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Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman expanded on his statements last Friday, in which he called US Secretary of State John Kerry “a true friend of Israel,” a remark the US State Department praised. On Sunday, he attacked critics of Kerry’s plans, stating “we shouldn’t take friends and turn them into enemies.” “It’s natural to have differences…

A 24-year-old hareidi man has reportedly been wounded after being stabbed near the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City. Police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident, although they have said it was likely a nationalistically-motivated attack. Dvir Adani, a United Hatzalah medic, said “I got to the scene and saw a young hareidi man…

The Jordanian parliament declared on Saturday that it was against Israel’s demand that the Palestinian Authority (PA) recognize it as Jewish state. In a statement carried by the Jordanian Petra news agency, the Lower House of the Parliament outlined its “fundamental position on the Palestinian issue” and said it was rejecting Israel’s demand for being…

The United States has played down Saturday’s reports that Iran was sending warships to its maritime borders. A U.S. defense official, speaking to the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, cast doubt on any claims that the Iranian ships were approaching U.S. maritime borders. That same official added, however, that “ships are free to…

Arab graffiti was found scrawled all over the ancient grave of Elazar Hacohen, the son of Moses’s brother Aaron from the Torah, in the Samarian village of Awarta near Itamar. The Arab graffiti praised the terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) in fighting the “Zionist enemy” to “free Palestine.” “The heroes…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s positive comments on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry did not go unnoticed by the State Department. On Friday, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki welcomed the statements by Liberman, who said, “Kerry is a true friend of Israel, he leads the process correctly and has the right to think differently from…

Egypt’s army reported on Saturday that it killed 16 Islamist terrorists in Sinai near the border with Gaza the day before. The liquidation of the 16 terrorists was conducted by an Egyptian airstrike in an area south of Sheikh Zuweid on Friday evening, according to the army’s statement. The region has seen heightened violence; Hamas…

On Saturday evening a rocket was fired by terrorists from Gaza towards the northwestern Negev. The IDF stated “no damage or injuries were reported.” The latest rocket follows three attacks on Thursday. In the first attack, a grad rocket was fired at the Eshkol Regional Council; earlier in the day, terrorists fired a rocket at Ashkelon,…

Britain’s Supreme Court reject a third and final appeal by four anti-Israel activists, who were convicted for criminal trespass after chaining themselves to the shop of Israeli cosmetics company Ahava. The incident – in which the activists chained themselves to a concrete block outside the shop in central London’s Coven Gardens – took place in 2011, after…

The Iranian navy is deploying a “military fleet” to US maritime borders, according to a senior military official in Iran. “The Iranian Army’s naval fleets have already started their voyage towards the Atlantic Ocean via the waters near South Africa,” announced Afshin Rezayee Haddad, the Commander of Iran’s Northern Navy Fleet Admiral, on Saturday. “Iran’s military fleet…

US Secretary of State John Kerry revealed new details about the secretive Israeli-Palestinian Authority (PA) peace talks he is pushing through. According to Kerry, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opposes the idea that NATO forces will secure Israel’s borders in the event of a withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. That idea was raised by PA Chairman…

Amid the ongoing nuclear talks to convince the West of its “peaceful” nuclear designs, in a move Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei revealed in January is an Islamic “taqiyya” deceptive tactic, Iran continues to roll out military advances and threats. The official site of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards warned the US that its warships in the…

Turkey on Friday scrambled a jet fighter to force down an airliner from Ukraine after a would-be hijacker on board brandishing a detonator ordered it to Sochi where the Winter Olympic opening ceremony was underway, Turkish officials told AFP. A Turkish F-16 made the plane, from Turkey’s Pegasus airline and carrying 110 people, land in…

The pro-Israel lobby AIPAC on Friday backed down from its support of a new bill in the U.S Congress that would impose new sanctions on Iran. AIPAC’s announcement came after Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and one of the authors of the bill, urged his colleagues not to let…

On Thursday, as thousands of hareidim protested over the freezing of funding for all yeshivas, 170 new hareidi soldiers were sworn in at an IDF base in the Jordan Valley. The new soldiers will undergo training and join the Nahal Hareidi, the IDF’s hareidi combat battalion. The new recruits make up the largest group to…

A new report from the Pentagon warns that the US would be totally clueless if Iran were to obtain a nuclear weapon. The report reveals that America’s intelligence services are unable to detect when a nation has become nuclear armed. Bret Stephens, a foreign affairs columnist for the Wall Street Journal, spoke about the report he…

A bipartisan bill was introduced in the US House of Representatives on Thursday; if passed it will revoke all federal funding for any US academic institution that decides to boycott Israel. The academic boycott leveled against Israel last December by the American Studies Association (ASA) was a key factor in the bill, which seeks to prevent…

A Syrian suicide bomber detonated himself in an Aleppo prison Thursday, freeing hundreds of inmates and intensifying the struggle to maintain control over the city, according to the Daily Herald.  The attack began when a Chechen suicide bomber from the Al Qaeda satellite group Al Nusra Front attacked the prison gates, according to the British-based Syrian…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman praised US Secretary of State John Kerry Friday, criticizing Economics Minister Naftali Bennett’s (Jewish Home) attack on the US diplomat’s handling of peace talks.  “Kerry is a true friend of Israel, he leads the process correctly and has the right to think differently from that of belligerent Naftali Bennett,” Liberman was…

Israeli troops cleared an illegal Arab outpost in the Jordan Valley on Friday, ending a week-long demonstration against Israel’s refusal to surrender the area in any future peace deal.     Soldiers, border guards and police asked the mixture of far-left and Arab activists to leave before forcefully evicting them, a statement from the army…

What better way to spend your wedding day than fighting for the state of Israel? A bride made a surprise visit to the Women in Green’s week-long vigil tent on Wednesday, which is located in front of the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem. The vigil, which as of Friday is in its sixth day, has…

Czech police said on Thursday that the weapons and explosives discovered at the Palestinian Authority’s Embassy in Prague, where a possibly booby-trapped safe killed the ambassador, were decades old. In a statement quoted by The Associated Press (AP), police said that ballistic and other tests showed that 12 illegal weapons and explosives found following the…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been criticized in Israel in recent days over his threats of a boycott, appears to have found an ally in Finance Minister Yair Lapid. The Globes financial newspaper reported on Thursday that Kerry, who met with Israeli MKs attending an international parliamentary conference in Washington, praised Lapid…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday expressed his appreciation towards his Secretary of State’s peace efforts in the Middle East. Speaking at an interfaith breakfast in Washington, D.C., Obama said, “I want to take this opportunity to thank Secretary Kerry for his extraordinary passion and principled diplomacy that he’s brought to the cause of peace…

The Speaker of the Danish parliament will visit the Palestinian Authority this weekend but will skip Israel, Channel 10 News reported on Thursday. According to the report, the Speaker, Mogens Lykketoft, announced two months ago that he would be visiting the region, and the Foreign Ministry explained to Lykketoft that his Israeli counterpart, Knesset Speaker…

The New York Times reported on Thursday that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has donated $170,000 to the country’s only Jewish hospital. According to the report, this was Rouhani’s second such gesture since taking office. The official IRNA news agency said the president has given the same amount from government funds as he did last year…

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime has reportedly agreed to a ceasefire in the beleaguered city of Homs, allowing civilians out and humanitarian aid into the urban warzone. The promise follows unfulfilled talk to that effect from Sunday. “We welcome the reports that the parties have agreed a humanitarian pause to allow civilians out of and…

Gaza terrorists fired a rocket Thursday evening at Ashkelon. It exploded in an open area south of the city. No one was hurt. Earlier reports said that the Iron Dome anti-missile system had intercepted one of two rockets over Ashkelon, but the IDF said that no interceptions were recorded. It is not clear whether another…

Terrorists from Hamas-controlled Gaza fired a Grad rocket at southern Israel on Thursday evening. The rocket exploded in an open area of the Eshkol Regional Council. There were no physical injuries or damages. The attack was the third time in the day that terrorists fired rockets at Israel. Earlier Thursday evening, Gaza terrorists fired a…

Allah has promised Israel to the Jews — so says Sheikh Ahmad Adwan, a Muslim scholar living in Jordan, who declared on his Facebook page recently that “Palestine” doesn’t exist. Blogger Elder of Ziyon translated Arab news sources that this Saturday reported on Adwan’s statements, in which he quotes the Koran saying Allah assigned Israel to the Jews…

The United States has made many mistakes in its Middle East Policy, and it is Israel that has paid for those mistakes, Economics Minister Naftali Benefit said Thursday. Speaking to Israel Radio, Bennett pointed out to a range of what he said were errors and miscalculations by the U.S., vowing that he would not allow…

Poets for Israel, a group of artists, musicians, and poets that supports Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, has petitioned Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to change the name of a central square in Jerusalem’s Beit Hakerem neighborhood. Denya Square’s name should be changed, the group said, now that Denmark’s largest bank has announced that it…

Dutch Jews are making it clear they don’t intend to take the economic assault on Israel quietly. A group of young Jewish activists in the country have started a counter-boycott movement to make local firms feel the pinch for their discrimination against the Jewish state. The Dutch pension asset manager PGGM, one of the largest in…

Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Abdullah Shalah is currently in Iran to meet senior officials of the Islamic regime. On Wednesday, the terror group leader met Ali Larijiani, chairman of the Iranian parliament. Larijani praised the “victories” of the Arabs in Gaza during the two most recent clashes with the IDF, Operation Cast Lead and Operation…

Deputy Religions Minister Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan visited Thursday at the “Mother’s Vigil” tent that the Women in Green movement has set up near the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, and joined the protesters in demanding the application of Israeli sovereignty in the mountainous Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. “We demand that Israeli sovereignty…

British MP George Galloway, who is known for his hatred towards Israel and his backing of the Hamas terrorist group, criticized actress Scarlett Johansson this week for her refusal to back down from an advertising campaign for SodaStream, an Israeli company with a factory in Ma’ale Adumim, a Jerusalem suburb located over the 1949 armistice lines.…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that he was unfazed by criticism in Israel over his peace efforts, saying that he was “threatened by real bullets” so words do not intimidate him. In an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Kerry was asked to respond to the Israeli ministers who criticized him earlier in…

