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Almost two years have passed since Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, but one soldier has still not been able to go home. Yitzhak Yehuda Yisre’eli was injured early in the operation, but remains in hospital despite making steps toward recovery.  The problem: the Defense Ministry had refused to grant assistance to the family to outfit their…

President Reuven Rivlin opened the biennial Jerusalem International Writers’ Festival Wednesday night, which is being held at Mishkenot Sha’ananim.  The festival is attended by writers and authors from across Israel and the world, as well as ambassadors and other senior figures. “As a child, I was always told that a good story could save your life,” Rivlin began.…

The US State Department’s Office of the Inspector General issued a report to lawmakers on Wednesday, ruling that former Secretary of State and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton violated a slew of department regulations with regards to her private email server. According to the 80-page report on email record management and cybersecurity, Clinton violated…

With Lag Ba’Omer almost upon us, we invite you to be a vital part of an amazing project. In the shadow of the Kever of the Holy Tanna R’ Shimon Bar Yochai, construction of a magnificent edifice is underway: “Yeshivas Ohr Rashbi” has recently broken ground to be a center of learning for Talmidei Chachamim…

The Obama administration gave Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s expanded coalition a chilly reception on Wednesday, with State Department spokesman Mark Toner saying the Israeli government’s new composition raised “legitimate questions”. The comments came during a State Department press meeting on Thursday, following the signing of a new coalition agreement bringing the Yisrael Beytenu party into…

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat (Likud) announced Wednesday night that he does not intend to run for Likud leadership for as long as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is head of the party, amid speculation about his political future.  “I think it would be wrong to disqualify him for the job,” Barkat said, at an event at…

A rocket from Gaza was fired on Wednesday evening towards southern Israel. The rocket exploded in an open area of the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional Council, causing no physical injuries or damages. Security forces are searching the area. Military sources said that the “Red Alert” siren was not activated before the rocket exploded due to the…

The star-studded list of world-class pop stars and musicians performing in Israel this summer just added a new iconic member – multiple Grammy award-winning American musician Pharrell Williams. Williams, who shot to global superstardom with his hit “Happy” in 2014, is going to appear on July 21 at Live Park in Rishon Letzion. Tickets to Pharrell’s show are…

Likud MK Nava Boker on Wednesday reacted to the horrific rape of a 20-year-old mentally ill Jewish girl in southern Tel Aviv two weeks ago, after police lifted a gag order on the arrest of two suspected Arab perpetrators and an ongoing manhunt after the third Arab rapist. In revealing the vile gang-rape, police noted…

Yisrael Beytenu chairperson Avigdor Liberman signed a coalition agreement with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday to enter the government, but a reading of the agreement reveals that he gave up on many of his demands in the process. Last week Liberman declared three central conditions for his joining the coalition: a pension reform, that he be…

A protest against presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump turned into a violent riot on Tuesday night at Albuquerque, New Mexico, as hundreds of demonstrators hurled rocks and bottles at police officers, leaving a number of them wounded. The rioters turned over barricades and hurled projectiles at police in riot gear and mounted patrol units, reports Fox…

A Jerusalem labor court on Wednesday issued a temporary injunction against the Ministry of Transportation, halting a plan to privatize the driver testing department and ordering the Ministry and striking union workers to renew negotiations for a compromise. The injunction will remain in force for 90 days. The court also ordered striking driving testers back…

An annual pilgrimage to Africa’s oldest synagogue got under way Wednesday in Tunisia where security forces were deployed heavily to ward off potential jihadist attacks. Small groups of visitors began arriving in the searing heat at the Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba in southern Tunisia for the Lag BaOmer festival. Organizers expect up…

Hundreds of thousands of children participating in this year’s Lag B’Omer festivities will receive a special and spectacular gift: an illustrated Bible.  The “My Torah” series, published by Chabad-Lubavitch’s Full House books, authored by Rabbi Moshe Shilat, is designed to bring children in Israel closer to Torah.  This year, the series debuted Bereshit (Genesis), with the four…

A man and woman, both estimated to be around 30 years of age, were found dead in an apartment in Rishon Letzion on Wednesday in an apparent double murder. The couple, who began dating several weeks ago, were both divorcees with children. “She was divorced with two daughters; he was divorced with three children,” a…

The traditional ‘Hilula’ celebration will be held Wednesday night at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, located at the foot of Har Meron, in honor of Lag Ba’Omer.  Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend the celebration, which involves singing, dancing, and gathering around the traditional Lag Ba’Omer bonfires.  But the celebration…

Following the signing on Wednesday of a new coalition agreement bringing Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party into the government, the decision to replace former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon with Liberman received support from an unlikely source. Joint List MK Jamal Zahalka voiced his approval of the development, albeit with harsh criticism of both Liberman and…

Arab terrorist Bashar Masalha has become a hero of the Palestinian Authority (PA), after murdering American tourist Taylor Force and wounding 11 others in a brutal stabbing spree in Jaffa (Yafo) on March 8. He was shot dead by police during the attack. After his body was returned to the PA by Israel last week, official PA TV…

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit spoke late Tuesday for the first time about the case of Elor Azariya, the IDF soldier currently on trial for charges of manslaughter after having shot a wounded Arab terrorist in Hevron. Speaking at a launch event for the prosecutors forum at the Israel Bar Association, Mandelblit warned politicians not to interfere…

A last minute demand by Education Minister Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home party will need a solution before the coalition can be expanded on Wednesday, with the addition of incoming Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu. Following a report on Operation Protective Edge and the Second Lebanon War showing key intelligence was not shared with members of…

Tragedy struck on Wednesday morning, when a six-year-old boy fell from the balcony of his home on 101 Street in Ramat Gan in the coastal region. The child was seriously wounded by the fall, and after receiving initial medical treatment at the scene he was evacuated to Tel Hashomer Hospital suffering from a serious blow to the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu revealed that he has discovered his Lithuanian Jewish ancestry is not fully Ashkenazic, but actually at least partially hails from the Sephardic Jewry of Spain in tracing back through the years of exile from Israel. The surprising revelation was unveiled by the Prime Minister during an event launching a new wing at Beit Hatfutsot…

Ahead of the Lag B’Omer celebrations on Wednesday night, Tzfat (Safed) Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu spoke to Arutz Sheva about the spiritual awakening of the Jewish nation in Israel – and declared the “next step” in that process is to control the Temple Mount. The Mount, which was the site of the First and Second Temples and is the holiest…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman formally announced Wednesday morning the coalition deal reached between their two parties, at a Jerusalem press conference. The one-time allies and one-time enemies appeared in good spirits, with Yisrael Beytenu’s inclusion in the government expanding its majority from a wafer-thin 61 seats to a far…

Switzerland’s parliament has called to stop channeling massive funds to radical NGOs with terror links that work to push forward the BDS boycott movement that economically attacks Israel. The call by the parliament was made in a resolution initiated by MP Christian Imark, and it received backing from 41 MPs of various political stripes, reports Switzerland’s Basler Zeitung on…

Two Arab residents of Judea and Samaria as well as an Arab citizen of Israel are suspected of raping a 20-year-old mentally delayed Jewish girl two weeks ago for “nationalistic” motives, as was revealed on Wednesday when a media gag order on the case was lifted. All three were documented in footage they filmed two weeks ago raping…

TEL AVIV (JTA) — In 1978, when Beit Hatfutsot-Museum of the Jewish People opened, it did something big. But it did it in the smallest way possible. Among the museum’s first exhibits was a gallery filled with 18 miniature synagogues, each as intricate and tiny as a dollhouse. Representing houses of worship from around the…

MK Mickey Zohar (Likud) announced on Tuesday evening that he has changed his mind and would not be resigning from the Knesset after all. Zohar had met on Monday afternoon with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and reportedly informed the Prime Minister that he intended to leave the Knesset for “personal reasons”. Zohar said on Tuesday…

Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman is one step closer towards being appointed Israel’s Defense Minister, after an agreement was reached overnight Tuesday on his demands to join the coalition. The agreement was reached during a meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Liberman, which took place at Netanyahu’s office in…

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), in cooperation with the Heritage Project in the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs, and together with the Minister of Culture and Sport, MK Miri Regev, is promoting a national plan for comprehensive archaeological excavations in the Judean Desert caves, and rescuing the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are among the earliest texts…

The fourth member of a group of Islamic State (ISIS) jailors who murdered hostages and were dubbed the “Beatles” by former captives has been identified by The Washington Post and BuzzFeed news. According to stories in the two outlets on Monday, British and American intelligence officials have identified El Shafee Elsheikh, 27, as the final…

The EgyptAir jet that disappeared last week did not show technical problems before taking off from Paris, Reuters reported Tuesday night, citing sources within the Egyptian investigation committee. The sources said the plane did not make contact with Egyptian air traffic control, but Egyptian air traffic controllers were able to see it on radar on…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had harsh criticism for the media on Tuesday evening, over its coverage of the State Comptroller’s report which slammed Netanyahu over his conduct in the so-call “Bibi-Tours affair.” The saga revolves around a series of overseas visits during Netanyahu’s tenure as Finance Minister from 2003-2005, and includes suspicions of double-billing for…

B’nai Brith Canada is planning to take measures against the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, following the Ontario parliament’s failure last week to pass a bill banning public institutions from doing business with companies which support BDS. “We are preparing further measures to counteract the movement at this time,” Michael Mostyn, Chief Executive…

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Tuesday that if the Netanyahu government agrees to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority on the basis of the Arab peace initiative, Arab states would be willing to take steps to normalize their relations with Israel, Haaretz reported. Speaking at a conference in London, Blair said that there’s…

A French court on Tuesday ordered the chief suspect in a deadly attack on a Paris synagogue in 1980 to be sent back to jail, ten days after he was released on bail, AFP reports. Hassan Diab, a Lebanese-Canadian sociology professor who had been detained for 18 months, is accused of being part of the…

In Israel it is not unusual to be standing on line for a falafel with the young man or woman next to you doing the same but with an M-16 automatic weapon slung over their shoulder.  At the same time it is a common sight to be davening at the Kotel or a local shul…

(JTA) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi to discuss how to revive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, along with other shared concerns. Meeting in Cairo on May 18, Kerry “expressed his appreciation for [Sissi’s] recent statement of strong support for advancing Arab-Israeli peace,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in…

Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists are using civilians as human shields in the group’s de facto Syria capital Raqqa, a Syrian activist said Tuesday, complicating things for a Kurdish-Arab alliance which has launched an offensive in the area. The Syrian Democratic Forces, a seven-month-old alliance between Kurdish and Arab forces, launched an offensive on Tuesday in areas…

