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Got up early to check out WordPress and found a screen filled with black boxes instead? Wanted to finish that assignment and couldn’t use Wikipedia today? There’s a reason for that, and more. More than a dozen other websites so far have joined the 24-hour Internet blackout led by the English-language Wikipedia free online encyclopedia…

Israeli aircraft and tanks struck a terrorist cell attempting to bury bombs at the Gaza security fence near a kibbutz Wednesday morning, killing at least two terrorists. Hamas confiremd the kill. Aircraft fired four missiles on the cell, while tanks fired artillery shells. One of the cell’s bombs exploded, and no Israeli soldiers were injured.…

Search teams have “indefinitely” ended operations aboard the Italian Costa Concordia luxury cruise ship when the vessel began shifting as it lay on its side. The ship has been stuck in the seabed off the Tuscany coast since last Friday night (Jan. 13), when it ran aground on a sandbar near the island of Giglio,…

President Barack Obama warmly praised Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House Tuesday, thanking him for hosting talks with the Palestinian Authority and Israel. “We have very few countries around the world that are better friends and better partners than the Jordanians,” said the president. “And so I want to publicly express my appreciation…

Russia reached out to protect Iran from the West on Wednesday, warning that sanctions would “stifle” the Iranian economy. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters at a news conference that Western nations should instead return to focusing their efforts on reviving talks with Iran. Lavrov warned that any efforts to impose additional sanctions against the Islamic…

Lebanese president Michel Sleiman vowed Tuesday to resume all-party talks on Hizbullah’s arms stockpiles. Earlier this week Hizbullah rejected a UN demand that it disarm. “I underscore my intention to continue efforts to provide the necessary conditions for the resumption of dialogue between the various parties in order to protect the Lebanese and to make…

Iran’s Defense Minister, General Ahmad Vahidi, announced on Monday that the Islamic Republic intends to launch another satellite into space next month, in addition to several other military projects it intends to launch during the month of February, the Israel Defense website reported. According to the report, Vahidi said Iran intends to make operational a…

Turkish intelligence agencies are claiming that Israeli Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) spied for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Turkish daily Today’s Zaman reported. According to the report, the Turkish intelligence agencies prepared a report after two Israeli Herons were detected in Turkey’s Hatay and Adana provinces roughly two months ago. The report says…

British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday said he was confident the European Union would impose far-reaching sanctions on Iran’s oil industry at an EU meeting next week. Hague also said he hoped the 27-member European bloc could agree on further sanctions against Syria within the next 10 days due to its refusal to halt…

Hamas leaders attached to the terror organization’s long-standing Damascus bureau are fleeing Syria with their families as President Bashar al-Assad’s regime grows increasingly unstable. The family of Musa Abu Marzouq, deputy chairman of Hamas’ so-called politburo, left Syria on Monday to stay in Egypt The London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported that Abu Marzouq departed Syria two…

Police in Gaza, ruled by Hamas’ Sunni Muslims, broke the bones of several Shi’ite Muslims last week, a further sign of a break between Iran and Hamas. Iran drastically reduced funding to Hamas this past summer after the Gaza regime did not back Iran’s support for beleaguered Syrian President Bashar Assad, a key ally of…

Hackers claiming to be from Kurdistan or Iraq invaded the websites of the community of Shiloh in Samaria and of Israel’s ally Azerbaijan, one day after the “Saudi hacker” shut down the websites of El Al and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s information site. Shiloh is a large Jewish town in central Samaria, north of…

The Knesset’s Ethics Committee ruled Tuesday morning that MK Ahmed Tibi (Raam-Taal) would be distanced from the Knesset plenum and committees for seven days. The ban is Tibi’s punishment for crude remarks he made regarding MK Anastassia Michaeli (Yisrael Beitenu) following the incident in which she intentionally spilled water on MK Raleb Majadle (Labor).  MK…

Republican party presidential hopeful Rick Perry says Turkey “is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists.” He spoke at a debate in South Carolina, where he is running for the nomination in the state’s primary elections. The Texas governor responded to the debate moderator’s comment that the AKP party, led by Turkish…

Sinai Bedouin report they have smuggled “thousands” of shoulder-launched missiles into Hamas-controlled Gaza. The missiles were probably taken from Libya last summer during the revolt against Muammar Qaddafi. “We have smuggled thousands of shoulder-launched (surface-to-air) SAM missiles to Gaza through the tunnels for a transporting fee only,” a Bedouin tribal leader told CNN. Numbering about 500,000 in…

PA Arab terrorists attacked motorists on the roads of Samaria Monday night, hurling rocks and firebombs at drivers of vehicles with Israeli license plates. A vehicle traveling on Highway 60 near Ofra was attacked by Arabs hurling firebombs (Molotov cocktails) at around 10:00 p.m. local time. Although no one was physically injured, the experience was…

The Iranian morality police are extending the long reach of the law to dolls, and has activated an official ban on the sale of Barbies. Meet Dara and Sara — complete with a little head scarf for the eight year old Muslim girl doll. The ban on the pert little American teenage doll produced by…

A website affiliated with the Hamas terror group has attacked its rival Fatah organization, after Fatah representatives took part in a meeting with Israeli political officials and academics. The joint meeting was held in Madrid under the auspices of the Foreign Ministries of Spain and France, as well as Internet giant Google, and was attended…

Former Arab League Secretary-General and Egyptian presidential hopeful Amr Moussa has rejected the possibility that Egypt will cancel the peace treaty it signed with Israel in 1979. In an extensive interview with the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Moussa said, “As for Egyptian-Israeli relations, the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty is in place, and I do not think there…

The Hamas government has banned residents of Gaza from participating in the national reality singing show “New Star”, the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency is reporting. The first episode of the show, which follows the same format as popular U.S. shows “American Idol” and “The X-Factor,” was recorded in Gaza City in December, and around 120…

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry on Sunday accused the Obama administration seeking to score political points with “over-the-top rhetoric” after four Marines were caught on video purportedly urinating on the corpses of slain Taliban fighters. Perry’s comments put him at odds with Sen. John McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who…

The Palestinian Authority on Monday rejected a request by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to extend the deadline for peace negotiations to start set by the Mideast Quartet. “Time extension is useless. Israel doesn’t appear to be serious, so time extension will not add any value to the status quo,” Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Muhaisan…

Iran says it has arrested suspects in the assassination of nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, killed last week in Tehran car bombing. Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) published a terse three-line report Monday that quoted parliament speaker Ali Larijani, the country’s former nuclear development chief, as saying the scientist’s assassins had been “identified.” “Iranian…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said PA officials “have no interest in restarting peace negotiations.” “For the last three years, the Palestinians have refused to enter negotiations, thinking they could impose preconditions upon us,” Netanyahu told Israeli lawmakers in a closed parliamentary meeting. “The Palestinian have no interest in entering peace talks. I’m ready…

Palestinian Authority officials complained Monday that Israel has stripped President Mahmoud Abbas of his VIP status and given him a temporary travel permit good for only 60 days. The officials said Abbas spoke about the matter at an internal meeting of his Fatah Party last week. Abbas reportedly said the new permit is a reflection…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called upon the international community Monday to go from words to deeds regarding the Iranian nuclear threat. In an interview on Voice of Israel government-run radio, Lieberman said that Iran does not only threaten Israel. “Iran is acting to take over Iraq and wants to take over and influence Saudi Arabia,…

The Mossad worked for months to stage the assassination of its latest Iranian nuclear scientist target last Wednesday, The London Times reported Sunday. Quoting unnamed Israeli sources, the newspaper said that well-trained team of agents working in Iran set up the bomb attack on Mustafa Ahmadi Roshan, a scientist at the Natanz nuclear facility. He…

Alert IDF soldiers staved off a terror attack that was intended to take place inside the military court at Salem, in Samaria, on Monday. The soldiers neutralized and arrested two armed terrorists who tried to enter the court in an attack planned to coincide with the sentencing of Amjad Awad,  who butchered five members of…

A senior Iranian Member of Parliament has accused Israel of abducting five Iranian engineers in Syria last month and asked Damascus to free them, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported Monday. The charges were made as the Arab League is split over whether to authorize military intervention in Syria. Iran, one of Syrian President Bashar…

Dr. Marc Faber, an investor analyst and entrepreneur known as “Dr. Doom” for obvious reasons, predicted this week that World War III will occur in the next five years. His stated concern is China, he told Barron’s financial magazine in its annual roundtable discussion at the beginning of the year. “On another optimistic note,” Dr.…

A U.S. drone strike in Pakistan may have killed the leader of the Taliban, The Associated Press reported on Sunday. The claim that the Pakistani Taliban chief was killed was made by Pakistani intelligence officials who said they intercepted a number of Taliban radio conversations. In about a half a dozen intercepts, the officials told…

The principal Palestinian Authority’s religious leader, the Mufti Muhammad Hussein, speaking last week, presented the killing of Jews by Muslims as a religious Islamic goal. Hussein made the comments at an event celebrating the 47th anniversary of the founding of the Fatah movement, which is headed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. He cited the Hadith (Islamic…

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded on Sunday that Syrian President Bashar Assad stop killing his own people, The Associated Press reported. Delivering the keynote address at a conference in Beirut on democracy in the Arab world, Ban said the revolutions of the Arab Spring show people will no longer accept tyranny. “Today, I say again…

Residents of the outpost of Mitzpe Avichai near Kiryat Arba, who were evicted from their homes in the middle of the night last week, are reporting that the Arab and Sudanese workers who came to clear the rubble that was left of their homes stole jewelry and other valuables. Rabbi Shimon Ben-Zion, a former member of…

The Hamas terror group on Sunday called for an escalation of Internet hacking against Israel and saluted Arab programmers who have managed to infiltrate Israeli computer systems in recent weeks, Bloomberg reported. “Penetrating Israeli websites means opening a new field of resistance and the beginning of an electronic war against Israeli occupation,” Hamas spokesman Sami…

