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Mushir al-Masri, a top Hamas terrorist and member of the PA parliament, declared that a ‘calm’ or cease-fire period with Israel was the best time to prepare new tactics against Israel’s alleged “aggression” – both above and below ground.  Speaking on behalf of Hamas at the College for Science and Technology in Khan Yunis on…

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday he would not be able to visit Israel over the coming weekend, despite an announcement by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that he would, AFP reports. Instead, Kerry said he would try to visit Israel again after the November 28 Thanksgiving holiday. It will be his eighth visit to Israel since he took up the post as…

A senior Syrian rebel commander died last night of wounds he sustained in a government airstrike in Aleppo.  Abdul Qadir al-Saleh was the leader of Liwa al-Tawhid, one of several rebel battalions stationed in the Aleppo area. Another Liwa al-Tawhid leader, Youssef al-Abbas was killed in the airstrike, which targeted a meeting of senior brigade commanders. Sources…

On Sunday, following heavy violence in Tripoli, a senior US military official revealed plans to train up to 7,000 members of Libya’s security and special operations forces, according to Al Arabiya. Aside from training thousands of conventional forces, special operations forces will be trained to conduct counter-terror operations, according to Admiral William McRaven, head of the U.S. military’s Special Operations Command.…

At 65 years old Israel is a young country – in more ways than one. According to data released Monday by the Central Bureau of Statistics. Children under 17 years of age constituted fully one third of Israel’s population in 2012. Altogether there were 2.626 million children in Israel in 2012, 70% of them ( 1.846…

A rebel bomb attack on an army base near Damascus killed 31 Syrian soldiers on Sunday, AFP reports. The blast came amid a major regime offensive against rebel positions all around the capital and on the city of Aleppo in the north, the news agency said. “Three generals and a brigadier-general were among 31 troops…

At least 50 people have died after a passenger jet crashed in the central Russian city of Kazan Sunday. Interfax news agency reports that the Boeing 737-500 exploded after crash-landing in Kazan airport at 15:25 GMT, when its nose hit the ground during touchdown. Emergency services say the bodies of all 44 passengers and 6 staff have…

Border Policemen arrested an Arab youth who was armed with a knife at the entrance to the Cave of Machpela in Hevron Sunday afternoon. The suspect, 17, is a resident of Hevron. He had been standing near one of the Border Police positions guarding the Cave and for about ten minutes, appeared to be observing…

Second Lieutenant Yitzhak Maimon, who took on the terrorist who brutally murdered IDF soldier Eden Atias on a bus in the northern city of Afula last Wednesday, was honored on Sunday evening by the IDF. Maimon was given a certificate of merit by Colonel Asher Ben-Lulu, commander of the IDF’s Kfir infantry brigade, who said, “I am…

Israel has been holding a senior Al Qaeda operative under administrative detention for three years, it has been revealed. Samer Helmi Abd Al Baraka Altif, 39, was detained by security forces as he attempted to enter Israel from Jordan via the Allenby Bridge. Security sources say the suspect is an Al Qaeda operative “with a…

French President Francois Hollande affirmed Sunday that his country would keep up the pressure on Iran, icluding sanctions, until it is satisfied that the Islamic Republic has given up its military nuclear ambitions. “France will not tolerate nuclear proliferation,” President Francois Hollande said on Sunday after arriving in Israel. “As long as we are not certain that…

Housing Minister Uri Ariel has revealed a new plan that he says could lead to 100,000 new homes being built. Israel must take action now to lower the price of housing, he declared. “We have to find a way for citizens to pay less for an apartment,” he stated. “The government must intervene in the…

US Secretary of State John Kerry is returning to Israel on Friday to discuss the Iranian nuclear talks and peace with the Palestinian Authority, AFP reports.  Speaking to the Knesset, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he would also discuss the Iran talks with French President Francois Hollande, who arrives in Israel later Sunday, as well as with Russian President Vladimir Putin when…

A senior Hezbollah commander died on Saturday after he was wounded in Syria several days ago, Al Arabiya reported, citing a pro-Hezbollah website. “The Islamic resistance in Hezbollah proudly weds a new Knight…Ali Shabeeb (Abu Trab al-Rweis) who died as he was performing his sacred religious duty,” the website was quoted as having said. The…

On the 50th anniversary of the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy, CBS News has released the original Dallas police tapes recording the chaos from November 22, 1963. The tapes, sent to CBS by the University of Virginia, provide the police’s point of view of the shooting while it was occurring. Police describe the crowds that appeared to watch…

In a press release, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies (FSWC) has condemned the resolution passed by students at the University of Toronto to endorse the racist “Israel Apartheid Week” on its Scarborough campus.  “Israeli Apartheid Week” is a campaign of anti-Israel propaganda funded by the extreme Leftist Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement,…

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday tweeted a series of messages in which he described what other world leaders had done at the age of 20. Using the hashtag Presidentat20, Rouhani appeared to be mocking U.S. President Barack Obama, when he wrote: “Obama was continuing his education at university at 20. He is said to…

Yehiel Kadishai, who served as a personal aide to former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, died Saturday from a heart attack at the age of 90. Kadishai was born in 1923 in Poland and arrived in Israel with his family the same year. He was a member of the Beitar movement. He served in the British…

Since the IDF delegation to the Philippines landed last Thursday, the unit has treated over 370 wounded – 150 of them children – in a hospital in the city of Bogo.  IDF doctors at Bogo’s hospital have performed operations, used advanced medical equipment, and overseen 5 births – including one Cesarean section and one birth…

Fresh gunbattles have erupted between rival militias in the Libyan city of Tripoli Saturday, as local fighters seek to force out gunmen from a militia based in the city of Misrata. Saturday’s fighting, in the suburb of Tajoura, come a day after bloody clashes between protesters and militiamen outside the Misrata militia’s headquarters in Tripoli. Local authorities say at…

Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT), an organization which exposes extreme Islamic activity in the US, is attempting to alert the public about a systemic anti-Israel curriculum in Newton, MA schools. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and clergy of two local synagogues continue to criticize APT’s ad campaign. The Arab World Studies Notebook was removed from the Newton high school curriculum…

Anti-semitic violence has been rising in Brooklyn, NY since the middle of September, a Brooklyn rabbi reported to CBS News. The culprit: a systemic “game”, by local gangs, to “knock out” Jews.  Brooklyn police say that over 8 attacks against local Jews have been reported within the past 2.5 months. Many of them appear to be similar to…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday urged France to stand firm in international negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, AFP reports. “We hope France will not yield,” Netanyahu said in an interview to the Le Figaro newspaper due out on Saturday. “For us, the United States remains an important ally, the most important ally. But our…

The United States and other countries are “getting close” to an interim deal with Iran that would prevent its nuclear program “from advancing, and roll it back” in key areas, a senior administration official said Friday, according to CNN. The official was quoted as having told reporters that such a deal would “extend the breakout…

Colonel Amos Hacohen, head of the IDF’s Southern Gaza Brigade, said on Friday that Hamas continues to grow stronger in Gaza and recent assessments have determined that the number of tunnels built by Gaza-based terrorists has increased considerably. Speaking as the IDF marks one year since the counterterrorism operation Pillar of Defense, Hacohen said Hamas…

At least 16 Libyan demonstrators were killed on Friday when a militia group fired at a rally demanding it to abandon a place it has occupied in the capital Tripoli since the 2011 ouster of Muammar Qaddafi’s regime. Al Arabiya, citing local television, reported that 45 people were wounded in the incident and 15 were…

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, raised the findings of Manfred Gerstenfeld’s book, Demonizing Israel and the Jews with Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of  Manila on Wednesday. The Cardinal was an important candidate in the recent Papal election and may become the first Asian Pope. Demonizing Israel and the Jews documents that…

On Friday the first baby was born at the IDF field hospital set up the day before in the Philippines to help deal with the destruction Typhoon Haiyan has left in its wake. The mayor of Bogo City where the hospital was established announced the baby will be named “Israel.” The new life follows the Philippines’ massive…

During an Al-Qassam Brigade military parade Hamas officials called on Fatah to prepare for war with Israel, and threatened to declare war if Jews are allowed to pray at the Temple Mount. At the parade by Hamas’ “military wing”, which marks a year since the IDF Pillar of Defense counter-terror operation in Gaza, Raeed Sa’ad, a high-ranking commander of Al-Qassam, called on Fatah…

After a long journey halfway across the world, the IDF’s 148-member rescue team finally arrived on Thursday at the storm-ravaged Philippines. The delegation will set up a field hospital where 500 patients will be able to receive the help they need. Some reports place the death toll of Haiyan, one of the strongest typhoons ever to…

Jihadist rebels in Syria had to ask for “understanding and forgiveness” after they beheaded the wrong man, the British Telegraph reports. In a public appearance filmed and posted online, members of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), one brandishing a knife, held up a bearded head before a crowd in Aleppo. The…

Republican Senator John McCain on Thursday sharply criticized the Obama administration’s policy in the Middle East. “We lost influence, we lost power. We are seen as helpless,” McCain said in an interview with the Arabic language Al-Hurra TV. He specifically criticized US Secretary of State John Kerry, saying he was disappointed with the way Kerry has…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday he was unimpressed by a report from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency on Thursday that Iran had frozen its nuclear activities. “I am not impressed by the report published this evening,” Netanyahu was quoted by his office as saying. “Iran does not need to expand its programme because…

On Thursday reports were released that a Canadian citizen described only as Abu Abd Al-Rahman was killed in March in the city of Aleppo, according to Shalom Toronto. Al-Rahman is one of many Canadian and other foreign jihadists journeying to Syria to join the bloodbath. The report of Al-Rahman’s death appeared on a Syrian Internet site that…

Explosions rocked various parts of Iraq on Thursday during the Shi’ite pilgrimage holiday of Ashura, leaving at least 41 dead, according to the BBC. Iraq has recently seen a fierce upswing in bombings.  Of the three blasts targeting the pilgrims, Al Arabiya reports that the major one occurred in Diyala province north of Baghdad, where a religious procession was struck by a suicide bombing…