A 30-year-old woman and her 12-year-old daughter drowned in two separate tragic accidents on a beach in Bat Yam Tuesday evening. Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics first resuscitated the 12-year-old girl, before evacuating her to Wolfson Hospital in critical condition. At around the same time, emergency services attempted to resuscitate a 30-year-old woman who had drowned nearby, but were forced…

Chairman of the Jewish Home and Education Minister Naftali Bennett intends to insist on his demands to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, he announced Tuesday, after demanding the premier appoint a military secretary to update the Cabinet on IDF affairs at all times. Following a report on Operation Protective Edge and the Second Lebanon War, it…

Off the beaten track: The Jewish town of Yitzhar in Samaria isn’t usually on the itinerary of Diaspora Jewish summer trips to Israel. A religious-Zionist community close to the Biblical city of Shechem, Yitzhar is often portrayed as “extemist” – but usually by people who have never even visited it. In part seeking to break down those…

The Republican Jewish Coalition condemned the “troubling increase of anti-Semitic invective” aimed at journalists covering the presidential campaigns, but without singling out the two most widely reported incidents, both involving supporters of presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump. “We abhor any abuse of journalists, commentators and writers whether it be from Sanders, Clinton or Trump supporters,”…

Spain’s main Jewish group threatened legal action against a local lawmaker for calling a community leader “a foreign agent.” Benet Salellas espoused “the most repugnant form of anti-Semitism” and used speech that “is wholly illegitimate in diplomatic discourse,” FCJE said Tuesday in an unusually harshly-worded statement. The group said that unless Salellas apologized and walked back his statements, it would press charges against him…

Israel is being judged by standards that apply to a peaceful suburb of an American city.  In reality, it is threatened by destruction on a daily basis and should be judged by unique standards. Loading… Click here to download the podcast

Former MK Professor Aryeh Eldad had some harsh criticism on Tuesday for incoming Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman. “Liberman is no longer on the right,” Eldad told Arutz Sheva on the sidelines of the launching of his new book, entitled “How Things Are Seen from Here”. “Liberman is trying to look like an impassioned right-winger, claiming…

State comptroller Yosef Haim Shapira released his long-awaited annual report Tuesday afternoon – and slammd Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over his conduct in the so-call “Bibi-Tours affair.” The scandal, which revolves around a series of overseas visits during Netanyahu’s tenure as Finance Minister from 2003-2005, includes suspicions of double-billing for trips, acceptance of gifts in…

President Reuven Rivlin met at his residence with a delegation of the German parliamentary faction Die Linke (The Left Party) on Tuesday, accompanied by German Ambassador to Israel, Dr. Clemens von Goetze. Rivlin welcomed the group on their visit to Israel. “This is a very complicated place, and in Israel we have no problem with criticism,”…

An attorney running for a judgeship in Georgia apologized for referencing his Jewish opponent’s religion as “not Christian” in his campaign literature. Roderick Bridges apologized on Saturday to Dax Lopez, the incumbent on the DeKalb County State Court, for literature that listed Bridges as Christian with a thumbs-up sign and Lopez as “not Christian” with…

Egyptian authorities denied evidence of an explosion aboard doomed EgyptAir flight MS804 Tuesday, despite investigators citing ample evidence of just that hours earlier.  “Everything published about this matter is completely false,” Forensic Medicine Authority head Hisham Abdul Hamid stated to the press Tuesday afternoon.  Earlier, an anonymous investigator told the Associated Press that an explosion was evident,…

Citing anti-discrimination laws, a Spanish constitutional tribunal recommended scrapping a municipality’s motion calling for a boycott against Israel. The Ministerio Fiscal, an advisory judicial authority charged with guaranteeing equality in the judiciary, made the recommendation this month, according to a statement by ACOM, a Spanish pro-Israel lobby. The recommendation came after ACOM sued the northern municipality…

Two State Comptroller’s reports into Israeli public diplomacy have excoriated the government’s mismanagement and neglect of the foreign ministry, accusing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of seriously hobbling the Foreign Ministry. In the reports – one on foreign diplomacy and the other on Israel’s efforts to combat the BDS boycott movement – State Comptroller Yoseph Shapira describes…

An Israeli delegation has headed to Cairo, Palestinian news agency Maan reports Tuesday, to arrange a meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas.  The delegation departed this morning from Tel Aviv, the report claims, and includes representatives from the Defense and Foreign Ministries. They will meet with Egyptian foreign ministry officials.  While…

Avigdor Liberman won’t be sworn into the government at least until next week, it appears, as talks between Likud and Yisrael Beytenu drag on. By law, once a coalition deal is reached and signed, it must be submitted to the Knesset for approval at least 24 hours in advance of its scheduled implementation. Since tomorrow…

(AFP) Satellite imagery appears to show extensive damage to an air base in Syria used by Russian forces following an attack by terrorists from the Islamic State (ISIS) group, US intelligence company Stratfor said Tuesday. The claim was immediately denied by Russia’s defense ministry which said that the damage had been there for months and was…

The gunman behind a mass shooting in Austria on Sunday has been identified as a neo-Nazi, local media reports Tuesday.  A 27 year-old man identified as ‘Gregor S.’ opened fire on a rock concert in the Alps with a Kalashnikov at 3:00 am local time Sunday, killing two people and wounding eleven. He fired more than…

Popular ‘kiruv rabbi’ and speaker Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak was scheduled to address residents of the haredi town of Modi’in Illit Monday night, an event that at first blush would seem unlikely to create such a storm of controversy. Yitzhak, a Yemenite-Israeli rabbi who has spent decades on the speaking circuit, has become a prominent fixture…

As international efforts to delegitimize the Jewish state and harm it economically grow in strength and number, Israel’s Mission to the United Nations is looking to take on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS) and raise awareness of the BDS campaign’s anti-democratic and often anti-Semitic behavior. To that end, Israeli Ambassador to the UN,…

Coalition negotiating teams reported Tuesday morning that a breakthrough was imminent in talks to include Yisrael Beytenu in the government, and that a final agreement could be ready in a matter of hours. After negotiations stalled this week over Yisrael Beytenu’s demand for some 2.5 billion shekels ($650 million) to fund pension plans for elderly…

State comptroller and retired judge Yosef Haim Shapira is expected to release his annual report on Tuesday, including new information on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s travel funding scandal, often referred to as ‘Bibi-Tours’. The scandal, which revolves around a series of overseas visits during Netanyahu’s tenure as Finance Minister from 2003-2005, includes suspicions of double-billing…

Israel’s unemployment rate fell to 4.9%, the lowest level in more than 30 years. Data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on Monday shows that from March to April, unemployment dropped from 5.3% to 4.9%, part of a long downward trend from nearly 11% in 2004 in the midst of the Second Intifada. Despite…

Human remains retrieved from EgyptAir 804 indicate the plane suffered an explosion before crashing, Egyptian investigators said on Tuesday. Flight MS804, which was lost over the Mediterranean last Thursday, has prompted speculation of terrorism, despite no claims of responsibility from ISIS or other known terror organizations. All 66 on board, including 56 passengers and 10…

This week Walter’s World covers an exceptional period in the Jewish calendar, as well as most extraordinary events in politics. Following in quick succession were three important commemorative days as well as Israel’s Independence Day, and Walter describes how Israel remembers and also celebrates. While our President Reuven Rivlin in his speeches praised the achievements of Israel’s men…

(JTA) — A municipality in southern France alerted prosecutors to a local politician’s Twitter account featuring remarks on banning Jews and dogs along with imagery from the Holocaust. Montpelier prosecutors were notified Monday of the statement attributed to Djamel Boumaaz, a Muslim former member of the far-right National Front party, the Liberation daily reported. Boumaaz,…

The Museum of the Jewish People (Beit Hatfutsot) in Tel Aviv is opening its new wing, featuring new and exciting exhibitions. Arutz Sheva visited the museum and spoke with CEO Dan Tadmor. One of the new exhibitions features models of synagogues past and present, displayed in a new dedicated gallery presenting the diverse expressions of…

The United States urged Russia on Monday to press Syria to stop bombing opposition forces and civilians in Aleppo and the Damascus suburbs. The appeal came in a phone call from Secretary of State John Kerry to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, reported AFP. “Russia has a special responsibility in this regard to press the…

North Korea’s Ambassador to the United Nations on Monday rejected Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposal to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Speaking to Reuters, the ambassador, So Se Pyong, said Trump’s proposal is a “kind of propaganda or advertisement” in his election race. Trump told the same news agency last week he…

(JTA) — British Jewish groups and lawmakers have called on the Labour Party to suspend a Parliament member who compared Israel to the Nazis.  The party said last week that Afzal Khan had been “reminded of his responsibilities as a Labour representative,” but that he would face no disciplinary action, the Jewish Chronicle reported Thursday.…

A red swastika was spray-painted at a synagogue in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, reports the local WPRI-TV. According to the report, the graffiti was found on Sunday and was widely condemned by local and state leaders. Pawtucket Police have opened an investigation into the vandalism. “This is the kind of thing that makes your whole body…

(JTA) — A Holocaust survivor, fulfilling a lifelong dream, sang the national anthem at a Major League Baseball game. Hermina Hirsch, 89, performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” on Saturday at Comerica Park in Detroit prior to the Tigers’ game against the Tampa Bay Rays. Hirsch in an interview last month with the Detroit television station WWJ…

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is hesitant on the issue of a possible visit to Israel, despite reports last week that Republican Jews are laying the groundwork for such a trip in the coming weeks, The Jewish Insider reported Monday. A trip to Israel would not be a good idea “at this moment,” Trump was…

TEL AVIV (JTA) — David Sharan, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s U.S.-born chief of staff, will be the Israeli Cabinet’s next secretary. The appointment was announced Monday, according to Israeli media reports. Sharan will manage the work of the 20-member Cabinet, which includes ministers from Israel’s soon-to-be six coalition parties and which votes on government…

The pre-Israel Defense Forces Preparatory Academy in Beit El launches its Israel Cadet Trek 2016 this week in the Galilee. The cadets, alongside cyclists from the USA and Israel, will peddle through Israel’s most breathtaking scenery, stopping for briefings on acts of heroism and historic battles waged by Jewish warriors from biblical to modern times.  Beit El’s…

