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The Shin Bet has arrested members of the terror cell that carried out the attack on a bus in Tel Aviv Wednesday. According to initial reports, most of the suspects are from the village of Beit Lakiya in the Binyamin region, near Highway 443. The cell’s members, who are identified with Hamas and Islamic Jihad,…

IDF reserve officer Lt. Boris Yarmulnik, 28, died Thursday of wounds he suffered from a terrorist rocket fired by Gazans a day earlier. The rocket was fired at the Eshkol area in the early afternoon, before the “ceasefire” with the terrorists went into effect. Lt. Yarmulnik, a resident of Netanya, is the second IDF soldier…

The UJA-Federation of New York teamed up with Catholic Charities this year to distribute food to the needy in time for Thanksgiving and continue the fight against hunger. The religious charities have partnered to help New York soup kitchens and food pantries in this time of higher demand partly due to the devastating aftermath of…

Terrorists opened fire at an Israeli bus at the Gush Etzion junction on Wednesday night, Kol Yisrael radio reported. No one was hurt in the incident, but the bus was damaged. A later inspection of the bus found holes from a bullet on its walls. IDF forces were searching the area in an attempt to…

A female Arab terrorist attempted to murder an Israel Border Guard on Sultan Suleiman street in Jerusalem. The Arab attacked the officer with a knife outside a police station on the street. The officer fought back his attacker, and was lightly wounded. The terrorist was subdued by several officers near the building. It was just…

Five victims of the bus blast in Tel Aviv Wednesday are still in the hospital, officials at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv said Thursday. A number of them are still in serious condition, and have undergone operations. At least two are likely to be released Thursday, and doctors are hopeful that the other victims will…

Noam Bedein is a photojournalist, lecturer and founder/director of Sderot Media Center. He lives approximately two miles away from the Gaza-Israel border in the missile-battered Israeli city of Sderot. From the last day of Operation Cast Lead (January 18, 2009) until the 1st day of Operation Pillar of Defense, the Gaza Hamas regime launched 2,000 aerial…

On Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that Israel was accepting the U.S.-Egypt brokered cease-fire with Hamas, saying that it would “provide an opportunity for the situation to stabilize and become calmer.” But on his Facebook page Wednesday night, Netanyahu wrote that despite the cease-fire, “it may be necessary for us to conduct a…

After days of unrest in Judea and Samaria in the wake of Operation Pillar of Defense, the IDF conducted a large-scale arrest campaign in the area overnight Wednesday. The IDF was assisted by the Israel Police and Border Guards. Fifty-five terrorists were arrested in the campaign, among them members of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah.…

Syrian warplanes on Wednesday bombarded a hospital in the rebel-held district of the city of Aleppo, causing dozens of casualties, AFP reported, based on a monitoring group. “Dozens of people were killed or injured by an air strike on a building in the district of Shaar” in eastern Aleppo, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights,…

Former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab warned in a BBC interview Wednesday that Syrian policy is controlled by Russia and Iran. Hijab defected earlier this year from the Damascus regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and fled to Jordan. Speaking in Amman, he told the BBC that Assad would never voluntarily surrender power even if offered…

Gaza’s terrorist rulers marked the ceasefire that went into effect on Wednesday evening by continuing to fire rockets at southern Israel. According to Kol Yisrael radio’s midnight newscast, 20 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel since the ceasefire went into effect at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday evening. There were no reports of physical injuries…

Unknown gunmen assassinated the temporary security director for the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, state media reported Wednesday. Col. Faraj al-Dursi was shot dead by three unidentified men in a car in front of his home on Tuesday night, security officials said, according to Libyan state news agency LANA. The gunmen fled the scene and…

A landmark ruling in a New York court allows Israeli terror victims of Hizbullah missile attacks in 2006 to sue the New York branch of a Lebanese bank for handling millions of dollars of transfers. The lawsuit was filed by American, Canadian and Israeli citizens who suffered injuries and property damage in the attack during…

Egyptian protesters firebombed the office of satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera in Cairo on Wednesday, as the third day of violent anti-government demonstrations rages on in the volatile Egyptian capital. Hundreds of protesters reportedly attacked the studio overlooking Tahrir Square with Molotov cocktails, engulfing it in flames. “At about 11 o’clock (1100 GMT) a group of protesters…

The IDF hit more than 1,500 targets in Gaza during Operation Pillar of Defense, according to a statement released Wednesday night. The statement was a summary of the counterterrorist operation, which came to an end after a ceasefire was announced on Wednesday evening. The IDF said it achieved the goals that were set prior to…

Despite a ceasefire that went into effect at 9:00 p.m. (Israel time) on Wednesday evening, the Home Front Command is not taking any chances and schools in southern Israel will remain closed on Thursday. According to the instructions issued by Home Front Command, schools and work places in communities located at a distance of up…

This is the partial text of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, as brokered by Egypt and the U.S. and reported by AFP. “Israel shall stop all hostilities in the Gaza Strip land sea and air, including incursions and targeting of individuals. “All Palestinian factions shall stop all hostilities from the Gaza Strip against…

Two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon towards the Israeli border on Wednesday evening, a Lebanese security official told AFP. “Two rockets were fired, one fell in what was clearly Lebanese territory, the other went towards Israel,” the official said on condition of anonymity. It was not immediately clear where the second rocket fell. On…

An IDF reservist officer suffered critical wounds early Wednesday afternoon when a Hamas Katyusha rocket exploded in the Eshkol area. The injury was only announced in the evening, after the officer’s family was notified. Earlier Wednesday, seven people were injured when a mortar shell struck the Eshkol area. Two of the wounded were taken to…

Egypt announced on Wednesday that a ceasefire had been reached to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, starting later in the day. Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr made the announcement in a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The ceasefire would come into effect at 9 pm, Amr…

As the eight-day holiday of Hanukkah approaches, Israel marks the eighth day of Operation Pillar of Defense by counting the missiles fired. Hanukkah is a holiday especially precious to children, but this year as the festival approaches, Israeli families are focused more on the safety of their children than on shopping for their gifts. Gaza’s…