  More than three months after a mosque was set on fire in the northern Bedouin-Arab village of Tuba Zangariyya, a resident of the village has been victimized for voicing doubt that the attack was carried out by Jews. The incident occurred Saturday night, hours after Bassem Swaid, a disabled IDF veteran who lives in…

Enraged Iranian officials are vowing retaliation against Israel, the US and the UK over the latest assassination of a nuclear scientist, 32-year-old Mustafa Ahmadi Roshan, in Tehran. A former Iranian ambassador who served in Mexico and Italy recommended that an American being held in Tehran be executed in retaliation for the assassination. “The terrorist attack on…

  Iran’s official news agency, IRNA, confirmed Sunday that Iran has received a letter from the United States Ambassador to the United Nations. According to AFP,  the Iranian agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying, “The U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Susan Rice, sent a letter to Mohammad Khazaie, Iran’s U.N. representative, which was conveyed…

A weekend of winter white allowed Mt. Hermon to open Sunday for skiing with a meter of snow cover on lower slopes and 1.5 meters higher up. Heavy storms struck the entire country, actually, with blizzards in the northern Golan Heights that closed all major arteries throughout the region for the duration of the Sabbath.…

The third round of Israeli-Palestinian Authority talks resumed in Amman Saturday night, hosted and shepherded to a great extent by Jordanian King Abdullah II, amid speculation as to whether the process will continue. The deadline for the two sides to present their proposals for a settlement on core issues, as set in September by the…

Israel announced Sunday it is postponing the largest-ever anti-missile military exercise with the United States for “technical” reasons days after President Barack Obama called Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reiterate his “unshakeable” commitment to Israel’s security. The White House did not elaborate, but the president reportedly told the Prime Minister to back off any plans…

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) terrorists have seized the town of Radda, about 105 miles south of the Yemeni capital of Sana’a. Sources in Sana’a said the terrorists entered the small town, located in al-Baiydah province, on Saturday night. The move further expands the territory of the terrorist organization, which to a large…

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel Sunday to end its “occupation” of Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. Wrapping up the final day of his three-day visit to Lebanon, Ban slammed Israel in remarks made during a keynote speech in Beirut at a conference entitled “Reform and Transitions to Democracy.” The conference was organized by the United…

Syria threatened Arab League observers with death and used women to try to seduce them, an Algerian delegate told the London Telegraph. Anwar Malek, a former Algerian army officer, told the newspaper that he fled the country after being constantly intimidated, following his witnessing the slaughter of women and children by security forces loyal to…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed the Ministerial Committee for Legislation not to vote Sunday on a bill that would prevent the demolition of outposts. The bill is known as the Outpost Authorization Bill or the Migron Bill – because its early passage would prevent the demolition of that outpost, scheduled to take place by March.…

TIME Magazine cited “sources” Saturday who said Israel’s Mossad agency was responsible for paying and training assassins to kill Iranian scientists in the past two years. The U.S.-based magazine also quoted unnamed Western intelligence sources as saying Israel was also responsible for the explosion at an Iranian military base outside Tehran last year. Last week…

At least seven Israelis are among those rescued from a luxury cruise ship that ran aground on an sandbar and is now sinking near the island of Giglio, off the western coast of Italy. The Foreign Ministry confirmed late Saturday night that at least three couples and a young girl were aboard the vessel, but were…

Vandals broke this week into a synagogue in Hemed, a religious moshav located in central Israel. Worshippers who came to the synagogue for morning prayers were shocked to find out that the ark had been opened and that the Torah scrolls were taken out of it, thrown on the floor and then covered with mud.…

Qatar favors sending Arab forces into Syria to stop the deadly crackdown on anti-regime protests, AFP reported on Saturday. According to the report, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, said in an interview with CBS to air Sunday that he favors dispatching Arab troops to Syria to “stop the killing” that the…

Lebanon-based Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah has rejected a call by visiting United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his terrorist organization to disarm, saying “The resistance is here to stay.” Ban told a news conference Friday after meeting with Lebanese leaders, “I am deeply concerned about the military capacity of Hizbullah and… the lack of progress…

Search teams are racing against time to rescue people from the icy waters off Italy’s western coast after the Costa Concordia cruise ship sank Friday night with more than 4,000 people aboard. What should have been a wonderful cruise around the Mediterranean began in the port of Civitavecchia, about 50 miles from Rome, but quickly…

The U.S. says Israel’s international Mossad agents posed as CIA operatives to recruit Jundallah members in Pakistan to assassinate key Iranians, according to the Jan 13 issue of Foreign Policy magazine. Jundallah, described by the magazine as a “Pakistani-based Sunni extremist organization,” was in November 2010 designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization,…

One person died and several others were wounded Saturday night in a blast at the home of the secretary-general of the Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) terrorist organization, an ally of the Hamas terrorist rulers of Gaza and one of the three groups that participated in the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in June…

Standard Poor’s ratings agency stripped France and Austria of their top AAA ratings, and downgraded seven other euro zone nations on Friday. Italy, Portugal, Cyprus and Spain were dropped two notches each; Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia each had their ratings cut by one notch as well. Germany, the largest economy in the European Union bloc,…

Mohamed ElBaradei has dropped out of the running as a candidate in the Egyptian presidential race. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former head of the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency announced his decision Saturday. “My conscience does not permit me to run for the presidency or any other official position unless it is…

The head of the Arab League warned Friday that Syria may be sliding toward civil war, as the violence continued to rage around the country. Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby told The Associated Press that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime was either not complying or only partially complying with an Arab League plan that Syria…

Authorities in Thailand said on Friday they had detained a Lebanese man with suspected links to the Hizbullah terror group, AFP reported. The arrest was made after the United States warned of a terrorist threat against tourists in Thailand, the report said. “Foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in…

Thousands of Iranian mourners chanted anti-American and anti-Israel slogans on Friday, during the funeral of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, the Iranian scientist who was assassinated earlier this week. The Associated Press reported that the mourners were chanting “Death to Israel” and “Death to America” during the funeral. State TV showed thousands of people carrying Roshan’s coffin…

The Israeli Defense Ministry is to establish a special cyber warfare administration, the Israel Defense website is reporting. The new administration will coordinate the efforts of security agencies and the Israeli defense industry in developing advanced systems to deal with cyber warfare, the report said. The decision to establish the new administration was made even…

President Shimon Peres said on Friday that Israel was not responsible for the assassination of a nuclear scientist in Tehran earlier this week. In an interview with CNN’s Spanish-language channel, Peres said, “To my knowledge, Israel is not behind the assassination. I am well aware that it is ‘fashionable’ to blame Israel and the U.S.…

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro visited this week the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, one of the largest yeshivas in the world with over 6,000 students. During the tour of the yeshiva, which is situated in the Mea Shearim neighborhood, the Ambassador was accompanied by Rabbi Aharon Chodosh, Rabbi Nachman Levovitz, Rabbi Binyamin Carlebach and…

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday that U.S. officials had “some ideas” as to who was behind the assassination of a nuclear scientist in Tehran this week, AFP reported. During a meeting with soldiers at a Texas military base, Panetta insisted the United States was “not involved in any way, in any way with…

A raging blizzard has hit the northern Golan Heights near Ein Zivan and northward toward Mt. Hermon. All roads in the affected area have been blocked by the storm. Department of Public Works snow plows are working to clear the roads. Police are asking travelers not to traverse the area due to dangerous road conditions.…

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denounced capitalism on Thursday during a speech at Cuba’s University of Havana. “Thankfully we are already witnessing that the capitalist system is in decay,” Ahmadinejad said. “On various stages it has come to a dead end – politically, economically and culturally. You see that when it lacks logic, they turn to weapons…

According to PLO executive committee member Tayseer Khaled, recent talks in Jordan revealed Israel wants to retain 6-9 per cent of Judea and Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem. “Many factions and political parties within the Palestinian political spectrum strictly oppose this offer,” Khaled told Gulf News, adding that officials in Ramallah had taken the “controversial step”…

PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat vowed to terminate exploratory talks between Jerusalem and Ramallah after January 26 if Israel does not freeze construction in the disputed territories. “The Amman talks are intended to obtain a colony freeze and the use of the 1967 lines as a reference for any future talks, and will be given…

After years of refusal, Iran said on Thursday that it is ready to discuss allegations that it was involved in secret nuclear weapons work. The Associated Press cited two diplomats who said that Iranian officials had suggested they were ready to talk about the issue during recent meetings with officials of the Vienna-based International Atomic…

MK Jamal Zahalka (Balad) expressed his concern on Thursday over a possible large-scale emigration of Israeli Arabs to areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The reason for Zahalka’s concern is the implementation of the amendment to the citizenship law, which prevents the unification of Palestinian Authority Arabs with their Israeli Arab spouses. On Wednesday, the…

Unknown people tried to abduct soldiers four times in less than two weeks since the year 2012 began, the IDF said Thursday. In the course of the  year 2011, the IDF verified 11 complaints about attempts to abduct soldiers. Other complaints were found to be false. The verified attempts took place at the Jalameh junction…

Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Avigdor Lieberman toured the Gaza Belt Thursday along with ministers and Knesset Members from Yisrael Beitenu. They visited Ein HaBsor, Shlomit, Avshalom, and Naveh, where families evicted from Gush Katif reside. They also visited Kissufim Base and received a security briefing. “When one sees the community of Naveh, which…

There were no microphones being shoved in 29-year-old Rabbi Avi Richler’s face and no cameras snapping as he was being wheeled into the operating room. Neither did the husband and father of three, who is also the co-director of Chabad of Gloucester County, New Jersey, ask whether the Jewish recipient of the kidney he was about to…