Speaking on the 100th anniversary of the Sykes-Picot Agreement last week, President of the Iraqi Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, declared that the old Middle East created by European imperialism was dead – and that an independent Kurdish state must be part of the emerging new order. Referring to the secret arrangement by the Allied Powers in…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on Monday at the launch of the Knesset’s summer session, declaring that he is willing to take “courageous steps” in order to advance a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA). “I aspire to advance towards a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the state of Israel,” Netanyahu told the plenum…

On Monday the Knesset Guard Sergeant-at-Arms Brigadier General Yossi Grif assigned a bodyguard to Israel’s newest MK, Temple Mount activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick, following threats upon his life. Glick, who was shot and severely wounded in an assassination attempt in 2014, has been the subject of regular death threats by Arab terrorists. He will be…

The Sylvan Adams Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN) Bonei Zion Prize for 2016 was handed out at the Knesset in time for the launching of its summer session on Monday, and Arutz Sheva was on hand to talk with an NBN representative as well as one of the prize winners. The award recognizes Anglo olim, both those who immigrated recently as…

A new report on housing prices in Israel offers more grim news after a glimmer hope earlier this year, showing that despite programs by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and his predecessor Yair Lapid, costs continue to rise unabated. According to the report, produced by government assessor Tal Aldrotti, prices for three-room apartments rose by 1.6%…

Aviya Grushko, the percussionist of the Inbalim band, spoke to Arutz Sheva on Monday about how the prestigious King David Hotel in Jerusalem last Wednesday demanded that members of his band remove their kippot and tuck in their tzitzit during a performance. The hotel had invited the band to play for its workers, the vast majority of whom are Arabs, and made the discriminatory…

Filmmaker Ami Horowitz sought to find out just how virulently anti-Israel American college campuses have become, and so he posed as a fundraiser for Hamas terror attacks at Portland State University (PSU) in Oregon. The results of his experiment were uploaded on Sunday. Posing as an employee of “American Friends of Hamas,” Horowitz made clear to the…

Coalition talks between the Likud and Yisrael Beytenu parties resumed late Monday evening, after Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman had said earlier they reached a “dead end”. The main issue of contention between the sides remains the issue of pensions for immigrants, at an estimated cost of 3 billion shekels. The move would also provide rent…

A Dutch-Jewish woman was stabbed at a kosher restaurant in the Jewish quarter of Amsterdam on Monday night. She suffered lightly to moderate injuries and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The attacker turned himself in to police, according to local reports. The background to the incident is unclear, and it remains to…

The UK Labour Party has suspended a senior journalist from the party for writing about the anti-Semitism scandal rocking the left-wing party. In his column, Rod Liddle, an associate editor of The Spectator, remarked on the virulent anti-Semitic sentiments held by many Muslim Labour members in particular. He said that anti-Semiitsm is “absolutely endemic within two sections…

Yesh Atid chairperson MK Yair Lapid held a meeting of his party on Monday, where he spoke about the coalition talks with Zionist Union that collapsed, as well as the talks with MK Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu that have hit a “dead end.” “The central problem of the state of Israel is the political system…

Speaking at the Likud’s weekly meeting on Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu welcomed the party’s newest MK, Temple Mount activist Rabbi Yehuda Glick. Netanyahu also congratulated MKs David Biton and Yoav Kish on their new respective positions as Coalition Chairman and Chairman of the House Committee respectively. “To those bearing the burden [of governance], you…

The precise cause of the tragic crash of EgyptAir Flight 804 is still yet to be determined, as investigators hunt for the Airbus A320’s black boxes. But while Islamic terrorism is widely believed to be the most likely cause, Egyptian political commentator Nabih Al-Wahsh believes he knows precisely who downed the plan: yes, you guessed it,…

A haredi soldier serving in the Israeli Air Force (IAF) recently had an emotional chance encounter with IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, as reported by Channel 2. The soldier, identified only as A., is married and the father of a half-year-old baby son. Around half a year ago A. was injured in a lethal bus…

Despite losing the general election ballot on Sunday for the Austrian presidency, Alexander Van der Bellen narrowly defeated Norbert Hofer on Monday, after absentee ballots put the former Green Party leader over the top. Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) candidate Norbert Hofer had led Van der Bellen after Sunday’s vote 51.9% to 48.1%, and appeared…

Deputy Regional Cooperation Minister Ayoub Kara on Monday announced to members of his Likud party that he is weighing whether or not to remain in the ruling party. Political sources estimate that Kara’s statement comes on the background of his demands to be appointed minister in the anticipated coalition shakeup with Yisrael Beytenu’s expected entry. Those demands…

An out-of-control fire blazing outside of the western Samarian community of Elkana on Monday has forced a partial evacuation of the town. The fire burned uncontained Monday morning outside of the Magen Dan neighborhood of Elkana, located just east of Rosh Ha’Ayin and Petach Tikva. By Monday afternoon, firefighters were still unable to control the…

Likud MK Mickey Zohar met Monday afternoon with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu amid rumors the first-term parliamentarian was breaking from the party. During the meeting, Zohar reportedly informed Netanyahu that he intended to leave the Knesset, citing “personal reasons”. Zohar’s planned departure comes just days after former Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon’s quit the Knesset. On…

A special operation of the Yad L’Achim organization ended successfully last week, with the rescue of a Jewish mother and her three children from the Arab man she had been tricked into marrying. The Jewish woman, identified only as A., met and was deceived into marrying a young Arab working illegally in sovereign Israeli territory a…

Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) purposely kept Deputy Defense Minister MK Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan (Jewish Home) totally in the dark, the latter revealed Monday.  “For the last few months, I was not summoned for any security discussions with Ya’alon,” Ben-Dahan stated to Army Radio. This, despite the continuing terror war nationwide.  Ben-Dahan added that he “did…

A school built in Gaza using German funds is educating their students on hatred and violence for Israel and providing children with military training At the end of March, a Hamas-affiliated news agency distributed a video showing a Palestinian teacher indoctrinating school children with hatred for Israel and support for an armed struggle against it.…

Prosecutors have challenged an appeal filed by the attorneys of Sholom Rubashkin (56), the jailed Iowa kosher slaughterhouse executive sentenced to 27 years in prison for fraud and money laundering. The hefty 110-page document outlines the prosecution’s case for upholding the unusually harsh sentence. A month-and-a-half ago Rubashkin’s lawyers submitted the appeal asking to reopen the case, after…

Loading… Temple Mount prayer rights activist Yehuda Glick visited the Temple Mount Monday, in what may be his last visit to Judaism’s holiest site until the end of his term in Knesset.  MKs have been banned from ascending the Mount since last year, out of both security concerns which arose in the wake of the…

A video going viral on social media depicts serious abuse of authority by a policeman, and has drawn outrage over police brutality. The video taken in Beit Shemesh shows a policeman appearing to unjustifiably use his Taser gun against an unarmed haredi man. The story accompanying the video explains how the haredi male exchanged words with…

Footage showing a Bedouin Israeli man being violently beaten by police in Tel Aviv is raising yet more questions about police brutality. Arab-Israeli supermarket worker Maysam Abu Alqian, 19, from the southern Bedouin town of Hura, claims the attack was unprovoked, and occurred when an uniformed man asked him for his ID. When he asked to…

IDF soldier Elor Azariya, who is on trial for charges of manslaughter after having shot a wounded Arab terrorist in Hevron, denied all charges against him during a hearing in Jaffa (Yafo) military court Monday.  Azariya denied all charges against him, stating that he was acting in self-defense.  His representative, Attorney Eyal Beserglick, said on…

An event scheduled for the end of May at Ben Gurion University is drawing angry condemnations, after it was revealed it would be promoting a far-left group accused of conducting espionage against the Israeli army on behalf of foreign states. At the end of this month, Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheva will be sponsoring a conference titled,…

The Schmerler family from Talmon in Samaria decided to name their newborn son after Tuvia Yanai Weissman who was murdered by knife-wielding Arab terrorists in a Rami Levi supermarket in Feburary, after he attempted to fight them off bare-handed. The Schmerler family invited Weissman’s widow, Yael, to the brit milah (circumcision ceremony). “During the past…

A baggage handler or airport worker at Paris’s Charles De Gaulle International Airport could have planted a bomb on doomed EgyptAir flight MS804, French investigators announced overnight Sunday/Monday – but the airport will not boost its security.  One airline desk officer confirmed to the British Telegraph that airport security “sometimes” performed spot checks on airport staff, but…

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday night announced the beginning of military operations to retake the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, which is being held by Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists. Iraqi forces are “approaching a moment of great victory” against ISIS, he said in a televised address, according to The Associated Press. The…

Former Likud minister Gideon Sa’ar on Sunday called on the two United States presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, to publicly support Israel’s right to build in Jerusalem. Speaking at the Jerusalem Post conference in New York, Sa’ar pointed out that the Palestinian Arabs have building illegally to create contiguity between Ramallah and Jerusalem,…

Canada’s UN ambassador said Sunday that the country’s experience welcoming Syrian refugees helps qualify it for a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council, part of its push for a more active role on the world stage. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in mid-March that Canada would seek a rotating seat on the council during…

Dennis Ross, President Barack Obama’s former Middle East advisor, on Sunday criticized Obama and his decision to distance himself from Israel during his time in office. Speaking at the Jerusalem Post conference in New York, Ross said that Obama “is one of five presidents in modern history who have made a conscious decision to try…

Egypt on Sunday deployed a submarine to hunt for the black box flight recorders of the EgyptAir plane that crashed in the Mediterranean Sea with 66 people on board, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said, according to Reuters. International air and naval teams discovered debris of the plane Friday, 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Alexandria. Among the wreckage were personal…

Former Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy said on Sunday that it is time to talk with Hamas, and added that he would not be surprised if incoming Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman is the one who starts those talks. “Hamas is no longer linked to Iran. They are adrift from Iran and looking for ways to reach…

Hamas is planning to carry out a series of public executions in Gaza, the attorney general in the Palestinian enclave said on Sunday, according to the AFP news agency. “Capital punishments will be implemented soon in Gaza,” Attorney General Ismail Jaber was quoted as having told journalists. “I ask that they take place before a…

Former IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi on Sunday said that he is not concerned about the upcoming appointment of MK Avigdor Liberman as Defense Minister. “I think Liberman demonstrated a pragmatic approach when he was Foreign Minister. We are facing great challenges. There is a significant gap between rhetoric and politics and action on…

My Israeli Brother is one of a number of projects run by the Hinam Organization aimed at promoting meaningful encounters between people from different sectors within Israeli society. By “stepping into someone else’s shoes,” Hinam believes that people will learn to live together, share the same space and promote tolerance and understanding in society. Thus,…

