From Ian:
Lapid: ‘Guardian’ delays Mideast conflict solution
Lapid responded to a question that he regarded as hostile from Antony Loewenstein, a Jerusalem- based freelance reporter who writes for the Guardian and other publications.
“You talked before about the idea that since Oslo, Israel has done little or nothing wrong, but the truth is that 2017 is the 50th anniversary of the occupation.
There are now 600,000- 800,000 settlers, all of whom are regarded by international law as illegal, including your good friends in Amona apparently,” Loewenstein’s question began.
“Is there not a deluded idea here that many Israeli politicians, including yourself, continue to believe that one can talk to the world about democracy, freedom and human rights while denying that to millions of Palestinians, and will there not come a time soon, in a year, five years, 10 years, where you and other politicians will be treated like South African politicians during Apartheid?” he asked.
Lapid responded by saying that the question was full of errors and calling it the perfect example of how this is an era that is “post-truth and postfacts.”
“It’s a declared policy of Israel that we need to go to a two-state solution and the ones who refused it were the Palestinians,” Lapid said. “The ones who call Jews pigs and monkeys in their school books are the Palestinians. The problem is that the Palestinians are encouraged by the Guardian and others saying we don’t need to do anything in order to work for our future because the international community will call Israel an apartheid country.”
Lapid said Israel is not an apartheid country but rather a law-abiding democracy, and that unlike the Palestinian leadership, Israel was making sure the Palestinians’ human rights are protected.
“Why don’t you go to the Palestinian Authority or to Gaza and ask them about women’s rights, gay rights, Christian rights,” Lapid told the reporter.
Identifying the Real Threat to Jews
But the CSS report reminds us how Islamist ideology has also motivated terror attacks that specifically targeted Jews. While much of the reporting on the subject of hate crimes has focused on individuals, the report correctly states that the problem here is rooted in ideology. Just as skinhead and neo-Nazi ideas are behind white supremacist attacks, Islamist anti-Semitism that combines age-old religious-based Jew-hatred with resentment of Israel and fuels the efforts of those who have committed violence.
Some of the conclusions contradict conventional wisdom.
One such conclusion is the “critical role of pre-operational surveillance.” Monitoring hotbeds of hate is key to stopping attacks, but, in the effort to avoid accusations of Islamophobia, efforts by law enforcement to keep tabs on radical mosques and other Islamist centers have been abandoned and wrongly branded as acts of prejudice. Without good intelligence, it’s only a matter of time before another major attack might be successful.
Another key point is that attacks on Jews are often precursors to larger incidents in which secular institutions or sites are targeted. It is also true that “lone wolf attacks”—which is how many Islamist terrorist incidents in this country are characterized—are always “lone.” In each case, the attacker received inspiration if not instruction from radical groups. The notion that these are isolated one-off attacks is a delusion that can only lead to more such terrorists slipping through the fingers of law enforcement.
Finally, complacency is “deadly.” The more the country and the Jewish community ignore the source of inspiration for religious-based hate crimes derived from radical Islam and instead concentrate on largely political disputes with no connection to terrorism, the more likely it is that the killers will evade detection. Moreover, the report also makes clear that Jewish institutions need to devote more resources to security.
The CSS should be commended for compiling this report at a time when so much of the discussion about anti-Semitism is divorced from the facts about terrorism. Let’s hope it gets a wide circulation and is taken to heart even by those who are currently muddying the waters on hate with absurd comparisons to Nazi Germany.
NGO Monitor: Human rights, Palestinian terror and congressional lobbying
These concerns are brought into stark relief by the “No Way to Treat a Child Campaign,” -focusing on Israeli detention practices- coordinated by the organizations Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCI-P) and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC). Under this framework, these NGOs have held Congressional briefings… Similarly, they encouraged Members of Congress to sign letters critical of Israeli security policy in the West Bank, such as the June 20, 2016 letter accusing Israel of widespread abuse of Palestinian prisoners, initiated by Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.).
Of prime concern are the ties between DCI-P officials and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), designated as a terrorist organization by the US, Canada, EU, and Israel for carrying out suicide bombings, assassinations, airline hijackings and other attacks on Israeli civilians.