Iran has sent financial and military aid to Hamas in Gaza in an attempt to boost the efforts of the terrorist group as it continuously and unremittingly launches attacks against the Jewish state, parliament speaker Ali Larijani said on Wednesday. “We are proud to defend the people of Palestine and Hamas … and that our…

As Iran urges Arab nations to send military aid to Gaza to increase its attacks on Israel, Western leaders plainly condemn the terrorism. For the first time, international leaders abandoned attempts to “balance” their  statements about Israel’s response to the constant rocket fire and Wednesday’s bombing attack on a public bus in Tel Aviv, even…

Arabs living in Lebanese refugee camps celebrated Wednesday after a bomb ripped through a bus in Tel Aviv, injuring over twenty people. In Nahr al-Bared camp in north Lebanon muezzins sang out words of praise to G-d via their megaphones, while fireworks lit the sky and terrorists handed out sweets, AFP reported. In Ain al-Hilweh…

Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said the Israeli police had been expecting additional terrorist attacks, similar to the one that shook Tel Aviv Wednesday afternoon. Aharonovitch had previously clarified in an interview with Voice of Israel Radio that the government and security forces were being increasingly vigilant, due to warnings of increased terrorist activity in…

According to the latest reports from Cairo and Israel, U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday evening and asked him to agree to abide by a ceasefire with Hamas. The terms of the ceasefire are not known. Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr, speaking at a joint news conference in…

Egypt and Israel are engaged in a war of words over a possible ceasefire as Hamas continues to attack Israeli civilians and Israel retaliates. Hamas also is reportedly divided over terms of a truce, which its officials have insisted include Israel’s removing the maritime embargo, which is designed to prevent or at least limit the…

IDF soldier Yosef Fartuk, killed in a mortar shell attack Tuesday, wrote on Facebook before his death,” Woe to the first terrorist who falls in my hands.” “Either we enter Gaza or we go home,” he wrote. “I am on my way to Gaza.” The resident of Immanuel, located in central Samaria, was the fourth…

The sole surviving gunman from the 2008 Mumbai attacks that killed a Chabad rabbi and his wife was executed Wednesday, nearly four years after 166 people were killed in a three-day rampage through India’s financial capital, officials announced. Pakistan-born Mohammed Kasab was hanged early Wednesday after President Pranab Mukherjee rejected his pleas for mercy earlier…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met on Tuesday evening with the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. The two made statements to the press, and Netanyahu stressed that while Israel always makes sure to avoid hitting civilian casualties when attacking Gaza, Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorists deliberately fire at innocent civilians in southern Israel.…

The United States criticized Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday, after he once again chose to attack Israel over its counter-terrorist operation in Gaza. In his latest hateful remarks, Erdogan accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza, saying the Jewish state’s air raids could not be considered self-defense. “Israel is committing ethnic cleansing…

Rabbis from the Rabbinical Council of America arrived in Israel on Tuesday for a three-day solidarity mission with residents of the south, who are facing constant rocket and missile attacks by Gaza terrorists. The rabbis started their mission in Kiryat Malachi, where three citizens were killed last week when a missile exploded in a building…

8:09  IDF spokesperson  Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai says a ground operation in Gaza still is an option despite Hamas’ stated assumptions of a truce. 8:03  IDF soldier Yosef Fartuk, killed in a mortar shell attack Tuesday, wrote on Facebook before his death,” The first terrorist will fall in my hands.” “Either we enter Gaza to…

An IDF soldier who was critically wounded in a rocket attack Tuesday evening in the Eshkol region has died. He has been identified as 18-year-old Yosef Fartuk of Emanuel. Fartuk was posthumously promoted from private to corporal. Israeli civilian Alayaan Salem al-Nabari was killed in a mortar shell attack in the Eshkol region at approximately…

An Israeli woman believed to be in her late 50s was wounded Tuesday evening in what appears to have been a terrorist attack. The incident took place near the city of Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. The victim reached an IDF checkpoint, where soldiers called for help. Paramedics said the woman had suffered neck and…

Despite its ongoing attacks on Israel, Hamas found time Tuesday to execute six Gaza residents without trial. The terrorist group claimed the six were “caught red-handed” assisting Israel. The six “possessed hi-tech equipment and filming equipment to take footage of positions,” Hamas commanders said in a radio broadcast. Gaza witnesses said the men were pushed…

The IDF on Tuesday night eliminated a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist who was responsible for firing missiles at Eilat several months ago. Yunus Shaluf, who fired the rockets at Eilat in August from Sinai with the assistance of Sinai Bedouin, was eliminated in an IDF strike on southern Gaza. Meanwhile, an IDF plane on Tuesday…

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Israel on Tuesday night for meetings with officials, in an attempt to achieve a ceasefire in the fighting between Israel and Gaza. Clinton and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made statements to the press shortly before they met one on one. Netanyahu welcomed Clinton to Jerusalem and noted…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle Tuesday. Before they met, they spoke in the presence of reporters. “I’m very pleased to see you again, Guido,” said Netanyahu. “You’re an old friend and Germany has been constant, supportive, clear-sighted and upright in support and we appreciate it. As we speak right…

Anti-Israel demonstrators gathered outside of the Israeli embassy in Denmark, throwing fireworks and spraying the embassy walls with graffiti. Some 20 protesters assembled outside the embassy in Hellerup Sunday evening and spray-painted the words “Child killers” on the white walls that surround the Israeli diplomatic mission.  “There were between 20 and 30 people that congregated…

A rocket exploded in an open area near an Arab village in Gush Etzion around 2:15 p.m. as sirens wailed in Jerusalem during another barrage of rockets and missiles unleashed by Hamas. The missile exploded in an open area, and no one was injured. Minutes before the sirens rang out, an AFP correspondent in Gaza City…

