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Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman on Wednesday said that Israel should not cooperate with the United Nations’ probe into its alleged “war crimes” in Gaza. Liberman slammed the UN and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as “hypocritical” organizations. “The State of Israel must not cooperate with this commission,” he said, according to the Israel…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that it was important to reach an agreement on a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. The two spoke by telephone before the 72-hour ceasefire expired and before it was announced that it was extended for five more days. “The President reaffirmed the United States’ support…

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird sharply criticized the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) appointment of a committee to investigate accusations of “war crimes” in Operation Protective Edge – a committee headed by an outspoken opponent of the Jewish state. The “UN Human Rights Council continues to be a sham for advancing human rights. It’s an…

Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu lashed out Wednesday at the UN Human Rights Council, accusing it of granting “legitimacy to terror organizations” by investigating Israel for alleged war crimes in Gaza. “UNHRC gives legitimacy to murderous terror organizations like Hamas and Daash (Islamic State),” he said, accusing the rights body of overlooking “massacres” committed elsewhere in the Middle East in…

Sirens sounded in southern Israel after 9:00 p.m. and at least one rocket that was fired from Gaza exploded harmlessly in the Hof Ashkelon area. Sirens were reported in Hof Ashkelon, Lachish, and the Eshkol regions, as Hamas terrorists broke the truce with Israel more than two hours before it was scheduled to end. A…

Nationalist MKs on Wednesday night called for a strong Israeli reaction in the wake of Hamas’s latest rocket attacks on Israel. Hamas violated a 72-hour ceasefire hours before it was set to expire at midnight, then continued firing rockets even after an extension was announced. Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) said that as long…

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo visited Israel on Wednesday, where he met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, among others. Cuomo, who was accompanied by a delegation of American lawmakers, underscored Washington’s commitment to Israel. “We know that you’re going through a very difficult time right now and Israel is going through…

Israel and the Palestinian Arabs agreed late Wednesday to extend a ceasefire in Gaza after failing to reach a long term agreement in Cairo-mediated talks, an Egyptian official said, according to AFP. The new ceasefire will last five days, said senior Palestinian negotiator Azzam al-Ahmed, after he and other officials initially spoke of another 72-hour…

Gaza terrorists fired a barrage of rockets towards southern Israel on Wednesday night, just moments before one ceasefire was set to end and a new one to begin. The Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted one rocket over the city of Netivot. Two other rockets exploded in the Sdot Negev region. There were no physical injuries…

The Israel Air Force attacked targets in Gaza on Wednesday night, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit confirmed in a statement. The attacks came after Gaza terrorists fired rockets at southern Israel, the statement said. “The IDF is prepared for this possibility and is determined to continue to maintain the security of the State of Israel,” the…

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor on Wednesday morning went on the offensive, slamming the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) committee appointed to investigate Israel over allegations of “war crimes” in Operation Protective Edge. Israel and the US have both rejected the three-man UNHRC committee which is headed by Prof. William Schabas, a Canadian law professor known for his…

In a remarkable example of courage, a young IDF captain shocked doctors after it was found he had been fighting for three weeks in Gaza unaware that he had a bullet lodged in his leg. The soldier, identified by Walla! only by the initial M., is a 26-year-old student from Jerusalem. He was injured on July 17,…

The Hindu community has come out in support of Jews in asking France to change the name of its “Death to Jews” (La Mort aux Juifs) hamlet, located about 60 miles from Paris. Hindu statesman Rajan Zed said in Nevada (USA) Wednesday that it was shocking to learn that such a village name exists in…

A senior Hamas leader declared ahead of the end of the current 72-hour ceasefire, which will come at midnight on Wednesday, that the current lull in fighting is the last chance for Israel to negotiate with his terrorist organization. Ismail Radwan, the Hamas leader, warned Wednesday “these three days are the last opportunity as far…

As truce talks head into their final day Wednesday ahead of the end of the ceasefire at midnight, reports reveal that the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas delegation in Cairo is refusing to return the bodies of two IDF soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge. Israel is refusing to any truce agreement that would not…

Irish soccer player Tommy McGuigan became the latest sports figure to spew anti-Semitism two weeks ago, as flagged by the Britan-based Campaign Against Anti-Semitism. “If you are lucky enough to know or work with a Jew, punch him right on the nose tomorrow,” wrote McGuigan, along with an expletive hashtag adding foul language to his…

Egypt has presented a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza to Israel and Hamas, Palestinian Authority (PA) officials told The Associated Press (AP) on Tuesday night, at the end of a second day of negotiations in Cairo. After more than 10 hours of talks on Tuesday, the PA officials told AP that Egypt’s proposal calls…

Duvdevan Special forces arrested 12 terrorists overnight Tuesday/Wednesday in Judea and Samaria, with several arrests near Hevron. Among them, the IDF arrested a Hamas terrorist actively planning a terror attack against the IDF and Israeli civilians in Kafr Samoa, south of Hevron. Four arrests were also made in Deir Ista, near Qalqilya; two in El…

Hareidi MK Yisrael Eichler (United Torah Judaism) warned Israel of an “Arab rebellion” on Tuesday, as the Knesset Finance Committee debated the proposed 0% VAT Housing Law, which was introduced by Finance Minster Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid). The new law would grant those who served at least 18 months in the IDF to save 18% (the…

A McDonald’s employee was fired in North Carolina last week, according to ABC News, after he drew a swastika on a woman’s hamburger bun in an apparent joke of poor taste.  Charleigh Matice, 32, was about to put mayonnaise on her chicken sandwich when she saw the swastika, drawn in what looked like butter.  “I felt…

Hamas sources in Gaza report that a dud IDF missile exploded on Wednesday, killing five including an Italian journalist, after Hamas terrorists clumsily tried to dismantle the missile. Hamas emergency services spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra stated that in addition to the five dead, there are several more who are seriously wounded. “A number of explosives experts…

The Merkaz (Center) District Attorney’s Office filed indictments to the Lod District Court Wednesday against three residents of Qalansawe, located near Netanyah, finding them guilty of attacking Jews in “revenge” for the murder of 16-year-old Arab teen Mohammed Abu Khdeir.  Taar Makhlouf, 21, Fawzi Abu Kishk, 20, and Suleiman Salbaya, 23 are facing charges of aggravated assault…

Professor William Schabas did not deny Wednesday, in an interview with Israel’s Channel 2, that the international community has a double standard regarding Israel’s conduct of war. Channel 2‘s anchor, Danny Kushmaro, asked Schabas if there is not a double standard involved when that thousands of innocent civilians were killed in Chechnya by the Russians,…

Speaking in a 2013 panel, Prof. William Schabas, who has been tapped to head the United Nations’ investigation into Operation Protective Edge, clearly revealed his great eagerness to bring about the prosecution of Israel over its actions in Gaza, even if that involved “twisting things and maneuvering” in the international legal arena. He said that…

A plaque marking the 1918 birthplace of former Israeli President Chaim Herzog in Belfast was removed earlier this week, out of fears of further anti-Semitic violence in the Northern Ireland city.  The blue plaque honoring Herzog, who was President of Israel from 1983 to 1993, was first erected on a property at Cliftonpark Avenue in…

The Knesset Interior Committee approved a landmark visa decision Wednesday, allowing for US citizens to receive investor visas in Israel on the one hand, and for Israeli citizens greater access to USA E-2 investor visas on the other.  Through a reciprocal agreement with US officials, the move allows US citizens to obtain visas to invest…

State Comptroller Judge (ret.) Yosef Chaim Shapira decided on Wednesday to launch an investigation into the decisions of the IDF military echelon during Operation Protective Edge, as well as into the IDF and government’s mechanism of inspection. The decision comes following accusations of IDF “war crimes” in Gaza during the operation to defend Israel’s civilian…

A group of Israeli tourists was shocked to discover that their rental jeeps had been graffitied Wednesday, in yet another example of a hate crime in Europe over Israel’s self-defense operation in Gaza. The jeeps’ tires were slashed, and the words “Israeli murderers” (Spanish: asesnios Israel) were smeared on the windows in bright red paint,…

Bild Zeitung, Germany’s most popular daily which boasts a daily readership of at least 3.5 million, has published a full-page ad with the faces of the 64 IDF soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza. The ad appeared on Monday under the headline “Israel’s War Against the Hamas Terrorists: Faces…

An woman from Arvada, Colorado who was charged with aiding a foreign terrorist organization has agreed to change her plea to guilty, CBS Denver reports. Shannon Conley, 19, is charged with conspiracy to provide support to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), now known as the Islamic State (IS) after declaring a…

Legendary Jewish-American actress Lauren Bacall, an icon of Hollywood’s golden age who lit up the silver screen in a series of classic movies opposite her husband Humphrey Bogart, died Tuesday aged 89. “With deep sorrow, yet with great gratitude for her amazing life, we confirm the passing of Lauren Bacall,” the Bogart estate confirmed in…

South Africa’s former President, Thabo Mbeki, has called for a boycott of Israeli goods to show solidarity with Palestinian Arabs, the BBC reported on Tuesday. The public should mobilize against Israel so that it “does pay a price for the position that it is taking”, Mbeki was quoted as having said in the capital, Pretoria.…

MK Danny Danon (Likud) warned on Tuesday evening against Israel making any concessions to Hamas during ceasefire negotiations, amid reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was preparing the heads of the parties in the coalition for concessions to the terror organization. “You do not do business with a terrorist organization,” Danon said. “The agreement being…

President Reuven Rivlin apologized to his Brazilian counterpart for a remark by a foreign ministry spokesman calling the Latin American powerhouse a “diplomatic dwarf,” AFP reported on Tuesday. The comment in July was made by spokesman Yigal Palmor after Brazil criticized Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as excessive and recalled its envoy in Tel Aviv.…

“David the Nahlawi”, the Nahal Brigade soldier who was disciplined after a confrontation with Arab youths in Hevron, has been allowed to return to his battalion after a two-month suspension, it was reported on Tuesday night. According to Kol Yisrael radio, the commander of the Nahal Brigade and the commander of David’s battalion decided to…

A coalition of activists said on Tuesday they would send a flotilla of ships to break “Israel’s siege of Gaza” by the end of 2014, AFP reported. “We plan to send the flotilla during 2014,” the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, which includes activists from at least 10 countries, said in Istanbul. The statement was made at…