Iran is preparing its own answers to the string of assassinations of Iranian scientists, a web site identified with President Mahmud Ahmadinejad said Thursday – and those responsible had better start staying awake nights, a senior Iranian official was quoted as saying. Naming Israel specifically, the Rajah News website said that Israel wasn’t the only…

The Arab League is rethinking its observer mission in Syria, and may decide to pull its monitors from the country altogether. An attack on observers Monday in the city of Latakiya made it increasingly unlikely the League would send any more monitors to the country, sources said “until the situation is suitable” for them to…

US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta on Thursday condemned a video that purportedly shows US Marines urinating on the corpses of slain Taliban fighters. “I have seen the footage, and I find the behavior depicted in it utterly deplorable,” Panetta said in a statement, saying he had ordered the Marine Corps and the commander of…

While the Republican field is wide open with the GOP trying to figure out which of their number has the best chance to beat an incumbent candidate, Barack Obama’s re-election campaign is raising tens of millions of dollars to re-elect the president. U.S. President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign appears to be well-organized, raking in more…

A former employee with the Lebanese state-run telecoms operator Ogero was charged Wednesday with spying for Israel. According to a report on the Hizbullah terror organization’s Al-Manar television the man, Elias Younes, has been spying for Israel for over 35 years, starting in 1977. The report said Younes “supplied the enemy with details regarding marine…

For the first time in a decade, Israeli soldiers in uniforms ascended to the Temple Mount this week and toured the Al Aqsa Mosque. The tour for the uniformed soldiers was permitted after a long time period in which the police objected to such visits, Temple Mount Heritage Foundation Chairman Yehuda Glick told Arutz Sheva.…

The Saudi hacker, who last week published the credit card details of thousands of Israelis, struck again on Wednesday and published a list of an additional 200 Israeli credit card numbers. Channel 10 News reported that the hacker, who calls himself OxOmar, said the latest list comes in response to the publishing earlier this week…

Several Molotov cocktails and other incendiary devices were thrown at a northern New Jersey synagogue early Wednesday, The Associated Press reported. A fire was ignited in the second-floor bedroom of the rabbi’s residence, the report said. Police are treating the attack both a bias crime and attempted murder. AP noted that Wednesday’s attack on Congregation…

Former Fatah strongman Mohammad Dahlan on Wednesday was summoned to appear before the Palestinian Authority anti-corruption commission. Fatah official and Palestinian Legislative Council member Najat Abu Bakr, said told Gulf News on Tuesday, “it is time for the Palestinian judicial system to say its word in the controversial issue of Dahlan.” “Should Fatah or Hamas…

IDF spokesman Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai wrote on his Facebook page Wednesday that he was glad Iranian nuclear scientist Mustafa Ahmadi Roshn was assassinated. “I do not know who brought the Iranian scientist to account,” Mordechai wrote. “But I certainly won’t shed a tear for him.” Professor Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32, was officially an oil…

Fatah and Hamas officials plan to meet in Gaza City late on Wednesday in hopes of diffusing recent tensions between the rival factions. “We will work with both movements to end the negative impact between Fatah and Hamas on the Beit Hanoun crossing. We are going to the meeting today hoping to end it with…

Chief of Defense Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, told new intelligence officers Wednesday that Iran and Hizbullah are actively involved in Syrian strongman Bashar Assad’s attempt to maintain power. He did not elaborate. He spoke at the 145th Intelligence Officers Course graduation ceremony. Maj. Gen. Kohavi said, “The radical axis operates to preserve its strength.…

Fatah has charged Hamas is avoiding reconciliation because it is banking on being made stronger by a Muslim Brotherhood victory in Egypt’s elections Fatah official Tawfiq al-Tirawi s told Voice of Palestine radio on Wednesday that if the Brotherhood was elected in Egypt, “Hamas would consider the win its own victory.” Hamas, he said, believes…

Islamist opposition leaders in Jordan urged the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday to terminate its “absurd” negotiations with Israel. “We demand the Palestinian Authority leave the dark tunnel of absurd negotiations with Israel that only serves Zionist and American interests,” the Islamic Action Front said in a statement on its website. “Going back to negotiations in…

The U.S. Coast Guard rescued six Iranian mariners at the northern end of the Persian Gulf on Tuesday, the Pentagon said, according to CNN. The incident took place around 50 miles southeast of the Iraqi port of Um Qasr. The Coast Guard cutter Monomoy reported the rescue took place after the Iranians’ small merchant vessel,…

The US explained in a briefing Tuesday why funding for the Palestinian Authority version of Sesame Street is being cut. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland was peppered with questions by reporters who also wanted to know why Israel’s version of the program is still going to receive support. The PA version of the children’s program,…

An Iranian scientist involved in the petroleum industry was killed in a car bombing Wednesday in a blast that rocked Tabi Square in northern Tehran, near a university. Two other people were wounded in the blast. Eyewitnesses reported seeing motorcyclist attach several magnetic bombs to the target’s vehicle, and then fled the scene, according to…

Brisbane Attorney-General Paul Lucas says he won’t block a neo-Nazi music festival, set to be held in April. He has also dismissed calls by parliamentarians for legislative action to ensure the Hammered Music Festival cannot take place. Independent Burnett MP Rob Messenger is planning to propose a private member’s bill that would force the state…

The Obama administration ordered the Venezuelan consul general in Miami expelled on Sunday. The State Department declared the diplomat, Livia Acosta Noguera, persona non grata and gave her until Tuesday to leave the United States. Spokesman Mark Toner said the Venezuelan government was notified of the decision on Friday, giving her 72 hours to depart…

A British Minister on Tuesday kept up his nation’s mantra that Israeli construction is a material bar to final status talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority saying it is “counter productive.” Addressing a group of Bar-Ilan University political science students this afternoon, Burt said “Many will argue that now is not the time to…

Mitt Romney has won the New Hampshire primary, according to CNN projections, with 35% of the votes. The network is reporting that voters turned out in expected record numbers Tuesday in the second contest of the Republican presidential race. The CNN projection, based on early results and exit poll data, came after final polls closed…

Lebanese security officials on Tuesday reported the Army had begun searching for an ‘object’ dropped by an IAF fighter between the towns of Telos and Holeh in Southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported that Israeli aircraft dropped the unidentified object in the valley between the two towns. However, security forces were said to have…

IDF spokesman Brigadier General Yoav “Poly” Mordechai said Tuesday that journalists who reported on preparations to absorb Alawite refugees from Syria had taken Chief of Staff Benny Ganz “out of context.” Mordecai wrote, “During the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting a Knesset member asked the CoS whether we are prepared for an eventuality in…

Two Kuwaiti military officers attached to an Arab League observer team in Syria were slightly injured when a mob attacked their delegation on Monday. “The team of the Arab League mission in Syria was attacked by unknown protesters,” a spokesman for the Kuwait general staff told the official Kuwait News Agency (Kuna). The two officers…

Senior diplomatic sources in Jerusalem and Ramallah say the recent round of diplomatic contacts in Amman, Jordan that ended on Monday aren’t producing results. In a conversation with Arutz Sheva a senior Israeli source said Palestinian Authority officials refuse to back down from their unilateralist tack and continue to blame Israel for their refusal to…

In yet another sign of tensions in the Persian Gulf the Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera is being jammed by Tehran “Al Jazeera is affected… from two different locations in Iran,” near Tehran and near the northwestern city of Maragheh, the satellite operator Arabsat said in a statement received on Tuesday. Arabsat on Sunday announced…

Israel told visiting Indian officials Monday it backs India’s becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Israel told visiting Indian officials Monday it backs its becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, where the Palestinian Authority lacked only vote to win its bid for full membership in the international…

Syrian President Bashar Assad dug himself deeper in a hole Tuesday, stating in a “major” speech that the “people” are behind him and blaming a “foreign conspiracy” for the slaughter of protesters. He told his country that “nobody is deceived anymore” by the alleged conspiracy, which he vowed will fail. Echoing the cries of Hosni…

The Google Internet search engine actually is a camouflaged spying tool, charges Iran’s police chief, but the Islamic Republic’s regime has a solution: a national Internet, under its control. Police chief Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam told the Iranian labor website, “By launching own national internet, we are not cutting our cyber relations abroad and with international…

Peace Now revealed a sharp increase in building in Judea and Samaria on Tuesday, and the chairman of the Samaria Regional Council responded by thanking the left-wing group for proving Zionism is alive and well. New housing starts last rose by 10 percent from a year earlier, when the temporary building freeze was in effect…

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Tuesday that he expects Syrian President Bashar Assad to lose power and that the IDF is planning to absorb a large influx of Alawite Muslim refugees in the Golan Heights. The Alawites are a minority in Syria but rule the country under Assad, and a full-scale presence in…

Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika said he was pleased by a report released by the extreme-leftist Peace Now organization saying construction in Judea and Samaria has increased by 20%. “I’m glad that Peace Now uses the funds it receives from the European Union to document the Zionist settlement of Eretz Israel for future generations,”…

A Knesset ministerial committee has passed a bill imposing a fine of NIS 100,000 on perpetrators who use as a slur any Holocaust symbol or calls anyone a “Nazi.” The measure was proposed by National Union Knesset Member Uri Ariel after a demonstration by hareidi religious protesters who pinned yellow stars on the chest of…

The second round of talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority has ended in the Jordanian capital. Israeli government negotiator Yitzchak Molcho and chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat met as they did last week in an effort to breathe new life into the moribund final status talks.  Representatives from the Quartet of peacekeeping nations — the…

Next March,  the Bible College in Bethlehem will host dozens of US theologians, activists and ministries for the “Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 Conference”. It is to be a major religious and political event meant to demonize Israel and to support the Palestinian Intifada against the “ethnocentric” Jewish State. The impressive range of Christian theologians…

