Author: admin

The “Arab spring” continues in Yemen, where the Shi’ite Houthi militia loyal to Iran has completely taken control of the government in the capital city of Sana’a, after forcing the disbanding of the previous government and parliament by besieging the seat of government. The Houthi “transition government” has been established for a two year period, and has…

The Jewish population in Europe has declined at an alarming rate, according to a Pew Research Center report released Monday. 1.4 million Jews were estimated to still be living in Europe as of 2010 – just 10% of the world’s 14 million Jews.  But that number has decreased significantly since 1939, Pew noted, adding that research…

Supreme Court Judge Noam Solberg issued a conditional warrant Monday forcing all relevant parties to explain why the temporary ban against Yisrael Beytenu distributing copies of the Charlie Hebdo magazine had yet to be lifted.  Named in the warrant are Judge Salim Joubran, the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee for the 20th Knesset, MK Ahmed Tibi (Balad), and…

Israel’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to demolish nine homes in Judea-Samaria which were allegedly built on private Palestinian land, AFP reports Monday. According to the ruling handed down late on Sunday, the authorities have until 2017 to carry out the demolitions in Ofra, north of Jerusalem. “Given the difficulty in implementing the demolitions, where families live in most…

A Qatar-based senior Hamas leader on Monday praised the Gulf state’s “courageous” Foreign Minister, Khalid al-Attiyah, after an apparent spat with Israel’s Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz at a German security conference, AFP reports. In a statement, Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau in Doha, backed Qatar’s foreign minister for his “strong, courageous statements and response to the lies of the…

A record number of French Jews flocked to “Israel opportunities” fairs throughout France this week, as Israeli officials anticipate an unprecedented wave of French aliyah to only increase in 2015. Some 8,000 people, mostly between the ages of 16 and 35, have visited the “Orient-a-Sion” fairs taking place in Paris, Lyon and Marseilles – well over 1%…

Last summer, amid the tension and turmoil of Israel’s 50-day war with Gazan terrorists, Jews throughout the world sprung to action in solidarity with their Israeli brothers and sisters.  Prayers, donations, solidarity missions and countless groups of volunteers were all offered to help the embattled residents of southern Israel during Operation Protective Edge, as well…

Hooded men opened fire on police in Marseilles, France on Monday afternoon, reportedly with Kalashnikov AK-47 rifles.  The La Castellane neighborhood, a housing project known for its high levels of drug use and violent crime, is currently on lockdown, according to ABC News, as police asses the situation. Some 7,000 people reside in the area. Conflicting reports…

A petition was filed to the High Court on Monday, to issue an order demanding that the interior minister, prime minister and the government explain why they don’t exercise their authority to remove Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirshenbaum (Yisrael Beytenu) from her post due to her involvement in a massive corruption scandal. Kirshenbaum harmed the rule of law, according…

The Im Tirtzu group called on President Reuven Rivlin Monday to cancel his participation in Haaretz’s Israel Democracy Conference sponsored by the New Israel Fund (NIF).  In 2010, Im Tirtrzu was the first to publish a document showing financial links between the NIF and several organizations who contributed over 90% of the Israeli testimonials in the UN’s…

Members of grassroots Zionist movement Im Tirtzu visited Ghazi Hasisi from Daliat al-Karmel who had been attacked after speaking Arabic at a club in Kibbutz Yagur.  Hasisi, a Golani fighter, stepped out of the Ultra Sound club on Yagur last Friday and was attacked by a group of young people who hurled rocks at him because…

At a Likud event for immigrants from France Sunday night, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that the Labor Party/Zionist Camp would make negotiating away Jerusalem one of their first priorities, if elected. “I heard Yitzchak ‘Buji’ Herzog say that if he was elected his first meeting will be with Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas,” Netanyahu…

Channel 2 evening news anchor Yonit Levy’s body language appeared to disclose her contempt for Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett in an abrasive interview Sunday night. Levi appeared to be leaning as far away from Bennett as possible, even as she grilled him over statements about rampant crime and anti-Jewish violence in the Arab sector that…

According to data released Sunday by the Al-Marsad humanitarian organization in Syria, some 210,000 people have been killed in Syria since civil war broke out there in 2011. At least 2 million people have been injured, and 1.5 million have been left disabled in some way because of the war. 10,664 children and 6,783 women…

In a series of articles about the Efrat organization, Arutz Sheva presents a number of personal stories and anecdotes relating the group’s life-saving activities. This week’s article centers on Ronit, a teacher who found a colorful flyer on top of a stack of tests in her cubby in the teacher’s lounge at her place of work. “The flyer reached me at…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declared on Sunday that he will not form a government with the left. In a post on his Facebook page, Netanyahu said that the Jewish Home will be a part of his next coalition and called on the public to ensure that the Likud gets enough seats in order to prevent…

Two Tel Aviv thieves thought they hit the jackpot when they broke into an apartment and absconded with wads of cash – and they would have hit the jackpot, if this was still 1979. Unfortunately for them, the wad of cash they stole had no shekels – but consisted of liras, the Israeli pound currency…

Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett stood behind his statements on surging lawlessness in the Arab sector Sunday evening. On Channel 2‘s evening newscast, Bennett refused to retract his earlier statements before high school students, according to which – “Anyone who tried to hike in the Negev in recent years knows that he cannot leave a…

Israel will be unsuccessful in keeping Hezbollah off the Golan Heights, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said Sunday. In what amounted to a direct admission that Hezbollah terrorists were aiding Syrian army troops against rebels, Muallem said that “the efforts of Israel to create a buffer zone on the Golan will not succeed, thanks to…

Jim Winters, a Florida neon designer and amateur photographer whose father Charles has been called “the Godfather of the Israel Air Force” for his crucial and heroic contribution to the IAF at its inception, says he is being harassed by producer Nancy Spielberg and by a Florida rabbi. Spielberg – sister to famed director-producer Steven…

Some 200 people crowded into the events tent at the Oz VeGaon Forest Preserve on Friday to hear Avital Sharansky retell her story. Though she spoke of events that occurred 30 years ago, no eye was left dry. She spoke at the site established by Women in Green six months ago when it was learned…

In honor of the holiday of Tu B’Shvat, which was celebrated last week, a group of Jews currently on a Taglit-Birthright trip to Israel added a special ecologically-oriented tour of Israel. The group comprised of participants from Argentina who are majoring in ecology and environmental studies or who take an active part in green activities.…

French police on Sunday detained six people suspected of recruiting potential jihadists, just days after another operation saw five charged on similar grounds, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said, according to AFP. France is slowly recovering from the January 7-9 Islamist attacks in Paris that left 17 people dead but remains jittery after incidents such as…

MK Shai Piron (Yesh Atid) said on Sunday that his party would prefer that Yitzhak Herzog head the next government over Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The statement comes several days after Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid ignored a plea from MK Tzipi Livni to publicly pledge that he will not recommend Netanyahu to form the…

The Middle East Quartet powers on Sunday called for a “speedy resumption” of Israeli-Palestinian Authority (PA) peace talks, urging both sides to avoid any action that could undermine efforts to settle the conflict, AFP reported. The Quartet is made up of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, and has been…

At least 1,000 British Muslims protested in central London on Sunday against the “insulting depictions”, as they put it, of the Prophet Mohammed by French newspaper Charlie Hebdo. According to the Reuters news agency, the protesters gathered near Prime Minister David Cameron’s office in London’s Whitehall government district carrying placards with slogans such as “Stand…

At least 22 people were killed on Sunday evening when fans of the Egyptian Zamalek soccer group clashed with Egyptian police before a Premier League game, the Al-Ahram website reported. Egypt’s prosecution said the bodies of the victims were transferred to a Cairo morgue. State news agency MENA said at least 25 were injured. “They…

A ground offensive by Iraqi troops against the Islamic State (ISIS) is coming, according to the American coordinator for the international coalition against the group, AFP reports. Top U.S. envoy John Allen said Sunday that Iraqi forces will begin a ground offensive “in the weeks ahead” to take back swathes of the country seized by…

A new poll released Sunday evening shows that the Jewish Home is beginning to recover from the saga surrounding soccer star Eli Ohana, who joined the party and stepped down only a few days later following backlash. The poll, conducted by the Midgam project for Channel 10 News, found that the Likud and the “Zionist…

Bat Ayin Underground member Ofer Gamliel was released from prison on Sunday, after the parole board decided to shorten his detention period by 1.5 years.  In 2003, Gamliel and two others from the Bat Ayin Underground laid an apparent explosive device next to a Muslim girls’ school.  Gamliel claimed that he never intended to detonate the…

Congressional legislators were astonished last year to learn that the Palestinian Authority was issuing monthly payouts totaling $3-7 million as salaries and other financial rewards to specific terrorists and their families. The money was channeled, in part, through the Ministry of Prisoners pursuant to the Law of the Prisoner. The law set forth a graduated…

Japan has seized the passport of a journalist planning to travel to Syria following the brutal killing of two Japanese hostages by the Islamic State group there, local media said Sunday. It was the first time Tokyo had taken such a measure on the grounds it was needed to protect the passport-holder’s life, the Asahi Shimbun and other news reports…

Israeli voters want politicians free of corruption, but scandals surrounding Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s wife Sara Netanyahu are not such a hot topic after all, a new survey finds.  The survey, conducted under the supervision of Professor Kamil Fuchs, shows that a large majority – 82 percent – are unlikely to change their vote despite reports…

American Jewish pressure on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to cancel his upcoming speech before a joint session of US Congress has begun to build.  A number of Jewish leaders have recently spoken out against the March 3 speech, arguing that the controversy it has sparked on Capitol Hill and in the media detracts from the real…

United States President Barack Obama suffered a huge backlash Friday after comparing the terror organization Islamic State to the Christian Crusaders of the Middle Ages.  In his speech before the National Prayer Breakfast Thursday, Obama condemned ISIS and their tactics, as well as terrorists who “profess to stand up for Islam, but in fact, betray it.”…

Opposition leader and Labor Chairman Yitzhak Herzog said Sunday that his meeting with US Vice President Joe Biden in Munich was not related to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu or upcoming elections.  Biden and Herzog met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference this weekend, precisely a day after an official in Washington said that…

Labor party activists handed out free fruit in apparent violation of Israeli elections law on Friday – just days after a court injunction prevented the Jewish Home party from doing the same – according to witnesses and the Labor party’s own Facebook page. Blue-clad Labor party activists handed out oranges to customers at the main entrance…

