Free Republic

Video IDF soldier Sergeant Ron Yitzhak Kukia, 19, who was murdered on Thursday evening in the stabbing attack in Arad, was laid to rest on Sunday afternoon, accompanied by hundreds of family and friends. Minister of Science Ophir Akunis, Head of Central Command Roman Numa, Head of Southern Command General Eyal Zamir and the Head of the IDF's Technological and Logistical Directorate, Lieutenant General Aharon Haliva, arrived at his funeral in the military section of the Kiryat Shaul cemetery. Minister Akunis eulogized Ron on behalf of the Israeli government. "How heroes have fallen, the people of Israel bow their heads...

Most of the occurrences of Narmer's name are on jars and jar fragments; an astonishing number of serekhs has emerged in the last 25 years from excavations in Israel and Palestine (Tel Erani, En Besor, Arad, Halif Terrace/Nahal Tillah, Small Tel Malhata, Tel Maahaz, Tel Lod and some more) signifying an apex of commercial contacts between Egypt and Canaan which lasted all through [Early Bronze I] ...These data and the excavation of many Southern Palestine sites, are proof of a very complex series of interrelations between Egypt and peoples centred beyond North Sinai lasting more than two (or three) centuries....

On Sunday the Israeli cabinet voted 22-3 in favor of a “prisoner” swap with Hezbollah. Israel, on its side of the bargain, won’t be receiving any prisoners but instead the corpses of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, the two soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah in 2006, along with partial, inadequate information on Ron Arad, the airman shot down over Lebanon in 1986. Hezbollah, for its part, gets five live terrorists including child-killer Samir Kuntar, dozens of corpses of terrorists, information on four Iranian diplomats who were detained by Christian Phalange forces in Lebanon in 1982, and live Palestinian terrorists whose number...

(IsraelNN.com) Senior Hamas terrorists threatened Israel Wednesday night to cut off negotiations over kidnapped IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit if the IDF did not stop its counter-terrorism operations in Gaza. Israel intensified retaliation air strikes Tuesday and Wednesday against terrorists in response to escalated Kassam rocket attacks on the western Negev. Terror cells firing rockets and mortar shells were the primary targets. Hamas spokesman Ismail El-Muzeini said in an interview on Channel 1 that if the expanded IDF military operations continued, “There is no doubt that it will affect the case of the soldier Gilad Shalit. It is very possible that...

Iran officially announced on Tuesday that its former deputy defense minister was missing while on a private trip to neighboring Turkey, and its top police chief accused Western intelligence services of possibly kidnapping the official. Ali Reza Asghari, a retired general in the elite Revolutionary Guards and a former deputy defense minister, had arrived in Turkey on a private visit from Damascus, Syria, the official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported Tuesday. Iran's top police chief, Gen. Esmaeil Ahmadi Moghaddam, said Iran was investigating the fate of Asghari through the Turkish police. "It is likely that Asghari has been abducted...

Sometimes... the most important quality an architect can possess is optimism. For example, it took 12 years for the Jewish Museum I designed in Berlin to finally open to the public. A few hours later it had to close. The date: Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001. That jarring confluence of events not only predated but also presaged my role in rebuilding ground zero. And the memories of what we went through in Berlin give me confidence that we will succeed in New York as well. When I won the museum competition, Berliners were divided between those who felt my design would...

CNN, BBC and Eurosport refuse to air Arad campaign Turn down requests to air adds on missing navigator, after state and a foundation last week issued a $10 million reward for new information on his fate.Eitan Rabin MIA IAF navigator Ron Arad. Three major international networks – The BBC, CNN and Eurosport – are refusing to air adds of the “Born to be Free” foundation for the release of missing IAF navigator Ron Arad. Last week, the state and the foundation formally issued a 10 million dollar reward leading to either the return of Arad, or confirmation as to his...

An End to Ron Arad Saga? May 19, 2004 Ron Arad, the Israel Air Force navigator who went missing in Lebanon in 1986, reportedly is dead. Quoting diplomatic sources knowledgeable about efforts to determine Arad’s whereabouts, Reuters reported Wednesday that the airman is dead and that the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah has his body. According to the report, Hezbollah also is holding the remains of three Israeli soldiers who disappeared during a 1982 tank battle in Lebanon. Israeli officials said they were checking the report. Arad bailed out over Lebanon during a combat mission after his Phantom jet developed engine...

Families of the 12 Missing Iranian Jews Petition High Court May 13, 2004 IMRA imra.org.il Families of the 12 Jews Missing in Iran to High Court: No Release Deal For Kuntar Without Info Concerning Our Loved Ones. This morning, May 13, 2004, at 10:00 am the families of 12 Jews who are missing in Iran, will petition the High Court of Justice to block the second part of the exchange deal with Hezbullah concerning Ron Arad. The families are demanding that Israel not release imprisoned Palestinian terrorist Samir Kuntar before obtaining information from Iran on the fate of their family...

Oct. 16, 2003 17th year of Arad abduction marked in Tel-Aviv By MATTHEW GUTMAN Ron Arad The 17th anniversary of the abduction of IAF navigator Lt.-Col. Ron Arad was commemorated Thursday evening in Tel Aviv, under increasing anxiety that the prisoner exchange with Hizbullah will not include information about the missing airman. IDF officials, politicians and artists attended the rally, to be held under the slogans "Ron. Hold on, my brother; and "No Ron, No Dirani." Chen Arad, Ron's brother, and Eliad Shraga, the Arad family lawyer, are slated to be among the speakers. Yoske Harari, head of the Fellowship...

Oct. 2, 2003 Exchange rates Sometime soon, some number of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners now held in Israeli jails - it's not yet know if it's in the hundreds or over one thousand - are likely to be released in a prisoner exchange. In return, Israel hopes to retrieve one living Israeli, the corpses of three dead Israelis, and information regarding a fourth Israeli, who is not known to be living or dead. The question now widely discussed is whether this is a worthwhile exchange. In this issue of Up Front, Bar-Ilan University's Gerald Steinberg explores the strategic dilemmas posed...

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 10/26/02 - Bagram, Bamiyan, Gholghola, Hamburg, Dahuk, Aziz taken BREAKING: Dr. Germ taken, Lahore, Pakistan, Dr Amir Aziz, Bagram, live-fire exercise, Apache Hellfire, heroes return from a sortie, Harrier jets, Bamiyan, Afghanistan, Gholghola School, Kabul cricket game, 772nd MP Company, Massachusetts Army National Guard, Kandahar, 82nd Airborne, Gaza,Akram al-Zatma, Hamburg, Germany, Terrorist Mounir el Motassadeq at trial, Arad, Israel, at the funerals caused by Palestinian terrorists, Khan Younis, terrorists practice, Dahuk, Turkey =========== Bagram =========== In Bagram, live-fire exercise with Apache Hellfire missile. In Bagram, heroes return from a sortie. In Bagram,...