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The IDF Spokesman said Wednesday morning that as part of the large-scale intelligence and operational activities that the IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet) have undertaken in order to locate the three abducted teens, security forces have arrested about 65 wanted men. Of these, 51 were freed in Operation Beit Hashoeva in…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction has sent a delegation to Egypt to discuss opening the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Sinai, even as terrorists in the Hamas-enclave continue firing rockets at Israel. The delegation arrived in Cairo and is led by Fatah leader Azzam al-Ahmed, who represented Fatah in the reconciliation signed with…

The IDF prepared to station Iron Dome anti-missile defense units in the coastal region of Ashdod and Tel Aviv on Wednesday, even as an explosive placed on the Gaza security barrier by terrorists was caught and detonated. IDF forces neutralized the explosive early Wednesday afternoon, on the barrier in the southern part of Gaza. The…

Hamas lost no time taking Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to task on Wednesday, just after Abbas condemned the kidnappers of the three Israeli teenagers, who he said “want to destroy” the PA. In the statement, Abbas defended the cooperation between PA security forces and the IDF in the rescue operation, saying “the kidnapped are…

Knesset Security Chief Yosef Grif decided on Wednesday to assign a security detail to Arab MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad), after she received death threats for justifying the kidnapping of three Israeli teens last Thursday. Grif informed Knesset Chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud), the police and other sources of the decision. Zoabi raised a storm on Tuesday…

“We, the undersigned mayors from the cities representing diverse communities around the world, call on any and all involved in the disappearance of the three Israeli boys Naftali Frankel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach – to release them immediately, without conditions and safely return them to their families.” “We were all saddened and deeply disappointed…

Norway announced Tuesday that it was delaying the meeting of an international donor group for the Palestinian Authority (PA), planned for next week, in light of the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers last Thursday by Hamas terrorists. The Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), which is responsible for coordinating international funding of the PA and is chaired by Norway, was set to…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman called his counterparts in Britain, Germany, France, Bulgaria, Belgium and Norway on Tuesday and thanked them for issuing condemnations of the abduction of three teenage boys, for showing solidarity with Israel and for the clear position they expressed on the matter. Liberman is to call more foreign ministers Wednesday. Foreign Ministry…

David Ivgi Hy”d, a civilian injured during the November 2012 eight-day Operation Pillar of Defense, died of his wounds on Tuesday. Ivgi, a 48-year-old resident of Kiryat Malachi east of Ashdod in the coastal region, was critically injured when he was hit by a car while running to take cover after the “Color Red” missile…

MK Ze’ev Elkin (Likud-Beytenu), Chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, called Tuesday to round up and re-imprison terrorists whom Israel released from its jails in recent years in the Shalit deal and in “gestures” to the Palestinian Authority. Elkin told Arutz Sheva that the current operation in Judea and Samaria is causing…

Chemical weapons inspectors who came under attack while investigating claims of chlorine gas attacks in Syria last month found information suggesting that similar chemicals had indeed been used, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Tuesday. According to Reuters, the OPCW, which is overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical stockpile, said inspectors…

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki on Tuesday fired senior officers for failing to halt a sweeping advance by Sunni Islamist rebels, the BBC reports. Four army commanders were dismissed because they did not perform “their national duty”, a government statement said, according to the network. The Iraqi officers fired on Tuesday include the top commander…

Reports on Tuesday reveal that US Special Operations forces captured a terrorist leader in Libya on Sunday, the first suspect arrested over the September 11, 2012 Benghazi attack, in which the US ambassador to Libya was murdered along with three other Americans. Ahmed Abu Khattala, a “senior leader” of the terrorist organization Ansar al-Sharia in Benghazi which has…

The Head of IDF Central Command, Major General Nitzan Alon, spoke to reporters Tuesday after a situation assessment meeting and summed up the state of “Operation Brother’s Keeper,” the search and counter-terror operation in Judea and Samaria following the abduction of three yeshiva youths by Hamas. “We are in the middle of a complex operation…

Terrorist organizations in Gaza, including Hamas and Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade faction, threatened on Tuesday that they would take action if Israel continues its crackdown on the Hamas terror infrastructure in Judea and Samaria. Commenting on the IDF operation seeking to rescue the three Israeli teens kidnapped by Hamas terrorists last Thursday, the terrorist groups declared…

Six Israeli Arabs were arrested – and then released – in early May, during the early stages of the investigation into the murder of 19 year-old Shelly Dadon, the Supreme Court permitted the press to publish Tuesday.  The six suspects, some of whom were teenagers, were detained for eight days on suspicion of involvement in…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud) has ordered his staff to allocate four million shekels (roughly $1.15 million) to finance transportation to yeshiva high schools and girls’ high schools in Judea and Samaria, he announced Tuesday afternoon.  Shuttles will be available to schools every Sunday and every weekend, to allow the safe travel of students from…

A massive fire has broken out in the forest between the Israeli Arab town Abu Ghosh and the Jewish community of Ma’ale Hahamisha, just west of Jerusalem.  Twenty-seven firefighting units and five firefighting planes have been dispatched to gain control of the blaze. The fire has now been contained, but officials said that it has…

MK Carmel Shama-Hacohen (Likud Beytenu) was officially sworn in on Monday as a member of the 19th Knesset. Shama-Hacohen replaces Reuven Rivlin, who was elected last week as the next president of Israel. He served as an MK on behalf of the Likud in the 18th Knesset, in which he served as Deputy Knesset Speaker…

The parents of kidnapped teenagers Naftali Frenkel (16), Gilad Sha’ar (16), and Eyal Yifrah (19) made a joint statement to the press Tuesday, after the first meeting of the three families since the boys were abducted Thursday night by Hamas terrorists.  ”We met today for the first time, the Yifrahs, Eyal’s parents; the Sha’ars, Gilad’s…

The European Union (EU) finally issued a condemnation of the abduction of three yeshiva students by Hamas terrorists on their way home from school Tuesday, over five days after the fact and after a torrent of media and political criticism over a blasé attitude toward terror.  “We condemn in the strongest terms the abduction of three…

The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s Fatah party has halted steps toward reconciliation with Hamas on Tuesday, Palestinian Arab sources told Walla! News, over Hamas’s kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers.  According to the source, Fatah leadership met Tuesday and decided to freeze the salaries of some 40 Hamas members in the government over the kidnapping, following Prime…

IDF soldiers were able to foil an attempt by two terrorists to infiltrate into the Shomron (Samaria) town of Kochav Ya’akov, northeast of Jerusalem, on Monday evening. The soldiers caught the two as they were tampering with the fence surrounding the town and opened fire towards them. One of the terrorists was wounded and taken…

The civil war in Iraq and the success of a radical Islamist group which splintered from Al Qaeda in taking over central cities has focused global attention on the Shiite and Sunni militias that are spilling each other’s blood there. The Arabic newspaper Al Arabi al Jadid has provided its readers with a list of…

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) targeted several terrorist-related sites in Gaza on Monday night. In a statement, the IDF Spokesperson said the airstrikes targeted a center of terrorist activity and a weapons storage site in southern Gaza, as well as two other weapons storage sites, one in central Gaza and one in northern Gaza. Direct…

Syrian government helicopters dropped barrel bombs on opposition-held districts of the northern city of Aleppo on Monday, killing at least 31 people including several children, AFP reports. Some of the wounded were in a serious condition after the strikes on the Sukkari and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told the news agency.…

Around 200 Jewish Americans gathered outside the Israeli consulate in New York on Monday to pray for the release of three Israeli teenagers kidnapped in Gush Etzion, in the Judea region south of Jerusalem last week. The crowd, which included many children of school age, called for the safe release of the teens, of whom…

So far, 150 Hamas and affiliated terrorists have been arrested by Israeli forces, a security official said Monday – and those arrests are bringing the army closer to solving the riddle of the whereabouts of three kidnapped Israeli teens. “Most of the detainees are Hamas terrorists,” the official said. “Some of them are high-ranking members…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday evening that the abduction of three yeshiva students has created a complex situation and will have serious consequences. “We are in the midst of a complex operation here,” said Netanyahu in a briefing to reporters at Central Command. “We have to be prepared for the possibility that this will…

If it indeed turns out that Hamas was behind the kidnappings of Israeli teens Eyal Yifrah (19), Naftali Frenkel (16), and Gilad Sha’ar, Fatah will regard its unity agreement with Hamas as null and void, a top Palestinian Authority official said Monday. Fatah will consider the kidnappings as “a stab in the back” of the…

The United States and Iran have a common interest in preventing Sunni ISIS militias from taking over Iraq completely – and if an alliance between the two is the only way to do that, said US Secretary of State John Kerry, then so be it. Speaking to Yahoo News Monday, Kerry said that the US…

On Friday night, White City Shabbat set the Guinness World Record for the Largest Shabbat Dinner ever at the Hangar 11 in the port of Tel Aviv. 2,226 attendees were officially inscribed in the Guinness World Record for the Largest Shabbat Dinner, with notable diners including Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau;…

Israel will seek to deal a crushing blow to Hamas’s infrastructure in Judea and Samaria following the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, army radio reported on Monday. Plans to move against the Islamist terrorist movement were discussed at a meeting of the security cabinet convened by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at which ministers discussed punitive…

Over 20 European members of parliaments (MPs), hailing from 15 different European countries, signed a joint declaration condemning the kidnapping of Gilad Sha’ar, 16, Naftali Frenkel, 16, and Eyal Yifrah, 19 last Thursday night by terrorists. “We support Israel’s right to defend its citizens from acts of war and terror, as is the duty of every…

Egyptian authorities on Sunday seized two retail outlets owned by leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, part of the ongoing crackdown against the group since its president Mohammed Morsi was ousted last year. According to the AFP news agency, the businesses targeted were the Seoudi supermarket chain and Zad department store, respectively owned by Abdel Rahman…

A senior Hamas member and Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) was reportedly arrested on Sunday night in the Judean city of Hevron, the focus of IDF efforts to rescue the three yeshiva students who were kidnapped last Thursday night by terrorists. Palestinian Arab sources reported to Yedioth Aharonoth that Aziz Duwaik, the Speaker from the…