On Sunday, February 15, Yeshiva University’s Student Medical Ethics Society, Center for the Jewish Future, Abraham Arbesfeld Kollel Yom Rishon and Millie Arbesfeld Midreshet Yom Rishon will partner to present a two-part program, “Taking Control: Ethical and Halachic Implications of BRCA Screening and Elective Egg Freezing.” The event will take place at the Schottenstein Center…

Kulanu party chairman Moshe Kahlon addressed hundreds of students at Tel Aviv University Sunday, where he pushed his economic platform for the 2015 elections.  “[Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu and [Yair] Lapid are familiar with all the problems of the merkaz [central Israel – ed.],” Kahlon said, referring to the housing and cost of living crises. “The problem…

Thousands of parents nationwide are up in arms over a law that makes it mandatory to send all children from age 32 months to pre-nursery schools that are either state operated or state-approved, starting this year. The law has existed on paper since 1984, but only enforced for ages 5 and up. Following the recommendations filed…

Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef is due to return to Israel Monday after spending the past week in Mexico. The visit was very successful, a spokesperson for the Chief Rabbi said – partly thanks to the efforts of Mexican security officials to protect him while in the country. According to reports on the Kikar Hashabbat…

Syrian Kurdish forces have recaptured more than a third of the villages around Kobane from the Islamic State terror group since routing the jihadists from the town a fortnight ago, a monitor said Sunday. “The (Kurdish) People’s Protection Units (YPG) have recaptured 128 villages out of some 350 in the past two weeks,” said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami…

An international coalition battling against Islamic terrorists in Iraq and Syria is beginning to win back territory and deprive the jihadists of key funds, US top diplomat John Kerry said Sunday as he denounced the group’s “new level of depravity,” according to AFP.  Washington has rallied more than 60 countries in the fight against the Islamic State group, and while Kerry…

Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett attacked former Science Minister Yaakov Peri (Yesh Atid) Sunday over his comments about Jewish Home MK Ayelet Shaked.  In an interview Sunday morning, Peri addressed the claim that Jewish Home was demanding the internal security portfolio for Shaked.  “The lady is inexperienced. These are things that require more judgment,” Peri…

Interest rates are low, which means that people are borrowing more, and according to statistics compiled by the Pa’amonim non-profit organization, one third of Israelis took loans of some sort last year – three quarters of them from the bank they do business with. The figures came from a poll of a cross-section of 500…

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif Sunday appeared to rule out any new extension to tough negotiations with world powers over his country’s suspect nuclear program, as he met top US diplomat John Kerry for new talks, AFP reports. “I do not think another extension is in the interest of anyone, as I do not believe this extension was either necessary or…

Labor Chairman Yitzhak Herzog continues to feel the heat from his Munich meetings Sunday, as more politicians personally attack him.  Herzog attended the international Munich Security Conference this past weekend, where he had an impromptu meeting with United States Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday.  In a radio interview…

A knife-wielding man accused of attacking three soldiers outside a Jewish community center in the south of France was on Saturday charged with attempted murder in connection with a terrorist operation, a judicial source told AFP. Moussa Coulibaly, 30, who was arrested immediately after Tuesday’s broad daylight attack in the French Riviera city of Nice,…

Egyptian military airstrikes have killed at least 27 fighters in the northern Sinai region in one of the biggest security operations in the region in months, Al-Jazeera reported on Saturday. The operation began on Friday, when Apache helicopters targeted fighters belonging to the Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis group, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State…

Britain’s Prince Charles said the numbers of vulnerable young Muslims being radicalized by “crazy stuff” on the Internet was “frightening”, in an interview to be broadcast Sunday and of which excerpts were released Saturday night. The heir to the throne also voiced concern about Christians fleeing the Middle East in droves, saying the situation might…

Despite essentially boycotting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress by planning to be abroad when it takes place, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Saturday met with another Israeli official. Biden and Opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog, head of the Labor party, met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. The meeting, which was…

A shooting about 20 miles west of Atlanta has left five people dead, authorities said Saturday, according to USA Today. Seven victims, including children, were found both inside and outside of a house when police were called to the scene around 3:00 p.m. ET, the police said. Investigators are not releasing the relationship of the…

Coalition warplanes pounded a stronghold of the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Syria Saturday amid uncertainty over the fate of a US hostage the jihadists claim was killed in an earlier raid. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), meanwhile, said it would station a squadron of F-16 warplanes in Jordan to support it in strikes against ISIS which burned alive a captured Jordanian airman. The parents…

Islamic State (ISIS) has steadily been gaining hold in Gaza since taking part in last summer’s terror war on Israel, but an attack Friday indicates the terror group may have turned its sights on Hamas to vie for leadership of the coastal enclave. The car of a Hamas official was detonated on Friday night, according to Al-Akhbar and…

Despite the 2012 Levy Report proving the legality of Israel’s presence in Judea and Samaria under international law, the European Union (EU) has bitterly opposed that presence and even threatened sanctions – however, a new report reveals that it is in fact the EU that is guilty of “illegal settlement” in the region. Judea and Samaria…

He may currently be chairperson of the party and buoyed by its backing is emphatically insisting that he will be the next prime minister, but just under a year and a half ago, Yitzhak Herzog’s Labor party wanted to “erase” him according to Labor MK Shelly Yechimovich. In November 2013 Herzog deposed Yechimovich for Labor leadership in…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday ordered the formation of a committee to oversee cases to lodge with the International Criminal Court, in an extension of his unilateral move that breaches the 1993 Oslo Accords which created the PA. The PA formally joined the ICC last month, aiming to use the international court to engage Israel in…

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday ordered a squadron of F-16 warplanes to be stationed in Jordan to support it in strikes against the Islamic State (ISIS) group, apparently taking back its decision last Wednesday to withdraw from the US-led anti-ISIS coalition. The federation’s official WAM news agency said Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, deputy head of…

Turkey’s powerful intelligence chief, one of the most steadfast allies of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the man who exposed a Mossad network causing major fallout with Israel, has resigned to stand for election as a lawmaker in upcoming elections. The resignation of Hakan Fidan, who has headed the National Intelligence Agency (MIT) since 2010, could herald a…

Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists have subjected Yazidi religious minorities in Iraq to mass rape and torture aside from killing hundreds of them at a time; the jihadist group’s newest trend against the group appears to be mass graves after executing groups of Yazidis. After a similar find last Monday, the remains of 23 men from Iraq’s Yazidi minority were…

Jumping on US Vice President Joe Biden’s announcement the day before that he would be travelling when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addresses Congress two weeks before March 17 elections, leading leftist politicians launched a fusillade of criticism against Netanyahu on Saturday. Leading the charge was Yitzhak Herzog of Labor, whose party has combined with Tzipi Livni’s…

Greece’s new Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, has assured the Israeli ambassador to Athens that Greek-Israeli relations will not change following his election, Kol Yisrael radio reported on Friday. According to the report, Tsipras met this week with the Ambassador, Irit Ben-Abba, and made clear to her that his government is determined to combat anti-Semitism in…

The Islamic State (ISIS) group claimed on Friday that a female American hostage had been killed in an air strike in Syria by the U.S.-led coalition, AFP reported. In a statement on jihadist websites, ISIS said the woman, whom it named as Kayla Jean Mueller, was buried under rubble after a raid by a Jordanian…

Yemen’s Shiite Houthi rebel movement on Friday announced it is taking over the government and dissolving parliament. In a televised statement, the group said a five-member council would act as the president for an interim period, according to the BBC. The group took control of the capital Sanaa in September, forcing the resignation of President…

Despite claiming to be “buddies” with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the Vice President of the United States will not be attending Netanyahu’s upcoming speech to Congress. “The Vice President’s office expects that the Vice President will be traveling abroad during the joint session of Congress,” an official said Friday, according to the AFP news agency.…

John Kerry has been named by American academics as the least effective secretary of state in the past 50 years, a new survey finds. The survey, conducted by Foreign Policy Magazine, polled professors at the top 25 foreign policy schools across the country. Henry Kissinger, who served in the role under Presidents Richard Nixon and…

Turkey’s Foreign Minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, on Friday said he had cancelled a plan to attend the Munich security conference in protest at the inclusion of Israeli representatives in a session on the Middle East. “I was going to participate in the conference but we decided not to after they included the Israeli representatives in the…

The joint Labor-Hatnua list has been running neck and neck with Likud in polls, but that may all be for naught as Labor’s support of a petition to bar pro-Hamas MK Hanin Zoabi may see the united Arab list turn against it. The Arab parties have been tying with Jewish Home for third or coming…

Sergeant Adir Ovadia was given an honorary citation this week for his fearless work in Operation Protective Edge; he told Arutz Sheva in an exclusive interview that as he worked under fire to save fellow soldiers, he also witnessed what he believes to be a miracle. Ovadia, a soldier doing his mandatory service in the heavy equipment company of the IDF combat Engineering…

While the Palestinian Authority (PA) is commonly touted in international circles as a “moderate” alternative to its unity partner Hamas, a PA cleric’s sermon broadcast on official PA TV last Friday put any doubts about the organization’s virulent Islamic anti-Semitism to rest. Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) exposed and translated the sermon made on the Muslim day…

The daughter of a New Jersey State Police sergeant who posted photos of herself on Twitter dressed up like genocidal Nazi leader Adolf Hitler at a popular Orthodox Jewish hangout with the caption “perfect bombing time” will not be prosecuted, state officials said Thursday.  The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office told USA Today that the posts, from the teen…

The United Arab Emirates, which suspended air strikes against the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group, wants the US-led coalition to arm Sunni tribes in Iraq to fight the jihadists, government media reported Friday. The daily Al-Ittihad said the Emirates’ decision to stop raids in Syria last year was “due to the need to assure adequate protection for all pilotsparticipating…

Labor candidate and veteran journalist Zuhair Bahlul has “no problem” with Balad MK Hanin Zoabi, the Arab MK well-known for openly supporting Hamas, Channel 2 reports Friday.  “I have no objection to Zoabi, no problem with her – I know her, of course, although we’re not in daily contact,” Bahlul, who is number 17 on the Labor list, stated to…

Thousands of Gazans demonstrated on Thursday night at the border between Gaza and Egypt, in protest against a decision by an Egyptian court  to define the Al-Qassam Brigades – the “military wing” of Hamas – as a terror organization.  Palestine newspaper, the official mouthpiece of Hamas, says that protesters gathered near the Rafah crossing and waved Hamas flags, shouted slogans…

Public support for so-called ‘center’ parties has been steadily falling, the latest elections polls reveal Friday.  In one poll, Likud tops the list with 26 seats, as revealed by a survey conducted by Panels Politics for Ma’ariv; Labor is behind with 22 seats, in distant second place.  Jewish Home, again in third place, has 13 seats, followed closely…