Egypt’s top religious authority on Tuesday condemned the armed group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which has taken over parts of Iraq and Syria and is now calling itself the Islamic State (IS). According to Reuters, Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam described the group as a corrupt, extremist organization that is damaging Islam.…

Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) on Tuesday strongly condemned the committee appointed by the United Nations (UN) to investigate Israeli “war crimes” allegations in Operation Protective Edge in Gaza. Speaking on Channel 2, Lapid termed it “a ridiculous committee of ridiculous commissionership, that instead of investigating the murder of millions of Muslims by other Muslims, investigates…

The UK on Tuesday threatened to suspend 12 arms export licenses to Israel if the fighting in Gaza starts up again, a day before the current 72-hour ceasefire with the Hamas terrorist organization ends on Wednesday at midnight. The announcement was made by British Business Secretary Vince Cable, an MP of the Liberal Democratic party.…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki on Tuesday stated his certainty that a committee appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will find Israel guilty of “war crimes” in Operation Protective Edge. “We have full confidence that this commission is going to do everything to demonstrate that Israel has committed war crimes, crimes against humanity…

A new song calling for the elimination of Israel by Mohammed Assaf of Gaza, who won the “Arab Idol” singing contest last June, is all the rage on Palestinian Authority (PA) TV, where it has been playing heavily since its first broadcast July 29. Now Palestinian Media Watch has translated the new “summer hit,” in which Assaf sings…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held personal talks with party chairperson coalition members Tuesday night to update them on the Cairo truce talks with Hamas, and according to reports, to prepare them to receive controversial concessions to the terror organization. The ministers Netanyahu met with included Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu), Finance Minister Yair Lapid…

Soldiers of Golani’s 51 Battalion arrived on Tuesday afternoon to the Kotel (Western Wall) in Jerusalem to say the gomel blessing, a blessing recited after safely emerging from a situation of danger. The combat soldiers left the field of battle for the first time since Operation Protective Edge began over a month ago, and went directly to…

In a newly translated interview, Hamas spokesperson Husam Badran declared that his terror organization is holding truce talks in Cairo with Israel being held “at gunpoint” to accept the group’s demands. Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) translated the interview from Al Jazeera, which is sponsored by Qatar, a key provider of Hamas funds. In it, Badran…

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas in Cairo to broker an end to the Gaza conflict have so far made no progress, a senior Israeli official said Tuesday. “The gaps are still very wide. There has not been progress in the negotiations,” he told AFP. Israel Hayom cited “an official diplomatic source” as saying the…

A thirty year-old man was injured on Henrietta Szold street in Kiryat Shmona Tuesday, after a car bomb detonated in his vehicle. Magen David Adom (MDA) medics and helicopter crews called to the scene treated the wounded driver, who suffered injuries to his legs, and transported him to Ziv Hospital in Tzfat in critical condition.…

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the “military wing” of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party, has threatened to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel, including the kidnapping of IDF soldiers. In a newly released video filmed in Gaza, members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades are seen in a warehouse where weapons and dozens of rockets…

Prof. William Schabas, a Canadian law professor chosen to helm a United Nations commission examining possible war crimes in Gaza scoffed Monday at charges he’s biased against Israel, but his past utterances leave little doubt as to his lack of objectivity. According to the Canadian Press, Schabas once suggested in a speech that he believes Israeli…

The parents of the three yeshiva boys who were abducted and murdered – Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Frenkel and Gilad Sha’ar, hy”d – gave a moving interview to Israel Hayom on Tuesday on the days of waiting, the moments of difficulty and hope – and the news of finding the bodies.  “Immediately after the funeral, the [media] spotlight [was]…

A bare 24 hours into the current ceasefire with Hamas, Israeli press outlets pounced on the commander of the Givati brigade, Col. Ofer Winter, for allegedly “excluding women” from performances for the troops. The allegation has been discredited. Winter was accused by media feminists of cancelling a volunteer performance by Sarit Hadad, and subsituting for…

The State Attorney on Tuesday called for the Supreme Court to reject calls within the Knesset to classify Operation Protective Edge as a “war,” a move being urged so as to increase state compensation for damages. The operation has already seen 67 Israeli soldiers and citizens killed and has been the longest such operation in…

In a public address, a Kuwaiti cleric on Sunday criticized Hamas over the deaths of civilians in Gaza, calling on the group to “show some regard for the lives of the Muslims who were killed.” The address by Othman Al-Khamis was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “More than 2,000 Muslims were…

Accessibility ramps and other improvements are being added throughout Jerusalem’s Old City, allowing the disabled easier access to the Western Wall 3,000 years after Solomon built his Temple there, the Jerusalem Development Authority (JDA) announced Tuesday.  A special project of the Jerusalem Development Authority, the Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs Office, the Jerusalem Municipality and Social…

Despite tensions surrounding the war in Gaza, 338 new Olim (immigrants) from the United States and Canada arrived in Israel Tuesday on an Aliyah charter flight to Israel. Of them, 108 will be enlisting in the IDF. The special Nefesh B’Nefesh flight was organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption and…

Even as Israeli representatives are in Cairo to discuss a truce with Hamas on Tuesday, the terrorist group is taking pains to clarify it has no intentions of desisting from trying to wipe Israel off the map. Hamas’s “military wing,” the Al-Qassam Brigades, released a statement presenting its position on the ongoing talks in Egypt.…

On the heels of reports that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) promised funds to Hamas in order to procure the current 72-hour ceasefire, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal openly pledged $500 million to “rebuild” Gaza. Speaking at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting in Jeddah on Tuesday, al-Faisal accused Israel…

Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) strongly opposes the push for Israel to agree to Hamas’s economic demands, which would include paying the salaries of Hamas officials working against Israel politically and militarily in Gaza. “Over the last day, reports have surfaced that Israel has agreed to finance Hamas’s officials in Gaza,” Bennett fired. “This…

The Simon Wiesenthal Center has sent a letter to France’s interior minister to demand that a tiny hamlet south of Paris called “Death to Jews” be renamed. The group’s director of international affairs, Shimon Samuels, wrote to Bernard Cazeneuve saying he was “shocked to discover the existence of a village in France officially called ‘Death…

Israel’s Right of Return also gives citizenship to spouses of the same sex when Jews choose to immigrate to Israel together, Interior Minister Gidon Sa’ar (Likud) decided Tuesday.  According to Sa’ar’s decision, gay and lesbian Jews married abroad wishing to immigrate to Israel could do so – even if one of the partners is not Jewish…

In the Gaza conflict, it’s Israel that best represents “truth, justice, and the American way,” says Dean Cain, the actor best known for his role as Superman on ABC Television. Speaking on the Fox-TV talk show “Outnumbered” on August 8, Cain said that Israel, like the United States, is a democracy that is threatened by…

Representatives of Palestinian Arab terror organizations and an Israeli delegation were to resume “gruelling” negotiations in Cairo on Tuesday aimed at ending the Gaza conflict, as Egyptian mediators raced to narrow gaps between the warring sides. In Monday’s indirect talks, Israel’s delegation pushed for the disarmament of terror groups in the coastal enclave, a demand…

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had harsh words on Monday for hard-liners opposed to making a deal with the West over Iran’s nuclear program, saying they should go “to hell.” According to the Associated Press (AP), Rouhani, who spoke to an annual meeting of Iranian ambassadors, called his hard-line critics “political cowards.” “Anytime there is going…

The Ra’am-Ta’al party has sent a letter to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, asking him to launch a formal investigation against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and Chief of Staff Benny Gantz over “war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza” during Operation Protective Edge. Ra’am-Ta’al includes MKs Ahmed Tibi, Ibrahim Sarsour, Taleb…

Finance Minister Yair Lapid on Monday called on the international community to pull together a massive aid package for Gaza conditioned on the Palestinian Authority returning to power in place of Hamas. Speaking to the Associated Press (AP), Lapid said that the Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is the legitimate authority in Gaza. If Hamas…

Amal Alamuddin, a British human rights lawyer who was named to the United Nations panel that will investigate Israel’s alleged “war crimes” in Gaza, has rejected the role – but not because she is pro-Israel. According to the Telegraph, the 36-year-old Oxford graduate, who is also engaged to Hollywood actor George Clooney, turned down the…

The Turkish group IHH said on Monday it would send a new flotilla of ships to “break Israel’s siege of Gaza”, four years after the deadly storming of its vessel by Israeli commandos, according to AFP. IHH, which organized the first flotilla, said in a statement quoted by the news agency that activists from 12…

Israel’s Foreign Ministry blasted on Monday the newly appointed United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) panel that will investigate allegations that Israel violated humanitarian law in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry noted that the appointment of Canadian professor William Schabas, who is known for his anti-Israel positions, means that…

A three-member panel appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will investigate allegations that Israel violated humanitarian law in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge, Bloomberg reported on Monday. The commission of inquiry will be headed by Canada’s William Schabas, an international law professor at Middlesex University in London who served on the Sierra…

At a time when some visitors to Israel have been rethinking their travel plans to Israel in light of ongoing hostilities with Gazan terror groups, some 500 Christian volunteers will be traveling to the Jewish state to support farmers in Judea and Samaria this summer – and they say they’re coming no matter what. Members…

A company owned by Israeli mining magnate Dan Gertler said it has discovered vast potential reserves of oil in the strife-torn east of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Oil of DRCongo, a subsidiary of the Fleurette Group, said in a statement that seismic testing from Lake Albert, which forms part of the northeastern border with…

Economics Minister Naftali Bennett, who is a member of the Diplomacy-Security Cabinet, said Monday that in the end, there will be no alternative to decisively defeating Hamas in Gaza. “At this point, the Cabinet took the turn that it took, but in the end, Hamas’s declared aim is the destruction of Israel, so sooner or…

A member of an elite Special Forces team that eliminated a Fatah terrorist this morning has given firsthand testimony of the operation Monday. Border Police combat fighters from the elite Yamas unit, accompanied by the IDF, eliminated a terrorist who was suspected of carrying out several gunfire attacks, after he holed up in a home…

The Foreign Press Association on Monday lodged a strong protest accusing the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas of harassment and of threatening foreign reporters working in Gaza. The association for journalists working in Israel and the Palestinian territories said Hamas authorities and their representatives employed “blatant, incessant, forceful and unorthodox methods” against visiting international journalists covering…

Khan Younis, August 6: A boy stands next to the remains of a mosque in Khuzaa town, which witnesses said was heavily hit by Israeli shelling and air strikes during Israeli offensive, in the east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. 

