 3,000 tons of metal, was headed towards Ashdod when the ship‘s captain reported water entering the ship, which was rocked by 30-foot high waves in gale force winds of more than 100 kilometers (65 miles) an hour.
Some of the crew had jumped into the sea, but no one required medical care. A Taiwanese crew, also in the area, participated in the rescue operation."
"American pro-Israel activists are planning a massive national 'Buy Israel Goods (BIG)' campaign next Tuesday and hope it will continue every day.
The www.BuyIsraelGoods.org website includes a locator for finding stores in different areas that carry Israeli products.
Previous 'buy-cotts' in the United States and Canada have been highly successful, leaving many stores with empty shelves after buyers cleaned them out, purchasing wine, snacks, cosmetics and hundreds of other Israeli-made products."
"As Palestinian Authority Arabs continue to attack Jewish drivers in Judea and Samaria, one victim has already been partially blinded and remains seriously hurt.
PA militias carried out multiple attacks along Judea and Samaria roads on Friday and Saturday. A rock attack was reported on Saturday night between Kiryat Arba and Hevron; no injuries were reported.
Earlier on Saturday, Arabs hurled firebombs at an IDF guard station near a Jewish neighborhood of Hevron. The soldiers were not hurt, and managed to capture two of the attackers."
"Israel has become the seventh country in Google’s plan to expand its control over the internet video advertising market.
According to the Globes business news service, the Internet search engine giant has chosen Israel for its video advertising pilot using the self-broadcast, video sharing YouTube site.
Local advertising agencies in the Jewish State will participate in the program, which runs for a year and is aimed increasing the use of the Google-owned video platform."
"A Jewish man from Rechelim, in Samaria, suffered moderate to serious wounds when Arabs ambushed the car he was driving in, hurling a cinder block at him. The block struck his face, causing fractures to his face and skull.
The attack took place at about 2:00 AM Thursday morning near Shiloh, in the Binyamin area of Samaria. The man's car veered into an open ditch as a result of his injury. Eyewitnesses were quick to call security forces, and a Magen David Adom emergency services ambulance team gave him initial treatment and took him to Hadassah Ein-Karem Hospital. Faced with clear signs that terrorists are preparing to abduct IDF soldiers, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi has instructed IDF commanders to reinforce soldiers' awareness of personal security protocol.
Soldiers in Judea and Samaria are believed to be under the greatest threat."
Video below: "OptSat 3000 is one of many technologies and developments presented at Israel's Second Annual International Aerospace Exhibition & Conference, which is taking place in Jerusalem this week.
Developed by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Optsat 3000 is a three axis stabilized, autonomous satellite, designed according to a low weight, low power, and high reliability concept. Officials at IAI report that the satellite features 'high geolocation accuracy and an amazing weight to performance ratio.' The Optsat 3000 offers 'simultaneous panchromatic and multi-spectral imaging capability, high image quality and high agility - the low weight and compact dimensions of the satellite also result in low inertia, allowing for high agility, which enables achieving a very high number of images, widely spread, in one satellite pass.' The satellite is designed for a mission life of more than six years.
Deagel.com reported that 'OptSat 3000 represents the third generation of optical observation satellites developed by IAI/MBT. The spacecraft is based on a small multi-purpose generic platform which is common with TECSAR radar observation satellite. The generic platform can accommodate a variety of payloads. OptSat 3000 is the follow-on for proven Ofeq observation satellites.'
In the following video, Israel National News TV speaks with Yehiel Shalev, head of IAI's Space Division Military Satellite Dept." (source)
"The IDF is training some of its ground troops to take pictures of the battlefield as they fight, in order to provide Israel with ammunition in the information war.
Soldiers from the IDF's elite Egoz infantry unit are about to participate in a photography course taught by IDF field photographers from the Spokesperson's Unit. The course will teach these soldiers the basics of photography, the IDF's official website reports.
The five-day course is being taught in all combat brigades, to small groups of soldiers that are picked from each unit. 'The goal is that in each platoon, there will be a photographer,' explained 1st Sgt. Or Rodansky, one of the field photographers who teach the course."
"Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, says the Jewish State will survive the threat to its existence presented by Palestinian Authority terrorism.