Activist Baruch Marzel of Otzma Yehudit, who is on the fourth spot in Eli Yishai’s Yachad – Ha’am Itanu joint list, responded on Thursday night to the petition calling to bar him from the Knesset for “racism.” After an initial petition by an Arab MK with the radical leftist Meretz party to block Marzel and…

The family of journalist Austin Tice, missing in Syria since mid-2012, said Thursday they believe he is alive as they stepped up a campaign to win his release. They unveiled a campaign that will feature digital #FreeAustinTice banners on hundreds of websites of major media groups later this month, reports AFP. “After almost two and a half years, we…

A British jihadist believed to have faked his own death while fighting in Syria in order to return home undetected was jailed for 12 years by a London court on Friday. Imran Khawaja, 27, an amateur bodybuilder from London who used to work in an immigrant detention center, admitted preparing for acts of terrorism, attending…

Syrian Kurdish fighters have seized dozens of villages from Islamic State (ISIS) group jihadists around the town of Kobane on the Turkish border, expanding their control in the area, a monitor said Friday. The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) had captured 101 villages around Kobane since seizing it from ISIS on January 26 after four…

Fans of the right-wing satire show Latma finally got their long-awaited  wish on Thursday night, as the show that went off the internet back in August 2013 due to a budget crisis caused by a reneged-upon contract made history by airing on TV, and in doing so breaking the leftist monopoly on Israeli satire. After Israel…

A Saudi cleric with the Islamic State (IS or ISIS) jihadist group has been removed from his post after objecting to the burning alive of a captured Jordanian pilot, a monitoring group said Friday.   The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the cleric, known by the nom-de-guerre Abu Musab al-Jazrawi, raised objections during a Thursday…

Queen Rania joined thousands of people who turned out after midday prayers in Jordan’s capital Friday to express their solidarity with the pilot murdered by the Islamic State (ISIS) group. Wearing a black suit and a red-and-white checked keffiyeh over her shoulders, she mixed with the crowd as it marched from the central Al-Husseini mosque…

The Hungarian Jewish community issued an official apology to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday night, after a community leader compared her visit to the Great Synagogue in Budapest to a visit from a senior leader of the genocidal Nazis.  Andràs Heisler, President of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Hungary, noted in a Hungarian magazine…

Dozens of Syrian regime strikes on an opposition-held area near Damascus have killed at least 82 people, a monitor said Friday, in the deadliest such onslaught since November. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based monitor, said the new toll in the Thursday air strikes on the Eastern Ghouta region included at least 18 children, reports AFP. The regime assault, which also…

Jordan said air strikes against the Islamic State group are only the start of its retaliation for the burning alive of one of its pilots, vowing to “eradicate” the jihadists, according to AFP.  Jordan’s military said “dozens of jet fighters” struck ISIS targets on Thursday, hitting terrorist training camps as well as weapons and ammunition depots. Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh…

Uruguay has expelled a senior Iranian diplomat over last month’s planting of a dummy bomb near Israel’s embassy in Montevideo, Haaretz reported on Friday. Citing an unidentified “senior official in Jerusalem,” it said the diplomat was expelled two weeks ago, and although Uruguayan officials briefed Israel on the move they made no public announcement, reports AFP. “Investigations carried out by Uruguay’s intelligence services…

IDF forces on Thursday night opened fire on an Arab terrorist who hurled a potentially lethal firebomb at soldiers adjacent to the town of Kokhav Ya’akov in the Binyamin region of Samaria. The terrorist was wounded, with his condition being defined as between lightly and moderately wounded. He was nevertheless able to flee the scene…

The leftist “Zionist camp” joint list of Labor and Hatnua will support the barring of radical Arab nationalist MK Hanin Zoabi from the Knesset, according to a report on Thursday by Channel 2. Apparently the party of Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni will support the barring of Zoabi – but on condition that a petition be presented to…

MK Nissim Ze’ev, founder of the haredi Shas party who was recently ousted by chairman Aryeh Deri from the party’s list, visited the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in Samaria’s Yitzhar this week in a show of support for the Torah institution that has been occupied by the IDF for nearly a year. Od Yosef Chai was…

The IDF Chief of Staff during the “Disengagement” from Gush Katif and northern Samaria, Dan Halutz, and other senior reserve officers attached to the political left, are featured in a new campaign against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. While Halutz has often spoken against the nationalist camp, the campaign also features figures whose political bent was…

The New Israel Fund (NIF) appears to be exceedingly angry at Minister Naftali Bennett for cancelling – along with other politicians – a planned speech at Haaretz newspaper’s Israel Conference for Democracy, when it turned out that the NIF was co-sponsoring the event. “We are not apologizing!,” the NIF wrote to Bennett on its Facebook page,…

In what is becoming an all too common occurrence for many British Jews, a UK news presenter is facing criticism for comments in which he appeared to at least partially justify anti-Semitic attacks. The comment was made by senior Sky News correspondent Eamonn Holmes, during a live show discussing recent findings that anti-Semitism in the UK reached…

The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group has learned from the mistakes of past jihadist movements and established a near-impregnable base of support within Iraq and Syria, with spectacular appeal to many of the world’s Sunni Muslims, a new book has warned. The authors of “ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror,” published this month in the US, spoke to dozens of…

The Likud party on Thursday night firmly rejected reports in Haaretz claiming that during an official visit to Japan last May, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried to advance efforts of American businessman Sheldon Adelson, a close confidante of Netanyahu, to secure rights to a casino in the Asian nation. Adelson owns the free paper Israel Hayom, which…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Thursday by telephone with Jordanian King Abdullah II, the premier’s office said, apparently their first contact since Jordan announced its ambassador was returning to Tel Aviv, reports AFP. “Prime Minister Netanyahu extended his condolences to the King and to the Jordanian people” over the murder of a Jordanian air force pilot who was burned to death by Islamic State…

State prosecutors recommended Thursday putting former MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer on trial for several charges of bribery, Channel Two reported. The Prosecution’s recommendation comes a month after police also recommended bringing the former MK to trial. Ben-Eliezer is suspected of receiving large sums of money when he was Minister of Infrastructure in 2006. The money was given…

An Israeli driver was attacked by about 25 Arab rioters who were lying in wait to attack Jewish cars – just 300 meters from Hebrew University. Koby Goldstein was on his way to pick up his children in the Maale Zeitim neighborhood of Jerusalem the News1 site reported Thursday night, when over two dozen Arabs…

There will be no organized “boycott” of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech before the US Congress March 3, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said Thursday – but she suggested some lawmakers might just be too busy to attend, writes the National Journal. “I don’t think anybody should use the word ‘boycott,’” Pelosi said in her…

Controversial radio host Natan Zahavi should really watch his language, the High Court said Thursday – but there was no need to make a constitutional case out of a fine he and his employer, a Tel Aviv radio station, received after he cursed MK Yisrael Eichler on a broadcast last year. Upon the recommendation of…

Amnesty International has condemned Jordan for executing Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in “revenge” for the group burning Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh alive on camera.  “The Jordanian authorities are rightly horrified by this utterly reprehensible killing but the response should never be to resort to the death penalty, which itself is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment,”…

Fighting continued and intensified in and around Damascus Thursday, as rebels pounded several neighborhoods of the city with rockets and missiles, Arab media reported. At least three residents were killed and dozens injured. Most of the areas that were targeted were already largely abandoned by residents seeking to get away from the fighting in Syria’s…

A respected Holocaust expert was named Wednesday to take over as judge in the politically explosive case of a 1994 Jewish center bombing that has shaken Argentina since the lead prosecutor’s mysterious death, AFP reports. The case had become a judicial hot potato amid revelations that late prosecutor Alberto Nisman had drafted an arrest warrant for President Cristina Kirchner before he was…

The UN Security Council released on Wednesday night a statement condemning the death of a Spanish peacekeeper for UNIFIL who had been killed in last week’s antitank attack by Hezbollah – but did not mention, once, the deaths of two IDF soldiers. “The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the killing of a…

Jordan is likely to join the US-led coalition fighting ISIS, a source told Arab media Thursday. According to the source, King Abdullah, who was visiting the US when a Jordanian pilot was killed two days ago by ISIS terrorists, discussed Jordan’s joining the coalition with US President Barack H. Obama. The report said that Jordan…

Rabbi and Professor Yoel Elitzur was arrested Thursday morning by Israeli police on the Temple Mount, fellow Temple Mount rights activists said.  Elizur, a resident of the Samaria town Ofra, is a veteran activist for Temple Mount rights and has ascended to the holy site many of times in the past.  According to activists, Islamist…

The chances of Labor-Hatnua forming Israel’s next government in the 20th Knesset are looking less and less likely, as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Likud party continues to gain in polls.  If elections were held today, according to the TNS survey for Walla! News, Likud would be the largest party in the Knesset with 26 seats. It appears the…

Several Democratic senators said Wednesday that they are considering boycotting Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s upcoming speech before Congress, CNN reported.  The Senators wish to protest House of Representatives’ Speaker, Republican John Boehner, for disregarding United States protocol and inviting Netanyahu without the White House’s knowledge or involvement.  “Colleagues of mine are very concerned about it and I’m troubled…

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri is worth NIS 4.8 million ($1.15 million), according to documents he filed disclosing his personal net worth. The documents were presented on Channel Two News, which has been publicizing the asset declarations made by high-profile politicians running in the March 17 elections. While Deri has made “fighting” for poor Israelis a…

Yisrael Beytenu announced Thursday plans to appeal the Central Elections Committee’s injunction against its party distributing copies of Charlie Hebdo – to the Supreme Court.  CEC Chairman, Justice Salim Joubran ruled Wednesday that Yisrael Beytenu was prohibited from distributing special copies of the French satirical magazine, wrapped in a cover attacking MK Ahmed Tibi (Balad).  Arab parties have previously argued that the distribution…

A special poll emphasizing the fate of religious and haredi parties in the elections found that three haredi-oriented parties would enter the next Knesset. If elections were held now, said the poll, both Shas and United Torah Judaism would achieve six seats in the Knesset. In addition, Eli Yishai’s Yachad-Ha’am Itanu party would pass the minimum vote requirement,…

The investigator probing the mysterious death of an Argentine prosecutor who was carrying out a politically explosive investigation has summoned a powerful former spy for questioning Thursday, local media reported. Prosecutor Viviana Fein, who is leading the investigation into her late colleague Alberto Nisman’s death last month, has ordered ex-intelligence agent Antonio “Jaime” Stiuso to present himself at her office Thursday morning for questioning in…

