Noam Arnon’s comprehensive doctoral dissertation on the Cave of the Patriarchs proves there is much more to the ancient site than meets the eye.

Posted on November 5, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Secrets of the Cave of the Patriarchs exposed
by Nadav Shragai
November 2, 2021

Over the generations, the cave of the Patriarchs had a place of honor in heritage, tradition, and legend, but it was in religious faith and mysticism where it stood out. Arnon’s work (completed at the Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar Ilan University) now compiles for the first time a scientific database about the cave and its secrets. Its advantage lies in Arnon’s intimate knowledge of the site, which he has lived, breathed, and researched for almost five decades…Over the course of 700 years, ever since the conquest of the Land of Israel by the Mamluks in 1267, access to the site has been denied to Jews and other non-Muslims. READ MORE

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“Israel warns that the ‘right to return’ would destroy the country’s identity as the ethnic-national homeland for the Jewish people”

Posted on November 5, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

FOX NEWS
Biden ditches Trump’s pro-Israel stance on Palestinian ‘right to return’
by Tyler O’Neil
November 11, 2021

The Biden administration abstained from a United Nations General Assembly resolution affirming Palestinian refugees’ right to return to Israel, a move that Israel claims would destroy the country’s identity as the ethnic-national homeland for the Jewish people. The Trump administration had voted against the resolution, and a group of Orthodox Jewish rabbis condemned the Biden administration for reversing this stance. U.S Deputy Ambassador Richard Mills framed the abstention as a return to a former U.S. position that prevailed under Barack Obama. READ MORE

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Foreign minister says Washington welcome to open mission to Palestinians in Ramallah if it wishes

Posted on November 5, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Bennett, Lapid in united front: ‘No place for US consulate in Jerusalem’
by Staff
November 6, 2021

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid presented a united front Saturday in their opposition to the United States reopening its consulate for the Palestinians in Jerusalem. Speaking to the media after the approval of the state budget for 2021-2022, the prime minister said that “there is no place for an American consulate that serves the Palestinians in Jerusalem.” This had been conveyed to Washington “both by myself and by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid,” he said…Lapid backed Bennett up, saying that “If the Americans want to open a consulate in Ramallah we have no problem with that.” But “sovereignty in Jerusalem belongs to one country — Israel.” READ MORE

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Israel Aerospace Industries unveiled a family of new electronic warfare systems to combat a range of threats with targeted beams

Posted on November 5, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

JPOST
IAI unveils new defensive electronic warfare systems
by Staff
November 11, 2021

Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) unveiled a family of new electronic warfare (EW) systems on Thursday which can combat a range of threats, including UAVs, ships, missiles and radar systems. The Scorpius family of systems scans the entire surrounding area for targets and deploys narrowly focused beams to interfere with multiple threats across the electromagnetic spectrum. The system effectively disrupts the operation of electromagnetic systems, including radar, electronic sensors, navigation and data communications. Scorpius has unprecedented receiver sensitivity and transmission power, allowing it to detect and address multiple threats of different kinds simultaneously from much farther distances than it was able to do in the past. READ MORE

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“More than 200 celebrities, including actors Mila Kunis, Billy Porter, Neil Patrick Harris and Helen Mirren, signed an open letter opposing efforts to boycott an LGBTQ film festival in Tel Aviv”

Posted on November 5, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

JTA
Mila Kunis, Neil Patrick Harris, Helen Mirren and over 200 other celebrities sign letter denouncing cultural boycott of Israel
by Shira Hanau
October 27, 2021

More than 200 celebrities, including actors Mila Kunis, Billy Porter, Neil Patrick Harris and Helen Mirren, signed an open letter opposing efforts to boycott an LGBTQ film festival in Tel Aviv. The letter published Wednesday is a response to calls from activists with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to boycott the Tel Aviv International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, also called TLVFest, an annual film festival showcasing LGBTQ films that was founded in 2006. It was organized by Creative Community for Peace, an organization of entertainment industry professionals that works to counter cultural boycotts against Israel. READ MORE

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Abandoning Israel is like abandoning democracy