Unidentified assailants shot at Border Police from a passing vehicle late Sunday night near Har Gilo, located just south of Jerusalem and to the north of Bethlehem in Judea. The attack took place just outside the tunnels leading from Jerusalem to the Gush Etzion area of Judea, an IDF spokesperson stated. No injuries or damage were…

Palestinian Authority (PA) sources reported Sunday night that a terrorist outside of Ramallah, Samaria was killed during the night while taking part in an Arab mob attacking IDF forces. Ahmad Arafat, 19, was reportedly shot in the town of Jelazoun while being part of a mob throwing stones at IDF soldiers, who were searching for the three…

Israel and Germany have agreed to conduct joint research in museums in both countries aimed at determining the originalownership of Jewish-owned art looted by the genocidal Nazi regime, officials said. Under an agreement signed Sunday by Culture Ministry Director General Orly Froman and German Culture Minister Monika Gruetters, art experts from the two countries will undergo training and coordinate the…

In a strong showing of unity, Jews throughout Israel prayed for the safe return of the three yeshiva students who were kidnapped from Kfar Etzion in Judea last Thursday by terrorists. Video shows the mass prayer rallies held on Sunday throughout the central coastal region of Israel, even as mass prayers were occurring at the…

There was talk on Sunday among MKs and former MKs suggesting that the time has come to apply the Israeli death penalty law to terrorists, given the kidnapping last Thursday night of three teenage students. Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) on Sunday called for the death penalty law to be acted upon.…

Esther Pollard, the wife of Israeli spy and longtime US prisoner Jonathan Pollard, visited the family of kidnapped 16-year-old Naftali Frenkel in Nof Ayalon on Monday, and brought words of hope. “I came here in order to support and identify with them, pray with them and hope that this nightmare ends soon,” Esther Pollard stated…

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) released a statement of solidarity with Israel as it searches for three kidnapped yeshiva students Monday, as well as condemning a string of rocket attacks which has resurged from Gaza.  “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the three young men kidnapped with the involvement of Hamas, as the efforts by…

An Egyptian appeals court jailed a female Coptic Christian teacher for six months after parents of her students accused her of evangelizing and insulting Islam, her lawyer said on Monday. Demiana Emad, a 23-year-old social studies teacher, was arrested on May 9, 2013 after the head of the parents’ association of Sheikh Sultan Primary School…

IDF forces operating in Hevron surrounded a house, exchanged fire with its occupants, and arrested two terrorists from the Hamas terror group on Sunday night. According to reports in Palestinian media, an explosion was heard in the area, presumably IDF soldiers blowing open the door to the house. It is unknown whether the two arrested…

The Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted two rockets fired by Gaza terrorists towards the city of Ashkelon on Sunday night. Over the past two days there has been an escalation in rocket attacks on southern Israel. On Saturday, four rockets were fired from Gaza, causing no physical injuries or damages. The Israeli Air Force (IAF)…

Approximately 700 residents of Tel Aviv and the vicinity gathered on Sunday evening at the Rabin Square for a prayer vigil for the safe return of the three yeshiva students who were kidnapped in Gush Etzion. The prayer rally was attended by the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu…

For the second time in two nights, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched an airstrike on terror targets in Gaza on Sunday night. According to an IDF statement, the airstrikes targeted a terrorist center and three weapons storage sites in northern Gaza. Also targeted was a terrorist center in southern Gaza. Direct hits were identified…

The United States is beefing up security at its embassy in Baghdad and will evacuate some workers out of the Iraqi capital, the Department said on Sunday. “Some additional U.S. government security personnel will be added to the staff in Baghdad; other staff will be temporarily relocated – both to our Consulate Generals in Basra…

In the space of a few days, an international delegation that included two physicians from the Rambam Hospital in Haifa changed the lives of dozens of children and adults in northern Ethiopia. A surgical marathon was conducted in northern Ethiopia as part of Operation Smile, a program focusing on third world countries to treat cleft…

Hassan Yousef, a leading Hamas terror activist, has been arrested as the IDF sweeps Judea in search of three missing teens – Gilad Sha’ar, 16, Naftali Frenkel, 16, and Eyal Yifrach, 19. Yousef’s son, Mossab, became an Israeli informant and converted to Christianity. He authored the book “Son of Hamas” and was disowned by his…

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Sunday night discussed the case of the three kidnapped Israeli teens. Speaking at a Defense Ministry event, Yaalon said “this is the time to strengthen the hands of the families of the kidnapped boys, Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Frenkel, and Gilad Sha’ar. We must all join in a prayer that we…

One of the three youths abducted Thursday night called the police hotline immediately after the abduction – but was ignored as police thought the call was a prank, reports IDF Radio Sunday. The call was received at 10:25 p.m. The youth whispered: “We’ve been abducted! We are being kidnapped.” The call lasted about two minutes and…

Germany’s federal police on Sunday announced the arrest of a French national suspected of fighting for radical jihadists in Syria. A spokesman told AFP that the man was picked up in Berlin late Saturday after flying in from Istanbul and was believed to have spent time in Syria where he allegedly joined the jihadist Islamic…

Minister of Interior, Gideon Saar, visited the families of the three youths abducted in the Etzion Bloc Thursday and was deeply impressed by the families’ strength. “Like the other two familes,” he told Arutz Sheva after visiting the third family’s home, “an amazing family that is dealing with this difficult situation in a way that…

US Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday condemned the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, and said many indications pointed to the involvement of Hamas. “We are still seeking details on the parties responsible for this despicable terrorist act, although many indications point to Hamas’ involvement,” he said. “As we gather this information, we reiterate our…

Despite concerns by many economists over the health of the Israeli economy, the May jobs report showed that demand for workers increased 6.8% last month. By the end of May, there were 66,400 open positions in the overall economy, 4,200 more than there were at the beginning of the month. With that, said the Central…

In the wake of the kidnapping of three Israeli yeshiva students, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon ordered on Saturday night that a closure be imposed on the Hevron area and that border crossings to Gaza be shut down. During the closure, entry into Israel will only be permitted in humanitarian and medical cases, all subject to…

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched airstrikes against terror targets in Gaza on Saturday night. According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the airstrikes targeted three terrorist centers and two weapons depots in southern Gaza, as well a terrorist center in central Gaza. Direct hits were confirmed and all aircraft returned safely to their bases, the…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman indicated that there would be no more terrorist releases in Israel on Sunday, speaking in the wake of the abduction of three yeshiva students from Gush Etzion.  “There will be no releases for those Palestinian terrorists sitting in Israeli prisons – not as a ‘gesture’ and not for any other reason,”…

A petition has been launched calling on the US government to work towards the release of joint Israeli-American citizen Naftali Frenkel, who was among three students kidnapped by terrorists on Thursday night. The petition – which can be signed by both US and foreign citizens, was launched late last night. “On Thursday, June 12, 2014, three…

As France continues to grapple with growing violent anti-Semitism alarming reports suggest a potentially deadly terrorist attack on a Paris synagogue in broad daylight was thwarted at the very last minute on Saturday. According to French-language JSS News, a pair of unidentified attackers approach the synagogue, located in the French capital’s 20th District, armed with…

A senior IDF official told reporters Sunday afternoon that in the army’s estimation, the three kidnapped teenagers taken Thursday night by still-unidentified captors are still alive, and are being held somewhere in the Judean Hills. “We are not acting blindly and without guidance,” the official said. “The IDF is thoroughly familiar with Hamas’ infrastructure in…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has brusquely rejected denials by the Islamist terrorist group Hamas that it was behind the abduction of three Israeli students on Thursday night. Earlier today, Netanyahu revealed that Israeli intelligence had identified the kidnappers as Hamas members. “Hamas terrorists carried out Thursday’s kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers. We know that for…

In an odious distortion of the World Cup 2014 logo, the official Palestinian Authority daily printed Sunday a cartoon celebrating the kidnapping of three Israeli youths on Thursday night. Instead of the famous logo of the World Cup 2014, in which three victorious hands hold the globe, together creating the prestigious trophy, the PA cartoon…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has moved Sunday morning’s cabinet meeting from its normal Jerusalem location to his Tel Aviv office, as he continues to regularly liaise with the IDF – whose head offices are in Tel Aviv – on the ongoing search for the three kidnapped yeshiva students. The boys – students at the Makor…

Several mass prayer rallies are being organized, both nationally and in individual communities across Israel, for the safety of Eyal Yifrah, 19, from Elad; Naftali Frenkel, 16, from Nof Ayalon; and Gilad Sha’ar, 16, from Talmon.  On Saturday night, a mass prayer rally will be held at the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem, beginning at 12:15 am.…

Central Command Chief, Major General Nitzan Alon called the mayors of various Judea and Samaria communities on Saturday night to provide updates on the search for three abducted yeshiva students, stating that there are “long, hard days” ahead.  According to Alon, security sources had been searching for the boys constantly since Friday morning, and the…

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon spoke to Arutz Sheva after visiting the families of the three kidnapped Israeli students, saying he hoped to come back soon “with good news – news that their sons are on their way back home.” The visit, he said, was “not easy”, but he added that the families were staying…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has confirmed that the three yeshiva boys who went missing Thursday were indeed kidnapped by terrorists. “Our boys were kidnapped by a terrorist organization. There is no doubt about that,” the Prime Minister said in an official statement after an emergency security meeting with the Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff,…

Former Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet) chief Yuval Diskin blamed Israel’s agreements to release terrorists for the kidnapping of three yeshiva boys, stating on Saturday that the policy encourages more abductions.  “We should stop releasing terrorists for kidnapped soldiers, or releasing terrorists instead of implementing a construction freeze [in Judea and Samaria –…

Palestinians in Gaza have celebrated the kidnapping of three Israeli students by handing out sweets to passersby. The “celebrations” – pictures of which can be seen here – were apparently led by the families of terrorists currently serving sentences in Israeli prisons. The former head of Israel’s Shabak internal security agency has linked the kidnappings…