Police acted illegally when they arrested a nine-year-old boy this week, during the evacuation of a residence at a new community near Kiryat Arba, cvivil rights organization Honenu said. According to attorney Uriel Nizri, the arrest was just one of numerous illegal actions by police in recent days. Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Nizri said that the police…

Jordan said Thursday its warplanes had launched new strikes against the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group, after vowing a harsh response to the burning alive of one of its fighter pilots captured in Syria. The announcement came as King Abdullah II personally paid his condolences to the airman’s family, which has urged the government to “destroy” the jihadists, reflecting deep anger…

Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in Syria appear to have started a new trend when they released video on Tuesday of themselves burning a Jordanian pilot to death; officials in Cameroon reported on Thursday that Boko Haram Islamist terrorists have shot and burned to death at least 91 civilians. The slaughter occurred during two days of fighting in a town…

Although relations between Jewish Home and the Likud are much better than they were during the 2013 elections, the two parties are still competing for votes.  On Thursday, Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely took that battle to Judea and Samaria – the heartland of support for Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home. Hotovely toured the Elon Moreh area, accompanied by the…

The weather forecast for next week shows signs of volatility.  This weekend will be unusually warm with relatively high temperatures for the season. But it looks like that will change on Sunday.  A substantial cold front is expected to come in, with both rain across Israel and snow in the Hermon, with the snow even making…

MK Tzipi Livni called on Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid for a pledge not to recommend Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to form the coalition for the 20th Knesset.  Instead, she said Thursday, Lapid should vow to recommend Yitzhak Herzog – fellow Chairman of her party Labor-Hatnua.  “We’re a month before elections – it’s either us or him [Netanyahu],”…

Al-Qaeda said Thursday that one of its top terrorists, Harith al-Nadhari, died in a United States drone strike in Yemen.  Nadhari and three other terrorists were killed in a January 31 “crusader American drone strike against their car in the Saeed area of Shabwa province in southern Yemen,” Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) said on Twitter. AQAP named the three…

For the first time, Israel’s top defense official will be traveling to India. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon will depart for New Delhi in about two week where he will meet with top defense and political officials. India, with close to a billion people, is currently Israel’s biggest defense customer, and Israel’s military delegation to India…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited the construction site of Route 531, a suburban freeway in the southern Sharon region, Thursday. At the site, he repeated warnings against the emerging nuclear agreement between Iran and Western powers.  Iran is currently in negotiations with the P5+1 powers – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, plus Germany – aimed…

A senior Hamas leader called Wednesday for the formation of Palestinian terrorist groups loyal to his Gaza-based Islamist movement in Lebanon and Syria for attacks on Israel. Mahmud Zahar told reporters in the Gaza Strip that Lebanese and Syrian branches of the Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, should launch attacks on Israel “to help us liberate Palestine”. He also denied “any interference”…

Jewish Home chairperson Naftali Bennett has come in for flak from leading religious Zionist rabbis over claims he made on Tuesday in the southern city of Dimona, where he claimed his party had “saved” the religious Zionist vision from “evaporating” in the Knesset. Bennett said he had saved the “Mizrahi” movement “from evaporating politically,” in a reference to the Hapoel Hamizrahi…

Russia is making a push at the United Nations for a new resolution to choke off funding from oil sales, the antiquities trade and ransom payments to the Islamic State group, diplomats told AFP Wednesday. The resolution could come before the Security Council this week and follows strong condemnation by the 15-member council of the gruesome murder of a Jordanian pilot by…

Haredim opposed to the IDF draft of yeshiva students on Wednesday staged a major protest along Israel’s highways. Some 200 motor vehicles left from Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem and slowly wound their way along Road 1, the main road to Tel Aviv, eventually reaching the Gannot Junction, where they turned onto Road 4 in the…

The United Arab Emirates withdrew from air strike missions against the Islamic State group in Syria after the capture of a Jordanian pilot, who has since been murdered by the jihadists, US officials said Wednesday. The UAE pulled out of the flights soon after the pilot fell into ISIS hands in December, a US official told AFP. “I can confirm…

Fox News broadcast still images of Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh being burned alive by Islamic State jihadists before posting full raw footage from the horrific execution video on its website, AFP reports. Senior officials with the US network, the only major US media outlet to use video footage of Kassasbeh’s death, said the decision was taken to highlight the “barbarity” of…

As yet another top police official on Wednesday was accused of sexual impropriety, MK Shelly Yechimovich (Labor/Zionist Camp) called for police to stop all non-essential police activity for at least 24 hours – while officials figure out what to do about the numerous scandals that have enveloped Israel’s police force. “The leadership of the police…

Despite what people may think in the wake of the Eli Ohana “incident,” Jewish Home is still a religious party, consults regularly with rabbis, and follows in the path of Religious Zionist historic leaders like Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Hacohen Kook, the acknowledged father of the Religious Zionist (Mizrahi) movement, said Rabbi Tzefania Drori, the Chief…

The Central Elections Committee has upheld a United Arab List (UAL) petition against the distribution of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine in Israel, Channel 2 reports Wednesday.  Arab parties have argued that the distribution of the issue, which features cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed on the cover, would spark outrage in the Arab sector; Yisrael Beytenu has been adamant…

Most of the public trusts Kulanu chairman Moshe Kahlon when it comes to economic issues, according to a survey published Wednesday. According to the poll, conducted by Midgam Institute and published by Channel 2, 29% of Israelis believe Kahlon is best suited to handle Israel’s housing crisis, with fewer Israelis naming Yair Lapid as their candidate and even…

The Likud Youth intend to continue to hold protests outside Yedioth Aharonoth House in Tel Aviv, as the newspaper continues to publish front page stories that besmirch the Prime Minister’s wife, Sarah Netanyahu, regarding bottle deposits she supposedly pocketed. David Shain, Chairman of Likud Youth, told Arutz Sheva that the demonstration held last week outside…

The Nationalist Crime section of the Central Unit of the Judea and Samaria District Police announced Wednesday it had conducted a raid in the community of Yitzhar and confiscated a large cache of makeshift weapons which they say were meant for attacking security forces and Arabs. Yitzhar denies this. Police said that the cache includes dozens…

As part of the campaign against IDF enlistment led by followers of extremist hareidi leader Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, residents of the Shlomo neighborhood in the northern coastal city of Hadera on Wednesday morning were shocked to find leaflets inciting against religious soldiers in their mailboxes. The picture dehumanized haredi IDF soldiers, portraying them as non-kosher pigs in uniform…

Knesset Speaker MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud), Donald Trump and Joan Rivers – who recently passed away and was represented by her daughter Melissa – were awarded honorary prizes on Tuesday in New York for being among the 100 people most influencing the lives of Jews worldwide in 2014. The prize was given to Edelstein by the Jewish…

Canadian William Schabas resigned from leading the UNHRC “war crimes” probe of Israel on Monday, after new revelations regarding consulting work he did for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorist organization in 2012 joined previous allegations his blatant bias against Israel.  Speaking with Yedioth Aharonot on Tuesday, after a former Goldstone Report judge was named in his stead,…

A television news channel founded this week by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and which aimed at challenging Al-Jazeera lasted all of 18 hours before being pulled by Bahrain. According to the Khaleej Times newspaper, Bahraini authorities suspended the Alarab television channel 18 hours after its launch, following an interview it broadcast with an aide…

Not only has Egypt been able to expel Gazans from the border with Sinai and demolish their homes and mosques to create a counter-terror buffer zone as the world silently watches, but on Tuesday morning Egyptian troops reportedly opened fire on Hamas “military posts” in Gaza near the border with impugnity. Reports of the shootings were…

The IDF Border Patrol has occupied the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in Samaria’s Yitzhar for almost a year, seizing the site last April and extending its hold since – exasperated students and staff at the Torah academy are tired of the situation and stepping up their efforts to return. Rabbi Yosef Plai, a department head in…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with leaders of Israel’s English-speaking community Wednesday, emphasizing his commitment to focusing on issues of specific interest to the Anglo community. The meeting, which was hosted at the Prime Minister’s residence, included a diverse demographic of younger and older immigrants from English-speaking countries; it is part of a wider campaign from…

(AFP) Dirt-covered skulls and bones scattered among ragged clothing in a ditch in north Iraq are all that remain of some two dozen people believed to have been murdered by the Islamic State terrorist group.   The blood still staining one side of the ditch and the bullet casings scattered on the ground paint a…

Iran has for years declared that it will never give up on its “right to enrich uranium” as part of a deal with the West, and reports Tuesday indicated it may indeed maintain that self-proclaimed right. Two diplomats who spoke with The Associated Press (AP) revealed that the United States and Iran are currently discussing…

The Likud responded for the first time to claims by Kulanu Chairman Moshe Kahlon that he single-handedly reduced the cost of cellphone service, cable TV, and other basics of modern life during his term as Communications Minister. In a new video put out by the Likud’s campaign committee Wednesday, Kahlon is seen praising Prime Minister Binyamin…

The Israeli government has effectively voted to give the New Israel Fund and its co-founder and ex-president, Naomi Chazan, influence over policies – including foreign policy, defense and internal security – and over a virtually unlimited range of appointments to key positions in the public and private sectors. The vote was held in December, but managed to…

An IDF officer in her twenties was injured Wednesday afternoon after a land mine detonated in the Nahal Sa’ar area in the Golan Heights.  The officer was treated on-site by a military medical team and was evacuated by helicopter to Rambam Hospital in Haifa. A preliminary investigation shows that the mine had been uncovered as…

MK Aryeh Deri, leader of Shas, announced Wednesday that he is pulling out of the Haaretz Conference on Democracy scheduled for mid-February, after finding out that the New Israel Fund is among its sponsors. “Regrettably,” he said, “I see that in the last few days, the conference has turned into a divisive discourse that fosters…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman on Wednesday praised Jordan’s King Abdullah for executing two terrorists after the Islamist ISIS terror group executed a Jordanian pilot that it was holding captive. Abdullah, said Liberman, “deserves praise for his quick and decisive action against terror, executing already this morning an ISIS terrorist and an al-Qaeda operative. I understand…

MK Issawi Freij (Meretz) and a group of Israeli citizens who say that they support the rights of Israel’s Arab minority have filed a petition against Yisrael Beytenu Chairman Avigdor Liberman and Otzma Yehudit’s Baruch Marzel on Wednesday, asking for both to be banned from the 2015 elections.  In the letter, penned to Central Election Commission…