Hizbullah is supplying long-range missiles to Hamas even as Israel’s Iron Dome system blows them up after launching, a Lebanese newspaper claims with pride. The claim is unsubstatiated by other sources, but if true, implies the compliance of Egypt. The Al-Ahkbar website and newspaper, which previously published WikiLeaks material before they were released, claimed that…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held a video conference on Monday with volunteers who are working to assist in the national public diplomacy efforts of the State of Israel. Participating in the video conference were personnel from the Prime Minister’s Office National Information Directorate, the Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Ministry, the IDF Spokesperson’s Office New…

A delegation of the European Jewish Union (EJU) and of the European Jewish Parliament (EJP) delivered humanitarian aid Monday to Israeli soldiers on the front line. The delegation, led by EJU President Igor Kolomoisky and EJP’s co-chairs Joel Rubinfeld and Vadim Rabinovich, launched an extensive program aimed at providing humanitarian support for the Israeli Defense…

Pillar of Defense Live Blog: Day Seven 14:14  Multiple warnings of missiles in Jerusalem and Gush Etzion 14:09 Hamas’ leader Khaled Mashaal charges an Israeli ground invasion of Gaza is a bluff. “If you wanted to launch it, you would have done it.” 14:00 Rocket damages home in Gaza Belt area. Possibility of victims trapped…

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will leave Asia on Tuesday to visit Israel and Egypt, an official said, as the United States pushes to avoid an escalation of the Gaza crisis. After departing from her trip with President Barack Obama to Southeast Asia, Clinton will meet Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem as…

A Reserve officer was seriously wounded by shrapnel from a Hamas rocket in the Eshkol region in the Western Negev Tuesday morning and was flown by helicopter to Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv. First aid at the base where he was stationed was credited with saving his life. “We have witnessed this morning an…

A ceasefire between Israel and Gaza could go into effect “within several hours”, according to a Monday night report by the Al-Arabiya network. The report said that the forum of nine senior Israeli ministers was expected to approve an initial outline for a ceasefire with Hamas. According to the outline offered by Egypt and described…

Three U.S. Navy amphibious warships are returning to the eastern Mediterranean to remain on standby in the event they are needed to assist Americans leaving Israel in the coming days, two U.S. officials told CNN on Monday. The officials stressed that an evacuation remains an extremely remote possibility and the Obama administration is not currently…

IDF planes on Monday targeted and eliminated another four senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists. The four were eliminated as part of the IDF’s efforts to dismantle the Hamas terror infrastructure in Gaza, and to restore calm and quiet to southern Israel, the army said in a statement. The four were eliminated in a joint…

A man was lightly hurt Monday evening when fallout from an Iron Dome interception smashed into the windshield of his car. The man was driving through the Bnei Shimon Regional Council district when the Color Red rocket alert siren activated, warning of a Grad Katyusha attack on the area. Within moments, the Iron Dome anti-missile…

Although “only” three Israelis have been killed as a result of the ongoing Hamas terror rocket attacks against Israel, hundreds of thousands of people are suffering – perhaps none more than residents of immigrant absorption centers in southern Israel. Unlike veteran Israeli families, these new immigrants – many of them olim from Ethiopia – have…

Tens of thousands of army reservists are waiting for orders to move into Gaza. A poll shows 84% of Israelis support Pillar of Defense. A ground incursion apparently awaits the outcome of efforts for a truce. A Dialogue survey carried out for the Haaretz newspaper revealed that 39% of respondents support a continuation of aerial…

As Operation Pillar of Defense continues with mounting losses for Gaza Arab terrorists, Arabs in Judea and Samaria have begun to show their solidarity with their fellow Arabs – by rioting and throwing stones and other objects at Israeli cars driving on the roads. A large number of Israeli drivers have reported being targeted in…

A poll conducted on behalf of an Israeli political education group showed that the vast majority of Israelis supported Operation Pillar of Defense. According to the poll, taken by the Panels organization on behalf of the the Israeli Center for Political Training (ICPT), 85% of Israelis think that the operation against Hamas is a good…

There may be talk going on about a ceasefire, but Hamas is not interested, said Hamas top terrorist Khaled Mashaal. Speaking in Gaza Monday afternoon, Mashal said that there would be no compromises with Israel. “There may be or may not be an agreement, but that is up to Israel,” he said. “There are efforts…

Two Katyusha missiles aimed at Israel from Lebanon were “discovered” Monday in the southern region. Both were set to launch, a security source told Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star. The rockets were found in Mazra’at Halta, near Kfat Shuba Hills. They were defused by security forces, the source said, who added that attempts to launch…

Live Blog Pillar of Defense Day 6 14:11  Tens of thousands of army reservists are waiting for orders to move into Gaza. A poll shows 84% of Israelis support Pillar of Defense. A ground incursion apparently awaits the outcome of efforts for a truce. 14:04  Iron Dome intercepts missile on Be’er Sheva. Two others land…

This weekend, the Chairman of News Corp, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, stirred controversy for some of his tweets – and that was because, of course, he was absolutely right. Murdoch tweeted: “Middle East ready to boil over any day. Israel position precarious. Meanwhile watch CNN and AP bias to point of embarrassment.” And he was, of course, prophetically…

Israel has delivered an ultimatum to Hamas through Egypt, according to which the IDF will widen its offensive in Gaza in 36 hours unless Hamas ceases firing rockets and smuggling arms into Gaza, IDF Radio reported Monday morning. Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz told the station that the time left before Israel steps up its attack can…

The flight paths for landing and takeoff in Ben Gurion Airport have been altered, because of the activity of the Iron Dome anti-missile battery in Tel Aviv. The Civilian Aviation Authority (CAA) carried out the changes out of concern that planes could inadvertently be hit by the Iron Dome missiles. Timetables for flights in and…

An explosion in Eilat that was thought to be a rocket attack turned out to be from a blast at work on the security fence, and at least person was treated for shock. Police are investigating to determine if there was any damage. The explosion followed two other blasts that were heard Sunday night, apparently from…

The IDF Sunday night bombed a Gaza City soccer field that camouflaged a Hamas underground missile launching site it used to attack Tel Aviv last Friday. Use of the soccer field to attack Israel explains several Hamas claims in the past that Israel has attacked children playing soccer. Covering an underground missile site with a…

