False Flag? - Bus explodes in central Tel Aviv, first terror attack in the city since 2006

An Israeli police officer looks at a damaged bus after an explosion in Tel Aviv November 21, 2012 (Reuters / Nir Elias)

Source: Russia Today

At least 16 people were injured, one seriously, in a bus bombing in central Tel Aviv at the corner of of Shaul Hamelech and Henrietta Szold streets. The blast was a terrorist attack, police said.

Bystanders were ordered to stay away from the scene of the explosion. Police cordoned off the Azrieli Center compound nearby, but said they did not believe there were other terror plots taking place in the area.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesperson confirmed the bombing was a terrorist attack.

The bomb was not a suicide attack and was triggered remotely. Another explosive that did not detonate was reportedly found on the bombed bus.

This bombing is the first one in Tel Aviv since 2006.

Police are searching for two people involved in the attack, contradicting previous reports of a single suspect. Eyewitnesses reported seeing the bomber flee the scene, Israeli radio said.

A suspect was reportedly taken into police custody about half an hour after the explosion, and was later released.

Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri praised the bombing as a just response to Israel’s recent attacks on Gaza, but stopped short of claiming responsibility, Haaretz reported.

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Israeli police survey the scene after an explosion on a bus in Tel Aviv November 21, 2012 (Reuters / Nir Elias)

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Nuclear Iran more dangerous than attacking Iran: Ehud Barak

Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/26/252833/barak-renews-israel-threats-against-iran/

Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak has once again echoed his country’s concerns about dealing with a nuclear Iran, saying Tel Aviv may attack Tehran if sanctions fail to stop its nuclear energy program.

Speaking during a graduation ceremony at the ministry's National Security College on Wednesday, Barak said Israel might have to make "tough and crucial” decisions about its security, noting that the military option could be preferable to a nuclear-armed Iran.
"I am well aware of the difficulties involved in thwarting Iran's attempts to acquire a nuclear weapon," he said, Israel’s Ynet news agency reported.
"However, it is clear to me that without a doubt, dealing with the threat itself will be far more complicated, far more dangerous and far more costly in resources and human life," he added.
The Israeli minister emphasized that diplomatic measures and economic sanctions imposed on Iran “are not enough to stop Iran's nuclear program."

Barak’s remarks came after Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that the Iranian nation will not give in to Western pressures and that the US-engineered sanctions on Iran will only make Iranian officials more determined to defend the nation's rights.

“They explicitly say that by intensifying the pressure and the sanctions, they are seeking to force Iranian officials to reconsider their calculations. But in reality, we will not rethink our calculations, and we will continue to trod the path of the Iranian nation more resolutely,” the Leader stated.
The United States and Israel have repeatedly threatened Iran with a military option in a bid to force the Islamic Republic to halt its nuclear energy program, which Washington and Tel Aviv claim has a military component.
Iran rejects the allegations of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
Barak's comments about Israel's tough decisions to confront a nuclear Iran come while the Israeli regime has illegally built a nuclear power plant and has hundreds of atomic bombs.
Unlike Iran, Israel is a non-signatory to the NPT and continues to defy international calls to join the treaty.
Israel, which is widely believed to possess between 200 to 400 nuclear warheads, maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity over its nuclear work

Israeli Night of Broken Glass: Africans attacked in Tel Aviv anti-migrant demo

Hundreds of people demonstrate in the impoverished Hatikva neighborhood of the southern Mediterranean city of Tel Aviv on May 23, 2012 (AFP Photo / Roni Schutzer)Israel Out)

Source: Russia Today
http://www.rt.com/news/israel-anti-migrant-demo-061/

Thousands of Israelis, including high-profile politicians, attended an anti-African demonstration in Tel Aviv. The rally turned violent, with attacks on Africans and grocery shop windows being smashed.

The gathering, which took place in Tel Aviv’s Hatikva neighborhood, targeted the influx of African asylum seekers and was organized by Michael Ben Ari, a Knesset member from the National Union party, along with far-right activists Itamar Ben-Guir and Baruch Marzel, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.

Many protesters also blamed the government, and Benjamin Netanyahu specifically, for inaction.

But the rally was also attended by politicians from the ruling Likud party, including Knesset members Miri Regev and Danny Danon. While Regev described asylum seekers as a “cancer in our body,” Danon said the “infiltrators” had to be immediately expelled from Israel.

“We should not be afraid to say the words 'expulsion now,'” Danon was reported as saying.