The FBI has arrested a 25-year-old Muslim extremist who was planning a terrorist attack in Tampa, Florida. Sami Osmakac was caught with an AK-47, a pistol and explosives, as well as a car bomb that he purchased from an undercover agent, according to FBI officials. The weapons had been disarmed before the sale, officials said.…

The Knesset approved late Monday night the law that would prevent infiltrations into Israel, Channel 2 News reported. The law allows for the arrest and detention of infiltrators for a period of three years. It also includes a provision that permits imposing a life sentence on any infiltrator convicted of property related crimes. Another provision…

Tunisia’s Islamic leadership nixed anti-Semitic chants by a handful of radical Muslims Monday upon the arrival of visiting Hamas de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh from Gaza. “Ennahda condemns these slogans which do not represent Islam’s spirit or teachings, and considers those who raised them as a marginal group,” Rashid Ghannouchi emphasized in a statement.…

The assets of ousted Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan were seized by Jordanian authorities on Monday as officials in Ramallah pursue corruption charges against him. According to Jordan’s Al-Rai newspaper, the head of Public Prosecutions in Amman ordered the Central Bank of Jordan to foreclose the real estate and financial holdings of Dahlan, his brother and…

Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists were out on the road in Judea and Samaria attacking vehicles with Israeli license plates late Monday afternoon, hurling rocks in an attempt to force drivers to lose control of their cars. Rocks were hurled at vehicles traveling south of the Jewish community of Shilo, in the Samaria region, with one…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday reiterated his opposition to the so-called Outpost Law aimed at normalizing the status of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. The bill, proposed by Welfare and Social Services Minister Zevulun Orlev, would forbid demolitions and evictions in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria that have stood for four years…

The Palestinian Authority has again praised the perpetrator of the worst terrorist attack in Israeli history, this time during television broadcasts to mark the 47th anniversary of the Fatah faction. The videos were broadcast over PA TV (Fatah) on December 30 and 31, 2011 and January 1, 2, and 4, 2012. In 1978, Dalal Mughrabi…

The father of former kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit announced Monday that he intends to run as a candidate for the Knesset in the next election, and informed Labor Party chairwoman Shelly Yechimovich that he intends to run for a place on the party’s list. “After years of public struggle in which I was privileged to…

Security forces raided a small outpost community in Samaria Sunday night, destroyed structures and evicted residents. The demolished community is named Gal Yosef Hill and is situated next to Adei Ad, in the Shilo Bloc of the Binyamin region. Last week, the IDF issued an administrative distancing order against a resident of Gal Yosef. MK…

Israel Aerospace Industries has won the $1.1 billion prize in competition for supplying weapons systems to an unidentified Asian country. Israel previously has exported to India, China, Singapore and South Korea. The sale over a period of four years will boost Israel Aerospace’s revenues, which were $3.15 billion for all of 2010. Although the purchasing country…

The Shin Bet has allowed the publication of the fact that seven Arabs from the village of Harbata al-Masbah have been arrested for attacks on cars traveling down Route 443. The suspects are aged 20 to 31. They have admitted under interrogation that they threw fire bombs and rocks at cars on the central highway…

Casino billionaire tycoon Sheldon Adelson has donated $5 million to a political action group (PAC) backing Newt Gingrich as the Republican party presidential nomine to face President Barack Obama in November. Adelson’s contribution gives a critical boost to Gingrich, who lost last week’s Iowa caucus after winner Mitt Romney spent millions of dollars on advertisements…

Iran has sentenced an alleged US spy to death, escalating tensions in a war of nerves between the Obama administration and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, an American of Iranian descent, is a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and was a translator. Iran alleges he spied for the Central…

Pro-Israel philanthropist Newton Becker died on Sunday, January 2, The Jewish Journal reported. Becker is survived by his wife, Rochelle, and his son, David. He died at the age of 83 after a long struggle with illness. He lived in Bel Air. Becker was a prolific donor who had a reputation for humility, said the…

Bulgaria’s security services recently thwarted a planned terror attack against Israeli tourists in the capital Sofia, it was published on Sunday. According to reports, the Bulgarians were able to locate suspicious suitcases that had been loaded with explosives and which the terrorists planned to blow up on a bus carrying Israelis who were on their…

Hamas’ Gaza prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, promised “difficult days” for Israel on Sunday, AFP reported. Speaking at a rally in the Tunisian capital of Tunis, Haniyeh urged Arab Spring revolutionaries to fight for an independent Palestine. AFP reported that he received an ovation from a crowd of some 5,000 men, women and children, who gathered…

Iran has again threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, this time using the excuse of a military exercise set for January 27. According to Esmaeil Kowsari, a Iranian legislator who is a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, the country’s elite Revolutionary Guards corp will launch the naval exercise. Kowsari…

Iran has the ability to temporarily block the Strait of Hormuz but the U.S. “would take action and reopen” it, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey said Sunday, making clear to Iran that in threatening to close the straits, it is literally playing with fire. . “They’ve invested in capabilities that could, in…

  MK Rav Menachem Moses of United Torah Judaism voiced opposition Sunday to attempts to tear down the Ulpena Neighborhood of Beit El. MK Moses, who is also Deputy Education Minister, was given a VIP tour of Beit El by his colleague, MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh), Chairman of the National Union. In the course of…

Iran’s underground uranium enrichment plant will go into operation “in the near future,” regime officials claim. “The Fordow nuclear enrichment plant will be operational in the near future … 20%, 3.5% and 4% enriched uranium can be produced at this site,” Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Fereydoun Abbasi Davani director was quoted as saying by the…

The Arab League is meeting in Cairo to decide whether it’s time to invite the United Nations to join its mission to Syria, after repeatedly having to increase its monitor force to deal with escalations in clashes and a growing death toll that is rising by the thousands. Despite the start of the Arab League’s…

A Dubai fitness center has pulled an ad that featured train tracks to the Auschwitz death camp and the slogan,” Kiss your calories goodbye.” Phil Parkinson, manager of the Circuit Factory in Dubai, admitted he was “not surprised people have reacted so strongly regarding the poster,” according to GulfNews.com. “The creative team got it badly…

Border Police Sunday morning foiled large-scale terrorist attacks by Palestinian Authority Arabs who carried pipe bombs and an 8-inch commando knife when they were searched at a security fence checkpoint in Samaria. Border Police arrested four terrorists from the village of Balata, near Shechem in central Samaria. In addition to the bombs and knife, police…

At least 11 people died early Sunday in clashes between government forces and army defectors in the province of Dera’a. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the battle took place at the village of Basr al-Harir.  By mid-afternoon, the Syrian Revolution General Commission had also reported five more killed, including two who…

Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye, who fought German soldiers in WW II and later thought about converting to Judaism, led a three-Senator delegation to Israel Sunday, starting off with a meeting with President Shimon Peres. Sen. Inouye, chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, is being accompanied by the committee vice chairman, Republican Sen. Thad Cochran,…

  The Iranian Foreign Ministry thanked the United States on Saturday after an American Navy destroyer rescued 13 of its fishermen from Somali priates. U.S. officials had announced Friday the fishermen were picked up after the rescue a day earlier, more than 40 days after their boat was captured in the northern Arabian Sea.    …

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has just completed a trip to Iran. He is trying to cool down two crises. The first is the escalating talk of war and sanctions between the West and Iran and the second is the eruption of conflict between Sunnis and Shiites triggered by the governmental crisis in Iraq. If…

Is Google supporting the revolution in Syria? The answer is yes, according to a report on a Syrian website on Saturday. The website, Damas Post, said that Google Earth has been replacing some of the street names in the country with names identifiable with the ten-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad. The report was presented…

Despite the recent reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, tensions are continuing and on Saturday, Hamas denied a delegation of senior Fatah officials entry to Gaza. “When we wanted to enter Gaza Hamas security forces came, took our ID cards and made us wait for over an hour,” the officials told the WAFA news agency. “We…

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood denied on Saturday that it plans to uphold the peace treaty that was signed between Israel and Egypt in 1979, Channel 10 News reported. According to the report, the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, which won the recent elections in Egypt, told Arab media that the final decision on the matter is…

The rate of IDF combat service by Jewish youth in Judea and Samaria – ‘settlers’ in mainstream media language – is 60 percent higher than the countrywide rate. Last month’s infiltration of an IDF base in Samaria by approximately 50 youth was headlined for days by local and foreign media as supposed evidence of an…

  The New York-based Anti-Defamation League issued a friendly reminder to GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum Friday that Americans prefer to maintain their separation of church and state — even when greeting candidates on the campaign trail. The reminder came in response to the former Pennsylvania Senator’s attempt last Thursday on a radio show to…

Six suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of the leader of the Christian community in Jaffa (Yafo), Gabriel Cadis. The chairman of the Jaffa Orthodox Church Association had won election to his post for a third time, just three weeks ago. He was stabbed to death Friday night during a march on…

Hackers who attempt to attack Israel in cyberspace will be met with a “forceful response,” warned Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Saturday — one comparable to the response meted out to terrorists. Speaking at a cultural forum at a community center in Be’er Sheva, Ayalon said Israel views incidents such as the attack in which…

A top Syrian Air Force colonel defected to the opposition along with dozens of other Syrian Army soldiers, Arab media reported Saturday. According to the report by the pan-Arab satellite television channel Aljazeera, some 50 soldiers had abandoned their posts along with Colonel Afeef Mahmoud Suleiman, identified as being from the air force logistics division…

  Four Jews were injured on the Sabbath by Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists who hurled rocks at them in the Samaria neighborhood of Givat Ronen. The Arabs climbed to the hilltop neighborhood next to the Jewish community of Har Bracha to carry out the attack. One of the injured was rushed in fair condition to…