Israel said it had become the victim of a mass cyber-warfare campaign with millions of attempts to hack state websites since the beginning of Pillar of Defense counterterrorist campaign last week. Speaking Sunday ahead of the weekly cabinet meeting, Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said the government was now waging war on “a second front…

Senior PLO official Nabil Shaath said on Sunday that there is full coordination between Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal regarding the negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza. Speaking with the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency, Shaath said that he met with Mashaal and his deputy, Moussa Abu Marzouk, who filled him…

The IDF attacked more than 130 targets in Gaza on Sunday, as Operation Pillar of Defense continued. According to statistics released by the IDF, since the operation began last Wednesday, the IDF has attacked 1,110 targets in Gaza. The Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted more than 35 rockets on Sunday, and a total of 280…

Senator Saxby Chambliss, vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Senator Joe Lieberman, head of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, both expressed support on Sunday for Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza. Both men appeared on Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace. “I don’t think the Israelis really want a ground war,” said Lieberman.…

The Home Front Command (HFC) issued on Sunday updated instructions to Israeli citizens residing in communities located at a distance of up to 40 kilometers from Gaza. The instructions are in effect until Monday at 6:00 p.m. Israeli time, when they may be amended. Residents of communities located at a distance of up to seven…

Hamas cannot possibly say that it is firing rockets at Israel because of the “occupation”, President Shimon Peres said on Sunday. Peres made the remarks during a meeting with French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who arrived for a series of talks with Israel and the Palestinian Authority because of the escalation in the south. “The…

The IDF gathered intelligence on Hamas terror sites months ago, but did not act until the latest escalation. Military spokesmen, in summing up Sunday’s counterterrorist maneuvers, said that details of terror sites have been collected for months, providing the IDF ample information for pinpoint strikes. “Gaza has turned into an Iranian base that places Israeli…

Israel’s campaign against Hamas terrorists in Gaza has led to repercussions in the Jewish world, as anti-Semites and anti-Israel activists around the world organize mass protests against Israel’s defensive actions. As a result, synagogues and Jewish institutions in large cities, including New York, have been advised by police to take extra steps to ensure their…

A resident of Ashdod on Sunday may have saved many lives – when he found an unexploded rocket on the roof of his apartment building. During the five days of Operation Pillar of Defense, hundreds of rockets have been fired at Israel by Gaza Arab terrorists. The Iron Dome missile interception system has had an…

Israel has sent a representative to Cairo for mediated talks with Hamas regarding the possibility of a ceasefire – but these talks have failed, according to a Hamas spokesman quoted by Channel 2‘s Ehud Yaari. Yaari said that Hamas is broadcasting fantastic claims of its alleged military successes against Israel, including the supposed shutting down…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak hinted Sunday that a ground assault on Hamas in Gaza is imminent. “The forces are ready. Everything is prepared, there will be food for everyone, excellent equipment, trained soldiers, the reserves are being absorbed quickly and we will carry out anything that is needed to ensure the aims of the operation…

The Israeli Air Force has issued a new video showing the pinpoint accuracy of aerial bombings and Hamas’ use of holy sites for terror. The surgical missile strike bombed the underground launcher site in the backyard of a mosque without causing damage to the building, used for worship by Muslims. Precision aerial bombings in the…

Two long-range missiles fired by Gaza terrorists at Israel exploded in the port city of Ashdod on Sunday afternoon. Both landed within residential areas in the city. Miraculously, no one was physically injured, although residents suffered anxiety and trauma symptoms in response to the attack. Six people were sent to a center in the city that specializes…

Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria have noticed an upswing in road terror attacks with the advance of Operation Pillar of Defense, and the increase of missile fire from Gaza. The phenomenon of attacks on the roads of Judea, Samaria and outlying neighborhoods of Jerusalem by Palestinian Authority Arabs hurling rocks, firebombs (Molotov cocktails) and…

The Negev town of Ofakim came under heavy missile fire Sunday afternoon as part of a day-long barrage launched by Gaza terrorists at southern Israel. A rocket scored a direct hit on a car, injuring one person seriously. Three others suffered light to moderate wounds. They received treatment from MDA and were evacuated to hospital.…

The Iron Dome system intercepted two missiles headed for Tel Aviv shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday. Another missile landed into the Mediterranean Sea. One person was lightly injured from missile intercept debris that fell on his car. More than 15 other rockets and missiles were launched at southern Israel, and the Iron Dome system intercepted two…

A Hamas missile blasted through the roof of a four-story apartment building in Ashkelon Sunday morning, wounding one person, after several hours of a lull in attacks. The early siren warning saved lives, according to an eyewitness report aired on Voice of Israel government radio. Residents in the building ran to the bomb shelter on…

In a precision strike Sunday afternoon, IDF aircraft eliminated another top Hamas terrorist – Yihya Abiya, responsible for managing and organizing Hamas’ rocket terror campaign against Israel. Gaza Arab sources said that IDF warplanes targeted a building in an area of Gaza City, where Abiya was in hiding. Along with Abiya, three human shield civilians…

Iranian news agencies claimed Saturday that Qatar’s King Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani served Israeli intelligence during his recent visit to Gaza by planting transmitters on senior Hamas members. According to a report published by the semi-official Fars news agency and quoted by the official Press TV, the emir of Qatar “distributed a number…

Britain warned Israel Sunday against launching a ground operation in Gaza, but the United States appeared to leave the decision to Israel. On a visit to the Far East, President Barack H. Obama said that the U.S. is, and will remain, “fully supportive of Israel’s right to defend itself.”  “There is no country in the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Cabinet Israel is ready to “significantly expand” its operation against terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza, but United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is pressing for a truce. “The army is prepared to significantly expand the operation,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. “The soldiers are ready…

The civil war in Syria once again spilled over into Israel on Saturday night. The latest incident occurred as IDF troops were patrolling along the border fence with Syria and their jeep was hit with some bullets that were fired from the Syrian side of the border. No one was hurt, but the IDF acted…