Sir Martin Gilbert, official biographer of Winston Churchill and a leading authority on modern history, the Holocaust, Jewish and Israeli history, has passed away Wednesday in London after a long period of ill-health. Gilbert authored more than eighty books. Born in 1936 in London, Gilbert graduated studied imperial British history as a Research Scholar at…

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Wednesday said it was “deeply troubled” by the anti-Semitic statements made by the pro-Russian separatist leaders of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk “People’s Republics” on Monday. In a press conference held by Alexander Zakharchenko of Donetsk and Igor Plotnitsky of Lugansk, Zakharchenko called the Ukrainian government in Kiev “pathetic representatives of the great Jewish people.”…

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Tuesday voiced concern over reports of mass book-burning in Iraq, saying it would be one of the most “devastating” such actions in history if confirmed. Referring to reports that thousands of books on philosophy, law, science and poetry have been torched in recent weeks, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said it was part…

Winners have been announced in the Jewish Book Council’s 2014 National Jewish Book Awards – one of the prime winners of accolades in the contest was the Koren Ani Tefilla Siddur, a Hebrew and English weekday prayer book. The siddur features a translation by the former chief rabbi of the UK and Yeshiva University (YU) Professor of Jewish…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday ordered an investigation into the PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida publication of a cartoon of the founder of Islam Mohammed last Sunday. The investigation, illustrating the stark absence of free speech within PA-controlled areas, comes less than a month after Abbas took part in an anti-terror and freedom of speech…

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is evidently upset that Otzma Yehudit candidate Baruch Marzel, number four on the joint Yachad – Ha’am Itanu list, refused to shake the hand of Central Elections Committee chair Arab Supreme Court judge Salim Joubran in presenting the party list last Thursday. Marzel at the time explained “I refused to shake Joubran’s hand…

Argentinian prosecutor Alberto Nisman had drafted arrest warrants for Argentina’s president and foreign minister before he died under suspicious circumstances, it was revealed Tuesday. In a 26-page document – found in the trash at his apartment and revealed by Argentina’s Clarin newspaper – Nisman had written a request for President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her…

The Hamas terrorist organization said Tuesday that it had arrested an “Israeli collaborator” resident of Gaza, who it claimed was considered one of the best intelligence gatherers within the terror stronghold by the Israel Security Agency (ISA). The captured Gazan reportedly admitted under Hamas interrogation to providing Israel with information, and detailed what that information was and how…

William Schabas stepped down from leading the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) “war crimes” probe against Israel on Monday over concerns his documented bias could “harm the findings” of the report, but just one day later a replacement has been found – a judge from the infamous Goldstone Report. UNHRC spokesman Rolando Gomez said earlier on Tuesday…

Just hours after a video surfaced showing the ISIS terrorist group executing a captive Jordanian pilot by burning him alive, Jordan is preparing to execute five terrorist prisoners in revenge, according to a report. Speaking to Sky News Arabic under condition of anonymity, a Jordanian security official claimed Sajida al-Rishawi – a failed female suicide-bomber whose release ISIS…

More details have emerged from the French city of Nice, where a knife-wielding man attacked three soldiers patrolling outside a Jewish community center on the French Riviera Tuesday, with sources saying he was expelled from Turkey only last week. The attack took place in broad daylight in Nice as the troops were guarding the building in central Paris,…

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday condemned the apparent burning alive of a Jordanian pilot by Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists, calling it an “appalling act.” Ban labeled ISIS “a terrorist organization with no regard for human life” and urged world governments to redouble their efforts to “combat the scourge of terrorism and extremism,” his spokesman…

Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick, who survived an assassination attempt by a Palestinian Arab terrorist last October, on Tuesday called on the public to pray for people who were injured in a deadly crash in the Negev. Tuesday’s crash occurred when a bus and a truck pulling a tractor collided, killing eight people on the…

The United States “remains concerned” about the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) “one-sided” commission of inquiry into Israel’s actions in Gaza, even after the resignation of its head, William Schabas, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Tuesday. In her daily press briefing, Psaki was asked about Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s comments following Schabas’s resignation,…

Argentine lawmakers on Tuesday began debating President Cristina Kirchner’s order to disband the intelligence service, mired in scandal after the suspicious death of a prosecutor who was probing the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center, AFP reported. Kirchner has ordered the overhaul of the Intelligence Secretariat, known as the SI, and the creation of a…

Jordan’s King Abdullah on Tuesday described the Islamic State (ISIS) as a “cowardly” organization, and added that its killing of pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh will only strengthen Jordanians. “We have received with all sorrow, grief and anger, the news of the martyrdom of the brave pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh, may Allah bless his soul, at the hand…

Difficulty concentrating? There’s an app for that now, thanks to an Israeli start-up. Jerusalem-based Umoove released an app last week, named “uHealth,” which helps smartphone users improve their attention spans and concentration through eye-tracking. The direct relationship between eye movements and brain activity as well as various vision based therapies have been backed by many scientific studies conducted over…

Two judges in Argentina on Monday declined to handle the allegations brought by late prosecutor Alberto Nisman against President Cristina Fernandez, charging her with seeking to derail his investigation of the deadly 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center, Reuters reported. Nisman’s death came hours before he had been due to testify against senior government officials on…

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird on Monday said he is in talks with his Egyptian counterpart and is hopeful Egyptian-Canadian journalist Mohamed Fahmy will be released from prison soon, the QMI news agency reported. A security official said Fahmy will be freed from Cairo’s Tora prison in days. Fahmy is one of three Al-Jazeera…

Hundreds of Hamas supporters marched in Gaza on Monday to protest a ruling by an Egyptian court to declare the group’s “military wing” as a terrorist group, AFP reported. Waving the green flag of the movement, which is the de facto power in the coastal enclave, the demonstrators chanted “Hamas is not terrorist” and “Hamas…

German prosecutors announced on Monday they had opened an investigation into a 93-year-old woman who is suspected of forcing prisoners on an evacuation march in 1945 during which about 1,400 women died, the Guardian reported. Hamburg prosecutors’ spokesman Carsten Rinio confirmed that his office had begun investigating Hilde Michnia last week, after a social worker…

Canadian law professor William Schabas, who was appointed to head the UN committee tasked with probing Israel’s alleged “war crimes” during last summer’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, announced on Monday evening he was stepping down. According to the Reuters news agency, Schabas cited Israeli allegations of bias due to consultancy work he did for…

The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are hard at work trying to gain control of the bottleneck of the Red Sea, thus allowing them to control Israel’s southernmost naval bay, near the port of Eilat, as well as all maritime trade in Europe, which passes through the Suez Canal and the sea Red as it…

With winter at its illness-inducing peak, the Emergency Room at the Sheba Medical Center passed 300% occupancy Monday, with 125 patients competing for 39 beds, writes Yisrael Hayom. Patients who were brought to the ER by Magen David Adom ambulances waited in line outside the ER, and this, apparently, was an improvement over the situation…

Iran has upped its rhetoric against Israeli and the IDF, Yediot Aharonot reports Tuesday – this time, specifically targeting three top-ranking IDF generals. The Iranian website Masruk posted photos and identifying details – some of them inaccurate – of three IDF officers they blame for the IAF’s airstrike last month on Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Hezbollah positions in Syria: Home Front…

Kulanu candidate Major General (ret.) Yoav Galant stated Tuesday that he believes in evicting residents of Judea and Samaria from their homes, claiming that constructing Jewish communities in Arab areas contravenes Zionist ideals. “We have to recognize what Zionism knew from the first day of its inception – and that is that the Zionist movement…

Following the resignation of William Schabas from the chairmanship of the committee established by the UN Human Rights Council into the summer’s Gaza war, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says the committee’s report should go unpublished. “After the resignation of the committee head, who was biased against Israel, the report – which was written at the…

Yeshiva University’s Center for the Jewish Future (CJF) and Institute for University-School Partnership (YU School Partnership) will host their annual Jewish Job Fair on Thursday, February 26, 2015 in Furst Hall on YU’s Wilf Campus, 500 West 185th Street in New York City. The event is free and open to the public from 7-9 p.m., with priority admission…

A senior Iranian official threatened Israel with retaliation over an airstrike in the Syrian Golan Heights in which an Iranian officer, General Mohammad Ali Allahdadi, was killed along with members of the Hezbollah terrorist group. Alaeddin Boroujerdi, the head of the Iranian parliament’s Foreign Policy and National Security Committee, told Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television that Iran…

A poignant tweet by murdered journalist Kenji Goto on the virtue of being calm was spreading rapidly on social media Tuesday, days after he was apparently beheaded by Islamist terrorists, AFP reports. “Close your eyes and remain patient. It’s over once you get angry or yell. It is almost like praying. Hating is not the role of humans; judgement…

Three French soldiers who were conducting a patrol outside a Jewish center in the southern city of Nice as part of the country’s recently upgraded counter-terrorism campaign were attacked by a man wielding a knife on Tuesday. AFP reports that two of the soldiers were wounded and their lives are not in danger, while French police union official Sarah…

Israel called Tuesday for the shelving of a UN “war crimes” inquiry into its war last summer against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, after the probe’s head William Schabas quit over accusations of blatant bias and conflict of interest. The UN said Schabas resigned Monday after it came out that he had worked as a consultant for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorist…

Eight women in their fifties were killed and 28 others were wounded on Tuesday afternoon in a massive traffic accident that involved a truck, a bus and a private vehicle adjacent to Lehavim Junction in the Negev in Israel’s south. The bus that was in the crash was filled with female Bedouin Arab passengers from the Negev…

MK Yoni Chetboun, of Eli Yishai’s Yachad – Ha’am Itanu that recently formed a joint list with Otzma Yehudit, visited the Elisha pre-military academy located adjacent to Halamish in Samaria on Tuesday morning. “We have to stop stuttering and start speaking firmly – Judea and Samaria are just like Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, there is no difference. This is…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) on Tuesday said William Schabas’s resignation from the UN Human Rights Council’s Gaza war probe will not affect the findings of the UN Commission of Inquiry, which is investigating “war crimes” charges against Israel. Those findings are “as prejudiced as the body that established it, whose sole purpose is bashing and…

The United Nations food agency expressed alarm over images circulating on social media showing its food aid being distributed from boxes bearing the logo of the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization. The UN’s World Food Program (WFP) said it was “extremely concerned” over the images, and that it was trying to verify the authenticity of the photographs and determine where…

French police on Tuesday arrested eight people suspected of involvement in a network that allegedly sent people to Syria to wage jihad, the interior minister said. Bernard Cazeneuve told AFP reporters the suspects were arrested around Paris and the southeastern city of Lyon. Last week, crack security forces arrested five people in the small town of Lunel in southern France, from where…