Oren told attendees at the 40th anniversary dinner for the Rabbinical College of America, 'In these times of great [happiness], when we gather together to celebrate institutions of learning, it's sometimes difficult to realize that the Jewish people and Israel today face challenges every bit as daunting and seemingly insurmountable as any that has confronted us at any stage of our thousands of years of history as a people.'
The Israeli ambassador, an alumnus of the yeshiva years ago, spoke before some 400 participants. Rabbi Moshe Herson, director of the institution, described the 40 years of Jewish programming that marked the yeshiva, which began as the Achei Temimim Lubavitch yeshiva in Newark, New Jersey."
"Tens of thousands of Muslims chanted 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel' at the annual Hajj pilgrimage, which the Ayatollah of Iran called 'a symbol of spirituality.'
The Arab Ahlul Bayt News Agency reported, 'The pilgrims chanted anti-US and anti-Zionist slogans during the ceremony, also attended by the Supreme Leader's representative for Hajj affairs, Hojatoleslam Ali Qazi-Asgar.
'God is the Greatest', 'Death to Israel' and 'Death to America' were among slogans chanted by the masses in unison as they gathered in the Desert of Arafat near Mecca, where more than 2 million Muslims have gathered."
"Haifa University, known for its left-wing lecturers and disproportionately large Arab student presence, has taken the unusual step of banning a political event sponsored by the Arab 'Balad' party. The reason: MK Hanin Zouabi was scheduled to participate.
The event was to have taken place today, Monday.
The Dean of Students, Prof. Yoav Lavie, explained that he did not approve the event because of the participation of MK Zouabi aboard the Mavi Marmara ship amidst the Turkish-sponsored flotilla several months ago. Films of the event released afterwards showed that Zouabi was on the scene as terrorists on the ship were making plans to attack Israeli soldiers; nine members of the attacking force were killed in the ensuing battle."
"More than 240,000 Israelis took part in International Clean-Up Day, led in Israel by the Jewish National Fund. Participants picked up trash in woods, parks, and other natural spaces.
Among the cleaners were students, soldiers, and members of various youth groups. Several companies got their employees involved as well.
In the north, soldiers worked side by side with special needs students to clean the Lotem reserve. In the Samaria city of Ariel, 500 schoolchildren cleaned while facing challenges and riddles relating to environmental issues."
"A Jewish doctor walked out of an operating room in Germany last week after seeing a Nazi tattoo on his patient’s arm.
'I will not operate on your husband,' he told the patient’s wife. 'I am Jewish.' The patient, a 36-year-old man, bore a tattoo of the Reichsadler, the Imperial Eagle, perched on a swastika.
The 46-year-old surgeon had another doctor finish the procedure, according to the daily Bild, which published an article Friday about the incident in the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Paderborn."
"Visitors to the bi-annual Robotics Conference in Israel had a chance to meet Spiderman, at least in the form of a robot.
The Spiderbot, which was developed by a group of engineers at the Robotics laboratory at Ben Gusion University, was inspired by the legendary comic superhero. The robot can shoot cables with magnetic ends and walk on metal surfaces. In fact, researchers told National Geographic magazine last year that if developed properly, the Spiderbot could move cargo or conduct rescue operations.
Amir Shapiro, the director of the Robotics lab at Ben Gurion University’s Mechanical Engineering department, explained in an interview to National Geographic in October of last year what the robot could possibly do: 'The application of Spiderbot can be for saving survivors in the middle of the ocean where you can imagine people in the middle of the sea and two boats on the sides and the robots are handling to the sides of the boats and holding the survivors and carrying them up to the boat. This is one application, another application is shooting arrows at buildings at the end of the streets and then moving along the street, on top of the street and having cameras and communication hardware.'
Shapiro usually models his robotic creations from animals such as snakes, snails, and even cats. His team recently created a snake-like robot by combining two concurrent wave motions to create a slithering movement.
He has worked with the IDF and crafted wall-climbing robots for intelligence gathering, including a robot that can scale concrete walls by releasing melted glue. In keeping with the animal motif, this robot was designed to act like a snail which leaves a trail of mucus behind. The walk and climb of a cat were his inspiration for a robot with four hooks whose four legs carry fishhooks.
