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Some 1,400 people visited the Tomb of Joseph (Kever Yosef) on Wednesday night. The visit was part of a regular cycle of visits that take place at the beginning of the Jewish month and on numerous holidays. This visit took place on the eve of the beginning of the new Hebrew month of Tammuz. It…

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has confirmed that Israel will host the 2013 European Under-21 Championship, despite mounting pressure following the detainment of three ‘Palestinian’ football players, The Associated Press (AP) reported. UEFA President Michel Platini wrote to Israel Football Association President Avi Luzon on Monday to confirm the country will hold the 2013 tournament…

Council Member Michael C. Nelson along with Council Member Lew Fidler and Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein expressed outrage and shock over the recent escalation of anti-Semitic vandalism and assaults in Brooklyn, New York, BrooklynScoop reported. Last week, a van and a light pole were sprayed with swastikas on East Second Street in Kensington. The discovery came just…

The fate of philanthropist Guma Aguiar is not known after his boat was found upside down in the water off of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Brazilian-born energy industrialist and millionaire businessperson who splits his time living between the United States and Israel went out for a sail in his motorboat but the currents swept it…

The body of Aharon Zindani, who was murdered three weeks ago in Yemen, was brought to Israel Wednesday and will be buried Thursday evening in the Rehovot Cemetery. In a protracted and complicated operation, carried out by Jewish Agency personnel with the assistance of the Foreign Ministry, Zindani’s body was brought out of Yemen together…

Israel needs to come to terms with Turkey’s superpower status in the Middle East, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz said during a recent speech at the Washington Institute.  Mofaz highlighted the importance of mending diplomatic relations between the two countries saying that doing so is as “necessary for the strategic goals of Israel and for…

The North Carolina Democratic Party (NCDP) is considering passing a resolution that would criticize Israel for its “illegal occupation of Palestine,” The Daily Caller reported. While the resolution did not pass at this weekend’s NCDP state convention, it was tabled to be considered at a later date. It attacks the United States for providing Israel…

The British Embassy in Israel, together with the British Council, held a special event on Tuesday in honor of the Israeli Paralympics team. The event, which was held at the Daniel Rowing Centre in Tel Aviv, took place exactly 70 days before the start of the 2012 Summer Paralympics which will take place in London…

IAF aircraft struck a terror target in northern Gaza early Wednesday morning, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced in a statement. The statement said direct hits were identified and all aircraft returned safely to their bases. Overnight Tuesday, IAF aircraft struck six terror targets throughout Gaza. The air strikes came in response to the barrage of…

A rocket barrage struck the largest city in Israel’s Negev desert region Wednesday morning just as children reached their schools. A medium-range Grad Katyusha missile landed in an open area just outside of Be’er Sheva, the city sometimes referred to as the “capital of the Israeli south.” There were no immediate reports of physical injuries,…

Deposed President Hosni Mubarak remains on life support at Maadi military hospital as Egypt’s electoral commission prepares to announce his successor Thursday. Both Mohamed Mursi, the candidate representing the Muslim Brotherhood, outlawed for years by Mubarak’s government, and Ahmed Shafiq, the candidate who was Mubarak’s former prime minister, have each declared victory in the close…

The Ma’agalim elementary school in the Sdot Negev Council district is closing its classes until the incessant rocket attacks are silenced, a parents’ committee said Wednesday. High school and middle school children throughout the country began their summer vacations just as the rocket attacks began to escalate. “The government promised us a safe space,” said…

A terrorist claiming to be linked to Al-Qaeda has taken four hostages and demanded to speak to the police who killed Islamist Mohamed Merah. Among the hostages being held is the director of the bank, a branch of CIC. Police have thrown a dragnet around the area of the bank, according to the Quest-France newspaper.…

Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists continued to fire at southern Israel Wednesday with fresh rocket barrages launched at the Eshkol region. Three short-range Qassam rockets exploded in areas within the Eshkol Regional Council district a few minutes prior to the noon hour, local radio broadcasters reported. The Color Red rocket alert siren apparently failed to activate and…

A Samaria (Shomron) vineyard has won the “Oscar Award of Wine” in Israel’s annual Golden Grapes competition. The Tura vineyard in the settlement of Rachelim won both the gold and the silver medals in the annual Eshkol HaZahav – the Golden Grapes – competition.  The prestigious award has been dubbed by international connoisseurs as  “the…

Residents of the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El, whose homes were ordered to be demolished by the Supreme Court, agreed on Tuesday evening to leave their homes willingly and non-violently. In return, the government will keep its promise to built 300 new homes in Beit El. The agreement between the residents and the government was…

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s health took a turn for the worst on Tuesday, and state-run media reported that he has been declared clinically dead following his transfer to the Maadi Military Hospital. The Egyptian state news agency MENA reported that Mubarak was taken to the intensive care unit upon his arrival to get treatment…

The EU’s top foreign policy official said on Tuesday that high-level nuclear talks in Russia between Iran and six world powers have been suspended, The Associated Press reported. The report added that experts from both sides will meet next month to see if there is enough common ground for new negotiations. The talks were hosted…

“When I was a kid, I wondered why they told us that Adolph Hitler was a good guy and that he did good by the Holocaust,” reminisced Ahmed Meligy, a self described Egyptian peace activist. “This sounded like pure racism and ignorance, but I couldn’t speak my mind or say that out loud,” he continued. Meligy has…

IAF aircraft struck a terror target in northern Gaza early Wednesday morning, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced in a statement. The statement said direct hits were identified and all aircraft returned safely to their bases. Overnight Tuesday, IAF aircraft struck six terror targets throughout Gaza. The air strikes came in response to the barrage of…

The United States and Israel jointly developed the sophisticated Flame computer virus that collected critical intelligence in preparation for cyber-sabotage attacks aimed at slowing Iran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The report was based on conversations with Western officials with knowledge of the effort. The officials told The…

The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Information has published a book instructing PA Arabs which words to use and calling to replace “the Israeli and American dissemination of poisoned terms.” The book, entitled “Terminology in Media, Culture and Politics,” includes a chart with the “poisoned terms” to be replaced. The contents of the book were exposed…

The Knesset’s Education Committee had a stormy meeting Tuesday as MKs debated the “status quo” agreement under which the state gives partial funding to “non-recognized” schools. Dr. Tzvi Tzameret, the former Director of Pedagogic Affairs in the Education Ministry, revealed several problems caused by the current system. Among the shocking revelations was the fact that…

Four people were hurt, one of them seriously, in a terror rocket strike on the Hof Ashkelon Local Authority Tuesday night. The Maariv website says the injured Israelis are Border Policemen, and that the seriously injured man is an officer. Forty-four terrorist rockets slammed into southern Israel between midnight and 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Most rockets…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Tuesday with Eric Schmidt, the Executive Chairman of Global Google, and drew a Google doodle for him. “At our meeting I bestowed upon Schmidt a ‘doodle’ (a tailor designed Google logo ) that I drew on the basis of suggestions that I received from [web] surfers in Israel,” Netanyahu told…

Speaking in the House of Commons, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Tuesday that the Russian ship carrying a consignment of refurbished attack helicopters to Syria had turned back to Russia. The Telegraph website reported that the MV Alaed, a Russian-operated cargo vessel, had been sailing through the North Sea after allegedly picking up a consignment…

The following is a timeline and a presentation of the relevant facts as the demolition of homes in Beit El’s Ulpana neigborhood draws near. Jews Return to Bet El The return of the Jewish People to Samaria (the biblical heartland of Israel also known as the West Bank) began in 1976, nine years after the…

The Knesset has approved a bill that would raise the minimum age for marriage to 18 in a first vote. The bill still faces a second and third vote. MK Dov Henin (Hadash), the bill’s creator, praised the step forward. “The Knesset is sending an important message in defense of minors,” he said. “Restricting marriage…

Iran, Russia, China and Syria are planning to hold the largest war games exercise in the Middle East in less than a month, Iran’s Fars media reported Tuesday. Citing “informed sources,” the report said that 90,000 soldiers from the four countries are to take part. The massive war games drill will include air defense and…

Israelis expelled from Gush Katif who are still living in caravan towns fear that the expulsion of dozens of families in Beit El will mean homelessness for them as well. Their fears grew Tuesday as Tnufa Administration workers made it clear that they do not plan to bend the rules, even if it means leaving…

Gaza terrorists fired four rockets at the Eshkol region on Tuesday afternoon. The IDF has ordered everyone in the area to take shelter. No injuries have been reported. Terrorists began escalating their attacks on the Sabbath, with two rockets that hit the Mitzpeh Ramon region. Just hours later, terrorists fired on civilian workers along the…

A third rocket attack launched at southern Israel from Gaza Monday evening exploded in the town of Sderot. The short-range Qassam rocket landed in an open area of the town, about 15 seconds after the Color Red incoming missile alert system was activated. No one was physically injured, although a number of residents who suffer from…

IAF aircraft struck a group of terrorists who were placing explosives near the security fence in central Gaza on Monday night, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said. According to the statement, the aircraft scored a direct hit at the terrorists. It was the IAF’s third strike of the day in Gaza, after a strike earlier Monday…

Hamas Gaza head Ismail Haniyeh on Monday congratulated Mohammed Mursi for his victory in Egypt’s elections. According to reports in the Egyptian media, Haniyeh said that he “prayed for the stability of Egypt, and for Egypt to restrain Israel’s violence” in the Middle East. Haniyeh rejected Israeli claims that Hamas terrorists had fired rockets at…