The crowd carried signs proclaiming messages such as “This is not Africa” and “Stop talking, start expelling.”

But as the sun set the rally turned violent, with demonstrators attacking at least a dozen African men and women who were unfortunate enough to be near the scene. They also smashed the shop front of a grocery store that served the migrant workers, subsequently looting it. Demonstrators also broke the window of a cab driven by a suspected African migrant worker. A bonfire was also lit up in the street. Seventeen people were reportedly arrested.

The rage of those who attended the rally seems to reflect a growing intolerance of the incoming African asylum seekers and migrant workers, even among those in the highest ranks of power.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his ministers that the phenomenon of “illegal work infiltrators” was “very grave,” and that it “threatened the social fabric of society,” Israel’s national security and national identity. He also warned that unless action is taken, the migrants could “inundate” the country and “cancel out its image as a Jewish and democratic state.”

Netanyahu’s words were strongly supported by Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who called for the deportation of asylum seekers.

Thousands of migrants from Eritrea and South Sudan came to Israel, saying they wanted to escape the poverty and political instability at home. Most of them are headed for Europe, but are unable to use their traditional path through Libya because of the ongoing post-civil war strife in the country. Once in Israel, they are looked after by local NGOs and the UN High Commission for Refugees. Most of them settle in Tel Aviv.

The government has been trying to deport refugees from South Sudan back to their homeland, but the motion was halted by the Jerusalem District Court. The court issued a temporary order prohibiting the deportation until it rules on a petition filed by five human rights organization against the state’s decision to deport the immigrants, arguing that their lives may be endangered if they return home. Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is set to appear before the court next week to argue that there is no legal obstacle to the expulsion, as individual checks will show that none of the immigrants face any threats to their lives back South Sudan.

US to okay $1 billion for Israeli missile projects

Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak (L) visits an Iron Dome launcher stationed close to the southern city of Ashkelon, August 21, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/240109.html

The US House of Representatives is set to allocate nearly USD one billion for the 2013 fiscal year for Israel’s missile systems.

On Monday, the House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee appropriated USD 947 million for the Iron Dome, “David's Sling” and a long-range Arrow missile program.

“This funding level is the highest ever appropriated in a single year” for Israeli missiles, Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ), a member of the committee, said in a statement.

The appropriation must be approved by the Senate before being sent on to the White House to be signed by US President Barack Obama.

Tel Aviv plans to spend about USD 680 million on its Iron Dome missile system. The rest will go to other short and long-range missile programs, which are also joint Israeli-American projects.

Tel Aviv is the top recipient of military aid from the United States.

"The Department of Defense has been in conversations with the government of Israel about US support for the acquisition of additional Iron Dome systems and intends to request an appropriate level of funding from Congress to support such acquisitions based on Israeli requirements and production capacity," the Pentagon said in a statement last month.

David's Sling and Arrow programs are joint US-Israel projects, while Iron Dome is an Israeli program.

Tel Aviv spreads falsehood, deceptions against Iran: Israeli daily

Israeli Premier Benjamin Natziyahu

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/239981.html

An editorial in the Israeli daily Ha’aretz says Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak are creating "falsehoods and deceptions on the Iranian issue.”

The article, published on Sunday, said while former Israeli premiers such as Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert did not allow war rhetoric against Iran “to reach apocalyptic proportions,” Netanyahu has baselessly turned the Iranian issue into the be-all and end-all.

According to the editorial, while there is a consensus among experts that Iran's nuclear energy program “is being conducted methodically” and does not pursue a military capability, Netanyahu and Barak are creating "falsehoods and deceptions" on the issue.

“Many people, among them [Israel’s] Chief of Staff [Lieutenant General] Benny Gantz” believe that Iran will not produce a nuclear weapon, the article adds.

Gantz said on April 25 that he does not believe Iran will pursue nuclear weapons after years of efforts made by Tel Aviv and its allies to convince the world otherwise. He described Iran's leadership as “very rational,” who would not make such a decision.

Tel Aviv has recently been subjected to harsh criticisms by the regime’s military-intelligence officials over its stance towards Iran.

On April 27, former Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) director Yuval Diskin said Netanyahu and Minister for Military Affairs Ehud Barak were not fit to stand at helm of the Israeli regime.

“I will tell you things that might be harsh. I cannot trust Netanyahu and Barak at the wheel in confronting Iran. They are infected with messianic feelings over Iran,” Diskin said.