These examples demonstrate the cardinal importance of proper vetting when engaging with NGOs claiming to promote human rights agendas. It is not enough to rely on their own portrayal of their activities, nor is it sufficient to review only one sub-section of their stated agenda. Potential partners, employees, and board members must be broadly scrutinized, taking into account the totality of their aims, actions, statements, and affiliations.
Caroline Glick: Our World: The Left’s never-ending war
The two posted an online video calling for the public to join them in demanding that Netanyahu be investigated.
Yaniv and Margalit took the red headlines related to the German submarine purchase and peppered them with photos of Netanyahu smoking a cigar and laughing with his sons and wife, and living the good life with a friend on the beach. They alleged that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is the Netanyahu family’s consigliere and that Police Inspector General Roni Elshech is in his pocket.
Yaniv and Margalit brought no substantive claims.
Their montage was pure vilification. They argued irrationally that high food prices are caused by the submarine purchase.
The purpose of the film is obvious. Bereft of an attractive platform to sell the public, they are selling the only thing they have left to rally their ever dwindling base: hatred.
Since last month’s US election, a minority of Democrats have called for their party to moderate its policies. Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan ran a failed bid against Rep. Nancy Pelosi to serve as Democratic minority chairman in the House of Representatives arguing just that case.
Ryan’s loss, like Obama’s espionage probe makes clear that the Democrats will not consider a more moderate course. The majority has no intention of changing its positions. Rather, they intend to keep their adherents on a war footing so that they won’t have the opportunity to even consider a course correction.
By veering from the recount to fake news allegations to the Russian hacking story, the radicals who control the Democratic Party keeps their activists on a war footing. The faithful are given no opportunity to reflect even for a moment on the substantive issues that formed the heart of the presidential race.
The glum conclusion from all of this is clear enough. With their policies rejected by voters, the purpose of the Left isn’t to govern. It is to render their societies ungovernable.
As BDS resolutions stall, pro-Palestinian students shift tactics
Wendel Rubinstein, a 2016 University of Chicago graduate who campaigned for divestment, said that BDS activism may have scaled back as students — especially following the election of Donald Trump — are refocusing their efforts on demonstrating on behalf of immigrants and vulnerable minorities.
“I think what students have been focused on this year, especially in light of the election results, is building coalitions and solidarity,” Rubinstein said. “There’s not an actual campaign to push a specific initiative right now” on pressuring the university to divest from Israel.
Last month, more than a year and a half after its student divestment vote, Northwestern announced the establishment of an Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility. The committee will advise the university on how to vote at shareholder meetings, and will include four student representatives among its 10 voting members.
Krasner is concerned that anti-Israel students will be appointed to the committee, but still isn’t worried that his school will divest from Israel. More troubling to him is the marginalizing of pro-Israel students in campus social justice movements — something he has experienced.
Last year, when students at the University of Missouri were protesting issues of racial injustice on their campus, Krasner co-wrote a resolution supporting the protests as a Northwestern student senator. But he was pressured to withdraw his name from the resolution, he said, after a senator supporting the campus African-American student group, as well as the campus Students for Justice in Palestine, objected to his pro-Israel activism.
Krasner called the incident “a very hurtful thing that happened to me.”
“I’m constantly learning about what it means to be an ally to marginalized communities,” he said. “As someone who says, ‘No, I don’t support BDS,’ it’s a challenge I wasn’t prepared for coming in.”
British PM Praises Israel’s “Thriving Democracy,” Denounces Boycotts as “Unacceptable”
The prime minister then reiterated her nation’s commitment to a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, to be reached through bilateral negotiations “without preconditions.”
“We have, in Israel, a thriving democracy, a beacon of tolerance, an engine of enterprise and an example to the rest of the world for overcoming adversity and defying disadvantages,” May added. “It is only when you walk through Jerusalem or Tel Aviv that you see a country where people of all religions and sexualities are free and equal in the eyes of the law. … It is only when you meet our partners in eradicating modern slavery – one of the main reasons I visited in 2014 – that you see a country committed to tackling some of the world’s most heinous practices.”
May further highlighted the extensive business ties between the UK and Israel, pointing out that Britain is Israel’s “number-one destination for investment in Europe,” with some 300 Israeli companies doing business there. She also noted that during this past year, Israel’s El Al airline chose to buy Rolls Royce engines for its fleet in a £1 billion deal, the largest ever between the two nations.