With the recent introduction of several new cellphone service companies, and the ensuing competition that has lowered the cost of cellphone service significantly, tens of thousands of Israelis have migrated from one service to another, in search of the lowest price. The fact that cellphone service providers can no longer force customers to remain under…

A member of the Palestinian Authority’s national soccer team who was imprisoned by Israel in 2009 on suspicion of terror activities, agreed on Monday to end a hunger strike of more than three months in exchange for his release on July 10. The Associated Press reported that the deal to free Mahmoud Sarsak would end…

Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel said on Monday he is repudiating a Hungarian government award he received in 2004, because top officials in Budapest attended a ceremony for a Nazi sympathizer. The 83-year-old Holocaust survivor’s parents were sent to their deaths at Auschwitz by wartime Hungarian officials. In a letter addressed to Hungarian House Speaker Laszlo…

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Ivory Coast President Ouattara noted the close state of bilateral cooperation. They discussed the terrorist threats facing both countries, as well as cooperation in the fields of health, agriculture, science and technology. Ivory Coast President Ouattara expressed agreement that Israel should repatriate Ivory Coast nationals who arrived here without permits. Prime…

In an attempt to ape right-wing MKs committed to building up the land of Israel and ensuring the rights of Jews to live in all parts of it, several Arab MKs, accompanied by a group of Jewish leftists, will visit an illegal Arab outpost in the southern Hevron Hills, hoping to lift their morale while…

Monday morning’s attack by terrorists against Israeli workers building the security fence on the southern border is further evidence of the increasing failure of Egyptian security efforts in Sinai, said Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Speaking at a meeting of his Atzma’ut faction, Barak said that several recent events, including Grad rocket attacks against Israel over…

Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists launched a rocket attack on the Ashkelon coastal area at around noon on Monday. The missile, which was fired from Gaza, exploded in an open area in the Ashkelon Shore Regional Council district. None of the residents were physically hurt, and no property damage was reported to authorities. IDF bulldozers were…

Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has declared sweeping new powers for itself despite the recent two-day presidential run-off elections. The polls that brought Muslim Brotherhood-backed candidate Mohamed Mursi into power may not yet have the effect Egyptians would have expected. The country’s ruling military council, which had vowed to turn over control of…

The Israel Air Force struck Gaza a second time Monday evening, killing at least two terrorists in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. The targeted terrorists were engaged in launching a rocket attack at civilians in southern Israel at the time they were attacked, the IDF Spokesperson’s Office said in a statement. The strike followed…

In an interview on CNN in advance talks between Iran and Western countries on Tehran’s nuclear program, President Shimon Peres said that “time is running out” for Iran. You cannot provoke the world, assuming the world is made of fools only,” Peres told the network. The talks got underway in Moscow Monday, after several inconclusive…

Police are getting ready for a confrontation with residents and protesters in the Ulpana neighborhood. On Sunday, Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew service uncovered a training plan for Border Guards and other security forces, that included drills aimed at providing troops with skills to remove men, women, and children from the Givat Ha’ulpana neighborhood of Beit El.…

Israel faced another setback Monday in its efforts to deport illegal aliens who have moved into Israel en masse over the past several years – this time from the UN Human Rights Council, whose chief accused Eritrea of major human rights violations. A large number of the 60,000-some illegal Africans in Israel hail from Eritrea.…

A senior Fatah official said on Sunday that his party and Hamas have yet to agree on the names of cabinet ministers in a joint administration of independent figures. According to a report in the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas assured earlier Sunday that the new government of independent figures will…

Syria’s opposition issued a cry for help on Sunday, as regime forces pounded rebel bastions in the Homs province and activists warned that hundreds of civilians were trapped with little food or water. AFP reported that the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), meeting in Istanbul, also demanded the deployment of armed peacekeepers, a day after…

The European Union dodged a bullet in the Greek elections, with the narrow victory of the conservative New Democracy over Syriza, Greece’s radical left party, that wanted to do away with the bailout and the austerity that came with it. In the end, it was the fear of the unknown that won the day. It…

One Israeli was killed on Monday morning in a gunfight between terrorists and IDF troops near Israel’s border with Egypt. Reports indicate that a group of terrorists opened fire and set off an explosive at Defense Ministry contract workers who were working along the border fence with Egypt, near Nitzana. One of the workers was…

The Socialist Party has the right to be jubilant. In the second round of the parliamentary elections, it scored an absolute majority, an objective that appeared remote after the first round. It has not scored a similar achievement since 1981. From Israel’s perspective, this is a better result than having the Socialist Party dependent on…

A group of women who served as officers in the IDF, police and prisons services warn that female soldiers’ rights could be adversely affected by letting more hareidim into the army – as the Plesner Committee has been tasked to do. “The people’s army must not turn into the men’s army,” they warned in a…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that there has been a “serious escalation” in the security situation along the Sinai border and that the lack of Egyptian security control in Sinai was “worrisome.” “We are still under a terror attack in the south,” Barak told reporters during his meeting with the Polish defense minister. “There…

Iran is ready to suspend its enrichment of uranium to 20 percent if Europe guarantees delivery of nuclear fuel for its reactors, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on his official website late Sunday. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has always said that, if the European countries give Iran 20 percent (enriched uranium) fuel, Iran will not…

The IDF no longer believes there is a terrorist on the loose on the southern border. Two or three terrorists were killed by IDF Golani forces Monday morning, after they infiltrated the border. Routes 10 and 12 have been reopened for traffic. The terrorists attacked Defense Ministry construction workers who were building the new security…

An IAF Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) fired at a squad of terrorist snipers in northern Gaza Monday. The squad was one of the terror cells that have been firing at Israelis in the past few days. On Sunday, the snipers fired at a farmer and later at an IDF force. The IDF identified hits on target.…

Roger Garaudy, one of the most controversial French philosophers of the twentieth century, died on Friday at the age of 98. While Garaudy embraced a perplexing variety of ideologies during his near-century-long existence, he will most likely be remembered for his avid denial of the Holocaust, a position that endeared him to much of the…

MK Anastassia Michaeli (Yisrael Beytenu), who was bashed last week following her remarks against pro-homosexual television content, said Sunday that she has been sent hundreds of hateful text messages since the weekend. Michaeli, who returned on Sunday from a visit to her hometown of Saint Petersburg, told Arutz Sheva that her remarks were meant to…

The Muslim Brotherhood declared early Monday that its candidate, Mohammed Morsi, won Egypt’s presidential election. The Associated Press reported that at a pre-dawn press conference declaring their win, officials from the fundamentalist group, banned for decades and repeatedly subjected to crackdowns under former President Hosni Mubarak’s rule, were ebullient and smiling. Final official results are…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday said Sunday that the peace process with Israel is “clinically dead” just days before PA negotiator Saeb Erakat meets U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “The peace process is clinically dead and the Israeli side is definitely the one responsible,” Abbas said at a conference in Ramallah,…

Al-Qaeda’s leader has urged Egypt to cancel its peace treaty with Israel and to establish Islamic rule, The Associated Press (AP) reported. He said the goal is to stop Israel from turning Jerusalem into a Jewish city. Ayman al-Zawahri issued his 10th message to Egypt since taking over al-Qaeda’s leadership after founder Osama bin Laden was…

Official projections show the conservative New Democracy party as coming in first with about 130 of Parliament’s 300 seats, ahead of the anti-bailout radical left Syriza party, the Huffington Post wrote Sunday. The head of the socialist PASOK party, which is projected to come in third in this critical election, has proposed that a unity…

An umbrella organization of French Jewry, CRIF, responded with “indignance” after an exam from the Bichat Hospital Faculty of Medicine at Paris’s Diderot University included a question on whether IDF strikes in Gaza can be classified as genocide, Agence France Presse reported. According to the CRIF and corroborated by a report by the National Bureau…

The Israel in India Facebook page, launched by the Israeli Embassy in August 2010, has received almost 20,000 ‘likes’, a figure surpassed only by the pages of the US and the UK, placing it among the top three foreign country pages, The Times of India reported. “Two decades after India and Israel established full diplomatic…

The office of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu claims discussions with Givat Ulpana residents on a court-ordered expulsion are at a “standstill,” but they told Arutz Sheva no such discussions are taking place. A court ruling has ordered the expulsion of 33 families from their homes in the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El by the end…

American Voices in Israel, promoted by major U.S. Jewish groups, has launched Africa’s Voices in Israel to widen support for the Jewish State. The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations helped established American Voices for Israel to bring U.S.-based radio talk show hosts to see Israel and broadcast their programs live from Jerusalem. They…

Swiss branches of two Israeli banks have been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for allegedly helping Americans conceal their offshore assets. The indictment, filed June 14 with the U.S. District Court in California, centers on United Revenue Services, Inc. (URS), a California and Nevada-based tax preparation firm. The company is headed by dual Israeli-U.S.…

UN: No Additional Monitors in Syria The United Nations announced Saturday that it won’t send additional monitors to Syria; the international body decided to suspend the mission, saying it’s just too dangerous. The observer teams who have already been planted in the civil war-torn country have hunkered down, unable to conduct patrols. The decision was…