A report indicates that US President Barack Obama has been easing sanctions on Iran for the past five months without Congressional approval, and despite the lack of any agreement over the Islamic regime’s nuclear weapons program. Sources in Congress revealed that Obama’s administration has been suspending or lifting many sanctions without informing Congress since Iranian President Hasan Rouhani was elected…

On Thursday afternoon Gazan terrorists opened mortar and rocket fire on Israel, eliciting an IAF airstrike in response which took out two concealed missile launchers in northern Gaza. The IDF Spokesperson Unit statement stressed that the IDF will not tolerate any attempts to harm Israel or its citizens. The statement further placed responsibility for the attack on…

Hundreds of people were protesting at the main entrance to Jerusalem Thursday afternoon, demanding more security in the wake of the murder of IDF soldier Eden Atias Hy”d Wednesday. One woman was arrested for disorderly conduct, after shouting anti-Arab slogans. Three other people were also arrested. Atias, 19, died Wednesday after an Arab terrorist stabbed him in…

“Eden, come home!” cried the mother of 19-year-old Eden Atias, the IDF soldier who was stabbed to death by a terrorist, at his funeral Wednesday night. Thousands gathered at the cemetery in Nazareth Illit, Atias’ home town, as he was laid to rest. On Wednesday morning, a 16-year-old terrorist stabbed Atias, who fell asleep on…

A private funeral for murdered IDF soldier Pvt. Eden Atias will be held Wednesday night at the military cemetery in his hometown of Nazereth Illit at 11:00 pm.  Atias, 19, died Wednesday after an Arab terrorist stabbed him in the neck and upper body on a bus at Afula’s Central Bus Station. The assailant, just 16, is a Palestinian Arab…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced Wednesday that PA peace negotiators intend to pull out of peace talks. Negotiator Mohammed Shtayyeh told AFP the move was in response to “increasing settlement building (by Israel) and the absence of any hope of achieving results.” “Abbas has a number of choices here – he can refuse or accept and form a new…

John Kerry provided a signed letter of support to an extremely radical group of leftists and anti-Israel activists who were organizing a march on Gaza in 2009, revealed Maariv’s Ben-Dror Yemini. Members of the group eventually wound up on the 2010 Gaza flotilla that included the Mavi Marmara, on whose deck a bloody confrontation between…

The IDF sent a 148-member delegation to the Philippines on Wednesday, to provide rescue and medical services in the wake of typhoon Haiyan’s massive destruction. Before setting out representatives pledged their best efforts in “giving hope” to the people of the Philippines. Lt. Col. Golan Vach, operation officer of the delegation, said that in addition to…

Kawasme was the terrorist who initiated and planned a murderous attack that was executed on March 23, 2011, in Jerusalem. An explosive charge was detonated near Binyanei Hauma, the International Convention Center, near the western entrance to the city. The explosion killed Mary Jean Gardner, a British tourist. Another 67 people were injured. The terrorist…

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is planning to be the first ever UN chief to visit the Auschwitz death camp in Poland, his spokesman said on Tuesday. In a statement, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said that Ban will visit the camp on Monday “to pay tribute to the victims of the Holocaust and to…

A man was stabbed in the neck in the Central Bus Station at Afula, in northern Israel, Wednesday. The attack apparently took place inside a bus. According to initial reports, the victim is a soldier and is in critical condition. The attacker has been identified as an Arab aged 16 from the Palestinian Authority city…

A 148-member Israeli delegation is set to leave for the Philippines on Wednesday, in order to provide search, rescue, and medical services in the Typhoon-struck city of Tacloban, capital of the Leyte Province. The IDF said on its official blog on Tuesday that an advanced multi-department medical facility, equipped with approximately 100 tons of humanitarian…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu once again stressed on Tuesday that while Israel prefers a diplomatic solution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, the deal that is currently being offered to the Islamic Republic is a bad one. “Israel prefers the diplomatic option over any other option. But we want a genuine diplomatic solution that…

Three Muslim converts in London pleaded guilty on Monday to charges of confiscating alcohol, attacking and threatening to stab non-Muslims in attempts to impose Islamic Sharia law on the UK capital. The men were part of a group of Islamist vigilantes, self-styled as “Muslim Patrols.” The Daily Beast reports that they pleaded guilty on several charges of…

Ukrainian neo-Nazi mobs have gone on the warpath in recent days, attacking and injuring dozens of foreign students, according to reports on local news sites and social networking sites. Several Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, are said to be among the victims. The attacks have been featured in Arabic-language Ukrainian papers and have been reported…

A new study reveals that Egypt has the worst women’s rights record of all 22 Arab states, as hopes of modernization following the “Arab spring” have instead led to instability and a greater Islamic influence, under which sexual harassment has simply become the norm. BBC notes that a UN report in April found that 99.3% of Egyptian women and girls had…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited soldiers near Gaza on Tuesday, one year after the Pillar of Defense counter-terror operation in Gaza. “We are marking one year since ‘Pillar of Defense.’ The numbers are clear: a decrease of 98% in rocket and mortar shell fire. There’s no doubt that we obtained significant deterrence,” he declared. “However,”…

The Knesset hosted its second annual forum on ties between Israel and the United States Jewish community, with a focus on the status of the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel. Orthodox Judaism views the Torah as divine, and the mitzvoth (commandments) as obligatory. The Reform movement views the mitzvoth as non-obligatory, while the Conservative…

Britain has resumed ties with Iran, 2 years after severing diplomatic relations due to a 2011 embassy attack, Al-Arabiya reports.  Reuters adds that Britain’s Foreign Office has named Ajay Sharma, currently the head of the ministry’s Iran department, as the next British Ambassador to the Regime state. Sharma hopes to ascend to the post later this month.  “I am very much looking…

Israeli security sources claimed Tuesday that Iran’s controversial nuclear program has cost the country $170 billion, mostly due to economic sanctions. Of the $170 billion price tag, $40 billion were “invested over the past 20 years in the construction and operation of nuclear infrastructure,” the sources told AFP.     They said Iran had “lost…

Tania Longpre, a leading candidate for the next general elections in Quebec in the PQ separatist bloc, has written a statement on her Facebook page calling to remove the word “Jewish” from the Jewish Hospital of Montreal and to introduce a ban on circumcision, Shalom Toronto reports.  The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) has issued…

US Secretary of State John Kerry told the BBC that none of the differences between world powers and Iran over its nuclear program are big enough to prevent agreement. He said they came “extremely close” to a deal at the weekend in Geneva, but added that the rest of the world had to be certain…

Alan Baker, the head of the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, has sent a strongly worded rebuke to US Secretary of State John Kerry after Kerry’s public statements supporting Palestinian Arab incitement.  The letter attacked Kerry’s statements that Jewish building in Judea and Samaria is “illegitimate,” saying that the label is “a factual and…

Intelligence, Investigations, and Surveillance officials from the Northern District of the Israeli police force have uncovered a weapons cache under the foundations of an Afula building. The building was in a crowded urban neighborhood located close to a large public structure in the Northern city.  Commander Moshe Cohen led the search team, which found the…

While Iran has been buckling under the sanctions that have been crippling its economy, the country’s supreme leader is apparently enjoying the billions he has in the bank. The Reuters news agency exposed on Monday that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei controls a business empire worth around $95 billion, a sum exceeding the value of…

Channel 10 News reported on Monday that Arab hackers had broken into the Facebook accounts of some 13,000 Israelis. The hackers, from Tunisia and Gaza, made public on Monday evening the usernames and passwords of the accounts which they had broken into. In some cases they changed the profile pictures of the users in question.…

U.S. lawmakers will wait until after a briefing by Secretary of State John Kerry this week before deciding whether to impose tough new sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear program, Senate aides told Reuters on Monday. Kerry will brief the Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday on the status of negotiations for a deal on…

MK Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) has been sworn in as Foreign Minister Monday, passing a Knesset vote of 62-17.  Several left-wing politicians expressed disappointment at the decision. During the proceedings, MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz) reportedly stated that the reinstatement “is an explosive device to Israel’s foreign relations – no less”, referring to Liberman’s reputation abroad as…

The fatal typhoon Heiyan has continued its path of destruction, ravaging Vietnamese coastal towns Monday. Earlier this week, the storm killed 10,000 people in the Philippines; approximately 800,000 are still reported missing.  BBC reports that the typhoon’s winds hit at 157 km/h (98 mph), killing 13 and displacing well over 600,000 people. About 900,000 people have already…

It was a classic case of American honesty.  A Connecticut rabbi and his wife bought an antique desk earlier this week, for the meager price of $200.  “The desk wouldn’t fit through the front door by a fraction of an inch,” Muroff said. They were forced to take the desk apart piece by piece.   Upon…

US Secretary of State John Kerry drew fire from Israelis late last week, when he slammed Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as “illegitimate”. But an upcoming conference in New York City to challenge Jews in the Diaspora to do more to confront the delegimization of the “settlements” themselves. The subject of the conference is telling. Entitled “Addressing…

Truth meets fiction as Oscar winner George Clooney will show his Nazi-era art thriller “The Monuments Men” at the Berlin film festival in February. The film comes amid the controversy following last year’s discovery of over 1,400 works of art stolen by the Nazis The artworks were found in the Munich apartment of Cornelius Gurlitt, the son of a powerful Nazi-era…

Israel set a tourism record last month, as 339,000 tourists entered the country in October 2013 – 14% more than a year earlier, and the highest single month number of entries in the country’s history. This October broke the last record, set in 2010, by 4%, Tourism Ministry officials said Monday. Over 297,000 people came…

A lead IDF delegation of experts in the fields of search, rescue and medicine on Sunday night left Israel for the Philippines, which was hit by a devastating typhoon over the weekend. The rescuers are part of the IDF’s Home Front Command, the IDF announced on its official blog. According to the statement, the expert…