Four masked men broke into the home of the bereaved Nini family overnight, after their son Dor Chaim was killed during a Hezbollah antitank missile attack along the Lebanese border last week.  “Mind you, they also broke into his room,” Dor’s father Nehemiah stated to Army radio Tuesday afternoon. “But they can no longer take…

United States President Barack Obama has requested $8.8 billion to fund the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) group in his 2016 budget unveiled Monday, reports AFP. A total of $5.3 billion would go to the Pentagon to finance Operation Inherent Resolve, which was launched in August with a series of airstrikes against ISIS terrorists…

53 officers and soldiers were presented with military awards in recognition of their brave actions during last summer’s Operation Protective Edge during a special ceremony Monday night. Handing out the awards during the ceremony, which took place at the Israel Air Force Base at Hatzerim, were Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and outgoing IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz.  Generals…

Controversial British MP David Ward may lose his position as the Liberal Democrat’s whip thanks to his recurring anti-Israel tweets, the party’s most senior Jewish minister said, as reported in the Jewish Chronicle. During Israel’s conflict with Gaza last summer, Ward, the MP from Bradford East, tweeted: “The big question is – if I lived in #Gaza would…

State Comptroller Yosef Shapira announced Monday night that the expenditure report of the Prime Minister’s Residence will be published in two weeks.  He stressed that any improprieties or criminal misconduct would be included and mentioned.  The report, which will be published on February 17 – exactly one month before elections for the 20th Knesset –…

An Israeli tourist was killed Monday in an avalanche that occurred at a ski resort near Interlaken in western Switzerland, the Foreign Ministry said Monday night.  The news of the tourist’s death was subsequently delivered to his family.   The Israeli consulate in Switzerland is preparing for the transport of the body back to Israel.  In another…

Likud is gaining in the polls and if elections were held today, Likud would receive the most seats of any party with 25, according to a survey published Monday evening in Haaretz.  Trailing slightly behind in the survey is Labor-Hatnua with 23 mandates, making them the second largest party in the 20th Knesset. The third largest party…

Likud is gaining in the polls and if elections were held today, Likud would receive the most seats of any party with 25, according to a survey published Monday evening in Haaretz.  Trailing slightly behind in the survey is Labor-Hatnua with 23 mandates, making them the second largest party in the 20th Knesset. The third largest party…

Controversial British MP David Ward may lose his position as the Liberal Democrat’s whip thanks to his recurring anti-Israel tweets, the party’s most senior Jewish minister said, as reported in the Jewish Chronicle. During Israel’s conflict with Gaza last summer, Ward, the MP from Bradford East, tweeted: “The big question is – if I lived in #Gaza would…

President Reuven Rivlin and the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Lau, were on hand Monday as the Jewish community of Hevron inaugurated a new visitor center as part of its Jewish Heritage Museum.  The visitor center will feature a film documenting the history of Jews in Hevron from Biblical times to the present day, as well…

President Reuven Rivlin and the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi David Lau, were on hand Monday as the Jewish community of Hevron inaugurated a new visitor center as part of its Jewish Heritage Museum.  The visitor center will feature a film documenting the history of Jews in Hevron from Biblical times to the present day, as well…

Belgian police arrested a man who had a chainsaw and gun in his car near the European Parliament Monday, prompting the evacuation from several buildings, prosecutors said. The 32-year-old Slovakian, dressed in military fatigues, said he wanted to meet European Parliament President Martin Schulz, Belgian media reported. Police later lifted the bomb alert after finding there were no explosives in the…

The far-left Meretz party faced a setback recently when a local billboard company in Ramat Gan refused to display its banner, Channel Two News reported Monday.  As part of the second wave of its campaign to distinguish itself as “the real Left,” Meretz wanted to place its latest banner design outside the Ayalon Mall in the industrial area of Tel Aviv suburb Ramat…

A violent clash occurred on Monday morning at the flagship Lithuanian-haredi Ponevezh Yeshiva in Bnei Brak, the largely haredi suburb of Tel Aviv, after the yeshiva’s dean Rabbi Shmuel Markovich was assaulted by a member of an opposing faction who was later arrested. The attack was reported by yeshiva students who witnessed it on Sunday night, and on Monday…

Japan’s failure to rescue two hostages beheaded by Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists has raised doubts about the ability of the country that renounced war after World War II to handle an international crisis, as the country reels from news of journalist Kenji Goto’s murder. Analysts say the murders mark a “wake-up call” for Japan – a country whose constitution forbids…

Soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda battalion – formerly known as Nahal Haredi – took part in a special winter exercise this week in the Jordan valley. The entire battalion took part in the exercise, which lasted for 72 hours in total. Netzah Yehuda was founded in 1999 to cater for haredi Israelis to allow them to…

Radical leftist organization B’Tselem published a report last week detailing the findings of its investigation of alleged “war crimes” committed by the IDF during Operation Protective Edge, and grassroots Zionist group Im Tirtzu was quick to react with a report about the source of funding for B’tselem’s report.  The B’Tselem report was funded with money that came from Ramallah, from…

Australia’s foreign minister said Monday there is a danger of Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists expanding operations to Afghanistan, even though there is little evidence of a presence there now. Julie Bishop, hosting Britain’s Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and Defense Secretary Michael Fallon for annual security talks, said she was made aware of “some evidence of a connection” between ISIS and elements…

Sephardic haredi party Shas has promised not to use its educational institutions and school network to advance its elections campaign, in a letter written by the party’s legal adviser, Attorney Nadav Asael, to Uri Regev, director of the Hiddush liberal Movement for Religious Freedom and Equality. Regev had previously written to Asael ahead of a petition to…

The fallout from the controversial Enlistment Law mandating haredi IDF recruitment continues, as dozens of haredim on Monday morning blocked the Shilat Junction outside of Modi’in in protest of the arrest of four haredi yeshiva students who refused orders to enlist. The haredi activists who reportedly hail from the “Jerusalem faction” headed by Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach…

With the entry of Hevron loyalist and activist Baruch Marzel into the Knesset election race, a story of his “correct” relations with his Arab neighbors in Hevron has been making the rounds.  Marzel’s daughter Racheli, 16 years old at the time of the story, had lost her cell phone. As is customary, she dialed the number to see…

Israel will not hit back at Hezbollah following the attack by Iran’s Lebanese proxy militia on an IDF force that killed two soldiers last week – this is the consensus emerging from media reports by Israeli military affairs experts. The reports indicated that the IDF’s high command was in an extremely combative mood following the…

Hackers targeted Syrian opposition members with online “honey traps,” posing as female supporters to steal battle plans and the identity of defectors, a security firm said in a report Monday. The report, by US cybersecurity firm FireEye, tracked hacking operations in late 2013 and early 2014 that targeted Syrian opposition fighters, media activists and humanitarian aid workers. FireEye said it…

After two Japanese hostages were beheaded by Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in Syria, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hinted at taking part in the US-led fight against ISIS, but Professor Ehud Harari, an expert on Japanese foreign policy, says he may be unable to carry out his promise. After the second hostage – journalist Kenji Goto – was…

The far-left Meretz party faced a setback recently when a local billboard company in Ramat Gan refused to display its banner, Channel Two News reported Monday.  As part of the second wave of its campaign to distinguish itself as “the real Left,” Meretz wanted to place its latest banner design outside the Ayalon Mall in the industrial area of Tel Aviv suburb Ramat…

Swedish prosecutors indicted Monday a former Syrian rebel accused of severely beating a pro-regime fighter in 2012 after a video of the attack was posted on Facebook. The 28-year-old is accused of violating international law – including the Geneva Conventions which govern the treatment of prisoners of war – and of aggravated assault, in what is believed to be the first…

Yesh Atid has managed to twist the Ponevezh Yeshiva violence to its political advantage, with the pro-enlistment comments of Former Education Minister Shai Piron on his Twitter account.  Piron wrote that he would like to enlist the students, who took part in the brawl Monday morning at the renowned Bnei Brak yeshiva, into the Yasam.   Yasam is an Israel Police…

Indian authorities have released nine people deported from Turkey after allegedly trying to enter an area of Syria controlled by the Islamic State terrorist group, police said Monday. Police in the southern city of Bangalore said the nine Indians were released late Sunday, after they admitted during questioning that they had planned to cross over to territory controlled by ISIS but…

Kurdish forces have found the remains of about 25 members of the Yazidi minority killed by the Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group in a mass grave in northwest Iraq, officials said Monday. “Peshmerga forces discovered a mass grave yesterday (Sunday) containing the remains of about 25 people – men, children and women – from the…

53 officers, soldiers, other military representatives, and family members of soldiers who fell in battle will be attending a special ceremony this evening (Monday) in recognition of their brave actions during last summer’s war against Gazan terrorists. The awards will be handed out by Minister of Defense Moshe Ya’alon and outgoing IDF Chief of Staff…

The Victory in 2015 (V15) organization filed a complaint with police Monday afternoon against the Likud party and the head of Likud’s publicity campaign.  In a press conference Sunday, Likud party members accused the campaign, headed by several former Obama campaign managers, of using a large sum of foreign money to boost Labor and Meretz in upcoming elections. Haaretz reported…

A senior European commissioner warned Monday about rising levels of  extremism and intolerance across the 28-nation bloc, targeting Jews, Muslims, homosexuals and even women. “There is rising anti-Semitism, there is rising Islamophobia, there is rising homophobia,” Frans Timmermans, deputy to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, told parliamentarians from EU states meeting in Latvia’s capital Riga. “There are people who are actually challenging…

Syrian government air strikes on an opposition-held town killed at least 15 civilians in the southern province of Daraa on Monday, a monitoring group said.   “The death toll from four regime air strikes on Jassem in Daraa province has risen to 15 civilians, while more than 25 others were wounded,” the Syrian Observatory for…

IDF forces successfully foiled two stabbing attacks on Sunday, both in the area of the Machepelah Cave (Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hevron. Both potential stabbers – Arabs from the area – are in custody Sunday night. In one incident, an Arab from Hevron who arrived at a checkpoint near the Machpelah Cave aroused the…

Former US Secretary of State James Baker said Sunday that House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to address Congress, which was extended without consulting the White House, is a breach of diplomatic protocol. “I can’t remember an instance in which it’s been done,” said Baker, who was secretary of state under President…

The Efrat organization’s activities are enabled through donation received from within Israel and abroad; from people with generous hearts and wise minds, who understand that saving lives is a principle of supreme value. In a series of articles about the “Efrat” organization, Arutz Sheva presents a number of personal stories and anecdotes relating the group’s life-saving activities. This week’s article centers on Eran…