The United States warned American and foreign airlines on Wednesday that terrorists could try to place explosives disguised as toothpaste on Russia-bound flights, AFP reports. An official told the news agency the U.S. has information “specifically targeting flights to Russia,” where the Winter Olympics will begin in the resort city of Sochi on Friday. In…

President Shimon Peres will try set a new Guinness World Record on Thursday, when he delivers the largest online civics class in the world. The class will be held at Cisco’s headquarters in Netanya and over 6,500 high school students in 215 classrooms across Israel will view it. The Senior Vice President of Guinness World…

Fatah, the ruling political party of the Palestinian Authority (PA), continues to incite violence against Israel on its Facebook page.  According to Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), a prominent post reads, “Teach your children to love the soil. Teach them that we live in misery. Teach them that there is a seed in the soil; if you water it with blood, it will sprout…

A grenade launched into a Benghazi elementary school playground injured 12 children Wednesday, leaving Libyan authorities scrambling to find the man or terror organization responsible.  The attack occurred during recess, at about 11:00 am local time. An eyewitness told BBC News that he had seen a man rip out the grenade pin with his mouth before lobbing it…

The State Department once again took Israel to task on Wednesday for criticizing Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to achieve peace. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that criticism of Kerry over his threats of a boycott of Israel if peace talks fail were meant to distract attention from progress in the peace…

The Hamas government in Gaza has redeployed security forces along its borders with Israel to prevent rocket fire, the Ma’an news agency reported Tuesday. Islam Shahwan, an official from the Gaza Interior Ministry, said that the ministry’s role is to “secure and fortify the home front and the agreements approved by resistance factions to realize…

The defense budget for 2014 was approved on Tuesday night by a joint committee of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Knesset’s Finance Committee. The budget includes an increase of 750 million shekels to improve the IDF’s procurement and preparedness. Last October, the Ministerial Committee for National Security Matters decided unanimously to…

Israel recently refused an American offer to convene a joint Israel-U.S.-Palestinian Authority (PA) committee to discuss the PA’s ongoing incitement against Israel. NRG/Ma’ariv reported on Tuesday that the suggestion was made to Intelligence and International Relations Minister Yuval Steinitz, but he refused to accept it, explaining that “there is no point in convening a committee…

The United States encourages Israel to release terrorists from its prisons, then warns its citizens against traveling to the region. The State Department on Monday strongly warned Americans against travel to Judea, Samaria and Gaza, citing violent clashes in the border area last month. “The security environment remains complex in Israel, the West Bank, and…

The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office filed charges to the city’s District Court Wednesday against three Arab residents of eastern Jerusalem who planned a sadistic murder spree at a banquet hall. Anas Awisat, Basel Abidat, Ahmed Srur and Amru Abdu of Jabel Mukabar, aged 19 to 21, were charged with conspiring to assist the enemy in…

A large and impressive well was discovered in the Tel Aviv neighborhood of Ramat HaHayal Wednesday, a find archaeologists say dates back at least 1,400 years.  Archaeologists uncovered the well in the course of a wider salvage excavation project by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on Barzel Street, as a preparatory measure before establishing a…

At least two Palestinian Arab rioters were injured in clashes with security forces in Al-Fara, in northern Samaria (Shomron), during an early-morning raid Wednesday. Security forces arrested four suspected terrorists and seized a machine gun and ammunition, but came under attack by dozens of rioters, forcing them to fire in self-defense. Palestinian Maan News claimed two attackers…

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz promised on Tuesday that the IDF would continue to investigate the incident overnight Monday in which 21-year-old Captain Tal Nahman was killed by friendly fire. “We woke up this morning to an unfortunate incident. A major disaster to his family and a great and unfortunate disaster for us,” said…

Dozens of Jewish women who fled abusive partners in Arab villages spent the weekend in the scenic, central Israeli town of Yad Binyamin, in a Sabbath event organized by the Yad L’Achim organization. Yad L’Achim was key in helping the women escape abusive relationships to Arab men, and has maintained a connection with each of…

The footage is old, and the quality grainy, but the message is unmistakable. A public relations video produced by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit more than 30 years ago makes the case for Israel to retain the Judea and Samaria region, from a purely military perspective, and offers a unique glimpse into a very different age,…

A new bill, proposed by MK Zevulun Kalfa (Jewish Home), has called for the cancellation of the presidency, a position currently held by President Shimon Peres. The bill comes after Economics Minister Naftali Bennett and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni spoke last Sunday about cancelling the presidency. Kalfa charged that the functions of the president are largely ceremonial and symbolic,…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has long been employing extreme incitement against Israel and Jews; one of its most effective methods to indoctrinate the next generation is to start young. A new PA girls’ high school named after a female terrorist ensures the legacy of terror will continue unbroken. A broadcast on official PA TV last…

The identity of the soldier killed Monday due to friendly fire near Gaza has been released: Captain Tal Nahman, 21, from Nes Ziona.  Nahman was promoted to Captain posthumously. The funeral will take place at 3:00 pm Tuesday with a military ceremony at the cemetery in Nes Ziona.  Reportedly the incident occurred during a routine…

The Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) revamped their Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library Tuesday.  The IAA launched the library in 2012 as a means of providing an index of the scrolls, as well as analysis and commentary, to any interested researcher or historian. The site has been wildly successful; over half a million people worldwide…

In an unusual move, Hamas did not fire rockets at Israel this week following airstrikes in Gaza late last week. The Israel Air Force strikes hit a weapons facility and weapons storage site in retaliation to earlier rocket and mortar shell attacks by Gaza terrorists against Israeli civilians. According to reports in the Arab media,…

The Knesset has given initial approval to a proposal that aims to commemorate the Jewish flight from the Arab world following the creation of the state of Israel. MK Shimon Ohayon (Likud Beytenu) created the proposed law, which would establish an official annual day commemorating Jews’ flight. Hundreds of thousands of Jews fled to Israel…

Israeli President Shimon Peres accepted letters of credential yesterday from ambassadors representing four countries: Hungary, Turkmenistan, Micronesia and Serbia. In a ceremony held at the President’s residence in Jerusalem, the representatives affirmed their commitment to strengthening bilateral relations between their respective countries and Israel. After Peres raised the issue of mounting anti-Semitism in Hungary, ambassador…

Canadian Employment Minister Jason Kenney has followed through on his promise last week, made during a Sun News interview, to buy from the Israeli company SodaStream, whose product allows consumers to make their own carbonated soft drinks. On Monday, Kenney posted a picture of the SodaStream unit in its box to his Facebook, accompanied with the words:…

A suicide bomber detonated himself in a van in Beirut Monday afternoon, killing 2 and injuring at least 6.  The van was leading to the town of Choueifat, officials said. BBC News noted that the area houses a majority Christian and Druze population.  “A man wearing an explosive belt boarded a public minibus in Choueifat and blew…

The State Department on Monday once again went out of its way to state that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is “staunchly opposed” to boycotts against Israel. “We are absolutely opposed, we have been opposed to any attempts at boycotts – boycotting Israel,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news…

Saudi King Abdullah on Monday decreed jail terms of up to 20 years for belonging to “terrorist groups” and fighting abroad, AFP reported. The new law comes as part of Saudi Arabia’s struggles to deter Islamist Saudis from becoming jihadists. “Taking part in combat outside the kingdom, in any form” will be punished by jail…

Susan Rice, U.S. President Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor, blasted Israel on Monday over its criticism of Secretary of State John Kerry’s threats of a boycott should peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) fail. In a series of posts on her Twitter accounts, Rice said, “Personal attacks in Israel directed at Sec Kerry totally…

The White House said on Monday that President Barack Obama will travel to Saudi Arabia in March to meet with King Abdullah, Reuters reports. The two will discuss a range of security issues in the Middle East that have caused some strains in the bilateral relationship, the report said. The rare visit, which comes at…

Two House Democrats are mobilizing their colleagues against a bill to slap more sanctions on Iran, circulating a letter that backs President Barack Obama’s position that such a bill would jeopardize delicate nuclear negotiations. The Huffington Post on Monday quoted spokespersons for Reps. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) and David Price (D-N.C.), who said they have more…

An IDF officer was killed by friendly fire during an operation in northern Gaza on Monday night, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement. The officer’s family has been notified. The incident is being investigated. Channel 10 News reported that the soldier likely encountered soldiers from another unit who mistook him for a terrorist…

Minister of Religious Affairs Naftali Bennett and his Deputy Minister Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, along with Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau, on Monday presented proposed reforms to Israel’s Kosher [Jewish dietary laws] certification system. The reforms include several steps to standardize the current system, according to Bennett.  “The main problem is that the Mashgiach, the one who…

The Islamic Jihad terrorist group has threatened to sabotage any peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Ahmed al-Mudallal, a senior official in the organization, on Monday told the French magazine Le Figaro that the Islamic Jihad will destroy any agreement that would “legitimize the Zionist occupation of Palestine.” “We are totally opposed…

Unless the Palestinian Authority agrees to recognize Israel as the Jewish state there will be no deal, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday. Speaking to members of the Likud-Beytenu Knesset faction, Netanyahu said that PA chief Mahmoud Abbas “knows full well” that without such recognition there could be no agreement. Such recognition would be a…

An explosion blasted apart a car in Petach Tikva early Monday morning, killing 2 and leaving 4 injured. While police are still investigating the exact circumstances of the explosive device, they are certain criminal activity is behind the event. The blast reportedly took place at 4:15 a.m. between Hameginim and Golomb streets in the residential…

Israel has offered to pay $20 million in “compensation” to the families of Turkish citizens killed during the 2010 Mavi Marmara flotilla, which tried to illegally break the IDF blockade on the terror group Hamas in Gaza. Nine Turkish Islamists were killed as they violently attacked IDF soldiers who boarded their ship. Prime Minister Binyamin…