Border police managed to stop the rape of a woman in the Old City of Jerusalem moments before the crime was about to take place. Police have arrested a 22 year old suspect, an illegal alien from Eritrea, and have charged him with attempted rape. The 28 year old woman, a tourist from France, was…

A 24 -year-old yeshiva student was lightly wounded on Sunday evening after being struck by a rock as he was driving near the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The student, who needed stitches, was taken to the Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem and is expected to be released shortly. Some of his friends told Arutz Sheva…

Unidentified assailants shot dead Iran’s deputy minister for industry and mining, Safdar Rahmat Abadi, in Tehran on Sunday night, AFP reports, citing the official IRNA news agency. IRNA reported that Rahmat Abadi had been fatally shot in the head and chest as he was driving in the east of the capital. Citing a police officer…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday that he will always ensure the security of the State of Israel. Speaking at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly, Netanyahu warned once again that the deal being made with Iran was dangerous. He also took a shot at U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who…

The town of Karnei Shomron in Samaria (Shomron) hosted a race Friday in memory of Benaya Rein, who was killed in the Second Lebanon War. The race in Benaya’s memory has become an annual event. Among those racing was Aharon Karov, who famously went to war in Gaza the day after his wedding. He was…

A major network of schools in Pakistan has banned the book I Am Malala, written by schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who famously stood up to the Taliban by advocating openly for women’s education. Malala made global headlines when she was shot in the head by Taliban terrorists in 2012. She was targeted for advocating for education…

The United States is “not blind, and I don’t think we’re stupid” in nuclear talks with Iran, Secretary of State John Kerry said in a US television interview that aired on Sunday.     The top US diplomat also insisted there is “zero gap” between the Obama administration and its commitment to Israel, with diplomatic…

Philippines police forces announced Sunday that the death toll from Typhoon Heiyan is estimated to be over 10,000 people, with an additional 800,000 reported missing – far over initial estimates earlier this week, which were at 1,200.  Typhoon Heiyan, which hit the Philippines Friday morning, is reportedly considered to be among the most powerful in recorded history.…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel would do all it could to keep world powers from striking a “bad and dangerous” deal with Iran over its nuclear program. Netanyahu said: “At the week’s end I spoke with President Obama, President Putin, President Hollande, Chancellor Merkel and British Prime Minister Cameron. I told them…

The government has confirmed that Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beitenu) will be reinstated as Foreign Minister, less than one week after he was acquitted in a years-long fraud trial which prompted him to step down last year.  While the official vote is set to be made Monday, and requires the explicit approval of deputy minister Ze’ev…

Al-Qaeda’s main branch in Syria, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has raided a wedding party in the suburb of Aleppo and ordered that music and singing be stopped, Al Arabiya reports, citing the Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. “One leader of the Islamic State warned residents that if a music band is invited…

Belgium said Saturday it had raised the standing of the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic delegation to the country to “mission” status, AFP reports. The move is a show of commitment to a two-state solution in the Middle East, according to the Belgians. Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders confirmed the change from “general delegation” to “mission” after…

Former US President George W. Bush will deliver the keynote address at a fund raising event for the Messianic Jewish Bible Institute (MJBI), which trains people in the U.S., Israel, and elsewhere “to work towards convincing Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah,” according to Canada’s ShalomLife. Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center…

The American aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was recalled from the Persian Gulf on Friday, along with the destroyer USS Graveley from the Mediterranean Sea. The move comes less than a week after Russia sent its most powerful warships to the Mediterranean. Al Jazeera reports the Nimitz moved through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea, and is anticipated…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) announced Saturday it will start searching for oil near Rantis, a town north west of Ramallah and just east of the 1949 Armistice line. The PA further claimed contracts will be signed with British companies in the coming weeks to produce natural gas from sea reserves off the Gaza coast. On Saturday Palestinian Deputy Prime…

Talks in Geneva between representatives of Iran and the so-called P5+1 ended on Saturday night with no agreement. It was reported earlier that the sides had convened for another late night meeting in an attempt to reach an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. That meeting, however, ended with no results. “From the start, France wanted…

The son of the president of Suriname is being charged by the US on suspicion of providing material support to Hezbollah. According to the BBC, Dino Bouterse was filmed telling undercover agents posing as Hezbollah operatives that he was willing to help the Iranian-backed terror group set up a base in the central American country, as well as…

“We estimate 1,000 people were killed in Tacloban and 200 in Samar province,” Gwendolyn Pang, secretary general of the Philippine Red Cross, said of two coastal areas where Haiyan hit first as it began its march Friday across the archipelago. The Red Cross said it would have more precise numbers Sunday. The government’s official toll…

US President Barack Obama called Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday after Netanyahu strongly opposed the proposals being offered to Iran in Geneva. AFP reports that Obama gave Netanyahu an update on the Geneva talks, although specific contents of the call remain unknown. A statement said Obama, aside from the update, “underscored his strong commitment to…

Germany on Saturday began marking the 75th anniversary of the Nazi pogrom Kristallnacht with solemn ceremonies and touching and innovative tributes to the victims.     Rather than conducting one central memorial event, Germany this year is seeing smaller commemorations throughout the weekend including striking art projects, Twitter initiatives and silent vigils.     The…

Egypt said on Friday it would hold parliamentary elections in February or March, with presidential polls in early summer. The country’s Foreign Minister, Nabil Fahmy, told the Reuters news agency that the political arm of ousted president Mohammed Morsi’s banned Muslim Brotherhood could participate in the elections. Fahmy’s comments provided the most specific timeline yet…

German President Joachim Gauck on Friday visited a former workshop whose owner fought to save his Jewish staff from deportation, as Germany began marking the 75th anniversary of the Nazi Kristallnacht anti-Jewish pogrom. AFP reported that Gauck joined a Jewish former employee to visit the premises, now a museum in central Berlin, where Otto Weidt…

The United States on Friday rejected Israel’s criticism of a proposed deal with Iran over its nuclear program, AFP reports. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said, “There is no deal. Any critique of the deal is premature.” Earnest echoed State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, who said Secretary of State John Kerry had gone to Geneva…

The United States and Israel lost their voting rights at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Friday after suspending funding to the organization in 2011 when it admitted “Palestine” as a member. A source from the UN agency who spoke to AFP said neither the United States nor Israel “presented the…

Anti-Semitism has worsened in Europe in the past few years with abuse increasingly widespread on the Internet, a survey by the European Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) showed Friday. The study, released ahead of the 75th anniversary of “Kristallnacht” which saw Nazi thugs smash up Jewish businesses and synagogues, found that 66 percent of European Jews…

Prime Minister Biynamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State John Kerry held a final meeting today (Friday), with the PM urging Kerry to reconsider meeting tonight with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. In the meeting, Netanyahu reiterated that Israel “utterly rejects” Iran’s supposed offer to reduce its military capabilities in…

About 90 Haredi men were inducted today (Friday) into various technical positions for the IDF, as part of a landmark program by Bina Yeruka (Green Intelligence) project to integrate more Haredi soldiers into Israeli intelligence, according to the IDF’s official website. Chief Intelligence Officer Eli Ben Meir told the inductees,  “I am confident that the many…

A spokesman of the Al-Qassam Brigade military branch of Hamas recently expressed the organization’s intentions to continue attacking Israel, promising that the Hamas terrorists will continue working in secret to dig new terror tunnels and continue fighting against the “occupation.” Just last Thursday 5 IDF soldiers were wounded in a clash with Hamas while demolishing a terror tunnel. The IDF…

Mindy Pollak, 24, has become the first Jewish representative to be elected for city council in Montreal, several news media outlets reported. The landmark decision is a first in Jewish representation in Quebec, but also as to the involvement of Orthodox Jewish women – specifically, Hassidic women – in the public sphere. The elections, which…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will unexpectedly travel to Geneva on Friday afternoon to meet with Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, NBC News reports. Nuclear talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 nations resumed in Geneva Thursday morning. Word of Kerry’s impending arrival is the strongest sign so far of an agreement on a…

Alert IDF soldiers were able to foil a terrorist attack at a checkpoint near Bethlehem on Thursday evening. A Palestinian Authority Arab terrorist who was armed with a knife arrived at the checkpoint and tried to stab a Border Guard officer who was stationed there. The terrorist was shot by the soldiers before he could…

A senior Iranian official claimed Thursday that a breakthrough had been made at nuclear talks in Geneva, and that Tehran’s proposed plan for resolving the impasse over its atomic program has been accepted by the six world powers. At roughly the same time, Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, warned that signing an interim deal with Iran…

As the new round of nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany – began in Geneva on Thursday, Iranian state TV aired a documentary about Iran’s missile capabilities, including an animated simulation of a missile attack on Tel Aviv. The simulation depicts an…

A new Hebrew University website, sponsored by the school’s Oral History Division, allows users to search and access 900 previously unavailable Holocaust-related voice recordings and transcripts. Many of the interviews include testimonies recorded in the 1930s, constituting some of the earliest recorded oral history archives of the Holocaust. The site, which goes on line Thursday,…

A senior Hamas politician has joined the call for an “intifada” terror war against Israel over Jews’ visits to the Temple Mount. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is Judaism’s holiest site. It is also the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Muslim and Arab leaders have accused Israel of intending to destroy the mosque and rebuild…

Approval has been granted for the construction of the Ramat Givat Zeev neighborhood, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, with 400 residential units. The project has been making waves in the United States, as the only neighborhood  in Israel designed to meet the needs of olim has been moving forward in giant strides. Hundreds of apartments have already…

The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) raided and shut down two offices in Jerusalem that served terror movement Hamas. The offices of “Al-Quds Development” and “Amara al-Aqsa,” which are part of the Islamic Movement, were closed down after the Shin Bet received information that the offices carried out activity that supports and assists Hamas’s operations…

Terrorists fired on IDF soldiers overnight and attempted to run one officer down. No injuries were reported in the incident. The incident began when IDF soldiers began tracking a vehicle that had left the Palestinian Authority Arab town of Naalin and was driving toward the nearby Israeli city of Modiin. Their suspicions regarding the intentions…

