by admin | May 25, 2021 | Investing, Muslim World
Benjamin Netanyahu
Jerusalem : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government will soon publish a multi-year plan to boost infrastructure with a budget of 116 billion shekels ($32.4 billion).
“We are forwarding a plan for developing national infrastructure,” Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, adding that the private sector would also be involved in the plan, Xinhua news agency reported.
The multi-year plan is expected to incorporate all of the infrastructure projects in Israel until 2021, he said.
Bank of Israel Governor Karnit Flug told the meeting that public transportation should be a major area of investment.
“The infrastructure in Israel is insufficient, particularly in the area of public transportation, and mainly in the major cities, but also in the electricity delivery system and in communications infrastructure,” she said.
She warned that the volume of annual investment is low by international comparison.
Flug said that the government should set a special inter-ministerial team to monitor and manage public-private partnership (PPP) contracts.
“The use of PPP enables the costs of the project to be spread out over time,” said Flug, adding that “it is important to monitor the budgetary ramifications of all projects over time” to complete the projects as scheduled without major stopping and budgetary deficits.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Jerusalem : Israel signed a deal to buy additional 17 stealth F-35 US-made fighter jets, the Defence Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
The purchase was part of a larger deal to buy a total of 50 F-35 planes, the first of which arrived in Israel in December, Xinhua reported.
The deal was signed over the weekend in the US, the statement said, following a cabinet decision from November 2016, which approved the purchase.
The acquisition is part of Israel’s plan to replace its fleet of F-16 fighter jets with 50 new F-35, citing a need to ensure its military’s qualitative edge in the region.
Currently, the Air Force has five F-35s, all are amidst “absorption process” and are expected to become operational by the end of 2017, according to the military.
The Defence Ministry did not specify the exact cost of the planes but said that in the recent deal, the price of the jets went under $100 million per plane for the first time.
The Ministry said that due to the lower price, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) will consider buying more planes, expanding the fleet from two squadrons, as currently planned, to three squadrons.
In 2011, Israel and Washington signed a Memorandum of Understandings, in which the US Administration committed to enabling Israel to buy 75 F-35s.
Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman praised the deal as “a significant and strategic addition of strength to the Air Force.”
“The F-35 squadrons are the pinnacle of technology and will assist the IDF and air force in meeting the many security challenges Israel faces head-on. They are a central aspect of protecting the safety of the people of Israel along the country’s borders and even away from them,” he said in a statement.
The high-tech fighter bombers have stealth capability that makes it nearly invisible to radars and can carry an increased number of bombs.
The aircraft, manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp., was criticized in the US Congress over its costs and alleged engineering flaws.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance, News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi being received by the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, on his arrival, at Ben Gurion Airport, in Tel Aviv, Israel (Photo Credit PIB)
Tel Aviv (IANS) Narendra Modi on Tuesday became the first-ever Indian Prime Minister to step on Israeli soil, undertaking a ‘ground breaking’ visit and declaring cooperation in tackling terrorism, while his host Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that they want to forge a historic partnership with India for which even sky is not the limit.
Israel rolled out a red carpet welcome as the Air India One aircraft landed at Tel Aviv’s International Airport on a warm afternoon with Netanyahu setting aside protocol and receiving Modi, who is making the visit 25 years after India established diplomatic ties with the Jewish nation, with a handshake and a hug.
Normally Israeli Prime Ministers go to the airport to receive only the US Presidents and a few western leaders. As Gujarat Chief Minister Modi has visited Israel on an earlier occasion.
“Excellency and friends, my visit marks a path breaking journey of engagement, a journey that we are excited to undertake together for the good of our people and societies. As we march together a strong and resilient partnership with Israel will be my intent and focus,” he said in a brief speech after he was welcomed warmly by his host.
“It is my singular honour to be the first Prime Minister to undertake this ground breaking visit to Israel,” Modi, clad in an off-white bandhgala suit, said in a brief speech to reciprocate the welcome given by Netanyahu and his cabinet.
“I want to thank my friend Prime Minister Netanyahu for the invitation and receiving me with so much warmth,” he said, adding this symbolises the centuries-old links between the two societies.
India, he said, has maintained a strong and sustained upswing in the ties after establishing full relationship 25 years ago.
He said people of Israel have built a nation on democratic principles and nurtured it with hard work, grit and spirit of innovation. They have marched on regardless of adversity and converted challenges into opportunities. “India applauds your achievements,” he said.
He also recalled that on July 4, 41 years ago, Netanyahu’s elder brother, Yonatan was part of the commandos in the Operation Entebbe in Uganda to rescue over 100 Israeli civilians in the airport, and in the process sacrificed his life. He became an inspiration for the younger generation.
Modi said in India, a very old civilisation, there were 800 million people below the age of 35 years and they were the driving force and propelling his vision to transform India, its industry, its economy, its way of doing business and its interface with the world.
Modi said in India’s path of sustained high growth and all round development India counts Israel among its important partners. They need to rely on science, technology, innovation and hard technical education to overcome the developmental challenges that are common to both the countries.
He said alongside building a partnership for shared economic prosperity, India and Israel are also cooperating to secure their societies against common threats such as terrorism. “A progressive partnership in all these areas would share the scope of my conversation with the Prime Minister, my friend Netanyahu,” he said.