A Hamas official slammed Jordan’s King Abdullah on Thursday and said his fate will be similar to that of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Mustafa Sawaf, editor-in-chief of the Gaza-based, Hamas-affiliated paper Felesteen, criticized the King for his support of the renewed talks between Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials. In his editorial, Sawaf accused the…

Despite recent tensions between Iran and the United States, the U.S. Navy announced on Friday it had rescued 13 Iranian fishermen being held by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea. Fox News reported that an SH-60S Seahawk from the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd detected the pirates while a simultaneous distress call was received from the…

An Israeli blogger claimed on Friday that he was able to figure out the identity of the Saudi hacker who exposed the credit card numbers and information of thousands of Israelis this past week. The hacker claimed that he was based in Saudi Arabia, but the blogger, Amir Fedida, is claiming that the hacker is…

At least 25 people were killed in Damascus on Friday, after a bomb exploded at a busy intersection, The Associated Press reported. Dozens were wounded in the attack, the report said, and officials were quoted as having vowed to respond to further security threats with an “iron fist.” The government blamed “terrorists” and said a…

Turkey’s former military chief was arrested Friday for allegedly “attempting to destabilize” Turkey’s Islamic-rooted government via the Internet, Ankara’s state-run Andolu Agency reported. An arrest warrant was issued against Gen. Ilker Basbug on Friday pending trial. Basbug is the most senior officer to be jailed in a series of investigations into alleged plots to bring down…

Iraq’s security situation continues to worsen in the wake of the Obama administration’s pullout of US forces. A coordinated wave of bombings targeting Shiite Muslims killed at least 78 people on Thursday. The attacks mark the second large-scale terror assault in Iraq since the US pullout was completed last month. Coming one day before a…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday that there was little hope for a breakthrough in the peace process after Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators met this week. The talks between PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and Netanyahu-envoy Yitzhak Molcho in Amman, Jordan were the first direct discussions between Israel and the PA in 15 months.…

US State Department Victora Nuland told reporters Thursday that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood had assured Washington it would uphold extant diplomatic accords, including the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty signed by Anwar al-Sadat and Menachem Begin. Nuland’s statement flew in the face of statements by Rashad al-Bayoumi, the Brotherhood’s number two man, who told the London-based Al-Hayat…

Israeli authorities demanded Egyptian officials move with greater alacrity to improve monitoring along the Sinai border on Thursday. Egyptian security officers told the Palestinian Authority affiliated Ma’an News Agency the warning was issued after 17 migrants crossed illegally into Israel on Wednesday. Ironically, the Egyptian security officials said Israel was employing migrant African workers in…

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said support for “Palestine” should be a “religious and nationalist commitment” for Arabs as he arrived in Tunis Thursday. “Palestine is not a banner that we brandish like nobody’s business. It’s a religious and nationalist commitment,” Haniyeh said after a meeting with Tunisia’s moderate Islamist prime minister, Hamadi Jebali. “We have…

Israel National News has frequently taken a cynical appraisal of the European Union’s motivations in the Middle East and that cynicism was not groundless. Nevertheless, if the European Union does go ahead and implement sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil, this could prove a game changer in the sanctions regime. If a second tier…

At a time when tensions are high between hareidi-religious, religious-Zionist and secular Jews in Israel, a group of students proved on Thursday that it does not have to be this way. On Thursday evening, after the Tenth of Tevet fast concluded, the students gathered at the Paris Square in Jerusalem where they called for unity…

The Israeli military is gearing up together with U.S. forces for a major missile defense exercise, the IDF announced Thursday. The Associated Press reported that the “Austere Challenge 12” drill is designed to improve defense systems and cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli forces. While the drill follows a ten-day Iranian naval exercise near the…

Many people think that the help that Anne Frank’s family received from workers and friends typified the Dutch during the Holocaust. The facts are apallingly different. More than 100,000 of the country’s 140,000 Jews were deported with no outcry from official Dutch quarters but with the cooperation of many Dutch citizens. On Wednesday, in the Netherlands,…

Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said Wednesday that the PLO talks with Israeli envoys in Amman this week would damage Fatah’s reconciliation deal with the terror group. “We consider these meetings a blow for national reconciliation, especially as we agreed in Cairo to face Israel’s settlements, wall, and attacks together,” Radwan said. Hamas signed a unity…

Saudi hacker “0xOmar,” who succeeded in hijacking at least 15,000 Israeli credit card numbers, published the details of 11,000 more cards Thursday. More than half of these are out of date, however. “A stupid Israeli student claims that we only leaked 14,000 cards, yet just one of the files [stolen] includes 27,000 working numbers,” the…

Terrorists fired an average of nearly two missiles a day at Israel in 2011. In the course of the year, 680 rockets, mortars and Grad missiles were fired at southern Israel, according to data compiled by the Home Front Command and reported on the IDF Website. Eighty Grad missiles were fired at Israel in 2011,…

Three years after it began its work, a committee headed by retired judge Meir Shamgar handed over to Defense Minister Ehud Barak its recommendations on ways to deal with freeing abducted, missing and captured IDF troops, without resorting to mass releases of terrorists. The report comes months after Israel freed over 1,000 terrorists in exchange for…

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement has issued a rare condemnation, slamming the Jewish leadership of Lithuania for its silence in the face of media anti-Semitism. The fiery statement came in the wake of a report published by a  Lithuanian tabloid newspaper targeting the country’s Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in a misleading attack article on paying one’s taxes. The newspaper,…

Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar confirmed on Thursday that peace talks with the United States are on the horizon. Omar has demanded the release of Afghan prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and complete withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan, The News reports. The U.S. State Department, however, said they have not yet made…

Israel will attempt to pursue a dialogue with Islamic factions in Egypt. According to the Hebrew-language Maariv, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has instructed Ambassador Jacob Amity to seek talks with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi parties. The initiative, proposed by former Ambassador to Egypt Yitzhak Levanon, was previously rejected by the Foreign Ministry. However, the Islamists’…

The Taliban announced Tuesday it would be opening its first overseas political office in what is seen as a political gesture to the United States. In a statement on its “Voice of Jihad” website the Taliban said they had taken the initial steps necessary to open an office outside Afghanistan. “We’re now prepared, while having…

Amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf over Iran’s nuclear program and threats to close the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, an old fashioned oil feud is boiling to the surface. Kuwait on Wednesday summoned the Iranian Charge d’Affaires in Kuwait City to explain recent remarks by Iran that it planned to develop unilaterally a…

European Union governments moved closer to halting oil purchases from Iran on Wednesday, stepping up the confrontation over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Bloomberg reported that EU foreign ministers are aiming to announce harsher sanctions on Iran’s energy and banking industries at their next meeting on January 30. According to the report, the move is…

A Lebanese newspaper reported Wednesday the Israeli Air Force conducted a three-hour drill in the skies above southern Lebanon. The display was not one the usual surreptitious reconnaissance flight, according to The Daily Star, but allegedly “an unusual show of force” by at least ten warplanes. The IDF also staged a surprise drill at its…

Anat Kam, who is serving a 4.5 year sentence for serious espionage and transferring secret information, filed a motion Wednesday to the Petach Tikva District Court asking to change the definition of her crimes in the Israel Prisons Service computers. Kam claims that when she entered jail, one of the wardens told her that she had…

Maronite bishops in Lebanon called Wednesday for Beirut to implement a longstanding deal on the disarmament of ‘Palestinian’ groups outside their ‘refugee camps.’ Voicing concern about the country’s “fragile” security situation, the bishops called on political leaders “to stand firm on a decision taken during [a previous meeting] of the national dialogue committee regarding the…

Police arrested two terrorists at different locations Wednesday morning and prevented intended attacks on Be’er Sheva residents. Acting on intelligence information, Border Police raided an apartment in the capital of the Negev and arrested a terrorist from Jenin, in Samaria, and confiscated a knife he intended to use to attack Be’er Sheva citizens. In a…

The grim truth leaking out of Syria through Internet social media outlets is that government forces continue to kill protesters despite the presence of Arab League monitors in the country. Syrian opposition groups say the death toll has risen beyond 6,000 as President Bashar al-Assad’s forces continue his ruthless campaign to extinguish the voices of…

The IDF staged a surprise drill at its base at the port of Haifa as Iran completed ten days of “war games” that included a threat on Israel. Iran claimed it tested a long-range missile that can reach Israeli bases as well U.S. military posts in the Middle East, but Russia rejected the idea that…

New U.S. sanctions dealt Iran a potentially lethal economic blow this week even before they took effect, sending the local currency into a nosedive before the government artificially posted a higher rate for the “rial.” President Barack Obama on Saturday signed a law that includes sanctions against countries dealing with Iran’s energy sector and its…

Algerian police are systematically raiding merchants selling clothing bearing a “Made in Israel” label on the items. According to a report published Wednesday in Algeria’s El-Khabar daily newspaper, the sting was carried out the day after New Year’s Day at a shopping center in the Al-Wadi district of the nation’s capital. Police allegedly were tipped…

The Turkish army nearly downed an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on Tuesday, Turkish daily Today’s Zaman reported. According to the report, which was based on a claim made by another Turkish daily, the Taraf, the Heron was observed spying above the Turkish 14th Hawk B. Brigade Command in Hatay’s Kırıkhan district for four hours. Taraf…

The meeting in Amman on Tuesday between Israeli delegate Yitzhak Molcho and the Palestinian Authority’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, was positive, Channel 10 News reported. According to the report, the parties have agreed to meet again next week in Jordan. The Israeli side had expressed interest that future meetings be held between leaders, the report…

A raid in northern Samaria on Tuesday morning that netted a cache of weapons also resulted in the capture of a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist. Israeli forces raided the home of Sheikh Osama Al-Shalabi in Silat al-Dhahar village south of Jenin, before detaining the Islamic Jihad leader, locals told the Palestinian Authority affiliated Ma’an News…