A month and a half after the historic visit by a delegation from Israel to the European Parliament advocating Jewish community growth in Judea and Samaria, the Samaria Regional Council returned the favor, hosting a delegation of MPs from the European Parliament. During the special visit, which took place due to the efforts of Deputy…

Iran reportedly offered Western powers tonight (Wednesday) to reduce their nuclear capability in exchange for a reduction in sanctions, an offer Israel is working hard to prevent from being fulfilled, AFP reports.  “Israel in the last few hours has learned that a proposal will be brought before the P5+1 in Geneva in which Iran will cease all enrichment…

In Canada, a simple question by a Jewish man regarding a new controversial law in Quebec turned into a verbal and physical attack. The background to the incident is not yet clear, but according to information posted on the internet, the incident occurred on Sunday at a coffee shop in Montreal. The Jewish man reportedly…

Several pop stars have reportedly planned for Tel Aviv tour stops in the upcoming year, in a clear failure for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement – a network of anti-Israel extremists who have been pushing celebrities to boycott the Jewish state.  Among the planned appearances include Julio Iglesias, set to play in Tel Aviv on November 24; Cyndi Lauper,…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu released a public statement to the media today (Wednesday) congratulating former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu) on his acquittal from fraud allegations. “I congratulate Avigdor Lieberman on his unanimous acquittal,” Netanyahu said. “This ends a long, drawn out affair, not only for Avigdor Lieberman but for his family as well. We…

A poll carried out by the Survey Center at A-Najah University in Shechem indicates that 70% of Palestinian Authority (PA) residents believe current “peace talks” with Israel are doomed to fail. Almost 58% believe that the talks will end with the outbreak of a “third intifada,” or terror war against Israel. According to the poll,…

Rabbi Shmuel Yaakov Borenstein of Bnei Brak will deliver the keynote speech at the Dirshu Shabbos Chizuk L’lomdei Torah event to be held this coming Shabbat, which will focus on pressures being placed on hareidi communities in Israel. The event, held by the Dirshu organization in Somerset, New Jersey, sold out just a few weeks after…

In Jerusalem Wednesday an unprecedented two-day strategic planning summit was launched with the aim of creating new joint initiatives between the Israeli government and the Jewish world at large. The event came to fruition under the auspices of the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Jerusalem and Diaspora Affairs, and the Jewish Agency, and has been hailed as an “historic…

The United States is looking at new classified intelligence indicating that the Syrian government may not fully declare its chemical weapons stockpile, CNN reported on Tuesday. This would mean that Syria will still have a secret cache of chemical weapons even after the current agreed-upon destruction effort is carried out. The intelligence is not definitive…

Gaza’s Hamas government said on Tuesday it had added studies to encourage “resistance to Israel” to curriculum in local public schools. Courses to “strengthen Palestinian rights, update programs and add studies on human rights” would be introduced at three levels in secondary schools, Hamas Education Minister Muetassem al-Minaui told the AFP news agency. They were…

A three-judge panel unanimously acquitted former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman of the charges against him Wednesday morning. The verdict means he can return to serve as foreign minister but the state is expected to appeal it. “Seventeen years are over, it’s behind me,” Lieberman told reporters after the verdict. “I want to thank my family and friends…

Israel and Palestinian Authority negotiators met Tuesday evening in Jerusalem, just hours anticipated meetings with United States Secretary of State John Kerry. Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is heading the Israeli negotiating team, Attorney Yitzchak Molko, and PA negotiator Saeb Erekat met in Jerusalem. Kerry arrived in Israel late Tuesday with the goal of moving…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Barack Obama are not known to have had a good relationship, but the American president seems to have taken it a bit too far. In a new book that was released Tuesday, Obama is quoted as expressing what he really thinks about Netanyahu during his 2012 presidential campaign.…

The Annual Chabad on Campus International Shabbaton (Shabbat convention), a conference on Jewish education and leadership, brought over 1,000 Jewish students to New York in an event aimed at strengthening Jewish identity. The event, held October 25-27 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, attracted students from around the world to participate in a range of events, including tours around the city,…

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro wrote on his Facebook Tuesday “Mazal Tov to Women of the Wall on 25 years of prayer together,” following the group’s prayer at the Western Wall Monday which challenged traditional Jewish practice at the holiest site in Judaism. Women of the Wall’s Facebook page reported that Shapiro spoke at the…

MK Orit Struk (Bayit Yehudi) spoke to Arutz Sheva on Tuesday evening and recalled her frightening experience the night before, when a bus on which she was a passenger came under attack. The bus was hit by several firebombs in what appears to have been a coordinated attack. “It was late, I was coming back…

“I see no change in the Palestinian position since 1993,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Likud / Yisrael Beytenu Knesset faction Monday, according to Israel Hayom. In response to a question from MK Tzipi Hotovely, he said that he is not interested in an interim accord and that the negotiations are about a permanent…

Shots fired in a packed New Jersey shopping mall yesterday are still being investigated, NJ state police have stated, after the suspected shooter has been found dead in one of the mall’s stores by an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The gunman has been identified as 20 year-old Richard Shoop, who was found dead behind the counter…

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel gave Israel credit Monday for much of the pressure that has been brought to bear on Iran, regarding its nuclear weapons program. In an interview with Hagel, Bloomberg.com’s Jeffrey Goldberg asked whether it was true that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is using “fear tactics” in order to torpedo Iran negotiations…

Five firebombs were thrown at a bus on Egged’s 160 line from Jerusalem to Hevron at midnight, Monday evening, as it passed the Judean Jewish community of Karmei Tzur. IDF troops immediately arrived at the scene to search the area for the perpetrators; forces found additional bottles ready to be thrown. No one was hurt. Bayit Yehudi…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that the United States will maintain the current track of Israeli-Palestinian Authority peace negotiations he helped launch in July. Speaking in Riyadh, where he met with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, Kerry added that Washington sees “no other plan” other than negotiations, reported Reuters. While…

A Swiss gallery has denied illegal involvement with Cornelius Gurlitt, the man found Sunday to be hoarding nearly 1,500 priceless paintings, including works by Picasso and Matisse, that were stolen by the Nazis in a Munich flat. While the gallery, which is based in Swiss capital city Bern, admitted to buying legitimate works from Gurlitt, they…

Moshe Lion, who ran for mayor of Jerusalem in the recent municipal elections but lost to incumbent Nir Barkat, was detained and questioned at the Ben Gurion International Airport on Monday. Lion was interrogated by customs officials for allegedly trying to smuggle clothes into Israel. According to reports in the Israeli media, Lion was detained…

Muhammad G’malizda, a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), has been reported to have been killed in the Syrian Civil War, according to the State-backed Iranian Mehr news agency. G’mazlida was killed sometime over the last few days by “Wahhabi terrorists”, the agency said, giving no more details. Wahhabism is an ultra-conservative branch of Sunni Islam, but Iranian…

American Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, the official charged with heading the secretive Iranian nuclear negotiations, has said the US could ease sanctions on Iran as a way of encouraging compliance on the issue of the country’s nuclear program. The second round of talks between Iran and the P5 + 1 states is to be held in Geneva again this…

Nearly 4,000 rabbis gathered Sunday in New York at Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters to participate in the International Conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries (“Shluchim“). The Conference, held at 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, is an annual event with the goal of reviving Jewish awareness and practice around the world. The events of the conference included a visit to the tomb of…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has rejected the Palestinian Authority (PA) contention, that recent decisions on construction in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria contravene agreements reached at the outset of negotiations between Israel and the PA, three months ago. He said that the Palestinians knew full well when the talks began that Israel acepts no limitations on…

Women of the Wall marked its 25th anniversary with controversial prayers at the Kotel (Western Wall) Monday attended by 200 women, an unusually large turnout for the group, which rarely manages to muster more than a few dozen during its Kotel demonstrations calling for an end to traditional religious practices at the holy site. Numbers were swelled by three…

Nearly 1,500 priceless paintings, including works by Picasso and Matisse, that were stolen by the Nazis have been discovered in a flat in Munich, a news report said Sunday, according to AFP. The German weekly Focus reported that police came upon the paintings during a 2011 search in an apartment belonging to the octogenarian son…

Fatah, the party led by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’, has praised one of the murderers freed recently as a “goodwill gesture” by Israel as a national hero, and pledged to “continue to walk in his path.” The statements, translated by Palestinian Media Watch, were made on an official Fatah Facebook page, and came a week before murderer…

A British cabinet minister on Sunday called for Muslim face veils worn by women to be banned in courts. In an interview with BBC Radio, former Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke described the face veils as “peculiar.” Clarke said in the interview that women should not be allowed to wear a veil while giving evidence in…

As expected, the Palestinian Authority (PA) reacted angrily to Israel’s announcement Sunday that it planned to build 1,700 new homes in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. The entity threatened to go to the UN Security Council over the latest Israeli move, reported AFP. “The PLO is considering a mechanism to go to the Security Council and…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged Egypt’s interim rulers not to extend the state of emergency when it ends later this month, a senior American official said, according to AFP. “He pressed hard on not extending the state of emergency when it expires on November 14,” a State Department official told reporters…

For the first time since Syrian refugees seeking medical attention began drifting into Israel, a Syrian woman has given birth to a child here. The birth took place Sunday at Ziv Hospital in Tzefat (Safed). The 20 year old woman gave birth to a healthy 3.2 kilo (7.04 pound) baby girl. The woman was brought…

New York City Council member Stephen Levin on Sunday condemned an attack carried out on Friday night, in which a 24 year old hassidic man was shot in what police said was a failed robbery in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. “The people of New York deserve to live without fear that these types of acts…

In cabinet meeting this morning (Sunday), Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated the importance of international recognition of Israel as a Jewish state in helping bring peace to the Middle East, as part of remarks commemorating the 96th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.  “The declaration championed the rights for the Jewish nation to have a national home…