Pointing to the recent wave of criticisms targeting the Israeli policies on Iran, senior Iranian author and Middle East expert Dr. Ismail Salami said, “A rift the size of a potential coup is taking shape between the Israeli government and the military-intelligence men over Iran, a fact which threatens the ruling Israeli political apparat on the one hand and exonerates Iran of all years-long groundless allegations on the other.”

The US, Israel and some of their allies have repeatedly accused Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Washington and Tel Aviv have time and again threatened Tehran with a military strike against its civilian nuclear facilities.

Iran argues that as a signatory to the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Israel passes 'citizenship loyalty' bill

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172151.html

Israeli lawmakers have approved a law that will allow the revocation of the citizenship of anyone convicted of threatening Tel Aviv's security.

The Israeli parliament (Knesset) passed the law on Monday, enabling Israel's Supreme Court to strip anyone convicted of espionage, treason or aiding the enemy during war of their citizenship, Ha'aretz reported.

The so-called citizenship loyalty law also authorizes the court to revoke the status of any permanent resident convicted of assisting what Tel Aviv deems as a terrorist organization.

"Anyone who betrays the state and carries out acts of terror must know - citizenship and loyalty go together," said Yisrael Beiteinu MP David Rotem, who initiated the bill that passed in its second and third reading.

"There is no citizenship without loyalty," he insisted.

Hawkish foreign minister and Yisrael Beiteinu chairman, Avigdor Lieberman, welcomed Knesset's decision as serving to overcome “the phenomenon of exploiting democracy in order to subvert it."

Under the new law, people with dual citizenship would be stripped of their Israeli citizenship entirely. Others could still lose his Israeli citizenship, but would be given a status equivalent to foreign workers.

The bill also states that someone convicted of posing threats to Israel's security would lose their rights to all allowances, including child allowances or welfare.

On Monday, Israeli MPs also voted 29 to 8 for a bill to block the stipend of fellow lawmaker Azmi Bishara, who fled Israel amid allegations accusing him of a series of crimes against Israel's security.

Hamas urges global move to halt Israel

Yousef Rizqa, a political advisor to the democratically elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171156.html

The Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas has called upon international organizations to intervene as Israel intensifies its attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

”In urgent messages conveyed to the United Nations, Arab League and a number of European Union nations, Hamas has disclosed the scope of Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip. The government in the Gaza Strip [Hamas] has asked for their immediate intervention to stop Israel's aerial attacks on the enclave,” the Palestine Information Center quoted Yousef Rizqa, a political advisor to the democratically elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, as saying on Monday.

Rizqa underlined that the recent surge in Israeli assaults on Gaza come in the wake of revolutions and popular uprisings in the Middle East. Such developments have seriously challenged Tel Aviv's expansionist policies in the region.

Israeli forces have carried out large numbers of ground and air attacks on Gaza since the end of Operation Cast Lead against the enclave.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week Israeli land, sea and air offensive in the impoverished coastal sliver during the winter of 2008-2009. The offensive also inflicted USD 1.6 billion damage to the Gazan economy.

A United Nations inquiry led by former South African judge Richard Goldstone, detailed what investigators had described as Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," during their offensive against the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli regime laid an economic siege on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, after Hamas took control of the enclave.

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80 percent and 60 percent, respectively, in the Gaza Strip.

PA condemns ethnic cleansing plan

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123826§ionid=351020202


The Palestinian Authority (PA) has condemned Tel Aviv's plan for the mass expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland.

The Israeli military recently announced the measure, according to which anyone caught in the occupied West Bank without an Israeli entry or residency permit would be labeled an "infiltrator."

Acting PA chief Mahmoud Abbas said, "Israel does not have the right to deport any Palestinian, the Palestinian Authority will not allow it," the Ma'an news agency reported on Monday.

“Israel's decision is an act of provocation and was meant to anger Palestinians," he added.

"Our basic agreement with Israel is that the West Bank and Gaza are one geographic entity under the Palestinian Authority,” Abbas asserted, but failed to acknowledge the authority of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas over the Gaza Strip.

Hamas has ruled the Gaza Strip since wining the Palestinian parliamentary election in 2006.

'Netanyahu seeks US bombs for Iran attack'

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121389§ionid=351020104


As Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans a visit to Washington, a report says he will ask the US to release sophisticated bombs needed for a possible strike on Iran's nuclear sites.

Netanyahu will ask Israel's closest ally to supply sophisticated 'bunker-buster' bombs needed to break through to Iran's nuclear enrichment sites, the Sunday Times reported.

