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A tour bus came under a hail of rocks at the Mount of Olives at 8:15 p.m. Monday evening – just as activists were saying that security at the location had improved considerably. The bus carried 54 people from the Ashkelon branch of the Zionist Council in Israel’s Eshkolot project on a selichot tour, to…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has hailed the discovery of one of the oldest Torah ornament ever found in archaeological digs as a “wonderful gift to the Jewish people.” Yesterday, after the archaeologists found an ancient golden medallion at the the foot of the Temple Mount, Prime Minister Netanyahu contacted Hebrew University’s Dr. Eilat Mazar, who made the stunning discovery of two bundles…

Russia has transferred several S-300 missile batteries into Syria, Kuwaiti newspaper Al Rai reported Tuesday. The transfers took place despite statements by Russian officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, that Russia would not provide Syria with the advanced anti-aircraft system. Al Rai claimed that Syria has accelerated the rate at which it ships arms into Syria…

A loud gunshot was heard from within the Jordanian House of Representatives as one Member of Parliament opened fire this morning, the Albawaba Middle Eastern news site reported. According to news reports, MP Talal Al Sharif opened fire using an AK-47 on his colleague MP Qusai Dmeisi during a Foreign Affairs Council meeting inside of the House of…

Jewish residents of Jerusalem’s Abu Tor neighborhood have been the victims of repeated rock attacks by Arab residents of the neighborhood. One of the Jewish residents of Abu Tor, Ruth Pross, told Arutz Sheva on Monday that the attacks are perpetrated by Arabs aged 18 to 22 who gather outside the homes of the Jewish…

The world could learn a lesson from the way Israel fights terrorism, said Cressida Dick, the Assistant Commissioner of Specialist Operations at the London Police. She spoke on Monday at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s (ICT) World Summit on Counter-Terrorism, taking place at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center (IDC). “We are seeing some of our [terrorism…

President Barack Obama’s media blitz began on Monday evening, as he gave interviews to six television networks in which he presented his case on Syria. In his interview with NBC News, Obama called a Russian proposal for Syria to turn over control of its chemical weapons to international monitors in order to avoid a military…

An official with the Palestinian Authority appeared to confirm on Monday that the European Union’s guidelines, which boycott Israeli entities operating beyond the 1949 Armistice Lines, were engineered as part of a deal so that the PA would resume negotiations with Israel. According to an AFP report, senior PLO negotiator Nabil Shaath accused the United…

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett has revealed his plans to strengthen and encourage the integration of women at the workplace. The new regulations include grants and financial awards for employers deemed to be  integrating women and parents into their workforce. The Committee for the Advancement of the Women in the Workplace approved the regulations formulated by the Public…

A report presented Monday at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s (ICT) World Summit on Counter-Terrorism said that Syria had a large stockpile of chemical weapons, and was likely to use them if attacked by the U.S. or Western countries. According to the report, Syria has one of the largest stores of VX, a deadly nerve…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called on Syria’s Assad regime to give up its chemical weapons stockpile as a way of avoiding military intervention by western states. In talks with his counterpart, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, Lavrov proposed that Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile be placed under “international supervision,” following which they would be destroyed.…

The “Middle East” is no longer just Israel and the countries surrounding it, said retired U.S. General John Abizaid Monday. The region now extends from Asia through to Africa, if by “Middle East” one means an area where Islamists are battling to dominate societies. Abizaid was speaking Monday at the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s (ICT)…

Abraham Foxman, who heads the US-based Anti-Defamation League, told IDF Radio Monday morning that elements in the White House asked the ADL and other Jewish groups to help it in the campaign to get congressional approval for a military strike on Syria. “In the same way that Secretary Kerry and senior Obama Administration officials asked…

Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are being held under a mantle of secrecy, but a statement made during a lighthearted moment Sunday appears to reveal that that Israel is implementing a freeze on construction for Jews in Judea and Samaria, contrary to the government’s official line. The apparent admission came as Kerry…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in London on Sunday, AFP reports. Kerry insisted earlier that Israelis and PA Arabs were determined to pursue direct peace talks, which restarted last month after shuttle diplomacy by the top American diplomat. Kerry and Abbas, who have met regularly over the…

As US President Barack Obama attempts to rally support in Congress for a strike on Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry is waging a diplomatic offensive with the same objective. Kerry held talks with Arab League ministers in Paris on Sunday, in which Syria was the main topic. Kerry said afterward that the sides had…

RAF Typhoon fighters won a mid-air showdown with two Syrian warplanes heading towards Britain’s main base in Cyprus, the Sunday People reports. The dramatic confrontation came after President Bashar Al-Assad’s air chiefs sent two Russian-made Sukhoi Su-24s to probe British air defenses, the report said. The Syrian bombers refused to respond to repeated attempts by…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry dismissed on Sunday the claims by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad that there is no evidence he used chemical weapons against his own people. Asked by reporters to comment on Assad’s denial in a television interview, Kerry said “the evidence speaks for itself.” Kerry made the remark in response to…

Israel deployed its Iron Dome missile defense system near Jerusalem Sunday, an AFP correspondent said. The correspondent said the battery was set up west of the city. A military spokeswoman would not comment on the deployment, saying only that “defense systems are deployed in accordance with situation assessments.” An IDF source said that the system’s…

As part of its annual effort, the Tzohar organization will be organizing prayers at 250 locations around Israel for Yom Kippur, aimed specifically at secular Israelis who would most likely not attend services otherwise. Some 40,000 people are expected to participate altogether. Tzohar is organizing services in a wide variety of locations, including in cities…

An intelligence report prepared by a European country has found that Syrian President Bashar Assad has handed control of missile installations over to foreign fighters, Lebanon’s A-Nahar reports. Assad has reportedly put control into the hands of Hezbollah and Iranian units. Those two groups would be in charge of leading a counter-attack if the United…

Tens of thousands of Tunisians took to the streets this weekend calling for the Islamist-led government to step down. Protesters chanted slogans opposing the leading Ennahda party and waved Tunisian flags. The protest came at the end of the traditional Muslim 40-day mourning period for MP Mohammed Brahmi, an secular opposition leader who was assassinated in…

Adolf Hitler’s personal bodyguard, who was the last surviving witness of the Nazi dictator’s final days in the bunker towards the end of World War II, has died, his agent said Friday. Rochus Misch, who once referred to Hitler in a documentary as “the boss”, died aged 96 in Berlin Thursday after failing to recover…

The Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Prisoner Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, on Friday announced the dates for the release of terrorist prisoners from Israeli jails, reports the Ma’an news agency. As a gesture to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to get him to return to the negotiating table, Israel has agreed to release 104 terrorists, most of whom…

The US military is planning a more extensive military operation against regime targets in Syria than had been previously planned, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times. Unnamed “US officers” told the paper that the Pentagon is drawing up plans for 3 days of strikes against a list of targets significantly longer than the original list…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened this week’s Cabinet meeting by thanking the IDF, the Israel Police, and other security forces involved in protecting Israel’s citizens. “I would like to thank the soldiers of the IDF, the officers of the Israel Police and Border Police, and all the men and women of our security services for…

The ‘International Human Shields’ movement, founded by a group of activists in Britain and the US, plans to bring to Syria civilians from countries around the globe, who will try to deter US strikes on the country by staking out potential military targets and serving as human shields there. The British Telegraph said that Franklin…

Jews from all streams streamed to the nation’s synagogues – including the Kotel – on Rosh Hashana to attend the holiday prayers over the long holiday weekend that began Wednesday evening. The holiday passed without any unusual events at the prayer centers, as security forces provided protection for the worshipers. Numerous events are expected at…

Liberal Party head Tony Abbott claimed victory in Australia’s federal election Saturday evening. Earlier, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd conceded defeat and announced that he would not run again for the leadership of the Labor Party, saying it was ”time for renewal.” “Gees, a couple more days we might have got there,” said Rudd in his…

The Egyptian military is mounting what is reportedly its largest operation in the Sinai Peninsula since the 1973 Yom Kippur War – as part of a struggle against islamist terrorists. At least 30 people are said to have been killed in the operation, which began Saturday morning. According to the Bethlehem-based Maan news agency, military…

The US State Department said on Friday it had evacuated non-emergency personnel and family members from its embassy in the Lebanese capital Beirut, as Congress debates a military strike on neighboring Syria. “The Department of State drew down non-emergency personnel and family members from Embassy Beirut due to threats to US Mission facilities and personnel,”…

Russia counters with its own chemical report, Hezbollah prepares for strike: Moscow accused the Syrian rebels of using chemical weapons in an attack on the town of Khan al-Assal near Aleppo on March 19. At the same time, Hezbollah is reportedly preparing for two tasks: Preventing Damascus from falling in rebel hands during expected US…

Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted on Wednesday his country may support a UN resolution on punitive military strikes in Syria if it is proved that Damascus used poison gas on its own people. At the same time, Putin warned the West, in a wide-ranging interview with the Associated Press and Russia’s state Channel 1 television,…

President Barack Obama has cleared his first hurdle in his push for a military strike in Syria. On Wednesday afternoon (local time) a key Senate panel voted to authorize the use of force in response to a chemical attack in Damascus on August 21. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 10-7, with one senator voting…

In a surprising move, Iran’s new President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday joined those who sent well wishes to the Jewish people on the occasion of Rosh Hashanah. “As the sun is about to set here in Tehran I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh Hashanah,” he tweeted, according to Al-Monitor. The greeting…

German intelligence says that an official with the Hezbollah terror group admitted that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad ordered a poison gas attack last month. According to a report in the Reuters news agency on Wednesday, Hezbollah considered the move a mistake which showed Assad was losing his grip. Participants at a confidential meeting of German…