South Sudanese family boarded buses for the airport in cities around the country Sunday, often in tears, but voluntarily, ready to go home. Many wearing backpacks, several dozen families were sighted gathering in the center of town in the northeastern Negev city of Arad, getting ready to board rented buses for the journey to Ben-Gurion…

A Jewish trucker ended the lives of two Palestinian Authority Arabs who attempted to kidnap him and steal his vehicle on a road in the Hevron Hills area of Judea (Yehuda) on Sunday. A third Arab who was involved in the attempted robbery and kidnapping was wounded. The 52-year-old trucker, a resident of the coastal city…

A German newspaper reported on Saturday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says he will end his political career when his second term ends next year. Ahmadinejad can’t run in Iran’s June 2013 elections because of term limits. He was asked whether, like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, he envisions returning to the presidency at a later date,…

IDF Spokesperson Brigadier General Yoav (Poly) Mordechai said Friday that Syria’s allies Iran and Hizbullah are coming to realize that Bashar Assad’s regime has “reached its end.” “Another week is almost over, during which the desperate effort by Iran and Hizbullah to help the Assad regime survive was evident,” Brig. Gen. Mordechai wrote on his…

The chairman of the Yesha Council, a body made up of community leaders in Judea and Samaria, wants the body’s plenum to convene and vote on its confidence in his leadership. The move reflects his awareness of growing displeasure with his moderate line, in the face of the state’s preparations for demolishing 30 homes in…

Remains of a two Grad rockets were found in southern Israel over the Sabbath. One may have been fired from Jordan. Friday night, residents of southern Israel heard explosions. On Saturday morning, the remains of a Grad rocket were located in the southern Arava, not far from Eilat. Saturday evening, the remains of another 122…

Voter turnout in the first day of the second round of the presidential elections in Egypt was low, compared to the first day of the first round. In this final round, only two candidates remain in the race: the secular Ahmed Shafiq, and the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi. The ruling military council officially dissolved the…

Dozens of Hevron area Arabs went on the rampage Saturday night during the funerals for four Arabs who died in a traffic accident earlier in the day. The rioters hurled rocks at cars with Israeli license plates and at IDF forces in Hevron. Several cars were damaged. A Jewish resident told Arutz Sheva that a…

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Friday his country is considering providing communications equipment to Syrian rebels to encourage a “stronger revolt” against President Bashar al-Assad’s government. The Al-Arabiya network reported that Fabius said that while France fully supported Arab League-U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan’s peace plan, it was also looking at other options.…

The Borough Park Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn was defaced with Nazi swastikas in a half-dozen different spots, including on a synagogue, on Friday. The New York Daily News reported that three of the symbols were discovered painted along 16th Avenue: on a synagogue, Stolin Bais Medrash, on the Fishmans Grocery security gate and at 16th…

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood pinned its hopes Friday on weekend elections to salvage its waning political fortunes, according to a report in The Associated Press. The runoff vote set for Saturday and Sunday pits Ahmed Shafiq, former President Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, against Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi. The Brotherhood rose to become the strongest political…

Activists on Friday urged women to get behind the wheel for Sunday’s first anniversary of the Women2Drive campaign, which has resulted in the arrest of people defying Saudi Arabia’s ban on women drivers. “The key to ending the ban imposed on women driving in Saudi Arabia starts with women themselves,” AFP quoted a statement from…

Officials with the Turkish Islamist group IHH denied on Friday claims that an official investigation has been launched against IHH President Bülent Yıldırım over alleged links to al-Qaeda. Turkish media outlets reported earlier that Yıldırım has been accused of secretly funding the terrorist group secretly, official documentation. Two Turkish special prosecutors are conducting separate probes into the allegations, the…

An Israeli grassroots organization has told Arutz Sheva that it sent a letter in which it criticized a New York Jewish community organization for what it called the uncalled-for insertion of a controversial issue, establishment of Palestinian state, into community-wide initiatives.  Mattot Arim, a nationalist grassroots network numbering 20,000 Israelis, contacted JCRC-NY, a New York Jewish…

The European Union announced on Friday a new round of sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime, The Associated Press reported. The report said that a ban will begin Sunday on exporting to Syria some luxury items or “dual use” goods that could be used for internal repression. A statement by the European Council listed…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will demand the release of 123 long-term prisoners before agreeing to meet Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Friday. Speaking to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency, Erekat said Abbas wants Israel to free 123 prisoners detained before the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. Erekat…

Police said on Friday they have arrested a bus driver in connection with the accident that occurred in the Samaria town of Karnei Shomron on Friday morning and which claimed the life of 13-year-old Eliyahu Zilberstein. According to Channel 2 News, police said the exact circumstances of the accident are still under investigation, and that…

Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya’alon said on Friday that it would be disastrous if the 300 homes promised by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Beit El are not built. Ya’alon was responding to recent reports that Deputy Attorney General Mike Blass has said that Netanyahu’s promise to build 300 new homes in Beit El is…

The Palestine Football Association (PFA) has asked UEFA to bar Israel from hosting the 2013 European Under-21 Championship, AFP reported on Thursday. The reason for the request is what the PFA described as Israel’s detention without trial of Palestinian Authority Arab players. In a letter to UEFA President Michel Platini, PFA President Jibril Rajoub expressed…

Mosab Hassan Yousef’s life has been far from simple. Born in Ramallah to the founder and leader of Hamas, he made an about-face as a young adult and for several years helped Israel fight terrorism. Yousef later converted to Christianity and moved to the United States. He wrote a book about his life story, titled…

Beginning Friday morning, prisons will stop their policy of releasing illegal entrants to Israel once they have passed a security check, Voice of Israel radio reports. Instead, those who enter the country illegally will remain in jail until deportation, unless they are granted authorization to remain in the country. The change follows criticism over the…

A fire broke out Thursday at a massive daycare center located in a synagogue complex in the city of Bnei Brak. Responders were able to get all 150 children to safety in a rescue termed “miraculous.” The fire started in the basement of the building, located on Meshulam Rahat street. Hatzalah volunteers quickly cleared the…

The Turkish Islamist group IHH is under investigation for allegedly funding global terrorist network Al-Qaeda, Turkish media outlets have reported. IHH President Bulent Yildirim has been accused of funding the terrorist group secretly, without official documentation. Two Turkish special prosecutors are conducting separate probes into the allegations. Yildirim was the head of IHH in 2010…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov rejected this week a claim by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Moscow is sending a new shipment of attack helicopters to Damascus. Russia, which has shipped billions of dollars’ worth of missiles, tanks, artillery and other military gear to Syria over more than four decades, has continued to…

Hundreds of activists arrived on Thursday evening at 15 intersections across the country and held solidarity protests with the residents of the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El. The protests took place at intersections in Rehovot, Modi’in and Netanya, among others. The activists who protested at the Bilu junction, near Rehovot, told Arutz Sheva, “Today we…

Syrian authorities claimed on Thursday to have arrested a terrorist who was planning to commit a suicide attack in a mosque. According to the state news agency SANA, the terrorist is Mohammad Houssam al-Sadaki, a members of Al-Qaeda who was planning to blow himself up inside the al-Rifae mosque in Damascus during Friday prayers. The…

In Turkey’s latest rebuff of Israel, Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz has decided to renege on an agreement in principle to provide Israel with information about ballistic missile launchings from terrorist entities, Defense News reported.  NATO agreed in a summit meeting in Lisbon two years ago to devise a missile defense system to protect alliance…

Arab terrorist guerillas fired at an IDF force that operated near the security fence separating Israel and Gaza early Thursday afternoon. No one was hurt. Arab news outlets reported that the fire was directed at IDF jeeps and other military vehicles in eastern Gaza. There were no reports of casualties on the Arab side either.…

Egypt’s constitutional court ruled on Thursday disqualified the country’s parliament, just three days before presidential elections. The court ruled that one third of the seats in the Islamist-dominated parliament were invalid. Following this decision, Egypt’s ruling military council announced that if any part of the parliament is illegal, then the entire body should be dissolved.…

A poll of Israelis finds that they trust the United States to come to Israel’s help in an existential threat, but do not trust President Barack Obama. The poll was prepared for the Begin Sadat Center at Bar Ilan University and the Anti-Defamation League. Nearly 70 percent of Israelis have a positive attitude toward the…

Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists attacked in the southern Negev Eshkol region on Thursday morning, firing at a Jewish farmer driving a tractor. The tractor’s windshield was shattered but the driver was uninjured. Working in a field near Kibbutz Nir Oz, the farmer’s reflexes were fast nevertheless, and he moved quickly. Dropping to the ground, he ducked behind…

Three thousand students, parents, soldiers, and Israelis of all ages and backgrounds on Wednesday joined together to celebrate Jewish life in Samaria, by participating in the Shomron March. This year, the annual march was conducted as part of the ongoing “Nice to Meet Samaria” campaign, conducted by the Samaria Regional Council in order to bring…

The Ruderman Foundation has announced its selection of its inaugural year’s ten winners of its 2012 Prize in Disability. The award is presented to those who foster full inclusion of people with disabilities in Jewish communities around the globe. Four of this year’s ten winners are Israeli organizations: AKIM Israel, the National Association for the…

In a new report, Amnesty International described the horrible conditions in Syria, confirming reports of torture, executions, arson, and other actions by the government or its agents against Syrian citizens. Amnesty International officials decided to enter Syria without government permission, after Damascus denied the group entry permits, in order to confirm what the Syrian government…