Communications Minister Gilad Erdan harshly criticized US Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday, accusing Kerry of not being a fair intermediary in the peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA). On Saturday in Munich, Kerry threatened Israel with international boycotts if it did not accept his “peace proposal” with the PA, saying that “for Israel there’s…

Renowned analyst, counterterrorism expert and writer Barry Rubin passed away Monday morning at the age of 64. Rubin succumbed in Tel Aviv after a long battle with cancer. He leaves behind his wife, Judith Colp Rubin, and two children; funeral arrangements have not yet been publicly announced.  Rubin wrote a plethora of books on the Middle…

The Jewish National Fund on Sunday ran what Efi Stenzler, the World KKL-JNF Chairman, said was a very successful program in Paris. “Israel Today and Tomorrow” showed off different aspects of Israel, including medical and technological advances, natural resources and vacation sites, and history. The pro-Zionist event was held at the Les Palais Royal Sunday,…

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has expressed support for President Barack Obama’s objection to imposing new sanctions on Iran, Reuters reports. Clinton has reportedly urged Congress to resist imposing new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, saying that “this is the time” to give diplomacy a chance to work. Clinton, who leads…

Israel appreciated the efforts US. Secretary of State John Kerry was putting into developing his negotiation framework, but if things didn’t work out, Israel would understand, said Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon Sunday. “I hope we can achieve our goals in this agreement, but if we cannot, Israel will manage.” Speaking at a security conference in…

Roger Waters, formerly of the Pink Floyd band, on Saturday criticized actress Scarlett Johansson and Canadian musician Neil Young for their refusal to boycott Israel. Writing on his Facebook page, Waters criticized both Johansson for stepping down as an ambassador for Oxfam due to the group’s support for a boycott of Israel, and Young for…

Jordan’s Foreign Minister said Sunday that he was against recognizing Israel as a Jewish state, the Jordanian website Ammon News reports. The minister, Nasser Judeh, also rejected the idea of Jordan being an alternative home for Palestinian Arabs. Speaking during a parliament session which dealt with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace plan, Judeh reiterated…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sharply criticized US Secretary of State John Kerry Sunday for threatening Israel with boycotts if peace talks fail. “Attempts to impose a boycott on the State of Israel are immoral and unjust,” Netanyahu stated, at the opening of his weekly cabinet meeting. “Moreover, they will not achieve their goal. First, they cause…

Israel will transfer the bodies of two suicide bombers to the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Sunday, Arab-language media outlets are reporting. Both bodies belong to bombers who attacked in Jerusalem. One of them, Ayat al-Akhras, attacked in Kiryat Yovel in March 2002, murdering two people. Akhras’ attack gained particular attention overseas due to her young…

Two weeks since the Gross family was poisoned in their Jerusalem apartment, brothers Michael (7) and Yitzhak (5) have seen each other again for the first time. Schneider Medical Center in Petah Tikva announced that the boys were moved into the same room Sunday, allowing the family to stick together during the difficult treatment.  Parents…

The Israeli company SodaStream has come under fire in recent weeks over the fact that it has a factory in Maale Adumim, a Jerusalem suburb that lies east of the 1949 armistice line. The controversy hit a new high last week with the Oxfam charity’s criticism of actress Scarlett Johansson, who has signed on as…

After wowing Israelis with their John Kerry Solutions video, featuring a salesman modeled on US Secretary of State John Kerry, hell-bent on offering his customers solutions that only make their problems worse – grassroots Zionist NGO My Israel has come out with a new video, in which “John Kerry” tours Israel to peddle his peace…

The Jerusalem Municipality on Sunday on announced that it would halt providing special security for a school in the French Hill neighborhood. To the chagrin of parents, students from the “Tzviya Creative” school in the neighborhood will walk to and from bus stops without security protection. Parents are up in arms, demanding that the municipality…

Israel appreciated the efforts US. Secretary of State John Kerry was putting into developing his negotiation framework, but if things didn’t work out, Israel would understand, said Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon Sunday. “I hope we can achieve our goals in this agreement, but if we cannot, Israel will manage.” Speaking at a security conference in…

A leader of the Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) has harshly criticized United States Secretary of State John Kerry for his declaration that Israel could face international boycotts if it does not succeed in making peace with the Palestinian Authority (PA). Kerry’s boycott threat shows that he has bought into anti-Semitic thinking regarding…

Hamas has ordered its forces preventing against rocket fire into Israel to retreat, Walla! reports Sunday – giving various terrorist groups a green light to attack Israel.  Palestinian Arab insiders revealed to the daily that Hamas’s military wing ordered the preventative forces to withdraw in retaliation to the Israeli Air Force’s air strike on the Islamist-controlled territory…

A brave move: a pro-Zionist demonstration will be held outside the Les Palais Royal Sunday, a very public show of support for the struggling French Jewish community in the wake of waves of anti-Semitism there.  The Jewish National Fund (JNF)-Keren Kayement L’Yisrael (KKL) sponsored the demonstration and conference, entitled “Israel Today and Tomorrow.” Four Israeli…

The Bank of Israel has published its report on monetary policy for the second half of 2013. Among other things, the report reveals that housing prices have continued to rise, going up by eight percent over the 12 months concluding in October 2013. Both the number of housing sales and the number of mortgages granted…

After Oxfam forced Actress Scarlett Johansson to step down as their ambassador over her advertisement with Israeli company SodaStream, a company Oxfam boycotts, Canadian Employment Minister Jason Kenney said their move spurred him to buy from SodaStream. Appearing on Canadian Sun News last week, Kenney quipped “I’ve given money to Oxfam in the past because I thought…

An appeals court for urgent matters in Egypt turned down Saturday a legal challenge by members of the Muslim Brotherhood against a verdict ordering the seizure of the group’s funds by the interim government. According to the Al Ahram newspaper, the court upheld the verdict, declaring that the Brotherhood’s funds, assets and NGO would remain…

A car bomb has ripped through the eastern Lebanese town of Hermel, in the Bekaa region, killing at least four people. The bomb apparently detonated at a gas station in Zahraa neighborhood of the town, which is a stronghold of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group. Lebanon’s Daily Star said eyewitnesses reported seeing fires raging at…

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday threatened Israel that a failure in the peace talks would lead to global boycotts and delegitimization of the Jewish state. The warning comes as no surprise to those familiar with reports earlier in the month, which revealed that Kerry is orchestrating the European boycotts against Israel. Deputy…

Two of the largest banks in northern Europe have announced they will boycott Israeli banks because they operate in “occupied territories”, the Walla! Hebrew-language news website reported on Saturday. The two banks in question are the Swedish Nordea Bank, which is the largest bank in Scandinavia, and the Norwegian Danske Bank, which is the largest…

Iran has received the first installment of $4.2 billion in frozen assets as part of a nuclear deal with world powers, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told ISNA news agency Saturday, according to AFP. Unblocking the funds under the landmark deal in which Iran agreed to roll back parts of its nuclear program and halt…

Al-Nusra Front in Lebanon, a group named after Al-Qaeda’s jihadist Syrian affiliate, has claimed responsibility for Saturday’s suicide car bombing in a stronghold of the Hezbollah that has killed at least four people. Al-Jazeera reported that the group said Saturday’s attack, which targeted a petrol station in Hermel in eastern Lebanon, was a suicide bombing…

An Egyptian jihadist group said Saturday that it fired a rocket at the Red Sea resort of Eilat which was intercepted by Israeli air defences, its second in a fortnight.     Al Qaeda-inspired Ansar Beit al-Maqdis (Partisans of Jerusalem), which is based just across the border from Israel in Egypt’s restive Sinai Peninsula, threatened…

A car bomb has ripped through the eastern Lebanese town of Hermel, in the Bekaa region, according to local media. The bomb apparently detonated at a gas station in Zahraa neighborhood of the town, which is a stronghold of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist group. Lebanon’s Daily Star said eyewitnesses reported seeing fires raging at the…

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday threatened Israel that a failure in the peace talks would lead to global boycotts and delegitimization of the Jewish state. The warning comes as no surprise to those familiar with reports earlier in the month, revealing that Kerry is orchestrating the European boycotts on Israel. Deputy Defense…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will travel to Israel for bilateral talks at the end of February, accompanied by a number of her ministers, a spokesman said on Friday, according to AFP. The visit will take place February 24 and 25, spokesman Georg Streiter was quoted as having told a regular news briefing, without revealing a…

Some 300 Palestinian Arabs, accompanied by Israeli leftist activists, set up an outpost near Jericho on Friday, AFP reported. According to the report, the Arabs and leftists took over around a dozen abandoned houses. The protest, they said, was aimed at denouncing the repeated refusal of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to evict Jewish communities and…

A 27-year-old man died on Friday afternoon after drowning in a water well near the Givat HaDagan neighborhood in the city of Efrat in Gush Etzion. Magen David Adom paramedics who were called to the scene pulled the man’s body and tried to resuscitate him but were unsuccessful and pronounced him dead. In June of…

Terrorists fired a rocket at the Israeli resort city of Eilat on Friday night. Residents reported hearing two loud explosions before 10:00 p.m. local time, and a siren indicating that rockets were fired at the region was heard. One of the explosions was likely caused by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, which intercepted the rocket…

EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton will chair a meeting of top international officials working on the Israel-Palestinian Authority (PA) peace process on Saturday, AFP reports. “This meeting takes place in a moment when difficult and bold decisions need to be made,” Ashton said in a statement Friday quoted by the news agency. Ashton said…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon met with German counterpart Ursula von der Leyen in Berlin on Thursday and discussed the possible purchase of surface ships to defend natural gas fields in Israeli waters, Israel Hayom reports. The Israeli Navy has recently begun evaluating naval vessels for defending the valuable natural gas installations off the Israeli coast.…

The United States on Friday issued warnings to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in the wake of the delay in removing his chemical weapons stockpile. AFP reported that Secretary of State John Kerry warned Assad he could face consequences for failing to live up to international agreements on the issue. Speaking to reporters ahead of talks…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party has once again been exposed glorifying terrorism and the murder of Jews. The movement’s official Facebook page recently praised past and present terrorist murderers as “heroes.” On Thursday the page was festive, celebrating the anniversary of terrorist Ali Ja’ara’s Jerusalem bus suicide bombing attack that killed 11…