Russia is sending a missile cruiser to the east Mediterranean to take over the navy’s operations in the region, a military source told state news agency Interfax Wednesday. The ship, Moskva, will take over operations from a naval unit in the region. Moscow said that it is needed “in order to protect national interests.” It…

A senior official in the Palestinian Authority said on Wednesday that Middle East peace talks have so far proved “futile” and called for greater U.S. participation in talks. “Until now there has been no progress,” the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Yasser Abed Rabbo told Voice of Palestine radio, in remarks quoted by the AFP news…

Senator John McCain said on Wednesday he does not support the latest Senate resolution to authorize military force against Syria. McCain threatened earlier this week to vote against a White House draft resolution unless President Barack Obama promised greater support to Syria’s rebels. On Monday he seemed to have a change of heart when he…

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year), Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wishes Jewish communities throughout the world security, prosperity and most of all peace. In a recorded speech, Netanyahu reflects upon some of the past year’s achievements: the launching of the Amos 4 communication satellite, sustainable economic growth, receiving gold medals at the computer and science Olympics, and…

A new face of Al Qaeda in Iraq has risen to the forefront, Iraqi officials say. 27-year-old Shaker Wahiyib al-Fahdawi is the most “dangerous and cunning” terrorist today. The Clarion Project, a news site focusing on radical Islam, reported on Monday that the most wanted Al Qaeda terrorist is even more extreme than Al Qaeda’s…

A Palestinian Authority official has demanded that Israel provide civilians living in PA-controlled areas with gas masks in the event of a spillover of violence from Syria. Israel has been distributing gas masks to its citizens over the last two weeks amid fears of reprisals against the Jewish state, following anticipated US military intervention in neighboring Syria.…

Sixteen people have been killed in an apparently sectarian attack on a Shia family south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Unknown terrorists blew up two adjacent houses belonging to brothers from a Shia family in Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, after shooting dead sixteen members of the same family, according to eyewitnesses. Eight women…

Iran’s former president has accused Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad of using chemical weapons against his own people. The remarks by Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani were made on August 29 and posted to the internet on September 2. The comments were translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). With his comments, Rafsanjani, who is an…

Israel is gearing up for its annual “Cleanup the World Day,” set to take place on September 9th. The international campaign runs throughout the world cleaning up forests, open fields, and communities. This year, some 200,000 volunteers from schools, local councils, and government bodies are expected to take part in Cleanup Day in Israel, led…

President Shimon Peres slammed Syrian President Bashar Assad during a reception Tuesday with foreign ambassadors in Israel in honor of Rosh Hashanah. “Assad has lost the right to be a leader by killing a hundred thousand people. He caused it. He wasn’t elected properly, it was never a real democracy but even in a democracy…

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon suggested on Tuesday that any American intervention in Syria would be illegal under international law unless it was approved by the UN Security Council. “The use of force is lawful only when in exercise of self-defense, or when the Security Council approves such action,” Ban said during a news…

Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underwent a planned surgery at the Tel Hashomer Hospital on Tuesday. During the operation, the feeding tube connected to Sharon’s digestive system and through which he receives fluid solutions was replaced. The surgery lasted for about an hour and ended successfully. The former prime minister is in recovery and will…

More than two million Syrians have fled their country, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said Tuesday, amounting to a tenth of Syria’s population. In addition, over four million Syrians are also displaced inside the country.   The grim refugee statistics were described by Antonio Guterres, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, as a “disgraceful humanitarian calamity…

The defection of the group, reported to be largely based in the suburbs of the capital Damascus, could be indicative of rising fear within the rank and file of the Syrian military ahead of a possible U.S. led attack. Despite the indecision shown by Barack Obama in ordering a military response to last month’s chemical attack on civilians, many believe…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had a message for Israel’s enemies on Tuesday as he dedicated a new national cyber center and high-tech park in the southern city of Be’er Sheva. “We need to see to [our] security. This is our first obligation, as well as mine as Prime Minister, and this is a challenge for…

The German justice agency which leads investigations into Nazi war crimes says the cases of all former guards at the Auschwitz death camp are to be re-examined. Six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, with around 1.1 million killed in Auschwitz alone. According to the agency in the town of Ludwigsburg, 40 former Auschwitz guards were…

The financial news service Bloomberg has ranked Israel’s Technion University as the seventh best undergraduate institution in the world. The rankings based on an analysis of the undergraduate schools of 250 CEOs of U.S. tech companies with a market value of over $1bn placed the Technion in joint seventh place alongside MIT, Rice University and the University of…

A state of emergency was declared at the Ben Gurion International Airport on Monday night, after a truck driven by a Palestinian Authority Arab man broke an entry barrier on the highway leading to the airport. The truck continued to speed and only stopped after security forces fired at it. The Arab driver and another…

In an ongoing attack, Taliban fighters bombed part of a U.S. military outpost on Monday, located in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar near the Pakistan border. Officials say that no one was killed in the attack. BBC news reported that NATO helicopters swarmed over the base as the attack triggered a gun battle with…

Despite the decision made by U.S. President Barack Obama to put a proposed strike against the Syrian regime to a vote at Congress, the U.S army is continuing its preparation for a possible attack. U.S. senior military source told ABC News that the aircraft carrier U.S.S Nimitz has arrived at the Red Sea accompanied by…

Approximately one in five “flagged” job applicants to the US’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had ties to either Hamas, Hezbollah or Al Qaeda, according to a Washington Times report. The report is based off of documents leaked by former NSA agent Edward Snowden. These latest revelations indicate the high motivation among Islamist terrorists of various stripes to infiltrate US intelligence…

President Shimon Peres has said he supports U.S. President Barack Obama’s decision to seek Congressional approval for military action against Syria. “I have full faith in President Obama’s moral and operational stance,” Peres said in an interview on Monday with army radio. He added:  “I recommend patience, I am confident that the United States will respond in the…

Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiators held another secret round of peace talks over the weekend, a PA official said on Monday, adding that there had been “no breakthrough” so far. “A round of talks was held on Saturday evening between the Israelis and Palestinians – this is the fourth round,” since they restarted more…

With the Rosh Hashana holiday coming up in just a few days, Israelis will be attending synagogue services, visiting family, and generally taking it easy during a rare three day break from work. And Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the the country would take steps to ensure that the holiday is a calm one. With…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced that a parliamentary delegation will be sent to the United States to lobby the U.S. Congress to vote against a military strike on Syria. The idea was tabled by Russian lawmakers. “The initiative is very timely and correct,” Putin said as he met with the speakers of Russia’s upper and lower…

With a little more than two days to go before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, the Interior Ministry’s Population Registry released its statistical review for the Jewish year 5773 on Monday.  According to their records, during this year a total of 160,749 babies were born in Israel with a count of 82,437 boys and 78,312 girls. The official count…

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and other ships in its strike group are heading toward the Red Sea to help support a limited U.S. strike on Syria if needed, defense officials told the Reuters news agency on Sunday. The officials emphasized that the Nimitz carrier strike group, which includes four destroyers and a cruiser,…

Arab states on Sunday urged the international community to take action against the Syrian government over a chemical gas attack that killed hundreds of civilians, Reuters reported. The final resolution passed by an Arab League meeting in Cairo urged the United Nations and international community to “take the deterrent and necessary measures against the culprits…

U.S. President Barack H. Obama informed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in advance that he would let Congress decide on the appropriate action the U.S. would take in Syria. Reports in Israeli media quoted senior Israeli officials as saying the Obama called Netanyahu on Saturday, some four hours before he appeared on national TV in the…

Egypt’s state prosecutor said on Sunday he has referred ousted President Mohammed Morsi for trial on charges of inciting the murder of protesters, the BBC reported. The accusations relate to violence outside the presidential palace in Cairo last December when seven people were killed in clashes. Fourteen other members of Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood are to…

The IDF began on Sunday evening to release some of the reservists that were called up last week in preparations for a possible U.S. military strike in Syria. On Wednesday, Israel’s security cabinet issued a limited call-up of reservists, part of Israel’s preparations for the possibility that the Syrian regime could choose to attack Israel…

Residents who live near the Gaza border in Sinai are protesting the Egyptian army’s demolishing of homes in the area. On Sunday, Egyptian forces destroyed 13 homes next to the border, in order to prevent the use of the houses as cover for smugglers into and out of Gaza. Egyptian officials announced their intention to…

There was a heated debate in Cabinet on Sunday morning as Finance Minister Yair Lapid surprised the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party with a new demand: Include the Reform and Conservative Jewish movements in a government initiative for “Jewish identity.” The Jewish Home party, which initiated the Jewish Identity project, opposed the change, but was…

A project called Safra Veseifa is connecting IDF units in need of a Torah scroll with Jews who reside overseas and scrolls that require fixing, in a unique way. The project, whose name means “Bible and Sword”, is centered on the idea of renovating damaged Torah scrolls that have piled up in the IDF’s storage warehouses and making them kosher for…

John Kerry, the US Secretary of State, said on Sunday that the administration had new evidence that sarin gas was used in an attack by Syrian government forces that killed 1,400 people last month. Kerry also said that he is certain that Congress will approve the attack on Syria, and invoked the name of Israel…

After years of efforts to reduce illegal entry along the Egyptian border, Israel has managed to go one entire month without a single illegal entry from the Sinai Peninsula, officials report. During all of August there were no cases of illegal entrants breaking through or otherwise getting past Israel’s new border fence. Officials are now…

Egyptian police have arrested a duck that they fear was sent by Israel as a spy, Egypt’s Al-Ahram news agency reports. The bird was spotted by a fisherman in the Nile River, in the Qena region, as it swam with other birds. The fisherman noticed that the bird had a device attached to its feathers,…