Representatives of Brazil’s Jewish communities are voicing their opposition to the upcoming meeting between their president, Dilma Rousseff, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, during his visit to Brazil next week. Ahmadinejad will be traveling to Brazil for Rio +20, a United Nations summit that seeks to “shape how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity…

The Simon Wiesenthal Center has sent a letter to Norwegian Minister of Justice Grete Faremo, following the hate crime on Monday, in which a 16-year-old Jewish student in Oslo was branded with a red-hot coin at a school barbecue. “We are shocked to learn of the fire branding of a Jewish boy at an Oslo secondary school barbecue…

France is enforcing a ban on the “niqab” and not allowing Muslim women into the country if they refuse to take off a face veil upon request. Three women who arrived in Paris at the Charles de Gaulle International Airport were detained this week by immigration officials for the violation. The women disembarked Monday from…

The expansion of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria is the most “urgent” problem in the Mideast, according to European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. She said in a debate on the Middle East at the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg this week that ending the Palestinian Authority-Israeli disagreement regarding sovereignty over Judea…

The Simon Wiesenthal Center demanded that Norwegian authorities take immediate action against perpetrators of anti-Semitic hate crimes following the heinous hate crime on Monday, in which a 16-year-old Jewish student in Oslo was branded with a red-hot coin at a school barbecue. According to Jewish-Danish website Israwhat.com, the perpetrator of the attack, an ethnic Norwegian…

France has called on the United Nations to authorize using “all means” necessary to end the carnage in Syria, bringing the civil war closer to the edge of a proxy war between Russia and the Western alliance. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday accused the United States of supplying weapons to Syria’s opposition, hours…

Supporters of the Boycotts, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel have demanded that Queen Elizabeth decline the 35.60 karat diamond placed in the Tower of London to mark her 60 years on the throne because of its affiliation with the Steinmetz family, staunch supporters of Israeli soldiers. According to the company’s website, Steinmetz supports…

Billionaire casino king Sheldon Adelson, a strong  supporter of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, is donating $10 million to a super political action committee (PAC) that backs the GOP’s Mitt Romney, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The Restore Our Future super PAC did not comment on the reported donation. Adelson previously contributed $21 million dollars…

The Palestinian Authority is making a bid to list the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem as located in the “country of Palestine.” The issue arose with the question of whether to approve the registration of the church with the World Heritage Committee at its upcoming meeting in Russia, set for June 24 to July…

Thirty young Yeshiva University students are on their way from New York to join their Israeli counterparts on a summer-long science project. The undergrads are set to participate in a joint program with Bar-Ilan University under the watchful eyes of some of Israel’s top scientists. Now in its second year, the “Summer Science Research Internship” program…

President Barack Obama’s support from Jews in New York State has plummeted in the past month and he now can count only on a slim majority to vote for him. The poll indicated that the reason for the drop in support is that Jews – like others – feel worse off than four years ago.…

The government has begun construction to fortify all schools located in the area located seven to 15 kilometers from Gaza. Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai officially launched the project Wednesday during a tour of the south. All educational institutions located in Israeli  communities are to be fortified under the project, which is expected to…

The Prime Minister’s Office responded to the Comptroller and Ombudsman’s report on the handling of the Mavi Marmara incident by saying that “In the test of results, Israeli citizens are enjoying a level of security the likes of which have not been seen for many years.” “This security is the direct result of responsible management…

The State Comptroller and Ombudsman’s report regarding the Mavi Marmara incident states that Israel’s mechanism for hasbara – the Hebrew word that refers to Israel’s global public relations effort – is currently unable to properly handle its huge task. For one thing, the report concludes, the National Information Directorate (NID) created in 2007-8 is too…

A special meeting was held at the Pope’s palace on Tuesday, attended by delegations from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vatican. During the meeting, the sides discussed some of the unresolved issues between them. At the conclusion of the meeting, which was led by Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, the Foreign Ministry…

The Knesset held a special discussion on Tuesday regarding the 1915 Armenian Genocide. The Armenian Genocide, also called the Armenian Massacres or the Great Crime, was the planned and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire around the time of World War I through massacres and forced marches. Between 1 and 1.5 million Armenians died during this…

UN observers in Syria were attacked on Tuesday with stones, metal rods and gunfire that blocked them from a besieged rebel-held town, where civilians were feared trapped by government shelling. The Associated Press reported that the UN observers were not hurt as they were turned back by the assault on their vehicles by an angry…

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s condition stabilized on Tuesday, but his lawyer said the 84-year old former president does not trust his doctors in the prison hospital and fears they are out to kill him. There have been conflicting reports about Mubarak’s condition since a court sentenced him to life in prison on June 2…

A Jewish man living in Flatbush in New York City was killed by a train on Monday. The victim was identified as Shmuel Aharon Erez. Passersby called emergency services. However, paramedics could do nothing but declare Erez’s death. At this stage it is not yet clear why Erez was on the tracks. Police are investigating.…

Three men have been arrested in France for attacking an 18-year-old Jewish man last week in a suburb outside Paris. According to local media, the three shouted anti-Semitic slurs at the man and stole his phone. Following the incident French Interior Minister Manuel Valls met with local Jewish leaders and condemned the attack. He told…

The Jewish community of New York City is increasing in size after shrinking for decades, according to new research published in the New York Times. The Jewish community now numbers an estimated 1.1 million. The change was attributed to birthrates in the orthodox Jewish community, particularly in Chassidic circles. Forty percent of New York City…

Hundreds of families have moved to Beit El’s Ulpana neighborhood, local council head Moshe Rosenbaum told Arutz Sheva. “They are sleeping there, in order to prevent [demolition] with their bodies, in order to say that there is no way it will happen,” he said. He preferred not to specify the “red lines” that protesters will…

The Ministerial Committee on Burial toured the Yarkon Cemetery in Tel Aviv recently to get a close look at the progress in the construction of a new community mausoleum site. The new section of the cemetery will hold about 35,000 graves. Minister of Religious Services Ya’akov Margi explained that the Gush Dan-greater Tel Aviv area…

A new poll shows a solid majority of Israelis – 64% – supports the continuation of the settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria. The remaining 36% support a temporary freeze on Jewish construction there or a complete freeze of construction. While these numbers are unchanged from last year, this year’s poll shows a small increase…

Hundreds of directors of Chabad institutions from around Israel gathered recently for the annual Conference of Directors. Arutz Sheva was there. The conference was sponsored by Union of Chabad Chassidim, headed by Rabbi Yosef Aharonov. Among other issues, it dealt with the question of how to run a Chabad institute in the modern era, with…

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch and other prominent Jews labeled Congressional candidate Charles Barron an “enemy of the State of Israel.” “We have learned to live together in this city despite our different backgrounds, and his vile, vicious assailing of Israel is simply not acceptable,” Koch said in a statement. Congressman Jerry Nadler and…

The IDF’s Information Security Department is warning soldiers traveling on railways not to discuss military matters, out of concern that the enemy could be listening. A new advertising campaign focusing on this matter will be aimed at officers, soldiers and reservists in the railway stations. According to the Information Security Department, “The leak potential of…

Anxiety disorder exists in one out of every eight children, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Treatment through a computer program, instead of psychiatric drugs that can have damaging long-lasting effects, is suggested by Prof. Yair Bar-Chaim, of Tel Aviv University’s School of Psychological Sciences. Research by the professor and his associated…

Tel Aviv is the Middle East’s most expensive city and the 31st most expensive city in the world for expatriates, according to a new Mercer Cost of Living survey. A similar survey last year by MCA placed Tel Aviv in the 29th spot, while Mercer ranked Tel Aviv in the 18th place. Tokyo and Luanda,…

Iranian state-run media has published a commentary that stated, “The Islamic world should rise up and shout that a nuclear bomb is our right.” The regime under Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has constantly stated that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The commentary was published by Fars News Agency, which is run by the…

The entire population of Tel Aviv would be evacuated if unconventional missiles were to strike the city, a Home Front officer told the AFP news agency in an interview. Colonel Adam Zusman, chief of the Home Front Command in metropolitan Tel Aviv, told the interviewer, “In case of a missile attack on the center of…

President Shimon Peres will ask President Barack Obama to grant a pardon for Jonathan Pollard on humanitarian grounds. Pollard, incarcerated for some 27 years on a single charge of passing classified information to an ally (Israel), has been in increasingly poor health. He was hospitalized several times over the past year, including for emergency surgery.…

Security researchers said on Monday that they have found a direct link between the Stuxnet worm and the more-recently-discovered Flame espionage malware, indicating that the two teams cooperated and collaborated. “We’re very confident that the Flame team shared some of their source code with the Stuxnet group,” Roel Schouwenberg, a senior researcher with the Moscow-based…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu condemned on Monday evening the anti-Zionist hate slogans and graffiti praising Hitler that were sprayed on the Yad VaShem Holocaust Museum. “I saw the outrageous graffiti today at Yad Vashem,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “It is hard to believe that a human being could be capable of writing such things.…

The United States said Monday it would exempt seven emerging economies, including India, from tough new sanctions after they cut back on oil from Iran, AFP reported. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added India, Malaysia, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Taiwan to the list of those exempt from the sanctions. In…