According to a senior IDF officer, the military is about to carry out comprehensive field tests of technological means for locating tunnels. The technology has already been successfully tested in laboratory conditions. If the experiment is successful, the systems will be deployed around Gaza at a cost of a billion to 1.5 billion shekels. The…

Three Israeli tourists were killed and five were seriously injured Monday when a train collided with their minibus in central Switzerland, police said. Police in the canton of Nidwalden said that the foreign-registered minibus was hit by the train at a level crossing near the village of Wolfenschiessen. The injured Israelis were taken to hospital…

A small delegation of British Jews bravely made their way to Bradford, UK on Sunday, after notoriously anti-Israel MP George Galloway proudly declared the area Judenrein (“Jew-free”; German).  The delegation, bearing Israeli flags and passports, marched to the Bradford Town Hall.  The move was organized by UKIP candidate Rabbi Shneur Odze, who took to Facebook to thank participants…

As Israeli negotiators arrived in Cairo early Monday afternoon a 72-hour ceasefire with Hamas began the night before, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) stated that Israel must not allow Hamas’s terror on Israel to pay off for the Gaza-based organization. Speaking to Yedioth Aharonoth, Liberman declared “we must not blink, we must not allow even…

Finance Minister Yair Lapid admitted Monday that the government and military may have erred in telling residents of the Gaza Belt communities to go back to their homes, before ending the threat posed by Hamas. In a visit to Sderot, Lapid said, “The first role of the government is to provide security for the residents…

For many of the Gush Katif expellees the option of returning to the region from which they were uprooted nine years ago is more than just a dream. The days of Operation Protective Edge have strengthened the feeling that the whole country is coming to terms with the need to return to the region which…

The first week of the coming school year will be dedicated to societal tolerance and opposition to all discrimination and hatred. So announced Education Minister Shai Piron today in a Knesset Education Committee session. Piron, a rabbi and former co-dean of the Petach Tikvah Hesder Yeshiva, said, “During Operation Protective Edge, we have been exposed…

The Event for the Anglo Community in Israel – a yearly mega fair for Anglo olim (immigrants to Israel) – will be hosting several businesses from Southern Israel this Thursday, Aug. 14 at Binyanei HaUma in Jerusalem. These vendors will be presenting their crafts and sharing their personal experiences, including the challenge of living and working under constant…

In an attempt to protect their secrets from being revealed to the Israeli security forces, Hamas has executed tens of Gazan tunnel diggers in the last few weeks. The mass execution is said to have taken place after attempts from Hamas to make sure that the excavators knew nothing of the locations in which they…

The Jewish community of Miami has offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest regarding the murder of Rabbi Joseph Raksin hy”d, reports the Miami Herald. The 60-year-old rabbi was shot to death on Saturday morning while making his way to a local synagogue. Reportedly he was shot by two young African-American men…

‘Shuvu Banim’ Hassidic leader and Rabbi-on-the-run Rabbi Eliezer Berland narrowly escaped capture by the Johannesburg police on Sunday, as he was preparing a wedding for one of his followers.  Plainclothes police hid among attendees before the wedding ceremony, the hassidim stated, and attempted to apprehend Berland and put him into a waiting police vehicle near…

As Operation Protective Edge holds in a temporary ceasefire, evidence has come out revealing the extent of the extremist Sunni group Islamic State’s (IS, formerly ISIS) involvement in the terror war against Israel from the Hamas stronghold of Gaza. Terror organizations associated with IS and Al Qaeda have been proven to be joining the fight…

Turkey and Norway have expressed their willingness in principle to operate a seaport in the Hamas enclave of Gaza, according to the Palestinian delegation in Cairo.  According to a report in Israel Today, the government in Ankara has already announced its intention to send to Gaza over 3,000 prefabricated houses to be quickly assembled, accommodating local…

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Sunday welcomed the news of a fresh 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, urging the two sides to work towards a longer-term truce. Ban “expresses his strong hope that this will give the two sides, under Egyptian auspices, another chance to agree on a durable ceasefire for the benefit…

Newly elected Turkish President and outgoing Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said Sunday night his country has started to evacuate wounded people from Gaza to Turkey for treatment, according to The Associated Press (AP). Erdogan did not provide details, but the state-run Anadolu agency said a Turkish air ambulance left for Israel late on Sunday…

The communications center of the World Zionist Organization has found that there has been a dramatic increase in anti-Semitic incidents around the world. Sunday’s announcement comes following a study of the number of anti-Semitic incidents that occurred before Operation Protective Edge in Gaza and after it began. In July 2014, the study found, there were…

Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz visited the Gaza Belt on Sunday, where he met and spoke with IDF officers and local mayors. During the visit, Gantz made clear that a “trickling of rockets” from Gaza towards Israel was unacceptable. “We dealt a serious blow to Hamas,” he said. “Over the past 48 hours…

IDF spokesman Moti Almoz made clear in a television interview on Sunday evening that the IDF is “not going anywhere”, even with a new 72-hour ceasefire having been announced  in Gaza. “As far as we’re concerned, any talk of a ceasefire will be tested on the ground,” he said, emphasizing that the IDF had a…

Arutz Sheva met with Malachi Ben Yehuda from Riverdale, New York, who converted along with his wife Tanya to Judaism and then made the decision to make aliyah to Israel with Nefesh B’Nefesh. Ben Yehuda said that the decision to make aliyah was made during a trip the couple made to Israel. “We love the…

Hamas terrorists fired a barrage of rockets towards Israel, including Tel Aviv, just before midnight on Sunday night, when a new 72-hour ceasefire went into effect. Just before midnight, residents of the Gush Dan region in central Israel reported hearing a loud explosion. Hamas later claimed it fired a long-range missile towards Tel Aviv. Officials…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon visited on Sunday evening the home of Golani fighter First Sgt. Oron Shaul, who was declared a fallen soldier whose place of burial is not known by the IDF Chief Rabbi. During the visit, Ya’alon promised Shaul’s parents that Israel will do everything it can to retrieve his body. “We are…

Hillary Clinton devoted a large part of an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic to strong support for Israel. Clinton expressed support for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s insistence on maintaining military control of Judea and Samaria. “If I were the prime minister of Israel, you’re damn right I would expect to have control over…

A lasting truce must lead to the lifting by Israel of its blockade of the Gaza Strip, Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal told AFP in an exclusive interview in Doha on Sunday. The 72-hour ceasefire Hamas reached with Israel on Sunday “is one of the ways or tactics to ensure successful negotiations or to facilitate the…

Outgoing Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won his country’s first direct presidential election, provisional results show. With almost all votes counted, Erdogan had won about 52%, against 38% for his main rival, officials said. He said the people had “shown their will”. Erdogan had been prime minister since 2003 and was barred from…

The Al Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fatah, took reponsibility for a shooting attack that it claims to have executed Sunday south of Bethlehem. Fatah is headed by Palestinian Authority head Mahoud Abbas, considered “moderate” by many Israelis. The announcement read: “Out of a belief in the right and legitimacy of the struggle and…

Terrorists from the Islamic State (formerly ISIS) have killed at least 500 members of Iraq’s Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north, Iraq’s human rights minister told Reuters on Sunday. The killings reported by Iraqi Human Rights Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani to Reuters add to a long list of atrocities reportedly committed by…

Jewish Home Chairman, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett, said Sunday that Israel prefers the security of its citizens to international approval of its actions. He made clear that he did not see Operation Protective Edge as having achieved its aims. “The government of Israel embarked on the Protective Edge campaign and defined the goal as bringing back…

A new 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza has been agreed between Israel and the Palestinians following mediation by Egypt, a Palestinian official said Sunday. Israel confirmed Sunday evening that the 72-hour truce will go into effect at midnight. According to Channel 2, the Israeli delegation will head to Cairo for talks Monday morning, if the fire from Gaza does…

Gordon Howie, a right-wing-fringe candidate in the upcoming general election for South Dakota’s US Senate seat, apparently has a positive opinion for Adolf Hitler and his ‘Mein Kampf.’ A bizarre 2012 spoof video entitled “Justice Morgan” – posted on a blog under Mr. Howie’s own name – overtly features a copy of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” as…

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to vanquish his two rivals in elections Sunday to become the next Turkish president, promising to expand the post with new powers as opponents worry Turkey is creeping towards autocracy, according to an AFP analysis.  Erdogan, a pious Muslim, has ruled Turkey as premier since 2003, a period in which he has transformed the country…

Israeli actors on Saturday responded to a discriminatory cancellation of their show at Scotland’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, performing a silent version of their hour-long play while confronted by around 200 anti-Israel protesters. The Israeli acting troupe, named Incubator Theater, held an entirely silent version of their “hip-hop opera” which normally features rap at Bristo Square…

The Security Cabinet met on Sunday to discuss the future of Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, which is now in its thirty-third day. During the meeting, Interior Minister Gidon Sa’ar (Likud) stressed the importance of breaking Hamas’s military power.  “It was the right thing to do then, and it’s the right thing to do now,” Sa’ar…

United Nations (UN) representative Matias Bank on Saturday said his organization is not hurrying to address the numerous analyses disproving the Palestinian Arab tally of casualties in Gaza. The figures have been used as a focal point for worldwide hatred against Israel. “Because we have to deal with multiple casualties in a short time, we focused…

A senior Hamas source has revealed the terrorist group’s antagonism both towards Egypt’s mediation in truce talks regarding the ongoing conflict with Israel, as well as towards the Arab League. The source, Mustafa Sawaf, is considered a close confidant of the Hamas leadership. He advised the Palestinian negotiation team in Cairo, which is comprised of…

Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir (Yisrael Beytenu) is expected to announce soon that he is resigning from the Knesset, but staying on as minister. Shamir’s resignation will allow another member of Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party, Leon Litintzky, to join the Knesset. The parliamentary musical chairs are to be carried out once Operation Protective Edge ends.…

Britain’s left-wing Guardian newspaper is to run a controversial advertisement condemning Hamas’s use of human shields as “child sacrifice” – the same ad that was rejected by another British paper, The Times. The ad, co-written by Nobel Prize-winner and holocaust-survivor Eli Wiesel and US Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, is entitled “Jews Rejected Human Sacrifice 3,500 Years Ago, Now…

Communications Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud), a member of the Knesset’s Security Cabinet, reaffirmed Saturday night Israel’s commitment to destroy Hamas’s terror tunnel network while hinting at a renewed IDF ground entry to Gaza. “I won’t tell the enemy our intentions, but even a wide ground entry leading to the toppling of the Hamas regime is…