Two suspects have been arrested over the recent rocket attack from Lebanese territory into Israel, the Lebanese Army said Saturday. In a statement quoted by the Lebanese-based Daily Star, the Army said the two suspects – Youssef Mohammad Fliti and Omar Abdel-Mawla al-Atrash – confessed they had supplied the four rockets used in the August…

Authorities in the Suez Canal said on Saturday that a “terrorist” staged an unsuccessful attack on a container ship passing through the canal in an attempt to disrupt the flow of ships through the waterway. The attempt failed completely and there was no damage to the ship or the containers it carried, reported Al Jazeera.…

In an emergency meeting held late last week in light of threats from Syria, the Samaria Regional Committee was instructed to prepare in case the region is asked to absorb Israelis from the Tel Aviv region. Samaria (Shomron) could be used as a refuge in case of a chemical weapons attack from Syria. Military experts…

U.S. President Barack Obama said Saturday that he has decided to take military action against Syria, but that he wants this action approved by Congress first. He delivered the message in a special Rose Garden address from the White House. he began with a dramatic description of the chemical weapons attack ten days ago, speaking of…

As US President Obama continues to mull his options over a potential military intervention in Syria, Syrian state media is upping the ante, publicizing a list of “targets” that the Syrian military could target with “long-range missiles” in the event of a US-led attack. Aerial photos of the purported targets were released by state media, including strategic military positions…

Lebanese newspaper Aldiyar, which is considered to be close to Syria’s official leadership, reported Saturday that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is in an undergtound bunker at an unknown location, where he is staying along with his senior staff and other unknown senior officials. The bunker is serving as an operational headquarters in advance of the…

United Nations inspectors have finished collecting samples from the site of the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria on August 21, the Associated Press reported on Friday. UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said that the team is “now packing up” and preparing to leave for The Hague on Saturday, where its members will take samples to…

The goal of any military intervention in Syria should be to topple Bashar Al-Assad’s regime, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. Erdogan said that the limited strikes which the United States is reportedly planning against Syria would not be enough and pushed for a broader military offensive. “A limited operation cannot be…

British Prime Minister David Cameron and United States President Barack Obama discussed on Friday the British Parliament’s block on UK involvement in possible military action in Syria, the BBC reports. The two men spoke by phone for 15 minutes, and the tone of the conversation was said to be friendly. The prime minister reiterated that…

The civil war in Syria has badly hurt the quality of life in the country – to the extent that Damascus is now listed as the worst city in the world to live in. The Syrian capital came in dead last in the survey of 140 world cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit, an analysis…

Among the many complaints the PA has against Israel is the IDF’s patrol of the Gaza coast, enforcing the naval blockade of the Hamas-controlled territory. IDF ships patrol a perimeter off the coast, and prevent vessels from crossing that perimeter, either from the open sea to Gaza, or vice-versa. Occasionally Gaza Arab terrorists try to…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry declared on Friday that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad on August 21 used chemical weapons against his own people. In a live statement on Syria which some analysts said laid the groundwork for an impending strike in the war-torn country, Kerry said that the attack killed at least 1,400 people,…

An anti-Israel campaign was launched this week on the public transportation system  in the western Canadian city of Vancouver, by a coalition of seven pro-Palestinian organizations. The campaign consists of 15 bus posters illustrating the “disappearance of Palestine due to Israeli occupation over the past 65 years.”  The group that created the campaign, the Palestine Awareness Coalition, published a statement:…

A battery of the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system has been deployed in the Gush Dan area near Tel Aviv. The move was in preparation for a scenario resulting in an attack on Syria over its reported use of chemical weapons against its citizens last week. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Israel had deployed its Iron Dome…

A BBC team inside Syria filming for the Panorama program witnessed the aftermath of a fresh horrific incident, an incendiary bomb dropped onto a school playground in the north of the country. The attack left scores of children with napalm-like burns over their bodies, the network reported on Thursday. Eyewitnesses described a fighter jet dropping…

The Obama administration apparently views Israel as one of the top spying threats facing its intelligence services, according to leaked documents which were exposed Thursday. A secret budget request obtained by The Washington Post from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden lumps Israel alongside U.S. foes Iran and Cuba as “key targets” for U.S. counterintelligence efforts.…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu revealed that Israel will deploy its Iron Dome system, on Thursday, at the start of security consultations at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. “At present there is no need to change daily routines,” Netanyahu reassured and added, “Despite the low assessment regarding Israel’s involvement in what is going on in Syria,…

Iran’s army chief of staff, General Hassan Firouzabadi, echoed the remarks of Iranian officials who have declared that “any military action against Syria will drive the Zionists to the edge of fire,” Islamic Republic News Agency  quoted. “Any new (military) operation in the region will leave behind a lot of damage, which will be of…

Unemployment among Israelis age 15 and over dropped to 6.3% in July, compared to 6.7% in June, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports. The data includes any person who is on record as jobless and actively searching for work as “unemployed.” Those who choose not to join the workforce, or who have given up on…

Samir Jibreel, the director of the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Education office in Jerusalem, informed parents of school children that at least five PA schools in Jerusalem will switch to using Israeli education materials, the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency reported Thursday. The director of education said that Abdullah Bin Al Hussein, Ibn Roshd, and Ibn…

US Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, said Thursday that a “strong” US response to Syria’s use of chemical weapons against civilians is a certainty. When asked on on public radio Reshet Bet‘s morning newscast, Yoman Haboker, why US President Barack Obama has not yet decided on action against Syria , Shapiro said, “You are correct in saying that President Obama…

Russia is about to send two warships to the Mediterranean Sea, in an unmistakable warning to the US not to carry out a threat to strike Syria, according to Russian news agency Interfax. The report is quoted on Skynews. The ships are an anti-submarine ship and a missile cruiser, according to the report. A military…

Thousands of Israelis lined up at gas mask protection kit distribution centers around the country, ostensibly to obtain kits for their families in case of a Syrian attack on Israel. But at least some of those kits, it appears, are helping fuel an uptick of gas mask sales on the Internet, According to business daily…

Hundreds of Ethiopian immigrants landed in Israel on Wednesday, marking the end of the Jewish Agency’s decades-long campaign to bring Jewish Ethiopians to Israel. While individual Ethiopians of Jewish descent will still be eligible for aliyah (immigration), there are to be no more coordinated efforts to bring over groups of new immigrants. The final group…

A new report from the United Nations’ nuclear agency finds that Iran has further boosted its capacity for uranium enrichment, reports the BBC. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says Tehran has now installed more than 1,000 advanced centrifuges at its Natanz enrichment plant, according to Wednesday’s report. The report comes as the IAEA says…

The decision is part of Israel’s preparations for the possibility that the Syrian regime could choose to attack Israel in “retaliation” for intervention by the US and its allies, following threats to that effect by a number of Syrian officials. Most recently, a senior official in the Syrian army warned the United States and its…

Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin met with Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide on Monday night in Jerusalem. Norway is the leading donor state to the Palestinian Authority, and therefore has a special interest in the political process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The Norwegian FM agreed with Elkin that “the fact that a large percentage of…

Every year, while thousands of Israeli 18-year-olds enlist in the IDF, others defer their service in order to spend a year studying in mechina programs – pre-army institutes that help their students prepare to do the best they can during their years in the military. This year, 3,300 young men and women will be studying…

Numerous citizens were standing in line to obtain gas masks Wednesday as media warned that a US attack on Syrian targets was imminent, and as Bashar al-Assad’s regime warned that it would respond to such an attack by targeting Israel. The IDF expressed satisfaction at the fact that so many citizens are finally getting masks,…

Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Dmitry Rogozin, compared western nations’ behavior vis-a-vis the Islamic world to a “monkey with a hand grenade,” according to a report by Russian news agency, Ria Novosti. His short statement was communicated in the Russian language via his Twitter page on Tuesday; Rogozin has yet to elaborate or explain his comparison. Rogozin, formerly Russia’s…

The Qatar-based Al Jazeera network quoted members of the Opposition in Syria Wednesday as saying that there has been another poison gas in attack on civilians in Damascus. About 20 people were hurt in the attack, they claimed. The report has not been confirmed by other sources and Opposition claims in the two-year-old civil war…

A senior official in the Syrian army warned the United States and its partners on Tuesday that waging a full-scale war on Syria would be reciprocated with an immediate attack on Tel Aviv. “If Damascus comes under attack, Tel Aviv will be targeted too and a full-scale war against Syria will actually issue a license…

The Arab League said on Tuesday that those behind the chemical attack in Syria should face international justice. In a statement issued after a meeting in Cairo, the 22-member organization said it held the Syrian government, led by President Bashar Al-Assad, fully responsible for last week’s gas attack in which hundreds were killed. The League…

French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday that his country is prepared to take action against those responsible for last week’s deadly chemical attack in Syria. “France is ready to punish those who took the heinous decision to gas innocents” in Syria last week, Hollande said at a conference with France’s ambassadors, according to the…

This morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the “Avivit” kindergarten and elementary school in Netanya, as Israeli schools all over the country begin the first day of the new academic year. Education Minister Shai Piron and Netanya Mayor Miriam Feirberg accompanied the Prime Minister at the meeting. “Avivit” kindergarten opened this year in the framework…

On Tuesday, a court in Hamas ruled Gaza sentenced a man to death for collaborating with Israel, according to Ma’an News Agency. The man, who is only identified as B.H, was ordered to death by hanging by the Gazan court. A date for the execution has not been set. The court will also allow the defendant to appeal…

United States Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday that there is “no doubt” that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad was responsible for the August 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus. The comments came as the United States deliberates on how to respond to the chemical attack, which rebels said killed hundreds of people. Speaking at the…