The Israeli premier is expected to attend a three-day meeting of the top pro-Israeli lobby in the US, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, commonly known as AIPAC and to meet with senior administration officials.

Despite Tel Aviv's refusal to renounce nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, Israel and its Western allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian program — a charge strongly denied by Tehran.

Iran, a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), views the claims as "unfounded and baseless” as the non-diversion of Iranian nuclear materials has been repeatedly verified in unannounced visits by UN inspectors.

Israel, reported to have the region's sole atomic arsenal, has a long-standing tendency to bomb Iran's nuclear sites, arguing that the country is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

Plans for a military attack against Iran have gained momentum in Tel Aviv over the past few months.

On November 7, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon warned Iran that Tel Aviv's persistent threats of military action were not just a bluff.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Herald has reported that hundreds of powerful US "bunker-buster" bombs are being shipped from California to the British island of Diego Garcia located in the Indian Ocean.

Experts believe that the cargo manifest from the US navy is being put in place for an assault on Iran's nuclear facilities, said the newspaper.

The US military used Diego Garcia as a base to attack Iraq in 1991 and 2003.

The developments come as US president Barack Obama on Saturday once again repeated his offer of "dialogue" with Tehran.

Iran says it is hypocritical of the US to call for normalization of ties with the country but does the opposite in practice.

"The new [US] administration and president … wrote letters and sent messages ... saying they are willing to normalize relations with the Islamic Republic, but in practice they did the opposite," Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said Sunday in a Nowruz address to Iranians in the holy city of Mashhad.

Nasrallah: Hezbollah will hit Tel Aviv airport if attacked

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118765§ionid=351020203


Hezbollah Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah has warned that the movement will strike Israel's infrastructure, including its airports and refineries, in the event of any Israeli attack on Lebanon.

During an address commemorating the assassination of three Hezbollah leaders by Israel, Nasrallah vowed to bomb Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv should the regime hit Beirut's international airport in any future war.

"If you hit Rafik al-Hariri international airport in Beirut, we will hit Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv," he said via a live video link in Beirut's southern suburbs on Tuesday.

"If you hit our ports, we will bomb your ports, and if you hit our oil refineries, we will bomb your oil refineries," he added.

He also threatened that should Israel bomb Lebanon's refineries, factories or power plants, the movement would retaliate with all its might.

Riyadh “Offers Airspace” for Israel Attack on Iran

Israeli fighter jets have been allowed to use Saudi airspace to launch go-it-alone air strikes on Iranian nuclear installations, says a recent report.

The issue has been discussed in a closed-door meeting in London, where British Intelligence Chief Sir John Scarlett his Israeli counterpart, Meir Dagan, and Saudi official have been present Daily Express.

According to the report Scarlett has been told that Saudi airspace would be at Israel's disposal should Tel Aviv decide to move forward with his military plans against Iran.

The British daily added the likelihood of an Israeli attack against Iran has increased significantly after the country announced plans to launch its second enrichment facility in the central city of Qom.

In line with its policy of nuclear transparency, Iran announced the construction of a second enrichment plant in a letter to the UN nuclear watchdog on September 21. The new plant is due to produce enriched uranium up to 5 percent.

The letter was sent 12 months before the agency's regulations oblige its members states to inform of new developments.

With eyes firmly fixed on Iran's nuclear progressions, the right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly threatened to bomb the country's enrichment facilities out of existence.

Tel Aviv accuses Tehran of nuclear weapons development - a charge rejected by both Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog, which has so far made "21 unannounced inspections" of the country's nuclear facilities.

The UN nuclear watchdog in its previous reports has confirmed that Iran only enriches uranium-235 to a level of "less than 5 percent."

Uranium, which fuels a nuclear power plant, can be used for military purposes only if enriched to high levels of above 90 percent.

Details of the controversial Israeli plans to attack Iran emerged after John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, recently told a group of intelligence analysts that “Riyadh certainly approves” of Israel's use of Saudi airspace in the event of war with Iran.

Bolton, had previously said he had discussed the possibility with Saudi officials in closed-door meetings. “None of them would say anything about it publicly but they would certainly acquiesce in an overflight if the Israelis didn't trumpet it as a big success.”

The recent revelations follow a flurry of media reports in July, which suggested the Saudi government had approved the use of its airspace for an attack.

While Saudi officials deny having diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv, an Israeli defense source has confirmed that the Mossad spy agency maintained “working relations” with the kingdom.

According to a study published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a military exchange between Iran and Israel could result in the death of as many as 6 million people.

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Press TV