A third of his Labor faction MKs may have boycotted his meeting on Sunday, but Opposition head MK Yitzhak Herzog (Zionist Union) didn’t fare much better with those who turned out, as they gave him a browbeating for his failed attempt to join the Likud government. “I have great criticism for the way you managed…

At a press conference Sunday with the visiting French Prime Minister Manuel Valls, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke about Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s (Likud) sudden resignation last Friday. Ya’alon announced Friday that he intends to return and contend for the leadership, after Netanyahu decided to give his post of Defense Minister to MK Avigdor Liberman as a condition…

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) on Sunday transferred two ancient relics from Pharaonic times to the Ambassador of Egypt. The two artifacts are Egyptian sarcophagi covers dating back to the period between the 10th-8th centuries and 16th-14th centuries BCE. The items had been illegally smuggled into Israel and were confiscated by the Israel Antiquities…

Senior Hamas politburo official Mahmoud al-Zahar reignited the war of words between his terrorist organization and Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction, which have long been bitter rivals. Hamas and Fatah have remained violently divided despite the unity deal sealed by Abbas in April 2014 when he torpedoed the US-led peace talks. In…

The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby on Thursday condemned the rising anti-Semitism in Britain and encouraged other faith communities not to give in to it, or to other forms of racism. “We’ve seen a very sharp rise over the last year or so in anti-Semitic expression. It is absolutely intolerable,” Welby told a gathering of Jewish, Hindu,…

Torah scholars often study Talmud while standing, placing the text they are using on a plain wooden lectern – called a shtender in yeshivas. If you go to the Torah MiTzion Beit Mirdrash in Washington D.C., you will notice an unusual shtender, unusual because the name of the Gush Etzion community Neve Daniel is written on…

Coalition chairman MK David Biton (Likud) on Sunday addressed the proposed death penalty law for terrorists initiated by Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman during coalition negotiations. “I think there needs to be a death penalty, not just for those who want to commit suicide, but those who want to carry out a deadly attack only…

The Almagor terror victims organization on Sunday contacted ministers on the Security Cabinet and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, demanding that they not block a new death penalty bill for terrorist murderers. The bill is being requested by incoming Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman as a condition for his Yisrael Beytenu party to join the coalition. While Liberman reportedly may…

The annual event of the Friends of Israel (FOI) in Milan is always a notable affair. This year, over two hundred people attended, including Israel’s ambassador to Rome and the candidates running for election in the Milan mayoral race, who addressed the audience.   Prime Minister Netanyahu sent a warm message to the international organization that asserts, to quote ABC…

One of Jerusalem’s top hotels barred a band from wearing yarmulkes and tzitzit, i.e. Jewish religious garb, out of fear of offending its Arab workers.  The King David hotel invited the Inbalim band to play for its workers, Army Radio reports – the vast majority of whom are Arab. As such, the band adapted its repertoire to suit its audience,…

The Petah Tikva Magistrate’s Court on Sunday held a hearing on the state attorney’s request, which seeks to obligate the radical leftist group Breaking the Silence to give law authorities the details on testimony that the organization publishes. Breaking the Silence cites the unconfirmed claims of anonymous sources in accusing the IDF of “war crimes,” and spreads its alleged…

A Muslim woman who gained international fame after posing for a series of ironic selfies with anti-Islam protesters, as herself been outed as an anti-Semitic bigot. 22-year-old Zakia Belkhiri was feted by international media outlets for her act of defiance, and portrayed as a hero of tolerance and multiculturalism, after posing in front of and even among…

Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton on Saturday fired back at Donald Trump for comments he made after the National Rifle Association (NRA) announced their endorsement of the presumptive Republican nominee. On Friday, Trump criticized Clinton calling her “crooked Hillary” and saying she is “anti-gun,” and that she would “abolish” the Second Amendment if elected. In return,…

Pro-Palestinian activists turned violent last Wednesday night as they protested a pro-Israel movie screening at University of California, Irvine (UCI), and in the process hunted down a Jewish woman who was forced to hide and call for police rescue. At least 50 anti-Israel protesters from the Muslim Student Union and the group Students for Justice in…

Adherents of the Vizhnitz hassidic court are in mourning after the passing of Rabbi Gavriel Tzvi Klein of Jerusalem who died on Sunday after battling an illness at the age of 64, according to Kikar Hashabbat. Rabbi Klein was a predominant figure among the Vizhnitz hassidic dynasty and last year he was blessed with his seventeenth child. A…

The backlash over Zionist Union chairperson MK Yitzhak Herzog’s talks to join in a unity government continues to intensify, as a third of his Labor faction MKs boycotted a meeting that he called on Sunday in Tel Aviv. Many in the party have called for Herzog to resign. The talks failed as Herzog demanded a…

Yafo Military Court President Col. Maya Heller has replaced the panel of judges in the case of IDF soldier Elor Azariya, who is on trial for charges of manslaughter after having shot a wounded Arab terrorist in Hevron. The decision to replace the judges was made after one of them, Lt. Col. Yogev Yifrah, noted that…

A Torah reading was prevented on Thursday at the Ashkenazi synagogue “Bnei HaYeshivot” in Kiryat Yearim solely because the cantor prayed with a Sephardic accent, reports Kikar Hashabbat. According to one of the worshipers, dozens of yeshiva students and others assembled to pray but no one agreed to lead the prayers except for a Sephardi young man. Since…

The leftist American Jewish group J Street on Sunday issued a response to the revelation that it received more than half a million dollars to advocate for the Obama administration’s controversial nuclear deal with Iran. The expose, revealed by Associated Press, noted that the Ploughshares Fund was named in an explosive New York Times profile of Obama aid Ben Rhodes, in…

Temperatures will spike again Sunday, after days of pleasant weather.  Highs Sunday will reach 33°C (91.4°F) in Katzrin; 30°C (86°F) in Tzfat (Safed); 30°C (86°F) in Ariel; 30°C (86°F) in Nahariya; 31°C (87.8°F) in Tel Aviv; 31°C (87.8°F) in Jerusalem; 39°C (102.2°F) in the Dead Sea area; 34°C (93.2°F) in Rehovot; 28°C (82.4°F) in Ashkelon; 35°C (95°F) in Arad; 37°C (98.6°F) in Be’er Sheva; and 40°C (104°F) in Eilat.  Cooler…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has decided to skip his own farewell ceremony Sunday, in disgust with his ouster and in the context of him “taking a break” from politics.  The farewell-and-swearing-in-ceremony will still commence Sunday in the Kirya government complex in Tel Aviv, in the presence of top generals and government officials. Meanwhile, coalition talks continue…

Former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s departure from his post, and from politics in general, will not affect US aid to Israel, a senior official from Washington confirmed Sunday morning.  Ya’alon’s replacement “will not affect the continuation of negotiations between Israel and the US and the scope of the military aid package Israel is to receive from…

Political vandals threatened the doomed plane carrying flight EgyptAir MS804, EgyptAir workers revealed Saturday, writing in Arabic “we will bring this plane down” on the plane’s underbelly.  Cairo airport workers targeted the plane for its registration number, SU-GCC, which bears similarity to the surname of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.  Three airline employees anonymously confirmed the incident…

A top Palestinian Authority (PA) official insisted that a Palestinian “Right of Return” should be to modern-day Israel – not to a “Palestinian state.”  Fatah Central Committee and PLO Executive Committee member Zakaria Al-Agha made the comments in a May 11 interview to Palestine TV. They were translated into English by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). The…

The top US military commander for the Middle East made a surprise visit to northern Syria on Saturday to witness efforts to build up local forces in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group, officials said. General Joseph Votel, head of US Central Command (Centcom), met US military advisors working with Syrian Arab fighters, a Centcom spokesman said. He…

Israel imported cement into Gaza Sunday after a month and a half of hiatus om transfers into the Hamas stronghold.  Construction and employment in Gaza allegedly had suffered due to the break, Walla! News reports. Israel had stopped the imports due to Hamas’s building terror tunnels into Israel, and after the IDF unearthed a terror tunnel leading under the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu began the weekly government cabinet meeting by defending efforts to expand the coalition, stating that the inclusion of the Yisrael Beytenu party will not impact on the government’s diplomatic efforts vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority. “From the beginning, when we established the government, I said that my intention was to expand the government,”…

Yisrael Beytenu joining the coalition government will bring stability, Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) told Arutz Sheva Sunday. Levin noted that, over the past year, Likud had managed to achieve several long-term goals.  “First, we extended the government and created stability,” Levin stated. “I think this is crucial, so that Israel doesn’t go every year or year-and-a-half to…

What happened to Raoul Wallenberg, the brave Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Jews? This question has stayed unanswered for seventy years, despite the concerted efforts of family, government agencies and researchers. Why has it proven impossible, so far, to trace him?  Is it possible that a close look at the search for…

Conservative and big-money allies of Donald Trump are laying the groundwork for him to visit Israel this summer, an idea backed by Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, The Guardian reported on Saturday. According to the report, the Jewish-American billionaire recently indicated in a meeting with the candidate that he would provide about $100 million to help…

The Islamic State (ISIS) group appeared to try to keep morale high among its supporters in a new audio message released on Saturday, which also called for attacks on the US during the holy month of Ramadan, AFP reports. The audio recording reportedly featuring ISIS spokesman Abu Mohamed al-Adnani was posted online late Saturday evening…

Senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar on Friday issued a challenge to incoming Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, who was given his request to take the post as a condition of having his Yisrael Beytenu party join the coalition government. The senior terrorist expressed scorn towards Liberman’s statements in recent weeks, according to which if the bodies…

(JTA) “There’s no such thing as a bad date — there’s just a funny story,” says Jessica Schechter, a 28-year-old modern Orthodox woman who teaches acting in New York City and lives on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. There’s the guy who took her to the action figure section of a Toys “R” Us after dinner…

J-Street received more than half a million dollars to advocate for the Obama administration’s controversial nuclear deal with Iran, it has been revealed. The liberal Jewish group, which bills itself as “pro-Israel and pro-peace” but which critics say takes solely anti-Israel stances, was paid the money by the White House’s main surrogate organization for selling the…

Lag B’Omer, the day of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s (Rasbhi) passing, starts on Wednesday night this year. It is an important holiday, but there are many problems that are liable to arise at the traditional large bonfires. Rabbi Yonah Goodman used his weekly column in Arutz Sheva to expound upon the upcoming holiday, and said, “in some places,…