Former Cuban president Fidel Castro has signed an international manifesto “supporting Palestine,” demanding that Israel respect UN resolutions and withdraw from “Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.” Castro, who will be 88 next week, added his signature to those of intellectuals and politicians to the document “In Defense of Palestine,” the official Cuban Granma newspaper said Saturday. Several other famous…

The Defense Ministry has requested an extra 16-18 billion shekels ($4.6-5.2 billion) for 2014-2015, Globes reports Sunday, to cover costs from Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.  Six to eight billion shekels ($1.7-2.3 billion) covers the cost of the operation itself, according to the report, as well as an additional 11 billion ($3.1 billion) for follow-up costs…

The Palestinian Arab delegation in Cairo – comprising of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah (Palestinian Authority) members – have tentatively agreed to a cease-fire, PA state television reports Sunday. IDF Radio correspondents first broke the news to Israeli media; according to the public news outlet, PA state TV reports claim that the delegation has agreed to…

As the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) continues its bloody conquest of Iraq and Syria and begins invading Lebanon, all in the name of establishing a global Sunni Muslim caliphate system, signs of support for the extremist are being seen among Israel’s Arab citizens. Channel 10 exposed on Sunday that in recent months…

Hamas played a double game Sunday, with its negotiators reportedly agreeing to a ceasefire in Cairo, and its terrorists in Gaza launching missiles at Israel. Israel insists that it will not negotiate under fire, but Hamas appears to be trying to make it do so anyway. A Hamas spokesman told AFP on Sunday that the…

An Arab terrorist was apprehended Sunday morning, after he tried to infiltrate the Binyamin area community of Beit El, located to the north of Jerusalem in Samaria, armed with a makeshift gun. After the incident, Arutz Sheva spoke to the head of the Beit El Municipal Security Council, Yehuda Dana, about the infiltration attempt. At first, the…

For Malachi and Tanya Avital Ben-Yehuda of Riverdale, New York, terrorist rockets peppering southern Israel were inconsequential compared to their firm dedication to the Jewish faith and homeland. The Ben-Yehuda’s, an African-American couple who converted to Judaism four years ago, made aliyah (immigration) to Israel on July 21, even as counter-terror Operation Protective Edge continued…

A Palestinian official said that indirect negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza were expected to resume in Cairo on Sunday with an Israeli delegation scheduled to arrive in the city, where a Palestinian team and Egyptian mediators are waiting. However, an Israeli official told AFP that talks could not take place until Palestinian rocket fire came to a halt.…

Nobel laureate Professor Yisrael (Robert) Aumann has an idea that could turn the tables on Hamas’s rocket terror against Israel. In a recent lecture, he described his vision for a fully automatic system that would fire a rocket back at Gaza immediately, whenever Gaza terrorists fired a missile at Israel. Presumably, these missiles would be…

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri on Friday laid the blame on Israel for the ceasefire in Gaza not being extended, saying the Jewish state did not provide a clear response to Hamas’s conditions. Speaking at a news conference in Gaza City and quoted by the Ma’an news agency, Abu Zuhri said that the lack of…

The global coffee company Starbucks released a statement this week to clarify apparent misconceptions about the company’s patronage of Israel, Huffington Post reports. In a fact sheet updated August 5, Starbucks notes it does not support any political or religious causes, adding that neither Starbucks nor its CEO, Howard Schultz, provides any financial support to…

Famous Israeli filmmaker Menahem Golan, an Israeli cinema pioneer, died Friday at the age of 85. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Golan lost consciousness while strolling outside his house in the city of Yafo (Jaffa) with family members in the early hours of Friday evening. Ambulances rushed to the scene, and following attempts of more…

Hundreds of women from the Yazidi religious minority have been taken captive by members of the Islamic State, The Associated Press (AP) reported on Friday. Kamil Amin, the spokesman for Iraq’s Human Rights Ministry, said hundreds of Yazidi women below the age of 35 are being held in schools in Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul.…

Amos Yadlin, formerly the head of Military Intelligence who now heads the Institute for National Security Studies, said on Friday that Israel had not achieved the goals it set for itself in Operation Protective Edge and that Hamas is not weaker as a result of the operation. “Israel failed to achieve the goals it set…

A source in the Palestinian delegation to Cairo said that Israel offered to hand over 25 terrorists that it arrested during Operation Protective Edge and 18 bodies of terrorists who were killed, in exchange for the bodies of Lt. Hadar Goldin and First Sgt. Oron Shaul hy”d. According to report in Al Masry Al-Youm, Israel…

Devora Pinto, the wife of Rabbi Yosef Yoshiyahu Pinto, has been located in Argentina, according to reports. She was reportedly found in a state of exhaustion and taken to a hospital to be examined. Devora Pinto went missing in Argentina, officials from the movement said Friday. She disappeared without a trace from a Buenos Aires…

The White House condemned on Friday the renewed rocket fire from Gaza towards Israel, and urged both sides to resume talks and do what they can to protect civilians. “The United States is very concerned about today’s developments in Gaza,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters, according to Reuters. “We condemn the renewed rocket…

Israeli warplanes pummelled Gaza with 40 to 50 air strikes that killed five Palestinians Saturday in response to Hamas’s attacks on Israeli civilians. Terrorists slammed 23 rockets into Israel, deliberately terrorizing hundreds of thousands of civilians and defying international efforts to find a fresh ceasefire. Gaza emergency services said five men were killed in Israeli…

U.S. President Barack Obama opined in a New York Times interview that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is too popular at the moment to make territorial compromises with the Palestinian Authority. Asked whether he should be more vigorous in pressing Netanyahu, and the Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, to reach a…

Two Palestinian rioters were killed in clashes with Israeli security forces, in a series of violent protests against Israel’s military operation against terrorist groups in Gaza. One rioter was killed in Hevron, which is a stronghold of support for Hamas in Judea and Samaria. The Islamist group has repeatedly called for its sympathisers in Judea…

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni has presented a six-point plan which links a ceasefire in Gaza with a return to peace negotiations with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Channel 2 News reported about the details of the plan on Friday evening. Livni has presented the plan to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu but he has yet…

The US Air Force has launched it first strikes on Islamist terrorists from the “Islamic State” terror organization in Iraq.  Pentagon sources say airstrikes targeted artillery positions being used to shell Kurdish forces defending the northern city of Irbil, 88 kilometers east of Iraq’s second city of Mosul, which was seized by Islamists in June.…

As Israelis were welcoming the Sabbath on Friday evening, Hamas terrorists had plans of their own, firing five rockets towards the south. Two rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system over the city of Netivot, two rockets exploded outside a community in the Eshkol region, and a fifth rocket exploded in an open…

United Nations (UN) chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday condemned the latest rocket attacks on Israel and called for a return to a ceasefire in Gaza. The secretary general expressed his “deep disappointment” over the failure to extend the 72-hour truce that expired Friday and said peace talks in Cairo should continue, according to AFP. Ban…

Almost three quarters of Syria’s entire chemical stockpile has been destroyed, the world’s chemical weapons watchdog said on Thursday, after another 190 tonnes of agents were incinerated in Britain. “The OPCW confirmed today (Thursday) that 74.2 percent of Syria’s entire stockpile of chemicals has now been destroyed,” The Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons…

Hamas is apparently not waiting for a 72-hour ceasefire to expire at 8:00 a.m. on Friday morning. The “Red Alert” incoming rocket siren was heard in the Eshkol region of southern Israel shortly after 4:00 a.m. early Friday. The IDF said that two rockets exploded in open regions in the area. There were no reports…

Egypt’s top religious authority has rejected a death sentence proposed for the leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and 13 associates for murder and violence, but was asked by a court on Thursday to reconsider, Reuters reports. Mohammed Badie, the Brotherhood’s supreme guide, and the other defendants were sentenced on June 19, but Egyptian law…

Iran and six world powers will hold a new round of nuclear talks before the UN General Assembly, which starts on September 16, a spokesman for lead negotiator Catherine Ashton said Thursday, according to AFP. “We expect to hold an EU-led/E3+3 round of talks in advance of the ministerial meetings at UNGA at a location…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met on Thursday met with International Committee of the Red Cross Peter Maurer, who is visiting the region. The two discussed the recent Israeli operation in Gaza, and Netanyahu stressed that Israel regretted any civilian deaths in the conflict. At the same time he stressed that Hamas was responsible for any…

In interviews with international media Thursday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu pressed Israel’s case on defending citizens from Hamas’ terror attacks. By fighting Hamas, the leading edge of Islamist terrorism, Israel is defending not only itself, but the entire Western world. Speaking to Fox News, Netanyahu said that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS)…

The UN urged on Thursday an extension of the truce between Israel and Hamas to let humanitarian aid reach Gaza, hours before a three-day ceasefire was due to end. “The 72-hour-ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian factions that entered into force on 5 August must continue to hold,” James Rawley, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the…

Ayman Taha, a former spokesman for Hamas was found dead Thursday in Gaza City, but there were conflicting reports as to the cause of his death. According to AFP, Hamas said Taha’s body was found in a neighborhood of the city that was heavily bombed by Israel and accused the Jewish state of being responsible…

A resolution has been drafted to help strengthen communities under constant rocket fire, the Ministry for Development of the Negev and Galilee announced Friday – just hours after rockets slammed into several southern cities. According to a press release, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud), Minister for Development of the Negev and Galilee Silvan Shalom (Likud),…

Senior government officials stated to Arutz Sheva Friday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon had authorized the IDF to retaliate with force to a barrage of over 18 rockets on Israeli civilians Friday morning.  The report surfaces less than one hour after Palestinian media sources reported possible airstrikes in northern Gaza. IDF Spokesman…

The United States is considering airstrikes on groups of Islamists who have driven tens of thousands of Iraqis up the side of a mountain, where they are stuck without food and shelter. Meanwhile, airlifts of food are being organized to help the Yazidis, a group that the Islamists of the Islamic State in Iraq and…

Nationalist MKs have called for Israel to respond with force to Hamas and Islamic Jihad rocket fire on Friday, after the IAF declined to retaliate as of 9:00 am despite an hour-long series of barrages on Israeli civilians.  “Israel must immediately recall its delegation [from talks in] Egypt,” Economics Minister and Jewish Home Chairman Naftali…