The city of Tel Aviv, well-known for its restaurants, nightclubs, and other such attractions which make it “the city that never sleeps,” has ranked fifth on the MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index’s top 10 destination cities in the Middle East and Africa. Tel Aviv ranked below Dubai, which maintains its number one position, Cairo, Abu…

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was defibrillated twice after his heart stopped on Monday, a prison hospital source told AFP. According to the source, Mubarak’s “heart stopped twice. Doctors had to use a defibrillator. He has been in and out of consciousness and has been refusing food.” Earlier, an interior ministry source told AFP Mubarak’s…

Smoke rising from a smoldering underground blaze in Ma’alot is affecting residents’ health – but locals say the city isn’t taking effective action to put the fire out. The blaze apparently ignited on May 12, according to the woman whose house is located closest to the burning mound and who spoke in an exclusive interview…

The father of the Al-Qaeda linked terrorist who murdered a rabbi and three Jewish children in Toulouse, France has filed suit against police who killed him. Mohammed Benalal Merah accused police of murdering his son in a standoff 30 hours after Mohamed Merah refused to give himself up and instead was killed when he tried…

Inspectors from the Population, Immigration, and Borders Authority (PIBA) raided a neighborhood in Eilat Monday morning and arrested dozens of illegal aliens from South Sudan, with the intent of deporting them. An initial group of eight infiltrators from South Sudan was arrested Sunday. The arrests follow a decision by the government to begin taking tough…

Matthew Bronfman, whose grandfather moved to Canada from Moldova 120 years ago and founded a whiskey empire, has gone back to his roots. His visit to the town of Ataki represented the first time a member of the Bronfman family has visited there since Samuel Bronfman left at the end of the 19th century. Matthew…

Kadima head MK Shaul Mofaz took credit Monday for torpedoing the Regulation Law that could have prevented the destruction of the Givat HaUlpana neighborhood in Beit El. “We prevented the passage of the Regulation Law and that is an accomplishment for the entire coalition and certainly for Kadima,” he said. “I think it is the…

Former Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak is in state of coma, a spokesman for Egypt’s Interior Ministry said Monday. “Mubarak entered today into full coma. His two sons Gamal and Alaa submitted a request to the prison authority to move beside him and it has been accepted. His health has been deteriorating since the verdict, with…

At least 120 protesters wore the yellow star over the weekend in Budapest in solidarity with former Chief Rabbi Joseph Schweitzer, age 90, targeted with vicious anti-Semitic abuse.  Demonstrators stood in a line facing the center of Budapest Parliament Building to express their solidarity with the rabbi.  Last Tuesday Rabbi Schweitzer was targeted by a young…

The spokesman for the Greek neo-Nazi Golden Dawn Party, who struck and threw a glass of water on female Members of Parliament during a brawl on live television, has threatened to sue his victims, claiming they provoked his attack. Ilias Kasidiaris has been in hiding since Thursday, when producers of the morning show reportedly locked…

An anonymous $1 million gift to Ben Gurion University from a Florida couple will help scientists expand Israel’s space research and security program. The donation was made to support the picosatellite program of the Homeland Security Institute at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and will lead to an actual launch of two picosatellites carrying imaging,…

MK Zevulun Orlev (Jewish Home) has submitted a new bill in which he seeks to stop the absurd situation existing at present in Israel, in which benefits are paid to families of terrorists, while those they harmed receive benefits as recognized victims of terrorism. The change in legislation became necessary after a judge ruled that the family of…

A large exercise held this past weekend at the Ben Gurion International Airport simulated a serious aviation disaster. During the exercise, which was named Flamingo and was conducted by the Israel Airports Authority (IAA), an emergency landing was simulated, during which the plane’s left landing gear collapsed. As a result, the left engine and wing…

Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh warned on Sunday that Syria’s arsenal of chemical weapons may fall into the rebels’ hands, something which requires preparation on the part of Israel. Naveh made the comments during a ceremony in Jerusalem marking 30 years since the June 11,1982 Battle of Sultan Yaqub during the First…

Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara spoke to Arutz Sheva on Sunday about the deteriorating situation in Syria and about the close ties between Syrian President Bashar Assad, Iran and the Hizbullah terror group. Kara spoke following remarks by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who said on Sunday that the “face of the evil axis” of Iran, Syria…

Days before the presidential runoff in Egypt, presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq and the Muslim Brotherhood sharpened their attacks on one another on Sunday. According to a report in the Egypt Independent, Shafiq started the round by accusing the Brotherhood of paying thugs to attack his campaign headquarters in Cairo last month. Speaking during a news…

An immigration police roundup and a proposed Knesset law for stiff fines on employers of illegal immigrants may be the beginning of the end of the internal threat to Israel. The new legislation, approved by a Cabinet committee Sunday, calls for a five-year jail  sentence and a whopping half a million shekel ($130,000) fine for…

Iran, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said women are highly respected, has barred women from watching public live screenings of Euro 2012 games because men might become rowdy. “It is an inappropriate situation when men and women watch football in (movie) theatres together,” said Bahman Kargar, Iran’s deputy police commander in charge of social affairs,…

The personal wealth of Rav Pinchas Abuhatzeira, great-grandson of the Baba Sali, is estimated at NIS 1.3 billion, according to an investigative report by the Forbes financial website. The rabbi inherited most of the money from his father, Rav Elazar Abuhatzeira, who was murdered last year.  The wealth of Rav Pinchas’s uncle, Rav David Hai…

U.S.-based Georgia Power is interested in joining Turkey’s nuclear power plant project, its Chief Executive Officer Paul Bowers announced on Friday, The Hurriyet Daily News reported. “Turkey wants to be independent in the energy arena. We can help them because we have been constructing nuclear power plants for the past 30 years,” Bowers told the…

Hundreds of people have been flowing to the neighborhood of Givat HaUlpana in Beit El since the Knesset voted down a law that was intended to try to save it from destruction after the Supreme Court ruled that it should be demolished since the state prosecution did not present objections to an Arab’s claim that the sale…

President Barack Obama’s deputies are holding “hundreds” of closed-door meetings with a jihad-linked lobbying group that is widely derided by critics as a U.S. arm of the theocratic Muslim Brotherhood, The Daily Caller reported. George Selim, the White House’s new director for community partnerships, which was formed in January to ensure cooperation by law enforcement…

President Shimon Peres has arrived in New York, where he will spend the night before traveling to Washington on Monday for meetings at the Pentagon. On Tuesday, the president is scheduled to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and others at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute. Wednesday…

A proclamation to declare June 5 “Palestinian Cultural Day” in California’s Alameda County was pulled off the agenda that same day, the Jewish News Week of Northern California reported. Nate Miley, president of the county’s Board of Supervisors, asked that it be pulled, spurring an onslaught of accusations from pro-‘Palestinian’ groups that “Jewish pressure” was…

U.S. President Barack Obama currently has the support of 64% of Jewish registered voters, according to the Gallup polling agency. This is 10% less than the percentage of Jews who voted for Obama in 2008, and is similar to the percentage of Jews who voted for Michael Dukakis when he contended for the presidency against…

“Global Village 2012” – The International Conference on Diaspora-Homeland Partnerships – is set to launch in Jerusalem on Monday. The three-day conference will focus on diplomatic and government aspects of Diaspora relations and how that impacts on Israel and the Jewish People in general. Workshops at the gathering will also address the issues around establishing strategic…

The transfer of fuel donated by the Qatari government through Egypt is being transferred to Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing at a rate of 10-15 tankers trucks – or 130,000 liters of fuel – per day. The transfer began last Thursday and is to continue for three months, in which a total of 30…

The United States blocked Israel’s participation in the Global Counterterrorism Forum’s (GCTF) first meeting in Istanbul on Friday, despite Israel’s having one of the most extensive counterterrorism experiences in the world. Israel was excluded from the meeting due to fierce objections by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a Washington-based source told Globes news. According the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that the principle guiding him in the Givat HaUlpana affair is the one set down by Menachem Begin 64 years ago when fighting nearly broke out between the Etzel militia and the IDF: Civil war must be avoided at all cost. Netanyahu spoke Sunday at the memorial ceremony for the…

Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara said on Saturday that Israel would be willing to help treat casualties from the ongoing fighting in Syria. Speaking during a meeting with Druze youths in the Golan Heights, Kara said, “Israel is ready to receive casualties who would be evacuated from Syria to Israel and, alternatively, we are ready to…

Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development Silvan Shalom visited Toronto, New York and Washington this past week. While in Toronto, Shalom participated in an event at the local Chabad Israeli Community Center which held a fundraiser to complete construction of its new building north of the city. In an interview with a Toronto-based…

Minister Shaul Mofaz told Reshet Bet’s “Meet the Press” program that the Knesset rejected Netanyahu’s announcement to build 851 housing units in Judea and Samaria (Yehudah and Shomron) According to Mofaz, the additional pre-designed building is not intended to compensate “West Bank settlers opposed to the demolition of the Ulpana neighborhood.” “The Prime Minister informed…

Rabbi Fishel Litzman, 38, was fired by the New York Police due to his refusal to shave his beard. Rabbi Litzman was soon to graduate the police academy. According to the report, Litzman was an outstanding student at the police academy and at the time of his recruitment, but then announced he would not adhere…

Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor was involved in a traffic accident in Jerusalem on Saturday. He was lightly injured and according to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, was rushed with his wife for medical treatment at the medical facility, located in southwest Jerusalem. The accident occurred in the Beit Hakerem neighborhood of Jerusalem. A preliminary investigation indicated the vehicle, which was…

UN monitors on Friday got their first direct look at a farming village where nearly 80 men, women and children were reportedly killed in the latest massacre in Syria. AFP reported that the monitors said they found body parts and damaged homes. The monitors were able to enter the remote farming area of Mazraat al-Qubair…

An IDF soldier was killed and three were injured, two of them seriously, when a military jeep overturned on Friday during an operation in the southern Golan Heights. The soldier who was killed has been identified as Private Dor Jan, 19, of Rishon Lezion. The IDF is investigating the circumstances which led to the fatal…

More than 100 people demonstrated on Friday afternoon outside the Binyamin Regional Brigade’s base, near the community of Beit El, amid concerns over the planned demolition of the Ulpana neighborhood. Confrontations with soldiers broke out, as the protesters carried signs denouncing the anticipated demolition and called on the soldiers not to take part in the…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas warned on Friday that he may seek non-member status for a Palestinian state at the United Nations if peace talks with Israel do not resume, The Associated Press reported. The PA currently has observer status at the UN and an upgrade by the General Assembly to “non-member” would give Palestine…

British Foreign Secretary William Hague condemned on Friday Israel’s plans to build hundreds of new homes in Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron), The Press Association reported. In a statement issued by the Foreign Office in London Hague said, “I condemn the announcement by Israel to authorize the building of 851 new settlement units across…

The UN’s nuclear watchdog and Iran failed on Friday to agree a deal allowing greater access to Tehran’s contested nuclear program. “There has been no progress,” IAEA chief inspector Herman Nackaerts was quoted by AFP as having announced late Friday, after all-day talks with Iran’s envoy to the agency Ali Asghar Soltanieh and IAEA deputy…

Thousands of people demonstrated in Egypt on Friday, to demand that former President Hosni Mubarak’s last Prime Minister, Ahmed Shafiq, be banned from a run-off presidential election. AFP reported that the protesters also denounced verdicts in the trial of Mubarak and his security chiefs, amid reports that the ailing strongmen sentenced to life in prison…

Israelis from across the religious spectrum will take part in a “Love March” on Friday to show unity in the face of differences. The goal, organizers say, is to break down the barriers between various sectors of Israeli society and to increase mutual caring and love. The march will begin at 11 a.m. in Jerusalem’s…

A Jewish cemetery has been vandalized in the city of Rivne in western Ukraine, local news sources report. Vandals broke street lights and desecrated a plaque in the memory of 17,500 Ukrainian Jews murdered in the Holocaust. Police are investigating. The broken street lights were laid on the ground and arranged to spell out insulting…

Israel Radio reported late Thursday that the lead suspect in last weekend’s anti-Semitic attacks in Lyon, France has turned himself in to police. The suspect and 10 others attacked three people as they left the Beit Menachem Jewish school on Saturday night. The French Interior ministry said the assailants wielded a hammer and an iron…

The International Atomic Energy Agency began a new round of talks with Iran in an effort to gain access to sites where suspected nuclear weapons research has been conducted. Tehran’s envoy to the IAEA met with agency officials Friday in Vienna. The world nuclear watchdog wants access to Iran’s Parchin military base, where the agency…

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Tehran has no intention of building nuclear weapons – but fear is not the reason. Ahmadinejad’s comments ahead of June 18-19 talks with world powers over Tehran’s nuclear program marked a toughening of rhetoric. The P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany – want…

The United States is offering millions of dollars in rewards for information leading to the capture of leaders of the Somali militant group al-Shabab. It is the first time the US has offered money for specific members of the group, which announced its allegiance to al-Qaeda earlier this year. “The group is responsible for the…

Hundreds of frightened Israelis called the police on Thursday evening, saying they had seen a strange light shining in the sky with a trail of smoke. The strange light was seen in many places throughout Israel, from the Golan Heights and south. A resident who lives in the vicinity of the Shomron community of Yitzhar…

The Defense Ministry announced on Thursday that it will begin construction of facilities that will be able to hold 20,000 to 25,000 infiltrators. The facilities will be built in southern Israel and will be managed by the Israel Prisons Service (IPS) and the Interior Ministry. The Defense Ministry undertook the construction project upon itself following…

Belgian prosecutors on Thursday charged a high-profile Islamist radical with stoking hatred and violence during racial disturbances in Brussels last week. According to AFP Fouad Belkacem, a 30-year-old Belgian man of Moroccan origin, was picked up at at his family home in the northern city of Antwerp early Thursday morning, and was placed in custody…

Some 400 Jews have gathered in the former Soviet republic of Moldova for a festival to celebrate the Jewish heritage of the former Soviet countries, The Associated Press reported. The four-day conference, which began Thursday, will include artists, scientists and musicians from Israel, the United States and the former Soviet republics. Approximately 20,000 Jews currently…

Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad “must transfer power and depart Syria,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a news conference in Istanbul Thursday after meeting diplomats from Arab and Western nations, AFP reported. The meeting was attended by foreign ministers or senior envoys from Britain, France, the European Union, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and 11 other…

Lebanon has charged the Syrian Army with the murder of an Al-Jadeed television journalist. Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr on Thursday charged members of the Syrian armed forces in connection with the cameraman’s death on April 9. Charges of attempting to murder the cameraman’s two colleagues, who were with him at the time, have also…

Between 700 and 1,000 citizens of South Sudan who are illegally staying in Israel have seven days to leave the country of their own free will or face arrest, the Population, Immigration and Border Authority (PIBA) announced Thursday. The announcement follows a court decision Thursday morning to remove the collective protection that had been given…

Google has begun warning users if their accounts may be compromised by state-sponsored cyber attacks, in order to help customers protect personal data, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. “We are constantly on the lookout for malicious activity on our systems, in particular attempts by third parties to log into users’ accounts unauthorized,” Google’s Vice President of…

The ongoing feud between screenwriter Joe Eszterhas and actor Mel Gibson has gained fuel, as Eszterhas claims that he has received death threats and hate mail from Gibson supporters, The Chicago Tribune reported.  Eszterhas has called upon Gibson to distance himself from supporters who have expressed anti-Semitic sentiments, saying “Many of Mel Gibson’s supporters in chat…

Members of the Manchester Jewish community were outraged after participants in a World War II re-enactment dressed up as Nazis, donning swastikas and other fascist insignia. One couple recounted how they were asked by a festival ‘actor’ to dress up as persecuted refugees by wearing yellow Stars of David and carrying battered suitcases, for this…

Interior Minister Eli Yishai on Thursday signed off on the first building project for the projected Hareidi Jewish city of Harish. The project will include 6,000 units designed mostly for large families. Prices are projected to be significantly more affordable than for similar sized apartments in other large Hareidi communities, such as Bnei Brak and…

Troops and militiamen loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday were accused of new massacres of scores of villagers. The new report came just hours ahead of a United Nations Security Council session on Assad’s brutal 15-month crackdown on a popular uprising against his regime. If confirmed, the killings of at least 78 people…

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday that Al-Qaeda is still a serious and imminent threat, and is spreading geographically. “The core of Al-Qaeda that carried out the 9/11 attacks may be on the path to defeat, but the threat has spread, becoming more geographically diverse,” Clinton said ahead of a counter terrorism meeting.…

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has begun posting Internet advertisements offering training for suicide bombers to target the U.S., Israel and France. Volunteers are asked to get in touch via e-mail with details about their own experience and proposed targets, and were posted on a variety of jihadist forums, including al-Fida’a, Shmoukh al-Islam and Honein.…

An Arab man tried on Wednesday evening to stab a security guard at the Jerusalem Light Rail’s station in the French Hill neighborhood. The man took out a pair of scissors and tried to stab one of the guards, but his colleagues drew their guns and managed to overtake the Arab. No one was hurt.…

Pro-government militia and security forces in Syria have killed at least 78 people, including women and children, in the central province of Hama, activists said on Wednesday. According to a report on VOA, some of those killed in the villages of al-Kubeir and Maazarif were stabbed to death and at least 12 bodies were burned.…

Housing Minister Ariel Atias announced on Wednesday that his ministry will market land for the purpose of building 551 new housing units in Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron). According to Atias’ announcement, 117 units will be marketed in Ariel, 92 housing units in Ma’aleh Adumim, 144 housing units in Adam, 114 units in Efrat,…

The United States condemned Israel on Wednesday, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that 300 new homes will be built in Beit El. “We’re very clear that continued Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank undermines peace efforts and contradicts Israeli commitments and obligations, including the 2003 road map,” U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner…

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused major world powers on Wednesday of looking for ways to “find excuses and to waste time” in talks over Tehran’s controversial nuclear program. “Iran is ready to pursue negotiations in Moscow, and even in Beijing, and has made good proposals,” Ahmadinejad said in the Chinese capital, according to AFP, referring…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a special statement Wednesday regarding the impending demolition of the Givat HaUlpana neighborhood. “I am committed to safeguard the settlement enterprise,” he said. “The law that the Knesset rejected today would have harmed the settlement enterprise but the formula that I have decided upon – relocating the houses and widening…