Israel will strike back “fiercely” if Syria attacks, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday. “The state of Israel is prepared for every scenario,” he said. “We are not part of the civil war in Syria, but if we detect any attempt to hurt us, we will react, and react fiercely.” A top Syrian official warned…

US President Barack Obama has ordered his legal advisers to draw up a document outlining the legal justifications for military intervention in Syria. According to a CBS News report there is unanimous support for such military action within the Obama administration, following an apparent chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime on a suburb of Damascus which killed hundreds,…

About 2,130,000 students began the new school year Tuesday – 150,000 of them in first grade. A total of 429,177 children are enrolled in the public pre-school system, about 960,000 in elementary school, and another 662,500 in middle and high schools. A total of 4,555 schools started the school year, 164 of them new. All…

Former MK and director of Professors for a Strong Israel (PFSI) spoke with Arutz Sheva on Sunday to explain his vision for an alternative to a “Two State Solution” which would see a Palestinian Arab State established in Judea and Samaria. Professor Eldad was speaking at a PSFI-organized conference entitled “Two States for Two Peoples,…

Lebanese security sources told the London-based Asharq al Awsat newspaper Tuesday that the U.S. has a list of about 150 targets that it would strike in a possible attack on Syria. The list is largely made up of military installations that include air force and aerial defense bases, missile bases, command and control sites and…

A senior Israeli delegation visited the White House on Monday for high-level talks on the building Syria crisis and the nuclear showdown with Iran, reported AFP. Officials said that U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice met Yaakov Amidror, the outgoing Israeli national security advisor. The talks centered on “Iran, Egypt, Syria, and a range of…

An aide to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) warned the White House on Monday that it must consult with congressional leaders before taking any military action in Syria. Boehner spokesman Brendan Buck said in a blog post that President Barack Obama was obligated to “consult with Congress on the options he sees as a viable…

As talk and rumors of an impending Western attack against Syria mount, a top Syrian official said Monday that if attacked, his country would react – against Israel. Speaking to an Arabic-language radio station operated by the United States, Syria’s Deputy Information Minister Halaf Al-Maftah said that Israel would face not only Syria in the…

In what might indicate that the British army is preparing for an attack on Syria, the Guardian reported on Monday that warplanes and military transporters have begun arriving at Britain’s Akrotiri airbase on Cyprus, less than 100 miles from the Syrian coast. Two commercial pilots who regularly fly from Larnaca told the Guardian that they…

A newly discovered field off Israel’s coast may have a significant amount of light crude oil – the kind of oil that international producers use to make most of the world’s gasoline. The Shemen company informed the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange Monday that the Yam 3 field, where drilling has been going on for several…

On Monday, Syrian President Bashar Assad denied allegations that his administration used chemical weapons against its civilians and warned that any U.S. military intervention in his country would fail. In an interview with Russian newspaper Izvestia, Assad said: “How can any government use chemicals or any other weapons of mass destruction in a place where its own…

Both Britain and Turkey said on Monday that it would be possible to respond to the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, even without the unanimous backing of the United Nations Security Council. ‘So, is it possible to act on chemical weapons, is it possible to respond to chemical weapons without complete unity on…

Dozens of female officers and NCOs who serve in the IDF’s Standing Army (Tzva Keva) have sent a letter to Personnel Branch Head, Major General Orna Barbivai, demanding that they be exempted from limitations on nail polish, and that these limitations only be applied to soldiers in mandatory service. Current orders allow female soldiers to…

A car carrying United Nations inspectors was shot at “multiple times” by snipers Monday as it headed to the scene of a suspected chemical weapons attack in which the Syrian regime is believed to have targeted its own people. The inspectors were forced to abandon their investigation after they were shot at near Damascus. The experts were…

Britain is planning to join forces with the United States and launch military action against Syria in response to the chemical attack believed to have been carried out by President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces, the British Telegraph reported on Sunday. Royal Navy vessels are being readied to take part in a possible series of cruise missile…

A Carl Gustav recoilless rifle and ammunition were found hidden in the side of the rear trunk of an Arab car Sunday, by alert guards at the Ariel checkpoint in Samaria. Something abouth the car and its occupants aroused the guards’ suspicion, and they conducted a through search. The weapons had been hidden under the…

The Syrian government has agreed to allow UN inspectors to investigate allegations of a chemical weapon attack near Damascus last week. The UN team is to begin work on Monday. Activists say Syrian forces killed more than 300 people in several suburbs east and west of the capital on Wednesday, and numerous amateur videos have…

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon met Sunday with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius in Jerusalem, and in his statements, indirectly confirmed that Israel has no doubt that Bashar al-Assad’s forces are behind the use of chemical weapons against civilians last week. In the course of the meeting, Yaalon said, “There are many events taking place in our…

A project that organizers hoped would bring masses of tourists to the western Negev – an elephant park – apparently won’t be getting off the ground, despite the fact that Kibbutz Nahal Oz and other investors have sunk over a million shekels into it. But despite international laws against transporting elephants, organizers are still helpful…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that even if Isrsel achieves a peace treaty with the Palestinian Authority (PA), this will not stop Iran’s centrifuges or change the fact that there is “an endemic instability” in the Middle East. Netanyahu met Sunday with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and said at the start of the…

A bus carrying Yemeni air force personnel was bombed on Sunday, killing 6 people and wounding 26 others in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen. Al Qaeda is suspected to be behind the attack, although details have not yet been released. Witnesses say the van had been driving towards the Sanaa International airport, returning the soldiers…

Sinai security sources said that Hamas’ military wing intended on attacking security sites and troops stationed in the Sinai Peninsula, but were blocked by Egyptian security forces. According to a report by Kuwaiti newspaper, Alrai, the Hamas squad entered into Egypt with 15 terrorists through one of the smuggling tunnels and transferred weapons in order…

The subject of the “Women of the Wall” group has become a controversial topic in recent weeks as the group continues to hold monthly prayers at the Kotel (Western Wall) despite opposition. Opponents have held prayer gatherings and demonstrations, and in some cases have even resorted to violence. Now, Minister of Economy Naftali Bennett- who…

If claims that Syria used chemical weapons several days ago are true, a speedy response will be needed to prevent another such attack, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Friday. In addition, a senior Defense Department official told CNN that military planners have updated Syrian target lists. The US navy is expanding its presence…

A preliminary assessment made by U.S. and allied intelligence agencies concludes that chemical weapons were indeed used by Syrian forces in an attack near Damascus this week. It is believed the attack was carried out with high-level approval from the government of President Bashar Al-Assad. American and European security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity…

As Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators continue the current round of United States-brokered peace talks, residents of Gaza, where Hamas rules, are protesting against the talks. The AFP news agency reported that hundreds of people in Gaza protested on Friday against Israeli-PA peace talks, in marches organized by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups.…

Syrian activists said on Friday they are smuggling out body tissue samples from victims of an alleged chemical weapons attack outside Damascus, according to the Reuters news agency. The activists said they were trying to get the samples to a team of United Nations inspectors staying in a hotel a few miles away. “The UN…

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday condemned the firing of rockets against Israel from Lebanon. He urged all sides to exercise “maximum restraint,” and cooperate with the UN force in Lebanon to prevent an escalation, reported AFP. In a statement, Ban said he was “greatly concerned” by the incident, “which is a clear…

A vow by Al-Qaeda to carry out an attack that would “change the face of history” was behind this month’s closures of Western embassies, the president of Yemen revealed Friday, according to Reuters. In the first public disclosure by a government leader of details of the intercepted call that prompted the U.S. alert, President Abd-Rabbu…

Dirar Abu Sisi, the member of Hamas who was arrested in Ukraine and brought to Israel two and half years ago, has gone on a hunger strike to protest being held apart from the prison’s general population. Abu Sisi has apparently entered the third day of his hunger strike. In response, prison authorities have removed his personal belongings, including…

The latest violence in Egypt has finally put an end to kosher food exports from the country. Several Egyptian factories that marketed reliably kosher food to Israel will no longer be able to do so. Over the past two and a half years, kosher certification companies in Israel have continued to send their workers (mashgihim)…

Bnei Akiva counselors who arrived at the headquarters of the group’s Shunra branch in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning were horrified to discover that the center, which includes a synagogue, had been badly vandalized. Arutz Sheva spoke to branch manager Dana Amar, who said the vandalism included “destruction of property and graphic images. Even in our…

The United States on Thursday slapped sanctions on four members of the Shiite Hezbollah terror group, reported the Associated Press. The Treasury Department order bars any Americans from dealing with the terrorists and freezes any money they may have in the U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David Cohen predicted that other financial institutions across the world, including…

A U.S. institute tracking Iran’s military program said on Thursday that recent satellite images show further major alterations of a military site that the UN atomic agency suspects may have been used in trying to develop nuclear arms. The most recent imagery from satellite company Digital Globe is from August 13 and was seen by…

President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi has called upon support from the United States to supply Yemen with drones in order to fight Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in the aftermath of threats that forced the temporary closure of embassies of many Western countries in Sanaa, according to the Daily Star. President Hadi has been quoted by…

The commander of a pro-Al Qaeda militia in Pakistan who has sheltered foreign Al-Qaeda fighters in the country was killed on Thursday by a roadside bomb. Ghulam Jan Wazir died on the spot when his vehicle hit the bomb in the Sholam area, five kilometres (three miles) west of Wana, the main town in South Waziristan…

Noor TV, an Islamic television station which broadcasts from the UK, has been fined £85,000 (more than $130,000) for comments inciting murder made by one of its presenters during a call-in show. In December, Ofcom – Britain’s media regulating body – ruled that the station had breached broadcasting codes after Presenter Allama Muhammad Farooq Nizami urged…