Posted on November 5, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

WASHINGTON TIMES
The Israel test of the Democratic Party
by Adam Milstein and James Jay Carafano
October 27, 2021

The Democratic Party now faces an important test. Where will it stand when it comes to continuing America’s longstanding, bipartisan support for Israel? Will it banish the far left voices spewing hatred of the Jewish state? Or will these voices eventually become the party‘s mainstream? The answer will determine not only the party‘s cohesiveness but its viability in American politics. Whether they recognize it or not, the Democratic Party is currently undergoing the Israel test, as laid out by Professor George Gilder in his book by the same name. Mr. Gilder argues that Israel, with its vibrant democracy and countless innovations, embodies the triumph of democracy, decency, creativity, and grit. READ MORE

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“The kingdom is open for business and tourists, in the context of rapid social change, which has some conservative Saudis anxious changes are coming too fast”

Posted on November 5, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

AL-MONITOR
Saudi couples flock to beach as kingdom deals with fast pace of social change
by Hussein Nagah
November 1, 2021

News reports over the last week cast doubts and sent contradicting signs about the new policies of openness in Saudi Arabia, through which the kingdom seeks to ease some of its conservative restrictions, aiming to attract investors and help its private sector. The first was about the opening of a new beach in the Jeddah area, which is considered the modern commercial and tourism hub in Saudi Arabia. Pure Beach is located in King Abdullah Economic City…After paying 300 Saudi riyals ($80), a visitor can enter Pure Beach, enjoy music, dancing and a floating water park; no gender restrictions are in place and marital status for couples is not checked. Women wear bikinis and both sexes can smoke the hookah. READ MORE

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Israeli F-15s accompany US B-1b heavy bomber on its way to the Gulf; move comes amid growing threats by Jerusalem and Washington over Iranian nuke program

Posted on October 29, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
IDF fighter jets escort American bomber through region, in tacit threat to Iran
by Judah Ari Gross
October 30, 2021

Israeli F-15 fighter jets escorted an American heavy bomber through the region as it made its way to the Persian Gulf on Saturday, in an apparent threat to Iran. “The flight represents the continued operational cooperation with American forces in the region,” the Israel Defense Forces said…The Israeli military shared photographs and video footage of the flight, showing the American B-1b bomber, which is capable of carrying heavy bunker-buster bombs that would be needed for a strike on Iran’s largely underground nuclear facilities, alongside the Israeli F-15 jets. READ MORE

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Israel gets Biden pick for US ambassador

Posted on October 29, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

THE HILL
Senate confirms Thomas Nides as US ambassador to Israel
by Caroline Vakil
November 4, 2021

The Senate confirmed Thomas Nides to be the U.S. ambassador to Israel in a voice vote on Wednesday. Nides, who was among a list of ambassador nominations that the White House announced in June, had been a former deputy secretary of State under the Obama administration, receiving the department’s Distinguished Service Award. He is currently a managing director and vice chairman at Morgan Stanley. “Amb Nides, I wish you much success in your role & a fruitful tenure at the US Embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem. I’m sure that you will further strengthen the special bond between Israel & the US,” Gilad Erdan, Israel’s ambassador to the United States and the United Nations, said in a tweet on Wednesday. READ MORE

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CAMERA Ridicules #NewYorkTimes With #SadSadIsrael Social Media Campaign

Posted on October 29, 2021 by ArchitectGuy

CAMERA BLOG
NY Times Sells Comical Account of What It Means to be Israeli
by Gilead Ini
October 27, 2021

A New York Times reporter and photographer go into a car. They travel across one of the world’s happiest countries—and find only anger, alienation, and regret. The opening paragraph is phrased like a joke because New York Times coverage of Israel—its efforts to curate, conceal, and contrive the faraway land for its American readers—has descended into hilarity. Indeed, yesterday’s front-page story by Jerusalem bureau chief Patrick Kingsley, which promises to help readers “discover what it means to be Israeli today,” is a comical caricature of the paper’s own biases, exposing much more about the New York Times than about the country it is supposedly covering. READ MORE

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