“Wiping entire neighborhoods off the map is not a legitimate tactic of war,” Ole Solvang, an HRW emergencies researcher, stated to the press. “These unlawful demolitions are the latest additions to a long list of crimes committed by the Syrian government.” “While the authorities might have been justified in taking some targeted measures to protect…

Lebanese Sheikh Omar Atrash, 24, has confessed to helping transport bombs and terrorists to aid in attacks in Syria, Lebanon and Israel, The Daily Star reports Friday.  The Sunni preacher disclosed that he had ties to some of Syria’s most violent rebel groups, including the Al Qaeda-backed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), the Al-Nusra…

Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft targeted several terror-related sites in Gaza on Thursday night, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement. According to the statement, the airstrikes targeted a weapons facility and a terrorist center in northern Gaza, as well as a weapons storage site in southern Gaza. Direct hits were identified, and all…

President Shimon Peres said Thursday that the present time period is “the most crucial time since the establishment of the new Middle East in 1948.” Peres’s comments were made during a meeting with the Quartet Representative to the Middle East, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, which focused on the peace talks between Israel and…

A trip to Israel in 2006 forced Tunisia’s new Tourism Minister to resign just hours after she was sworn in, Al Arabiya reported Thursday, citing Tunisia’s state news agency TAP. According to the report, Amel Karboul submitted her resignation to Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa after the trip was brought up during a parliamentary session to…

“A.”, an IDF officer, was instrumental in preventing a terrorist attack near the Binyamin community of Neve Tzuf yesterday. IDF soldiers shot dead a terrorist gunman who opened fire on their guard post. The dead terrorist was identified as 19-year-old Mohammad Mubarak from nearby Jalazun. Speaking to the IDF web site, the officer related how he and two…

Terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza fired a rocket Thursday night at southern Israel. No damage or injuries were reported as the lethal projectile landed in open space in the Sdot Negev Regional Council. A statement from police reported the rocket “hit southern Israel in an open area south of (the town of) Netivot.”  “Code Red” warning…

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has blacklisted 2 Israeli companies over their involvement in construction in the eastern part of Jerusalem. The ban was announced Thursday by Norway’s finance ministry. The sovereign wealth fund, which is a state-owned investment fund, is the largest in the world. Its worth is estimated at $818 billion, reports AFP. Africa Israel Investments,…

Germany will boost funding for efforts to return Nazi-looted art to their rightful owners and may invite Jewish representatives to join a mediation body, the government said Wednesday, according to a report by the AFP news agency. Funding for provenance research of art suspected to have been stolen will be doubled, the new minister of…

A Torah scroll, dedicated through an International Young Israel Movement (IYIM) program, was presented to the IDF’s Iron Dome unit, which was recently deployed to guard the Haifa area. At the ceremony, held Wednesday, the Torah was officially presented to the Unit on behalf of the Leo V. Berger Fund by organization chairman Harvey Schwartz.…

Actress Natalie Portman’s husband has revealed his plans to convert to Judaism. Benjamin Millepied, French dancer and choreographer, is currently living with his wife in her native Israel. He told daily newspaper Yedioth Aharonot that he is already in the process of converting, after “falling in love with this country,” and that becoming Jewish is…

Residents of Judea and Samaria make up more than 16 percent of the new officers fresh out of the latest courses for company and battalion commanders, according to the IDF’s Bamahane magazine. This proportion is four times the part that the “settlers” make up in the general population. “Residents of Judea and Samaria understand the…

Actress Scarlett Johansson has stepped down as an ambassador for Oxfam due to the group’s support for a boycott of Israel. A statement released by a spokesman for the actress said, “Scarlett Johansson has respectfully decided to end her ambassador role with Oxfam after eight years. She and Oxfam have a fundamental difference of opinion…

Egyptian military officials said Wednesday that troops backed by helicopters and armored vehicles have killed eight terrorists in the northern Sinai Peninsula. The officials who were quoted by The Associated Press (AP) said that the dead included a senior member of the Al-Qaeda inspired Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which has claimed responsibility for a wave of bombings and…

Soldiers guarding an Iron Dome installation near the city of Eilat fired on an Arab man on Thursday after he ran at them screaming “Allahu Akbar” (Arabic for “G-d is great”). Fearing a terrorist attack, the soldiers shot at the man’s legs in order to stop him. The man was hit and injured. He was…

A national park will be declared at Khirbet Qeiyafa and the Ela Valley, southwest of Jerusalem, and a residential neighborhood that had been planned next to the location will not be built. The area is believed to be the spot where the young David fought Goliath, according to the Bible. The decision was made by…

This past Monday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, a number of prominent American Jews were among the visitors to the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz in Poland. Eric Cantor, US House Majority Leader, who visited the camp for the first time, called it “the worst place on earth.” “As an American Jew I feel especially obligated…

Border Police officers foiled a stabbing attack in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya on Wednesday evening. The incident occurred as dozens of Arab youths were throwing rocks at Border Police officers who were patrolling the neighborhood. The officers began arresting the Arabs, when one of them, a female, tried stabbing one of the officers.…

Jewish Home Chairman and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett issued a public apology to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday, amid rumors that Netanyahu had threatened to boot Jewish Home from the government.  “In recent days there has been a lot of discussion about the idea of the Palestinian Authority (PA) retaining sovereignty over Jewish communities in…

One of Europe’s oldest Yiddish theaters, the State Jewish Theatre of Bucharest, has been forced to close down after its roof was damaged by the snowstorms sweeping Romania, AFP reports Wednesday.  “This is a disaster. About 30 percent of the theater roof has been destroyed. The stage is covered with water from the melting snow as well as the underground deposits where…

Tensions in Ukraine are slowly settling Wednesday, as protestors weigh the possibility of a compromise, according to the Wall Street Journal.  Earlier Wednesday, opposition leaders managed to convince a faction of protestors to withdraw from the Agriculture Ministry building, which it had been occupying for days.  President Viktor Vanukovych reportedly repealed the anti-protest laws at the heart…

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz spoke at a Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) ceremony Wednesday, where he reflected on the US-Israel relationship, the intentions of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and the waning possibility of reaching a peace deal.  Steinitz sharply criticized statements made by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon earlier this month, who called…

An Arab terrorist opened fire on an IDF guard post next to the Samaria community of Ateret, which lies roughly midway between Jerusalem and Shechem (Nablus). Soldiers returned fire, taking down the terrorist. As a result of the attack, a section of Highway 465 near Ateret was closed to vehicles in both directions. An army…

Five-year-old Yitzhak Gross, one of the brothers severely injured in last week’s tragic poisoning in Jerusalem, has regained consciousness and is now able to breathe normally.  Schneider Medical Center staff told the press that the boys’ parents, Shimon and Michal, have not left their sons’ bedsides since being hospitalized a week ago.   Yitzhak reportedly…

The New York State senate passed a landmark bill Tuesday stripping public funding for schools that support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, according to Capitol Confidential. The bill, which passed by a landslide vote of 51-4, is a specific response to the smear campaign against Israel launched by the American Studies Association (ASA), a group…

A Palestinian Arab man attempted to run over IDF soldiers near Homesh in northern Samaria Wednesday, before fleeing the scene of the crime.  The incident unfolded when IDF forces identified five suspicious vehicles in the area and pulled the motorcade to the side of the road for questioning. One of the drivers, a Palestinian Arab…

This week marks 11 years since the Space Shuttle Columbia accident that killed Israel’s first astronaut, Ilan Ramon. Menachem Kidrom, Director of the Israel Space Agency, spoke to Arutz Sheva and supported reports from last Tuesday that a second Israeli astronaut is set to be launched. The Columbia disaster “was a hard blow to all of…

US Secretary of State John Kerry is about to present a plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) that will call for a phased Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria based on the 1949 lines, with “unprecedented” security arrangements in the strategic Jordan Valley, writes Thomas Friedman in the New York Times…

Israel’s Chief of Military Intelligence, Major General Aviv Kohavi, painted a clear and graphic picture of what Israel faces on a daily basis on Wednesday: a constant barrage of terrorist threats.  “Israel is surrounded by 360 degrees of actual enemies,” Kohavi stated, in a speech at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) quoted by Walla!.  “We…

The Israel institute of technology at Technion University is making great strides in understanding the qualitative effect of sleep on health ,and on how to get the best quality sleep. The university has been successful in finding many practical applications from their research to improve sleep quality while making some controversial conclusions about sleep. Some interesting new developments…

A top Egyptian police general was assassinated on Tuesday, an attack claimed by an Al-Qaeda inspired group which threatened similar attacks against the army chief and interior minister. AFP reported that General Mohamed Saeed, an aide to interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim, was gunned down as he left his home in a west Cairo neighborhood on…

President Barack Obama on Tuesday threatened once again to veto a new Iran sanctions bill if it is passed by Congress. The comments came during the State of the Union address, which mostly dealt with internal matters but mentioned Iran in the context of American foreign policy. Obama noted that American diplomacy “has halted the…

After facing harsh criticism over his son’s non-Jewish Norwegian girlfriend, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reportedly denied the relationship between the two. According to a Tuesday evening report on Channel 10 News, Netanyahu’s bureau chief spoke to Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri and made clear that Yair Netanyahu and Sandra Leikanger were not dating and…

Israeli MKs who visited Auschwitz on International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday were joined by European parliamentarians. The European parliamentarians’ visit to Auschwitz was an initiative of the European Friends of Israel (EFI) and the Israeli-Jewish Congress (IJC), which partnered the Knesset members with their European counterparts. Daniele Hoffman-Rispal, a member of the French National…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened the CyberTech 2014 Conference in Tel Aviv on Monday, announcing the opening of a cyber defense facility in Be’er Sheva. Senior Vice President of IBM Steve Mills was also in attendance, announcing joint plans between his company and Ben Gurion University. Netanyahu commented on the benefits of the “world of…