A leading supporter of the Hezbollah terrorist group was assassinated in Tripoli on Thursday. Al-Mouri was gunned down by “masked men on motorbikes,” along with a security official and a bystander, according to a security source quoted by the Lebanese Naharnet website. The 40 year-old leader of a pro-Hezbollah Sunni militia was standing at the entrance to…

An apartment security system developed in Israel will be used in housing projects in New York, according to a report in the New York Post. The system does not use keys but is rather based on face and voice recognition. A low-income project in Harlem and a new luxury condominium will be getting the high-tech…

The United Nations Security Council convened on Wednesday to discuss ways to respond to reports suggesting that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad killed more than 1,300 people using chemical weapons, AFP reports. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s office said he was “shocked” by the reports and that UN weapons experts in Syria to…

At least 635 people have been killed in a nerve gas attack on Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, activists at the Local Coordinating Committees told Al Arabiya on Wednesday morning. Other news sources cited lower numbers of deaths. Hundreds of others were reported wounded in the attack on rebel-held areas of eastern Damascus. According to Al Arabiya, the…

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has apparently forgotten his admission last week that the organization he heads is biased against Israel. During his visit to Israel last week, Ban told students that “Unfortunately, because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel has been weighed down by criticism and suffered from bias and sometimes even discrimination”. Ban…

The White House said on Tuesday that media reports suggesting that the United States has cut aid to Egypt are inaccurate. President Barack Obama is expected to hold a Cabinet-level meeting to discuss the issue, according to White House spokesman Josh Earnest. “That review has not concluded and … published reports to the contrary that…

Welsh singer Tom Jones, who is set to perform in Tel Aviv in October, is facing, as many others have before him, a campaign by anti-Israel activists who are calling on him to cancel the concert. According to Wales Online, a branch of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, a group which accuses Israel of ethnic cleansing…

Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators on Tuesday night concluded a third meeting as part of the renewed peace talks between the sides. The meeting, reportedly held at an undisclosed location in Jerusalem, was described as “serious”. The sides agreed to meet again soon. As usual, Israel was represented at the meeting by Justice Minister Tzipi…

The White House condemned Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s claim, made Tuesday, that Israel had a role in toppling ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi, AFP reports. “What do they say about Egypt: democracy is not the ballot box. Who is behind this? It’s Israel,” Erdogan told a meeting of his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development…

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met secretly in Jerusalem on Tuesday, a senior Palestinian Authority official said, a week after US-brokered peace talks were relaunched in the Holy City.     “A meeting was held today between the Palestinian delegation, headed by Saeb Erakat and Mohammad Shtayyeh, and the Israeli delegation of (Justice Minister) Tzipi Livni and…

The ethnic and sectarian violence that is currently affecting several Arab countries could ultimately destroy the Muslim world, Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned Tuesday. His warning was issued at a conference of religious scholars in Amman. The event was attended by Shiite Muslim, Sunni Muslim and Christian clergy. The conference focused on how Muslim countries…

Medical cooperation between Israel and the neighboring Arab countries exists, claims Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a recent article. Israel’s cooperation extends itself to countries like Egypt and Jordan, who have signed peace treaties with Israel, and also to those who have a relationship with Israel without prior peace agreements. Hadassah Medical Center in…

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah took part in assisting the heaviest man alive, Khalid bin Mohsen Shaari, who weighs 1,345 pound (610kg), to the country’s capital Riyadh for medical treatments. CNN reported yesterday that the obese young man had to be fork-lifted from his apartment bedroom to an airlift heading to the King Fahd Medical City.…

The U.S. government has temporarily suspended most forms of military aid to Egypt, despite deciding not to announce publicly that the ouster of Mohammed Morsi was a coup, a leading U.S. senator told the Daily Beast. The Obama administration has decided to temporarily suspend the disbursement of most direct military aid, the delivery of weapons…

Former foreign minister MK Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beytenu faction within the joint Likud / Yisrael Beytenu list, mounted a harsh verbal attack Tuesday on the newspaper Israel Hayom, which he called “Pravda” – a reference to the press organ of the communist party in the Soviet Union, which was famous for its…

Angela Merkel will become the first German chancellor to visit the former Nazi concentration camp Dachau on Tuesday, as she steps up warnings about the far-right threat while campaigning for a third term. Ahead of an evening election rally in Dachau, northwest of Munich, Merkel will arrive at the memorial at 5:45 p.m. local time.…

Mohammed Badie, the Supreme Guide of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, was arrested shortly after midnight on Monday in northern Cairo, Egypt’s interior ministry said, according to Al Ahram. Ministry spokesman Abdel-Fattah Osman was quoted as having said in a television interview that Badie was hiding in a building in Cairo’s Nasr City district near Rabaa El-Adaweya…

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, hinted on Monday that Israel was losing its patience with the repeated Syrian violations of the 1974 ceasefire between the two countries. Prosor sent a letter of complaint to the Security Council after the latest incident on Saturday, when the Israeli army fired into Syria after shells…

At a press conference Monday, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that Washington was doing its best to stabilize the situation in Egypt, but admitted that there was only so much the U.S. could do.  “Our ability to influence the outcome in Egypt is limited,” Hagel said. “It’s up to the Egyptian people. And they are…

The National Security Archive over the weekend released documents that show clearly that the CIA, along with Britain’s MI6, were responsible for the overthrow of Iranian Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadeq in 1953. Mossadeq was eventually replaced by the Shah of Iran, who was ousted as leader in the country’s Islamic Revolution in 1979 by Ayatollah…

Islamist groups are actively planning attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets abroad, the Anti-Terror Unit of the Prime Minister’s office said Monday. Specifically, Israelis were warned to stay away from Sinai, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, a number of countries in Central Africa, and Turkey. The Turkish threat was termed “potential and ongoing,” the Unit said.…

Israel’s celebrated wine industry is set to get even bigger in the near future. An additional 2,000 dunams of vineyards dedicated to wine-making grapes will be planted this coming season, with the support of the Agricultural Ministry. The vineyards will be planted in all parts of Israel, the Ministry said. Meanwhile, the harvest of this year’s…

The military interim government in Cairo is cracking down on a key adversary – satellite news network Al Jazeera, which is widely seen as being biased in favor of the Muslim Brotherhood. “The Cabinet has assigned competent authorities to assess the legal status of the Al Jazeera satellite channel, accusing it of threatening stability and…

Islamist terror network Al-Qaeda is plotting attacks on Europe’s high-speed rail network, German newspaper Bild reported on Monday, citing U.S. intelligence sources. The group could plant explosives on trains and tunnels or sabotage tracks and electrical cabling, said the newspaper, which is Europe’s most widely-read daily. The information reportedly came from the National Security Agency…

Islamist terrorists have killed 24 security personnel in an ambush in northern Sinai, officials in Egypt have claimed, according to Sky News. The BBC reported that the people killed were members of the police. They were travelling in two buses which came under attack from armed men close to the town of Rafah, on the…

A skilled computer hacker from the Palestinian Authority, Khalil Shreateh, found a dangerous glitch in the privacy sector of Facebook. Yet, after his warnings were generally ignored by Facebook, Shreateh took matters up with the CEO of the company, Mark Zuckerberg, by breaking the rules and posting on Zuckerbergs’s wall, reported the Daily Mail. The native…

At least 36 Islamist prisoners were killed on Sunday during an attempted jailbreak, in the latest violence since Egypt moved to crush supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi, AFP reported. The violence, the deadliest in Egypt’s recent history, comes amid a relentless security crackdown on Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood movement that includes the arrest of top…

Two wounded Syrians were brought by IDF soldiers to the Ziv Medical Center in the northern Israeli city of Tzfat on Sunday night, after being hurt during the ongoing civil war in their country. The two patients were listed in moderate condition, with one suffering from a bullet wound in his stomach and the other…

The Israeli economy continues to improve, figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics released Sunday said. According to the report, the Israeli economy grew by an annualized 5.1% during the second quarter of 2013, between April and June. Earlier forecasts had said that at best, the economy would grow by just 3% this year. The…

Negotiations with Israel are paying off already for the Palestinian Authority (PA). The United States’ consul general in Jerusalem, Michael Ratney, signed an agreement Sunday with PA caretaker prime minister Rami Hamdallah, according to which the U.S. will pay the PA $148 million. PA finance minister Shukri Bishara witnessed the ceremony along with the director of…

Arab media reported Sunday that a senior Hezbollah terror leader was killed in recent days in a battle with Syrian opposition forces. The battle occurred in the Damascus area. The reports did not identify the terrorist, but in recent days Hezbollah-affiliated news outlets showed images of the funeral of senior Hezbollah commander Ali Hossam Nasser.…

Some 30,000 children throughout the country were inoculated against polio on Sunday, the first day that the inoculation effort went nationwide. According to the Health Ministry, most of the Mother and Child clinics (Tipat Halav) throughout the country were open Sunday for administration of the vaccine, and would remain open throughout the day for at…

Archaeologists working in the Mayan Gihon area in the City of David in Jerusalem have discovered many ancient artifacts, including pottery shards, clay candle holders, and figurines dating back to the times of the First and Second Temples. One recently discovered item has aroused particular interest: a pottery shard dating back to the First Temple…

Israel’s decision to release terrorist prisoners as a “gesture” to the Palestinian Authority led some Israeli MKs to criticized the United States for allegedly pushing the release. MK Ayelet Shaked (Bayit Yehudi) even wrote a strongly critical letter to Secretary of State John Kerry in which she accused him of “forcing Israel to capitulate to…

Last Thursday saw the second annual fair in Netanya designed to encourage Jews from France to immigrate to Israel. The event was initiated by the World Zionist Organization, in collaboration with the city of Netanya. The purpose of the fair was to increase the number of Jews making Aliyah from France. Potential applicants for Aliyah…