A rocket was fired from Gaza into Israel early on Saturday, followed by three more in the afternoon, none of which caused any casualties or damage,  the army said. In response, Israel launched air strikes on southern Gaza, “hitting a site of terrorist activity and a weapons depot”, an army statement said. Hamas said Apache gunships had fired…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reacted on Friday night to the disappearance of three yeshiva students near Hevron and said that the PA would assist Israel in the search. An official statement issued by Abbas’s spokesman and quoted by Israel’s Channel 2 News said, “The Palestinian Authority hopes the boys will be found and…

Iraq’s most senior Shiite cleric has issued a call to arms after Sunni-led insurgents seized more towns, the BBC reported on Friday. The call by a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani came as the Islamists from the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) widened their grip in the north and east, and…

A Belgian court on Friday ordered that 46 suspected members of a radical Islamist group, believed to be involved in sending young fighters to Syria, stand trial later this year, AFP reports. Sixteen people alleged to be part of Sharia4Belgium, including its head Fouad Belkacem, face charges of leading a terrorist organization, the federal justice…

Israel’s National Student and Youth Council on Friday sent a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, urging him to take action and help locate the three yeshiva students who went missing on Thursday. In the letter, the Council notes that “a terror kidnapping is a very reasonable scenario.” “Therefore, it is within the power…

The U.S. State Department said on Friday that it was “very concerned” with the well-being of three yeshiva students who have been missing in Judea and Samaria since Thursday, and of whom one is reportedly an Israeli-American. “We are aware – of course seen the reports, are very concerned for their well-being,” Deputy State Department…

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni met on Friday in London with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and asked him to help in the search for the three yeshiva students who went missing near Hevron. Army Radio reported that Livni told Kerry that rapid action is necessary under the circumstances. A senior State Department official told…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday ruled out sending U.S. troops “back into combat” in Iraq despite the threat from a surging army of Islamic terrorists, ABC News reports. Speaking as several cities in Iraq continued to fall under the flags of the Al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), Obama told reporters…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on Friday evening with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, following the disappearance of three yeshiva students near Hevron. During the conversation, Netanyahu told Kerry that the boys’ disappearance was directly related to the Palestinian Authority (PA) signing a reconciliation pact and forming a unity pact with the Hamas terrorist…

Three students, two of them from the Makor Chaim Yeshiva in the religious kibbutz Kfar Etzion went missing Thursday night in what officials say was likely a kidnapping by terrorists. All communication was lost with them as they were on their way home from the yeshiva, located in Gush Etzion, roughly between Jerusalem and Hevron…

IDF Spokesman Motti Almoz said on Friday evening that the IDF and the entire defense establishment were doing everything in their power to locate the three yeshiva students who went missing near Hevron. Speaking at a press conference, Almoz said, “The IDF and the entire defense establishment, including intelligence and the Shin Bet, are doing…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is not responsible for the disappearance of the three yeshiva students who went missing near Hevron, a spokesman for the PA’s security services said Friday. The spokesman, Adnan al-Damiri, was responding to a statement from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office, which earlier held the PA leadership responsible for the boys’ disappearance.…

An overwhelming majority of 88 U.S. Senators have sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to reconsider aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) over its forming a unity government with Hamas. The initiative was led by Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine). The letter, published on Cardin’s website, expresses strong reservations…

Australia could face trade sanctions by Arab nations over its decision to stop using the term “occupied” when referring to Jerusalem, the head of the Palestinian Arab delegation to Canberra threatened Friday. Izzat Abdulhadi said Australia’s new stance on Jerusalem, the 3,000-year-old capital of the Jewish people which has been wrongly labeled as “occupied” or “illegal under international…

An Israeli official remarked for the first time publicly about events unfolding in Iraq on Thursday, in a UN discussion on the situation and on the growing problem of foreign jihadists entering Syria.   Israeli ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor opened the discussion in the UN General Assembly by condemning the violence in Iraq…

The American administration has justified its decision to “work with” the new Fatah-Hamas unity government, sworn in last Monday, on the claim that it does not include Hamas ministers. However, at least one Gaza-based minister in the new government was previously a minister in the terrorist group Hamas’s government. Four unity government ministers from Gaza…

A masked Arab terrorist opened fire on Friday morning, targeting IDF Border Patrol soldiers stationed at an IDF checkponit near Bitunia. The area is near Ramallah in Samaria, just north of Jerusalem. No injuries were reported among the IDF soldiers. IDF and Israeli police forces began searching after the terrorist suspect, who fled the scene…

Twenty masked Muslim rioters on Friday pelted police forces with stones on the Temple Mount. The attack occurred at the Rambam (Mughrabi) Gate, the only point of access for Jewish visitors to the holiest site in Judaism. The twenty launched their rock barrage at the end of Muslim prayers on Friday. Police forces broke in…

(For more topics, see Israel’s History – A Picture a Day website) Jihadi forces overran Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, this week. Analysts explain Mosul’s significance as the center of Iraq’s oil-rich areas, the gateway for the Sunni radicals to attack Baghdad, and a debacle for the U.S.-supported Iraqi army.  But Mosul also has an…

The Al Qaeda offshoot the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) has conquered great sections of Iraq since capturing Mosul on Tuesday, going on to expand its control southward over several other cities, with its sights set on Baghdad. In the process of seizing the oil hub of Mosul, the Islamists made off with not only…

The Obama administration has quietly returned a dozen detainees from a small US military prison in Afghanistan, defense officials stated Thursday night, in another controversial prisoner release set to tone down the US’s war on terror.  US President Barack Obama, in a letter to Congress released on Thursday, informed U.S. lawmakers that about 38 non-Afghan…

Pope Francis strongly condemned violence in the Middle East Friday, in an interview with  the Vatican correspondent of Barcelona-based daily La Vanguardia. Following his first visit to the Middle East as pope last month, the pontiff criticised fundamentalism in Christianity, Islam and Judaism as a form of violence.    “A fundamentalist group, even if it kills no one,…

Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday that Iran would resume uranium enrichment activities if no agreement is reached with the West, Reuters reports. Speaking at a conference in Rome, Araqchi said he believed it was possible for Iran to reach an accord with world powers in time for a July 20 deadline,…

Terrorism training went awry on Friday morning, as an accidental explosion at one of Hamas’s Gaza terror bases left four clumsy terrorists injured. The explosion occurred at a training camp in Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza. Hamas’s Ministry of Healthy spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra told Arab Ma’an News Agency that the four were taken to local…

Holocaust survivors from mental health hospitals were brought to the Western Wall (Kotel) in Jerusalem on Thursday to hold a belated bar mitzvah ceremony. IDF soldiers were present at the ceremony, and saluted the survivors in an emotional sign of respect. Pictures from the moving event, with the faces of the survivors blurred to protect…

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), an Al-Qaeda-inspired Islamist group that has taken over the Iraqi city of Mosul, has begun to implement Islamic Sharia law in the city. Since taking over Mosul, members of the group have been handing out documents to residents, stating that Islamic law is binding from now…

The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed President Barack Obama’s nomination of Stanley Fischer to be vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, reports The Associated Press (AP). According to the report, the Senate voted 63-24 to approve the nomination of Fischer, the former governor of the Bank of Israel, to the Fed’s No. 2 post. Two…

Iran has deployed Revolutionary Guards units to Iraq in order to fight the Islamists who have taken over cities there, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing Iranian security sources. The sources said that at least three battalions of the Quds Forces, the elite overseas branch of the Guards, were dispatched to aid in…

Eleven Labor MKs, led by by Shelly Yechimovich, Eitan Cabel, and Avishai Braverman on Thursday submitted a proposal to allow civil marriage in Israel. The law, in preparation for over a year, would set up a mechanism whereby civil marriages conducted in Israel would be recognized by the state, along with religious marriages. The law…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman was in the swing of his African diplomatic tour on Wednesday, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with his Rwandan counterpart Louise Mushikiwabo to establish bilateral consultations. Along with the MoU, Liberman inaugurated the Israel-Rwanda joint economic seminar, which will facilitate business ties between the two nations. The event was held…

The Obama administration supports a plan to provide military training to the moderate Syrian opposition, an official said Wednesday, according to Reuters. Dana Shell Smith, President Barack Obama’s nominee to be ambassador to Qatar, made the comments at her Senate confirmation hearing. According to the report, she said that the administration supported language in a…

Former Palestinian Authority Chief Negotiator is in hot water with his boss, PA chief Mahmoud Abbas, after Erekat was caught on tape calling Abbas a “coward” who was afraid to take on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the West. The comments were videotaped at a closed event in Ramallah earlier this week, and have been…

With banks paying next to nothing in interest, Israeli householders are actively looking for alternative investment vehicles – a situation that numerous entrepreneurs have taken advantage of by structuring investment vehicles for Israelis to invest in American real estate. With house prices in many parts of the US still depressed, there is an opportunity, these…

As Brazilian authorities work hard to crack down on the country’s notorious organized crime rings ahead of the World Cup, Israeli technology is playing a crucial role. This morning, it was revealed that one of the most dramatic illustrations of that fact occurred back in March, when Brazilian police finally nabbed a high-profile drug gang leader…

Kurdish Pershmerga militia fighters have taken control of the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, in an attempt to stymie advances by the radical Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), which took control of several towns and cities in northern Iraq in a lightening offensive this week. “The whole of Kirkuk has fallen into…

Aircraft belonging to the Israeli Air Force (IAF) carried out an airstrike in Gaza on Wednesday night. According to reports, the airstrike targeted a terrorist. Palestinian Authority-based media said that one person was killed and two were wounded in the airstrike. The IDF confirmed the airstrike, saying in a statement it was an operation held…

Israel’s policy is to “kill those who plan to kill you”, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday night, responding to the IDF’s elimination of a Gaza terrorist who planned to carry out deadly attacks in Israel. “Our policy is clear – kill those who rise up to kill us. The IDF and the ISA…

A group of experts confirmed on Wednesday that a Matisse painting found in the possession of the reclusive son of a German art dealer linked to Adolf Hitler was “Nazi loot” taken from a Jewish art dealer in Paris, AFP reports. Matisse’s “Seated Woman” was among a treasure trove of art discovered in the Munich…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he had voted for Reuven Rivlin in both rounds of the presidential election that was held Tuesday. According to Channel 2 News, Netanyahu made the comments during a meeting with Rivlin on Wednesday morning, their first since Rivlin won the vote. Netanyahu reportedly admitted to Rivlin that…