Sirens have sounded in Ashkelon, Hof Ashkelon, Sderot, the Eshkol region, and the Gaza Belt area Friday, as a 72-hour ceasefire ended between Israel and terrorist organizations in Gaza.  Residents of Sderot, Nir Am, Michlelet Sapir, Mifsalim, Gavim, Ashkelon, Ohad, Sohar, Barhiya, Hodaya, Rei’im, Kfar Silver, Mishan, Nir Yisrael, Sde Nitzan, Telmei Eliyahu, Yesha, Mivtahim,…

British police have launched an investigation against MP George Galloway, after he declared his constituency an “Israel free zone” during a speech, ITV reported on Thursday. The speech caused outcry on social media after being posted online. In it, Galloway said, “We have declared Bradford an Israel-free zone. We don’t want any Israeli goods. We…

Two senior Hamas officials said the terror group will not extend a 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza that expires at 8:00 am IST on Friday, accusing Israel of rejecting their demands for a truce, according to AFP. A leader of Islamic Jihad also confirmed the factions had decided not to extend the ceasefire. “We have one position, we refuse to extend the…

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan faced new questions on Friday over his attitude to the media and women after he branded a prominent female journalist a “shameless woman” and told her “to know your place,” AFP reports Friday.  Just ahead of Sunday’s presidential election which he is clear favourite to win, Erdogan savaged Amberin Zaman, who writes for the Economist and the Turkish…

Two people have been injured from shrapnel falling in the Sdot HaNegev region, it was announced Friday afternoon.  The IDF confirmed that one soldier was lightly injured and a civilian – Sapir College director Dr. Nachmi Paz – was moderately wounded. Dr. Paz is being treated for his injuries in Soroka Medical Center in Be’er…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has called for ethnic cleansing against Jewish Israelis, after an official posted on Facebook to “drive the occupier out from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.”  Fatah Central Committee Member Tawfiq Tirawi posted a message to his official Facebook page reading, “O our free people of resolve and sacrifice in Gaza,…

US President Barack Obama has authorized “limited airstrikes” against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Iraq, he announced during a Thursday night press conference. The announcement, which surfaced hours after White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that Washington was “very concerned” over the “humanitarian catastrophe” developing there. “When many thousands of…

The wife of Rabbi Yosef Yoshiyahu Pinto, head of ‘Shuvu Yisrael’ sect and facing corruption charges in Israel, has gone missing in Argentina, officials from the movement said Friday. Devorah Pinto has disappeared without a trace from a Buenos Aires medical center, local police announced overnight Thursday/Friday – and fears have been raised that she…

A spokesman for Hamas’s “military wing”, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, warned Thursday of renewed fighting with Israel if talks in Cairo to extend a 72-truce in Gaza collapsed. “We appeal to the Palestinian delegation to not accept a ceasefire, unless it satisfies the demands of our people,” a spokesman using the nom-de-guerre Abu Obeida said…

A rally in support of Israel took place in Brooklyn Thursday, in solidarity with Israel’s fight against Islamist terrorists in Gaza. Several prominent pro-Israel figures were in attendance, including Rubin Margules, President of the Brooklyn Region of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), and Mort Klein, ZOA head, among others. Loading…

If Justice Minister Tzippy Livni were wise, she would keep a low profile – instead of suggesting that the government use money earmarked for Judea and Samaria to provide compensation for southern businesses that were financially decimated by the war, said Jewish Home MK Ayelet Shaked. “Livni, the architect of the disengagement, wants to use money…

In a letter to Jewish communities around the world, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu thanking them for their support in the recent weeks. In the letter, Netanyahu said that “The Jewish people always unites to meet challenges. The current period is no different. Over the past two months, beginning with the kidnapping and murder of three…

Controversial far-left British MP George Galloway has declared his constituency an “Israel-free zone”, in comments that are bound to invite further allegations of racism. The notoriously anti-Israel Galloway told a meeting of the Respect Party which he heads that Israelis of any persuasion were “not welcome” in Bradford, where serves as MP. Racism? George Galloway’s…

Hamas has been gearing up to fight again with Israel, Doha-based television network Al-Jazeera reports, after the end of the 72-hour ceasefire.  The outlet prominently features a Hamas tunnel – filled with rocket launchers, mortars and anti-tank missiles – which according to the terrorists is already being prepared for the possibility of renewed fighting.  “We are…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman spoke with US Secretary of State John Kerry Thursday and thanked him for the United States’ unreserved support for Israel in the UN Security Council session Wednesday. Liberman noted that the US’s cooperation prevented the UNSC from adopting a binding anti-Israeli resolution. Liberman also told Kerry that the announcement by the…

An Iraqi MP and member of the ancient Yazidi religion broke down in tears earlier this week as she described the slaughter of thousands of her people earlier this week. MP Fiyan Dakheel’s heartbreaking display of sheer desperation highlighted the alarming advances made by the “Islamic State” group (formerly ISIS) in recent weeks, and the damning…

Five teenagers were arrested Thursday over a vicious anti-Semitic attack on a bus full of children from Jewish schools in Sydney that left them traumatized. Police said a group of five- to 12-year-olds were travelling on a private bus to the suburb of Bondi Junction on Wednesday afternoon when eight teens jumped on. They then…

Lt. Eitan has modestly asked not to be decorated for his heroic attempts to save Lt. Hadar Goldin (hy”d) last week, saying that the act of bravery was merely the right thing to do.  “I don’t want a medal; I’m no hero,” Lt. Eitan stated in a Yediot Aharonot interview late Wednesday night. “If not me, someone…

A Swedish politician resigned following sharp criticism after he wrote on Facebook that “Jewish pigs” are responsible for mass murders in Gaza, according to the English language Swedish website The Local. Omar Omeirat, Social Democrat candidate for the town council of Filipstad, central Sweden, gave a speech in the town on Friday evening advocating diversity…

In a statement Tuesday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu lent credence to reports that Hamas had planned a large-scale operation against Israeli civilians, in which its terrorists would have emerged simultaneously and in large numbers from numerous tunnels dug into Israel. The terrorists would then have been able to carry out a large scale massacre of…

Aliyah organization Nefesh B’Nefesh says that the “Lone Soldiers’ Flight” landing in Ben Gurion Airport next week will include 109 youths aged 18-23 – 55 boys, 54 girls – who are going to enlist in the IDF. Higher motivation among north American youths considering aliyah is being reported by Nefesh B’Nefesh, which specializes in assisting…

Hamas staged a “victory rally” on Thursday in Gaza, as the future of a three-day ceasefire remains uncertain. Hundreds of Palestinians poured onto the streets of Gaza City, chanting support for “resistance” against Israel, an AFP reporter said.   Loudspeakers mounted by the roadside blared out Hamas victory songs as the crowd – most of…

Professor Ze’ev Sternhell, long known for his sharp criticism – bordering on incitement, many on the right say – against residents of Judea and Samaria and right-wing politicians, is as it again. On Wednesday, Sternhell said that he was “frightened by the gang” of Economics Minister Naftali Bennett and Housing Minister Uri Ariel (both of…

Next Monday, attorneys representing 297 US citizens whose loved ones have been killed or injured by Hamas terrorists will file a lawsuit against the Arab Bank, the largest bank in the Middle East, over its role in bankrolling Hamas terrorists. The Arab Bank in Ramallah, in particular, has been involved in paying Palestinian Authority and…

During the course of Operation Protective Edge, Israel’s hospitals treated some 2,200 injured civilians and soldiers, the Health Ministry said Thursday. In addition, the hospitals treated some 1,500 people who suffered from shock when they experienced a rocket attack or some other war-related incident. Barzilay Hospital in Ashkelon treated the largest number of the injured,…

Yoko Ono, the octogenarian widow of former Beatle John Lennon, is concerned over the “the loss of so many lives of innocent children in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict” – and as her contribution to resolving the Middle East conflict, she will be lighting a memorial in Iceland, called the Imagine Peace Tower. The Tower was built…

A fire that began in the Jerusalem Forest is threatening the Knesset. The fire, which broke out in a wooded area not far from Israel’s parliament, is proving difficult to bring under control because of the high temperatures Thursday. Officials are not yet sure how the fire broke out. In the past, police have said…

A newspaper delivery worker has been accused of scratching swastikas onto vehicles in the Beersheva suburb of Lehavim. The worker, a resident of the Bedouin town of Rahat, was indicted on Thursday of damaging property and of a racist act. According to the indictment, the incident occurred on July 28, during the height of Operation…

Economics Minister Naftali Bennett said that he was fully behind Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu when he says that Israel would respond with full force if Hamas resumed its attacks on Israel. “I support the Prime Minister for his stance on the attempts by Hamas to blackmail us with terror threats against Israelis to achieve its…

A staggering amount of so-called “civilian casualties” in Gaza were probably Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists, the New York Times admits for the first time this week, challenging the routine acceptance of casualty figures provided by the Hamas-run health ministry. The report critically examines the data from the Palestinian Health Ministry, the official data center at Shifa…

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa has cancelled his visit to Israel scheduled for the second half of this year due to “Israeli attacks against the Palestinians”, Xinhua reported on Wednesday, citing Ecuador’s Andes Agency. During an interview with a local radio station on Wednesday, the president reportedly accused Israel of committing “genocide” in Gaza during Operation…

The British government is expected to announce tougher arms export measures for Israel but will not suspend all export licenses, The Telegraph reported on Wednesday. Downing Street insiders confirmed to The Telegraph that an announcement was “imminent” but said details of the measures were still being finalized. An announcement is anticipated on Thursday. On Monday,…

At least 10 civilians were wounded on Wednesday after a homemade bomb was tossed under the al-Khanaq bridge in Lebanon’s second largest city Tripoli, The Daily Star reports. Heavy damage and blood was visible at the scene of the explosion. The wounded were transported to the nearby Al-Shifaa and Mazloum hospitals, according to the reports.…

United Nations (UN) chief Ban Ki-moon declared on Wednesday that the organization is ready to help rebuild Gaza but it would be “the last time”. Ban opened a special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly with an appeal for a lasting peace as a 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was holding for a…

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that the people of Gaza need greater hope for the future but also stressed the importance of Israel’s security. “The U.S. goal right now would be to make sure that the ceasefire holds, that Gaza can begin the process of rebuilding,” Obama told a news conference, according to…