Gilad Sharon, the son of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the brother of former Likud then Kadima MK Omri Sharon who was convicted of corruption in 2006 and jailed, has decided to join the Likud party – and says he may run for the Knesset. Sharon’s father Ariel Sharon – who died in 2014 after eight years…

Hundreds of far leftists held a protest on Saturday night at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square, demonstrating against MK Avigdor Liberman being appointed Defense Minister as part of his Yisrael Beytenu party joining the coalition government. Present at the protest was MK Tamar Zandberg (Meretz), former Labor MK Yael Dayan, chairperson of Meretz’s management Ori Zachi – and…

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon’s campaign to lift the ban on an Israeli exhibit has paid off, as after initially blocking the exhibit and later partially allowing it in April, the UN has now folded, allowing it to be shown in its entirety at UN headquarters in New York. The exhibit, a joint initiative by the Israeli…

Around 60,000 Muslims took part in Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem yesterday, and among them were 300 residents of Gaza aged 50 and above who were let in by Israel through the Erez crossing. Amid the large turnout Sheikh Ekrima Sa’id Sabri, chairperson of the Supreme Muslim Council and former…

Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was targeted and “likely killed” Saturday in a US drone strike in a remote area of Pakistan along the Afghan border, a US official said. The airstrike, which was authorized by President Barack Obama, also killed a second adult male combatant as the two traveled in a vehicle southwest of the town of Ahmad Wal, but no civilians…

Arab countries including Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Jordan and Egypt, are prepared to discuss with Israel changes to the Saudi peace initiative in order to resume peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), Channel 10 News revealed on Friday. In return for a peace agreement with the PA, those countries would reportedly…

Arab and Islamic nations are demanding that the United Nations remove a panel from an Israeli exhibition that calls Jerusalem “the spiritual and physical capital of the Jewish people”, The Associated Press reported Friday. The exhibition, in a corridor near a popular cafe in the UN basement, includes panels on Israel’s Arabs, its technology innovations…

The National Rifle Association (NRA) on Friday endorsed Donald Trump for president at its convention, reports ABC News. Chris Cox, the executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, made the endorsement immediately before Trump walked on stage. “Now is the time to unite. If your preferred candidate dropped out of the race, it’s…

Mitzvat Yishuv Eretz Yisrael. There is a mitzva to live in the Land of Israel. It doesn’t show up on Rambam’s list of mitzvot. Nor in the Sefer HaChinuch. It is counted among the Taryag by Ramban. It’s a mitzva CHIYUVIT (obligatory). It’s a mitzva KIYUMIT (not required, but a mitzva if you do it).…

Hezbollah has not found any evidence tying Israel to the assassination of its military commander Mustafa Badr Al-Din, the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday. Speaking at a memorial service for Badr Al-Din and quoted by Haaretz, Nasrallah attributed his death to “terror organizations fighting in Syria,” but said that Hezbollah isn’t “fully exonerating”…

The United States on Friday rejected a Russian proposal to launch joint air strikes against jihadists from next week in Syria, but said the two sides were discussing ways to better monitor a shaky truce. “We do not collaborate or coordinate with the Russians on any operations in Syria,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis…

Former Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Friday blasted the government as “fascist” following the resignation of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, as a result of MK Avigdor Liberman taking his post as part of his coalition agreement with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The government is “showing signs of fascism”, Barak charged in an interview…

The White House was briefly under lockdown on Friday afternoon after the U.S. Park Police reported a shooting near the presidential residence, ABC News reported. Law enforcement sources told the network one person has been shot by law enforcement near the White House, but not on the grounds. The president was not in the White…

A Kosovo court on Friday sentenced an imam and six others to up to ten years in jail for recruiting fighters for the Islamic State (ISIS) or joining the group in Syria, AFP reported. Imam Zeqirja Qazimi was handed down a ten-year sentence, the court said in a statement. His six associates were convicted for…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) resigned from politics Friday, leaving space for Temple Mount prayer rights activist Yehuda Glick to join the Knesset.  The appointment was met with mixed reactions.  MK Rachel Azaria (Kulanu) welcomed the resignation, adding she was eager to work with incumbent MK and Temple Mount rights activist Yehuda Glick.  “[Glick] is a sharp and…

US President Barack Obama’s administration announced on Friday that it appreciates Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s (Likud) leadership, and will work with his successor. Ya’alon made a surprising announcement Friday that he is resigning but intends to return and contend for the leadership, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided to give his post of Defense Minister to…

President Reuven Rivlin responded to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s (Likud) sudden resignation on Friday, expressing his remorse for Ya’alon’s “timeout” from politics. Ya’alon made the surprise move after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu offered his post to Yisrael Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman to bring his party into the coalition. Instead of taking Netanyahu’s offer to become…

The Zionist Union offered spots to both outgoing Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) and MK Orly Levi-Abekasis (Yisrael Beytenu) Thursday, before the former announced his resignation and after the latter announced she would leave Yisrael Beytenu.  “Orly is a fantastic MK and we work closely together on many social issues in the Knesset,” MK Itzik Shmueli (Zionist…

The Jewish People have many enemies but the one that might be the worst of them all is Assimilation. With rates of intermarriage in the United States over 50% the future of American Jewry is highly problematic. Parshat Emor touches upon the subject in a very mysterious way. There is no doubt that G-d, Almighty…

One of Saudi Arabia’s richest men and an adviser to the Saudi royal family was revealed Friday to be a top donor of the Clinton Foundation, in a revelation that comes even as Hillary Clinton continues to battle it out in the Democratic presidential primaries. Nasser al-Rashid has donated between $1 million to $5 million to…

The fireworks celebrating Israel’s Independence may have stopped. But our fire to strengthen Israel has only been ignited further. Now is the time for us to follow in the footsteps of our country’s founders and to make this a time of action and unity. Beyond the celebrations of our country’s independence, this is a profound…

The Egyptian military confirmed it had found the wreckage of EgyptAir flight MS804 Friday, which crashed early Thursday morning in what could be a terrorist attack.  The “personal belongings of the passengers and parts of the plane debris” were found 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Alexandria, Egyptian army spokesman Brig. Gen. Mohammed Samir stated.  The Airbus A320…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a statement on Friday afternoon, responding to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s (Likud) sudden resignation and press conference earlier in the day. Ya’alon announced that he intends to return and contend for the leadership, after Netanyahu decided to give his post of Defense Minister to MK Avigdor Liberman as a condition to have his…

In 1983, Reuven Prager pioneered an organization called Beged Ivri, which means Hebrew Garments. “When our Holy Temple was destroyed two thousand years ago, there was a shake-up of our customs to suit the new reality of Judaism outside of the Land and without the Temple,” Prager explains. “Now that we have returned to our…

An Argentine prosecutor admitted on Thursday that Alberto Nisman, who investigated Argentina’s worst terrorist attack before he was found dead in his home last year, may have been forced to kill himself, The Associated Press reports. Viviana Fein, who in December was removed from the investigation of Nisman’s mysterious death, had said before that it…

The Israeli government will upgrade the checkpoints between the Palestinian Authority-assigned areas of Judea and Samaria and Israel, so that more Palestinians will be able to enter Israel for work, Haaretz reported Thursday. The Defense Ministry said the move, which will cost some 300 million shekels ($78 million), will shorten the amount of time Palestinians…

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (JTA) — Six former presidents of Argentina were summoned to testify in the investigation into the 1995 death of the son of ex-President Carlos Menem after he named Hezbollah as responsible. Judge Villafuerte Ruzo on Wednesday requested the testimony of Fernando de la Rúa, Ramón Puerta, Adolfo Rodríguez Saá, Eduardo Camaño, Eduardo…

New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) on Thursday presented well-respected community leader Abu Naser Khaliquzzaman with a legislative resolution for Khaliquzzaman’s continued dedication to bridging Jewish and Muslim communities. “It is my pleasure to present Mr. Abu Naser Khaliquzzaman with a legislative resolution for his work and unrivaled dedication to bridging many communities together throughout…

France has requested the extradition of four suspects charged in Belgium over the November 13 attacks in Paris, including three accused of helping prime suspect Salah Abdeslam flee after the attacks, AFP reported Thursday. The four suspects include Mohamed Amri and Hamza Attou, who were seen on CCTV driving Abdeslam to Brussels just hours after…

RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — A homeless Israeli woman was taken to an old person’s home thanks to a rapid response by the local Jewish community initiated on Facebook. Olga Babaev, 56, approached Ilana Chafir Cohen, a volunteer at Rio Jewish organizations, on Tuesday and asked her for money in accented English. Upon learning that…

The United States on Thursday added the Islamic State (ISIS) group’s branches in Libya, Yemen and Saudi Arabia to its global terrorism blacklist and placed six men on its sanctions list, AFP reported. The three ISIS branches were declared “specially designated global terrorists,” a category that imposes sanctions and penalties on foreign persons who pose…

The United States and its European partners on Thursday made a fresh appeal for European banks and businesses to invest in Iran now that most of the sanctions against the Islamic Republic have been lifted. Following a meeting in Brussels between Secretary of State John Kerry, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and their…

RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — Two leftist Brazilian senators compared Nazi Germany and the Holocaust to Brazil’s political environment in light of President Dilma Rousseff’s suspension as part of an ongoing impeachment process. “In times of crisis, the Jewish people are historically designated as ‘guilty’ for the evil that does not concern it. And history…

Russia’s security chief on Thursday said his agency has tracked down a group working to prepare “Paris-style” attacks in big Russian cities, The Associated Press reported. Alexander Bortnikov, the head of the Federal Security Service, the top KGB successor agency, said the agency cracked the group In February in co-operation with Kazakhstan’s security service. He…

Duvi Honig, founder and director of the Jewish Chamber of Commerce (OJChambrer.com), held a lengthy meeting yesterday at Trump Tower in Manhattan with Jason Dov Greenblatt, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at The Trump Organization. Mr. Greenblatt, who has worked for the Republican presidential candidate for decades, has emerged as a key advisor…

Former Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has roundly condemned the reported agreement between the Likud and Yisrael Beytenu parties, to include provisions for implementing the death penalty for terrorists as part of a coalition deal. Under the agreement, a new directive will be issued to military courts, by which only a simply majority of two judges…

For the record: Zionism is simply the belief in the Jewish people’s right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland, Israel. Apparently though, some people (though not all), clearly believe otherwise.