She added that these economic ties should be celebrated, and that the UK “should condemn any attempt to undermine that through boycotts.”
“I couldn’t be clearer: the boycotts, divestment and sanctions movement is wrong, it is unacceptable, and this party and this government will have no truck with those who subscribe to it,” May said. “Our focus is the opposite – on taking our trading and investing relationship with Israel to the next level.”
May continued by listing a number of examples of “Israel at its best.”
British PM hails ‘remarkable, tolerant’ Israel, slams anti-Semitism in Labour
Recalling her visit to Israel in 2014 as home secretary, she said that “seeing isn’t just believing; it is understanding, acknowledging and appreciating… It is only when you walk through Jerusalem or Tel Aviv that you see a country where people of all religions and sexualities are free and equal in the eyes of the law… It is only when you travel across the country that you realize it is only the size of Wales — and appreciate even more the impact it has on the world.”
She added: “And it is only when you witness Israel’s vulnerability that you see the constant danger Israelis face, as I did during my visit, when the bodies of the murdered teenagers, Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Shaer and Eyal Yifrah, were discovered.”
May noted with pleasure that CFI has “already taken 34 of the 74 Conservative MPs elected in 2015 to Israel.”
Turning to the recent decision to freeze a portion of aid that Britain gives to the Palestinian Authority pending an investigation into allegations that the PA is paying salaries to convicted Palestinian terrorists, May promised that “no British taxpayers’ money will be used to make payments to terrorists or their families.” Every penny of aid must be “spent in the right places and in the right way.”
She said the UK was also looking into allocating greater funds for peaceful coexistence projects in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Regarding the peace process, May said the way to achieve a two-state solution is for “the two sides to sit down together, without preconditions.”
She also praised the UK’s Jewish community: “We should be so proud of the contribution Britain’s Jewish community’s made to our country. From business to the arts, public services to education, that contribution is exemplary,” she said.
Filmmaker Ami Horowitz Attacked by Muslim Gang in Swedish No-Go Zone
Documentary filmmaker Ami Horowitz, whose work has been featured often on TruthRevolt, traveled recently to a 'no-go' zone in Stockholm, Sweden, and ended up getting punched, kicked and choked by five Muslim migrants who didn't want to be filmed.
As reported by the UK Daily Mail, Horowitz was in the Swedish capital to examine the effects of immigration in the country, but after entering the Husby area of the city. Husby, home to large communities of migrants, was the starting point for mass riots that spread across the capital's poorer suburbs in 2013.
Horowitz said Sweden had taken in "more refugees from Islamic countries over the past several years, per capita, than any other Western country. These actions also happen to be a great source of pride among Swedes for doing something that one could only characterize as a selfless act of humanity.
"I am a product of immigration," he continued, "and not only do I not have an issue with immigration I am one of its biggest proponents. But the reality of the situation, particularly across Europe, is that wholesale acceptance of migrants from Islamic countries is connected with deepening social issues across the continent."
Once in Husby, Horowitz was immediately accosted by a gang of migrants who refused to let him film. The gang actually dragged Horowitz off into a nearby building before being scared off by someone's approach.
A sound recording captures the moment the filmmaker says he was set upon in the "unprovoked attack." The Daily Mail has more:
Jewish Voice for Peace. Creating a Wedge
How do you create the illusion of polarization on Israel when the vast majority of Jews worldwide and in America feel differently?
After all, according to a recent Pew Research Center poll,
Jewish Americans feel a strong emotional connection with the Jewish state: A solid majority say they are either “very” or “somewhat” attached to Israel and that caring about Israel is either “essential” or “important” to what being Jewish means to them.
The Israel-haters at Jewish Voice for Peace have a strategy. Their current obsession is squashing any potential legislature that acknowledges and counters rising anti-Semitism. There is only one group of righteous victims to JVP, and its not the Jews.
How many members of "Jewish" Voice for Peace are Jewish?
Jewish Voice for Peace has launched a pressure campaign directed against the Jewish Federations of North America asking them to withdraw their support for the "Anti-Semitism Awareness Act", which has been unanimously approved by the US Senate.
In Sweden, it’s OK to link Jews, Trump and KKK
The drawing (below) showed a happy, red-faced Benjamin Netanyahu sitting next to Mr Trump in a gold, Roman-style litter. The vehicle is being carried by Orthodox Jews, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, a voluptuous woman and a few Israeli soldiers, marked with large Israeli flags on their chests. A speech bubble attributed to Mr Netanyahu says: “Finally!”