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he hoped a conference between Israeli and PA envoys would jump-start the moribund peace process. “God willing, results of this meeting will be revealed in the coming two days, and based on that we will set the suitable grounds for resuming negotiations,” Abbas told reporters. “This would be…

The US military said Tuesday that United States will continue to deploy warships in the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz after Iran warned a US aircraft carrier not to return to the region. “The deployment of US military assets in the Persian Gulf region will continue as it has for decades,” Pentagon spokesman…

An unidentified South American country has agreed pay Israel’s Elbit Systems $50 million for its Hermes unmanned aerial system (UAS), the company announced Monday. The country apparently is a first-time purchaser because Elbit’s General manger Elad Aharonson said, ”We are very proud that yet another customer has selected the Hermes 900, following orders by the…

The Bank of Israel (BoI) stated Tuesday that the number of charge card accounts hacked by Saudi hackers is about 15,000, much less than the 400,000 originally claimed by the culprits. “As published in the press, the details relating to clients who hold charge cards were recently exposed on the Internet, as a result of…

Al Qaeda claims to be operating a “Sunni Youth” terrorist cell in Jerusalem as Muslim extremism grows throughout the Middle East. The “Sunni Youth Movement Cell in Greater Jerusalem” issued its first message Monday night, according to Debkafile, an Israeli website that  is often criticized for using unidentified sources and rumors but whose reports often…

A senior anti-Qaddafi rebel commander says he was among the IHH-terrorists on the Mavi Marmara who attacked IDF navy commandoe. “I was wounded on the Mavi Marmara and spent nine days in an Israeli prison,” Number Two rebel commander Mahdi al-Harati told the Spanish daily ABC last month. Al Harati was second in command to…

Iran taunted the United States Tuesday with a statement by its army chief, warning an American aircraft carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf. Gen. Ataollah Salehi spoke as a 10-day Iranian naval exercise ended Tuesday. The official IRNA news agency quoted Salehi as saying: “We recommend … to the American warship that passed…

A group of Saudi hackers published on Monday the credit card information of 400,000 Israelis and said they are making use of the information they stole. The same group hacked the Israeli sports information website One on Monday evening and posted a file containing the details of some of the cardholders. Channel 10 News, which…

Hamas’ co-founder said on Monday that his organization plans to continue the armed struggle against Israel. Mahmoud al-Zahar’s comments to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency are in sharp contrast to comments recently made by the group’s politburo chief Khaled Mashaal – and which al-Zahar himself later confirmed. “We need to continue the armed resistance,” al-Zahar…

The trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has resumed in Cairo, with a verdict in the case possible before the end of the month, lawyers told reporters Monday. “I expect a verdict January 25, the anniversary of the [Tahrir Square] revolution,” civil rights attorney Khaled Abu Bakr told journalists at a news conference. The date…

The Palestinian Authority anti-corruption commission announced Monday it was seeking to restore plundered public funds hidden abroad by PA officials. Rafiq al-Natsheh told the PA affiliated Ma’an News Agency that the commission is chasing corruption suspects living outside PA enclaves pending an agreement with their countries of residence. Natsheh’s remarks follow a report in the…

Hamas is calling on the Palestinian Authority to abandon talks with Israel, set to resume Tuesday in Amman for the first time in 15 months. Israeli government representative Attorney Yitzchak Molcho is set to meet with veteran PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, together with representatives of the Quartet of peacekeeping nations — the U.S., Russia,…

Dr. Jeremy Levin was named new CEO for Teva Pharmaceuticals Monday, when Shlomo Yanai announced he is stepping down. Dr. Levin, an American Jew, was at a Monday morning press conference called by Yanai and surprised observers not only by his being appointed CEO but also by his Hebrew, although less than fluent. He soon…

Ilan Grapel, arrested by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt on spy charges and released months later, writes that he tried to teach his captors Zionism during his arrest and that they asked for forgiveness. Writing in The Washington Post Monday, the American resident who served in the IDF and also was a pro-Arab activist, displayed a…

Abbas delivered a cryptic and contradictory message on the eve of Palestinian Authority-Israeli talks in Jordan. He said that “all options are on the table” but said that he opposes a renewal of the “Intifada.” Jordan is to host the talks on Tuesday, three weeks before the January 26 deadline that the Quartet has set…

Mahmoud Abbas rewards a senior terrorist under Arafat, recently freed win the Shalit deal, appoints him as an advisor. Mahmoud Damara, arrested in 2006 for involvement in the shooting and bombing to death Israelis, was part of Yasser Arafat’s feared Force 17 terrorist group and was one of Israel’s most wanted terrorists until he was…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that there are “cracks” in the “dominance and hegemony” of the United States in the Middle East. He spoke before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where he gave an analysis of the strategic, political and security situation at the beginning of the new civil year. Barak said…

Syrian forces killed eight more protesters on Monday leading the Arab Parliament to accuse Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was making a mockery of the Arab League’s observer mission to Damascus. The Arab Parliament, an 88-strong advisory committee of delegates from the Arab League’s member states, said violence was continuing to claim many victims and that…

The Population and Immigration Authority reported Sunday that 2,931 people entered Israel illegally through its border with Egypt in December. This is a record number, it said. Minister of Interior Eli Yishai said in response that the situation is “unbearable,” according to Ma’ariv/NRG. He added: “Action needs to be taken to erect holding facilities in…

Activists Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar related the latest chapter in their never-flagging struggle for the hill of Netzer in the Etzion Bloc in an e-mail sent Sunday. The events described took place on Friday, as the Sabbath was nearing: “Our thanks to the anonymous Alon Shvut resident who called Women in Green on Friday,…

The two mortar shells that Gaza terrorists fired at the western Negev Sunday morning contained phosphorus – a substance that causes burns upon contact with human skin. Police sappers discovered the substance upon analyzing the exploded shells. The Gaza Arabs have fired phosphorus shells in the past. The last time this occurred was in August,…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement exposed on Sunday a video which shows the former head of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s military wing, Khalil al-Wazir (who was known as “Abu Jihad”), plotting to kill Ariel Sharon who then served as a Cabinet minister, Channel 2 News reported. According to the report, the video was…

Arabs attacked police Sunday morning in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Maaleh HaZeitim, also known as Ras al-Amoud, where soon more Jewish families are expected to be moving in. The neighborhood is located in the eastern section of Israel’s capital city of Jerusalem and has been the focus of conflict since Jewish families moved into the…

The Muslim Brotherhood comes up with a neat trick to break the peace treaty with Israel without formally doing so. Egypt’s next likely ruling party says it simply will hold a plebiscite and let the people do it. Rashad Bayoumi, deputy Supreme Leader of the Brotherhood, told the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat on Sunday it respects international…

Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal has fled Damascus together with his family, according to a report published Sunday by the London-based al-Hayat newspaper. The report, quoted by state-run Voice of Israel radio, added that a number of other Hamas leaders and their families had also fled the Syrian capital. The entire group has reportedly…

An advisory board within the 22-nation Arab League is warning the organization to pull its monitors from Syria. The speaker of the Arab parliament, Salem al-Diqbassi, urged Arab League secretary-general Nabil al-Araby to “immediately pull out the Arab observers, considering the continued killing of innocent civilians by the Syrian regime.” In his statement Diqbassi continued,…

Jordan may be playing a role in mediating talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), sources reported Sunday. No final word has yet been given as to whether or not negotiations will actually get off the ground, according to the source. However, at least one report in the Hebrew-language media claimed Sunday that direct…

Leftists and anarchists conducted their usual protests outside the homes of Jews in the Shimon Hatzaddik (Sheikh Jarrah) neighborhood of Jerusalem Friday evening, and as usual threw stones and other objects at Jews walking to and from synagogue. And on Friday night, their stones hit one of the residents of the area, who was taken…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on Thursday at the conclusion of the 163rd Israel Air Forces pilots’ training course. The concluding ceremony took place at the Hatzerim Airbase on the outskirts of Be’er Sheva. Netanyahu praised the graduates of the course and particularly the five women who were among the graduates. His remarks came on…

As hundreds of hareidi-religious Jews were demonstrating in Jerusalem Saturday night against what they said was the unfair treatment of them in the media over the past several weeks, dozens of nationalists demonstrated in front of the Russian Compound in the city, where police headquarters are located, under the title: “The settlers are not enemies.”…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday signed into law tough new sanctions targeting Iran’s central bank and financial sector, AFP reported. The measures, meant to punish Iran for its nuclear program, were contained in a $662 billion defense bill, the report said. The bill was approved several weeks ago. The sanctions are meant to hit…

Hamas’ Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, reiterated on Saturday that his organization will never recognize Israel and will never give up on Jerusalem, Channel 10 News reported. Haniyeh made the comments during talks in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, where he several days ago met President Omar al-Bashir. The visit to Sudan is part of…

Syria’s opposition groups are getting ready for “the day after” the fall of the Assad regime, and are anticipating a new, democratic regime. But some things are unlikely to change; Syria’s likely future leaders still consider Israel an enemy, and will continue to demand Israel’s withdrawal from the Golan Heights. The two largest opposition groups…

Residents of Yitzhar in central Samaria say they prevented a terrorist attack when they used force to halt a truck that ignored numerous orders to halt, and careened around several checkpoints at high speed. Their account was disputed by the IDF, which claimed that the residents attacked an innocent driver who had lost his way. The…

The Iranian proposal to rejoin EU-led talks over its nuclear program is a classic divide and rule tactic. Iran wants talks with the 5+1 contact group comprising the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. Two of the five permanent Security Council members – Britain and France – are members of the…

MK Zvulun Orlev (Bayit Yehudi) intends to introduce Knesset legislation that would limit the authority of the government to abrogate prison sentence of terrorists and use them as “bargaining chips” to realize a policy objective. Orlev said that the recent experience of Israel’s release of over 1,000 terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit had convinced…