Belgian cabinet minister and animal welfare minister Ben Weyts on Tuesday called for a complete ban on the ritual slaughter of animals. The decision will have a huge impact on the Muslim and Orthodox Jewish communities, for whom shechita (ritual slaughter) is an integral component of religious life. Weyts, who is a member of the…

Lipa Schmelczer is one of the Jewish music world’s best known – and most colorful – artists. A member of the extremely conservative and insular Skver hassidic sect, Schmelczer, it’s fair to say, is anything but conservative or insular. So delivering a gold and silver yarmulka to the President of the United States of America –…

Jerusalem prosecutors filed an indictment against a rabbi who served as a mashgiach at a yeshiva in the city, for a series of rapes carried against a number of female relatives over the course of several years. The accused began his horrific campaign of abuse when his first victim was just six years old, and…

In an interview with CNN on Thursday, democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton said that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is not qualified to president. Her reasons included Trump’s plan to bar Muslims from entering the US, his call to step back from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and his negative comments about the UK government. “When…

Opposition leader MK Yitzhak Herzog on Thursday evening blasted what he called “gangs from Judea and Samaria” who, he claimed, had prevented Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from going forward with an agreement to have the Zionist Union join the coalition. “I acted according to my conscience, I thought that this was a rare historic opportunity,” Herzog…

He was an outspoken politician with little military experience, appointed by a rival and promising to bring a new approach. Current and former officials at the Defense Ministry called his appointment an “enigma,” fretting that “it will take some time until he understands how things work” and that “he’ll have to undergo basic training.” The subject of…

Despite earlier reports, search crews have not found wreckage from EgyptAir flight MS804, which crashed early Thursday morning in what could be a terrorist attack, CNN reported. EgyptAir’s Vice Chairman Ahmed Adel confirmed to the network that the debris found earlier in the Mediterranean Sea is not from Flight 804. “We stand corrected on finding the wreckage…

Yisrael Beytenu chairperson Avigdor Liberman’s imminent entry to the coalition government has been evoking varied responses in Israel. According to a Knesset Channel Poll released on Thursday, 52% of respondents said that they prefer Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) as Minister of Defense versus 31% for Liberman. Moreover, 63% said that they would not like to see Liberman return…

Belgium has turned down a request for financial assistance from the daughters of an Israeli couple killed in an attack a year ago on the Jewish Museum in Brussels. Shira and Ayelet Riva were 15 and 17 at the time of the attack in May 2015. Mira and Emmanuel Riva were on vacation and touring…

Israel is expected to finally ratify a deal to put a major offshore gas field online, the energy ministry announced, after a compromise was reached with the US-led consortium of developers. The supreme court in March struck down a complex agreement on development of the Leviathan gas field, off Israel’s Mediterranean coast, with justices objecting…

Three swastikas were found painted on walls in a Rio de Janeiro neighborhood most heavily populated with middle-class and elderly Jews. The president of the Rio Jewish federation, Paulo Maltz, filed a police report Wednesday about the anti-Semitic graffiti in the Copacabana section, which has several synagogues, a Jewish day school and community centers, as…

Greek TV has released the first pictures of debris from EgyptAir flight MS804, which crashed early Thursday morning in what is looking increasingly like a terrorist attack. Greek emergency teams discovered the first pieces of debris some 230 nautical miles from the island of Crete – around 100 nautical miles from where ground control initially lost…

OneFamily, an organization that assists families and victims of terror, met on Monday with the family of Amin Shaban, the Bedouin taxi driver murdered in January’s terrorist attack in Tel Aviv. At the time of his death, Shaban was supporting three wives, as is customary in Bedouin culture, eleven children and four stepchildren. OneFamily contacted…

Coalition drama continues: Yisrael Beytenu MK Orly Levy-Abekasis announced her resignation from the party Thursday afternoon, accusing party leaders of abandoning social issues in their pursuit of a deal to enter the coalition government. In a passionate Facebook post, Abekasis wrote: “I have decided not to take part in the current political process, and in light of the…

Vandals knocked over and smashed 14 headstones at Blackly Jewish Cemetery in Greater Manchester on Wednesday. Police called the criminal attack “disgusting” with clear racial motivation: “This is a sickening act of anti-Semitism which we are taking very seriously. I believe this was a deliberate and targeted attack and there is no place for such…

An American man on a Birthright Israel trip killed himself, the Birthright Israel organization said. The visitor to Israel was found dead in a hotel room Wednesday morning, Birthright Israel said. The group was preparing to spend the day at Masada. A Birthright spokeswoman said it would not provide details about the dead man out…

Israeli economists warn the country could be on the verge of a recession, following surprisingly slow GDP growth in the first quarter of 2016. Despite predictions by the Finance Ministry of relatively strong 2.8% annual GDP growth, data collected by the Central Bureau of Statistics revealed that Israel’s economy expanded by a paltry 0.8% in the…

Members of the Likud-affiliated Lavi student society at Haifa University sought to wave Israeli flags and counter-protest a Nakba Day ceremony held on campus by members of the Arab student groups this Sunday. However, the university’s management refused their request to counter-protest, and even threatened them with expulsion. Nakba (catastrophe in Arabic) is how the Palestinians refer to the Arab states’ inability to destroy…

In response to speculation of a portfolio shakeup caused by Yisrael Beytenu’s anticipated imminent entry into the coalition, Jewish Home on Thursday issued a statement revealing it doesn’t intend to change up any of its ministerial posts. “The Jewish Home party isn’t interested in changing portfolios. The ministers are happy with their roles,” read the terse…

Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir, one of the leaders of the nationalist Otzma Yehudit party, on Thursday issued criticism of the exuberance of the political right-wing over Yisrael Beytenu head MK Avigdor Liberman’s anticipated appointment as Defense Minister. Liberman is currently engaged in talks to join Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s narrow coalition, with sources saying the talks…

Following Wednesday’s meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman sat down for the first day of formal coalition negotiations. Senior officials in both the Likud and Yisrael Beytenu parties said that barring last minute surprises, Liberman’s entry into the coalition was all but assured. Liberman met with Tourism Minister Yariv Levin…

Israeli Security Agency (ISA) and police forces on Wednesday night raided the town of Yitzhar in Samaria and issued administrative distancing orders on two minors and two adults studying at Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in the town, banning them from Judea and Samaria. The two minors were distanced from Judea and Samaria for half-a-year, although…

EgyptAir flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar early Thursday morning. Egyptian officials believe that the a mid-air explosion cause the plane to crash into the Mediterranean. Egypt’s Sherif Ismail said that all possible causes of the explosion were being examined – including terrorism. Airline officials initially said the plane emitted no distress…

A number of Arab Israeli businesses are demanding an exemption from laws prohibiting the import of non-kosher meat, and have turned to the Supreme Court, calling for the restrictions to be nullified vis-à-vis Arab citizens. Currently meat imports require certification from the Israeli rabbinate, preventing importers from bringing in cheaper, non-kosher meat. The claimants in the…

Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud), who is managing the negotiations with MK Avigdor Liberman to bring his Yisrael Beytenu party into the coalition, spoke to Arutz Sheva on Thursday morning ahead of a meeting with Liberman. According to Levin, Yisrael Beytenu’s entry will not affect the portfolios of existing coalition members. “It’s no secret that I would…

As a coalition agreement with Yisrael Beytenu appears imminent, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) spoke out on Thursday about his likely successor and the emerging deal that would transfer the Defense Ministry from Ya’alon to Avigdor Liberman. Speaking at a conference for the IDF’s Nahal infantry units, Ya’alon blasted his critics and made thinly veiled…

A new Fox News poll released on Wednesday found that Donald Trump tops Hillary Clinton in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup. Trump has a 45-42 percent edge over Clinton, if the presidential election were held today. The poll found.  Last month, Clinton was up by 48-41 percent. Clinton is ahead by 14 points among women (50-36…

Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid on Wednesday said Israel should sign a memorandum of understanding on defense aid from the United States before the end of President Barack Obama’s term in office. “I definitely suggest to the Israeli government – and I’ve said this publicly as well as in private conversations with relevant people…

Curators at the Auschwitz museum have found a gold ring and necklace inside an enamel mug that is on exhibit at the museum, the BBC reported Wednesday. The jewelry was discovered during maintenance work on the museum’s collection of enamel kitchenware. It had been concealed beneath the mug’s fake bottom, which gradually eroded over time,…

(JTA) — Ira Tobolowsky, a longtime civil rights lawyer from a prominent Jewish family in Dallas, was the victim of “a hit,” one of his friends said Wednesday. “This was a hit. There’s no question in my mind this was a hit. … It just had to be criminal,” Robert Hinton, also a Dallas attorney,…

Sources close to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Wednesday night that, despite various reports in the media, he was never offered the role of Foreign Minister by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. According to the sources, who spoke with Army Radio, the subject of Ya’alon being appointed Foreign Minister did not come up in his…

A campaign to have arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize took another step on Wednesday, as leading Belgian Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum announced their nomination of Barghouti. According to the Palestine News Network website, the signatories of the letter of nomination include Gwenaëlle Grovonius, President of the…

Germany on Wednesday condemned Iran over a contest for cartoons depicting the Holocaust, which opened on the weekend, saying it sows hatred and deepens divisions in the Middle East, according to The Associated Press. The event was organized by non-governmental bodies with support from Iran’s hard-liners, though the government has distanced itself from the contest. The…

Former British Prime Minister and Quartet envoy Tony Blair was one on a list of several international figures behind the failed move designed to legitimize the addition of the Zionist Union to the coalition, Haaretz and Channel 10 News revealed on Wednesday. Two sources in the Israeli political system quoted in Haaretz said that Blair,…

EgyptAir flight MS804 from Paris to Cairo disappeared from radar early Thursday morning, leaving no clues to its whereabouts – or fate. Airline officials said the plane emitted no distress signal prior to it disappearing from radar. The flight has now been missing for roughly four hours.

Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman has accepted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s offer to join the coalition in return for the Defense and Immigration ministries, senior Yisrael Beytenu officials said on Wendesday. According to senior officials, the Prime Minister’s meeting Wednesday afternoon with Liberman has already laid the groundwork for Yisrael Beytenu’s entry into the government.…

The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s official Fatah party celebrated the murder of 24 people on its official Facebook page earlier this month, in a post glorifying the 1972 bombing of Israel’s Lod airport, Palestinian Media Watch reports Wednesday.  70 people were also wounded during the May 30, 1972 bombing, in which three members of the Japanese Red Army shot…

As sources with the Likud and Yisrael Beytenu parties confirm Wednesday night that an agreement bringing Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s party into the coalition was imminent, some haredi political leaders expressed concerns over Liberman’s likely appointment as Defense Minister. Opponents of Liberman’s appointment cited his strident support for the Draft Law, passed by the…

Political analysts are rushing Wednesday to asses the new state of the government, following reports that Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party will now join Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition. Liberman was offered the position of Defense Minister, reports stated Wednesday night, and the party was also offered the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption.  But analysts…

(JTA) – A bill unanimously approved by the U.S. House of Representatives would extend religious protections to advocates of circumcision and ritual slaughter as well as atheists, addressing what its sponsors describe as an increase in religious persecution in recent years. The bill, passed Monday, would broaden the definition of “violations of religious freedom” in the International Religious Freedom…

Sirens sounded in the Gaza Belt and Eshkol Regional council areas Wednesday night, shortly before 8:30 pm. Residents told Channel 2 that they heard explosions.  After a short search by IDF sources in the area, two hits were confirmed, in open fields between two Gaza Belt communities, Channel 2 reported. But half an hour later, the IDF stated…

Speaking to reporters at a press conference Wednesday evening, Zionist Union chief Isaac Herzog addressed the likely entry of Yisrael Beytenu into the government and revealed details of his own recent coalition negotiations with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. According to Herzog, Netanyahu promised far-reaching concessions in exchange for the Zionist Union’s support of the Likud-led…

NATO does not expect to formally join the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, even ifit will cooperate on a practical and “niche” level, the US ambassador to the alliance said Wednesday. “We’re not hung up on being declared a member or not. We’re simply interested in practical support,” Douglas Lute said ahead of…

MK Shelly Yachimovich hit back at Zionist Union chief Isaac Herzog following a series of comments he made about the former Labor Party leader during a press conference on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters after the party suspended coalition talks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Herzog lambasted his foes within the Zionist Union who had derided…

United States Secretary of State John Kerry met in Cairo on Wednesday with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a day after the Egyptian leader called for a renewal of the Middle East peace process. Even before Sisi raised the issue, Kerry had planned a visit to discuss the Libya and Syria crises and to raise concerns…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday put Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on notice that he may soon have to vacate his position. As talks between Netanyahu and Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman progressed on Wednesday, Netanyahu informed Yaalon that he was offering control of the Defense Ministry to former Foreign Minister Liberman. A spokesperson for…

A prominent Satmar Hasid from New York donated $50,000 to charity just two hours before he died in a North Miami Beach drowning accident, it was revealed Wednesday.  Rabbi Yitzhak Rosenberg donated the money to the Satmar Institutions of Jerusalem, BHadrei Haderim reports, following a phone call from its leader, Rabbi Zanvil Foigel. Rabbi Foigel is currently…

Tragedy struck Ramat Gan on Wednesday, as a teenage girl was killed by a stray bullet. Residents reported hearing gun shots on HeTzela Street in Ramat Gan on Wednesday afternoon, though the source of the gunfire was unclear. Israeli police and MDA emergency responders later found a 17-year old girl severely wounded in an apartment.…

75% of at-risk youth experience discrimination or racism, according to a disturbing report released Wednesday.  Of the 20,000 teens and young adults from the Elem organization interviewed for the study, 43% experienced discrimination in public, on the street; other stated they had experienced racism from the police, teachers, or friends at school. One third of respondents…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has informed the cabinet of an official offer to Yisraeli Beytenu head Avigdor Liberman to join the government. Netanyahu told ministers Liberman has been offered the defense and aliyah and absorption ministries – two key portfolios demanded by the Yisrael Beytenu faction. Earlier, it was reported that the PM had informed current…

A new bipartisan resolution urging the Obama administration to expedite the completion of a new, robust and long-term Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on U.S. military assistance to Israel was introduced on May 13, 2016. Resolution 729, initiated by, among others, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa,…

Members of the Jewish Home party praised talks aimed at bringing the Yisrael Beytenu party into the government. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with Yisrael Beytenu chief Avigdor Liberman Wednesday afternoon, following a speech by the latter earlier in the day suggesting his willingness to join the coalition. The two met for just over an…

The daughter of Hasidic leader Rabbi Yitzhak Rosenberg only found out about his untimely death via a WhatsApp message, haredi outlet Kikar HaShabbat reports Wednesday.  ‘My day yesterday began like any other – nothing out of the ordinary,” she said. “At work I usually leave my phone on ‘silent,’ so I can concentrate and work more easily.” …

Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman has accepted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s offer to join the coalition in return for the Defense and Immigration ministries, senior Yisrael Beytenu officials said on Wendesday. According to a report by Channel 2, the Prime Minister’s meeting Wednesday afternoon with Liberman has already laid the groundwork for Yisrael Beytenu’s entry…

Likud MK David Amsalem, who serves as chairperson of the Knesset’s Interior Committee, spoke out on Wednesday against the unity government talks being held with the leftist Zionist Union party. The talks of bringing Opposition head MK Yitzhak Herzog into the coalition appear to be hung up for now on Herzog’s demand to implement his…

Likud members from Judea and Samaria issued a joint letter on Wednesday morning, demanding that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu desist in his talks with the leftist Zionist Union party that aim to bring it into a unity government. Those talks currently are said to be hung up on Opposition head MK Yitzhak Herzog’s demand to unilaterally…

The Tel Aviv district court on Wednesday morning convicted Arab terrorist Nur al-Din Abu Hashiya on charges of murder. Hashiya back in November 10, 2014 stabbed to death First Sergeant Almog Shiloni just outside Hahagana Train Station in southern Tel Aviv. According to the indictment submitted the same month as the attack Hashiya, who at the time of his attack…

An indictment was submitted on Wednesday against three Arab residents of Jerusalem’s Old City, charging them with aiding the terrorist Muhannad Muhastab from Hevron in his stabbing attack in the Old City two weeks ago. In the attack at the Old City’s Lion’s Gate, the 18-year-old terrorist moderately wounded a 60-year-old Jewish man. The terrorist fled…

The same day that an Israeli mother and daughter died in a car crash in Switzerland, another Israeli died on Tuesday in a traffic accident on an island belonging to Colombia in South America. The incident took place on Colombia’s San Andrés, a popular tourist island located in the Caribbean off the eastern coast of Nicaragua. Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday…

A 48-year-old resident of Bat Yam to the south of Tel Aviv was stabbed and lightly wounded on Wednesday morning on Henkin Street in Holon, located just east of Bat Yam. Suspicions are growing among the police that the incident was a terrorist attack, although they have yet to rule out the possibility that it…

The world has long had its absolutely shortest books – “Light Jewish Cuisine,” and “Tips on Courting Israel” by Barack Obama,” to name a couple – but now it has its emptiest museum, and this time for real: The Palestinian Museum of Art, History and Culture – with absolutely nothing in it. The museum is…

Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman has reacted to reports he rejected a generous offer to enter the coalition government, dismissing claims he was offered the defense ministry and a chance to implement his party’s election pledge to impose a death penalty for terrorist murderers. At the same time, however, Liberman for the first time publicly declared his…

A top human rights group on Wednesday exposed the largely underreported atrocities being committed by Islamic State’s (ISIS) affiliate in Libya, in the port city of Sirte that has been under their control. Those abuses include beheading dozens of residents accused of being “spies” and “sorcerers,” crucifying many others and flogging men for the “crimes” of smoking…

European Council President Donald Tusk on Tuesday blasted former London Mayor Boris Johnson, after Johnson said the European Union was behaving like Adolf Hitler, AFP reports. “I cannot stay silent,” Tusk told reporters in Copenhagen. Johnson, a leading campaigner for Britain to leave the EU, had “crossed boundaries” of acceptable political debate, added Tusk. “Such…

For many, Torah is primarily a code of morality, designed to encourage a spiritually-inclined lifestyle. It expects subjugation to its system of mitzvot and loyalty to God. In short, it is designed to make good “soldiers.” Such people do not associate Torah with empowerment, inspiration, or increased motivation. They do not understand how Torah is deeper…

SYDNEY (JTA) — An Australian lawyer who claims he is of Scottish-Jewish descent has failed in a bid to register the trademark “McKosher.” Mark Glaser reportedly wanted to open “a Scottish and Jewish restaurant bearing the name McKosher” in the New South Wales town of Maclean, where he has an office. The town prides itself…

Zionist Union chairman and opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog on Tuesday night linked his desire to join Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition with the statement by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi calling for a peace agreement between Israel and the PA. “The speech by President Al-Sisi in Egypt today is a speech which I define as…

Hillary Clinton is narrowly ahead of rival Bernie Sanders in Kentucky’s Democratic presidential primary with 99 percent of the vote counted on Tuesday night, Reuters reports. While some American media outlets have declared Clinton the winner in Kentucky, others are saying the race remains too close to call. Kentucky was not considered favorable terrain for…

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday he is willing to talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to try to stop his country’s nuclear program. The presumptive Republican nominee declined to share details of his plans to deal with North Korea, but said he was open to a…

Sources close to opposition leader MK Yitzhak Herzog reported overnight Tuesday that unity talks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had stalled over disagreements regarding the peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA). The officials accused Netanyahu of being “scared of the extremist elements in the Jewish Home party,” to which they referred as the “Smotriches”…

Jordan on Tuesday freed an Islamist preacher who was imprisoned after criticizing the peace deal between Jordan and Israel, AFP reports. The preacher, Eyad Qunaibi, was sentenced late last year to two years in prison for inciting hatred against the regime on social media. Qunaibi, a 40-year-old Kuwaiti-born Jordanian, was arrested in mid-June for posting…

Two New York Hasidic men from the Satmar community of Kiryas Joel have been pronounced dead in North Miami Beach Tuesday night, in an apparent drowning accident.  Rabbi Yitzhak Rosenberg and businessman Haim Parnes drowned, Kikar HaShabbat reports, after they were pulled out by a riptide. Three others in the group suffered injuries and are listed in…

(JTA) When Yoel decided, at age 8, to begin observing Shabbat, there was one problem: It meant he couldn’t join most of Israel’s youth soccer teams, which played games on Saturday. Yoel, now 12, has always lived in the increasingly large gray area between Israel’s starkly divided religious and secular Jewish societies. His father observes…

Several government advisers, secretaries, and assistants owe their jobs to Shas chairman and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, one report revealed Tuesday – as he slowly has woven a web of contacts around him since returning to politics four years ago. Walla! News exposed a short list of the many relatives and friends Deri has appointed – nearly…