As the IDF’s Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza continues, Hamas has made several totally false claims about damages it has supposedly done to Israeli cities and soldiers. This is done in order to give the public in Gaza a false image as though Hamas is defeating Israel. In response, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit has…

While Gaza’s terrorists have fired hundreds of rockets and missiles into Israel over the past few days, quite a few have landed in Gaza itself. According to statistics published by the IDF on Saturday night as the fourth day of Operation Pillar of Defense ended, 824 rockets have been fired at Israel, 270 of which…

Arab foreign ministers denounced Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza at an emergency meeting in Cairo on Saturday, AFP reported. According to the report, the Arab ministers decided that Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi would head a delegation to Gaza in a show of solidarity, and to review the “usefulness” of their past diplomacy…

The IDF is not ruling out a ground operation in Gaza, the head of the IDF’s Southern Command said on Saturday. Speaking during a press briefing on the fourth day of Operation Pillar of Defense, Maj. Gen. Tal Russo said, “We started with a whole plan, which we are in the middle of carrying out,…

Pro-Israel demonstrators who gathered outside the White House on Thursday were met by pro-Arab protesters who held up signs reading “Free Gaza”, “End the siege on Gaza” and “Stop Israel’s slaughtering in Gaza”. A similar confrontation ocurred Thursday night opposite the Israeli Consulate in New York. The pro-Israel rally wished to express solidarity with Israel, as Operation…

Israel will send a senior official on its behalf to Cairo to sign a ceasefire, the Hizbullah-affiliated channel Al-Mayadeen reported Saturday. According to Palestinian sources, the ceasefire will start Saturday at midnight. Israel has denied the reports and is continuing to mass troops near Gaza and striking terrorist enclaves, smuggling tunnels and rocket launching sites. Egypt’s President…

The Israeli government has approved the call-up of 75,000 reservists to participate in the Gaza fighting, as infantry, armor and engineering units mass near Gaza awaiting the command to enter the Hamas-controlled terror state. No one outside the IDF’s leadership knows if the IDF intends to invade Gaza, when the IDF incursion will start, and…

Arab heads of state and foreign ministers denounced Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza in an emergency meeting in Cairo on Saturday, while visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said disparagingly that Israel was “making an international racket” over civilians killed by Hamas rockets. The session came amid what AFP termed “a flurry of…

The IDF deployed its fifth Iron Dome anti-missile battery to protect the Tel Aviv area Saturday, and the battery went into action immediately, intercepting a rocket fired from Gaza. A second rocket fired at the greater Tel Aviv area was not intercepted, however. It struck an empty area, causing no casualties or damage. Terrorists said…

The IDF’s pounding of Hamas’ infrastructure in Gaza entered its fourth day Saturday, and is deemed as highly successful until this point. The Hamas government headquarters, which housed Gaza “prime minister” Ismail Haniyeh’s offices, were leveled to the ground. In addition, “security compounds, tunnels and electricity transformers” were hit, according to Al Jazeera. “Missiles also…

As the security situation escalates in Israel, Jews abroad and within Israel have opened their hearts, homes and wallets to assist their beleaguered brothers and sisters. Israelis in Judea and Samaria as well as Jerusalem, Modiin and other locations relatively far away from Gaza have begun taking in families from the rocket-plagued areas for the…

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Friday described Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza in as a “blatant aggression against humanity,” the official MENA news agency said. “Egypt will not leave Gaza on its own, and what is happening is a blatant aggression against humanity,” he said, as his prime minister, Hisham Qandil, visited Gaza…

Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers have been trying to develop an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit revealed on Friday. A video published by the IDF Spokesperson shows Hamas conducting a test flight of the drone it was building. Over the past week, during the IDF’s Operation Pillar of Defense, IAF aircraft struck a…

Ahmed Abu Jalal, a senior Hamas terrorist, was killed on Friday evening, along with three of his brothers, in an Israeli air strike in the Maghazi district in central Gaza. According to some reports, Abu Jalal was killed while driving his car, while other reports said the attack was carried out on his home. Israeli officials…

Western nations on Friday pushed Egypt to persuade Hamas terrorists to end rocket attacks from Gaza and backed Israel’s right to self-defense, AFP reported. The West stressed the onus was on Hamas to halt rocket fire into southern Israel, said the report. “Israel has the right to protect its population from these kinds of attacks.…

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak expanded on Friday the call-up of reserve soldiers, a spokesman said, with current reports claiming that Barak has asked for 75,000 reserve soldiers, as Israel pushes ahead with a major offensive against terrorists in Gaza.  The government is currently seeking ministerial approval to recruit the additional reserve soldiers as it presses a…

Three soldiers were wounded Friday afternoon when Gaza terrorists hit the Eshkol region with a short-range rocket. One of the soldiers is in moderate condition, and the other two are in light condition. They were taken to Soroka hospital in Be’er Sheva for treatment. Since the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense on Tuesday, Gaza…

The husband and children of Mirah Scharf are in better condition Friday after being wounded Thursday morning in a rocket attack on Kiryat Malachi. The four remain hospitalized in Tel Hashomer. Father Shmuel, 29, is in moderate condition, four-year-old Yosef Yitzchak is in moderate to light condition, and young Hana (2) and Geula (8 months)…

For the first time since the Hamas terror organization took over Gaza and began firing their barrage of rockets towards Israel, an air raid siren was sounded in Jerusalem and the surrounding area late Friday afternoon. Just one day after terrorists successfully shot off a long-range missile aimed at Tel Aviv, it seems Israel’s capital…

The Legal Forum for the Land of Israel has demanded that Israel stop transferring funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in order to put an end to the situation in which Israelis pay for electricity for the very terrorists who are attempting to murder them. The Finance Ministry is funding a 3 billion shekel guarantee…

Gaza terrorists resumed frequent attacks on southern Israel on Friday morning after a relatively quiet night as the IDF took out more than 150 targets in the area. Rockets were fired at the cities of Ashdod, Ofakim and Ashkelon, as well as smaller communities in the Eshkol and Shaar Hanegev regions. In Ashdod a rocket…

