“For first time since its establishment, Israel is now an energy powerhouse”

Posted on January 2, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Gas pumping from Israel’s offshore Leviathan field gets underway
December 31, 2019

Gas pumping from Israel’s Leviathan offshore natural-gas field got under way on Tuesday after Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry said Noble Energy and its partners had met all necessary conditions, despite ongoing protests from coastal residents and environmental activists warning of pollution emitted by the pumping rigs. The largest energy project in Israel’s history, it is expected that the Leviathan field will yield 22 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. After extraction, the gas will then make a 120-kilometer journey via pipelines to a processing platform 10 kilometers off the Israeli coast. READ MORE

ALGEMEINER Netanyahu Hails ‘Historic Day’ as Israel, Greece and Cyprus Sign EastMed Gas Pipeline Deal Israel, Greece and Cyprus on Thursday signed a deal to build a 1,900-kilometer (1,180-mile) subsea pipeline to carry natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean’s rapidly developing gas fields to Europe. Although Turkey opposes the project, the countries aim to reach a final investment decision by 2022 and have the pipeline completed by 2025 to help Europe diversify its energy resources.

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Netflix series: Alberto Nisman had closed in on the culprit in the Iran-directed AMIA murders, when he himself was murdered

Posted on January 2, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

ALGEMEINER
Netflix Releases Documentary Series on Murder of Argentine AMIA Bombing Prosecutor Alberto Nisman
by Staff
January 1, 2019

Five years after the murder Alberto Nisman — the Argentine federal prosecutor who was investigating the worst terror outrage in the history of Latin America — streaming giant
o Netflix unveiled its new documentary series “The Prosecutor, the President and the Spy” in its latest offerings for 2020. Nisman spent more than a decade probing the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in the Argentine capital, and then later exposed the role of former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and her colleagues in a cover-up of Iran’s responsibility for the atrocity. READ MORE

NBC NEWS Mark Dubowitz and Toby Dershowitz: Argentina’s new leadership carries old baggage of corruption and conspiracy allegations On Dec. 3, former Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner found herself in a Buenos Aires courtroom defending herself against charges that she had diverted $1.2 billion in public funds. The very next week, she was inaugurated as the nation’s vice president, occupying a seat of power that, for now, likely gives her immunity from prosecution.

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German newspaper Bild editor-in-chief: “Trump has freed the world from a monster”

Posted on January 2, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Soleimani was a monster, wanted atomic cloud over Tel Aviv – German newspaper
by Benjamin Weinthal
January 4, 2020

Julian Reichelt, the editor-in-chief of best-selling German newspaper Bild, on Friday authored a barn-burning commentary praising US President Donald Trump for authorizing a military strike to eliminate Iranian General Qassem Soleimani. “President Trump has freed the world of a monster whose aim in life was an atomic cloud over Tel Aviv. Trump has acted in self-defense – the self-defense of the US and all peace-loving people,” wrote Reichelt…Reichelt noted the potential of Iran’s regime to carry out terrorism in Germany and Israel, “in which the kindergartens in Germany could burn up in fireballs at any time because its children are Jewish. In which Israel is under threat of extinction every day.” READ MORE

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“Connecting the dots between high taxes, unsustainable pension costs and slow economic growth is a practice many elected officials in Chicago and Illinois would rather we shut up about”

Posted on January 2, 2020 by ArchitectGuy

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
No, we won’t shut up about the Illinois Exodus. Latest downside: Chicago’s top real estate investors are shopping elsewhere
Editorial Board
January 2, 2020

Several recent Chicago Tribune stories on tax hikes and population losses may have caught your eye. Against the backdrop of rising taxes in Chicago for 2020, U.S. Census Bureau numbers released Dec. 30 showed Illinois losing population for a sixth straight year. Then a column published online Thursday described concern from Chicago’s most loyal real estate developers, who are increasingly looking at out-of-state opportunities. “We love Chicago but are super nervous about the headwinds Chicago faces,” David Carlins, CEO of Magellan Development Group, told the Tribune’s Ryan Ori. READ MORE

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Pro-Iranian militias in Iraq lead mob attacks on the U.S. embassy in Baghdad following US strikes

Posted on December 30, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

JNS
Iran tries to change narrative in Iraq as US faces key decisions following airstrike escalation
by Yaakov Lappin
December 31, 2019

As events unfold rapidly in Iraq, one emerging trend is already clear: Iran is seeking to exploit events to change the anti-Iranian narrative in Iraq and to punish America at the same time for its airstrikes. On Monday, the U.S. Air Force launched attacks on multiple bases of the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah Shi’ite militia in Iraq and Syria, killing dozens of people. The airstrikes came in retaliation for a rocket attack on Saturday launched by the militia on a U.S. base in northern Iraq, killing an American contractor. READ MORE

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Netanyahu: “I will come to court and quash all the ridiculous libels against me”

Posted on December 30, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

JERUSALEM POST
Netanyahu asks Knesset for immunity from prosecution
by Gil Hoffman
January 1, 2020