Hamas deputy leader Moussa Abu Marzouk said on Wednesday there has been no agreement to extend a 72-hour ceasefire with Israel that is set to expire on Friday, according to AFP. “There is no agreement to extend the ceasefire,” wrote Abu Marzouk on Twitter. He is part of a Palestinian Authority delegation holding indirect talks…

MK Danny Danon (Likud) launched a scathing attack against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, saying Netanyahu was acting like “the contractor of the left”. Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Danon said that many people now admit that he was correct in his criticism against Netanyahu over the operation in Gaza. Netanyahu several weeks ago publicly sacked…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) issued sharp criticism against the United Nations on Wednesday, after Secretary General Ban Ki Moon accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza. Liberman said that before criticizing Israel for unintentional damage to UN facilities during a self-defense operation, UN leaders should ensure that UN facilities will not serve…

Israel has conditionally agreed to extend a ceasefire that ended the month-long self-defense operation in Gaza, an Israeli official stated on condition of anonymity. Reuters reports Wednesday night that the official did not give details about the extension, only that it had been agreed upon.  “Israel has expressed its readiness to extend the truce under its…

The IDF has already launched a large-scale project in all divisions, a senior officer announced Wednesday, to determine which soldiers deserve medals or other decoration for their roles in Operation Protective Edge. At this stage, the officer said, soldiers involved in a select handful of incidents may already be likely to receive decoration. One of…

In a move condemned as “anti-Semitic”, a London theater has shocked the British Jewish community by refusing to host the UK Jewish Film Festival this coming November, because the event is sponsored by the Israeli embassy. The Tricycle Theatre was to have been the main venue for the UKJFF for the eighth year running, hosting…

Israeli ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor sharply criticized the UN on Wednesday, after Secretary General Ban Ki Moon accused Israel of “war crimes” against Palestinian Arabs in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge.  “If the UN assembly had invested a tenth of the energy invested in investigating Israel, it would reveal horrific war crimes on…

Hamas terrorists have been encouraged to dress up like ordinary Orthodox Jews, according to Palestinian Media Watch, to carry out suicide attacks on Israeli civilians.  Hamas repeatedly broadcasted a video encouraging the attacks, as well as the disguise, according to the watchdog group.  The Hamas video glorifies a terrorist dressing up in a black hat,…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu gave a press conference to foreign journalists on Wednesday, to provide an update on Operation Protective Edge after a 72-hour ceasefire.  Netanyahu began by noting that Israel is ready if the ceasefire is violated, saying the situation has improved since the war and that more units have been employed along the…

Several foreign journalists have claimed to have been harassed by Hamas during Operation Protective Edge, the Government Press Office (GPO) announced Wednesday.  “Upon the conclusion of the operation, the GPO accumulated testimony by foreign journalists regarding harassment by Hamas activists regarding the carrying out of their assignments,” the GPO stated. “Journalists said that during their…

Five paintings by 19th-century Russian Jewish landscape painter Isaac Levitan have been stolen from a museum in his honor, regional officials said on Wednesday. The paintings, part of its permanent collection of the artist known for his “mood landscapes” of the Russian countryside were stolen in the early hours of Tuesday according to a statement published on the Ivanovo region’s government website.…

Conservative commentator Andrea Tantaros ripped into Geraldo Rivera, and demanded that Israel be allowed to defend itself against Hamas. Rivera has been attacking Israel since Operation Protective Edge began, and claiming that the bombing of Gaza was “undermining Israel’s moral authority.” The debate became heated and personal, and at one point Tantaros called Rivera “an…

London’s Times newspaper has refused to run an ad featuring Nobel Prize-winner Eli Wiesel opposing Hamas’s use of children as human shields in its war with Israel. The ad campaign, run by high-profile US Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, has already appeared in leading American publications such as the New York Times, New York Observer, Washington Post and the Wall Street…

Mohsen Rezai, Secretary Expediency Discernment Council for the Islamic Republic of Iran and former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, called for Hamas to step up their campaign of human shields in future wars against Israel on live television on Sunday – disguised, cynically, as protection for the civilian population.  “I would like to tell the…

Roughly 30 hours into a 72-hour cease-fire deal, the IDF has begun to withdraw its ground forces from the Gaza border area, it announced Wednesday afternoon.  IDF forces began withdrawing from within Gaza itself earlier this week; now, it has discharged 30,000 reserve soldiers from along the Gaza border. Despite the step toward normalization, the…

IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz addressed the winding-down process of Operation Protective Edge on Wednesday afternoon, shortly before reports surfaced that 30,000 reserve soldiers in Gaza had been discharged.  “We are at the end of a long and continuous process, which began with a very broad campaign in Gaza and continued with…

Arab news sources reported Wednesday that Egypt has agreed to open the crossing between it and Gaza at Rafah, on the condition that the Gazan side be supervised by the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas, and not by Hamas. Hamas has reportedly agreed to this, mostly because the it is now a part of the…

A group of drunken anti-Semites terrorized a school bus filled with Jewish students in Australia, shouting Nazi slogans and threatening to murder everyone on board on Wednesday. Speaking to Australia’s Daily Telegraph, mother Jackie Blackburn said her 12, 10 and eight-year-old daughters, who were on their way home from Mount Sinai, Mariah and Emanuel kindergarten in Bondi, were…

Despite the current ceasefire, the IDF released additional video Wednesday showing Hamas rockets being fired from spots next to civilian homes. Israel has charged countless times that Hamas has a policy of using its own populace as human shields. It purposely fires from among civilians, in the hope that Israel is deterred from striking the…

Google has removed from its Google Play store two controversial games created against the backdrop of Operation Protective Edge. In one of the games, “Bomb Gaza”, players take the role of the Israeli Air Force, “tapping a touchscreen to pour red-nosed bombs into a 2D multi-level landscape filled with cartoonish people wearing white robes and…

A Gallup poll has found that 42% of the adult population in the US think the Israeli actions in Gaza are “mostly justified,” while 14% thought the same about Hamas’s actions. Americans’ views of the military actions of Israel and Hamas in the current conflict in Gaza have changed little over the past 10 days.…

In the last few minutes the Code Red sirens sounded in the Gaza belt communities of Sedot Negev and Sha’ar HaNegev. Reports indicate they were false alarms.

A team of chemical weapons experts will travel to Syria next month to follow up on Damascus’ pledge to hand over its arsenal, the British UN envoy said Tuesday, according to AFP. A joint mission from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the United Nations is overseeing the destruction of the…

Britain’s National Union of Students (NUS) has voted to boycott Israel, The Jewish Chronicle reports. The decision came at a special meeting on Monday, during which the NUS national executive committee adopted a policy of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). Under the policy, which passed with 23 votes in favor, 18 against and one abstention,…

“Hamas has suffered a military beating, in terms of the rocket array and the tunnels, and has arrived in Cairo with its demands no longer on the agenda,” a diplomatic source said Tuesday. “Hamas could have received the same thing in the first ceasefire that was offered, but it refused the Egyptian initiative and in…

The United States said Tuesday that it expects to participate in Cairo talks between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs aimed at securing a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, AFP reported. “I think it is likely we will be participating in these talks,” the news agency quoted State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki as having told reporters. “We are…

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said on Tuesday that MK Hanin Zoabi must report for questioning by police on suspicion of inciting violence and insulting a public official. Weinstein’s directive came after Zoabi, who was summoned for questioning for remarks she made against police, more than once refused to show up, at one point claiming she has…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry thinks that the ceasefire in Gaza should be used to resume broader peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Kerry’s remarks were made in an interview Tuesday with the BBC, in which he said the situation could concentrate minds on the need to negotiate a “two-state solution”.…

Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, on Tuesday called for arms exports to Israel to be suspended. Clegg’s call came after Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a British minister who was the first Muslim woman to sit in the Cabinet, resigned over the British government’s policy on Gaza. “I think the question marks that Sayeeda Warsi has…

Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, on Tuesday called for arms exports to Israel to be suspended. Clegg’s call came after Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a British minister who was the first Muslim woman to sit in the Cabinet, resigned over the British government’s policy on Gaza. “I think the question marks that Sayeeda Warsi has…

As the dust settles amid a 72-hour ceasefire between Israel terrorist groups in Gaza, more and more reports are emerging from Gaza backing the Israeli government’s claims that Hamas is deliberately carrying out attacks from within densely-populated civilian areas. Earlier Tuesday an Indian TV report exposed terrorists setting up and launching a rocket just meters…

Israeli security forces have arrested the leader of the Hamas terror cell which kidnapped and murdered Israeli teenagers Naftali Frenkel, Eyal Yifrah and Gilad Sha’ar. Hussam Kawasmeh, a resident of Hevron, was arrested in the Arab neighborhood of Shuafat in Jerusalem in a joint operation involving IDF forces and the Shabak (Israel Security Agency), and…

A phone call between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was mysteriously disconnected on Sunday, Channel 2 News reports. According to the report, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki admitted to reporters on Tuesday that the call was disconnected, though she said it was due to a “communications issue”. Psaki did,…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is continuing its efforts to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), the Ma’an news agency reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the PA’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, met with ICC officials to discuss the Israeli operation in Gaza. During his visit, Al-Maliki inquired about the legal procedures necessary for…

Muslim hackers temporarily downed Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew-language website Tuesday, and defaced it with anti-Israel slogans. The attack was claimed by Turkish hacking group Turkguvenligi, which claims to have previously hacked websites belonging to NATO, Interpol, Nasa and the Pentagon, among other high-profile targets. In a message addressed to “all the Muslim Peoples”, the group singled out…

The IDF has published excerpts from a captured Hamas combat manual on “Urban Warfare”, showing how the Islamist terrorist group exploits civilian casualties – and the knowledge that the IDF will seek to avoid them – to its advantage. The IDF says the manual was captured in Shujaiya suburb of Gaza City, which was the…

Israeli security forces have arrested the leader of the Hamas terror cell which kidnapped and murdered Israeli teenagers Naftali Frenkel, Eyal Yifrah and Gilad Sha’ar. Hussam Kawasmeh, a resident of Hevron, was arrested in the Arab neighborhood of Shuafat in Jerusalem in a joint operation involving IDF forces and the Shabak (Israel Security Agency), and…

Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro compared Israel’s military operation in Gaza on Tuesday to a “disgusting form of fascism” that its ally, the United States, is unable to control. “I think that a new and disgusting form of fascism is emerging with considerable force at this moment in human history,” Castro wrote in a column…