At least 32 people were killed during protests across Syria on Friday, the Al Jazeera network reported. Activists told the network that the deaths came as protesters, emboldened by the presence of Arab League observers in the country, took to the streets after noon Muslim prayers. The demonstrations were taking place in 18 different provinces…

President Shimon Peres admitted on Friday that he had held secret talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. In an interview with the pan-Arabic daily Alsharq Alawsat, Peres said the meetings with Abbas were held with the knowledge and cooperation of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He added that there were signs of progress in the…

Iran will fire long-range missiles during a naval drill in the Gulf on Saturday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Friday. “The Iranian navy will test several kinds of its missiles, including its long-range missiles, in the Persian Gulf on Saturday,” Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, deputy commander of the Iranian navy, told the news agency.…

Hamas’ Gaza Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, visited Sudan on Thursday, where he held talks with President Omar al-Bashir, AFP reported. The visit to Sudan was part of Haniyeh’s first official regional tour since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. According to AFP, he was joined in the meeting with Bashir by other high-ranking Hamas…

The IAF launched an air strike on a terror cell in northern Gaza early Friday morning as it prepared to launch rockets at Israeli targets. The IDF spokesperson’s officer reported a direct hit. According to the IDF the terror cell was the same one that has been launching missiles at Gaza-area communities over the past…

“The next abduction of an Israeli soldier will lead to war,” Israel’s forum of eight senior ministers said on Friday. According to Yisrael Hayom the senior ministers accepted a recommendation from senior IDF commanders in the “Shamgar report” that any kidnapping of an Israeli soldier or civilian would serve as a trigger for war. The…

Amatuer video from Syria on Friday showed Arab League observers running from gunfire as security forces opened fire on civilians. The film comes as tens of thousands took to the streets in continued protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The Arab League mission to verify whether President Bashar al-Assad is keeping to a…

The European Centre for Jewish Students (ECJS) said on Thursday it was alarmed over the results of new research showing a rise in the rate of intermarriage among European students. According to a report in the European Jewish Press, the study found that there has been a rise of 17% in the rate of intermarriage…

Switzerland finished the process of ‘rehabilitating’ more than a hundred people punished during WWII for helping Jews escape Nazi persecution on Wednesday. But only one of the 137 people vindicated by the report actually lived to see their name cleared. “All these people are today dead,” Alexandre Schneebeli, secretary of the Swiss parliament’s rehabilitation commission,…

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officials said Friday their decision to return to ‘popular resistance’ is aimed at ‘disengaging’ from Israel. PLO Executive Committee member Tayseer Khalid said the new unified Fatah-Hamas strategy will be based on ‘popular resistance’ which will spread into PA enclaves in Judea and Samaria. “The popular resistance will reshape the Palestinian…

Zakaria Zubeidi, the former Fatah leader in Jenin, turned himself to the Palestinian Authority on Thursday evening. Earlier, Zubeidi told the Ma’an news agency that Israel had canceled his pardon and instructed him to hand himself in to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Zubeidi, who headed the Al-Aqsa Brigades during the murderous terror war launched by…

The Cairo offices of at least five non-governmental organizations ‎‎(NGOs) were raided on Thursday by ‎Egyptian prosecutors accompanied by police and military personnel. The five ‎NGOs were the Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary ‎and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP); the Budgetary and Human ‎Rights Observatory; and the Washington-based National ‎Democratic Institute, the International Republican…

President Shimon Peres called on Thursday to distinguish between the extreme hareidi-religious Jews who exclude women and those who hareidim who do not do so. Peres made the comments during a visit to the home of Tel Aviv’s Chief Rabbi, Rav Yisrael Meir Lau, who is sitting shiva following the death of his brother, Rabbi…

About 40,000 people visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem during Hanukkah, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said on Thursday. According to the foundation, thousands attended the daily lighting of Hanukkah candles at the Kotel. Among the visitors were Israel’s Chief Rabbis, State Comptroller Micha Lidenstrauss, Education Minister Gideon Saar, Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser, Police Chief…

The remains discovered in a bunker on the Golan Heights are those of a Syrian soldier, police said Thursday – not of missing IDF soldiers Guy Hever or Maji Halabi, as had been rumored. Police said Thursday that an examination of the remains found in the bunker, found on the former border between Israel and…

Babies and toddlers asleep for their afternoon naps were rudely awakened and snatched from their beds as the Color Red rocket alert siren blared its warning Thursday for a second time. Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists in northern Gaza aimed their Qassam rocket attack on Jewish communities in the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council district.  The area…

The Israel Law Center (Shurat Hadin) has a “social media” message for Twitter: Stop providing communication facilities for terror groups like Hizbullah, or face a lawsuit on behalf of American citizens and others who have been victims of terrorism. In a letter to Twitter executives, Israel Law Center head Nitsana Darshan-Leitner warned the social media…

The Hizbullah terrorist organization is in hot water over a scheme to launder hundreds of millions of dollars in multi-national drug trafficking revenues. According to a report published by the World News Tribune, the Lebanon-based terrorist organization is using American banks and other financial institutions to process money earned from trafficking in South America. The…

A prominent Lebanese parliamentarian announced in an interview published Thursday that Maher al-Assad, the brother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, “has absconded.” “Whether he is injured and is being treated away from the limelight, or Bashar al-Assad is keeping him away from the military operations,” is unclear,” MP Khaled Daher told Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anba’a. Assad,…

Mossad chief Tamir Pardo doesn’t believe a nuclear armed Iran would mean the destruction on Israel. Pardo reportedly told a forum of Israeli diplomats that while Israel continues in its efforts to thwart Iran’s nuclear program he does not believe an Iranian atomic bomb poses an existential threat to the Jewish state. “Does Iran pose…

U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were named by Americans as the Most Admired Man and Most Admired Woman living today in any part of the world, in a Gallup poll. Clinton has been the Most Admired Woman for each of the last 10 years, and Obama has been the Most…

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has offered the Palestinians a powerful tool of propaganda: the comparison with Jesus’ passion. “We are to be freshly attentive to the needs of those who, like Jesus himself, are displaced and in discomfort”, Archbishop Vincent Nichols said during his Christmas Mass sermon at…

An Israeli shepherd who was working in the Golan Heights found on Wednesday the remains of a man in uniform. Army Radio reported that the shepherd called in the army and the police upon finding the remains. According to the report, the remains were located inside an old Syrian bunker in the heart of a…

Arab monitors revisited the Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday as more bloodshed was reported across the country, AFP reported. In one incident, army defectors killed at least four soldiers in the village of Daal, located in the southern province of Daraa. The group posted a video to YouTube which shows its attack on forces…

The daughter of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, Aisha, is seeking political asylum in Israel, according to a report on the Intelligence Online website. The report, which was quoted by Yeshiva World News on Wednesday, said that Aisha Qaddafi has hired the services of Nick Kaufman, a former prosecutor assigned to the Jerusalem District Prosecutor’s…

An American man who has been accused by Iran of working for the CIA could face the death penalty, the Fars news agency reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the prosecution applied for capital punishment during a closed court hearing on Tuesday. The reason cited for requesting the death penalty was because the suspect,…

The commander of the IDF Southern Brigade, Colonel Tal Hermoni, doesn’t believe Hamas will react to IDF strikes targeting Islamic Jihad. On Tuesday a pair of IDF airstrikes killed Kafarneh Rami Daoud Jaber, 27, an Islamic Jihad terrorist from Jabaliya, and Hazam Alsaker Muhammad Saadi, 26, an Islamic Jihad terrorist from Beit Hanoun. Hermoni, briefing…

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Iran’s Saudi-led Persian Gulf allies of being American pawns on Wednesday, the Fars news agency reported. “The colonialists are friends of no one, they only friends to money, wealth and power. They have deceived their friends and are using a number of Arab states for the sake of others in…

The IDF website says enhanced weapons systems will make Israeli forces entering Gaza more effective than they were in the 2008-2009 Cast Lead Campaign. These include more accurate mortars and gun sights. The website’s Hadas Duvdevani quoted Major Roniel Turgeman, head of the Infantry Corps’s Weaponry and Unmanned Vehicles department, who explained that, “Because this…

The Jerusalem municipality on Wednesday green-lit construction of 130 homes in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem. The units will be in a 12-story tower block in Gilo settlement, city councilor Pepe Alalu told AFP. The city council also approved plans to build a tourism center in the City of David, called Silwan by Arab residents.…

Unity apparently isn’t everything when it comes to living in Gaza, a region still ruled under the iron fist of the Hamas terrorist organization. Just last week, Hamas agreed to join the Palestine Liberation Organization after years of reconciliation talks, agreements, broken deals and then more negotiations.  The latest decision, which came during two days…

Just when you thought it was safe to assume there would be no more “best of… ” competitions this year, with only three days left to go till the end of 2011, Israel has joined a new race, this time entering its capital city into the international contest for top city of the world. The…

After a nearly three-month hiatus the trial of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak resumed on Wednesday – only to be postponed until January 2. Mubarak, 83, faces numerous charges of corruption as well as complicity in the deaths of nearly 840 protesters during the popular uprising that ended in his ouster on February 11. He…

The fall of former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi has caused Libyan Jews to wish to return to their homeland and resume the great heritage they established there, a Libyan Jewish leader told Arutz Sheva on Tuesday. Meir Kachlon, Chairman of the World Organization of Libyan Jews, said that his organization has created an excellent relationship…

As the Hamas terror group recently marked the 24th anniversary of its founding, its leader in Gaza used the opportunity to remind everyone of his group’s real goals. At the ceremony, Hamas’ Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that Hamas may work for the “interim objective of liberation of Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem,” but…