The image sends a clear message: that the Jewish state and, in a larger sense, the great, evil Jewish conspiracy, determined the outcome of the American presidential election in order to further its interests.
The idea that Jews run the world is an old antisemitic myth, and the absurd mix of people and powers represented in the cartoon — from call-girls to Charedim and the KKK — indicate the degree to which the cartoonist has fallen for this ancient lie.
After the cartoon started doing the rounds on social media, Dagens Nyheter issued a statement — which many were expecting to be an apology. Instead, the paper’s editor-in-chief, Peter Wolodarski, defended the cartoon, saying that it was merited by the fact that Mr Netanyahu celebrated Mr Trump’s victory even though the president-elect was supported by anti-democratic forces and white power movements. The statement did not mention the fact that what they referred to as “Netanyahu’s support of Trump” consisted only of the standard phone-call — a courtesy shown to a president-elect by any national leader.
Honest Reporting: HR Prompts AP Western Wall Correction
An Associated Press story ostensibly on political goings-on in Italy concerning recently resigned premier Matteo Renzi included the following paragraph:
The Western Wall is not the holiest site in Judaism. It is, in fact, the Temple Mount. The Western Wall is the closest site that Jews can pray to the site of the destroyed ancient temples and is a part of a retaining wall of the structure of the Second Temple.
Aside from AP’s statement being factually inaccurate, it is important to ensure that the correct and accurate information is out there particularly at a time when Israel’s enemies are attempting to delegitimize the Jewish connection to Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.
This particular AP story appeared on the websites of many media outlets,
Therefore it was doubly important that we get the correction, which we did. Thank you to AP for responding positively.
Indy op-ed on UK view that ‘Opposing Israel’s existence = antisemitism’ penned by guy opposed to Israel’s existence
So, it wouldn’t surprise anyone who follows our coverage of the British media to learn that The Independent – one of the most consistent disseminators of delegitimisation – decided that Ben White was the most qualified commentator to address May’s decision. White’s Indy op-ed, titled ‘By limiting criticism of Israel, Theresa May’s new definition of anti-Semitism will do more harm than good’ was published on Dec. 12th.
Whilst there’s nothing especially noteworthy in his op-ed to those of us who’ve fisked his propaganda over the years, let’s briefly touch on the sentence which inspired the headline.
This definition is not new, however, and it poses a familiar threat to legitimate criticism of the State of Israel.
White fails to acknowledge that the WD clearly states that “criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic“.
Indeed, this is the most important point: criticism of the Jewish state only becomes antisemitic when it holds the state to a moral standard no other state is held to, and when it evokes historic antisemitic tropes and narratives – such as the view that Jews (individually or collectively) represent a uniquely malevolent force in the world, what the late historian Robert S. Wistrich characterized as an ‘organic obstacle to peace and progress’.
To those anti-Zionist activists who claim they have no problem with Jews qua Jews, and that their obsessive vilification of the only Jewish state on the planet is a mere coincidence, we ask that you consider following: Even if there is no antisemitic intent, when you live in a country in which 93% of Jews feels that Zionism informs at least part of their Jewish identity, your demonisation of Israel – at the very least – necessarily has an antisemitic impact. When you say that Zionism is beyond the pale, you’re effectively ‘no-platforming’ the expression of their Jewish identity.
A Jeremy Bowen interviewee highlights an issue serially ignored by the BBC
As has been the case in much of his additional reporting on the wave of terror attacks which began in the autumn of 2015, Bowen steered listeners to that report towards the view that Palestinian violence is caused by “the occupation” while amplifying unchallenged falsehoods from additional interviewees and ostensibly ticking the ‘impartiality’ box with the following one-liner:
“The Israeli government says that’s untrue. That Palestinians attack Israelis because they’ve been taught to hate them from childhood.”
A report recently broadcast on Israel’s Channel 10 included a short interview with Dima al Wawi provides insight into her hatred of Israelis and Jews, highlighting a factor Bowen and his colleagues have chosen to serially ignore in their coverage of Palestinian child attackers.
Below is a translation of al Wawi’s statements.