Scores of young Jewish social justice and environmental activists from across the globe came together this week in Budapest to explore the connections between their commitment to supporting the Jewish community and their passion for helping the wider world. More than 70 young Jewish activists and leaders from Europe, Israel and North America convened in…

WWU Student Alysa Kipersztok, a StandWithUs Emerson Fellow, brought the anti-BDS resolution to the ASWWU. “I’ve seen how divisive anti-Israel BDS campaigns have been on campuses across the country,” she stated. “Western is a warm, respectful, inclusive community. Our mission statement states that WWU ‘brings together individuals of diverse backgrounds and perspectives in an inclusive, student-centered…

Saudi Arabia is continuing its crackdown on terrorism, and on Monday sentenced 33 suspected Islamist terrorists to up to 30 years in prison, Reuters reported, citing the official Saudi Press Agency . The 33 were sentenced by a court eight years after their arrest on terrorism charges. Seventy-one people were arrested in Riyadh’s al Nakheel…

A Kassam rocket fired by terrorists in Gaza exploded on Wednesday morning in the Eshkol Regional Council area in the north-western Negev. “Color red” sirens were sounded, and no injuries or damage was reported as a result of the attack. The rocket fell right near a central highway by one of the communities in the…

The Iraqi government under Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is taking more desperate measures, after a radical Al Qaeda offshoot seized control of the country’s second largest city on Monday night. Maliki made a televised statement on Tuesday, offering weapons and equipment to citizens willing to fight Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) Islamists, who captured…

A historic convention that is to be held in the United States for the rights of Muslim women is being studiously ignored by western feminists. A group of Muslim women, led by attorney Nadia Shahram, will hold a convention in Seneca Falls to issue a “Declaration of the Equalities for Muslim Women” on July 18-19.…

An indictment was filed on Wednesday against an Arab resident of Jerusalem who broke a Jewish minor’s skull with a wooden bat last Tuesday right before Shavuot, as the youth was on his way to the Western Wall (Kotel). The attacker, 28-year-old Yusuf Huleisi, was arrested last Tuesday. In the request for an indictment, Jerusalem…

A new book sums up 13 years of research on female participation in IDF combat units and declares the feminist experiment in the Israeli military a failure. “Lochamot Betzahal” by Col. (res.) Raza Sagi, a former infantry regiment commander, points to high rates of serious injury among women serving in combat units, and to involvement…

A delegation of European diplomats traveled to the Gaza Strip to meet the Gaza-based ministers of a new Palestinian Authority “unity government”, an EU official said Wednesday. John Gatt-Rutter, the EU representative to Judea, Samaria and Gaza, was joined at the Tuesday meeting by French, Swedish, Danish and Portuguese diplomats, the official told AFP, speaking…

Most Palestinian Arabs back the Palestinian Authority’s strategy to apply for membership in international treaties, and favor turning to the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a way of fighting Israel over other means, including terrorism – whereas Israelis oppose a unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. That’s according to the results of two studies released…

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the only Jewish Republican in Congress, lost the GOP Virginia primary Tuesday night, Fox News reports. Cantor lost to Dave Brat, an economics professor and political novice who is a member of the Tea Party movement. Cantor is the second-most powerful member of the U.S. House and was widely seen…

President Shimon Peres on Tuesday evening called and congratulated Israel’s President-Elect MK Reuven Rivlin, who will take office at the end of July. “Rubi, Your Excellency the next President of the State of Israel, you are right for this role. It is a position that brings with it responsibility, you have to consider your every…

Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s new president, received a phone call on Tuesday from his counterpart in Washington, Barack Obama. According to a statement from the White House, Obama called al-Sisi today “to congratulate him on his inauguration and to convey his commitment to working together to advance the shared interests of both countries.” “The President…

Hours after being elected president, MK Reuven Rivlin published a personal post on his Facebook page, in which he thanked the MKs who voted for him. “I want to thank you. Those who voted for me – for placing your confidence in me and those who didn’t vote for me – for placing their confidence…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon warned on Tuesday that despite the reconciliation agreement it reached with the Fatah movement, Hamas is preparing for its next confrontation with Israel. “Hamas signed the reconciliation pact from a position of disadvantage. It has no better alternative,” Ya’alon said during a meeting with soldiers from the IDF’s Gaza Division. “But…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday congratulated MK Reuven Rivlin on being elected president of Israel. “Over more than six decades, the United States and Israel have developed a unique relationship based on shared democratic values, our unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security, and our partnership in scientific research and innovative technology,” Obama said in a…

Hamas spokesman Hussan Budran vowed revenge on Israel on Tuesday, calling on Palestinian Arabs in Judea and Samaria to “fulfill their obligations” to hurt IDF soldiers and attack Jewish communities.  “Israel will pay a heavy price in blood until it could be persuaded to solve the problem of hunger striking prisoners,” he warned, in an…

If former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton decides not to run for president, it will probably not be because of the 2012 terrorist attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Clinton said on Monday that, in fact, she feels emboldened to run for president because of Republican criticism of her handling of the…

Two Jewish teenagers told police they narrowly escaped an attack near Paris by a hatchet-wielding man and three others. The incident occurred last week and was reported by JTA. The attack occurred late at night on the holiday of Shavuot (June 4), in Romainville, a northeastern suburb of the French capital, according to the National…

Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, on Monday became the first Iranian leader to visit Turkey in more than 18 years. According to Bloomberg news, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after talks with Rouhani that Ankara may buy more Iranian natural gas if a price dispute can be settled. Erdogan said he and Rouhani discussed…

Yet another violent clash between Hamas members and Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces casts further doubt on the supposed “unity” behind the recent Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, which led to the swearing in of a unity government last Monday. The incident began when Hamas members held a rally in Ramallah in Samaria on Monday evening, protesting in…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is preparing a diplomatic offensive against Israel with the help of Arab countries, in order to thwart Israel’s attempts to impose sanctions on the new Fatah-Hamas unity government and to take unilateral steps in Judea and Samaria. Azzam Al-Ahmed, a senior Fatah official in charge of negotiating with Hamas, said in…

Tehran and Washington began a second day of talks in Geneva on Tuesday on Iran’s contested nuclear program, amid a fresh diplomatic drive in the face of a July deadline for a deal. Washington warned of “tough choices” in the crunch negotiations, as fellow world powers braced to meet with the Islamic republic to try to build momentum. Senior officials…

Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram has abducted more than 20 women in northern Nigeria, several weeks after abducting more than 200 boarding school students in Chibok.  Eyewitnesses told BBC News Tuesday that the women were herded into unmarked vans, then shuttled off to Borno state. The incident, which occurred in the nomadic town of Garkin Fulani, has…

Former Knesset speaker, Likud MK Reuven Rivlin, has won Israel’s presidential elections, beating his opponent MK Meir Sheetrit (Hatnua) in the second round of votes. 119 out of 120 Members of Knesset voted in the second round, with 63 voting for Rivlin and 53 for Sheetrit. Three MKs cast blank ballots. The election of Israel’s…

Dr. Boaz Ganor, the Director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT), predicted Tuesday that Europe will be facing a full-blown Muslim-Arab intifada soon, much like the violent uprising that Israel faced starting in the late 1980s. Ganor based his prediction on the recent upsurge in islamist terror, and explained that the second generation of…

Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman was to leave Tuesday for visits to several African countries on a mission to gain observer status for the Jewish state in the African Union (AU). The 10-day trip, Liberman’s first to Africa since 2009, will be to Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia, a foreign ministry statement said. “Africa is a key objective…

The top school inspector in Britain said on Monday that a culture of “fear and intimidation” exists in some British schools due to an alleged Muslim extremist plot. According to Reuters, a government investigation, launched after an anonymous letter reported a campaign dubbed “Operation Trojan Horse”, found evidence of a drive to impose Muslim cultural…

Syria’s President Bashar Al-Assad announced an unprecedented prisoner amnesty on Monday, less than a week after his re-election, AFP reported. Announced five days after Assad was re-elected with nearly 90 percent in a ballot decried as a “farce” by the opposition and the West, the amnesty is the first extended to those accused under a…

The United States on Monday held direct talks with Iran on its nuclear program, and France will follow suit, according to AFP. “Bilateral discussions between France and Iran will take place on Wednesday,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said at a news conference in Algiers after Iranian and U.S. delegations began two days of direct…

The Knesset approved for the first reading a landmark bill Monday which would allow prison authorities to force-feed hunger-striking prisoners, sparking fury from several MKs.  The Government bill seeks to authorize the Commissioner of Prisons to petition the District Court to obtain a permit for medical treatment of hunger-striking prisoners. The court will take into…

The world’s oldest man, a retired chemist and parapsychologist, has died Wednesday at the age of 111.  Imich’s niece, Karen Bogen of Providence, Rhode Island, says Imich died Sunday at his home in Manhattan. Imich, who was Jewish, was born in 1903 in a town in present-day Poland; at the time, it was part of…

With less than 24 hours to go before Israel’s new president is declared, Arutz Sheva provides a brief biography of each of the candidates still in the running for the largely symbolic – yet highly prestigious – post. The vote will take place in the Knesset, not as part of a general election, with the…

Terror groups have managed to replenish their supply of missiles, a year and a half after Israel delivered a crushing blow to Hamas in Operation Pillar of Defense, said Itai Brun, director of research in the IDF Intelligence branch. Speaking at the annual Herzliya Conference, Brun said said that there were hundreds of long-range missiles…

A diverse group of political figures representing the right and left, including Yuval Rabin, co-author of the Israeli Peace Initiative, and Dani Dayan, former head of the Yesha Council, debated the merits of the Arab Peace Initiative at a round-table discussion at the Herzliya Conference on Monday. The Arab Peace Initiative was originally proposed in…

Mark Weingarten of Holliswood, a senior at Yeshiva University, was selected to conduct research as part of the Emily Murray Fellowship at the Hastings Center for Bioethics in Hastings, New York this summer.  The three-week program began at the end of May and is open to undergraduates who are preparing a senior thesis in bioethics.…