Two Somali security officials confirmed on Monday that an American missile strike in southern Somalia on Sunday killed a senior Al-Shabaab commander who had masterminded suicide attacks. According to Reuters, both intelligence sources and a Somali government spokesman named the target as Ahmed Mohamed Amey, a chemicals expert also known as Isku Dhuuq. A U.S.…

Two indictments were submitted on Tuesday against two Arab residents of eastern Jerusalem. The two were arrested last week for planning a terror attack on Binyanei Hauma in Jerusalem and the American Embassy in Tel Aviv. 23-year-old Abu Sara of Shuafat was indicted for making contact with foreign terrorists to plan the attacks and supporting terrorist…

Islamist terrorists used explosives and heavy guns in an atrocious double-pronged attack that killed at least 100 civilians in Nigeria’s northeast on Sunday. One attack took place in the village of Kawuri in Borno state, and the other targeted worshippers during a Christian church service in Adamawa state. Over 50 gunmen reportedly entered Kawuri after…

Irakli Garibashvili, Prime Minister of Georgia, met with Interior Minister Gideon Saar Monday, as part of a visit to Israel in which the countries are to sign a trade agreement. On Tuesday, Garibashvili will meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, as well as visit Yad VaShem. Garibashvili is also due to meet with President Shimon Peres and…

Prime Minister of the Ukraine, Mykola Azarov, has announced his resignation from his post in the wake of the protests taking place in Kiev against President Viktor Yanukovych and his government. Azarov said, while announcing his resignation, that he was doing this in order to promote “political-social compromise”. President Vanukovych has agreed to repeal the anti-protest laws that sparked…

American television legend Larry King is joining up with the Technion in Haifa to establish the Israel Silicon Valley Chambers of Commerce. The Globes financial newspaper reported that the initiative will foster Israeli high tech, by strengthening ties between the two locations and to channel budgets from multinationals for the opening of RD centers in…

President Barack Obama on Monday urged the world to remember the victims of the Holocaust and confront anti-Semitism. “Each year on this day the world comes together to commemorate a barbaric crime unique in human history,” he said in a statement on International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  “We recall six million Jews and millions of other…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has given Israel 3 years to withdraw from Judea and Samaria in the event that an interim agreement is reached, according to AFP.  “Those who are proposing 10 to 15 years (before a withdrawal) do not want to withdraw at all,” Abbas said in an interview screened on Tuesday at the annual conference of…

The nuclear facility in Dimona is using new technology to prevent information leaks, Walla news reports. The technology jams internet access and camera use on cell phones, meaning workers cannot take pictures with their phones while on the job. In addition, passersby who come close to certain parts of the facility will find that they…

The heart of Chaim Michael Shlomo Gross, one of two young brothers made critically ill by poison in Jerusalem, resumed beating Tuesday. Doctors were able to remove him from the ECMO machine which had been replacing his heart’s activity for several days. On Monday doctors removed 5-year-old Raphael Yitzchak Isaac Gross from the ECMO. The…

President Shimon Peres issued a special statement in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day Monday, citing the universal value of human life.  “The Holocaust is a great warning to us all,” he stated. “We shall never forget our sisters and brothers. We have to ensure that it is not repeated and to ensure that we…

A report released by the Shabak (General Security Service) Monday shows that there was a significant increase in terror attacks in Judea and Samaria in 2013, as compared to 2012. While fewer Israelis were killed in terror attacks, there were more attacks overall, the report said. During 2012, ten Israelis were killed in terror attacks,…

Two French teenagers from Toulouse have joined the Syrian Civil War, according to French and global media. The two are only 15 and 16 years old.  One of the teenagers, known only as Hakim, bought plane tickets to Turkey over the internet for the pair using his parents’ credit card, with plans to sneak over…

An explosive charge was detonated Monday morning near the Gaza security fence, in the southern part of Gaza. No IDF soldiers were hurt, according to the IDF Spokesman’s Unit. “This is another attempt to harm our forces,” said the Spokesman. “Terror elements are making use of the area next to the fence for planting explosive…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was under fire Sunday after it was reported that his son was dating a non-Jewish woman. Yair, 23, is said to be dating 25-year-old Norwegian Sandra Leikanger, currently studying in Israel. The two met at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, where they study. MKs and Jewish identity organizations demanded that Netanyahu do…

The United States military carried out a missile strike in southern Somalia on Sunday to target a senior figure in the Al-Shabaab terrorist group who had ties to Al­-Qaeda, a senior defense official confirmed to Fox News. It was unclear if the raid, in which witnesses said a vehicle was struck, was successful. “We’ll know…

Just one week after he was released from an Israeli prison, Hamas leader Hassan Yousef said on Sunday that a third Arab armed uprising – or intifada – is just a matter of time. Speaking to Channel 2 News, Yousef said that Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas does not represent anyone other than himself.…

A protest in Paris against French President Francois Hollande turned on Sunday to an anti-Semitic demonstration and ended in clashes between police and protesters. AFP reported that several thousand people marched through Paris in a “Day of Anger” against Hollande. Security forces used tear gas to disperse several hundred youths who lobbed police with bottles,…

A 60 year-old woman critically injured in last week’s gas explosion in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem has died of her wounds Monday, announced Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center. Her name has not yet been released.  The explosion displaced 24 families, wounded 11 and killed three family members: Abraham Tufan (56), his wife Galit (42),…

Schneider Medical Center reported significant improvement Monday in the condition of Yitzhak and Michael Gross, the 7 and 5 year old brothers who were victims of a fatal poisoning incident in Jerusalem last week. Their two sisters died as a result of the pesticide poisoning/ The children’s medical team is said to be weighing whether…

Dozens of Knesset MKs traveled to Poland Monday, to tour Auschwitz and participate in a special ceremony commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  The MKs were joined by over 50 members of the Polish parliament; several Israeli and Polish government ministers; and Holocaust survivors.  At the ceremony, several MKs spoke about their personal connections to the…

A 26-year-old British woman was charged with terror offenses after trying to smuggle 20,000 euros ($27,364) to rebel forces in Syria. The woman, Nawal Msaad, was charged along with her partner in crime, 27-year-old Amal Elwahabi, becoming the first British women to be charged with terror in connection to the Syria war. Msaad was arrested…

Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky warned in Sunday’s Cabinet meeting against the spread of anti-Semitism and the possibility that it will bring real harm to the Jewish state. “While anti-Semitism, in its old form and new mutations, continues to poison minds throughout the world, it is important that we strengthen those who are at the…

Any long-term deal with Iran on its nuclear program is doomed to failure, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday. Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that such deals with Iran “just won’t work.” Netanyahu was speaking upon his return from the Davos World Economic Forum, where Iranian leader Hassan Rouhani gave several conciliatory…

Israel will not dare attack Iran, because it knows what the consequences will be, said Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. In an interview with CNN, Rouhani said that an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be “crazy.” Iran would agree not to enrich more uranium to levels that could be used for nuclear weapons, but…

A source in the Prime Minister’s Office told reporters Sunday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu believes that if a Palestinian state is established in Judea and Samaria, Jews  who wish to remain in that state should be allowed to do so. The source said that Netanyahu believes that there is no reason for the Palestinian…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that in his meetings with world leaders at Davos, he found “greater sharpness and greater clarity” regarding Iran’s “contradictory and mendacious messages.” “I must say that the main interest was in regard to Iran’s ‘assault of pleasantness,’” he told his Cabinet. “Here, perhaps in contrast to what was depicted…

The two children who survived the horrific poisoning in Jerusalem Wednesday are still being treated in Petah Tikva’s Schneider Medical Center. Michael, 5, and Yitzhak, 7, are in stable to serious condition.  After a call for prayer for the boys went out Friday, good news has finally surfaced: according to close family member Shlomo Rein, Yitzhak…

Israel is to allow the entry of more building materials into Gaza, the defense ministry said Sunday, and a UN refugee agency said they should be delivered soon. “About 1,000 tons of cement and building materials will enter the Gaza Strip for storm damage restoration and other projects of UN agencies,” the Israeli defense ministry…

Anat Kam, the IDF soldier who allegedly stole over 2,000 classified documents for “ideological” reasons, is being released Sunday.  The release comes after Kam completed two thirds of her three and a half year sentence. She is being released for “good behavior” after becoming eligible for parole, the Prisons Service said. Kam was convicted of…

A senior member of Fatah, the party headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has called to renew terrorist attacks on Israel, Maariv/nrg reports. Fatah Central Committee member Tawfik Tirawi reportedly told Al-Miadin that there will be no new Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza in the near future, and not even in 20…

The remand for two terrorists who planned to set off a bomb at Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station and shoot up a bus has been extended, police said. The suspects, Iyad Khalid Abu Sara and Rubin Abu-Nagma, will be indicted Tuesday for their roles in the planned terror attack, as well as for planning and participating…

Actress Scarlett Johansson has rejected demands that she cancel her new advertising campaign for SodaStream, an Israeli company that operates out of Ma’ale Adumim, a Jerusalem suburb located over 1949 Armistice lines. Johansson made clear in a statement released on Friday to The Huffington Post that she will not pull out of the endorsement deal.…

The death toll in a bloody day in Egypt has risen to 29, AFP reported on Saturday night. Clashes broke out throughout the country during rival rallies on the anniversary of the 2011 revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak, underscoring the country’s violent polarization. Three years after Egyptians rose up to demand the overthrow of Mubarak,…

Palestinian Arabs on Saturday held demonstrations in opposition to peace negotiations with Israel and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s framework proposal that will serve as the basis for future negotiations. The Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency reported that the demonstrations were organized by leftist groups in the Palestinian Authority (PA) and were held in Hevron…

Large scale demonstrations took place in Cairo and other Egyptian cities on Saturday as the country marked the third anniversary of the revolution on January 25, 2011, which toppled President Hosni Mubarak and led to a victory by the Muslim Brotherhood in ensuing national elections in 2012. The demonstrations Saturday were mostly in protest, however,…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, his wife Sarah and members of the staff of the Prime Minister’s Office who are currently visiting Davos, Switzerland, chose to respect the Sabbath and walk back to their hotel from the Friday evening ‘kabbalat shabbat’ reception held in their honor by the Jewish community of Davos. Netanyahu had been driven…