“I arrived at the prison, on the first day I was put in a dungeon. It was a civilian facility, it was underground. There had been Jews there so it was full of dirt. On the floor, under the bed, there were rotting Clementines. There was disgusting and stinking food there because of all those Jews, Israel. I don’t like even to bring its [Israel] name to my lips. [Interviewer: Why?] Because it’s disgusting, leper, leper, leper. I don’t like it. They [the Jews] are impure.”
The issue of incitement and hatred as catalysts for violence have not been seriously addressed by the BBC in all of its extensive coverage of Palestinian violence during the past 14 months or so. Until the corporation’s journalists – and in particular the man charged with providing “analysis that might make a complex story more comprehensive or comprehensible for the audience” – begin to provide its funding public with information concerning those factors rather than focusing their attentions on the amplification of PLO talking points, the BBC cannot be said to be fulfilling its remit of enhancing audience understanding of this particular
international issue.
Antisemitic Attacks in US Are Often Precursor to Larger-Scale Terrorist Strikes Against General Population, New Report Says
Antisemitic attacks in the US are often a precursor to larger-scale terrorist strikes against the general American population, a new report published by a nonprofit Jewish security group on Monday said.
The Community Security Service (CSS) analysis — authored by Yehudit Barsky — detailed 104 antisemitic attacks that have taken place in the US since 1969.
The perpetrators of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and 2009 Little Rock military recruiting center shooting — among other significant terrorist incidents in US history — first attacked Jewish targets, the report noted.
Nearly 70% of the attacks covered in the report were carried out by adherents to radical Islamic or white supremacist ideologies.
Speaking with The Algemeiner on Monday, CSS Executive Director Jason Friedman said, “Personally, I was surprised, even as someone who is a professional in the field of Jewish security, to see the breadth and geographic range of the attacks.”
“Post-election news has really focused a lot of people on antisemitism and I think one of the great parts of this report and the timeliness of it is that it does provide the much-needed perspective that while this is in front of our eyes more now, it’s not necessarily new,” he continued.
Friedman welcomed President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination of retired Marine General John Kelly to serve as the next head of the Department of Homeland Security.
“I think it’s really critical to have alignment on all levels,” Friedman said. “If DHS can continue to provide grants to synagogues and other Jewish institutions to help fund physical security, that’s important.”
Scottish Rabbi Says Family Is ‘Distressed’ After Being Assaulted in Central Edinburgh
A Scottish rabbi and his family were recently assaulted in central Edinburgh, Deadline News reported last week.
During a meeting with members of the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, Rabbi Yossi Bodenheim — the Jewish chaplain for Scottish universities — recounted the incident that took place in early November.
“My wife and I took our four young children for a walk in this beautiful city,” he was quoted as saying. “However, as we were walking, a woman pushed my wife aside, grabbed my kippa, threw it on the ground and ran away. That took place less than a mile from here, in front of my young children. You can imagine how distressed they were.”
Bodenheim went on to say, “Chessed is kindness, empathy and support for others. That hatred is the very opposite of chessed…As Scotland’s Jewish student chaplain, my role is to bring chessed to Jewish students and to make sure that they are comfortable on campus, whether it is ensuring their welfare, providing social and educational events, or just being a listening ear. I also have to help them cope with antisemitism, because unfortunately it is an issue on campus as well.”
Controversial anti-Semitism bill dies in House
The House of Representatives ended this congressional session without taking action on a bill targeting campus anti-Semitism, a measure that had been backed by mainstream Jewish groups, criticized by civil libertarians and passed unanimously by the Senate on Dec. 1.
Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary, did not advance the bill through his committee, a congressional staffer told JTA.
Congress formally ends its session on Monday afternoon, but the session is pro forma and most members are already back in their districts for a Christmas break. With the end of the session, bills still in committee lapse.
The vast majority of bills don't make it through Congress because of time considerations, although Jewish Insider reported Friday that Goodlatte opposed “rushing” the bill through the House without adequate study. The anti-Semitism bill's sponsors likely will reintroduce a version of the bill in 2017, their staffers told JTA.
The bill outlined when criticism of Israel crosses into anti-Semitism, citing the “three D’s” first advanced by Natan Sharansky, the Israeli politician and former prisoner of the Soviet gulag: demonization, double standards and delegitimization.
Numerous signs suggest the current Polish government is attempting to rewrite its role in World War II and the Holocaust.