The IDF hit roughly 150 terrorist targets in Gaza over Thursday night. Most of the targets hit were rocket launchers used for mid-range missiles. IAF planes also took out several weapons storage sites. A total of 500 Gaza targets have been hit since the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense. Th Palestinian Authority media reported that…

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz has approved the call-up of 16,000 reserves soldiers. Some of the call-up orders have already been issued, and many reservists are on their way to their units. The decision to call up reservists is part of ongoing planning for a possible ground invasion of Gaza. Terrorists in the area…

IDF commanders began Friday morning to brief their troops in advance of a possible ground operation in Gaza. Thousands of reservists have been called up for duty, and a total of at least 16,000 will be summoned for service. While troops gathered outside Gaza, terrorists in the area continued their attacks on civilian communities in…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak called on Israeli citizens to stay strong on Thursday evening, as the IDF continued operating in Gaza and terrorists continued to attack Israel with rockets. “Citizens of Israel, we are now 28 hours into Operation ‘Pillar of Defense’,” Barak said in a statement. “The IDF has dealt a severe blow to…

The number of rockets fired at Israel by Gaza-based terrorists since the beginning of Operation Pillar of Defense has matched the number of targets the IDF has struck in Gaza. According to Kol Yisrael radio’s hourly news bulletin at 2:00 a.m. Friday morning (Israel time), terrorists fired 300 rockets at Israel from Wednesday to Thursday.…

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will visit Israel next week in an attempt to bring an end to Israel’s military operation in Gaza, it was reported on Thursday. Ban will arrive in Israel on Tuesday and will hold a series of meetings with government officials in Jerusalem and Ramallah. Officials in Jerusalem explained that the…

The United Nations has protested to the Syrian government for claiming it had UN permission to attack rebel opponents in the Golan Heights demilitarized zone, according to a letter revealed Thursday and obtained by AFP. “We regard it as a serious matter that Syrian authorities would claim that a United Nations senior official would approve…

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak this week about the latest Israeli military moves in Gaza after increased rocket attacks from there, CNN reported on Thursday. A senior U.S. defense official confirmed the conversation had taken place in the last few days while Panetta was traveling in Asia. “They…

The IAF launched a second assault wave at Hamas-contolled Gaza Thursday evening, targeting 70 underground missile sites.  The IDF is amassing ground forces near Gaza and preparing for a possible ground assault. Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) told Voice of Israel that Gaza is in for an “unprecedented attack.” Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday approved the call-up of…

The names of the three people who were killed Thursday by a rocket attack in Kiryat Malachi have been published, and one of whom, it was just discovered, was an emissary of Chabad involved in outreach in India, and was in Israel on a short visit in order to give birth and pay respects to the Chabad…

As the south was being hit with hundreds of rockets Thursday, a group of students at the University of Haifa took time today not to mourn the loss of three Israeli lives, but to mourn the loss of a terrorist mastermind who was behind countless attacks and operations aimed at terrorizing the Israeli population.  …

Although over 250 rockets have been fired at Israel since the beginning of operation “Pillar of Defense,” according to IDF spokespersons, things could have been worse still. Since the start of Wednesday’s military operation, the Iron Dome system has intercepted over 80 rockets, en route to cities in the south of the country. The IDF spokesman also said…

A senior German intelligence official announced her resignation Wednesday after it had emerged that she had shredded files that could have been relevant to a nationwide investigation of a neo-Nazi group. Claudia Schmid, head of domestic intelligence in the city-state of Berlin, handed in her resignation after her agency shredded dozens of files on far-right…

Three people were killed as a result of the Grad rocket attack on Kiryat Malachi Thursday morning. The three were killed during or within minutes of the attack, after efforts to save them failed. Six others were injured, including two infants, one of them eight months old. An additional victim, a four year old boy,…

Three people were killed as a result of the Grad rocket attack on Kiryat Malachi Thursday morning. The three were killed during or within minutes of the attack, after efforts to save them failed. Six others were injured, including two infants, one of them eight months old. An additional victim, a four year old boy,…

  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a statement to the international media Thursday afternoon, in which he said Israel would continue to do its best to avoid civilian casualties on the enemy side, despite the fact that the enemy is targeting Israeli civilians and hiding behind its own. He also thanked world leaders including U.S.…

So far, the world’s leaders seem to be backing Israel’s defensive action in Gaza. U.S. President Barack H. Obama and EU Foreign Policy chief Katherine Ashton both expressed understanding, if not support, for Israel’s situation, and for the need to break the back of Hamas and other Gaza terror groups that have rained thousands of…

Gaza-based terrorists fired more than 100 rockets at southern Israel’s communities from Wednesday evening until Thursday morning. Israeli police reported that 104 rockets were counted as of 6:40 a.m. (local time) Thursday morning. The “Red Alert” siren was heard in Be’er Sheva shortly after 2:30 a.m. Two Grad missiles were then fired at the city.…

Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Yaakov Amitai, reportedly left Cairo on Wednesday night, the website of the Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper reported. Sources at the Cairo International Airport told the newspaper that Amitai left on a Jordanian Airlines flight. Amitai, who has been Israeli ambassador to Egypt since December 2011, was summoned earlier by the Egyptian Foreign…

The UN Security Council will meet in emergency session on Wednesday to discuss escalating tensions between Israel and Gaza, diplomats said, according to AFP. The closed meeting will begin at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, and will be attended by representatives from the Israeli and the Palestinian Authority missions, the diplomats said. AFP reported that Egypt…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday promised to launch a new diplomatic push to solve the longstanding crisis over Iran’s disputed nuclear program, AFP reported. Obama said there was still a “window of time” to end the standoff. His comments came amid speculation about possible direct U.S. talks with Iran, which surfaced just before the…