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) foreign ministry on Sunday summoned Australia’s diplomatic representative in protest of Canberra’s dropping the term “occupied” when referring to eastern Jerusalem, AFP reports. “The Palestinian foreign ministry summoned the Australian representative Thomas Wilson over the recent comments by the Australian attorney general asking to stop referring to east Jerusalem as occupied…

In a sign that the international community is recognizing the new Hamas-Fatah unity government, a United Nations envoy on Sunday became the first senior international official to meet with ministers of the new government in Gaza. According to The Associated Press (AP), Robert Serry met with four Gaza-based ministers of the new Cabinet. “I assured…

Economy Minister and Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett officially presented his annexation plan during a speech at the Herzliya Conference on Sunday. Under the plan, Israel will gradually annex Area C of Judea and Samaria, where 400,000 Israelis reside alongside some 70,000 Arabs, while creating an enhanced autonomy in the remaining areas with full freedom…

A former Hamas government spokesman revealed on Sunday that Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has said in private meetings he is lying in public statements to “trick the Americans.” The spokesman, Ihab al-Ghussein, wrote on Facebook that “behind closed doors,” Abbas had said “when I go out and say that the government is my government and it recognizes…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) sharply criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s leadership on Monday, accusing the premier of having no direction and allowing confusion to run the State of Israel.  “What happened yesterday, when four senior ministers gave public addresses one after the other with each proposing a different political solution, was a grotesque…

A senior Iranian official says that the US’s Indian Ocean base at the Diego Garcia island atoll, considered well out of range of Iran’s missiles, is in fact within its ballistic missile range. According to Channel 2, the official said that “In the case of a mistake by the United States, its military bases in…

Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the radical Islamic Movement in Israel, wrote an open letter to Pope Francis last Thursday, criticizing him for his visit to the Western Wall (Kotel) two weeks ago, and further claiming that the site is Muslim. In the letter, which was posted on the Arabic site Al-Sonara, Salah condemns the pope…

At least 21 people were killed on Sunday after terrorists attacked the international airport in Karachi in Pakistan, CNN reports. Officials at Jinnah Hospital in Karachi said the dead included eight members of airport security forces, two Pakistan International Airlines employees and one ranger. Ten terrorists were also killed in the clashes. The clashes broke…

Egypt’s new president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, promised on Sunday to “defeat terrorism”, saying that security is a priority, Al Jazeera reports. Hours after his inauguration, the former army general said there would be a new era for all except those who “turn to crimes and violence”. “Defeating terrorism and achieving security is the top priority,”…

Finance Minister Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, on Sunday threatened that he would topple the government if it annexes any areas of Judea and Samaria. Speaking at the Herzliya Conference, Lapid said that Israel should “prepare maps” for the next round of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA). An agreement with…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday criticized Finance Minister Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, after the latter gave a speech at the Herzliya Conference in which he called on Israel to resume negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA). In his speech, Lapid said that Israel should freeze construction outside the so-called “settlement…

As the government seeks to ramp up construction in order to reduce prices, it authorized on Sunday the entry of 2,000 additional foreign construction workers. The current 6,000 workers will grow to 8,000 within the coming weeks. In addition to the immediate increase, the government also authorized an automatic increase in the number of work…

Pope Francis on Sunday hosts an unprecedented joint peace prayer in the Vatican with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas in a symbolic gesture aimed at fostering dialogue. President Shimon Peres appealed for peace Sunday afternoon, in a garden of the Vatican City. Quoting in Hebrew from Psalm 122, he asked those present to “Pray for the…

Israel on Sunday signed a key European-funded scientific research program despite guidelines barring funding to settlement-linked projects, officials said. The signing of the Horizon 2020 agreement took place at a ceremony in Jerusalem presided over by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and outgoing European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. “Horizon 2020 offers a huge opportunity to…

Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad reiterated their commitment to terror over the weekend, stating that a “unity” pact with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the new government’s public pledge to renounce terror does not change their views.  Hamas leader and former political figure Ismail Haniyeh stated in a public address Saturday – in honor of…

Pope Francis will host on Sunday an unprecedented peace prayer meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, AFP reports. The prayer is a symbolic gesture to foster dialogue but is unlikely to have any immediate effect. “Nobody is fooling themselves that peace will break out in the Holy Land,”…

Concerns that the US’s deal to swap five Taliban terrorists held in Guantanamo Bay for captive soldier Bowe Bergdahl have actualized Sunday, after two separate top-ranking Taliban officials told TIME magazine that the deal sets a precedent for more kidnappings.  “Our talks finally proved successful for the prisoners’ swap,” the commander said. “We returned our valued guest…

A young Israeli filmmaker won the second-best foreign movie student Academy Award on Saturday, at a film-school version of the Oscars, according to AFP.  Student directors from British, German and US institutes were also among winners as organizers announced medal placements at the 41st Student Academy Awards show. Hadas Ayalon of Tel Aviv University took silver for “Paris on the Water,”…

Day in and day out, IDF combat soldiers work hard to ensure Israel remains safe and its citizens remain unharmed.  Seven years ago, a new program was formed to help those soldiers feel connected to the very people they protect: the Adopt-a-Battalion Program, which connects individuals and companies to specific units to form a mutual bond between…

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko promised change in his inaugural speech Saturday, making a number of stark resolutions to the tune of cheering crowds.  “I don’t want war. I don’t want revenge,” he said, after taking oath. “I want peace and I want peace to happen.” “Please, lay down the guns and I guarantee immunity to…

Knesset Speaker MK Yuli Edelstein announced Sunday that after consulting with the Knesset legal advisor, Eyal Yinon, and others, he has decided to go ahead and hold the election for the presidency of Israel on Tuesday, as planned. Edelstein said that in the last 24 hours, he has received numerous requests from Knesset Members and…

Every Israeli gets them – sometimes numerous times a day. Organizations send out text messages (SMS) on cellphone networks promising spiritual and material blessings, often in return for a “donation,” or a phone call to an organization, where a fast-talking salesperson will assure the caller that a “great Rabbi” will issue a blessing in return…

Egypt’s former defense minister Abdel Fatah Al-Sisi was officially sworn in as President on Sunday, after winning by a landslide 96% vote in last month’s elections. He will rule for a four-year term.  “I swear by Almighty God to loyally uphold the republican system, to respect the Constitution and the law, to fully uphold the interests…

A senior Egyptian official revealed Saturday that newly elected President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s administration strongly supports the new Hamas-Fatah unity government, and is considering giving it supervision of the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Sinai. The official, who spoke to the Judea and Samaria-based Arab Ma’an News Agency on condition of anonymity, said Egypt is willing to…

Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has some biting words for President Barack Obama in her new memoir, saying his push for a construction freeze in Judea and Samaria was a mistake. Speaking about the 2009 building freeze that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu submitted to, Clinton wrote “in retrospect, our early, hard line on…

MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) announced on Saturday that he has quit the presidential race, a mere three days ahead of the vote. The announcement comes in the wake of a police investigation launched Friday against him on corruption allegations. “Since I announced my candidacy, there has been an aggressive and orchestrated smear campaign against me, with the…

Israeli political officials predicted on Friday evening that MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer’s bid for the presidency was likely over in the wake of the investigation against him. While Ben-Eliezer is not expected to withdraw from the race, officials who spoke to the Hebrew-language Walla! news website said that the investigation would likely take away votes by…

President Barack Obama’s National Security Adviser, Susan Rice, hinted on Friday that the United States was sending weapons to the Syrian rebels, when she said Washington was taking important steps in Syria by offering both “lethal and non-lethal” aid to the moderate opposition. The comments were made in an interview Rice gave to CNN. “The…

A Turkish man is charged with electrocuting his wife as punishment for giving birth to a girl while on the phone to police who failed to avert the crime, media reported Friday, according to AFP. The 29-year-old from southeastern Diyarbakir province does not deny murdering his wife by placing a live electric cable under her…

Spain’s government on Friday approved a draft law easing the path to citizenship for the descendants of Jews expelled in 1492, AFP reported. Spain already grants citizenship to proven Sephardic Jews, the descendants of the Jewish people who were expelled in 1492 in a period of Roman Catholic zeal under the reign of Isabella and…

The head of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist group said on Friday that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s re-election this week proves that any solution to the country’s conflict “begins and ends” with the embattled leader. “The elections proved that a political solution in Syria begins and ends with President Bashar Al-Assad,” Hassan Nasrallah, a key ally…

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry on Friday joined those condemning Israel’s announced construction of roughly 3,300 new housing units in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. “Israel’s move to establish settlements, which clearly violates international law and harms the vision of a two-state solution, is unacceptable,” said a Foreign Ministry statement quoted by the Today’s Zaman daily.  The…

Israeli Prime Minister Binamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres congratulated Egyptian president-elect Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Friday, stressing their commitment to the peace accord between the neighboring states. Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with Sisi and “congratulated him on his victory in the election,” the premier’s office said.   A statement noted “the strategic importance of the…

A Palestinian Arab terrorist in his 20s tried on Friday afternoon to stab an IDF soldier at the Azzun junction in Samaria. The soldier was unhurt and the terrorist was apprehended. The IDF said the stabbing attempt took place as the soldiers were on a routine patrol and arrested a suspicious vehicle for inspection. During…

A young Belgian man who was badly hurt in the attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels died of his injuries on Friday, the public prosecutor’s office said, according to AFP. The Belgian, who is in his early 20s, is the fourth fatality from the May 24 shooting. An Israeli couple and a French woman…

Leftist MKs, the EU, and the US have encouraged Israel to work with the new Palestinian Authority (PA) “unity” government, claiming cooperation is the “only way” to end the Israeli-Arab conflict. Husam Badran, a senior Hamas official, disproved this on Thursday, stating that the “Palestinian people” still openly support terrorism. The official explained in an…

The German Parliament unanimously approved a measure extending pension payments for over 40,000 Holocaust survivors Thursday, allowing them retroactive benefits from as far back as 1997.  The Jewish Claims Conference, which helped negotiate the deal with the government, praised the deal as a “long-delayed measure of justice” to former laborers in German ghettos.  According to…

