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Photo: Associated Press
Ynet's top ten most read stories of 2014.
Photo: Associated Press

Top 10 most popular articles on 2014 on Ynet

The summer war in Gaza, strained US-Israel relations and the lavish lifestyle of Hamas officials - these are the stories that captivated Ynet readers during 2014.

Before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, let us take a look at the riveting stories that captured your attention in 2014. The year was full of events that will likely go down in history: Israel faced another war on one of its borders and foreign relations with “Israel’s best friend” the United States became quite tricky.

 

  

10. Tony Blair says Israel will not be able to destroy Hamas

 In July, while the war between Israel and Hamas was blaring, former prime minister Tony Blair, who is now the representative of the Quartet of Mideast Peacemakers, said that Israel would not be able to destroy Hamas as a political movement and that such a move would have to come from the Palestinian people themselves.

 

Former prime minister Tony Blair says Hamas cannot be defeated. (Photo: Reuters) (Photo: Reuters)
Former prime minister Tony Blair says Hamas cannot be defeated. (Photo: Reuters)

 

“…what I do know is that will only happen if it happens within the context of a way forward, particularly for the people of Gaza, that gives them some hope for the future, because in the end a political movement like that has support on the ground, and you need to shift ... take away that support,” said Blair in an exclusive interview with Ynet.

 

9. The good life of senior Hamas officials

While Palestinians were evacuating their homes and moving into crowded UN shelters during the summer Gaza war, Ynet reported that Hamas senior officials were living a life of luxury in Qatar – viewing Television coverage of the fighting will working out on elliptical bicycles. The report juxtaposed the realities of the average Palestinian in Gaza and the Hamas leaders – an angering picture showing the disparity between the lives of elite Hamas officials and the poor Gaza civilian.

 

Khaled Mashal and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu in Turkey. (Photo: Reuters)  (Photo: Reuters)
Khaled Mashal and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu in Turkey. (Photo: Reuters)

 

8. Holocaust survivor finds long lost family

The story of Menachem Bodner, who came to be known as prisoner No. A7733, reached out to the hearts of people all over the world after he created a Facebook page dedicated to finding his long lost twin from whom he was separated from during the Holocaust. In 2014, Bodner did not find his brother, but he did manage to find first cousins living in the US after an exciting search conducted by genealogist Ayana KimRon.

 

The marriage document that helped a Holocaust survivor find his family.
The marriage document that helped a Holocaust survivor find his family.

 

7. Palestinians rescue Jewish settlers after an attack

Palestinians came to the rescue of a young Jewish couple and their baby daughter who were wounded after other Palestinians in the town threw rocks at them – causing the father to sustain serious wounds and the car to flip over the side of the road.

 

Jewish family rescued by Palestinians after being attacked by Palestinians.
Jewish family rescued by Palestinians after being attacked by Palestinians.

 

6. Foreign journalists admit threats by Hamas impacted their war coverage

A day after the summer war between Hamas and Israel ended, foreign journalists who left Gaza finally mustered up the courage to report what they had been too scared to shed light on while they were reporting from within Gaza: Hamas had staged bomb scenes, shot rockets 50 meters away from the hotels of foreign journalists and the Hamas headquarters was based in a civilian hospital.

 

A rocket before being launched from within Gaza during summer Gaza war. (Photo: EPA) (Photo: EPA)
A rocket before being launched from within Gaza during summer Gaza war. (Photo: EPA)

 

5. Haredi men refuse to sit next to woman on El Al flight

Some passengers onboard the flight traveling from New York’s JFK to Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport said that the haredi travelers offered to pay them to switch seats so they would not have to sit next to woman. After travelers refused to change seats, the haredi men stood in the aisle in protest and delayed the flight.

 

Haredi's refuse to sit next to woman in flight. (Photo: Amit Ben Natan) (Photo: Amit Ben Natan)
Haredi's refuse to sit next to woman in flight. (Photo: Amit Ben Natan)

 

4. Hollywood stands behind Israel during Gaza war

After Penelope Cruze and Javier Bardem publicly expressed their harsh criticism of Israel, the pro-Israel Hollywood community responded with a petition that said that Hamas “cannot be allowed to rain rockets on Israeli cities, nor…hold its own people hostage,” which was signed by the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Seth Rogan, Sarah Silverman and Aaron Sorkin.

 

Sarah Silverman signed the pro-Israel Hollywood petition during the summer Gaza war. (Photo: Reuters)
Sarah Silverman signed the pro-Israel Hollywood petition during the summer Gaza war. (Photo: Reuters)
 

 

3. Yair Lapid says Israel-US relations in crisis

Former finance minister and head of Yesh Atid said that Israel-US relations had reached a boiling point and that Israeli officials must show more respect to the country that provided Israel with technology and funding that were critical during Operation Protective Edge. The criticism was indirectly geared toward Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who had called Kerry “messianic” and “obsessive” in closed door meetings.

 

Yair Lapid says US-Israel relations in crisis. (Photo: AFP) (Photo: AFP)
Yair Lapid says US-Israel relations in crisis. (Photo: AFP)

 

2. Ukrainian Jewish community demanded to register religion

The Jews of the Ukrainian city of Donetsk received a leaflet distributed on Passover evening by Pro-Russian activists and carrying Russia’s national symbol that demanded that Jews over the age of 16 register their religion and property or face being deported from the country.

 

Ukranian soldiers and pro-Russian seperatists. (Photo: EPA) (Photo: EPA)
Ukranian soldiers and pro-Russian seperatists. (Photo: EPA)

 

1. German village plays hilarious prank on Neo-Nazis

Fed up with an annual visit by neo-Nazi demonstrators who invade the village of Wunsiedel in South Germany every November to commemorate the National Heroes’ Remembrance Day by visiting the grave of Adolf Hitler’s Deputy, the community members took a new approach to their protest of the event and created an ironic prank which included putting up banners that stood in the backdrop of the march, mocking the neo-Nazi’s.

 

Banners that read “Mein Mampf!” (My food) were put up along the path of the march and mocked Hitler’s autobiographical novel Mein Kampf. To top it all off – for every meter marched by the neo-Nazi’s, 10 euro was raised for an NGO that supports neo-Nazis who leave the sect.

 

Germans play prank on neo-Nazis. (Photo: YouTube)
Germans play prank on neo-Nazis. (Photo: YouTube)

 

 

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.01.15, 00:40
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