A blast ripped through a bus carrying Lebanese Shiite pilgrims in Damascus on Sunday, killing at least nine people, a monitor said, in an attack claimed by Al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch. AFP cited the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying at least 20 people were wounded in the explosion near Souq al-Hamadiyeh district, and that six…

Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett’s unsuccessful recruitment of soccer legend Eli Ohana to the party’s Knesset list cost the religious Zionist party 0.9 Knesset seats in the weekly average of polls. The Jewish Home went from an average of 15.6 to 14.7  – not fun for the charismatic leader who had seemed, to his supporters,…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu remains popular, according to a new poll released Sunday by the TRI polling firm. In addition, voters said they did not believe that last week’s elimination of a top Hezbollah terrorists and an Iranian general was a campaign gambit by the Prime Minister to focus attention on security issues, versus the economic…

Eli Yishai says he never had any doubts that his Yachad – Ha’am Itanu party could and would pass the threshold into the Knesset on its own, and insists his decision to run together with the Otzma Yehudit party was made purely to prevent the Right losing “50-60,000 votes.” Yishai made the claim during a visit to Arutz Sheva‘s offices in…

BLITZER: Would you be willing to give up the Golan Heights to reach a peace treaty with Syria? LIVNI: Syria now, this is now not even the beginning of direct peace talks between Israel and Syria. But, this is indirect talks in order to find out whether this is possible. And it’s important for the…

State Comptroller Yosef Shapira on Sunday put his foot down on ongoing leaks of confidential state documents to the media – using as an example Channel Ten reporter Raviv Drucker, who earlier Sunday published details of a draft report Shapira is preparing on trips Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his family took over several years while…

Former Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin, who is the Labor-Hatnua list’s candidate for Defense Minister if that list heads the next government, on Sunday accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of causing a serious deterioration in Israel’s relationship with the United States. Speaking at campaign rally of “the Zionist Camp”, as the Labor-Hatnua list calls itself,…

Billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal on Sunday launched a pan-Arab satellite news channel aimed at challenging established networks in the region, and specifically the controversial Al-Jazeera, according to the AFP news agency. From a studio lit in green and white, the Bahrain-based Alarab News Channel took to the air, leading with a story about…

A senior Hamas official on Sunday slammed a decision by an Egyptian court to brand Hamas’s “military wing” a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, the group’s spokesman toned down Hamas’s initial response to the move, in which it said that Hamas no longer viewed Egypt as a mediator between the group and Israel. Mousa Abu Marzouk said…

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is signaling a return to politics. Iran’s hardline former president, who prided himself on his denial of the Holocaust, on Sunday launched his official website, in a possible return to the political scene, according to AFP. The site, Ahmadinejad.ir, showing the former president with a big smile, was launched at the same time…

A reporter for Al-Jazeera English was released Sunday from an Egyptian prison and deported, after more than a year behind bars, The Associated Press (AP) reported. His two Egyptian colleagues remain jailed in a case widely condemned as a sham by human-rights groups, the report noted. Australian Peter Greste was whisked away on a flight…

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said on Sunday he had no idea why Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s invitation to address Congress “has become such a fuss”. Speaking to Channel 1 News, Giuliani, who is currently visiting Israel, noted that Netanyahu has addressed Congress before and added that it makes sense for him to…

The UN Security Council condemned on Sunday the “heinous and cowardly” murder of a Japanese journalist, after Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists claimed his beheading. “This crime is, yet again, a tragic reminder of the increasing dangers journalists and others face every day in Syria,” the 15-member body said in a statement quoted by the AFP…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on Sunday evening with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and noted that to this point, there has been no condemnation of Iran for last week’s attacks near the Israel-Lebanon border. The international community “has yet to point an accusatory finger at Iran which was behind the attack on the northern border,…

The Central Elections Committee on Sunday issued an order preventing the use of images, photos, and statements that could be taken to imply the endorsement of the IDF of any particular political party or candidate. The decision was handed down in the wake of a request by the IDF official in charge of election matters…

Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid on Sunday announced his assets – and they are substantial. In line with disclosure requirements ahead of the March 17 elections, Lapid disclosed, Channel Two reported, that he is worth approximately NIS 10 million. Lapid, the former finance minister, owns an apartment in the tony Ramat Aviv neighborhood of Tel…

Jordan vowed Sunday to do all it could to save an airman held by the Islamic State group after the jihadists killed a Japanese journalist they had been holding, AFP reports Sunday.  The kingdom “will do everything it can to save the life and secure the release of its pilot,” Maaz al-Kassasbeh, who was captured by the jihadists after his plane crashed in…

Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, spoke Sunday morning at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya about Israel’s current security situation.  Among other things, he addressed the terror attack on Har Dov last Wednesday, global threats to Israel, and the need to promote political negotiations to achieve peace in the region.  “We are…

The Australian and British foreign ministers Sunday slammed the killing of a Japanese journalist by Islamic State (ISIS) as they vowed to tackle the jihadi terrorist threat at defense talks in Sydney. British Foreign Minister Philip Hammond is in Australia for the annual meeting with his counterpart Julie Bishop, with efforts to counter terrorism and foreign fighters high on the agenda. “I…

Three children from the same family were arrested Sunday morning after they resisted police during demolitions of their home community of Givat Gal near Hevron, the Honenu civil rights group reports.  The IDF’s Civil Administration forces, along with police, destroyed a path surrounding the community, and clashes with locals erupted at the site.  Three brothers, aged 9, 12,…

A former employee of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s wife Sarah, who sued the Netanyahu family in 2014, is now coming to its defense in the wake of her latest media scandal: “bottlegate.” Victor Saraga, who served as Sarah Netanyahu’s driver for five years, signed a statement Saturday entitled “The Truth Behind the Slanders against the Netanyahu Family,” Channel…

Instead of joining the ridicule of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s wife Sarah over “Bottlegate,” MK Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) has a new target – the Labor-Hatnua leaders for feeding off the rumors to further their campaign.  The Haaretz newspaper reported last week that during her husband’s second term as prime minister from 2009 to 2013, Sarah Netanyahu collected…

Jewish Home Chairman and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett says that after ten years of rising food prices, the government in which he was Economics Minister lowered food prices by an average of 5% over the past year. He presented the official numbers from the Central Bureau of Statistics on his Facebook page. “Food prices increased…

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One thousand Israelis flocked to Kiryat Shmona on Saturday night, to comfort the family and participate in the funeral of a 7 year-old boy run over Friday as he walked home from school.  Eyal Krause, a second-grader, had been walking home from school on Yekutial Adam street when the driver of a private vehicle struck him,…

An indictment has been filed against a Nazareth resident who was arrested on suspicion of joining Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), it has been cleared for publication Sunday.  The defendant has been named as 20 year-old Mahran Yousef Hahkhmi Khalidi, who was arrested three weeks ago in a joint operation between the Israel Security…

At least seven people were killed when a blast ripped through a bus carrying Shiite pilgrims in a central district of the Syrian capital on Sunday, a monitoring group said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was not immediately clear what had caused the blast near the Souq al-Hamadiyeh neighbourhood of Damascus. The…

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Sunday that Israel could “not afford” to let the northern front get too active. “We cannot allow the front to heat up too much with terror attacks launched against us,” Gantz said. The instability in Lebanon, he said, was a good example of how the old order in…

One of the lessons the IDF has learned from Operation Protective Edge and the preceding military operations is that the weight that IDF ground soldiers carry on their backs is too heavy, reports Channel 2 News‘s website, Mako. The Technological Division of the IDF’s Ground Arm, together with the security industries, are working on several solutions…

Three grave robbers were caught red-handed Friday night as they tried to raid antiquities in the area of Tel Ashkelon, a major archaeological dig south of the Ashkelon National Park in southern Israel. The three were caught in the act of digging up graves at the site – searching for gold, sarcophagi, or other valuable…

Iran plans to get its revenge for the caricatures of Mohammed that appeared in French magazine Charlie Hebdo – by sponsoring a contest that will seek cartoons on the theme of Holocaust denial. The three top winners will get prizes of $12,000, $8000 and $5000 respectively. The contest is open to anyone, and entries will…

Britons dislike Israel more than they do any other non-European country in the world, with the exception of North Korea, a new study found.  The Chatham House-YouGov survey, which documents British attitudes toward the United Kingdom’s international relations polices, was published last week.  In a section titled “General public attitudes towards other countries” respondents were asked to…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a condolence letter to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Sunday, after ISIS murdered hostage Kenji Goto Saturday to worldwide outrage. Fellow hostage Haruna Yukawa was murdered by the group last week.  “Please accept my heartfelt condolences following the tragic deaths of Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto,” Netanyahu wrote. “These despicable,…

Dramatic new video footage shows the Free Syrian Army (FSA) battling Assad’s forces in the critically strategic city of Idlib in North-western Syria. Idlib is the connector route between Aleppo and the Assad-dominated port of Latakia on the Mediterranean coastal area. The originally rebel-published video highlights the rebels blowing up a massive Assad regime building…

Former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Friday that his biggest mistake as a politician was joining Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition. Speaking to Channel 2 News several days after stepping down as the head of Kadima and announcing he will not run for the 20th Knesset, Mofaz said that there was a great distrust…

Turkey’s president has big aspirations. He doesn’t want to be a sultan, but he does want to be like Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II. The comments by Recep Tayyip Erdogan were made on the state-run TRT channel on Thursday, and were quoted by AFP. Erdogan explained that his desire for an expanded presidential role would not…

An Egyptian court on Saturday banned the so-called “military wing” of Hamas and listed it as a terrorist organization, Reuters reported. Hamas is an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, which authorities in Cairo have also declared a terrorist group and have cracked down on since the army ousted one of its leaders, Mohammed Morsi, from…

World leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama, British Prime Minister David Cameron and French President Francois Hollande condemned on Saturday night the beheading of a Japanese hostage by the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group. “The United States condemns the heinous murder of Japanese citizen and journalist Kenji Goto by the terrorist group ISIL,” Obama said…

The Jewish community in Cornwall, Britain, expressed anger over the weekend after a local village agreed to reinstate a sign saying “Hitlers Walk”, the BBC reported. The sign for a park overlooking the village Mevagissey was taken down by the now-defunct Restormel Council in 2005 after complaints that it was inappropriate. Now, however, Mevagissey Parish…