Egyptian security forces arrested six terrorists who had planned to attack newly elected President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s entourage after his swearing-in ceremony next Sunday. The arrest was reported in the Egyptian paper Al-Watan, which added that diagrams of the new president’s palaces and paths of how to enter them were found in the possession of the…

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso is to formally sign a controversial EU-Israel research program with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during a visit starting Sunday. The outgoing head of the European Union executive will hold talks with Netanyahu on Sunday before taking part in a signing ceremony the next day allowing Israel to become the…

I venture to guess that the largest number of readers were not yet born when on one sunny 6th of June, Jews as well as the rest of the free world prayed for the success of the long awaited second front that began on that day. If you are still guessing at what I am talking about,…

Eliezer and Etti Gruber, a couple in their 90s from the Shomron (Samaria) community of Karnei Shomron, passed away on Thursday at the Ma’ayanei Hayeshua Hospital in Bnei Brak within two hours of one another. Earlier in the week, Eliezer felt ill and was admitted to the internal medicine ward in the hospital due to…

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton favored arming Syria’s rebels early in that country’s civil war but was overruled by President Barack Obama, she says in her new memoir, obtained by CBS News. Clinton’s book, “Hard Choices”, is set for to be released on June 10, but CBS News said Thursday it purchased a…

Israeli police raided the Jerusalem studios of the Palestinian Authority (PA) TV on Friday, briefly detaining three staff for questioning over incitement to violence according to a police spokesperson. “Police carried out searches at the headquarters of the television channel, as part of an investigation into the content of its programs,” spokesperson Luba Samri told AFP. “Three employees…

Israel’s hi-tech industry and sunny Middle Eastern climate have combined for a world-leading usage of solar panels that harness the sun’s power. There’s just one problem: dust. Gritty particulates and sand can severely hamper desert solar power stations, causing solar panels to lose up to 40% of the solar energy they could potentially harvest. The…

A mother sentenced to death in Sudan for “renouncing Islam” and marrying a Christian husband has filed for an appeal citing procedural errors in the original trial, according to Al-Jazeera.  Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag was sentenced to death on May 15, in accordance with Sharia law. Sharia law outlaws Muslim women marrying non-Muslim men – and outlaws…

A Pakistan Taliban leader and explosives expert was killed Thursday, in an attack thought to be linked to the announcement earlier this week that a faction of the terror group was breaking off. The terror leader, Ashiqullah Mehsud, was a senior commander in the former Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He was killed in a shoot-and-run drive-by…

Amsterdam is to beef up security around Jewish synagogues and schools following last month’s shooting at the Brussels Jewish Museum which left three people dead, its mayor announced on Friday. “We are looking at the shooting’s consequences for Amsterdam’s Jewish community,” Eberhard van der Laan said in a letter sent to the Dutch capital’s city council. “We are taking measures,”…

A video uploaded to an Arab account on Facebook shows just how impossible the IDF’s job of policing Palestinian Arab rioters has become, after decades in which a sophisticated leftist-Arab effort has made it almost impossible for them to use live fire against their foes. The video shows two Border Policemen arresting a rioter and…

A group of young Jews were attacked by Arab hooligans on Tuesday before the holiday of Shavuot in Jerusalem, right near the Dung Gate just to the south of the Old City. The youths were on their way to the Kotel (Western Wall). One of the youths suffered a broken skull in the incident, requiring…

United Nations (UN) Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon joined the condemnation of Israel’s announced construction of roughly 3,300 new housing units in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem on Thursday. While the European Union (EU) stated that it was “deeply disappointed” by the move and called for Israel to “reverse” the construction announcements, Ban was “deeply concerned”…

Prominent US lawyer, political commentator and veteran Israel advocate Professor Alan Dershowitz has issued a sharp challenge to left-wing lobbyist group J Street, saying that if they want to be accepted by the wider Jewish community they should first open up their own membership to other viewpoints. Speaking at the Israel Day Concert earlier this…

The European Union (EU) on Thursday condemned Israeli announcements earlier in the day and on Wednesday night to build another 3,300 housing units in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. The EU said it is “deeply disappointed” by the Israeli plans to build more Jewish homes in the Biblical heartland of Israel. “We call on the…

Leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations (G7) decided Thursday to tighten defenses against the risk of terror attacks by European jihadists returning from the Syrian front. “We have agreed to intensify efforts to address the issue of foreign fighters travelling to and from Syria,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said at the close of a G7 summit. Cameron said…

The unity government founded between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and terrorist group Hamas on Monday is hitting early snags, as brawls broke out in Gaza on Thursday over the payment of employees of the two groups, leading to the closure of banks. Hamas violently took control of Gaza in 2007, and began cracking down on Fatah officials living…

Both left-wing and right-wing ideas for unilateral action on the Palestinian problem are not very popular in the Israeli public. The May 2014 Peace Index poll by Tel Aviv University asked the people surveyed to what extent they agree with the claim that because of the failure of negotiations with the Palestinian Arabs, Israel should…

Police officers on Tuesday tried to arrest a nine-year-old boy for prostrating himself in prayer on the Temple Mount. They were stopped in their tracks by the boy’s mother, who as luck would have it is an attorney. Former MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari organized the group of roughly 100 Jews visiting the holiest site in Judaism on…

Canadian Salman Ashrafi has been identified as the suicide bomber who participated in an attack in Iraq in November 2013. Some 40 people were killed in the attack. The attack included two vehicles, one of which exploded outside the Iraqi army base in Tarmiyah, and a second one that entered the compound and exploded inside,…

Security officials on Wednesday night foiled a stabbing attempt outside an IDF base in the Binyamin region. The stabber attempted to attack a soldier outside the base, lunging at him and shouting out anti-Israel and anti-Semitic epithets. Security forces intervened and arrested the perpetrator. There were no injuries in the incident, which came a day…

In a move certain to bring a new wave of consternation from the Palestinian Authority (PA), plans to construct 1,800 new housing units in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem were unblocked on Thursday, hours after tenders on 1,500 new homes in the region were announced. “The political echelon has ordered the Civil Administration to advance 1,800…

The Housing Ministry and the Israel Lands Administration on Wednesday night issued tenders for 1,500 new homes in Judea and Samaria, and in Jerusalem. The tenders were issued as part of Israel’s response to the establishment of the Hamas-Fatah Palestinian Authority government. Of the homes, 223 will be built in Efrat, 484 in Beitar Ilit,…

For the first time, Israel security forces used the Iron Dome anti-rocket system Wednesday night to deflect a missile fired at Israel from Syria. Several rockets were fired at Israel, with one landing in a forested area. Several fires broke out as a result, but were quickly doused. No injuries were reported. Defense officials said…

The US has been secretly holding talks with Hamas for months Buzzfeed reported Thursday, despite its official stance that it would negotiate with the terrorist organization. “Our administration needed to hear from them that this unity government would move toward democratic elections, and toward a more peaceful resolution with the entire region,” a US official…

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the terrorist organization behind Fatah and the Palestinian Authority (PA), is to appeal to the UN Security Council over Israel’s announcement that it would build 1,500 new Jewish homes in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem, a senior official said Thursday. “The executive committee of the PLO views this latest escalation with the utmost of seriousness,”…

Pope Francis hosts an unprecedented joint peace prayer in the Vatican on Sunday with Israeli president Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in a bid to overcome decades of mistrust, AFP reports Thursday.  Francis invited the two leaders unexpectedly during his trip to the Middle East last month but has claimed repeatedly that the initiative is “purely spiritual” and…

A senior Fatah official was reportedly injured on Thursday while taking part in a violent “Naksa Day” riot, in which protesters threw stones at IDF forces at the Kalandia checkpoint just north of Jerusalem. The official, Mustafa Barghouti, is the General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative, a member of the Palestinian Authority (PA) parliament, and…

Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton sharply criticized US President Barack H. Obama’s decision to release five Taliban terrorists in return for US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. Speaking to Arutz Sheva this week, Bolton said that “I believe that under no circumstances should we be conducting negotiations with terrorists. The release of these…

Syria’s ongoing major civil war, which has pitted the country’s population against each other, has apparently not affected the popularity of President Bashar al-Assad, apparently. Assad has been reelected as President of Syria in an overwhelming electoral victory, with nearly 90% of Syrian voters choosing him for another term. Elections took place for Assad’s third…

Hundreds of Jews who attempted to ascend the Temple Mount Wednesday morning were shocked to discover that they were barred entry onto the holy site. The ban came after Muslim groups demanded that Jews stay off the site, and despite a promise by police that Jews would be allowed to enter it. Tens of thousands…

Secretary of State John Kerry defended Wednesday a US decision to work with the new Palestinian Authority “unity government”, despite Israeli criticism, claiming that it does not include any Hamas ministers. The United States, like Israel and the European Union, consider the Islamist group Hamas a terrorist organisation. Speaking to reporters in Beirut, Kerry said…

Leaders of the Group of Seven powers are hoping to draw up plans Wednesday on how to guard against the threat of attacks by European jihadists returning home from fighting in the Syrian civil war, diplomats said. In the wake of a fatal shooting at the Jewish Museum in Brussels just days ago, British and…

Security forces were gearing up for two major protest events this week by Arab and left-wing extremists. Thursday marks “Naksa Day,” in which Palestinians demonstrate against the liberation of Judea, Samaria, and much of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six Day War. Similar to “Nakba Day” – which mourns the Israeli victory during the 1947-48 War…

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed on Tuesday the formation of the new Palestinian “unity government” which includes the Hamas terrorist group. In a statement, Ban expressed hope that new opportunities for progress towards a two-State solution with Israel will emerge soon, saying the UN had received assurances that the Hamas-Fatah deal would be implemented…

Israel said Tuesday it allowed the mother-in-law of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh into the country for medical treatment, reports The Associated Press (AP). Maj. Guy Inbar, an Israeli spokesman, said the 68-year-old woman was allowed to enter from Gaza on Monday to receive cancer treatment at a Jerusalem hospital. A relative in Gaza confirmed she…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on Tuesday afternoon spoke with French President Francois Hollande and expressed his appreciation for the vigorous action by the French security forces in bringing about the capture of the terrorist suspected of perpetrating the anti-Semitic attack in Brussels. According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu told the…