Three terrorists who unsuccessfully appealed for the “right” to earn a college degree for free while in prison will be given a chance to try again. Justice Miriam Naor decided that the Supreme Court will hear an appeal in the matter after a first lawsuit was rejected. Terrorists imprisoned in Israel have traditionally been allowed…

A report in the morning edition of Maariv today (Sunday) reveals that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has ordered the construction of a security fence in the Jordan Valley, due to the impasse in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority over the military control of area. Netanyahu maintains that Israeli military presence in the Jordan Valley would ensure the State…

The freezing of aid to Egypt by the United States is not meant as a “punishment” by Washington, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in Cairo Sunday. At a joint press conference with Egypt’s Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy, Kerry said that the two countries enjoyed good relations regardless of issues of monetary assistance. The…

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu denied on Saturday reports that his had provided Israel with intelligence that helped it attack SA-8 missiles in Syria that were being transferred to Hezbollah on Thursday. “This is an attempt to give the impression that Turkey is cooperating with Israel,” he said. “We have problems with Syria; we have…

Mohamed Elibiary, a member of the Department of Homeland Security Advisory Council, is under fire for tweeting that America is “an Islamic country,” reported the Washington Free Beacon. After a Twitter user asked Elibiary on Thursday to “show me just ONE example of an Islamic country where non Muslims are treated with equality,” he responded…

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and a prominent cleric say that the slogan “death to America” will be sounded on November 4, the country’s annual “Grand Day of Death to America,” which coincides with the anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979. The “Death to America” slogan has been chanted…

Israeli officials expressed anger Friday at the White House’s decision to disclose that Israel carried out the two attacks on targets in Syria Thursday. The attacks in Latakiya and Damascus are believed to have targeted SA-8 missiles that were about to be transferred to Hezbollah in Lebanon. An Obama administration official confirmed to CNN that the…

A drive-by shooting killed two members of Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party and wounded one outside a party office in Athens on Friday night, officials said. The two fatalities, both in their 20s, were shot at close range from a motorcycle carrying two men, Golden Dawn lawmaker Georgios Germenis told The Associated Press. “A man…

A senior official in the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) denied on Friday reports that peace negotiators Saeb Erekat and Mohammad Shtayyeh had submitted their resignation to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. PLO Executive Committee member Wasel Abu Yousef told the Ma’an news agency that reports of the negotiators resigning were not accurate. On Thursday, sources…

The Dutch Prime Minister has responded to a letter by the Simon Wiesenthal Center last month, in which he was asked to disband a statutory government body that has called on the Netherlands to develop closer ties to the terrorist organization Hamas at the expense of Israel. The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s letter to Prime Minister…

The head of the Pakistani Taliban has been killed in a U.S. drone strike, Sky News reports, according to U.S. and Pakistani officials. A senior U.S. intelligence official confirmed the strike, adding that the U.S. has received positive confirmation that Hakimullah Mehsud has been killed. The strike, carried out in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal region,…

A man pulled an assault rifle from a bag and shot his way through security at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday, killing one Transportation Security Administration worker, wounding as many as three others and sending terrified travelers diving for cover and fleeing onto the tarmac, authorities and witnesses said, according to NBC News. The…

Terrorists from Hamas-controlled Gaza fired a mortar shell at southern Israel on Friday evening. The mortar exploded in an open area in the Eshkol Regional Council. There were no physical injuries or damages. Local residents said that the “Red Alert” siren which usually warns them about rocket attacks did not sound. Several days ago, the…

Israeli company IceCure, developer of a treatment for breast tumors by freezing them into ice, is currently attempting to expand its technique into the treatment of lung cancer. The site NoCamels reported Wednesday that the biomedical company specializing in cryoablation, a process of destroying diseased cells by freezing, will soon conduct its first clinical trials in Japan using the same…

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced Thursday that he gave orders to expedite the sale of six vertical liftoff V-22 Osprey aircraft to Israel, making Israel the first country besides the United States to have the plane in its military arsenal. The move allows Israel to take priority ahead of the US Marine Corps in the aircraft’s production schedule, according…

Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) has advanced new laws this morning (Friday) that would enact the establishment of regular prayer hours for Jews visiting the Temple Mount, Yediot Ahronot reports.  According the the new laws, which have already begun to undergo legal processing through the Ministry of Religious Services, daily prayer hours would be set for Jewish groups…

US Secretary of State John Kerry is set to meet with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem this Tuesday in renewed efforts to resume peace talks, a Palestinian Authority official claims.  The move follows Israel’s announcement this week to build 1500 new housing units for Jewish residents in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria after releasing…

Kenya’s air force bombed an al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab training camp housing 300 terrorists in Somalia’s south-western Dinsoor region, even as al-Shabab denies the attack, according to Al-Jazeera. The attack was said to be in retaliation for the terrorist attack on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall in September. CNN reports that Col. Cyrus Oguna, spokesman for the Kenyan Defense Force, said the raid was part…

Five IDF soldiers were wounded near the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Thursday evening. An initial investigation has found that terrorists detonated an explosive device as IDF soldiers were operating in the area, preparing to blow up the terror tunnel that was recently discovered by IDF soldiers, leading from Gaza into an…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that if the pressure on Iran continues, it will abandon its nuclear program. However, Netanyahu warned in remarks during a state ceremony marking the 40th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, if the pressure on Iran stops, it will continue to freely enrich uranium. “We are committed to…

Israeli warplanes struck a military base near the northern Syrian city of Latakia on Thursday, an Obama administration official confirmed to CNN. The target, according to the Obama administration official, was missiles and related equipment the Israelis felt might be transferred to Hezbollah. The Al Arabiya network reported Thursday that Israel has carried out two…

The destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons is to be completed by mid-2014. Syria’s declared equipment for producing, mixing and filling chemical weapons has been destroyed, according to the international watchdog, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The declaration was made one day before the deadline set by the OPCW for meeting this goal.…

The Ministerial Committe for National Security Matters (Diplomacy-Security Cabinet) decided unanimously Thursday to transfer 2.75 billion shekels from the budget surplus to the defense establishment budget. The decision was taken after the defense establishment asked for an increase in its budget after it carried out a series of streamlining steps. The Prime Minister’s Office noted…

Hezbollah is enlisting 15,000 fighters for what it is calling the “battle for Damascus,” Reshet Bet reports. The report is based on information from sources in the Syrian opposition. Hezbollah has been heavily involved in fighting alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad as he battles opposition groups. Hezbollah recently claimed to have taken the decision to withdraw…

A wave of crime in southern Tel Aviv, particularly the old Central Bus Station area, led Tel Aviv police to kick off a campaign aimed at reducing the rate of attacks. As part of the campaign, undercover officers were placed in the area to see if they could lure out criminals. A female officer who…

President Shimon Peres on Wednesday hosted Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark at his Residence in Jerusalem. The Danish Crown Prince is on his first visit to Israel in commemoration of 70 years since the rescue of Danish Jews from the Holocaust. In October of 1943, more than 7,000 Jews were sent to safety in Sweden.…

Saudi Arabia has initiated a draft UN resolution that would strongly condemn “widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights” by the Syrian government and “any” abuses by anti-government armed groups, reports The Associated Press. UN diplomats said the draft resolution, obtained on Wednesday by AP, is expected to be submitted to the human rights…

Releasing terrorists is good, but approving new Jewish construction in Jerusalem is wrong, according to the head of the United Nations. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, in a statement he released on Wednesday, condemned Israel’s announcement that it will build 1,500 new housing units in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo. “Settlement activity is contrary to…

A French citizen was detained this afternoon for questioning (Wednesday) by civilian security guards on allegations of spying on Yitzhar residents in their homes. The unnamed man, who is suspected of taking unwanted photographs of residents and buildings in the community, may be involved in Palestinian Arab incitement in a nearby village.  Earlier reports suggesting that the French…

For only the second time during his tenure as America’s commander-in-chief, US President Barack Obama has come in at second place on Forbes Magazine‘s list of the world’s 72 most powerful people. Significantly, Obama was beaten this year by none other than Russian President Vladimir Putin, answering the magazine’s rhetorical question: “Who’s more powerful: the autocratic…

A Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a Jordanian national to nine years in prison for spying for Israel. State-backed media outlet Al Riyadh Online reported that the man – who was also sentenced to 80 lashes by the country’s Specialized Criminal Court – confessed to having spied for the Jewish state, having emailed Israeli intelligence agents and received…

On Wednesday the Israel Antiquities Authority released the discovery of a 1,700 year old curse found at the City of David archaeological site in Jerusalem. The curse, inscribed in Greek on a rolled-up lead plate, was found at the Givati parking lot dig site opposite the City of David. The text was determined to be a curse…

On Wednesday MK Ibrahim Sarsour of the Arab Ra’am-Ta’al party accused the Israeli government of endangering Middle East stability in failing to make peace with the Palestinians, declaring that Israel must either submit to Arab demands or disappear. He further claimed Israel was the “sole cause” preventing advances in the peace talks because it continues to refuse to withdraw to the…

Officials in the Palestinian Authority have taken issue with the fact that Israel seeks to ensure its security, AFP reported on Tuesday. According to the report, senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official Yasser Abed Rabbo said that Israel had adopted hardline positions and negotiations had so far produced “no tangible progress.” The so-called “hardline positions”,…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) in Judea and Samaria under Mahmoud Abbas is preparing to hold large scale celebrations Tuesday after Israel – under US pressure as part of a purported “peace process” – released 26 terrorists who were involved in horrific murders of Jews. Celebrations in Gaza, to which five of the terrorists were released,…

Residents of Ramallah are preparing for the customary celebrations as Israel releases 26 terrorists from its prisons. About 1,500 Palestinian Authority Arabs gathered at the Muqata in Ramallah on Tuesday night, waving PLO flags and PA flags, as they anticipated the return of the terrorists. Of the 26 terrorists to be released, 21 will be…

