Jewish and Arab Israeli Youth Attend Camp in Canada

July 25, 2014 For the fourth summer in a row, 20 teens from Israel, 10 Jewish and 10 Arab spent three weeks together attending the Heart to Heart program being hosted by Zionist HaShomer HaZair’s Camp Shomria on the shores of Otty Lake in Canada, located 100 kilometers southwest of the nation’s capital, Ottawa. The program is designed to teach coexistence and foster dialogue between the two disparate groups and is partnered with Givat Haviv, an Israeli educational institute, and the youth movement Hashomer Hatziar.

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Israel Sets Up Military Field Hospital to Treat Gaza Wounded

July 25, 2014 The Jewish state has done something quite unique in the world of warfare—they established a field hospital along the border of Gaza to treat Palestinian wounded, including combatants. As we have reported often, Israel routinely provides medical assistance to Palestinians, even in times of war. The field hospital is significant, however, in that it is located right next to where the first Israeli was murdered during the current operation, at the Erez crossing.

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The Jerusalem Temple, the Divine Call, and Baseless Hatred and Love

July 23, 2014 In the 25th year of the Babylonian exile, Ezekiel (Yechezkal) prophesied that the Holy Temple would be rebuilt. And while chapters 40–48 of Ezekiel describe that Temple in great detail, when the Second Temple was built, it did not follow the specifications set forth by Ezekiel. Jewish commentators argue that Ezekiel’s Temple was not built because it was intended to be an everlasting edifice connected with everlasting redemption.

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Casualties Mount as Ground Incursion in Gaza Continues

July 21, 2014 As the death toll of Israeli soldiers in Gaza rose to 18 on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the nation, reassuring Israelis that Operation Protective Edge will continue as long as necessary to restore peace and quiet for Israel. "This operation will extend as long as is needed until quiet and peace are restored to Israel. We knew from the beginning that it could be a long operation, but the "eternal people" are not daunted by a long journey," Netanyahu said.

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Hamas War Enters Second Week as Ceasefire Fails

July 15, 2014 Israel accepted an Egyptian proposal to end the week-long conflict with Gaza on Tuesday, ceasing fire at 9 a.m. Despite the ceasefire on Israel's part, Hamas rockets kept coming. At 3 p.m., Israel resumed Operation Protective Edge, which was launched last Tuesday to end almost incessant rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Hamas rockets are putting as many as five million of Israel’s eight million in danger.

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Three Israelis Confess to Murder of Abu Khdair

July 15, 2014 Israel has charged three Jewish men with the kidnapping and killing of 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir, a Palestinian teenager whose death set off days of violent protests in Arab areas of Jerusalem and northern Israel. Israel responded to the slaying of Khdeir with repulsion and righteous anger, reaching out to the Khdeir family with sympathy. President Shimon Peres expressed his condolences to the father of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, Hussein Abu Khdeir. "I know what you and your family are going through. I am full of shame and share in your grief. He was murdered by criminals. I am ashamed on behalf of my nation and grieve with you. The only thing left for all of us to do is to ensure that no more children are murdered, and no more tears are shed by mothers," Peres told him.

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Israeli Doctors Treat Gaza Patients as War Rages

July 14, 2014 Despite the current war between the Gaza Strip and Israel, Israel is continuing to welcome sick Palestinians for treatment. Although Rambam Hospital treats hundreds of Palestinians year round, including as many as 650 children and teens, Yazid Falah, who serves as coordinator for the Palestinian patients, said that the fighting has caused some of the patients to “fear that they wouldn’t be well received.”

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Israel Warns Hamas to Halt Rockets

July 7, 2014 More than 150 Gazan rockets have been launched at Israel since the June 12 abduction of three Israeli teens, resulting in damaged property and emotional suffering in Israel's south. In response to the escalation of rockets within a 24-hour period on Wednesday and Thursday, with about 40 rockets launched at southern Israel, 34 successfully reaching Israeli soil, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have warned Hamas Thursday night to stop shooting rockets into Israel or face an escalated Israeli attack on Gaza.

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Israel Calls for Restraint as Murder of Palestinian Teen is Investigated

July 6, 2014 Israeli authorities are working to cool the red hot climate in Israel following the brutal murders of three Jewish teens, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Shaar, both 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19, and one Palestinian teen, Muhammad Abu Khdair, 17, whose body was found July 2. Palestinian residents reported seeing Abu Khdair forced into a vehicle outside a supermarket in the Shuafat section of Jerusalem on Wednesday. His body was found just hours after the abduction in the Jerusalem Forest. It was charred and showed signs of violence. Post-mortem reports suggest the lad was burned alive. Just one day before, the Jewish teens had been laid to rest, their deaths bringing the nation to its knees in united grief and mourning. Six Jewish Israelis were arrested in connection with the gruesome murder of Abu Khadair on Sunday.

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Israeli Protest Calls for Revenge

July 5, 2014 Police fought with Jewish protestors Tuesday afternoon just prior to the funeral in Maalot for the three murdered Israeli teenagers Gilad Shaar (16), Eyal Yifrach (19) and dual American-Israeli citizen Naftali Frenkel (16). Demonstrators spread over much of the downtown area of Jerusalem including the Old City’s Jaffa Gate, shouting “Kahane was right!” and “Revenge!” Meir Kahane was an American-Israeli rabbi who founded the Jewish Defense League in the USA and led a far-right political movement called Kach. He promoted a Jewish state in which Israel would annex Judea and Samaria (the so-called West Bank) and the Gaza Strip, as well as remove the Arab residents by paying them or by force.

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