As numerous signs suggest the current Polish government is attempting to rewrite its role in World War II and the Holocaust, the Florida Holocaust Museum (FHM) announced the North American premiere of a photo exhibition that documents in black and white the lengths that have been taken to wipe out traces of Jewish history and culture in Poland.
Recently, the NY Times reported that, after nearly a decade of planning and five years of construction at a cost of $114 million, the new Polish government may be backing away from its commitment to fund the Museum of the Second World War. The museum was scheduled to open in January but continued funding is now in question.
Last year, the JewishPress.com reported that the Polish government is threatening to prosecute Polish-born American historian Jan Gross for claiming that Poles killed more Jews than Germans during World War II. Gross, a renowned Holocaust scholar and professor at Princeton University, who received the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland for outstanding achievement in scholarship in 1996, is now accused of “publicly insulting a nation” and faces up to three years in prison if convicted.
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra to return Nazi-looted painting
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra will return a Nazi-looted painting to the heirs of its original Jewish owner, JTA reported on Monday.
The painting by the French neo-Impressionist painter Paul Signa, valued at about $500,000, will be returned to relatives of Marcel Koch sometime this month, the orchestra's spokeswoman said.
Koch did not have any children and the painting will be auctioned in Paris, according to The Associated Press.
A Nazi police official gave the orchestra "Port-en-Bessin" in 1940 in exchange for its performances in occupied France.
Vienna's Philharmonic Orchestra first announced two years ago it would return the painting to Koch’s relatives. The move has now been completed.
Israeli Education Ministry Rejects High School Students’ Appeal to Reschedule National Biology Test Over Justin Bieber Concert
The Israeli Education Ministry has declined to comply with the demand of “very angry” high school students to reschedule a matriculation exam slated for the day after a highly anticipated concert by international pop star Justin Bieber in Tel Aviv, The Washington Post reported on Monday.
According to the report, based on an Israel Army Radio broadcast, the ministry said students would have enough time to “recuperate” from the May 2017 concert before taking their state-wide biology test the following afternoon, leaving Israeli “Beliebers” feeling a “high degree of anguish.”
The ministry’s response came after students took to social media to demand that the exam be moved to another date, to avoid being faced with the choice of either staying up late to study for it or seeing their idol in a live performance.
On Sunday, Israel’s National Student and Youth Council said it had received numerous messages asking it to intervene. “This is one of the weirdest requests we have received, what do you think?” the group quipped on its Facebook page.
Some 500 commenters responded to the post, the report said, imploring educators to reschedule the exam.
Relic from Ottoman sultan returned to Jaffa, after extensive renovations
Following an intensive restoration project, the original seal of Sultan Hamid Abdul II – ruler of the Ottoman Empire during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and builder of the landmark Jaffa Clock Tower – has been restored and returned to its rightful place in the ancient port city.
Over the last year, the tower has undergone considerable conservation measures and engineering reinforcement implemented by the Ezra u-Biratzon Company of the Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality, the Israel Antiquities Authority said on Tuesday.
“During the course of the work, it became apparent that the original marble seal (tughra) bearing the symbol of Sultan Hamid Abdul II was in a poor state of preservation,” the Authority said.
“Not only had the marble long since lost its original color, [but] it was no longer possible to identify the relief on it, [and] the seal’s plaque, located at a height of 12 meters above the sidewalk, was in danger of falling. Additionally, the marble was cracked and partly detached from the wall, and its surface was crumbling.”
Tech giant Microsoft announces $1 billion campus in Herzliya
Microsoft Israel announced Sunday plans to set up a new campus in Herzliya's industrial zone, in central Israel, in a real estate project estimated at $1 billion.
Microsoft plans to lease 40,000 square meters (43,000 square feet) of space under a 15-year contract. The space will be developed by local real estate firms Canada-Israel, Tidhar, and Akro Real Estate. The lease is still pending the approval of Microsoft's U.S. parent company.
Microsoft Israel declined to elaborate further on the project,
In early 2016, Microsoft Israel issued a tender for a campus to merge its existing operations in Israel, which are currently spread over a number of locations in Herzliya Pituach and Raanana. According to the financial daily Globes, the new campus will house all the company's Herzliya offices, but no decision has been made at this time about the relocation of the Raanana offices.
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