In the wide scale effort to stop terrorists from continuing their barrage of rocket launches into Israel, the IDF Wednesday caused extensive damage to the long-term launch capabilities (over 40 km) of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The army also caused significant damage to underground delivery systems and weapons warehouses in their efforts to weaken the terrorist organizations in…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak held a short news conference Wednesday evening in which they announced the goals of Operation Pillar of Defense, which was launched in Gaza earlier in the day. Prime Minister Netanyahu said that the operation will be widened if necessary. Defense Minister Barak called upon regional leaders…

While the lives of hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in the south of the country have been turned upside down in the past week, it seems that normalcy is not something that will be returning in the immediate future. The Home Front Command announced Wednesday that following the security situation in the south and the…

IDF spokesman, Brigadier General Yoav (Poly) Mordechai held a press conference Wednesday night and addressed the military operation in Gaza. He said the operation was launched “After a long period of several years of unbearable fire aimed at residents of the south, which has intensified even more in recent weeks, including launches aimed at communities…

Israeli President Shimon Peres spoke tonight (Wednesday) with his American counterpart, Barack Obama, about the “Pillar of Defense” operation. Peres told Obama, “this evening we killed a mass murderer, head of Hamas’ military wing, Ahmed Jaabari. He was very extreme and stood behind the attacks and many terrorist activities.” Peres said that Israel did not…

Gaza terrorists fired a rocket at Dimona Wednesday, where Israel’s nuclear reactor is located. The rocket fell wide of its mark and caused no casualties or damage. Channel 2 said this was the first time a terror rocket was fired at the sensitive site. Terrorists fired about 20 Grad Katyusha missiles at Be’er Sheva, after…

Sharp price hikes in Jordan have fanned the flames of anger and sparked riots that the Muslim Brotherhood warns could be the beginning of another Arab Spring revolution across the river from Israel’s eastern border. Jordan announced on Tuesday it would raise fuel prices, including a 53 percent hike on cooking gas, sparking nationwide protests…

Germany’s neo-Nazi NPD party said on Tuesday it had turned to the constitutional court for confirmation of its legitimacy, AFP reported. The move came amid reports that regional interior ministers were seeking to acquire a ban on the group from the same authority. “I just filed a petition a few minutes ago before the Constitutional…

The party, now headed by former Netanyahu advisor Naftali Bennett, announced after the primaries vote count that the four candidates who received the most votes were former Knesset Member Nissan Slomiansky, Ayelet Shaked, incumbent MK Uri Orbach and Avi Vortsman, deputy mayor of Be’er Sheva. All the candidates, including Bennett, will go into the January elections with a merged slate of…

Police have arrested two teenage Arab terrorists invovled in the stabbing the son of Torah sage Rabbi Tzvi Tau in the back in Jerusalem nearly two weeks ago. The attackers are ages 15 and 17. The older terrorist stabbed Avraham Tau in the back as he and another Jewish boy were walking peacefully from the Western Wall…

Arab terrorists Wednesday attacked the south with four Katyusha rockets from the Sinai, an Israeli security source confirmed. No one was injured, and no property damage was reported, but at least one missile exploded between homes. One of the rockets was fired towards the community of Bnei Netzarim without causing any injuries, a security source said.…

“We were born ‘children of red’,” a Sderot fourth-grade girl told President Shimon Peres Wednesday, referring to the Color Red siren that rules their lives and warns them of rocket attacks. “We are children who live in fear that at anytime, we will hear a siren and have to leave the playground and our friends…

A new United Nations nuclear watchdog report is to reveal that Iran has completed installation of 2,700 centrifuges at its underground Fordo plant, enabling it to speed up production of 20 percent pure enriched uranium that could be used for manufacturing a nuclear weapon. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in August that approximately…

A Saudi national was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for plotting attacks on the Texas home of former U.S. president George W. Bush, nuclear plants, and other targets, prosecutors said. Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, 22, was arrested last year after a chemical supplier became suspicious when he tried to order concentrated phenol, a toxic chemical…

The IAF fired a missile at a car in Gaza Wednesday, killing the commander of Hamas’s “military” terror wing, Ahmed Jaabari. Israel’s TV Channel 2 says his son was also killed. There are reports that Raed al-Atar, Commander of Hamas’s southern division, has also been killed. Hamas responded by saying that it was now in…

The Syrian army has pledged to Israel that its soldiers will avoid firing at the Israeli side of the border, Channel 10 News reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the Syrian army sent a message along these lines to Israel, after the IDF fired at Syria twice this week in response to mortar shells…

Polls in the Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home) party’s primaries closed at 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday evening. Final results are expected to be announced at a special press conference on Wednesday afternoon. Each of the 54,000 Jewish Home party members were allowed to vote for up to five candidates, and ranked their preferences from one to…

Youth from Bnei Akiva’s HaShachar Project for Ethiopians arrived on Tuesday evening at the pedestrian mall in Jerusalem, where they celebrated Sigd, a traditional holiday celebrated by the Ethiopian Jewish community. The date for Sigd is the 29th day of the Hebrew month of Heshvan, which marks 50 days after Yom Kippur parallel to the…

A Hamas terrorist who engineered the deaths of 67 Israelis during the Second Intifada, also known as the Oslo War, has said that he has no regrets whatsoever over the Israeli blood he spilled. The terrorist, Abdullah Barghouti, was sentenced to 67 life sentences for his role in the murders of Israelis in a string…

A new United Nations nuclear watchdog report is to reveal that Iran has completed installation of 2,700 centrifuges at its underground Fordo plant, enabling it to speed up production of 20 percent pure enriched uranium that could be used for manufacturing a nuclear weapon. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in August that approximately…

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations announced Monday that the White House has not ruled out cooperating with a pending U.N. probe into the Obama administration’s use of drone strikes, The Hill reported. “Well, we have questions about the appropriateness of that approach,” Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters. “But we will look at it…

Workers have sealed off the tomb of former Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat in Ramallah in preparation for the possible exhumation of his body. “Since this morning, Arafat’s mausoleum was closed as a preliminary step in the investigation of his death,” Tawfiq Tirawi, head of the investigative committee on Arafat’s death, told AFP on Tuesday.…