Another one of Shapiro's creations is a robot with compliant magnetic wheels that can clamber on submerged hulls of cargo ships. Shapiro believes that this robot will one day be able to replace divers now check for contraband and bombs, and as he recently told Spectrum magazine: 'A robot can do it safer, better, easier, and much less expensively. A good scanning algorithm can make it very efficient.'" (source)
"Only Jews who lived in 'Palestine' (as Arabs call the Land of Israel) before World War I will be allowed to live in the future Islamic 'Palestinian' state, a senior Hamas official said in an interview published Thursday. This would mean that no Jews aged currently under 96 would qualify for living in that state, regardless of where they are from.
The interviewer for pan-Arab newspaper Al-Hayyat asked terrorist official Haleel Al-Haya if Hamas wants Gaza to become an Islamic emirate. Al-Haya answered in the negative and explained that Gaza will be part of a future state of Palestine, 'between the [Mediterranean] Sea and the [Jordan] River.'"
Video below: "The bi-annual Robotics Conference is taking place in Herzliya, and Israel National News TV was there to meet the developers of the AvantGuard Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle (UGCV). It is a jeep-like robot that takes the place of human soldiers in testing out dangerous territory.
The AvantGuard, which has been already trialed and certified by the Israeli army, features superb maneuverability while operating in harsh terrain environments.
The developers of the UGCV explain that by employing a set of modular payloads and utilizing its inherent endurance, the AvantGuard can be effectively deployed in a variety of combat missions, including advance guard, armed sentry, combat logistic support, and more.
The AvantGuard is controlled by mobile or portable Operational Control Unit. It can also operate in a Follow-Me mode, autonomously trailing a Guide foot soldier or Guide vehicle." (source)
"Most Muslims today are not very knowledgeable in the basics of their religion, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Tsfat, told Israel National News in an interview. The outspoken rabbi, son of the revered late Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, has been in the Israeli media recently, some villifying him over a ruling he gave against renting homes to Arabs.
'If Muslims were knowledgeable', he continued, 'they would realize that G-d has given the Land of Israel to the Jewish people, and they would stop fighting a historical imperative, and acknowledge what their own religious literature says – as the Arabs who fled Israel in 1948 did'.
'Mohammed says very clearly that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people, and that G-d will gather them up out of exile at the end of days. This is true Islam; and Muslim clerics who say otherwise are using their religion to incite, and act against the wishes of G-d,' Rabbi Eliyahu says."
"Following criticism of its failure to remove terrorist content, the video-sharing site YouTube plans a new system that will get terror videos offline more quickly. According to U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner, YouTube sent him a letter describing a new system that will allow viewers to label videos as promoting terrorism.
The site currently allows viewers to flag videos as inappropriate, however, there is no distinction made between videos that promote terrorism or violence and those that are inappropriate for other reasons.
Critics have accused the site of hosting thousands of videos created by various terrorist groups, and of making too little effort to track and remove incitement."
"A Palestinian Authority terrorist attempted to stab a lifeguard at the Kalia beach at the Dead Sea on Wednesday. The lifeguard was lightly wounded in the attack, but managed to overpower his attacker.
The subdued terrorist was arrested and taken in for questioning. Security forces found three firebombs on his person.
The lifeguard suffered injuries to his arm. He did not require medical treatment."
"Anger at Israel expressed this week during Jordan's parliamentary election campaign stems from the fear that the Hashemite Kingdom may be forced to accept back the Palestinian Arabs that came under Israel's sovereignty following the 1967 Six Day War.
The candidates are expressing fears that if talks collapse between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Jordan may instead become the de facto Palestinian state. They use the fear to fuel arguments supporting cancellation of the country's 1994 peace treaty with Israel."
"Two F-16A jets from the 'First Jet' squadron that operates from IAF Base Ramat David attacked two terrorist tunnels in Gaza Friday, but the mission was put on hold twice out of concern for civilian lives.
The tunnels were in Rafiah and Khan Younes and are believed to have served terrorists. Both tunnels were situated in the midst of residential areas. The two pilots – both reservists – identified accurate hits on target and secondary explosions. The IAF jets returned safely to base."