Iran accused the United Nations nuclear watchdog of spying and vowed never to suspend uranium enrichment on Monday, Bloomberg reported. The move cast doubt on whether a deal between Tehran and the P5+1 allowing wider atomic inspections is possible. Tehran’s IAEA envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh in Vienna said “Iran will resist to the end” and…

Seeking to score big donor dollars, US president Barack Obama and presumptive GOP challenger Mitt Romney traded barbs on Wednesday over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. Romney warned that Obama’s policies and spending will “take America on the path to Europe.” “We have two courses we could follow,” Romney said. “One is to follow in the…

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s condition is deteriorating rapidly both physically and psychologically as he lies in the hospital wing of Cairo’s Tora Prison, in the intensive care unit. His son Gamal, also incarcerated, was moved by Interior Minister Prisons Department Chief Mohamed Naguib to a ward next to the hospital in order to be…

The prime minister of the Flanders region of Belgium has retracted his comparison of the security fence with the “ghettos during World War II.” Kris Peeters, during his first-ever visit to Israel this week, stated, “I’m shocked by the separation wall that Israel is erecting. It reminded me of the ghettos during World War II.…

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has named Riyad Hijab as his new prime minister in what may be the waning days of his administration. More than 13,500 Syrians – mostly civilians – have been killed in the growing civil war that began in March 2011 with the Arab Spring uprising, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu once again has proven that it is more important for a politician to win than to be liked. His nationalist ministers fell in line on Wednesday and did not support the bill that would have prevented the fall of five homes in Beit El, where 30 families face a court-ordered expulsion.…

Russia says it is willing to see Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad leave power – but not by force. In a significant change from its prior position, Moscow appears to have come to the realization that Assad’s regime is teetering, and is not likely to last much longer. A senior Russian diplomat was quoted by the…

IAF aircraft struck two weapons storage sites in northern and southern Gaza on Tuesday night, according to a statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. The statement noted that direct hits at the targets were identified. All Israeli planes returned safely to their base. The attack came in response to high trajectory fire into Israeli territory,…

Republicans in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania have elected Steve Smith, a lifelong white supremacist with close ties to neo-Nazi groups and groups, to the county’s GOP Committee. Smith, 41, who had previously been the director of the Keystone State Skinheads, won the position through a write-in campaign after running unopposed. The Southern Poverty Law Center also…

Former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak suffered an “emotional breakdown” in prison on Tuesday, a senior interior ministry official said. The ailing 84-year-old’s “health deteriorated while in prison,” the official told AFP, without describing the nature of the breakdown. “Doctors from the police hospital have been called to treat him, along with the prison doctors after…

The White House confirmed on Tuesday the death of Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, calling it a “major blow” to the terror network, CBS News reported. White House spokesman Jay Carney would not confirm how Abu Yahya al-Libi was killed, but an American official said he was killed in a U.S. drone strike, according to the report. Carney…

The British pro-Hamas Viva Palestina organization suffered a setback recently, when Egyptian authorities refused to allow the organization’s aid convoy to enter Gaza. According to a report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), it was the sixth time that Viva Palestina failed to deliver aid to Gaza via Egypt. Viva Palestina is headed…

Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, eyed as a potential running mate for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, wrapped up a trip to Israel last week that featured talks with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. According to ABC News, Portman toured an Iron Dome advanced missile defense system in southern Israel and…

State Prosecutor Moshe Lador has a rejected a request by Israeli attorney Yossi Fuchs to launch a criminal investigation against Arab MK Ahmed Tibi for incitement, over a speech in which he praised the Palestinian Authority’s ‘martyrs’. During a ceremony held on the occasion of “Palestinian Martyrs Day” and sponsored by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas…

President Shimon Peres met a group  of bereaved relatives of terror attacks Monday and promised them to talk to U.S. President Barack Obama about Jonathan Pollard. Peres will be receiving the Medal of Freedom from Obama next week. “This is a moving meeting, and I know what suffering you bear inside you,” Peres told the…

A hate song with the deceiving title of “I Love Israel” has become the latest craze in Egypt, The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported. The singer, Amr El Masry, begins by repeating the phrase, “I love Israel.” The lyrics read as follows: “May it [Israel] be destroyed. May it be colonized. May it…

President Barack Obama for the seventh time has exercised the “security” waiver allowing him to ignore a Congressional law that the U.S. embassy be relocated to Jerusalem. The 1995 law requires the embassy to be located in the capital unless the president decides that doing so would endanger national security. Every American president has exercised…

In a move sparking outrage among both Jewish and non-Jewish students and professors, administrators at the City University of New York (CUNY) have decided to separate Jews into a distinct minority group: “White/Jewish,” The New York Post reported. CUNY claims that “some faculty” support the new labeling system, as, until now, Jews have been incorporated…

A prominent German Jewish leader has criticized a visit by members of the German national soccer team to the Auschwitz death camp. Dieter Graumann, the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, expressed dismay on Sunday that only three players from the national team made the trip, saying the whole team should have…

A U.S. drone strike in Pakistan on Monday targeted Al Qaeda’s top terror strategist, Abu Yahya Al-Libi. Fifteen terrorists were killed, but confirmation of Al-Libi’s death could take weeks or months, officials said. The latest drone strike – the third in three days – was in an area that Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists frequented.…

Arabs in Kerak, Jordan, attacked Jewish tourists because they wore “provocative hats” and other items of clothing worn by religious Jews, according to Arab websites. The incident took place Sunday afternoon, when a group of Jews visited the Jordanian tourist site, where a Crusader castle is located along with other attractions. According to Al Jazeera,…

The “Flame” virus whose existence was revealed last week is 20 times bigger than Stuxnet and was aimed at stealing Iranian-Russian blueprints, presumably of nuclear facilities. “Stuxnet was really unique because of its size, and this [Flame] is about 20 times bigger than Stuxnet,” Symantec official Kevin Haley, quoted by CNN, said at a cyber…

Marine Le Pen, leader of the French far-right, warned she may sue Madonna for superimposing a swastika on her forehead in a video presentation that accompanied her show in Israel. Madonna, whose fans probably do not include Le Pen, performed a one-night show in Tel Aviv last week with videos of different faces, including one…

Russia, which is helping Iran develop nuclear power, has more nuclear warheads than any country in the world, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s annual report released Monday. Worldwide, there are an estimated 19,000 nuclear warheads held by eight countries. The list of countries includes Israel, which the Institute estimates has 80 nuclear…

Professor Robert Wistrich of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, world renowned expert on anti-Semitism, spoke to Arutz Sheva on Monday about the fact that Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, who is marking her 60th year as Queen, has visited over 130 countries over the last 60 years but has not once visited Israel. Prof. Wistrich noted that no…

A New Jersey couple lost custody of their four children, three of whom are named after Nazi criminals, after a Superior Court judge ruled that a history of domestic violence puts the children at risk of abuse and neglect. Court documents show that the oldest child frequently threatens to kill people and the mother once…

A senior IDF official said on Monday that there has been an increase in attempts by terrorists who were released in the Shalit deal and sent to Gaza to promote terrorism in Judea and Samaria. Speaking to Army Radio, the official said that the terrorists released in the deal and who are living in Judea…

A Chabad man from Chicago was named this week one of ten Jewish Chicagoans of the year. The man, Rabbi Yaakov Yarmove, is known by the nickname “King of Kosher” in Chicago, since he runs the kosher departments at 1,300 supermarkets across the United States. In recent months he has also been behind the importing…

As was expected, the Palestinian Authority glorified the 91 terrorists whose bodies were returned by Israel, as a gesture by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) research organization, which monitors and translates the PA-based media, has translated and presented on its website several incidents in which the…

The UN’s cultural agency, UNESCO, said on Monday it will, for the first time, consider a Palestinian Authority site for its World Heritage List. In a statement quoted by AFP, UNESCO said that its World Heritage Committee will consider Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity for inclusion on the list during its next meeting, from June…

A Muslim movement has bought a posh house in the heart of a large upscale Jewish neighborhood in Baltimore, whose main artery is known as “Synagogue Row.” The Muslim sect is considered to be pacifist and at the opposite end of Islam extremism. Located on the edge of Pikesville – synonymous with “Jewish” – the…

Syrian rebels killed at least 80 army soldiers in a surge of attacks at the weekend that followed their threat to resume fighting if President Bashar al-Assad failed to observe a United Nations-backed ceasefire. Free Syrian Army fighters said they had killed “more than 100 soldiers” and “destroyed some tanks” in clashes across Syria, including…

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein on Monday approved Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s outline for dealing with Beit El’s threatened Ulpana neighborhood. Netanyahu has proposed five multi-residence structure facing demolition be destroyed, but that fifty new structures be approved on adjacent state owned land. Under the plan, the government would also pay to move the five buildings…

The growing anger at the massive illegal infiltration of Africans into Israel has spilled over to Jerusalem in an apparent arson attack. Investigators found one door in the burned downtown apartment with “out of the neighborhood” scrawled on it. Ten Africans fled the apartment, located on the capital’s main Jaffa Road artery, around 3 a.m.…

David Cohen, President Barack Obama’s point man on sanctions, told Army Radio Monday sanctions against Iran are “biting” but not enough. Cohen, Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, stated on radio, “The sanctions are having an impact on Iran, but I also recognize that more needs to be done. And we are intent on doing more.”…