The European Union (EU) said Tuesday it will work with the new Palestinian Authority unity government, which includes the Hamas terrorist group, on condition it sticks to the principle of peace with Israel based on a two-state solution. “We welcome … the declaration by President Abbas that this new government is committed to the principle…

Security forces on Tuesday evening apprehended a Palestinian Arab terrorist who tried to stab a soldier at an IDF base near the town of Beit El in the Binyamin region. According to the IDF, the terrorist was caught as he was moving towards the entrance of the base while holding a knife, a PLO flag…

Statements by senior Palestinian Authority (PA) officials reveal a more sinister nature to shifting the Ministry of Prisoners to under the auspices of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a move made with the founding of the unity government this Monday. Several Western nations have begun to call for a clarification of their funding to the…

Just ahead of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot, beginning Tuesday evening, a three-year-old boy was bitten by a snake in the southern community of Har Amasa, which is located in the Negev. The child was struck by the snake while playing in a local playground. It remains unclear if the snake was poisonous. Magen David Adom…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told The Associated Press (AP) Tuesday he is “deeply troubled” by the United States’ decision to maintain relations with the new Hamas-Fatah unity government. “I’m deeply troubled by the announcement that the United States will work with the Palestinian government backed by Hamas,” Netanyahu told AP, saying the group has murdered…

A terrorist opened fire on Monday night towards Border Police soldiers who were stationed at the Tapuach Junction in Samaria, near the city of Ariel. The soldiers returned fire and killed the terrorist. One soldier was lightly wounded in the incident and was treated at the scene by army medics. IDF Chief of Staff Benny…

Israel said on Monday it was “deeply disappointed” by the United States’ readiness to work with a new Palestinian Authority (PA) unity government. “We are deeply disappointed by the comments of the (U.S.) State Department regarding working with the Palestinian unity government,” a government official told AFP. “This Palestinian government is a government backed by…

Lawmakers in the United States on Monday called on the Obama administration to suspend financial aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the wake of the formation of the new unity government between Hamas and Fatah. The calls came as the State Department stated that the U.S. would work with the new unity government. According…

About 4,500 women in Israel are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, according to the Israel Cancer Association, and roughly 900 die annually from the disease. The key, experts say, is early detection – which can raise the survival rate to 90%.  Official state policies therefore promote bi-annual mammograms for women between ages 50-74. But what…

Roughly 200 residents of Samaria demonstrated on Tuesday afternoon at Har Bracha Junction, located just south of Shechem (Nablus), in protest of the recent spate of Arab terrorist attacks plaguing the region. The protesters, who bore signs with messages such as “rocks equal terror,” and “Jewish blood is not to be abandoned,” sealed the highway…

Thousands of people will visit the Tomb of King David and the Mount Zion neighborhood of Jerusalem for the Jewish festival of Shavuot, starting this Tuesday afternoon. A tidbit of local lore that many visitors may not know is that Artimus Pyle, drummer of the celebrated American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, moved to Jerusalem to live…

According to new reports, the American administration has promised the new Fatah-Hamas unity government, which was sworn in this Monday, that it will convince Israel to allow that new government’s elections to be held in the eastern part of Jerusalem. “A source that knows things,” apparently from within the Palestinian Authority (PA) or Hamas, was…

France increased its estimate of the number of its nationals embroiled in Syria’s civil war to more than 800 on Tuesday, according to AFP,  and warned that they pose an unprecedented security threat. The warning, from Prime Minister Manuel Valls, followed the weekend arrest of Medhi Nemmouche, a French jihadist suspected of carrying out last week’s Brussels Jewish Museum killings…

Polling stations in Syria opened for presidential elections Tuesday, as political analysts predict that President Bashar Assad will win for a third consecutive presidential term against the backdrop of a bloody civil war.  Six other candidates have now announced their intentions to run against Assad, including the first female presidential candidate; this is the first election…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday discussed methods of dealing with a group of Arab security prisoners who were on a hunger strike. Some 290 terrorists were participating in the hunger strike. Netanyahu is seeking medical opinions on how to deal with the strike, and is prepared to issue orders forcing them to eat. Netanyahu…

The Samaria Military Court convicted 16 year-old Palestinian terrorist Hussein Rawadara, a Jenin native, over the murder of 19 year-old soldier Eden Atias hy”d in November, Walla! News reports Monday.  Rawadara stabbed Atias multiple times in the neck and chest near the Afula central bus station last November, in a premeditated terror attack which raised serious questions over…

Has Europe under-estimated the security threat posed by battle-hardened homegrown Islamic militants returning from Syria? After the chance arrest in France of the suspected perpetrator of last week’s deadly shooting at a Jewish Museum in Brussels, concern mounted Monday that the region is ill-equipped to cope with the threat posed by homegrown Islamic militants returning from Syria’s battlefields. Mehdi Nemmouche,…

Washington said Monday it will work with the Palestinian Arab unity government and maintain aid, while “watching closely” to ensure it respects the principle of non-violence, AFP reports.  State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington believes Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has “formed an interim technocratic government… that does not include members affiliated with Hamas.” “With what we know now, we will…

Saudi authorities are cracking down on social media, the Saudi Gazette reports Monday, and are in the process of reviewing the Anti-Cybercrime Law to allow legal proceedings to be filed against social networking sites for allowing accounts which promote adultery, atheism, and homosexuality.  The Saudi Anti-Cybercrime Law was enacted by royal decree on March 26, 2007. According…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has released an official Israeli response to the swearing-in of the Palestinian Arab “unity” government Monday, after he declared an emergency Cabinet meeting with top ministers to discuss the issue.  Both Netanyahu and the ministers agreed not to engage politically with the new government, as part of the policy not to…

World Jewish leaders Monday called for “stronger” security against Jihadists returning home to Europe who have been “taught to kill” in Syria, according to AFP.  Speaking more than a week after the fatal attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels, leaders of the World Jewish Congress (WJC) warned that the increasing numbers of young people recruited to fight in Syria by Islamist radical…

A masked man invaded a barbecue at a Chicago-area synagogue, shouting anti-Semitic slogans, visitors to the event said. The incident occurred Sunday at the Anshei Emet synagogue in Chicago, which was hosting a kosher food festival. Witnesses said that the man entered the area where the event was being held and starting cursing and yelling,…

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud) condemned the swearing in of the new Fatah and Hamas unity government on Monday, which took place in Ramallah. “The replacement of ministers in the Palestinian government is just a pretty wrapping for the terrorist attacks that were conducted and will be conducted under their protection,” declared Danon. “Now,…

In the latest act of cruelty, the most radical jihadist group fighting in Syria on Sunday killed a 102-year-old man along with his whole family, a monitoring group told AFP. The 102-year-old was shot dead in his sleep by jihadist rebels from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The rebels also killed…

Fire was opened on Monday morning towards an IDF post on Mount Hermon, near the border with Syria. No one was hurt. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that soldiers responded with artillery fire, noting “the IDF reserves the right to act in any way and at any time it sees fit to protect the citizens…

Samaria-based Ariel University was represented at the 50th annual Israel Day Parade on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, which was held this Sunday and attracted roughly 35,000 people. The university’s float, which was designed by students in the Industrial Design Lab at the Technology and Design Center, gave examples of the school’s academic achievements and innovation. Ariel University features over…

French police arrested four people suspected of links with jihadist terror networks Monday, three days after detaining a suspect in connection to last Saturday’s deadly attack on a Jewish museum in Brussels. Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced the sweep on Europe1 radio, but did not specify if the arrests in the Paris region and southern France were linked to the…

Rabbi Moshe Talbi Hy”d was murdered by terrorists on March 21, 2011, but it has taken the state of Israel over three years to recognize this fact. For inexplicable reasons, the initial official version regarding his death was that it was a suicide, and it took a prolonged struggle, including legal and journalistic pressure, to…

Despite zero hour tensions that threatened to scupper the entire process, the unity government between Fatah and terrorist group Hamas was sworn in on Monday in Ramallah, with the attendance of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas informed Fatah earlier on Monday that it would refuse to join the unity government being unveiled at…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) unity government will be sworn in on Monday at 1:00 p.m. in Ramallah, a PLO executive committee member told the Ma’an news agency on Sunday. Wasel Abu Yusef said that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s office had sent invitations to PLO executive committee members and ministers to attend the ceremony. Abu Yusef…

A bomb attack targeting fans at a soccer match in Nigeria’s restive northeast killed at least 40 people on Sunday, a police officer told AFP. “There has been a bomb explosion at a football field this evening and so far more than 40 people have been killed,” the officer told the news agency. The policeman’s…

Egypt’s elections committee rejected on Sunday a defeated presidential candidate’s appeal against voting results that gave former army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi a landslide victory, judicial sources said, according to Reuters. Leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi only got 3 percent of the votes in last week’s elections, according to initial results that showed Sisi in the…

United States Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to start a two-day visit to Jordan Wednesday, where he will meet with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, Jordanian daily newspaper al-Arab al-Yawm reported Sunday. The report, cited by the Ma’an news agency, quoted a “high-profile” Jordanian official as saying that Abbas and Kerry will…

  With scores killed and more than one million affected by the catastrophic flooding and landslides, the Israeli delegation responded to a plea from the Serbian government for assistance.   Lev Echad – which means One Heart and is an Emergency Civilian Aid Organization, and students from Shalem College, Israel’s first college of liberal arts,…

More than 300 women participated on Friday in the 5th annual Women’s Sadnat Shiluv BeEmunah Swimathon in the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). Participants included women of all ages, from 10 to 80, from Israel as well as from Europe, Australia, the United States, Canada, and South Africa. Sadnat Shiluv (Mainstreaming Workshop) is a unique residential…

The Sudanese government denied allegations that it would free a pregnant Christian woman set to be hanged for apostasy, stating that hints suggesting her freedom were misconstrued.  “[I am] not aware that any release is imminent,” Abu Bakr al-Sideeg, spokesman for the Sudanese foreign ministry, stated Sunday.  Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag was sentenced to death on…