Peace is not possible so long as there is even one terrorist prisoner still in an Israeli prison, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas declared on Tuesday night. According to Kol Yisrael radio, Abbas made the comments in a welcoming ceremony for 21 Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists who had been released from Israeli jails as a…

Supreme Court Justices Miriam Naor, Edna Arbel, and Daphne Barak-Erez have rejected the petition by the Almagor organization and by the families of victims of terrorism against the release of 26 terrorists. The Court chose to allow the terrorists to go free.  The Justices stated that the government has the authority to determine the appropriateness…

The Al-Qaeda linked Syrian Jabhat al-Nusra group has published a video interview with Abu Asim al-Muhajir, who carried out a suicide mission, crashing an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) into a Syrian army headquarters east of Damascus and then detonating to collapse the building. Abu Asim explained that he chose to be a suicide bomber because “it allows penetration into enemy…

American singer and dancer Paula Abdul met Israeli President Shimon Peres on Tuesday morning on her maiden voyage to Israel, during which she plans to have a belated bat mitzvah at the Western Wall. Abdul embraced Peres at the start of visit, which took place at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem. “I’m so overwhelmed with…

Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah which is fighting alongside forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad, has shown a weakening stance in the face of expanding guerrilla warfare which favors rebel forces in their two and a half year battle to unseat Assad. Hezbollah, which has thousands of fighters in Syria battling to protect…

The head of the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has accused Saudi Arabia of blocking a political solution to the conflict in Syria, AFP reports. Speaking on Monday on a large screen set up in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Nasrallah said the Gulf kingdom was “furious because the situation in Syria has not…

On Monday Go4Europe, on of the most prestigious business conferences in Israel, was held at the Tel Aviv Hilton Hotel. The conference, which began in 1993 and is organized by Cukierman Investment House Ltd. and Catalyst Fund, placed an emphasis on the high-tech industry, life sciences and green energy. Haggai Ravid, CEO of Cukierman Investment House,…

As Israel prepares to release 26 more terrorist prisoners as a “gesture” to the Palestinian Authority, Arutz Sheva presents a partial list of those slated for freedom. It reveals a catalogue of atrocities, the majority of which involved the murder of civilians carried out at close range. Each of the crimes shook Israel at the time it happened, and was…

Paula Abdul, the singer, dancer and celebrity judge born to Jewish parents in Los Angeles, plans to travel to Israel this week for the first time and have a bat mitzvah at the Western Wall. Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday that Abdul plans to celebrate her bat mitzvah during her visit, at a delay of nearly forty years…

U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu about Iran on Monday, AFP reports, a day after Netanyahu warned that Tehran could convert uranium into weapons-grade material within weeks. The White House said in a short statement that the leaders discussed Iran, Israeli-Palestinian Authority peace efforts and other key issues. Netanyahu warned on…

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, filed a complaint on Monday with the UN Security Council, after Gaza-based terrorists fired rockets at southern Israel. Early Monday morning, the “Red Alert” siren was heard early Monday morning in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council and in communities in the Gaza belt. Residents reported hearing several…

The Antiquities Authority on Monday announced that it had arrested three Arabs from the Hevron area who were involved in the theft of antiquities. The Arabs were caught red-handed with some of the goods that they had stolen from an archaeological site in Beit Shemesh. The three apparently snuck in into the central Israeli city over…

The first Jewish Student center in Berlin opened yesterday (Monday), under the auspices of Rabbi Yehuda Teichtal. The venue will host Jewish-themed and pro-Israel lectures and activities to strengthen Israel advocacy in the wake of increasing anti-Semitism in Germany and worldwide, as well as the rising intermarriage rate in Germany, currently estimated to be about 50%. …

Israel arrested 10 members of the Islamist terror group Hamas overnight, the army said Monday, although Arab officials put the number at 15. “Ten Hamas operatives were detained overnight across the West Bank,” an IDF spokeswoman told AFP, without giving any further details or reasons for the arrests. Hamas has ruled Gaza since it took…

Nigeria and Israel have signed an agreement allowing direct air travel between both countries, several news outlets report. American media outlets reported this past week that Nigeria and Israel signed a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) last Wednesday allowing direct air travel between both countries. This would be the third such agreement Israel has with an African…

The imbroglio over the tapping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s phone by the United States deepened Sunday, AFP reports. The United States denied that President Barack Obama was personally informed for years of electronic surveillance against the German chancellor. The German newspaper Bild am Sonntag newspaper quoted U.S. intelligence sources as saying that America’s National…

The Israeli foreign ministry has named Middle East specialist Haim Koren as the Jewish state’s next ambassador to Egypt, a spokesman told AFP on Sunday. He did not say when the appointment take effect. Koren, currently non-resident ambassador to South Sudan, is an Arabic-speaker and according to media has previously served as director of the…

Israel will attend a UN human rights review on Tuesday, a top official told AFP on Sunday. Earlier, Haaretz reported that Germany had warned Israel of a diplomatic backlash if it stayed away from the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Periodic Review. “We will attend” the Universal Periodic Review, the official, who declined to…

The “Red Alert” siren was heard early Monday morning in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council and in communities in the Gaza belt. Residents reported hearing several explosions, as four rockets were fired by Gaza terrorists at southern Israel. The Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted one of the rockets, and the other three exploded in open…

The death toll from a week of clashes in Lebanon between supporters and opponents of Syria’s regime has risen to 13, a security official told AFP on Sunday. Two people died in clashes on Saturday and another two were killed early on Sunday in the northern port city of Tripoli, the official said, adding that…

The Israel Prisons Service on Sunday night published on its website the list of 26 terrorists who will be freed as part of the latest “gesture” to the Palestinian Authority. The list was made public 48 hours before the release is to take place, so that the Israeli public can appeal to the Supreme Court…

A committee of ministers decided Sunday that 26 terrorists serving jail sentences of 19 to 28 years will go free in 48 hours. The release is the second installment in a series of four release that will see 104 terrorists go free, as a “gesture” to the Palestinian Authority. Five of the terrorists to be…

All victims of the Sabbath’s anti-Semitic attack in Sydney, Australia, have been released from hospital, according to J-Wire, a website that provides Jewish online news from Australia. St Vincent’s Hospital spokesman David Faktor told J-Wire that 66-year-old Eli Behar was discharged from the hospital Sunday. “He had suffered a minor fracture of the skull,” he added. “Two…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that it is no longer relevant whether or not Iran enriches uranium to the 20% level. The matter of 20% enrichment was the “red line” that Netanyahu insisted Iran must not pass, in his speech to the United Nations last year. “Regarding Iran, we are not impressed by the…

A young terrorist, estimated to be about 16 years old, was arrested this afternoon (Sunday) by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) after attempting to stab soldiers standing guard outside the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron.  The Cave of the Patriarchs, one of Judaism’s holiest sites, has been a focal point of national attention this…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu clarified his stance regarding Palestinian Authority recognition of Israel as a Jewish state during Sunday morning’s cabinet meeting. Some of Netanyahu’s ministers have argued that Israel does not need the PA to recognize it as Jewish. “Regarding the issue of the Jewish state that comes up from time to time, we…

Gaza terrorists fired two mortar shells at the southern Negev early on Sunday afternoon. The shells exploded in the Eshkol region, but did not cause injury. The military has advised agricultural workers in the area to seek shelter. Last week terrorists from Hamas-controlled Gaza fired a mortar shell that hit the Eshkol region. Less than…

The United States has been spying on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone for more than a decade, Deutsche Welle reports, citing the German Der Spiegel magazine. On Saturday, the magazine reported that the National Security Agency (NSA) had listed Merkel’s mobile telephone since 2002, beginning under the Bush administration, and that it had remained…

At least 15 Hezbollah fighters were killed on Saturday by Syrian rebels in the Ghouta district of Damascus, Al Arabiya television reported, citing opposition sources. A video posted on the internet showed dead men with Hezbollah label patches on their uniforms. Six wounded Hezbollah fighters were reportedly transferred to Lebanon for medical treatment, according to…

Police have arrested eight people in a crackdown on organized crime in southern Israel. The wave of arrests follows a car bombing last Thursday in the city of Ashkelon in which one man was killed and second was badly injured. The man who was killed was identified as a member of the Domrani crime family.…

Eight people suffered light injuries Saturday evening when they drove into an Arab rock ambush near Al Fawar in the Mount Hevron areas. They were taken to Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva. Voice of Israel public radio said that the rocks struck a bus and a car. Last Tuesday, five people were lightly injured in…

In a surprising revelation, the terrorist group behind a failed assassination attempt on Egypt’s Interior Minister has claimed that the suicide bomber who carried out the attack was actually a Major in the Egyptian army. The Al Qaeda-linked Ansar Beit al-Makdis, which has carried out numerous attacks in the lawless Sinai Region, has been circulating…

Attacks in Iraq killed 10 people on Saturday, seven of them from the same family, security and medical officials told the AFP news agency. In the Dura area of southern Baghdad, gunmen armed with silenced weapons shot dead a father, mother, four sons and the wife of one of them at their home, the officials…

Sixteen rebels have been hanged in Iran in retaliation for the deaths of at least 14 border guards in an ambush, the BBC reported on Saturday, citing Iranian news agencies. The rebels were “linked to groups hostile to the regime”, the attorney general of Sistan-Baluchistan province was quoted as saying. They were hanged in prison…

Police charged three people Saturday over an anti-Semitic attack in Sydney’s eastern suburbs that left one man seriously injured. Four men and a woman were walking on Blair Street, Bondi, at about 12:30 AM Saturday,  on their way home from a Sabbath eve meal, when a group of about eight young men began yelling anti-Semitic…

Senior Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Saturday Iran is continuing the enrichment of uranium to the 20-percent purity level, reported Iran’s official PressTV. Iran’s nuclear energy activities continue as in the past, said Boroujerdi, who is the chairman of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of Iran’s Majlis, or parliament. Iran decided to…