An overwhelming majority of Israelis think current peace talks with the Palestinians will not lead to an agreement, according to a poll published on Saturday. A huge 87 percent of respondents answered “no” when asked if they thought the negotiations would result in a peace deal. Only seven percent said “yes”, according to the survey…

A clash seems to be looming between Israel and the radical Islamist movement Islamic Jihad, as they abandon pledges made under a fragile ceasefire that ended the last full-scale war in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.     Israel recently targeted two of the group’s terrorists for firing rockets at it, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu…

Boxes containing pigs’ heads have been sent to the Israeli embassy in Rome and the city’s synagogue, Italian media reported Saturday.     The package mailed to the embassy in the wealthy Parioli area of the Italian capital was intercepted by police after other similar parcels were sent to the synagogue and the Jewish Museum…

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian Arab rioter and wounded another in the Gaza Strip near the border with the Jewish state on Friday, a medical source in the Islamist-ruled enclave said.     20-year-old Bilal Samir Oweida died after being “shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers” east of Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, said…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made it clear on Friday that he will not evict any Israeli communities in the Jordan Valley as part of a future agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA). “I have said it before and I repeat it today: I’m not going to evict a single community, I am not going to…

A wave of four bomb attacks hit Cairo on Friday and killed six people on the eve of the anniversary of the 2011 uprising which toppled former President Hosni Mubarak, AFP reports. The first attack occurred when a car bomb struck Cairo police headquarters on Friday morning. The bombings, all targeting the police, came as…

15 soldiers were injured on Friday afternoon when a fire broke out  in the water pump of a Dvora-class patrol boat that was patrolling near the Gaza coast. The 15, who suffered smoke inhalation, were taken for treatment at an Ashdod naval base and then were taken for further treatment at the Kaplan, Barzilai and…

The United Nations will host a new exhibition honoring the March of the Living. The exhibit, entitled “When You Listen to a Witness, You Become a Witness,” will launch on Tuesday, January 28, in the Visitor Centre, Dag Hammarskjold Library Lower Level. The opening event and reception will take place that evening in the Library…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday that it is “long past time” for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to reach a peace deal, but stressed that Israel’s security must be ensured in such a deal. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Kerry stressed that Israel cannot make peace with the…

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denied on Friday his country had sent Hezbollah to fight in Syria, AFP reported. Zarif, who spoke saying at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, claimed the Tehran-backed Shiite group was making its own decisions. He also said he believed the Syrian conflict could be resolved within the next…

The IDF carried out a special exercise with the 7th brigade to instruct its troops how to defend Judea and Samaria communities in the event of a terrorist infiltration, according to its website. The unit also participated in practice runs on terrorist attacks on the road and breaches of the security barriers.  “In light of…

Shimon and Michal Gross, the parents of 2- and 4-year-old Yael and Avigail z”l who died after being accidentally poisoned in Jerusalem on Wednesday, spoke to Arutz Sheva about their pain in trying to cope with the loss and appealed for help. The two girls were poisoned after an exterminator, who has been arrested, left pesticide in their…

South Sudan’s government signed a ceasefire deal with rebel forces on Thursday, in an attempt to stem the bloody violence that has ravaged the world’s youngest country since December 15. The conflict centers around a power struggle between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar, who was fired last July and…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The two discussed the budding alliance between the nations, which has developed rapidly since Wang’s first visit to Israel last December. Netanyahu commented that the meeting expressed the advanced state of relations between the…

US Secretary of State John Kerry met Friday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu as he seeks to force the US’s agenda for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), according to AFP. The two men held closed talks on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss mountain town of Davos, ahead of what Washington has billed as…

The Egyptian capital of Cairo has been shaken by a massive explosion. The blast, originating from a car bomb detonated right next to the city’s police headquarters, was powerful enough to destroy much of the structure of the building. Egypt’s health ministry reports at least 4 killed and 51 injured. The blast also damaged the…

Meretz chairman and former Education Minister Shulamit Aloni has passed away Friday at the age of 86. Aloni’s funeral will beheld Sunday morning, in the cemetery in Kfar Shamaryahu.  Shulamit Aloni – nee Adler – was born in Tel Aviv in 1928. Her parents, a seamstress and a carpenter, were both descendants of a Polish…

President Shimon Peres received the “spirit of Davos award” at the World Economic Forum Friday, Channel 2 reports.  The award, which was given to Peres for his “global leadership,” was shaped in a bell. The text reads, “to President Shimon Peres, a unique visionary and global statesman for tolling the bell of peace and harmony.”  “I would…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas wants Russia to play a role in peace talks with Israel, Voice of Russia reports. Abbas, who is on a visit to Moscow, congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin on Moscow’s achievements in the international arena and expressed hope that Russia would play a central role in the peace process.…

A member of the Al-Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades was killed during a military chase in east Lebanon, the Daily Star reported on Thursday. The terrorist, Ibrahim Abdul-Moti Abu Muaileq who goes by the name Abu Jaafar, died Wednesday of wounds he sustained during a shootout with the military at an army checkpoint in the Bekaa…

Most Israelis would like to see MK Reuven Rivlin (Likud) as Israel’s next president, a poll released Thursday found. The poll, conducted for the Knesset Channel by the Panels Institute, found that 28% of Israelis want to see Rivlin become president after Shimon Peres concludes his term this summer. Rivlin was followed by Noble Laureate…

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri has called for an end to clashes between Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists and Islamists fighting to oust Syria’s regime, in an audio message posted on the Internet and quoted by AFP. Zawahiri urged all jihadist groups and “every free person in Syria seeking to overthrow [President Bashar] Al-Assad… to seek an end to…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday night contacted Shimon Gross to send his condolences over the death of Shimon’s infant daughters Avigail and Yael z”l. The two girls, aged 2 and 4, died from poisoning after lethal pesticides were left in the safe room of their apartment by an exterminator, who has been arrested. Shimon…

A mother and her two children arrived at a clinic in Jerusalem on Thursday, suffering from nausea and vomiting after their house was sprayed by the same exterminator that was arrested over the tragic poisoning of the Gross family Wednesday. The three arrived at the emergency medical clinic ‘Terem’ that the Gross family were at…

The US Department of Defense has loosened uniform regulations for religious garb, meaning Jewish soldiers in America will now be able to wear a kippah and grow a beard while serving in the army. Aside from Jews, the change in policy allows Muslims, Sikhs and others to request exemptions to sport turbans and tattoos. Lt.…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry defended on Thursday the nuclear deal that was reached between Iran and six world powers, but said that the military option was still on the table if Iran fails to live up to its part of the agreement. “I am absolutely certain without a reasonable doubt that Saudi Arabia,…

A hareidi man who fought in every major war in Israel has won an award for a book that tells his life’s story. Lieutenant-Colonel (res.) Yaakov Laniado will be given a prize for new literature for his book B’Sherut Ha’am Vehamoledet (lit. In the Service of the Nation and the Homeland). Laniado shared his unique…

Michael and Yitzchak Gross, ages 5 and 7, remain in extremely serious condition Thursday following the tragedy that killed their two young sisters. The Gross children were made critically ill by a highly toxic pesticide left in their family’s home by an exterminator. There is no antidote to the poison. Doctor Efrat Baron-Harlev, the Deputy…

Next week, a delegation of Members of Knesset, Holocaust survivors, and senior public officials will embark on a historic visit to the site of the Auschwitz death camp in Poland. The delegates will bring with them the diary of Benaya Rein, a young soldier who fell fighting Hezbollah in the Second Lebanon War. The diary…

Israeli security forces announced Wednesday that they had foiled a global jihad plot to blow up the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem’s Convention Center. But U.S. officials told NBC News they couldn’t confirm the threat, and hinted that the Shin Bet may even be misleading the Israeli government regarding the link between the…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a conference of global information technology leaders Thursday at the 2014 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, and praised Israel as “an innovation nation” that has become “a nexus of high technology” and a center for entrepreneurship. Netanyahu said Europe could make a positive contribution in the Middle East but…

Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.) blasted President Barack Obama and his policy towards Syria on Tuesday, the Washington Free Beacon reports. Speaking to Phoenix radio station KFYI, McCain compared Obama to former president Jimmy Carter, saying, “I thought Jimmy Carter was bad, but he pales in comparison to this president in my view.” McCain also…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is not ruling out the possibility that he will one day address the Knesset. Abbas made the comments to the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University, part of an interview that will be aired during the institute’s conference next week and of which parts were…

United Nations officials have condemned a recent surge in executions in Iran, after a report by Amnesty International revealed that an average of two people were executed every day so far in January 2014. The United Nations Special Rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, and on summary executions, Christof Heyns,…

The Fatah party of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has posted threats to bomb Tel Aviv on its official Facebook page. The threats came in the form of a video by Fatah’s armed wing – the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade – which threatened to turn Tel Aviv “into a ball of fire”, as well…

The identities of the children killed Wednesday in an apparent case of criminal negligence in Jerusalem have been revealed: Avigayil Gross, 2, and Yael Gross, 4. The two will be laid to rest Thursday at the Har HaMenuhot cemetery in Jerusalem.  Brothers Michael, 5, and Yitzhak, 7 are reportedly still fighting for their lives. Their…

Israeli archaeologists uncovered amazing finds this week, including a 1500 year-old church, five ancient inscriptions and an elaborate mosaic, the Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced Wednesday.  The IAA discovered the church during salvage excavations, prior to the construction of a new neighborhood at Moshav Aluma in the Shafir Regional Council, near Pelugot Junction. The excavations…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon praised the IDF strike Tuesday that killed a terrorist in Gaza who had been firing rockets into Israel, including 2 rockets launched during former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s funeral last week. Ya’alon commented Wednesday on the strike that killed Ahmed Zaaneen and Mohammed Zaaneen of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).…