Jordan has presented a new resolution on the Gaza crisis to the UN Security Council and hopes for action on the measure in the coming days, its ambassador said Tuesday.   The draft resolution backed by Arab countries calls for a lasting ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, as well as an international effort to rebuild…

Hamas has suffered a “serious blow” after nearly a month of fighting, according to the head of the IDF’s Southern Command Maj. Gen. Sami Turgeman. “The damage to Hamas was severe,” he told Channel Two. “We killed hundreds of Hamas fighters and commanders, we hit the enemy’s rocket infrastructure, destroyed its manufacturing infrastructure. We hit all the arsenals…

Pottery sherds discovered by an Israel Antiquities Authority inspector several months ago, during extensive work by the Netivei Israel – National Transport Infrastructure Company on the new Highway 1 project, resulted in an archaeological excavation in which a previously unknown settlement from the Late Second Temple period was discovered, as well as a rare hoard of…

Yehuda Glick, head of the LIBA Movement for Freedom of Movement on the Temple Mount, expressed his satisfaction that “for the first time in three years the Temple Mount has been opened to Jews on Tisha b’Av.” “300 Jews have already come, including MK Shuli Muallem-Refaeli (Jewish Home).  Afterward, we went to Commander of the Old City,…

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged “utmost restraint” after Israel and Hamas agreed to begin a new, 72-hour truce Tuesday in their bloody, month-old conflict. The breakthrough came during talks in Cairo on Monday, only days after a similar three-day agreement to let the guns fall silent collapsed within hours of starting on Friday, as Hamas…

Thousands of Jews gathered at the Western Wall (Kotel ) Plaza in Jerusalem Tuesday to mark Tisha B’Av – the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av – on which the Second Jewish Temple was destroyed, 1944 years ago. The First Temple was also destroyed on the same day of the year by Nebuchadnezzar,…

The United States welcomed the declaration of a ceasefire in fighting between Israel and Hamas on Monday but warned that the onus was on Hamas to maintain the truce, AFP reports. “This is a real opportunity. We strongly support the initiative,” Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken told CNN, when asked about an Egyptian proposal…

Hamas terrorists launched a rocket attack on Israeli civilians minutes before a 72-hour ceasefire took hold at 8:00 a.m. Tuesday. Rockets were fired at fires at the Gaza Belt, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Kiryat Malachi, Gan Yavneh, Maaleh Adumim and Judea. No one was reported hurt. An Arab family’s home near Bethlehem, in the area under Palestinian…

Israel’s ambassador to Hungary demanded a government inquiry on Tuesday into a public hanging of effigies of Israeli leaders staged by a town mayor linked to the far-right Jobbik party.   Mihaly Zoltan Orosz, mayor of Erpatak, was filmed ordering the hanging of effigies of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former president Shimon Peres…

Great excitement was felt at the Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva on Saturday, as an IDF soldier who was critically wounded in Gaza opened his eyes for the first time, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reports. The soldier, Ohad Ben-Yishai, was wounded from shrapnel that entered his head while fighting terrorists in the Sajaiya neighborhood in…

The severe upswing in anti-Semitism in several European countries is so significant that Newsweek has made it its cover story. The sympathetic Newsweek report is entitled, “Exodus: Why Europe’s Jews are Fleeing Once Again.” The article is replete with references to the Holocaust, rendering it much more than just another hate-crimes report. It rather relays…

Italy said Tuesday it is expelling a Moroccan imam caught on video inciting violence against Jews during Israel’s offensive against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, as reported by Arutz Sheva Monday. The cleric was filmed during a Friday sermon in a mosque near Venice last month calling for Jews to be killed “one by one”, according…

Minister of the Interior, Gideon Sa’ar (Likud), has submitted a request to Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein to revoke the citizenship of Muhammad Faraj, for his 2012 terror attack on a Dan bus in central Tel Aviv, where 26 people were injured. The Tel Aviv District Court convicted Faraj on 24 counts of attempted murder, aiding and abetting…

A terrorist stabbed a security guard at the entrance to the city of Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, Tuesday. The guard suffered moderate to severe wounds. He fired at the terrorist but apprently failed to hit him. The attacker ran away toward the village of Azariyeh. Magen David Adom medics gave the guard initial care…

Thousands from across the country and from around the world gathered last night in Jerusalem to renew the traditional march around the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City on the night of Tisha B’Av. The 20th annual march took place through the efforts of the heads of the “Women in Green” organization, led by Yehudit Katzover…

A British minister who was the first Muslim woman to sit in the Cabinet has resigned over the British government’s policy on Gaza, she said Tuesday. Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a minister at the Foreign Office and minister for faith and communities, wrote on Twitter: “With deep regret I have this morning written to the Prime…

The findings that enabled the IDF’s Chief Rabbinate to declare the death of Lt. Hadar Goldin were provided by an IDF commander who fearlessly and selflessly pursued the terrorists who abducted Goldin’s body. First Lieutenant Eitan, the son of olim (immigrants) from New York, realized following Friday morning’s incident that the Hamas terrorists who attacked…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday signed a bill granting an additional $225 million in taxpayer dollars for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system, reports The Associated Press (AP). The U.S. has provided hundreds of millions of dollars for Iron Dome in the past. The new package is intended to replenish Israel’s capabilities. Congress approved…

South African President Jacob Zuma voiced outrage Monday over civilian deaths in Israel’s campaign in Gaza but distanced himself from calls to expel the Israeli ambassador, AFP reported. “We are outraged by the killing of civilians by Israel, some in United Nations shelters,” Zuma was quoted as having told a news conference in Washington where…

With criticism mounting of UN inaction in the Gaza conflict, envoys from all 193 countries of the United Nations will meet Wednesday to hear top officials report on the crisis, AFP reported on Monday. The meeting of the UN General Assembly was requested by Arab countries who are pushing for a toughly-worded resolution to be…

Hamas has accepted an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire with Israel set to begin Tuesday, a spokesman for the group told AFP on Monday night. “Hamas informed Cairo a few minutes ago of their approval of the truce for 72 hours from tomorrow,” spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said. The Islamic Jihad, which along with…

Britain is reviewing licenses to sell arms and military goods to Israel in the light of ongoing operations in Gaza, Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said Monday, according to AFP. Britain’s government has approved licenses for the sale of military goods to Israel worth at least $71 million since 2010, according to government figures obtained…

Israel confirmed on Monday night that it has agreed to Egypt’s proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza, to begin Tuesday morning at 8:00 a.m. local time. The confirmation came after the ministers in the Security-Diplomacy Cabinet held a telephone discussion during which they voted to agree to the ceasefire. According to Channel 10 News,…

Jerusalem Councilman Aryeh King told Arutz Sheva on Monday that one should not be surprised by the tractor terrorist attack that took place in Jerusalem earlier in the day and which was carried out by a terrorist from eastern Jerusalem. In fact, King said, the attack was part of an ongoing escalation in the security…

For the second time in one day, a major terrorist alert was revoked after several hours. The first alert, in the Gaza border area, saw police closing roads and turning away drivers, while the second one, in the Tel Aviv area, had police setting up roadblocks, causing major backups on the principal roads into and out…

Israel’s former ambassador to the UN, Prof. Gabriella Shalev, admitted in a recent political conference at the Van Leer Institute that then-foreign minister Tzipi Livni selected her for the position because she is a woman. Speaking at a conference dedicated to promoting UN Security Council Resolution 1325, Shalev said: “I became an ambassador by circumstance.…

Traffic police have asked drivers to be aware of the possibility that they will be sharing the roads with large numbers of army vehicles. The vehicles, including tanks, APCs, jeeps, and others are being transported on wide-bodied military transport vehicles. The vehicles are generally wider than a standard lane on a highway, and drivers were…

Israel and the Palestinians have agreed a new 72-hour Gaza ceasefire that would start at 0500 GMT (8:00 a.m. Israeli time) Tuesday, said a senior official in Egypt, which is hosting truce talks. “Egypt’s contacts with relevant parties have achieved a commitment for a 72-hour truce in Gaza starting from 0500 GMT tomorrow morning, and an…

Hamas on Monday specifically called on Arabs in Judea and Samaria to conduct attacks on Israelis, urging them to start the “third intifada” that would start with attacks on Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and eventually move into the rest of Israel. In a message sent out by Hamas Monday to “the Palestinians of…

According to UN officials, Gaza sustained at least $5 billion in damage over the past month and a half of IDF shelling and ground action. In an interview with the Palestinian Authority news agency Ma’an, the PA’s Labor Minister, Dr. Mufid Al-Hasayena, said that the PA would be appealing to interactional donors for funds to…

Speaking Monday, Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that Operation Protective Edge was not over, and would not be over until there was a complete cease-fire from Hamas – and that meant a complete cessation of rocket attacks on Israel, one that would remain intact. On a visit to Ashkelon, Yaalon said that the IDF needed…

Monday marks the advent of Tisha B’Av, the Fast of the Ninth Day of the Hebrew month of Av, commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples and the subsequent exile of the Jewish people from their homeland. This year marks 1,946 years since the destruction of the Second Temple by Roman soldiers in…

Residents of Beitar Ilit on Sunday night conducted a protest demanding greater security on the road that leads to the town. Residents drove out onto the road in a convoy, heading towards the Hussan Junction, which has been the site of many rock throwing attacks in recent years. Residents said that it has gotten to…

Mati Dan, chairman of the Ateret Cohanim organization, said in an interview with Arutz Sheva that the Religious Affairs Ministry was taking responsibility for the “Kotel Katan,” the Small Western Wall that is an extension of the Western Wall that is accessible through the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. According to Dan, the decision…

World leaders leaders on Monday commemorated the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War I, a small Balkans conflict that went global with the German invasion of neutral Belgium in August 1914. In the Pacific, Prime Ministers Tony Abbott of Australia and John Key of New Zealand paid tribute to the tens of thousands…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) made headlines Monday, after he suggested Israel is considering turning Gaza over to the UN.  “The operation is not over,” he said, referring to a seven-hour unilateral humanitarian ceasefire and reports the IDF is slowly withdrawing from Gaza. “We are continuing to destroy terror tunnels and to regroup in…

As we enter the “nine days” of the month of Av, Jews around the world remember the events of this time almost 2,000 years ago, when Jerusalem was destroyed (in 70 CE), the Temple was razed to the ground and the city’s population massacred or exiled. In “Palestine” (the name given by Rome to the…