The head of the United Nations admitted this past week that the organization he heads has had a bias against Israel. “Unfortunately, because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel has been weighed down by criticism and suffered from bias and sometimes even discrimination,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon admitted during his visit to Jerusalem, according to…

Iran has about 18,000 centrifuges, including 10,000 active ones, the outgoing head of the country’s atomic agency said Saturday, according to the AFP news agency. The comments confirmed figures from the UN watchdog overseeing its disputed nuclear drive. “At the beginning of the month of Mordad (from July 23) we had 17,000 first generation centrifuges,…

Tamarod, the Egyptian movement which led the opposition to ousted President Mohammed Morsi, apparently now has a new target: the peace treaty with Israel. Egyptian media reported on Saturday that Tamarod, which amassed 22 signatures to a petition demanding Morsi’s departure before the army ousted him in July, is now collecting signatures to a new…

The Egyptian government announced on Saturday that it had begun deliberations on whether to ban the Muslim Brotherhood in the wake of the latest violence in the country, reported the Associated Press. The Brotherhood was outlawed for years until the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, after which it swept to power in…

 The civil war in Syria has turned into a religious war between Sunnis and Alawite Shiites, and according to one report, over 1,000 mosques have been deliberately destroyed in the course of the fighting. The regime of President Bashar al-Assad is Alawite Shiite, and its allies are the Shiites from Iran, Iraq and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.…

At least 173 people were killed Saturday in Egypt in heavy fighting between security forces and the Muslim Brotherhood, as the country descends into a state that could be called civil war. Security forces broke into the Al-Fatah mosque in central Cairo, where hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood supporters had holed up. The forceful entry had been…

The Israeli army fired into Syria after shells from the neighboring country hit the Israeli side of the Golan Heights on Saturday, a military spokesman said. IDF Radio reported the Israeli attack demolished a Syrian military position. “Today, several shells fired from Syria landed in the central Golan heights, adjacent to the Israel-Syria border,” the spokesman told…

Thousands of Arab supporters of the Islamic Movement in Israel demonstrated on Saturday in support of Egypt’s ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, an AFP correspondent said. Around 4,000 people led by preacher Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, took part in the protest in the northern city of Nazareth,…

Scores are dead in Egypt as a Muslim Brotherhood-led “day of rage” turned to bloodshed on Friday. Al Jazeera reported that at least 80 people were killed and hundreds injured in Cairo’s Ramses Square as anti-coup protesters were fired on by government forces. A protester, Said Mohammed, told Al Jazeera that the crowds were shot…

The Israeli-Arab conflict has nothing to do with the “settlements” and everything to do with Arab refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told United Nations head Ban Ki-moon on Friday. Netanyahu and Ban met in Jerusalem, and the Prime Minister asked Ban to look into the UNRWA summer camps…

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz announced on Friday that the kingdom supports Egypt in its fight “against terrorism,” reported Al Arabiya. King Abdullah said Egypt’s stability is being targeted by “haters,” warning that anyone interfering in Egypt’s internal affairs is “igniting sedition.” The Egyptian presidency hailed King Abdullah’s support, saying Egypt will “never”…

An overwhelming majority – almost 80 percent – of Israeli Jews believe a peace deal with the Palestinian Authority is impossible, an opinion poll found on Friday, according to the AFP news agency. Asked whether “this time, we will reach a final agreement that will put an end to the conflict,” 79.7 percent of respondents…

According to a report by AFP on Friday, tourists visiting the Red Sea resorts of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt were urged to stay inside their hotels in wake of the violent protests staged for today. These resorts were not under the Foreign Office’s advice against travel to Egypt, as they are deemed far…

After Muslim Brotherhood leaders gathered supporters in mosques for Friday prayers, their supporters are now marching from north-east Cairo to the city’s center in Ramses Square. According to a BBC News report, all roads leading to Ramses Square in Cairo are being blocked by officials. A state of emergency is in force and police have been authorized to use…

Most Israelis think the Oslo Accords were bad for Israel, and would not vote today for a diplomatic agreement that involves an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria (Shomron), according to a new poll from Maariv/nrg. The poll, conducted by Maagar Mohot, found that of Israelis who remember the Oslo Accords, 40% were opposed to…

UN chief Ban Ki-moon called on Israelis and Palestinians on Friday to overcome “deep scepticism” that he said risked thwarting efforts to reach a peace agreement.     “We must overcome the deep skepticism that comes from 20 years of stalemate,” Ban said at a meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli President Shimon Peres.  “I urge…

The Damascus Gate (Sha’ar Shechem in Hebrew) of the Old City of Jerusalem has been the site of violent riots and terrorism in recent weeks as local Arabs lash out at their Jewish neighbors and visitors. However, last week, during the final days of Ramadan, the high-tension area was the scene of a dramatic rescue that brought…

United States Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Thursday his country will retain its military ties with Egypt but more violence by the army could jeopardize the relationship. Hagel said he had called General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt’s defense minister and the central figure in the interim government, to express U.S. concern after Wednesday’s brutal…

”Reliant Mermaid 103,” a combined Israel Navy and United States EUCOM Naval exercise, ended on Thursday after a week and a half of combined training in the Mediterranean Sea that simulated a variety of search and rescue scenarios. “Reliant Mermaid 103” was not related to any real world events, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in…

At least 20 people have been killed by a large explosion in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut, with at least 30 reported wounded. Lebanon’s Daily Star reported that the blast took place on the main road between Rwais and Bir al-Abed. The neighborhood is a stronghold of Hezbollah. Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel…

The death toll from the violent clashes in Egypt has surpassed 600, according to updated figures released Thursday night. A spokesman for Egypt’s Health Ministry told the Al Ahram website that as of late Thursday, the casualties from Wednesday’s violence totaled 638 dead and 3,994 injured. Security sources were quoted by the AFP news agency…

Blueprints for an expansion of Holocaust hero Oskar Schindler’s Poland factory during World War II have been sold at auction online for $63,426, a New Hampshire auction house told AFP on Thursday. Dating back to 1943, and bearing the logo of German engineering firm Siemens, the construction plans refer to living quarters where Schindler housed…

Technology giant IBM has announced it is buying Israeli start-up firm Trusteer, which specializes in information security. The exact sum of money involved in buying Trusteer has not been disclosed but estimates run from $700 million to a billion dollars. Brendan Hannigan, General Manager of IBM’s Security Systems Division, announced the deal Thursday, saying that Trusteer…

U.S. President Obama said Thursday that the United States “deplores” and “strongly condemns” violence in Egypt, and as a result is canceling U.S.-Egyptian military exercises scheduled for next month.  He said the United States believes the Egyptian government’s “state of emergency should be lifted” and a process of reconciliation must begin. Obama did not suspend other forms…

 At least ten people have been killed by a large explosion in a southern suburb of the Lebanese capital Beirut, with at least 30 reported wounded. Lebanon’s Daily Star reported that the blast took place on the main road between Rwais and Bir al-Abed. The neighborhood is a stronghold of Hezbollah. Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan…

At least 14 people have been killed and more than 80 injured in a series of apparently coordinated car bomb attacks in Baghdad Thursday. It is the latest attack in what has become one of the worst periods of violence in the country since the departure of US troops 18 months ago. The New York…

In a secret and complex operation, the Jewish Agency brought a group of 17 Yemenite Jews to Israel on Wednesday. The group is made of up of parents who came directly from Yemen and their children, who were taken by a group of Satmar hassidim from Yemen to Argentina two years ago. The new immigrants…

In order to save their children from the clutches of the Nazis and their Polish accomplices, many Jews in Poland handed over their young children to sympathetic Polish families during the Holocaust era. Many of those children survived physically, but not as Jews. As they grew up, many of these children aised their own children…

Prominent among the “collateral damage” victims of the ongoing violence in Egypt are the country’s Coptic Christians. Living on the tentative goodwill of the Muslim majority even during the best of times, the community has been the subject of attacks and persecution over the past year, since the fall of Hosni Mubarak, and the subsequent fall…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will make history next week by becoming  the first German chancellor to visit the former Nazi concentration camp Dachau, AFP reported Wednesday.   The German leader will travel to the memorial near the southern city of Munich on Tuesday and, after making a short speech, lay a wreath of flowers and tour the remnants of the…

In the last few minutes, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has claimed the bombing attack which injured four Israeli soldiers on the border with Lebanon last week, saying his party “will face” any further border violations by the Jewish state. The Lebanese army had claimed that the four soldiers were located 400 meters inside Lebanese territory when the…

As violence in Egypt continues to spiral out of control, the country’s Vice President, Mohammed el-Baradei, has resigned. The Health Ministry says that 150 people have been killed and well over one thousand wounded in the clashes, which started Wednesday morning as bulldozers moved in to clear protest camps across the capital Cairo, including the largest protest…

In a statement made Wednesday by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office, Israel will begin sponsoring university students to fight Israel’s corner on social media platforms, reported BBC News. Israeli University students would receive full or partial scholarships for combating anti-Semitism and boycotts to Israel on networks such as Facebook and Twitter. “This is a groundbreaking project aimed at strengthening…

Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators met for around five hours on Wednesday evening. Israeli media reported that the meeting began shortly before 7:00 p.m. and ended just before midnight. According to the reports, the talks were “long and serious” and the parties agreed to meet again within days. Israeli negotiator Tzipi Livni’s office said earlier…

Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi have reportedly been lashing out at Christian targets, besides confronting the government. In Fayoum, in Upper Egypt, pro-Morsi supporters set fire to a Christian youth center located next to the Muslim youth center where they had been protesting, according to a report on Ahram Arabic cited by the…