An Egyptian court that sentenced to death 37 Islamists and handed life terms to 492 others defended its verdict on Sunday, saying the men were “demons” who followed Jewish scripture. The court in the central city of Minya had triggered international outrage earlier this year for sentencing to death hundreds of alleged supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in…

Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar issued a rare public statement Sunday, according to BBC News, calling the US’s exchange of Islamist terrorist prisoners for an American soldier a “big victory.” “I extend my heartfelt congratulations to the entire Afghan Muslim nation,” Omar said, in a video clip. The five Afghani Taliban prisoners are widely…

A seven year-old boy from the village of Abu Sinan in the Galilee drowned Sunday afternoon, in a water reservoir adjacent to the Beit Hemek in the Western Galilee.  As of Sunday night, the boy has been named as Rami Naim.  An initial investigation shows that Naim and two other children went to play in…

Discrimination against Jews at holy sites has reached new heights, the chairman of the Ariel Zionist youth movement told Arutz Sheva Sunday.  Western Wall plaza security guards prevented a group of teenage girls from praying at the Wall Saturday, after finding that the Ariel group had wanted to pray for the building of the Third Temple, Nava…

The annual Israel Day Parade on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue is unfolding Sunday, with over 35,000 people marching in support for the world’s one and only Jewish State. Concerns were raised about the presence of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) groups participating in the parade, sparking tensions between differing American Jewish organizations over the past several weeks.  But…

Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) signed the recommendations of a Joint Committee on Droughts – headed by the Finance Ministry, the Tax Authority, and the Ministry of Agriculture – to declare an official drought in the Negev Sunday, as well as some isolated areas in the North.  The edict will go into effect late…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided Sunday that instead of having the government vote on a bill that would make it possible for judges to prevent the release of terrorist prisoners, the bill would be discussed by the Diplomacy and Security Cabinet together with the recommendations of the Shamgar Committee on prisoner releases. The decision was…

While many Americans expressed joy at the release of US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, 28, who had been held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for nearly five years, members of the military, as well as some on the right, were questioning the deal that set him free. Almost immediately after the Taliban handed him over…

World governments should not rush to approve the new Palestinian Arab “unity” government, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Sunday, after the Palestinian Authority (PA) accused Israel of looking to punish them over a unity deal. “I call on all responsible elements within the international community not to hurry to recognize the Palestinian government that Hamas is part of, and which relies…

A Frenchman with suspected ties to Islamic radicals in Syria has been arrested over last week’s shooting at the JewishMuseum in Brussels that left four people dead, investigation sources told AFP on Sunday. The suspect, 29-year-old Mehdi Nemmouche, was arrested Friday in the southern French city of Marseille in possession of a Kalashnikov rifle and a handgun similar to…

Since 2013, The Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet) said Sunday, terrorists being held in Israeli prisons were involved in planning eleven attempted kidnappings of soldiers and civilians throughout Israel. The information was revealed after a joint ISA-Prisons Service investigation, the agency said. So far, the agency said, security forces have been able to…

Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, Deputy Religious Affairs Minister, condemned two incidents of arson incidents over Shabbat. “As Shabbat ended I heard about these incidents and was shocked,” he said. “In recent months there have been numerous such incidents. Meanwhile, government officials remain quiet.” In once incident, a synagogue in Petach Tikvah was set afire on Shabbat…

An apparent serious terror attack took place in northern Jerusalem’s Ramat Shlomo neighborhood late Friday night, but most Israeli and Jewish news sources are ignoring the incident. According to hareidi news site Behadrei Haredim, the attack took place at 1:45 a.m. Saturday. An eyewitness, Eli Shreiber, said that he was sitting in a synagogue when…

The government is expected to approve a law that would prevent mass releases of terrorists. The law, proposed by MK Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home), would allow a court to write into its sentence of a terrorist a clause that would prevent the President from signing off on his pardon in the future. If passed into…

Police at Heathrow Airport in London have arrested a 19-year-old man suspected of terror offences, the Met said on Sunday. He was detained by counter-terror SO15 officers on suspicion of “preparing for acts of terrorism,” reported the BBC. A spokesman said the arrest was “Syria-related.” The force said it had searched an address in Camden,…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that Israel had threatened to cut ties with the PA if the PLO and Hamas formed a government of national unity, but added that he was prepared to respond to the threats. According to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency, Abbas made the statements during a visit of…

A Christian Sudanese woman sentenced to hang for apostasy will be “freed within days”, a foreign ministry official told AFP Saturday, after her case triggered an international outcry. Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag was condemned to death on May 15 under the Islamic Sharia law that has been in place in Sudan since 1983 and which…

A Norwegian-language test administered to over 40,000 high-school students across Norway, included blatant anti-Israel propaganda. One of the questions presented a photo of a graffiti drawing by a British street artist on Israel’s security barrier and an SMS sent by Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert from Gaza during the Cast Lead counter-terror offensive in 2009, and…

US Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, 28, who has been held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for nearly five years has been freed in deal that includes the release of five Afghan detainees, US officials said. The  Afghan detainees have been released from the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They were handed over to Qatar, which mediated…

An Israeli citizen reported Friday afternoon to the Binymin Region security hotline that shots had been fired at his car as it traveled near the community of Adam. Large IDF forces arrived on the scene and a forensics team identified two bullets that hit the car. The forces bergan combing the region for suspects. On…

Germany and the UAE expressed hope Saturday that Iran and the P5+1 world powers will reach a permanent diplomatic resolution to their nuclear dispute in two months’ time. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, told a news conference held in Abu Dhabi with his visiting German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, that it was hoped…

A senior Iranian commander threatened on Friday that any American attack on Iran will result in “the annihilation of the Israeli regime”. “They know that aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran would mean annihilation of Tel Aviv and spread of war into the United States,” the commander, Massoud Jazayeri, was quoted by the Fars…

Egypt’s newly elected president, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, vowed on Thursday that the country would not go backwards but move forward, Al Arabiya reports. Speaking to the Kuwaiti newspaper Aljarida, Sisi said, “We know that some people fear a return to the past, but this will not happen, there is no going back and we will…

The United States confirmed on Friday that it believes an American citizen carried out a suicide bombing within Syria, AFP reported. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki did not provide any details about the suspect, who had been identified in a New York Times report as a man in his 20s from Florida and of Middle…

Sudan said Friday that it would not install Iranian anti-aircraft missiles in the country after earlier exploring the idea following alleged Israeli airstrikes there in 2012. A statement from Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs quoted by The Associated Press (AP) said Khartoum would not install the defensive missiles “for fear it could be misinterpreted by…

Israeli police decided to limit entrance to Muslim visitors going to pray at the mosques on the Temple Mount on Friday, following intelligence that was received indicating there are plans to riot at the holy site. In accordance with the information, only Arab men over the age of 45 who are residents of Israel, as…

The iconic rock band Rolling Stones have apparently taken their religious Jewish fans into consideration by moving back the starting time of their debut Israel performance on June 4, so as to avoid a conflict with the major holiday of Shavuot. The Tel Aviv Municipality authorized a special extension of the performance’s start time at…

Israel may not be in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, which will start on June 12 and last roughly a month, but the Jewish connection to the event is quite visible. On one hand, a Jewish couple is looking to turn the event into an opportunity to teach Jewish fans about Jewish culture. Further,…

The IDF on Friday afternoon began a manhunt in Samaria. Their target: the terror cell that is believed to have been behind the foiled suicide bombing at Tapuach Junction near Ariel which took place Friday morning. The assumption at this stage is that the suicide terrorist who was captured wearing a bomb belt was brought…

In early February, Canada’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Chris Alexander, presented Bill C-24, which is supposed to bring about fundamental change in the immigration process.  The bill, which is designed to reduce immigration fraud, was brought to parliament for approval this week. According to the proposal, permanent residents of Canada will be required to…

A Turkish court on Thursday handed a 15-month jail term to a teacher over Twitter posts deemed religiously offensive, local media reported on Thursday, according to AFP. The court in the eastern city of Mus ruled that the man, identified as Ertan P., insulted Islamic values with his Twitter handle — @allah (cc) — and…

With just a few days to go until the 21st Annual Israel Day Concert in New York’s Central Park, executive producer Dr. Joseph Frager shared with Arutz Sheva his excitement over what will likely be an impressive show of strength by pro-Israel Americans. In particular, the appearance of Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx) – a possible presidential candidate…

Well-known Israeli actress Hanna Maron passed away on Friday evening in Tel Aviv at the age of 90. Maron died at the Ichilov Hospital, surrounded by family members. Born Hanna Meierzak in Berlin, Germany, she appeared as a child in several plays, films, and radio plays. In 1933, following the Nazis’ rise to power, she…

Nearly 2,000 civilians, more than a quarter of them children, have been killed this year in a massive Syrian air offensive on rebel-held areas of Aleppo province, a monitor said Friday, according to AFP. The staggering toll from barrel bombings and other air attacks comes just ahead of Tuesday’s presidential election, which is expected to…

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had tried to convince Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel to be a candidate in the race for president, media said on Friday. Israeli media began reporting Netanyahu’s last-minute attempt on Tuesday, when candidates had to present 10 MPs’ signatures to be eligible for the position. Wiesel, who lives in New York, told Yedioth Aharonoth on Friday that…

Vandals attacked the Jewish cemetery of the Greek city of Thessaloniki, whose Jewish population was nearly wiped out during World War II, local authorities said on Friday. According to The Associated Press (AP), police said marble ornaments were smashed off 12 graves, while vandals also tried to remove the tombs’ heavy marble covers. Foreign Minister…

A senior American official denied on Friday that the United States had extended an invitation to the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA) government, Rami Hamdallah. Earlier Friday, a PA official claimed that Hamdallah, who was appointed by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday to head the unity government with Hamas, had been invited for an…

Results of an in-depth research survey, which found that 92% of Israeli youth are proud to be Israeli, were announced for the first time on Thursday, timed for the same week as Jerusalem Day. The results were presented at the tenth conference of the “Masa Yisraeli” educational project, which was attended by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, and Education…