Russia is trying to hunt down three potential suicide bombers, all female Muslims, who are suspected of planning to carry out threats to attack the upcoming Sochi Winter Olympics starting February 7. The three women are all the wives of killed terrorists, and are pictured wearing traditional Muslim head coverings in police fliers posted in Sochi.…

The four year-old daughter of a Jerusalem family poisoned in their Givat Mordechai home has died Wednesday, as disturbing new information about the material responsible surfaces.  Dr. Ovadiah Shemesh, Deputy Director of Jerusalem’s Sha’arei Tzedek hospital, revealed that the poison responsible for killing a 2-year old and a 4 year-old and hospitalizing the rest of their…

For years, Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria have been accusing Arab and leftist activists of falsely blaming them for “price tag” revenge attacks that they never carried out. Now, one determined resident of Samaria appears to have found a “smoking gun”, documenting how local Arabs have been damaging olive trees and then reporting the…

President Shimon Peres has reportedly come out against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s demands that the Palestinian Authority (PA) recognize Israel as a Jewish state. “The stubbornness of the Prime Minister is unnecessary and liable to make the peace talks fail,” Peres has said regarding the issue of Israel’s Jewish nature, reports Yisrael Hayom. The newspaper notes…

Jerusalem has been hit by another tragedy, following the gas explosion in Gilo on Sunday night that killed a young couple and their baby son. A family with young children was apparently exposed to pesticide in their apartment in Givat Mordechai on Wednesday, and as a result their infant daughter died. Medics and Magen David…

The Shin Bet and Israel Police have uncovered a Global Jihad terror cell in eastern Jerusalem that was directed from Gaza and which was planning to carry out a murderous attack on a civilian bus. A gag order on the investigation has just been removed. A total of three suspects have been arrested, all of…

Both the United States and the United Nations expressed horror on Tuesday over photographic evidence which showed that Syrian government officials committed serious war crimes in the form of systematic torture and killing. A team of internationally renowned war crimes prosecutors and forensic experts presented a report on this on Monday, based on thousands of…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) accused Israel on Tuesday that it did not want peace, after the leftist Peace Now organization revealed that the Israeli government had approved plans to build 381 new homes in Givat Ze’ev, Samaria, located just five kilometers north of Jerusalem. The PA’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, responded by telling the AFP…

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon took part Tuesday in a celebration of the Netzach Yehuda (Nahal Hareidi) brigade. The brigade, the IDF’s majority-hareidi combat unit, was celebrating 15 years since its creation. “For me, this is an encouraging moment, as someone who took absorbed the soldiers in Nahal Hareidi – as we used to call it…

UNESCO, the United Nations’ cultural agency said Tuesday it is delaying for five months an exhibit on Jewish connections to the Holy Land, which it postponed last week after objections from Arab countries, reports The Associated Press (AP). The exhibition, which is called “People, Book, Land — The 3,500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People…

A terror suspected, thought to have been planning attacks in London, will have restrictions on his movement lifted by the end of January, according to court papers released Tuesday. The man, a British-Nigerian, is one of six suspects given wider freedom of movement, in a move that the opposition Labor party is challenging, reports AFP. …

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and his counterpart from Kazakhstan, Adilbek Dzhaksbekov, signed a security agreement on Monday, formally sealing the defense ties between the two countries. The agreement, which was signed in Tel Aviv, gives a framework for defense trade and cooperation between the Jewish state and the Sunni Muslim-majority nation, reports Defense News. Defense relations…

Member of Knesset Zevulun Kalfa (Jewish Home) had a narrow escape this week when terrorists threw a large concrete block at his car. The attackers struck late on Sunday night, as Kalfa was making his way from Jerusalem to the pre-military academy in Yatir, in the Hevron region. The attack took place near El Aroub…

The Long War Journal reports Tuesday that a Sinai-based Salafist group has claimed responsibility for Monday’s rocket fire on Eilat.  The jihadist group, named Ansar Jerusalem or Ansar Bayt al Makdis, posted on Gaza-based social media a statement boasting the attack.  “Our war with the enemy in Egypt has not dissuaded us from the war against the first…

An explosive device went off Tuesday morning close to the security fence separating Israel and Gaza, near Kisufim. No one was hurt. After a year of relative quiet following the IDF’s Pillar of Defense operation, the Gaza front has been heating up lately and there is more talk of another possible IDF incursion, should things…

An explosion has taken place in a Hezbollah-dominated southern suburb of Beirut, reports from Lebanon say. Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV showed flames and smoke pouring out of the front of a multi-story building. Two people were reported killed and 20 injured. The blast in the Hezbollah stronghold is the latest in a series of attacks said to…

Naftali Bennett announced Tuesday that Israel has started negotiations with India to establish a joint Indian-Israeli technology fund.  The fund will reportedly invest in joint ventures in both countries, as part of Israel’s initiative to reach out to regional economic superpowers, including both India and China.  In December, Israel’s Consul General in Mumbai, Jonathan Miller,…

The IDF succeeded on Monday evening in righting a Navy ship that capsized earlier that day opposite the Gaza shore. A senior Navy officer said Monday evening that the initial inquiry into the incident indicates that a Dvora-type Navy ship that had been sailing alongside the smaller Tzir’a boat and very close to it, created…

A disturbing new trend is on the rise in Iran, according to Amnesty International.  Execution orders have risen dramatically since 2014 in the Islamic Republic, according to new statistics revealed by the watchdog group. In the 21 days since 2014 began, more than 40 orders have been issued – more than 33% of them in…

Al-Qaeda has been using the influx of foreign nationals to Syria to train potential terrorists to begin cells abroad, specifically in the United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU), Britain’s The Telegraph reported Monday.  A defector from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and Western security sources confirmed to the British news agency what UK and other…

The Lebanese branch of the Nusra Front – an Al Qaeda-linked rebel group fighting in Syrian – has claimed responsibility for today’s deadly bombing in Beirut. The attack killed four people and left 34 more wounded In a statement posted in Arabic on Twitter, the Nusra Front in Lebanon said the attack on the Haret…

The United States welcomed on Monday the decision of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to rescind his invitation to Iran to attend an international conference on Syria this week. “We are hopeful that, in the wake of today’s announcement, all parties can now return to focus on the task at hand, which is bringing an end…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas told Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday that there will be no official Israeli presence in the future Palestinian state, reported the Ma’an news agency. “We want an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital that includes all the lands that were occupied in 1967 and that…

Taiwan will release a Chinese edition of the first known Holocaust report on Auschwitz-Birkenau written by a Polish resistance fighter who infiltrated the Nazi death camp, a Polish institute said Monday.  According to AFP, the Chinese translation of the report will be available from Taiwanese publisher Acropolis starting Wednesday, Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) said on its website. In 1940, Polish…

It’s official: the US has approved a waiver Monday to lift some sanctions on Iran, claiming that the Islamic Republic has taken measures to curb its nuclear weapons program.  “Iran has begun to take concrete and verifiable steps to halt its nuclear program,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, quoted by AFP. She added that it…

The Auschwitz museum at the site of the former Nazi German death camp in southern Poland said Monday it had launched online Holocaust awareness programs in Arabic and Farsi, AFP reports. “We want to address groups of people who often have little knowledge of this subject or who even advocate revisionist views,” museum spokesman Pawel…

Public Security Minster Yitzhak Aharonovich on Monday visited the site of the gas balloon explosion that left three dead in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo the night before. The three were a couple in their 30s and their two-year-old baby. “It’s a difficult incident, tragic, which cut short the lives of three members of one family,”…

Israel and Canada are “natural allies,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday. Addressing the Knesset, Harper told MKs that Canada would stand with Israel no matter what, “in fire and water.” On his second day in Israel, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper spoke to MKs. The bonds between the two countries, said Harper, were…

It has been cleared for release that an Israeli navy vessel capsized  Monday morning 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) from the coast, while patrolling the Mediterranean waters near Ashkelon. In response, a missile boat was sent to the site, and rescue crews brought some of the sailors to the shore. None of them were hurt. Large…

President Barack Obama is not as optimistic as his Secretary of State regarding the possibility of peace between Israel and the Arabs. Obama, who gave an interview to the New Yorker magazine on Sunday, said that he believed the odds of reaching a peace agreement were less than 50%. The President told the magazine’s editor…

Israel plans to deploy a new missile shield known as “Iron Beam” next year which would use a laser to blow up short-range rockets and mortar bombs, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an Israeli defense industry official. The system is designed to deal with threats that fly on too small a trajectory to be engaged…

A new threat to the upcoming Winter Olympics to be hosted in Sochi, Russia, surfaced Sunday, reports AFP. In a video posted on a well-known jihadi forum, two men believed to have been involved in last month’s deadly bombings in Volgograd spoke of them and warned of more. “We’ve prepared a present for you and…

No more gas masks will be handed out to Israelis, the “inner” defense cabinet decided Sunday. The last gas masks in stock will be given out through the end of January, the cabinet decided. Only rescue workers and other essential personnel will receive masks after that time. The reason for the end of the gas…

With the recent uptick in rocket attacks on southern Israel, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has a message for Gaza Arab terrorists: Don’t try us. Speaking on Sunday, Ya’alon said that the IDF would hit hard and fast against terror targets each time Israel was attacked. “The IDF on Sunday morning targeted a terror cell that…

Israel released a prominent leader from Islamist movement Hamas on Sunday after he spent more than two years in prison, Palestinian Authority (PA) officials said. Hassan Yousef, who is also a member of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Legislative Council, told reporters after his release he would work with Hamas rivals “Fatah and other Palestinian factions to achieve…

The Deputy Defense Minister, MK Danny Danon (Likud-Beytenu), has penned an article in the US-based Politico website that appears to be a warning about an Israeli intention to strike Iran’s nuclear weapon facilities. The relatively short, 400-word article, refers to two previous cases in which Israel struck Islamic nuclear sites without US approval. In 1981,…

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in Israel and will address the Knesset on Monday. This is Harper’s first visit to Israel. In welcoming Harper, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that while this world is “often cynical and hypocritical, you have shown great moral leadership. When it comes to fighting terrorism, you know that there…