Hundreds of Jewish nationalists and residents of the threatened Givat HaUlpana neighborhood in Beit El began a two-day protest march Monday. The march began at the Givat HaUlpana neighborhood and will end Wednesday outside the Knesset, as the Regulation Bill that could save the neighborhood from demolition comes to a vote. On its way to…

The graduation ceremony at the David Yellin Academic College of Education Thursday was marred by the behavior of Arab students, who refused to honor the national anthem by standing and instead remained seated for its duration. In addition, the entire ceremony was translated into Arabic, in a college that was founded as part of the…

A bitter campaign in a northern New Jersey Democratic primary race has bought out a growing Muslim community to vote for a “friend of the Arabs” instead of the Jewish candidate. A redrawing of the state’s district has left two incumbents, Jewish Rep. Steve Rothman, running against Bill Pascrell, grandson of an Italian immigrant and…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who heads the Independence faction, told faction members Monday morning that “the settlement enterprise in Beit El will be strengthened, not weakened” by the tearing down of the Givat HaUlpana neighborhood. He may have been referring to a promise allegedly made by Binyamin Netanyahu, that for every building torn down in…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu pleaded with the Likud faction on Monday to oppose the regulation law – saying doing so would strengthen Israel’s settlements. This government “respects the rule of law and strengthens the settlements” he told his party during a closed-door faction meeting. “There is no contradiction between two things,” Netanyahu said. “Even if…

Khaled al-Batash, a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad terror group, threatened on Sunday that his movement will not allow Israel to continue its current behavior towards Palestinian Authority Arab prisoners. Speaking at a rally in solidarity with two terror prisoners, Mahmoud Al-Sarasek and Akram Al-Richawi, currently being held in Israeli prisons, al-Batash said that…

IAF aircraft struck a weapons-manufacturing site and a terror tunnel in northern Gaza on Sunday night, according to an IDF statement. The statement noted that direct hits at the targets were identified. All Israeli planes returned safely to their base. The attack came after terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza fired a Qassam rocket at southern Israel…

The IDF’s Operations Department has recently defined the essence of IDF cyber warfare, putting together instructions that define the military’s operational methods in cyber space and clarify its goals in facing potential enemies. The IDF Website revealed on Sunday these instructions for the first time and, according to the IDF document, cyber space is to…

Israel has intensified security on its border with Egypt after verdicts were issued in the trial of former President Hosni Mubarak, security sources in the Sinai Peninsula told the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper on Sunday. Eyewitnesses at the border area told the newspaper that the presence of Israeli armored vehicles and border patrols has increased markedly…

U.S. senator John McCain on the weekend accused President Barack Obama’s administration of leaking the report of Obama’s approval of cyber-attacks against Iran in a bid for pre-election glory. AFP quoted McCain as having told reporters in Singapore, where he was attending a conference on Asian security, “Again we see these leaks to the media…

Israel’s Rafael Defense Systems will unveil the world’s smallest military missile at the annual Eurosatory “Land and Airland Defense and Security” exhibition in Paris next week, Israel Defense reports.  The Mini-Spike electro-optic guided missile is the first missile to implement an anti-personnel precision attack missile. It has range of approximately three quarters of a mile…

Egypt’s chief prosecutor is appealing the life sentence handed down to Hosni Mubarak, whom he wants sentenced to death for the killing of more than 800 demonstrators last year. The appeal automatically included asking for a new verdict for Mubarak’s two sons and six security officers who were acquitted. New charges of money laundering will…

The defense establishment began groundwork Sunday at the site where the residents of Givat HaUlpana in Beit El are to be housed following their planned eviction. The site is located within the military camp next to Beit El. An officer who was present at the site said that the ground was being readied for the…

Three people were brutalized in an anti-Semitic attack Saturday at Villeurbaine, near Lyon in southeast France. Two of the victims were hospitalized: one suffered an open head wound and the other was injured in the neck. The attackers numbered about ten and were armed with a hammer and an iron bar.   The victims wore…

Syrian President Bashar Assad spoke on Sunday about the recent massacre that occurred in the country’s Houla region, and in which more than 100 civilians, including children, were killed. Assad made the comments in an address to the new Syrian parliament. “What happened in Houla is a massacre that we have not seen even from…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he has concerns over the Regulation Bill, which faces a vote Wednesday. The bill would protect Israeli homes built legally on unused Judea and Samaria land from demolition by providing any person who claims the land after the fact with financial compensation rather than destruction of the homes.…

Israel’s has deployed missiles with nuclear warheads on three submarines purchased from Germany, Der Spiegel reported Sunday. Three more of the Dolphin-class submarines are on order. The magazine claims that Germany knows about Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons, despite formal denials. The Popeye missiles loaded on the subs reportedly can be launched using a hydraulic system…

Leading Russian and Moscow rabbis last week dedicated a new mikveh – a ritual immersion pool – in the Russian capital’s oldest existing Jewish community. The modest but impressive ceremony took pace at the Darchei Shalom synagogue in the Otrendoe neighborhood, following a contribution by a leading Jewish lay leader. Russia’s Chief Rabbi Berl Lazar…

On Monday, 48 young men and women will celebrate their bar and bat mitzvas at a special ceremony in Jerusalem. The young celebrants are all deaf or hearing impaired, but were given a chance to take part in the ceremony – which for most involves public chanting of the Torah portion – thanks to the…

Republican de facto presidential candidate Mitt Romney is leading President Barack Obama in the polls by a new high of four percent as the president tries to win back sagging support from Jews. Romney has sewn up the nomination and is scheduled to be officially nominated at the GOP’s summer convention. The latest daily Presidential…

The Defense Ministry said on Saturday night that there is land available in Beit El on which the homes in the Ulpana neighborhood can be copied. It was unclear why the Ministry did not decide to give alternate state land outside Beit El to those Palestinian Arabs claiming ownership, thereby setting a precedent for land disputes that suddenly arise where…

Security forces in the Samaria (Shomron) town of Yitzhar were recently involved in violent clashes with Palestinian Authority Arabs, a senior IDF commander said. In at least one case, the security team managed to prevent an attack. Despite that, the team has been punished for its allegedly heavy-handed response by having its responsibilities scaled back…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided Saturday that the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El in the Binyamin region will be evacuated. Netanyahu decided that the homes will not be destroyed, but rather will be copied to a military area within Beit El. For each home that is evacuated, “build 10 new structures.” In accordance with the …

New York’s Fifth Avenue will be blue and white on Sunday as marchers step forth to celebrate in the Israel Day Parade. Heading the march will be New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, along with Israel’s Minister for Information and the Diaspora, Yuli Edelstein, Consul General in New York Ido Aharoni, JCRC-NY CEO Michael Miller,…

A best-selling author questioning the origins of Islam in a new book has received death threats on the Twitter social networking website. Robert Spencer, director of the website “Jihad Watch,” questioned the source of Islam in a new book, “Did Muhammad Exist? An Inquiry into the Obscure Origins of Islam,” published by ISI Books. Spencer…

It would appear that the High Court rules differently on how to deal with Arab land challenges depending upon the region that is affected.  The High Court has ruled that Beit El’s Ulpana neighborhood must be torn down — and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this weekend went to great lengths to support the decision while…

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak suffered a heart attack just moments after being told he would spend the rest of his life in prison, the head of Egypt’s prison service confirmed Saturday. The general said that Mubarak had suffered the attack upon arrival to the Tora Prison by helicopter and was treated by medical staff.…

Prince Charles is likely to visit Israel within the next three years, according to Eric Moonman, President of the Zionist Federation. “There will be a chance for a senior royal to go to Israel, although it’s unlikely to be the Queen because of her diary and the prominence she gives the Commonwealth,” Moonman said. “So…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to announce on Monday that the five disputed homes in the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El will be demolished, in accordance with a recent Supreme Court ruling. Netanyahu will also announced that he will compensate the residents of the demolished homes with housing units within Beit El, either on…

The UN Human Rights Council called on Friday for an investigation into the killing of more than 100 civilians in the Houla region of Syria, and condemned Syria for the massacre. According to a report in the BBC, the forum passed the resolution with a big majority and called on investigators to identify the perpetrators.…

Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday that the abductors of the Lebanese pilgrims in Syria should address their grievances directly with him, and not through kidnapping innocent people. “If your problem is with me, there are lots of ways to resolve it. We can resolve it any way you want, whether through war or…

U.S. President Barack Obama ordered the Stuxnet virus attack on Iran in 2010 as part of a wave of cyber sabotage and espionage against the would-be nuclear power, according to a new book citing senior Washington sources. The New York Times cited excerpts from the book, which chronicles secret wars under the Obama administration, in…

Thousands of people took to the streets in cities across Egypt on Friday, to demand that Ahmed Shafiq, a former senior official in Hosni Mubarak’s ousted regime, be disqualified from next month’s presidential runoff. Shafiq, who served as Mubarak’s last prime minister, was one of the top two finishers in the first round of Egypt’s…

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Friday of an “extremely dangerous” situation in Syria and emerging signs of a civil war, but continued to reject a military intervention. Amid mounting pressure for Moscow to drop its resistance to tougher UN action on Syria, Putin met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and had arrived in Paris for…

The United States appeared to set a deadline on Friday for Iran to ease world concern over its disputed nuclear program. The Associated Press reported that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the Islamic Republic must act by this month’s talks with world powers in Moscow. Speaking in Oslo, Norway, Clinton told reporters the U.S.…