Kurdish fighters’ success in recapturing the key Syrian town of Kobane from Islamic State (aka ISIS) jihadists was a “big deal,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday. Kerry, speaking during a trilateral meeting with his Mexican and Canadian counterparts in Boston, noted that ISIS has been “forced to acknowledge its own defeat.” Kurdish…

A visibly upset Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to “never forgive terrorists” after the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video purportedly showing the beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto. “I am extremely angry about these heinous and despicable terrorist acts. We will never forgive terrorists,” Abe told reporters in Tokyo on Sunday morning…

After having used the Internet profusely for propaganda and recruitment, jihadist organisations have realized that investigators are gleaning crucial information online and are increasingly concealing their web presence, experts say. Apart from recent orders given to fighters to limit their exposure, erase the footprint of their online activity and avoid revealing too many place names…

Yoav Galant, former Head of IDF Southern Command, had harsh criticism for the government’s policy regarding the Hamas terror tunnels, in a Saturday interview. He said that the tunnels were no secret and that when he was general – from 2005 to 2010 – the IDF destroyed 92 tunnels, including during the 2008-9 Operation Cast…

A terrorist was killed Saturday evening by a force of IDF paratroopers, after he and a second terrorist were identified throwing firebombs at vehicles on the Gilad road in Samaria, next to Yitzhar. The second terrorist escaped and was caught a short while later. He was slightly wounded. The Head of the Samaria Regional Council,…

The Islamic State (ISIS) terror group released a video Saturday purportedly showing the beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto. In it, Goto is seen kneeling, dressed in an orange outfit, as a masked man standing beside him with a knife blames the Japanese government for his “slaughter.” As in most previous ISIS execution videos, it ends…

The Likud party intends to hold a press conference in Tel Aviv Sunday in which it will expose details about “V15 – Victory in 2015,” a campaign it says is using foreign money, and lots of it, to boost Labor and Meretz in the elections. Likud has filed a motion to the Elections Committee, according…

The CIA and Israel’s spy agency Mossad were behind an elaborate plot to kill Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh in a 2008 car bomb attack in Syria, the Washington Post reported Friday. Citing former intelligence officials, the newspaper reported that US and Israeli spy agencies worked together to target Mughniyeh on February 12, 2008 as he…

Japan’s deputy foreign minister has said negotiations with the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group threatening to execute a Jordanian pilot and a Japanese journalist have become “deadlocked”, local media reported Saturday. Yasuhide Nakayama, who is leading Tokyo’s emergency response team in Amman, told reporters in the Jordanian capital late Friday that there had been no progress…

Israel’s ambassador to Washington denied responsibility Friday for a protocol incident over an invitation for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to address the US Congress, saying that Republican leaders made the decision.   The White House had expressed frustration last week when House Speaker John Boehner, a main political adversary of President Barack Obama, announced Netanyahu had…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is getting excellent reviews from commenters following the release of his latest campaign video. The video features a young couple that is about to leave for a night out when the baby-sitter knocks at the door. “You asked for a babysitter? You got a Bibi-sitter,” says Netanyahu. “Look, it’s either me…

Israel’s publishing of tenders to build 450 new homes in Judea and Samaria has left the United States deeply concerned, the White House said Friday. The White House condemned the construction plans as “illegitimate and counterproductive” to achieving peace, according to the AFP news agency. “We have deep concerns about these highly contentious settlement construction…

Mitt Romney, who ran for President of the United States in 2012 but lost to President Obama, on Friday officially decided he will not run for president again. Romney, 67, said he had decided it was “best to give other leaders in the party the opportunity to become our next nominee”, the BBC reported. His…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday rejected another Israeli media report targeting his wife, Sarah, this one saying that she had pocketed at least $1,000 worth of public money by returning empty bottles to supermarkets, AFP reports. The reports were cause for ridicule in local media and, in a long Facebook post, Netanyahu hit out…

Three Palestinian Arabs on Friday evening tried to infiltrate into Israel from Gaza. IDF soldiers who arrived at the scene captured the three. Upon searching the three suspects, the soldiers discovered that they were armed with knives. The three were taken for further questioning. Friday evening’s incident is the second time in 24 hours that Gazans…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s arch rival, the exiled Mohammed Dahlan, has been granted Serbian citizenship, AFP reported on Friday, citing the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN). “Dahlan, his wife and four children, a nephew and five key political supporters were all granted citizenship between February 2013 and June 2014,” BIRN said. The news portal…

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Friday that his group is not seeking confrontation with Israel, but warned the Jewish state that the conflict could go beyond Lebanon’s borders in any new war, AFP reported. In an address via video link to thousands of supporters who gathered in Hezbollah’s southern Beirut stronghold, Nasrallah declared that Hezbollah’s…

Spain and Israel have agreed to carry out a joint investigation into the death of a Spanish UN peacekeeper who was killed in Lebanon during Israeli shelling near the border, Madrid said on Friday, according to AFP. The soldier was killed on Wednesday when the Israeli military shelled border areas in retaliation for a Hezbollah…

Likud continues to top Labor Friday, according to the latest in a flurry of polls released by the major Israeli news agencies this week – as the public strays toward supporting the largest parties in the 20th Knesset.  Likud edged out Labor, according to the TNS poll for Walla! News, at 27 and 26 seats, respectively.  Far…

Rabbi Tzvi Tau, head of Yeshivat Har Hamor and the rabbi of MK Yoni Chetboun, felt the need to clarify on Friday that he distances himself from Chetboun’s Yachad – Ha’am Itanu party headed by Eli Yishai, after it included Baruch Marzel of Otzma Yehudit in its list. Rabbi Tau’s decision evidently comes due to his…

A number of tiny fringe parties have attempted to enter the 2015 elections race once again this year, despite the struggle for mainstream parties to pass the newly-raised Knesset threshold.  A full 3.25% of the population’s vote is required to elect a party into the 20th Knesset, a change which has prompted the formation of several…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that she will visit the Great Synagogue in Budapest, and discuss with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban about the rising anti-Semitism in Europe, during her visit to Hungary on Monday. Merkel’s spokesman, Steffen Seibert, announced that during Merkel’s visit to Budapest she is to discuss with Orban general issues regarding the European Union (EU), but also invest…

Parties submitted their Knesset lists on Thursday, and a new poll released on Friday by Maariv shows Likud squeaking past the joint list of Labor and Hatnua, while the united Arab parties come in at a strong fourth place and Jewish Home drops. The poll gives Likud 25 mandates as opposed to 24 for Labor and Hatnua…

The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist glares at Baghdad residents with bulging eyes and bared teeth, but neither kidnapping nor death are imminent, because this jihadist is made from a shoe. A black, treaded sole with the toe broken off serves as his face and nose, while old shoelaces evoke both black headscarf and long hair. For teeth, zippers dangle…

Two IDF soldiers were killed on Wednesday by a Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack on Har Dov in the Golan Heights, but new revelations indicate the IDF knew such an attack was imminent, and made preparations that apparently went wrong. A day after the attack in which Major Yochai Kalengel hy”d (25) and Staff Sergeant Dor Chaim Nini…

The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s Fatah and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) sponsored a sports tournament this month, according to Palestinian Media Watch – and named it after terrorists.  “The Martyr Raed Al-Karmi and Martyr Dalal Mughrabi Tournament” was held on or around January 18, according to translations of the official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida. Both Al-Karmi and Mughrabi were arch-terrorists…

Islamist terrorist Amedy Coulibaly murdered four Jews at the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket in Paris earlier this month while taking hostages and later being shot by police – just two days after the heinous attack, Muslim youths were outside the store gloating. A group of French Muslims posted photos of themselves in front of the…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Thursday refused to confirm or deny that Israel was behind a recent airstrike in the Syrian Golan Heights which killed a senior Hezbollah commander and an Iranian Revolutionary Guards general, but said that the elimination of these terrorists was necessary. Ya’alon spoke to Channel 10 News a day after two IDF…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will visit Stockholm next month after Sweden became the first major state of the European Union to recognize the PA as “Palestine,” the Swedish government announced Friday. “The visit of president Abbas, by invitation from the prime minister, is confirmed for February 10,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Ulla Jacobson told AFP. “He will also meet the foreign…

A Greek politician who claimed that Jews “don’t pay taxes” has been elected as Defense Minister, Greek media reported Thursday night, amid already-high concerns over rising anti-Semitism in the country that is only expected to worsen following recent elections. Panos Kammenos of the Syriza party made the comments during an interview with Greek Ant-1 TV, according…

Renowned Israeli conductor Israel Yinon collapsed and died as he was conducting a concert in the Swiss city of Lucerne late Thursday, a spokesman said. According to local media, the 59-year-old was in the middle of leading ‘An Alpine Symphony’ by German composer Richard Strauss when he slumped, falling headlong to the ground.  Volunteers immediately rushed to do CPR; the…

The Islamic State (ISIS) group has shot down a Syrian regime warplane that was bombing opposition-held areas, killing the pilot, a monitoring group said on Friday. Jihadists published photographs of the plane and the pilot’s body on social media sites following the crash on Thursday night in Damascus province that was claimed by ISIS. The jihadist group and rebel factions seeking President…

The Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat that is identified with the ruling monarchy is presenting the newly appointed King Salman, who was enthroned after King Abdullah died last week, as being a successor in Abdullah’s line of “gradual reform.” The paper claimed Abdullah’s reforms aimed to implement Islamic Sharia law while supposedly advancing the position of women – despite…

With their town liberated but largely destroyed by battles that drove Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists out, thousands of Syrian residents of Kobane are settling into Turkey’s newest refugee camp for an indefinite stay. Opened on Sunday just several kilometers from the Syrian border, the new compound near the town of Suruc is the largest refugee camp yet in Turkey, and has begun…

Eli Yishai’s Yachad – Ha’am Itanu party, with Baruch Marzel from Otzma Yehudit on the fourth spot, presented its Knesset list on Thursday night to the Central Elections Committee, ahead of a run in the elections for the 20th Knesset on March 17. In presenting the list, Marzel refused to shake the hand of the committee’s…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu selected social researcher Dr. Anat Berko for the reserved 23rd spot in Likud’s Knesset list Thursday. Berko, a Lieutenant Colonel in the IDF reserves, has made a name for herself in research on the subject of female Palestinian Arab suicide bombers. Her 2012 book, “The Smarter Bomb”, is based on interviews she conducted…

The special prosecutor whose mysterious death set off a political firestorm in Argentina was laid to rest Thursday, as an investigation tries to unravel his apparently staged suicide, reports AFP. Alberto Nisman, 51, was buried in a Jewish cemetery on the outskirts of Buenos Aires near several of the victims who died in the 1994 bombing of a Jewish charity…