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday night that he had written a letter to Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, asking him for immunity from prosecution in his three criminal cases. In a speech at Jerusalem’s Orient Hotel, Netanyahu said requesting immunity is not evading justice because it only lasts the term of the Knesset that granted it. He said he was the victim of a court martial and laughed that he has been accused of receiving positive news coverage. READ MORE

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5 rules from a veteran of ‘various security services,’ or how a well-trained team can make the difference between life and death in an emergency

Posted on December 30, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

TIMES OF ISRAEL
Synagogue security: Not a do-it-yourself job!
by Yael Shahar
December 30, 2019

…A handgun is no match for a rifle in terms of stopping power or accuracy. Professional security people train long and hard just to avoid friendly fire instances in a firefight. It is doubtful that most armed congregants will have that kind of training. I can think of nothing worse than a number of people armed with handguns all opening fire in a crowded space. Given that reality, it is preferable to have one or two people with appropriate weapons whose job it is to stand guard during services, and to monitor entrances. READ MORE

DAILY WIRE An Armed And Trained Jew Is The Best Kind Of Jew American Jews — who also disproportionately live in geographically tight-knit urban or suburban areas — tend to be among the least-armed members of the American polity. A 2005 American Jewish Committee study revealed that just 13% of Jewish homes reported owning a gun — less than one-third of the percentage of non-Jewish homeowners.

TIMES OF ISRAEL New York Jewish community hires security czar amid rash of attacks Mitchell Silber, who headed NYPD Intelligence unit, to lead effort aimed at helping Jewish institutions in city and some surrounding areas protect themselves

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NYT ‘editors’ note’ and rewriting the Bret Stephens column post-publication are examples of the Times spinelessly surrendering to the perpetually-enraged faction of its readers

Posted on December 30, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

ALGEMEINER New York Times Editors Falsely Blame Bret Stephens for ‘Mistake’ in Column on Jewish Genius
by Ira Stoll
December 30, 2019

The New York Times has published an “Editors’ Note,” inaccurately accusing the newspaper’s own star columnist, Bret Stephens, of committing a “mistake” by “uncritically” citing a study that Stephens actually did criticize. The Times editors write that the Stephens column had the effect of leaving “many readers” with the “impression” that he was arguing that Jews are genetically superior. Yet the real “mistake” here was not by Stephens but by those readers. READ MORE

JEWISH JOURNAL Bret Stephens Under Fire for NY Times Column on Jewish Intelligence  New York Times columnist Bret Stephens came under fire on social media for an op-ed in which he wrote that Ashkenazi Jews are more intelligent than other people and cited a paper by a researcher who promoted eugenics. The reference to the paper later was removed. “The Secret of Jewish Genius” published on Saturday had received nearly 700 comments on the online edition of The Times by Sunday afternoon when the comments were closed. 

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The elephant in the room: “The muted response to the string of attacks in NYC shows that mainstream U.S. Jewry is indifferent to Haredim and hesitant to condemn those who target them”

Posted on December 30, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

HAARETZ
Most U.S. Jews Don’t Care About anti-Semitic Violence Against the ultra-Orthodox
by Jonathan S. Tobin
December 30, 2019

…Ever since U.S. President Donald Trump conflated opposition to the removal of Confederate statues with support for an August 2017 neo-Nazi march in Charlottesville, Virginia, his critics have alleged that he encouraged extremists and that his coarsening of the tone of American discourse has created an atmosphere in which hatred has thrived. Yet in the overwhelming majority of the reported incidents of violence against the ultra-Orthodox in the New York area, including both the Jersey City and Monsey attacks, the assailants have been African-Americans who are unlikely to be influenced by Trump or white supremacists. READ MORE

THE ATLANTIC  Jews Under Attack Deserve Better Than Selective Outrage There was a time—and it was not that long ago—when regardless of what separated Jews, we made a certain common cause over those who traded in the themes that had caused so many Jewish deaths. You could be religious or secular, liberal or conservative, but protecting Jews in the Soviet Union was a fight we all fought. Jews didn’t look the other way when Louis Farrakhan or David Duke spouted hatred. And an attack on a synagogue was, well, an attack on a synagogue. Times have changed.

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Lawsuit against Arab Bank Plc alleges their involvement “funding terrorist attacks carried out in Israel by Hamas, Fatah, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other Palestinian terrorist groups from 1995-2005”

Posted on December 30, 2019 by ArchitectGuy

ISRAEL HAYOM (by agreement with JNS)
Israeli victims of terror file massive lawsuit against Arab Bank
by Akiva Bigman
December 31, 2019

Over 1,132 Israeli victims of terrorism and families of Israelis murdered in terrorist attacks have filed a 20 billion shekel ($5.8 billion) lawsuit against the Arab Bank Plc, which is based in Jordan. The lawsuit claims that the bank cooperated with, supported, assisted, funded, and encouraged terrorist actions that resulted in thousands of casualties and wounded. This is the first time a bank has been sued for alleged involvement in financing terrorism, although victims of terrorism have filed suits against both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. READ MORE

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