Mohamed ElBaradei, a prominent Egyptian political figure and a possible candidate for the presidency, said on Tuesday that the United States is doing whatever it can within to stop Egypt from annulling the 1979 peace agreement with Israel. In an interview with the Iranian-based Fars news agency, ElBaradei revealed that the future of the Camp…

A pinpoint IAF airstrike in Gaza on Tuesday evening killed one Islamic Jihad terrorist and injured three others. Islamic Jihad told CNN the strike hit a small vehicle in northern Gaza. The operation targeted “a squad affiliated with recent terror activity,” the IDF released in a statement. The IDF made no reference to deaths or…

For the second time in several hours, the IAF struck late Tuesday evening a Global Jihad terrorist cell that was preparing to carry out a terror attack against Israelis. The IDF Spokesperson said in a statement that the terrorists were struck down in a joint IDF-Israel Security Agency (ISA) operation. The statement added the terrorists…

As soon as the US totally withdrew its forces from Iraq claiming victory, the country faced growing chaos. Not only did the bombings resume with a vengeance, but the government and the entire country appear on the verge of unraveling. A de facto Kurdish autonomy already exists and now the Sunni provinces of Iraq are clamoring for…

Iran says it chased away a Western helicopter that approached its navy war games area and did not leave until three warnings were issued. The United States, Britain and France are the only non-regional powers with troops in the region. None of the countries has commented on the Iranian claim, published in its semi-official media.…

The Iranian nuclear threat is dangerous, but let’s not get hysterical over it, President Shimon Peres said Tuesday. Speaking at a conference of Israeli ambassadors in Jerusalem, he said, “Israel has real or perceived capabilities which contribute to our deterrence, like Dimona. We have no interest in turning Iran into an Israeli monopoly” because it…

An observant IDF soldier may have prevented a major terrorist attack in a large Israeli city, in what soldiers and commanders called a “Hanukkah miracle.” An Arab terrorist who may have been on his way to the town of Har Bracha in central Samaria, was nabbed Tuesday morning when an IDF soldier arrested him, finding…

While its second store outside Netanya is still being rebuilt after a devastating fire last year, Ikea on Tuesday announced plans for a third Israeli store – this one to be built in Kiryat Ata, a highly populated suburb of Haifa. The announcement Tuesday confirms a previous general commitment by Ikea to build a third…

A Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official warned Monday the organization might consider reversing its recognition of Israel — the primary condition and foundation on which the Oslo Accords were formed. PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said in an interview on Voice of Palestine radio that taking a Palestinian decision to withdraw recognition of Israel…

A former senior aide to GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul has decided to “set the record straight” in a ‘tell all’ post on the Right Wing News blog — and in the process, has confirmed that Paul wishes “the Israeli state did not exist at all.” Eric Dondero served as former senior aide to Paul…

Syrian government forces attacked an Arab League monitor Monday night, leading analysts to question whether the Arab League mission would continue even as it had barely begun. The observer, a former officer in the Egyptian army, was shot by Syrian troops in the central city of Homs, according to a report broadcast on IDF Army…

The United Nations Security Council may have imposed economic sanctions on Iran, but Tehran has managed to sign a new oil deal anyway — with Afghanistan.  The deal, which closed Monday, will provide one million tons of gasoil, gasoline and jet fuel to Afghanistan from Iran, beginning in 2012, according to the state-run IRNA news…

Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs, Moshe Ya’alon, spoke on Sunday at a Likud Anglo event in Jerusalem. In his talk, Ya’alon spoke about the security issues Israel currently deals with. Addressing the relatively calm security situation right now, despite the rocket barrages coming from Gaza once in a while, Ya’alon said that…

Israeli prosecutors have indicted an Arab member of Knesset on charges of visiting an enemy country and meeting foreign agents. The indictment charges that in 2007, MK Said Nafa’a (Balad) visited Syria and met with leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group. The PFLP – which pioneered armed aircraft hijackings…

MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) says the chill in relations between Jerusalem and Ankara is the perfect opportunity to recognize the Armenian Genocide of World War One. “A genocide against the Armenian people was conducted in Ottoman Turkey during the first world war,” Eldad told Arutz Sheva. “This is a historical fact that cannot be…

The United States has condemned Palestinian Authority “doublespeak” and bluntly called on the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization to ensure no funds reach the entity. U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO David T. Killion made the statement following a report by the Palestinian Media Watch which exposed the glorification of Hitler by the Palestinian magazine…

PLO executive committee member Bassam Al Salhi told Gulf News, “Even if the vote fails at the UN Security Council, we will submit a fresh request demanding a UN full member state.” To obtain full statehood recognition for the Palestinian Authority the application must gain nine affirmative votes in the 15-member decision-making Security Souncil before…

Nearly two dozen Syrians were killed Monday as more Arab League monitors were scheduled to arrive in the country to observe the compliance of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces with a plan to end the violence. Opposition activists told reporters the central city of Homs has been shelled by government forces since the weekend. On Monday, at…

Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists launched a Qassam rocket attack Monday night at southern Israel. The attack, launched from northern Gaza, was aimed at Israel’s Gaza Belt region, located only a few kilometers from the Hamas terrorist-run region. Qassam rockets, although modified in the past several years, still are limited to a range of approximately 10…

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh departed Gaza on Sunday to begin his diplomatic tour of Egypt, Sudan, Qatar, Bahrain, Tunisia, and Turkey. The trip marks the first time Haniyeh has left Gaza since Hamas seized the coastal enclave from the PLO in a violent putsch in June of 2007. Haniyeh deputy Mohammad Awad said the goal…

Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar said Sunday that he expected the Islamic terror movement would “win a sweeping victory” in upcoming PA legislative elections scheduled for May. Zahar is confident Hamas will improve on their 2006 election victory, where they won 74 of an available 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. Analysts say a sweeping…

Bedouin and other Arabs in the northern Negev are increasingly involved in predatory relationships with young Jewish girls, according to Voice of Israel government-run radio. The relationships sometimes begin as romantic involvements, often with under-aged minors, and develop into rape, abductions and abuse. Seven victims last month alone are aged 11-18. These are only cases…

The government has decided to tackle head-on the alleged “Arab refugees” issue by renewing efforts for compensation for Jewish victims of Arab pogroms . Estimates of property losses range from $16 billion to $300 billion in Arab countries where Arab leaders seized their property or took it over after Jews were expelled or forced to…

The official Syrian government news agency SANA claims Israeli Druze in the Golan Heights rallied to “stand by their motherland Syria.” “The people of the occupied Syrian Golan stressed that terrorism which struck in Damascus on Friday reflects the criminality of the armed groups and their sponsors,” SANA reported as part of an-out campaign that…

Heavy rains in Jerusalem have heavily damaged the President’s House and forced Shimon Peres to take up lodgings in a hotel before arrangements can be completed to move him and his office to the luxurious David’s Village near the Old City. It will take approximately four months before he can return to his regular quarters…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that if Hamas joins the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) government, Israel will not be able to negotiate with the PA. Speaking at a conference of Foreign Ministry delegation heads, Netanyahu stressed: “We are prepared to meet the Palestinians at any time and place.” “The Palestinians will have to recognize…

It sounds like one of those diseases that should have been wiped out long ago, but malaria, unfortunately, is alive and well, especially in Africa and other tropical, third world locations. Battling malaria is complicated for numerous reasons, among them the difficulty of creating drugs to battle the disease. Now, however, Hebrew University researchers have…

Canada has decided to impose new sanctions on Syria, including a ban on the export of software for the monitoring of telephone and internet communications, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced on Friday. “Canada will continue to put the squeeze on the Assad regime,” Baird was quoted by the CBC as having said about President…

The Palestinian Authority, considered by many to be a moderate entity which seeks to reach a peace agreement with Israel, is continuing to glorify terror groups that carried out lethal attacks against Israelis. On the 44th anniversary of the establishment of the terror organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), PA TV…

A senior official in the Hamas terror organization confirmed on Sunday that the organization intends to focus on popular protests in the spirit of the Arab Spring. In conversation with Channel 10 News, Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar confirmed statements that were made on Friday by the group’s Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal, who told The…

Israel is set to join France and recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide, according to a report Sunday on Channel 10 News. The report said that the Knesset’s Education Committee will hold a discussion on Monday regarding an initiative presented by MKs Aryeh Eldad (National Union) and Zehava Gal-on (Meretz) to recognize the Armenian genocide. According…

Foreign Minister and Yisrael Beitenu head Avigdor Lieberman called Sunday for a change of tack regarding peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA), and said that peace is not in the offing. “To continue to insist on a path that failed for 15 years will not lead anywhere and unfortunately today we are already on…

Israeli fighter jets, helicopters and possibly a submarine were involved in multiple attacks on targets in Sudan last week, according to local news outlets. The reports say that Israeli jets hit targets in the eastern part of the African country, near its border with Egypt, last Thursday. They allegedly hit six Land Cruiser jeeps and…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has ordered the police and attorney general to take all measures to stop harassment against women – or me, he said at the start of Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting. “There is no place in [Israel] for discrimination. The police will continue to arrest all those who spit, raise their hand, and…

The Israel Antiquities Authority held a special press conference in Jerusalem’s City of David on Sunday to unveil a rare coin from the Second Temple era. The cartouche – or seal – never seen by the public before, is the size of the modern New Israeli Shekel coin and bears the Aramaic inscriptions “it is…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that swine flu is back, with 12 cases reported by Friday. The most recent case was a child infected with the H3N2 virus in West Virginia, according to the national U.S. health agency. So far cases have been reported in five states — Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Pennyslvania and…

The Muslim Brotherhood was the clear victor on Saturday in Egypt’s second round of parliamentary elections. Hardliner Salafists from the al-Nour party followed closely on the Brotherhood’s heels. Abdul Moez Ebrahim of Egypt’s Higher Election Commission told reporters the Islamist parties had clearly dominated the most recent round of voting for party lists, but added official…