A religious Jewish woman who wanted to visit the Temple Mount on Sunday morning was told she could not enter the holy site because her skirt was too short, Temple Mount activists have reported. The woman was wearing thick black tights, a knee-length black skirt, and a long-sleeved black top. An Israeli police officer at…

A host on the pan-Arab station Al-Jazeera shared surprising praise of Israel this weekend, praising the Israeli army’s restraint as compared to the Syrian army’s brutality. Whilst chairing a discussion between pro- and anti-Syrian regime pundits, Faisal Al-Qassem asked of the Syrian army, “Why don’t they learn from the Israeli army, which tries, through great…

Workers in Israel and the Palestinian Authority now have something in common – complaints about foreign workers taking away what are supposed to be their good-paying jobs. According to a Bethlehem lawyer, workers in the city are up in arms over the arrival of a large contingent of Serbian construction workers who are building a…

The United Nations has confirmed that food aid has finally reached some of the Palestinians in the Damascus neighborhood where dozens have perished of starvation. Christopher Gunness, a spokesman for the U.N.’s Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said at the start of the weekend that 200 parcels of food aid had finally made it into…

Israeli Professor Dan Shechtman, who won the 2011 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, has indicated that he is interested in running for the position of Israeli President. Speaking in an interview with Channel 1 News which aired Friday night, Shechtman said, “I see myself as a presidential candidate. I think I can change things for the…

IDF soldiers on Saturday night arrested a terrorist who opened fire, using an improvised weapon, at the religious Kibbutz Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion. There were no casualties. The terrorist was interrogated by security forces. Lieutenant Colonel Ayas Fares, deputy commander of the IDF’s Etzion Brigade, told Arutz Sheva that, thanks to the quick work…

Life is scary for Ukranian Jews. Such has been revealed by Dov Ber Glickman, the 30 year-old Ukranian man who was stabbed on his way home from synagogue Friday night, as he gave his perspective on the incident to IDF Radio Sunday.  “I left synagogue to return home,” Glickman recounted, “when I saw two men standing at…

The Air Force hit an Islamic Jihad terrorist in an airstrike in northern Gaza on Sunday morning. The terrorist has been identified as Ahmed Sa’ad. Sa’ad is known to be involved in Islamic Jihad rocket attacks from Gaza. According to IDF sources, he played a part in recent rocket attacks and shooting attacks on Israelis…

Terrorist attacks nearly doubled in frequency in 2013, according to new data released by the IDF. There were 62 terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) in 2013, compared to 35 the year before. The IDF website quoted senior sources as saying that the violence is still nowhere near “Intifada” levels. “There is a significant…

The United States over the weekend criticized UNESCO, the UN’s cultural body, for postponing a Jewish-themed exhibition following pressure from Arab member states, Reuters reports. The exhibit, entitled “People, Book, Land — The 3,500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People to the Holy Land,” was postponed because of concerns that some aspects “might be perceived…

US Secretary of State John Kerry will present a framework deal at the end of January, according to London-based Arabic news outlet Al Hayat Saturday, at a conference in the Jordanian city of Aqaba.  Palestinian Authority (PA) sources told the daily that the presentation will only include an outline of the interim agreement’s terms; both sides are…

Energy Minister Silvan Shalom attended a meeting Saturday of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which has no diplomatic relations with the Jewish state. It is the first time Israel has sent a minister to a meeting of IRENA since its foundation in 2009. “Shalom is representing Israel, which is taking part in the meeting…

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has been involved in talks to bring a ceasefire to Syria – along with Iraq, Lebanon, and Russia.  Zarif stated to a press conference held together with Senegal’s Foreign Minister Saturday that the ceasefire would be an important step in achieving negotiations, and that the Syrian people should have…

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen will arrive in Israel Sunday on an official four-day visit.  The Canadian Prime Minister will be accompanied by a delegation of over 200 people, including ministers, journalists, and parliament members. This is Harper’s first visit to the Middle East since he was elected as Prime Minister in 2006,…

Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said on Friday that UN nuclear experts will inspect its Gachin uranium mine this month, almost nine years since they last visited the site, AFP reports. “The inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will travel to Tehran on January 29 to visit Gachin mine,” AEO spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said,…

A security official in Egypt said on Friday that terrorists have blown up a natural gas pipeline in the Sinai Peninsula. According to The Associated Press (AP), the official said a strong explosion rocked a village in central Sinai called el-Riysan, after explosives were planted beneath the gas pipeline connected to cement factories in the…

The United Nations’ cultural body has cancelled a Jewish exhibit following Arab pressure, the European Jewish Press (EJP) reported on Friday. The exhibition, entitled “People, Book, Land – The 3,500 Year Relationship of the Jewish People and the Land of Israel”, was co-organized by UNESCO, the UN body for education, science and culture, and the…

A French presidential aide held talks on Friday in Beirut with a Hezbollah official, the movement said, AFP reported. The meeting comes months after the EU listed the group’s so-called “military wing” as a terrorist organization. Hezbollah said its international relations chief Ammar al-Moussawi discussed regional and local developments with Emmanuel Bonne, French President Francois…

Rockets – and possibly shells – were fired from Syria into Lebanon Friday, landing in the Lebanese border town of Arsal, according to official state news. The rockets have reportedly killed 7 and wounded at least 15.  According to Lebanese news outlet The Daily Star, facts on the ground contradict official news announcements, which state that…

A barrage of at least 6 rockets were fired from Gaza towards Ashkelon on Wednesday, leading the defense establishment to reportedly reconsider the Pillar of Cloud ceasefire. The barrage also led Ashdod to cancel classes Friday at all schools that are not reinforced against rocket fire. Five of the rockets were shot down by the Iron…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman summoned European Union (EU) ambassadors on Friday over continued support of – and bias for – the Palestinian Authority (PA) in negotiations. Liberman’s call came in response to the EU’s calls on Israel’s envoys Thursday to explain Israel’s continued construction in Judea and Samaria.   Liberman “ordered to summon the ambassadors of…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu supports Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s land swap plan, according to a Maariv report Friday.  The swap, which Israel reportedly offered the US in talks in December, refers to the area known as the Triangle in east-central Israel. The area includes the cities of Tayibe and Tira, in which about 300,000 Arabs live. Israeli Arabs…

The National Security Agency (NSA) has collected almost 200 million text messages a day from across the globe, using them to extract data including location, contact networks and credit card details, The Guardian reported on Thursday. The report is based on material provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The documents also reveal that the UK…

Hezbollah was officially accused of the murder of Lebanon’s former prime minister, Rafiq Hariri, on Thursday, as four of its members went on trial in absentia at a special UN tribunal, AFP reported. The four are accused of murdering Hariri in a 2005 car bombing that shook the Middle East. The trial opened in a…

A Lebanese branch of an Al-Qaeda affiliated Syrian rebel group has claimed responsibility for Thursday’s car bomb explosion in the town of Hermel, reports the Daily Star. The explosion killed four people and wounded 43. Hermel has a primarily Shiite Muslim population, and is in the Bekaa region, where the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah terrorist group…

The operation to remove Syria’s chemical arsenal has suffered another setback, with the head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) saying Thursday that the removal and destruction of the most dangerous agents in Syria’s chemical arsenal will likely be delayed. According to Reuters,  OPCW head Ahmet Uzumcu explained that the delay…

A group of 40 Bnei Menashe arrived on Aliyah today from India, marking the second time in the last three weeks that a group from this Lost Tribe of Israel has moved here. The immigrants, who hail from the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram, were brought to Israel by Shavei Israel, which received permission from…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slammed the European Union Thursday for summoning envoys over recently unveiled plans for some 1,800 new homes for Jews in the ancient Jewish capital of Jerusalem, and the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. “This is hypocrisy. The EU calls our ambassadors in because of the construction of a few houses?…

One of the most spectacular natural landscapes in the world, the Dead Sea is the world’s largest day spa, where people from all over the world throughout history have traveled to bask in its natural pure waters and mud, renowned for their legendary curative and therapeutic powers. In fact, the Dead Sea was actually recently…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu traveled to Jordan on Thursday to meet with King Abdullah II in Amman. Netanyahu’s trip was kept under wraps until the last minute. His last reported meeting with Abdullah was in March 2013. The two leaders discussed the ongoing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The content of their meeting,…

In the wake of the latest row between the United States and Israel over remarks by Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, President Shimon Peres on Wednesday said that Israel should be grateful for its close relationship with America. “Israel and the United States have much more than a dialogue. The U.S. wants to allow us and…

Terrorists on Wednesday evening opened fire from a moving vehicle at a resident of the Shomron (Samaria) community of Havat Gilad (Gilad Farm), who was driving on the road near the community. The resident was not hurt but his vehicle sustained damage. IDF forces began searching the area in an attempt to locate the shooters.…

Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft targeted terror-related sites in Gaza early Thursday morning, several hours after a rocket barrage targeted the city of Ashkelon. A statement from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that a concealed rocket launcher, a weapons storage site and a center of terrorist activity in northern Gaza were targeted. Direct hits were…

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) triggered controversy with a fiery floor speech in the Senate on Tuesday night, during which she declared that “we cannot let Israel determine when and where the United States goes to war.” Breitbart reports that the speech was made during a debate on a bill that would impose new sanctions on…

Terrorists from Hamas-controlled Gaza fired a barrage of rockets towards the city of Ashkelon on Wednesday night. Five of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, which shoots down rockets before they hit populated areas. Several other rockets may have exploded in open areas. There were no reports of physical injuries or…

Finance Minister Yair Lapid reiterated Wednesday night the Yesh Atid party’s position regarding the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).  “The left wants peace at any price and the right is not willing to pay any price for peace,” Lapid stated, claiming that, in contrast, Yesh Atid forms the political “center.”  “We do…

Curiouser and curiouser: the murder investigation of businessman and father Menachem Stark took a new twist Tuesday, when it was revealed that over $1.2 million of “unauthorized” withdrawals were made from his Capital One account in the weeks after he died.  Newsday reported Tuesday that the withdrawals surfaced in files submitted by a mortgage company in…