Five policemen were injured during clashes between masked Arabs and security forces on the Temple Mount Sunday, after police opened the Rambam (Mughrabi) Gate to visitors.  The rioters began throwing rocks and firing firecrackers at police, erupting in clashes on the Temple Mount as police called for reinforcements.  Israel Police and Border Police staff were…

Fatah’s “military wing,” the Al-Aqsa Brigades, have claimed responsibility for a failed terror attack on a Neve Tzuf family home Sunday, in what was initially thought to be a burglary gone awry.  The statement said that a terror cell from the organization confronted “Zionist settlers” and killed three of them before they could safely return…

Israel began observing a unilateral cease-fire at 10:00 am Monday, following a late-night decision by the Security Cabinet and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.  The seven-hour truce will last until 7:00 pm Monday, and excludes the Rafah area, where ongoing clashes have raged since Friday.  The Coordinator of Government Activities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (COGAT),…

For a long time he spoke to every official, every minister, and every IDF Chief of Staff over the threat of terror tunnels – in Gaza and elsewhere – but the system preferred to silence him. Now, Geologist and res. Col. Yossi Langotsky speaks to Arutz Sheva for the first time since Operation Protective Edge began…

Hamas officials called on UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to “formally apologize before the Palestinian people” for “accepting Israel’s version of events” regarding their breaking a humanitarian ceasefire on Friday, claiming that the fact that IDF soldier Hadar Goldin (hy”d) was killed and not abducted proves that Israel lied to international community on being attacked…

An Israeli man was shot in the stomach at the entrance to the Har Hatzofim (Mount Scopus) tunnel  in Jerusalem, in what looks to be the capital’s second terror attack in a matter of hours. An eyewitness named Eti said that the victim is a soldier. “I saw him falling backward,” she told reporter Moshe…

IDF troops were operating in the area of Gaza border towns Monday afternoon, in what security officials said was a “security incident.” Officials did not specify what they meant by the term, but they said that residents of the border communities needed to remain behind locked doors. Several roads in the area are closed. Police…

The conflict in Gaza should not be an excuse for anti-Semitic slurs and attacks, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said late Sunday. Ban “deplores the recent upsurge in anti-Semitic attacks, particularly in Europe, in connection with protests concerning the escalation of violence in Gaza,” read a statement from the UN leader’s spokesman. “The Secretary-General emphasizes that the conflict in…

A tractor slammed into a bus in Jerusalem at around 1:40 pm Monday in a terrorist attack, killing one person and injuring six others.  There were no passengers on the bus at the time, but the driver was among the casualties, suffering light injuries after it overturned from the impact. Four of the injured have…

Israeli karate trainer Shai Hai was attacked by a group of Iranians and Germans in Frankfurt, Germany, at an international karate seminar last week. Hai was the headline speaker at the seminar, which was attended by about 90 people and supposedly dedicated to advancing world peace and unity. He was the only Israeli at the international…

A high level figure in US Magen David Adom who came to see how for himself how the organization is meeting the challenges of Operation Protective Edge has told Arutz Sheva that since the start of the war,  the organization has raised over $8 million for Israel’s war-caused emergency needs. The cost of emergency services…

Israel’s right to security does not justify its actions in Gaza, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Monday, as he called for a political solution to be “imposed” by the international community. “How many more deaths will it take to stop what must be called the carnage in Gaza?” Fabius said in a statement. “The tradition of friendship between Israel…

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani denounced Monday the “inaction” of the UN Security Council on Gaza, describing the conflict as a “genocidal massacre” of Palestinians by Israel, according to AFP.  His comments came at a meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement’s (NAM) committee for Palestine, with several foreign ministers among officials from Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Sudan, Uganda and other member states. “The…

Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni (HaTnua) had harsh words for the “sour spin”, as she put it, of the Israeli media on Operation Protective Edge.  “Take a look at the current situation and what we have achieved thus far,” said Livni in an interview with IDF Radio Monday. “Their leadership is still burrowed in, and they don’t…

Israel will hold its fire in most of Gaza for a seven-hour “humanitarian window” on Monday, the IDF announced on Sunday night. According to a statement by the Coordinator of Government Activities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (COGAT), the ceasefire will take place between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Israel time (0700 GMT and 1400…

Israel was once again criticized on Sunday for an attack on a United Nations school in Gaza, which the United States said was “disgraceful”. According to the AFP news agency, in one of the most strongly-worded statements yet from Washington since the conflict began nearly a month ago, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated on Sunday night that Operation Protective Edge in Gaza will continue for as long as necessary and until its objectives have been reached. Netanyahu’s declaration came after a security assessment he held with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief…

Israel is under attack, its cities and towns barraged by intense rocket fire and missiles. Sirens sound day and night, suddenly, unexpectedly. Soldiers are deployed along the border and sent into battle where they risk their lives to overcome the Gazan enemy, pinpoint rocket launching sites and discover and destroy tunnels, protecting their land and…

As Israeli Jews have been descending on the south with donations, food, clothing, and everything else they can fit in the trunks of their cars, Jews in the diaspora have been marshaling resources to help the IDF and Israelis cope with Operation Protective Edge. On Sunday, the Jewish National Fund said it had raised $4…

The IDF has withdrawn many of its troops from Gaza, saying that their main mission – the destruction of Hamas terror tunnels – was completed. But residents of the Gaza border area towns and villages near where the openings of many of the tunnels were found are not convinced. As a result, many of the…

A man suffered light injuries Sunday when a mortar shell struck a Jewish community in the Shaar Hanegev region, near Gaza. He received treatment on the spot and did not require hospitalization. By sundown, Hamas had fired 70 rockets and mortar shells at Israel. In Zikim, the security alert because of an unspecified security-related event…

Thousands of Israelis mourned and came together to remember the life of Lt. Hadar Goldin h”yd, who was laid to rest in Kfar Saba Sunday afternoon. Streets were closed in much of Kfar Saba as Israelis from around the country thronged to the city’s cemetery, where the young officer’s father, brother, and fiancee praised his…

A reporter for France 24, Gallagher Fenwick, was reporting from Gaza Friday and explaining how its residents’ “food security” has been affected by the fighting there, when something unexpected happened. “This was a rocket,”, a rattled Fenwick told his audience, “this was a rocket, rockets were just shot right next to where we are standing,…

Tourism Minister Uzi Landau (Yisrael Beytenu) sharply criticized claims that the target of Operation Protective Edge has been achieved on Sunday, stating that the real threat is missile fire – and that destroying tunnels, in his words, only goes so far. “The tunnels are a secondary objective, the main purpose was to take care of…

IDF forces are completing their mission to destroy terror tunnels in the early morning Sunday, a senior IDF officer told Arutz Sheva, saying that “we are toward the end of our mission in the tunnels.”  His statements came as Israel began withdrawing some ground troops from the Gaza Strip and redeploying others. But despite the…

Second Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, hy”d, who was killed by Hamas terrorists on Friday, was a close relative of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, it was cleared for publication Sunday morning. Hebrew media has yet to officially indicate how the two were related, but the Hebrew phrase – karov mishpaha – indicates an immediate or otherwise very close family…

Rabbi Baruch Efrati, head of the Derech Emuna rabbis, and Women in Green hosted a gathering in Giv’at Oz veGa’on Friday, to commemorate thirty days since the burial of the three abducted youths, Gilad Sha’ar (16), Eyal Yifrah (19), and Naftali Frenkel (16), hy”d.  Rabbi Efrati opened his words with an expression of thanks to Women in Green,…

Another victory against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement was forged Friday at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), after a divestment resolution against Israel was tabled indefinitely by the student government.  After both sides presented, the head of the student government stated that this is not the time, place or forum to have this dialogue. The resolution…

Hamas reacted on Saturday to Israel withdrawing some of its troops from Gaza, saying the group was not obligated by any move Israel makes. According to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said that a unilateral Israeli withdrawal would not “commit” the group to anything, stressing that Hamas was ready to…

Thousands of protesters, many wrapped in Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flags, rallied outside the White House on Saturday to call for peace and an end to the fighting in Gaza, AFP reported. The crowd, young and old from across the United States, including scores of children on parents’ shoulders, chanted “End U.S. Aid to Israel”…

Two Arabs entered a Jewish home in Neveh Tzuf, in the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem, but were driven out by residents.  Police are treating the event as a burglary, but are looking into the possibility that it was a terror act. Initially, terrorism was suspected and large military and police forces combed the area.…

Operation Protective Edge has put a damper on the Israeli economy, although the fundamentals are still strong, say economists. The latest evidence of that: Figures for July, as the war raged for most of the month, show new car sales lower than they were a year earlier, but still robust. Officials at Israel’s car import agencies said…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, spoke Sunday with Simcha and Leah Goldin, the parents of Lt. Hadar Goldin, who fell in combat in the Gaza Strip on Friday. He told them, “Hadar was a tremendous personality, a great hero. I know that you are going through terrible agony, the feeling that a part of you has…

Prison Service officials said that they have uncovered a plot by Arab terrorists in a prison in northern Israel to tunnel their way out. The terrorists managed to partially dig out an escape tunnel without prison staff being aware of their activity. Acting on a tip, officials discovered the well-hidden tunnel over the weekend, and…

Large scale IDF and security forces have been deployed near Kibbutz Zikim in the Ashkelon area, due to concerns over a possible security incident there. Residents in communities throughout the Hof Ashkelon region have been warned to stay in their homes as authorities determine the threat level; Kibbutz Zikim is only about a kilometer and…

Opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog (Labor) has called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to resume peace talks on Sunday, claiming that the peace process is the only way to end Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.  “We have removed the terror threat of tunnels substantially, but demilitarization and a full return to quiet will not materialize without…

While the IDF has been searching out and destroying terror tunnels dug by Hamas terrorists into Israel, Israeli geologists were discovering and mapping another kind of “tunnel” – a cave that has turned out to be the longest one in Israel. The cave, in northern Israel, was discovered and mapped by the cave research section…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon spoke Saturday night, providing updates on progress with Operation Protective Edge as it wraps up its twenty-sixth day.  Ya’alon first related to Hamas’s attacks on – and abduction of – IDF soldiers.  “Hamas members are those who violated the cease-fire led by the United States and the United Nations,” Ya’alon stated.…

A Syrian man has been arrested in Belgium on suspicion of participating in terrorist activities after he was found to be in possession of videos showing killings linked to a jihadist group, his lawyer said on Saturday. The 25-year-old man, who has not been named, was detained after he arrived at Charleroi Airport in Brussels…