Modi said he was also keen to interact with the Indian diaspora in Israel, including a large number of Jews of Indian origin who have enriched both the societies.
In his welcome address, Netanyahu said Israel has been waiting for a long time for this visit. “Apka swagat hai mere dost. We have been waiting almost 70 years, in fact, because your’s is a truly historic visit. It is the first time that an Indian Prime Minister is visiting Israel. We receive you with open arms. We love India. We admire your culture, your democracy and your commitment to progress.”
Recalling his first meeting with Modi three years ago at the United Nations, Netanyahu said both of them agreed to breakdown the remaining walls between India and Israel.
“We shook each others’ hand and forged a historic relationship. We met again in Paris and since then we have spoken many times on the phone. But I remember my friend what you said in that first meeting.
“You said when it comes to India-Israel relations, the sky is the limit. But actually my friend the sky isn’t the limit because today even our space programmes are working towards reaching even greater heights,” he said.
The host Prime Minister said that the ties between the talented and innovative peoples of both the countries is natural. “It is so natural that we can ask what took so long for them to blossom. Well, it took a meeting of minds and hearts. it took a commitment of our governments we have that today,” he said.
Netanyahu said in this visit Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative meets his ‘Make with India’ policy. “We are setting up a $40 million innovation fund as the seed for even greater cooperation on technology between us,” he said.
Hailing him as a great leader of India and a great world leader, Netanyahu said, “Your visit to Israel is a testimony to that.”
Earlier, the two leaders inspected a guard of honour by Israeli defence forces in honour of Modi. Netanyahu introduced his ministers, officials, including the present and former ambassadors of Israel in India and his National Security Advisor.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
The al-Aqsa mosque compound is the third holiest site in Islam [AP]
The decision will apply until next week, when the Muslim holy month ends, a police spokeswoman told the AFP news agency on Tuesday.
Clashes between Muslims and Israeli police have been taking place every morning since Sunday during protests against Jewish visits to the site during Ramadan.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Sunday that its medical team took seven Palestinians to an East Jerusalem hospital for treatment of injuries from sponge-tipped bullets, tear gas and beatings.
Palestinian officials said the trouble began when Israel allowed Jewish visitors into the al-Aqsa compound, the third holiest site in Islam, in breach of a tradition that allows only Muslim worshippers to enter during the last 10 days of Ramadan.
The period, which began on Sunday, is the most solemn for Muslims and it attracts the highest number of worshippers to the site.
Israeli police said officers at the Old City site revered by Muslims and also by Jews – who call it the Temple Mount – arrested four “masked youths who were disrupting visits on the Temple Mount” by non-Muslims.
The al-Aqsa Mosque compound is in the Old City of East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in 1967 – in a move never recognised by the international community – as part of its occupation of the West Bank.
Jews and other non-Muslims can visit the site but are banned from praying there.
(Courtesy:http://www.aljazeera.com)
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Geneva (IINA) – The United Nations said on Wednesday that footage purporting to show the shooting of a wounded Palestinian by an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank last Thursday showed clear “signs of extra-judicial execution”, media agencies reported.
“We are extremely concerned about the apparent extrajudicial execution of a Palestinian man,” spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) Rupert Colville said in a statement regarding the killing of a Palestinian man in Hebron.
“Two Palestinian men allegedly stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron on Thursday morning, and were both shot during the attack. A video later emerged appearing to show one of the alleged Palestinian assailants, subsequently identified as Abd al-Fatah al-Sharif, lying injured but still alive on the ground. Medical staff were shown attending to the wounded soldier, who was driven away in an ambulance, but did not appear to offer any medical assistance to al-Sharif,” Colville said.
“The video then shows an Israeli soldier shooting al-Sharif in the head, killing him. What is particularly chilling is the way none of the 20 or so people at the scene, including medical personnel, appear to pay any attention to the wounded man while he was still alive, and also barely show any reaction in the immediate aftermath of his killing,” he added.
Noting that Israeli authorities had detained the soldier involved in the shooting and a military court has been questioning him, Colville said “A prompt, thorough, transparent and independent investigation is essential”.
“We are concerned this killing may not be a lone incident; a disturbing number of Palestinians, reportedly more than 130 in all, have been killed in recent months,” he said.
“This is not the first incident to be captured on video that raises concerns of excessive use of force. A major concern is that such cases appear not to have been systematically subjected to criminal investigations. This is particularly important in cases that may have involved disproportionate use of force, or possible extra-judicial executions,” Colville said.
UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns said on Wednesday that the killing of a Palestinian man by an Israeli soldier on 24 March in Hebron, West Bank, carried “all the signs of a clear case of an extrajudicial execution”.
“The images shown carry all the signs of a clear case of an extrajudicial execution,” said Heyns. “There does not appear to be any provocation on the side of the gravely wounded man”.
“Whatever legal regime one applies to the case, shooting someone who is no longer a threat is murder. It is furthermore troublesome that this was done to no apparent alarm to the other soldiers who were nearby,” Heyns said.
The UN rapporteur also criticized the decision of the medical personnel on the scene to ignore al-Sharif and treat only the seemingly lightly injured Israeli soldier. “Part of protecting the right to life is accountability where it has been violated,” Heyns added.
More than 205 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops since a months-long wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence began last October, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
On its part, Israel said that 33 Israelis have been killed over the same period in alleged attacks by Palestinians.