Philanthropist Rabbi Moshe Paul Reichmann, who was considered the greatest supporter of the Torah world, passed away on Friday. He was 83. Together with his brothers, Edward, Ralph and Albert, he founded the Olympia and York building and property development firm, which expanded to New York and Tokyo. By the mid-1980s it was the largest…

A man aged about 60 fell to his death Saturday during a family hike at Nahal Prat (Wadi Kelt), near Kfar Adumim, between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. An initial police investigation determined that the man, a resident of central Israel, was walking down a narrow path when slid and fell into the ravine from…

Israelis are to move their clocks and watches back by one hour Saturday night, as daylight saving time ends. At 2:00 AM, clocks will be moved back to show 1:00 AM. People with smartphones who set them manually to Athens time will now have to reset them to Israel time. In Android phones, select the Jerusalem time…

A car bomb explosion killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens more near a mosque in the Damascus province town of Suq Wadi Barada on Friday, a monitor said, according to the AFP news agency. The town is under rebel control, but troops loyal to the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad were positioned right…

France believed the United States attempted to hack into its president’s communications network but the U.S. hinted that Israel was behind the attack, AFP reported on Friday, based on a leaked U.S. intelligence document. According to the report, U.S. agents denied having anything to do with the May 2012 cyber attack on the Elysee Palace,…

A 30-centimeter (12-inch) tsunami hit Japan on Friday after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake was felt in the country, AFP reported, citing local broadcaster NHK. There were no immediate signs of serious damage or injury from the tsunami and people were being warned to stay away from the coast. The tsunami hit around an hour after the…

Turkey’s foreign minister on Thursday deplored what he called an international failure to tackle the humanitarian crisis in war-ridden Syria, Reuters reported. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said food and medicine for Syrians are running out and noted that snipers were shooting pregnant women. Davutoglu said that Turkey, which has received more than 600,000 Syrian refugees,…

The National Security Agency (NSA) monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders after being given the numbers by an official in another U.S. government department, the Guardian reported on Thursday. The report is based on a classified document provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden. The leaders were not named. The confidential memo reveals that the…

It is very likely that American spy agencies are listening in on Israeli leaders’ phone calls, as they are accused of having done in Germany and dozens of other countries, former Mossad head Danny Yatom told Maariv/nrg. “It could very well be that it happened here, too, because when the Americans think they need to…

Palestinian Authority security services in have arrested three students in Judea accused of plotting to build a “drone” with which to attack Israel, a source said Friday. The three Hebron University engineering students had intended to build a small pilotless aircraft equipped with explosives, according to a PA security source.     But before they could carry out…

Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to build a nuclear bomb in as little as a month, according to a new estimate by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), considered one of the United States’ top nuclear experts. ISIS made the estimate in a new report published on Thursday by USA Today. “Shortening…

Israel’s national airline, El Al, is presenting to the public its new Boeing 737-900 jets. Boeing announced Thursday that El Al has ordered two more Boeing 737-900 jets, the higher-capacity, longer-range version of its popular single-aisle jetliner. The order for the 737-900 is valued at $192.2 million at list prices, but airlines can negotiate a…

The South-Eastern African state of Tanzania now has its first pediatric heart surgeon, after Dr Godwin Godfrey returned home following five years of training in Israel. The Israel based humanitarian project Save a Child’s Heart (SACH), organized Dr Godwin’s training in a landmark achievement that also saw it train a complete surgical team from a foreign state for the first time. Since…

Germany has summoned the US ambassador to Berlin to demand a “complete explanation”, over claims that US intelligence agencies spied on telephone calls made by the country’s Chancellor Angela Merkel. American Ambassador John Emerson will meet German Foreign minister Guido Westerwelle later today (Thursday), as EU leaders meet for a two-day summit in Brussels. Those talks are likely to be…

Five people have been killed and 50 wounded in four days of gun battles in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli. A man named as Misbah Al-Nazer was reportedly shot dead by snipers, becoming the latest victim of ongoing fighting between warring factions supporting opposite sides in the civil war in neighboring Syria. Lebanon’s Daily Star identified…

Five Arab teens from Jerusalem, all aged 14-15, have been indicted for an anti-Semitic attack targeting a Jewish family’s home in the Old City. The youths are accused of property damage motivated by racism, attempted assault motivated by racism, and rioting. According to the indictment, the youths met on September 27, 2013 and agreed to throw…

Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry has warned against “disturbing social peace” and has threatened to use force against a planned campaign by women to challenge a de facto ban on them driving, Al Arabiya reports. “Regulations in Saudi Arabia prohibit any action that disturbs social peace and opens the door for sedition and responds to the…

An explosion near the airport in Syria’s capital, Damascus, has been followed by a blackout in parts of the country, it was reported on Wednesday night. According to the BBC, power was cut after rebel artillery hit a gas pipeline. Residents say the entire capital has been plunged into darkness, while officials have described the…

The dead suspect in last April’s Boston marathon bombings has been named in court papers as a participant in a triple murder, the BBC reports. Tamerlan Tsarnaev is alleged to have taken part in the killings in Waltham, Massachusetts, in September 2011, according to the report. Three men, one of whom had been a friend…

At least 28 people have been killed in a string of attacks by suspected Al Qaeda terrorists in Iraq’s western Anbar province Tuesday night. 25 of those killed are believed to be police, and the remaining three unarmed civilians. Four of the attacks – all of which took place between 10pm and 12am according to Al Arabiya – were in…

Turkish Jews are leaving the country due to growing anti-Semitism, exacerbated by the Islamist AKP government’s antagonism towards Israel and Jews. So says Nesim Güveniş, deputy chairman the Association of Turkish Jews in Israel. Speaking to Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily Güveniş claimed that young Jews are particularly keen to leave, hundreds of whom have already moved to the US and Europe in…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reportedly phoned US President Barack Obama Wednesday, over allegations US spy agencies monitored her telephone conversations. The Chancellor’s spokesman released a statement saying that Merkel “views such practices… as completely unacceptable.” “Among close friends and partners, as the Federal Republic of Germany and the US have been for decades, there should…

IAF warplanes attacked a shipment of advanced missiles that Syria was transferring to Hezbollah, according to Kuwaiti newspaper Al Jareeda. The attack took place on Monday. An official source in Jerusalem reportedly confirmed the attack took place but did not say where. The missiles were reportedly “long range and accurate” ones. In late July, IAF…

For the first time ever, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has sent a special letter of support to Hevron’s Jewish community, in honor of “Shabbat Hevron,” during which thousands of people are expected to visit Hevron. The gesture may be politically meaningful, and could be construed as a message of steadfastness connected to ongoing “peace talks”…

Muslims in Brunei who commit adultery can expect to face the death penalty by stoning if found out, according to new sharia law being introduced in the South East Asian state. The UK’s Daily Telegraph has reported the Sultan of Brunei is set to usher in a range of capital and corporal punishments according to…

MK Ibrahim Sarsour (Ra’am Ta’al) has come out with yet another virulently anti-Israeli statement. This time, the MK has praised a speech by Hamas head in Gaza Ismail Haniyeh which included a call for “popular resistance” against Israel – a phrase which Hamas uses to refer to terrorism. In his October 19 speech, Haniyeh slammed…

A study of fossil pollen particles in sediments extracted from the bottom of the Sea of Galilee has revealed evidence of a climate crisis that traumatized the Near East from the middle of the 13th to the late 12th century BCE, scientists say. The crisis brought about the collapse of the great empires of the…

Hamas on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a 2012 Tel Aviv bus bombing attack, hours after IDF and Shin Bet forces killed one of the attack’s planners. In a statement, Hamas’s “military wing”, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, said that the attack was carried out by a terror cell consisting of three members, one of which…

Despite a relatively low voter turnout in Israel’s municipal elections, preliminary results have found that the mayors of Israel’s three largest cities – Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa – have been re-elected for another five years. Low voter turnout in both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv had incumbents Nir Barkat and Ron Huldai concerned. However, after…

The anti-Zionist Neturei Karta hareidi sect was named on Monday one of the top 10 most influential and active anti-Israel groups in the United States, in a list released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Each of the groups on the list, according to ADL’s research, is “fixated with delegitimizing Israel” and has demonstrated the ability…

“Israel’s air force is the best in the world,” President Shimon Peres told soldiers on a tour of the Palmahim air force base on Tuesday. Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and Air Force Commander General Amir Eshel led the tour, which viewed some of the air force’s most advanced technology. Reminding the world of Israel’s capability to defend…

Iran has presented Russia with a gift of an exact copy of an advanced US spy drone. The UK’s Guardian newspaper has reported the copy of the US ScanEagle drone was given to Russia at a meeting between the two countries’ air force commanders earlier this week in Tehran. Last month, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard unveiled the “Yasseer” –…

Polling stations across Israel have closed, with counting now beginning in the country’s municipal elections held every five years. The most recent turnout was given as 42.63%.  By 8.30 p.m. Ministry Interior statistics said 32% of voters had turned out in the capital Jerusalem, while In Tel Aviv, under a quarter of residents,  22% had cast ballots according to the ministry. …

The terrorist killed Tuesday in a cave by IDF and Shin Bet special forces in Samaria is Mohammed Assi, 28, a planner of a Tel Aviv bus bombing last year. The attack, which injured 29, was carried out in the course of the IDF counter-terror operation in Gaza, Pillar of Defense. Assi had been in…

One terrorist is dead after terrorists exchanged fire with special IDF and Shin Bet forces who were carrying out an arrest operation at Bil’in, in the Binyamin region. One of the terrorists was holed up inside a cave and fired on the soldiers, who fired back and killed him. There have been no Israeli casualties. One terrorist…

An earthquake measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale took place Tuesday in northern Israel, according to the Israel Geophysical Institute. It is the fifth quake in the Galilee in less than a week. The quake was centered at a depth of two kilometers, beneath the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret). Two quakes were felt in the…

A leading Syrian rebel commander and former officer in the Syrian army has been killed in clashes with regime forces Monday. Yasser al-Aboud was reportedly killed leading an assault on Syrian army checkpoints in the town of Tafas, near the Jordanian border, according to reports. Al-Aboud was one of the first Syrian army commanders to defect…