Syrian activists have reported that the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams (ISIS) has reportedly been killed on Sunday in Salamiya, on the outskirts of Hama, according to Asharq Al-Awsat. In a statement, an opposition activist claimed that “Imad Ahmad, a Palestinian national, the commander-in-chief of the ISIS, was killed last Sunday in the eastern suburbs of…

The Egyptian interim government has declared a state of emergency, as the death toll continues to mount as security forces attempt to put an end to weeks of protest by supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi. According to the BBC, the state of emergency was set to begin at 16:00 local time. It is set to last…

Amid ongoing sectarian violence in Egypt, 10-year-old Jessica Boulous was murdered last Tuesday after walking home from her Bible lesson with her teacher. She was gunned down on the street between Ahmed Esmat Street Evangelical Church and a market while walking home, Morning Star News reports. A report by Egyptian rights activists claim that Jessica’s…

The new Palestinian Authority Prime Minister has retracted his resignation following a meeting with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, and is to begin forming a new PA government. Hamdallah was appointed as PM by Abbas following the resignation of his predecessor Salam Fayyad. Fayyad’s resignation came as the result of internal PA pressures. He was long considered…

At Ben Gurion International Airport on Tuesday morning, 331 new Olim [immigrants] began a new chapter in their lives here in Israel. Enthusiastic guests, friends, and families greeted these Olim as they stepped off the jumbo sized charter flight organized by Nefesh B’Nefesh. The Olim, who flew for 10 hours, arrived at the ceremony hall and were…

It’s no secret that former soldiers who served in the IDF’s technology units can be found in key positions in the world of Israeli hi-tech. Now several hi-tech leaders have revealed just how deep the connection goes in interviews with The Guardian. Several ex-soldiers who spoke to the paper all served in the same unit:…

During the visit, General Dempsey is scheduled to meet with Lieutenant-General Gantz and other IDF commanders to discuss cooperation and common security challenges. Dempsey is also scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon. “In Israel, the chairman expects to discuss the United States’ unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, including…

The city of Eilat quickly returned to routine on Tuesday morning following a rocket scare at 1 a.m. “I didn’t see any hysteria,” Mayor Meir Yitzchak Halevy told Channel 10 news. Residents of the city and tourists know what to do in case of an attack, he said, and there are sheltered areas in hotels…

A Muslim Salafist group said Tuesday that it had fired rockets at Israel’s southernmost city of Eilat overnight and said it was in retaliation for an alleged IAF missile strike on its men last Friday. The jihadist Ansar Bait el Maqdas, which operates in Sinai, took responsibility for firing the rockets and said, “The response…

According to a statement made by Fatah on Sunday, Hamas officials have launched an arrest campaign against Fatah leaders and associates in the Gaza Strip. The Ma’an News Agency reported that on Thursday, Hamas security forces raided the home of Abed al-Aziz al-Maqadma, a senior Fatah official. Hamas confiscated his personal mobile phone and computer…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday that Israel’s announcement of new construction in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria was expected and added that it should not affect the resumption of peace talks. Kerry said Israel’s new homes “were to some degree expected” and added, according to Reuters, “What this underscores is the importance…

At least one rocket was fired towards the Israeli resort city of Eilat on Monday night. Sirens were heard throughout the city shortly before 1:00 a.m. Local residents reported hearing explosions following the sirens. The Iron Dome anti-missile system, which was just recently deployed near Eilat, reportedly intercepted the rocket before it could explode in…

In a café located in Central Iraq, a suicide bomber killed 13 people on Monday, officials told the Associated Press. This has been the latest attack in a months-long surge of violence. Police said the attack wounded another 25 people in the evening blast in Balad, 80 kilometers north of Baghdad. A medical official confirmed the…

The European Union has denounced the proposal for construction in Judea and Samaria and parts of Jerusalem beyond the 1949 Armistice Line.  The EU insisted on Monday that Israel and the Palestinian Authority should “avoid any actions which would halt negotiations,” according to AFP. Michael Mann, spokesman for EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton, responded to the announcement…

While the government claims that the murderers being freed as a “gesture” to the Palestinian Authority (PA) committed their acts before the Oslo accords were signed by then-Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and PA head Yasser Arafat, Arutz Sheva has revealed that this is in fact not true. Arutz Sheva‘s Hagai Huberman found that while…

The Israel Davis Cup team will be fined 10,000 euros for refusing to compete on Yom Kippur, it was reported Sunday. The game against the Belgian team which was scheduled for Yom Kippur is one in a play-off series. Immediately after it became known that the game had been scheduled for Yom Kippur, the team’s…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Sunday that none of the terrorists that Israel will release as a “gesture” to get him to agree to peace talks will be deported to areas other than Judea, Samaria and Gaza. When Israel released more than 1,000 terrorists in exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011, it…

The European Union should put its proposed boycott of Israeli businesses in Judea and Samaria on hold in order to help the diplomatic process, President Shimon Peres suggested Sunday in a meeting with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle. Peres started by welcoming Westerwelle, and telling him that Israel appreciates the role Germany has played in…

The ministerial committee headed by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon met Sunday evening and approved the release of 26 terrorists as part of a gesture to the Palestinian Authority, in order to get it to resume peace talks with Israel. In addition to Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, Science and Technology Minister Yaakov Perry and Public Security…

Deep in the woods of Ripples, New Brunswick, some 700 Jews found themselves stepping into an internment camp during the early months of the Second World War. Now almost 70 years later, The Vancouver Sun enfolds the story of a little known camp that saved many Jews from perishing in the Holocaust. During a relief…

17 terrorists who were convicted of murdering Israelis, including three who murdered senior citizens using axes, are among the 26 terrorists that Israel will set free this week. The full list was made public on the Israel Prisons Service website on Sunday night. Among the terrorists to be released is Salah Ibrahim Ahmad Mughdad, the…

Rebels in Syria claimed on Sunday that they had killed at least 42 Hizbullah terrorists, who were fighting with soldiers loyal to President Bashar al-Assad on behalf of Iran. The deaths were reported by Arab television station Al-Arabiya, which quoted a rebel leader as saying that the operation was a “high quality one.” In a…

An Al-Qaeda linked terrorist group killed five soldiers in Yemen in an attack Sunday, Yemeni authorities have reported. The soldiers were responsible for security at the Balhaf terminal. Most of Yemen’s gas exports pass through the terminal. A spokesman told AFP that Al-Qaeda has also plotted an attack on the Canadian-run Mina al-Dhaba oil terminal…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu officially got his powers back on Sunday morning, following a discussion between top doctors at Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital in Jerusalem. Netanyahu’s authorities had been temporarily given to Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon while he underwent stomach surgery. The surgery Saturday night was successful, and the Prime Minister is said to be…

The Housing Ministry will publish tenders for construction over more than 1,000 new homes in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem on Sunday. The Jerusalem tenders will include projects in historically Jewish eastern and northern Jerusalem neighborhoods that were officially annexed to Israel following the Six Day War. The Palestinian Authority continues to demand the neighborhoods as…

With the cooperation of the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, there will be a total of 331 new immigrants (olim) from North America landing in Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday, August 13, 2013. A customary arrival ceremony will be held in their honor with the presence of many of Israel’s dignitaries. This flight will mark the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was recovering on Sunday morning after undergoing an emergency hernia operation overnight, his office said in a statement. The surgery, which took place at the Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem, was successful and lasted about an hour, said the Prime Minister’s Office. Netanyahu, 63, is expected to be discharged on…

Hamas plans to publicly execute two prisoners in Gaza this week as a “lesson” to others, according to Amnesty International. The organization has described the move as “deeply disturbing,” reported the British Guardian. The human rights organization said a 23-year-old man had been sentenced to death for “collaboration with an enemy entity,” He told his…

A wave of bomb attacks hit Iraq over the weekend, as people celebrated the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of Ramadan, with more than 60 reported dead. The BBC reported that 11 bombs targeted both Shiite and Sunni areas of the capital, Baghdad, hitting cafes, markets and restaurants in at least nine different districts.…

In Southern Yemen, a suspected U.S. drone strike struck down two al-Qaeda militants on Saturday, USA Today reports. This marks the ninth such strike in Yemen since July 27.   According to reports, the U.S. drone also wounded another two militants, leaving one seriously injured. The four militants had been driving in a car near…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a letter Saturday evening to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in which he complained that Palestinian Authority (PA) incitement against Israel is continuing even after a return to U.S.-brokered “peace negotiations” between Israel and the PA was announced. “Incitement and peace do not go together,” wrote Netanyahu. “Instead of…

Turkey plans to pull its troops from UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, according to Turkish and UN sources. The announcement came a day after two Turkish Airlines pilots were kidnapped by unknown attackers. The pilots were seized early Friday on a road leading out of Beirut airport, in an apparent bid to secure the release of Lebanese pilgrims held…

Masoud Barzani, president of the autonomous Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, issued a warning to jihadist groups in northern Syria, Saturday. Calling on Kurdish parties in Iraq to launch an investigation into alleged massacres by Islamists against Syria’s Kurdish population, Barzani warned that if such reports were found to be true, the KRG would…

A ten-year-old boy and four men aged 50 to 60 drowned in the course of the weekend. At around 7:30 p.m. Friday, an MDA team arrived at Charles Clore beach in Tel Aviv, where a 10-year-old boy was pulled out of the water after he had drowned. He was unconscious and had no pulse. He…

Israel is to vaccinate all children against polio, after “thousands” of people in the south of the country were found to be carriers, Health Minister Yael German said on Saturday. The minister said that there is no plan to inoculate adults at this point, but assured the public that the ministry “has its finger on…

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon called reports that Israel struck a terrorist target in Sinai “rumors and speculations” but did not deny them outright. “We will not allow rumors and speculations, like the ones that developed in the last 24 hours, to hurt the peace treaty” between Israel and Egypt, he said, as Al Qaeda affiliated…

The Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, General Mark A. Welsh, departed Israel on Thursday, concluding a four-day work visit, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement. The General was hosted by the Commander of the Israel Air Force Major General Amir Eshel. Heidi Grant, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air…

Ansar Bait El Maqdis, an Al Qaeda affiliate in the Sinai peninsula, vowed revenge Saturday after four of its members were killed in an alleged Israeli airstrike as they prepared to launch a missile at Israel. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis said four of its members belonging to Sinai tribes had been killed by Israeli drones on…

The Ministry of Health decided on Friday that the operation to vaccinate children against the polio virus will be expanded to include children in all of Israel. Until now, only children from southern Israel were given the vaccine. As of Sunday, all children in Israel born from 2004 and onwards will be called to be…

Israeli authorities shut down Eilat’s airport on Thursday after Egypt sent a warning about an attack originating in the Sinai, a senior military source told the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency on Friday. Egyptian intelligence agents feared that armed groups were preparing to target security buildings in the Sinai including sites along the Suez canal, reported…

A Fatah MP warned of an impending security campaign by Hamas in Gaza, after its security forces raided the homes of several Fatah leaders in the enclave, reported the Ma’an news agency. Majed Abu Shamallah told the news agency Hamas forces raided the home of Khalil Abu Hasna, the executive director of the National Commission…

Controversial atheist British professor Richard Dawkins has provoked outrage in a tweet he made deriding the lack of academic achievements by Muslims. On Thursday, the best-selling author of “The God Delusion,” tweeted that: “All the world’s Muslims have fewer Nobel Prizes than Trinity College, Cambridge. They did great things in the Middle Ages, though.” That…

At least fourteen Al Qaeda terrorists have been killed in three US drone strikes in  single day, according to Yemeni officials.  Drone strikes have been commonly employed to strike at the heart of Al Qaeda’s leadership, and have been stepped up following alleged threats to attack US embassies in the Middle East. Those fear led…

Egypt denied on Friday evening that Israel had carried out an airstrike in the Sinai. At least five Egyptian terrorists were reportedly killed as they prepared to launch a rocket into Israel. Some sources spoke of an Israeli air strike conducted from Israeli air space, but the Egyptian military denied this. “There is no truth…

Two Jewish British teenage girls arrived home on Friday, badly burned after acid was hurled in their faces in Zanzibar, while the island’s authorities offered a reward for the capture of their attackers. AFP reported that Katie Gee and Kirstie Trup, both 18, were flown to a Royal Air Force (RAF) base in London and…

The Health Ministry has high hopes for the ongoing mass immunization program in southern Israel, a response to the discovery that roughly 2.5% of children living in the region carry the polio virus. “I hope we’ll manage to eradicate this virus, which is fairly stubborn,” Health Minister Yael German said, speaking to Walla! News. The…

United States Secretary of State John Kerry and other top U.S. officials met Thursday evening with a small group of Jewish community leaders to ask for their support for the diplomatic talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The talks are necessary for Israel, he argued, in part because Israel faces the threat of diplomatic isolation…

In Washington, the U.S. State Department has said that negotiations between Israel and PA leaders will resume on August 14, 2013, Reuters reported. During last month’s negotiations mediated by the U.S. in Washington, both sides were in agreement to settle their differences in the coming months. There have been no negotiations for nearly three years.…

Egyptian military forces have captured over 100 Islamist terrorists in recent days – one third of them from Gaza. All were carrying phony Egyptian identity cards. They were arrested in northern Sinai, near Gaza, with some arrested south of Eilat. The false identity cards were probably produced in Gaza, Egyptian officials said, using machinery that…

President Barack Obama will award an Israeli-American professor with the Presidential Medal of Freedom later this year, it was announced Thursday. The White House announced that Daniel Kahneman, a professor emeritus of psychology at Princeton University and a Nobel laureate in economics, is one of 16 people who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.…

Some two hours after it was ordered closed, the Eilat Airport was reopened. Planes will begin arriving and leaving the airport before midnight Thursday. The reopening was ordered by IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. Earlier, the airport was ordered closed, although the IDF did not give any specific reason for the closing. Officials in…

The Syrian army came dangerously close to the Israeli border on Thursday as it tried to carry out an unsuccessful airstrike on the rebels fighting to oust President Bashar Al-Assad. Reports in the Syrian media indicated that the army launched an airstrike on a rebel stronghold in the town of Elhara, which is located just…

A suicide bomber has killed 29 mourners at a funeral in Quetta, Pakistan. Victims of the attack were attending the funeral of a local police officer who was gunned down earlier in the morning according to a Reuters reporter who was present. Provincial Chief Secretary Police Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad confirmed at least 29 dead and 62…

Cyprus, Greece and Israel signed a deal on Thursday to cooperate over energy and aiming at securing Europe’s energy supply. A memorandum of understanding was signed by Cypriot Energy Minister George Lakkotrypis, his Greek counterpart Yannis Maniatis and Israel’s Silvan Shalom. A statement said the three countries welcomed joint projects in the energy sector to…

The IDF ordered the immediate shutdown of the airport at Eilat Thursday to all arriving and departing flights, following an unspecified security assessment. The assessment is most likely linked to terrorist activity in the Sinai desert, which borders on the southern port city. Takeoffs of flights headed north were initially allowed to take place but…

In the tourist filled location of Stone Town, Zanzibar, two Jewish British teens had acid thrown in their faces Wednesday by men driving by on a moped. The incident followed two previous attacks they had suffered at the hands of locals. The Telegraph reported that Katie Gee and Kristie Trup, both 18 years old, were on…

An IDF commander who lost his foot was personally involved in apprehending a Palestinian Authority Arab who was found with a shotgun on Wednesday evening. The incident occurred near the PA Arab village of Beit Dajan, east of Shechem. An IDF force led by the commander of the Shomron Brigade, Yoav Yarom, located the shotgun…

The Civil Administration on Wednesday authorized construction of 878 housing units in Judea and Samaria. The units were approved for towns in the Binyamin region, the Jordan Valley, and Gush Etzion, Ha’aretz reported Thursday. The approvals had been set to be issued several weeks ago, but were postponed due to the efforts to restart negotiations…

A drone strike  – the sixth such strike in two weeks – has killed at least six people travelling in a convoy in Mareb province, in southeastern Yemen. Four of the dead are believed to be Al Qaeda terrorists, and the remaining two are civilians. Speaking to CNN, an unnamed security official explained that “Mareb was a previous stronghold for…

Terrorists from Hamas-controlled Gaza fired a Qassam rocket towards the Eshkol Regional Council on Wednesday night. The rocket exploded in an open region, causing no physical injuries or damages. Local residents said that the “Red Alert” warning siren had not gone off before the rocket exploded. Israel and Hamas agreed to an Egyptian-brokered “ceasefire” after…

Yemen says it has foiled an al-Qaeda plot to blow up oil pipelines and seize some of the country’s main ports, the BBC reported Wednesday. Security remains tight, with hundreds of armored vehicles deployed to protect key targets. The BBC also cites reports that the US preparing special operations forces for possible strikes against al-Qaeda…

The top US military officer is scheduled to arrive in Israel and Jordan next week, in a visit which will focus in part on Iran and the war in Syria, the US military said Wednesday. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet in Israel with his counterpart, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz,…

A powerful blast from a gas leak ripped through a ten-story apartment building setting it ablaze in Argentina’s third largest city Tuesday, leaving at least eight dead and 61 injured. City officials in Rosario said at least 19 people were still missing as hundreds of firefighters and rescuers searched the rubble of the edifice that…

US President Barack Obama has cancelled a planned G20 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to senior administration officials. The decision to cancel the president’s trip to St. Petersburg is in response to growing US frustration at the Russian government’s continued refusal to hand over Edward Snowden over charges of leaking classified information. Only…

The Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA) second-in-command, Michael Morell, says the Syrian civil war is now the greatest threat to U.S. national security, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. The risk, says Morell, is that the Syrian government might collapse and the country would becomes al Qaeda’s new safe haven, supplanting Pakistan. In such a scenario, the…

Billionaire George Soros’ philanthropy is bad news for Israel, according to an in-depth report from the NGO-Monitor watchdog group. The report listed the many causes in Israel, or pertaining to Israel, that are funded by Soros’ Open Society Foundations. Among the top beneficiaries of OSF funding is Human Rights Watch, which has been criticized for…

Despite pledges by US President Barack Obama and key congressional leaders to shield the Israeli Iron Dome from sequestration cuts, Israel has offered to waive funding protection, reports Defense News, which says Israel has been “insisting it should bear its share of the burden.” “Our position is we must bear the burden that our American…

Pro-Israel activists have derided the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) anti-Israel movement, after a widely-trumpeted “success” in their campaign to isolate Israel was revealed to have been fabricated. In the last few years, anti-Israel activists have embarked on a campaign to isolate the State of Israel politically and economically, calling for international boycotts and sanctions…

The US State Department on Tuesday ordered all non-essential staff out of Yemen and told US citizens to leave the country “immediately” over terrorism concerns, reported AFP. The latest warning comes after the closure of some two dozen US missions across the Middle East and Africa and reports of intercepted messages from Al-Qaeda’s top leader…

A poll released by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) has shed significant light on attitudes among Israeli Jews and Arabs regarding peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, among other issues. The survey, which was conducted between 28th – 30th July 2013, includes 602 respondents constituting a representative sample of the adult population of Israel, according to IDI. It reveals…

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reported Tuesday on an official Fatah Facebook page that is celebrating murderous terror attacks on Jews, in a list encompassing decades. Fatah is headed by Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the Palestinian Authority with which Israel is currently conducting “peace talks.” Among the celebrated attacks was the most lethal terror attack in Israel’s…