Beauty and Joy of Israel's Heart - Jerusalem
Original footage shot by Jewish Press's own Jerusalem based videographer Natan Epstein. Music by Shlomo Katz.
YouTube video – 3:27 minutes

1. Al-Qaeda and the Jihadists Join the Battle against the Syrian Regime, JCPA, Vol.12, No.13, Jacques Neriah
2. Security and Defense: A plan called Oz, The Jerusalem Post, Yaakov Katz
3. Ya'alon hints at Israeli role in 'Flame' virus, The Jerusalem Post, JPost.com Staff
4. JerUSAlem - American people vs. White House, Israel Hayom, Yoram Ettinger
5. From Israel: UNRWA, Love of the Land, Arlene Kushner

• The battle over Syria has descended into sectarian strife led by extreme Salafists and other Islamic splinter organizations in a carefully orchestrated uprising coordinated and fueled by al-Qaeda operatives.

• The Syrian National Council, the main opposition group, could well be in a process of disintegration, as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) did not recognize its authority. Yet the FSA is no longer the sole force in the fight against Assad.

• As in Egypt, in Syria the Muslim Brothers have succeeded in appropriating (some would call it hijacking) the revolt and ultimately becoming its backbone. Moreover, Muslim fighters from around the globe are coming to join the ranks in the battle against Assad.

• The gradual transformation of the Syrian opposition into a movement led by extremist Muslims allied with al-Qaeda does not serve the opposition well. The majority of Syrians do not identify with those radicals. The more the opposition wears the mask of al-Qaeda, the more there is cohesion in the ranks around Assad....

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http://www.unitycoalitionforisrael.org/news/article.php?id=8132

...Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh revealed this week that Assad was doing a remarkable job at retaining control over Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal and was continuing – despite the protracted civil uprising – to bolster his country’s borders with advanced Russian air defense systems.

Syria is known to have acquired SA-17 medium-range and SA-22 short-range air defense systems with ranges of between 12 and 45 kilometers. Israel’s concern, Naveh said, was that these systems would be transferred to Hezbollah.

And that is just on the Syrian front. Looking at Israel’s other points of interest today – Egypt and Iran – the best word to characterize the sentiment within the defense establishment is “uncertainty.” There is uncertainty regarding who will win the presidential elections in Egypt – the first round of which was held on Wednesday – and how the results will impact the already-strained peace treaty with Israel. There is uncertainty about what will emerge from the talks the P5+1 is holding with Iran, how long the talks will continue, what type of resolution might be in the works and how it will impact Israel.

Within this uncertainty, the IDF is getting ready to hold marathon deliberations in June to finalize its multi-year plan, which sets procurement, training and operational development for the next five years. The challenge, though, is how the military can be expected to do this when it is not sure what is going to happen tomorrow, let alone in two or three years time.

The new plan, called “Oz” – Hebrew for “strength” – is supposed to go into effect at the end of the year once it is approved by the IDF General Staff, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the cabinet. It is supposed to be a revision of Halamish, the plan Chief of Staff Lt.- Gen. Benny Gantz drafted last year but had to nix due to government-imposed budget cuts....

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http://www.unitycoalitionforisrael.org/news/article.php?id=8135

Pictured left - Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe 'Bogie' Ya'alon. (Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski)

In comments that could be construed as suggesting that Israel is behind the "Flame" virus, the latest piece of malicious software to attack Iranian computers, Vice Premier Moshe Ya'alon on Tuesday said that "whoever sees the Iranian threat as a serious threat would be likely to take different steps, including these, in order to hurt them."

Speaking in an interview with Army Radio, Ya'alon further hinted that Jerusalem was behind the cyber attack, saying "Israel is blessed to be a nation possessing superior technology. These achievements of ours open up all kinds of possibilities for us."

The virus, dubbed “Flame,” effectively turns every computer it infects into the ultimate spy. It can turn on PC microphones to record conversations taking place near the computer, take screenshots, log instant messaging chats, gather data files and remotely change settings on computers....

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Jerusalem has been one of the most dramatic issues of discord between the will of the American people and Congress on the one hand, and State Department-driven presidential policy on the other hand.

In contrast to most Americans and their state and federal representatives, who cherish Jerusalem as the indivisible capital of the Jewish state, all U.S. presidents have embraced Foggy Bottom’s denial of Jerusalem’s status as Israel’s capital, or even as part of Israel. Moreover, the U.S. foreign policy bureaucracy has disavowed the 1947 non-binding U.N. General Assembly Partition Plan, but for one segment — Jerusalem, which the U.N. designated as an international city.

Israel is the only country in the world whose (3,000 year old) capital is not recognized by the State Department and by the presidents of the U.S. However, the American people consider Israel to be the second most trusted and dependable ally of the U.S. (after Britain), and 71% support (and 9% oppose) Jerusalem as Israel’s indivisible capital....

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For years I have been part of a small cadre of determined individuals who saw clearly the damage being done by UNRWA -- the UN Relief and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees. Damage to prospects for peace in this region, and damage directly to Israel.

There is so much wrong with this agency that it's impossible to document it all in this post. Suffice it to say the following:

UNRWA is the only international refugee agency in the world dedicated to one group of refugees -- the Palestinian Arab "refugees." All other refugees are tended to by the UN High Commission for Refugees. And what's astounding is that UNRWA's rules for "its" refugees are different from the rules for all those other refugees.

UNHCR works to get refugees resettled as quickly as possible -- even if the only alternative is settling them permanently in the place to which they had fled or to a third place -- so that they might get on with their lives.

UNRWA, however, which is functioning from an orientation that is highly politicized and heavily anti-Israel, says that "its" refugees continue to be refugees even if they get citizenship elsewhere. ONLY "returning" to Israel would eradicate that status. What is more, UNRWA says descendants of refugees are also refugees, indefinitely via the patrilineal line. Which means UNRWA promotes "return" to Israel of people who have never been here, and whose parents or even grandparents have never been here either....

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http://www.unitycoalitionforisrael.org/news/article.php?id=8136

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