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will receive the first “Jewish Nobel Prize,” to be awarded by the Genesis Philanthropy Group. The group will award its one million dollar Genesis Prize to Bloomberg at a ceremony in May, it said. The prize is awarded annually in recognition of “exceptional human beings who, through their outstanding achievement,…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry declared on Monday that talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority were intensifying and that all issues were on the table. According to a report in the AFP news agency, Kerry also announced that Qatar had agreed to provide $150 million in debt relief to the Palestinian Authority. Speaking…

Four rockets fired from Syria have struck the town of Hermel, a Hezbollah stronghold in north-eastern Lebanon. Security officials told the Lebanese Daily Star that one of the rockets struck a Lebanese army barracks in the town, but that no casualties were reported in any of the strikes. A fifth rocket landed in the town’s outskirts.…

A week after the IDF exposed a terror tunnel that led from Gaza to a Jewish community, IDF forces on Monday found and defused a powerful explosive charge that had been planted by terrorists near the security fence that separates Israel from the central part of Gaza. During routine morning activity on the security path…

Reports of the death of the peace process with Israel have been greatly exaggerated, Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday. In an interview with German television network Deutsche Welle, Abbas said that peace negotiations with Israel have not reached a deadlock, as reported by the Maariv newspaper recently. Abbas would not give…

A bomb attack on a bus in the Russian city of Volgograd has killed at least five people, according to officials. Police say they suspect the bombing, which also injured more than a dozen others, was carried out by a female suicide bomber.  Russia has long been a target of Islamist terrorism, particularly from the Caucasus, who…

The IDF is about to receive its first Bedouin tank commander. While about 1,000 Bedouin Arabs serve in the IDF, most of them serve as trackers, or in the Bedouin reconaissance battalion. Cpl. Mustafa Tabash will become the first Bedouin tank commander in two weeks’ time, once he completes the Tank Commanders’ Course, reports the…

A group of journalists rallied in Ramallah on Sunday to launch a petition to reopen the Gaza bureaus of the Ma’an News Agency and the Al Arabiya network. Ma’an reported that the petition states that the closure of the media offices violates Article 19 of the Palestinian Basic Law, which entitles the freedom of opinion,…

The US National Security Agency recorded millions of phone calls in France, including calls involving individuals with no links to terrorism, French daily “Le Monde” reported Monday, citing documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who has received asylum in Russia. The NSA taped 70.3 million French phone calls in just a little under…

The so-called “military wing” of Gaza’s ruling Hamas terror group, the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades, has admitted that it masterminded the “terror tunnel” that was discovered leading from Gaza into an Israeli town. The group has admitted that the tunnel was meant to kidnap Israeli soldiers, reports AFP. “This tunnel was made by the hand…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will not be meeting with Pope Francis during his visit to Rome on Wednesday, a diplomatic source told AFP on Sunday. A statement last week from Netanyahu’s office had said he would be “meeting Pope Francis next Wednesday at the Vatican” and with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for updates…

Three people, including a girl aged eight, died when gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a wedding party outside a Coptic Christian church in Cairo on Sunday. At least nine others were wounded in the attack in the Giza neighborhood of the city, officials said, according to the BBC. There was no immediate claim of…

Israel experienced not one, but two earthquakes on Sunday, raising fears that a significant geological event was in the offing. Sunday’s quakes followed one that occurred early Saturday morning, which was preceded by one last Thursday night. The first quake was reported at 11:50 AM, measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale. The epicenter of that…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s 64th birthday was celebrated in a modest event at the Prime Minister’s Office Sunday. The event was attended by Netanyahu’s wife, Sarah, their son, Yair, ministers, MKs and PMO employees. A video of the event shows that the Beatles’ “When I’m 64” was played in the background at a certain point.…

The family of the first Egyptian national to be awarded the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center’s “Righteous Among the Nations Award” for saving Jews during the Holocaust has turned down the honor. According to reports, the family of the late Dr. Mohamed Helmy refused the award due to Yad Vashem’s status as an Israeli institution. “If…

Dozens of people were injured when a bus flipped on its side Sunday in the Gush Etzion region, south of Jerusalem. The bus was traveling the 160 line. One person was moderately injured in the incident, and another 27 suffered light injuries. Paramedics evacuated 15 injured people to hospitals in Jerusalem. The rest of those…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid announced Sunday that Dr. Karnit Flug will be the next head of the Bank of Israel. As the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel, Flug had recently stepped in to serve as acting governor after former governor Stanley Fischer stepped down in July. “We…

An Iranian man who was sentenced to execution by hanging and survived may or may not face execution again, reports the British Guardian. The man, 37-year-old Alireza M, was jailed for smuggling drugs and sentenced to death. Earlier this month, he was hanged and pronounced dead but was found to be alive in the morgue…

A British doctor who recently returned from five weeks volunteering in Syrian hospitals has told British media that he witnessed “horrific” war crimes, including snipers who targeted babies in the womb. Dr. David Nott said the pattern of injuries that he and other doctors saw led to the conclusion that fighters were using civilians for…

Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has revealed he had the wireless function on an electronic heart implant disabled, due to fears terrorists could use it to trigger a massive electric in an attempt to assassinate him. Cheney made the revelations in an interview with CBS ‘s”60 Minutes.” “I found it credible,” Cheney told “60 Minutes”…

An Israeli Arab reported killed last month fighting for a jihadist group in Syria phoned home on Saturday to say he was alive and well, his father said.     “My son called me around 11.00 am,” Zaki Ighbariya told AFP. “He said that he and two friends… who went with him are alive and well.”…

Rabbi Avraham Zuckerman, the eldest of Israel’s religious Zionist rabbis and the venerable dean of the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva network, passed away on Saturday night. He was 98 years old. Rabbi Zuckerman was hospitalized on Tuesday at the Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera and was released on Friday afternoon, before the Sabbath, to his home in…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu “apparently” offered the position of Governor of Israel Bank to Larry Summers, who was US Secretary of Treasury under President Bill Clinton, reported Channel 2 Friday. Summers turned down the report, said the channel. Summers had been the favored candidate to replace Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the US Federal Reserve,…

Chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, MK Avigdor Lieberman (Likud / Yisrael Beytenu), wrote Saturday evening in a Facebook post that he is not surprised by Turkey’s accusations that Israel leaked a Washington Post story according to which Turkey handed over to Tehran a list of Israeli agents in Iran. He reminded…

Ismail Haniyeh, who heads the Hamas government in Gaza, celebrated the abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Schalit, on the two-year anniversary of his exchange for 1,027 jailed terrorists. In a speech on the occasion of Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, Haniyeh called on Arabs to make pilgrimage to the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, and to…

Hamas issued a threat to Israel on Friday, warning that it will kidnap more Israeli soldiers in order to bring about the release of all Palestinian Authority Arab prisoners. The terror group which controls Gaza made the threats in a statement posted on its website on the second anniversary of the release of Gilad Shalit.…

Syrian jihadists on Friday executed 10 soldiers in the eastern city of Deir Ezzor during fierce clashes, AFP reports. The jihadist rebels who carried out the executions are members of Al-Nusra Front, which has pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda. “Clashes took place overnight between rebels and regime forces in several neighborhoods in the city of Deir…

Iran’s new proposal to resolve the nuclear crisis includes a freeze on production of 20% enriched uranium, a pledge to convert its stockpile to fuel rods and an agreement to relinquish spent fuel for a still-to-be completed heavy water reactor, Al-Monitor reports. Thursday’s report by Barbara Slavin is based on an Iranian source who has…

Egypt’s Foreign Minister said on Thursday that his country will “find other sources” of funding after the U.S. announced it would suspend its military support to Egypt. At the same, Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy warned in an interview with CNN that the U.S. would hurting itself if cut off aid to Egypt. “If your friends…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Israel Friday to show “restraint” in the building of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. “We call on Israel to show restraint in the matter of settlement building,” Merkel told a joint press conference with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Berlin, according to the AFP news agency. Terming…

Saudi Arabia has won a seat on the United Nations Security Council but rejected it on Friday, saying the Council is incapable of ending wars and resolving conflicts. “The kingdom sees that the method and work mechanism and the double standards in the Security Council prevent it from properly shouldering its responsibilities towards world peace,”…

Dr Sherry Weiss, a 43 year old dentist from Vancouver who was injured in a 1997 suicide bombing by Hamas in Israel, has submitted a damage suit against Iran, Shalom Toronto reports. Weiss claims that the Iranian government was directly responsible for the attack, in September that year at the Mahane Yehuda open-air market in Jerusalem,…

A senior Syrian intelligence officer has been killed by a rebel sniper in the eastern city of Deir a-Zour, Syrian media reports. General Jamaa Jamaa died while “pursuing terrorists” in the city, Syrian state television said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Jamaa was shot by a sniper during clashes in the Rashdiya…

Most Israelis support Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s stance on the Iran nuclear issue after the Islamic republic met world powers in Geneva this week, an opinion poll showed on Friday. Some 58 percent of respondents to the question “how would you rate Netanyahu’s recent performance in the global arena vis-a-vis Iran?” said it was good (41…

School children in New York are likely to get two extra days off to mark the biggest annual Muslim holidays, if the city’s next mayor gets his way, AFP reports. New York schools currently have mandatory holidays for the Christian festivals Easter and Christmas, and the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Passover. But the…

A senior officer in the IDF’s Judea and Samaria Brigade expressed concern on Thursday over the series of recent terror attacks. The officer said that the latest attacks are an alarming sequence of events which show that Palestinian Authority Arabs are very much motivated to carry out attacks. “We view the attempted attack tonight very…

Syrian rebels have killed a top intelligence officer in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, Syrian state media said on Thursday, according to AFP. “Major General Jamaa Jamaa was martyred while carrying out his national duties to defend Syria and its people and pursuing terrorists in Deir Ezzor,” state television said in a breaking news…