An official inquiry by the UK Labour Party into allegations of institutional anti-Semitism within the party’s student club at the prestigious Oxford University has submitted its initial findings – and is already being roundly accused of orchestrating a cover-up. The Royall Inquiry – led by senior Labour politician Baroness Janet Royall – was commissioned after Oxford Labour…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently offered Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman the Defense Minister position, Channel 10 reports Tuesday, if his party joined the coalition.  Nertanyahu also offered Liberman a commitment to uphold a “death penalty for terrorists” policy Liberman has championed for years.  But Liberman evidently turned him down.  A senior Likud source told Arutz Sheva late Tuesday that…

Gaza Belt community residents received evacuation instructions Tuesday, Channel 2 reports, in light of increasing tensions with Hamas along the border.  Emergency crews associated with the Defense Ministry authored a message to residents stating that “in a state of emergency, we will evacuate the entire community as warranted, except for emergency crews.” Each community was also given instructions…

The Yad L’Achim anti-missionary organization safely extricated a Jewish mother and three children from an Arab village last week, after a 15-year ordeal.  The woman, referred to as ‘A.,’ married a Palestinian Arab working illegally in Israel in 2001. They lived both in Israel and in a Palestinian Authority (PA) village.  After he was arrested…

The United States Senate on Tuesday approved legislation that would allow victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to sue Saudi Arabia, The Hill reported. The upper chamber approved the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act by unanimous consent, according to the news website. The bill would allow victims of terror attacks on American…

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Israeli leaders to work towards achieving a settlement with the Palestinian Arabs Tuesday. “After signing the peace accords, no one thought that true and lasting peace, as it exists today between Israel and Egypt, could be achieved. However, it became a permanent peace due to the changing times and…

The Hezbollah terrorist group has already announced a replacement for leading military commander Mustafa Badreddine, just days after he was assassinated in unclear circumstances in Damascus. According to the Saudi Arabian Asharq al-Awsat paper, Badreddine’s successor is his own nephew, Mustafa Mughniyeh. Mugniyeh is the son of Badreddine’s predecessor and brother-in-law Imad Mughniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel in 2008.…

An army colonel and diplomat from El Salvador who helped save tens of thousands of Jews from Nazi persecution during World War II by providing them with false Salvadoran identity papers was honored in Germany. The tribute to Jose Arturo Castellanos, who served as El Salvador’s consul general in Geneva, was held last week by…

Thousands of missionary leaflets were recently distributed to mailboxes across Petah Tikva, the Yad L’Achim anti-missionary organization noted Tuesday – and it warned residents to be vigilant against the attempts to lure them to Christianity. “Missionaries expend a lot of energy to convert Jews specifically to the Christian religion, and consider this a special achievement,” says Rabbi…

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded to the President of Egypt’s call for a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority earlier Tuesday. “I welcome Egyptian President El-Sisi’s remarks and his willingness to make every effort to advance a future of peace and security between us and the Palestinians and the peoples of the region,” Netanyahu…

Welfare and Social Services Minister Haim Katz was questioned by the Israel Securities Authority under an official warning, over suspicions he illegally used internal government information to engage in illegal insider trading. The questioning of the Likud minister was approved personally by the Attorney General, after investigators handed over evidence from their initial probe indicating breaches…

Premier of Ontario Kathleen Wynne is currently in Israel on a five-day trade mission together 130 government officials, academics, scientists and business leaders, as well as representatives of BlackBerry, IBM Canada, Roots Canada, Scotiabank and the Toronto Stock Exchange. While in Israel the delegation will visit Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa, as well as Ramallah…

At least 50 fighters and two civilians were killed Tuesday in clashes between rival anti-regime groups east of Syria’s capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The powerful Jaish al-Islam, or Army of Islam, has been locked in clashes with rival factions led by Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate in the opposition stronghold of Eastern Ghouta.…

A  bus driver attempted to close the bus doors on a haredi woman and her baby to “help her die,” in a shocking incident reported by haredi radio station Kol Hai this week.  The Kiryat Sefer woman had been on her way home from Bnei Brak at about 11:00 pm last month when the incident occurred. “I…

Despite last year’s Iran nuclear deal and the removal of most US sanctions on the rogue nation, the state of Texas has not only refused to end its own state sanctions on Iran, its decided to strengthen them. Texas Governor Greg Abbott rejected on Monday a recent request by President Barack Obama to “review” its…

Israel continues to return the bodies of terrorists killed during attacks, including terrorists who resided inside of Israel. The bodies of two terrorists – including a female terrorist – were returned to their families overnight. Both were involved in stabbing attacks against Border Police officers. The two were killed in separate incidents. One of the…

At first blush, Lars Adaktusson hardly seems like a likely Israel supporter. A former journalist and Swedish politician serving as a Member of the European Parliament, Adaktusson’s curriculum vitae make him unique among Israel’s defenders abroad. Indeed, Adaktusson, a member of the Christian Democrats, often finds himself at odds with his own government, particularly on…

Dan Moisand CFP explains how interest rates affect retirement planning. He also discusses the best way to withdraw money from retirement plans (including IRAs) without incurring any penalties, and the circumstances in which you may end up paying an extra 10 percent.  How do retiring to Israel and making aliya affect your finances? Will you still…

A planned Middle East peace summit hosted by the French government has US Secretary of State John Kerry in a bind, pitting the Obama administration’s hopes that the meeting will rekindle stalled talks against the State Department’s long standing support for bilateral negotiations. While Kerry has suggested that scheduling issues could prevent his attendance, France…

Two illegal Arab houses built in the Jerusalem Walls National Park in 2002 were demolished on Tuesday morning by the Israel Parks Authority and Jerusalem district police. The park is located in the historic City of David near the Old City of Jerusalem. The houses were originally scheduled to be destroyed prior to the Passover…

A truck carrying chemicals for industrial use dumped what appears to be a potent disinfectant used in the poultry industry onto the streets of a northern Jerusalem neighborhood on Tuesday. The incident occurred on Moshe Dayan Boulevard, the main thoroughfare in the Pisgat Zeev neighborhood in northeastern Jerusalem. Home to more than 50,000 residents, Pisgat…

Former Republican presidential candidate John Kasich on Monday ruled out the possibility that he would run for the White House in a third party bid. “I’m not gonna do that,” the Ohio governor told CNN in an exclusive interview, his first since leaving the race. “I gave it my best where I am. I just…

British heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury on Monday apologized for an anti-Semitic rant he posted online last week. Fury, 27, wrote last week, “Everyone just do what you can, listen to the government follow everybody like sheep, be brainwashed by all the Zionist, Jewish people who own all the banks, all the papers all the TV…

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Smithsonian Institution and the Hebrew University are marking the 100th anniversary of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity by launching an initiative to make science more accessible to young people. The project, joining the Science Education Center at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., and the Albert Einstein Archive at Hebrew University, will…

The classified details behind Iran’s treatment of several American sailors who were captured by the country in January are likely to shock the nation, Rep. Randy Forbes, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told the Washington Free Beacon on Monday. Forbes (R-VA) told the news website that the Obama administration is still keeping…

The head of the Institute for National Security Studies, Amos Yadlin, on Monday expressed support for Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s call on IDF officers to publicly express their views, which resulted in a reprimand from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. “It is the duty of officers and commanders to express their views using professional integrity and…

Powerful blasts rocked a key gas field in central Syria on Monday, with a monitor saying they were caused by the Islamic State (ISIS) group blowing up pumping stations. The Shaer gas field — one of the biggest in the central province of Homs — has been the site of fierce fighting between ISIS jihadists…

British Prime Minister David Cameron stands by his description of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States as “divisive, stupid and wrong,” a spokesman said on Monday, according to Reuters.  Earlier on Monday, Trump, when asked about Cameron’s criticism, said such comments indicate he is unlikely to…

More details are emerging about Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Zionist Union chairman Yitzhak Herzog’s meeting on Sunday night on the possible formation of a unity government. According to Haaretz, despite the fact that Herzog’s associates claimed that the talks hadn’t made progress, Netanyahu, in various conversations he had on Monday, expressed optimism about being…

(JTA) – For the second year in a row, the Detroit area’s Walk for Israel has rebuffed the sponsorship of left-wing pro-Israel groups because of their support for boycotting Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria. At the heart of the dispute is a question of definitions: Is support of a boycott targeting Jewish enterprises beyond Israel’s…

In honor of this year’s “Nakba Day”, the Palestine Liberation Organization’s foreign affairs department has released a public statement reaffirming its commitment to what it calls the “right of return” of millions of Arabs to live within the State of Israel. According to the statement, the PLO considers the right of return of millions of…

Several new records were set throughout Israel Monday, as temperatures peaked in eastern Israel. Temperatures peaked in western Israel Sunday.  Temperatures Monday reached 45.7°C (114.26°F) in the Jordan Valley; 40°C (104°F) along the coast; 42°C (107.6°F) in the Judean foothills; 42°C (107.6°F) in the northern Negev; 43°C (109.4°F) in the Galilee foothills; 46°C (114.8°F) in the Arava desert; 39°C (102.2°F) in…

Most Israelis are staunchly against a Likud-Zionist Union unity government, two separate polls on major Israeli networks revealed Monday – and if Knesset elections were held today, both parties would face huge losses.  The first poll, a Channel 2 poll by the Midgam/iPanels institute, indicates 52% opposition to the unity pact, with just 24% supporting. A majority…

Yitta Miriam, 26, is one of the ten siblings. A granddaughter of the late Rabbi Shmuel Wosner – one of the leading haredi rabbis of his generation – she has clearly inherited her ancestor’s perseverance and faith.   Like any birth of a child, her arrival brought joy and light into the world. However, her birth…

A number of leftwing NGOs including Ir Amim and Tag Meir have called upon Israeli police this week to bar the annual Jerusalem Day “Rikudgalim” march from parts of the Old City. The effort to prevent the march from passing through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City gained momentum this week when the “Yerushalmim”…

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) welcomed the notion of a Likud-Zionist Union coalition government Monday, stating that “there is no better time for a broad-based government.”  “Leaders need to make courageous decisions even when it’s hard,” Kahlon stated, during a Real Estate Forum event held at Netanya Academic College. “I expect leaders to make decisions…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) met for several hours Sunday night in an effort to lay out the basis for a unity government, bringing the leftwing Zionist Union party into the coalition. Despite the lengthy meeting, however, no breakthrough has yet been achieved. According to a report by Channel…