“Crude and hateful” graffiti was scrawled on the back door of the Jewish Life House at Wheaton College, a small liberal arts college in Norton, Massachusetts. Upon being informed of the incident, Wheaton President Ronald Crutcher sent out an e-mail to students and faculty, affirming that the university would not tolerate such acts of hate.…

A renowned Canadian lawmaker has proposed a motion in the country’s Parliament calling for formal government recognition of some 850,000 Jews forcibly displaced from Arab lands since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler, who has served as Canadian Justice Minister and Attorney General, noted in his motion that by…

A soldier who was very seriously wounded in an attack on Saturday night has seen some improvement in his condition, doctors say.  The soldier suffered serious injuries to the head and eyes in the assault. Four soldiers with the IDF’s Givati brigade were wounded when Gaza terrorists fired an anti-tank missile at a jeep. The…

Tel Aviv University archaeology researchers have discovered unprecedented desecration of Israelite holy sites 3,100 years ago, possibly by Philistines, who the Palestinian Authority say are the original Palestinians. The researchers uncovered a unique 11th-century BCE sacred compound at the site of Tel Beth-Shemesh, west of Jerusalem. The newly discovered sacred complex at the site of…

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-led government is suggesting that the country’s new constitution be based on the principles of Islam. The Muslim Brotherhood’s website published on Monday the draft of the new constitution, which was put together by a special committee numbering 100 members, the majority of which are members of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafist…

“I can hardly stand to see babies being killed by tanks of their own government, but we cannot intervene,” President Shimon Peres told CNN Monday. “The bloodshed which I regret so much in Syria has nothing to do with Israel, nothing whatsoever,” Peres said in an interview. More than 35,000 people are estimated to have been…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced on Monday that the PA will present its bid for non-state UN membership, despite U.S. and Israeli opposition, AFP reported. Following talks with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi in Cairo, “it has been agreed that the request will be presented on November 29,” Abbas told reporters, calling for support…

Israel has become an American economic interest, “beyond the basis of cooperation of common values and democracy”, Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren told Globes news. After keeping a low media profile for months, in order to keep out of the U.S. presidential elections campaign, Oren affirmed that the close strategic relations between the…

IAF aircraft conducted several airstrikes in Gaza on Monday night, hitting at least three targets. According to a statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the aircraft struck two rocket launching sites in northern Gaza and a weapons storage site in central Gaza. The attack, noted the statement, is a response to the continued rocket fire…

The United States won on Monday a new term on the UN Human Rights Council and named the Council’s biased focus on Israel as one of the “flaws” in the controversial body. AFP reported that the United States was one of 18 countries to win places on the 47-member council as of January 1. Rights…

Judging from statements by government officials Monday, indications were that Israel would begin a military campaign against Gaza Arab terrorists sooner rather than later, analysts said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with foreign ambassadors stationed in Israel, said that Israel could no longer tolerate the incessant rocket attacks on Israel by Gaza Arab terrorists.…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas threw cold water on President Barack Obama’s election victory, answering the president with a direct “no” after Obama told him his administration is opposed to the PA’s unilateral move for recognition by the United Nations General Assembly. Abbas’ blunt “no” underscored the new Middle East reality, where the PA chief…

Three months after the expiration of the Tal Law, which regulated exemptions from IDF service for Hareidi yeshiva students, the State informed the High Court that the IDF would begin drafting 18 year old Hareidi students beginning next summer. The plan was revealed as part of the State’s response to a petition by groups demanding…

A mortar shell from Syria landed in the Golan Heights Monday, prompting the IDF to return fire for the second time in two days, the first time it has fired into Syria territory since the Yom Kippur War in 1973. The exchange came just hours after an appeal for restraint from all sides by UN…

The war in southern Israel is still raging. On Monday afternoon, a Grad rocket fired by Gaza Arab terrorists exploded next to a factory in the industrial zone of Netivot. Six people suffered from shock as a result of the attack. Witnesses said that there was a great deal of damage to the structure. This…

A delegation of Italian MPs from different parties will visit Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Monday, to express solidarity with local residents in the wake of recent increase of rocket attacks aimed at civilians and launched from Hamas-controlled Gaza. Kfar Aza is located in the Gaza belt region, an area with Israeli communities, located very close to the…

Iran’s Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi said Monday that Tehran will break the ‘grasping hands’ of newly re-elected U.S. President Barack Obama, the official IRNA news agency reported. He also said Iran would overcome U.S.-led sanctions against the country. “We will break the grasping hands of Obama and we will be successful in bypassing the sanctions,”…

The Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted two Grad rockets aimed at the strategic port city of Ashkelon Monday, but rural areas closer to Gaza sustained a dozen attacks. A missile attack on Ashkelon could be devastating if it were to strike oil and gas storage tanks and pipelines or a huge power station, which supplies electricity…

U.S. President Barack Obama told Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday that his administration opposes his bid for non-state membership of the UN, both sides said, according to an AFP report. “There was a long telephone conversation between president Mahmoud Abbas and Barack Obama,” Abbas’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP. “Obama expressed the…

A Grad terrorist rocket smashed into a Netivot house Monday morning, causing heavy damage. Miraculously, no one was physically injured but four people were treated for shock and evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva. The attack occurred only hours after a ceasefire supposedly went into effect, but like dozens of similar announcements the…

In response to statements by Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas that he would not demand the “right of return” for PA Arabs to the homes that their grandparents and great-grandparents abandoned in the State of Israel – statements Abbas later reneged on – Hamas has issued its own document on the matter. Even if the…

In what may be preparation for an Israeli attack in Gaza, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is set to meet on Monday with foreign ambassadors serving in Israel. During the meeting Netanyahu will present to the ambassadors Israel’s position regarding Gaza, possibly setting the stage for such an attack which will likely lead to condemnation of…

After a day in which more than 100 rockets fired by Gaza terrorists exploded in Israel, it was decided on Sunday evening that school will resume on Monday in all areas of southern Israel. Schools in Gan Yavne and the Gaza belt were closed on Sunday, but local authorities decided that all educational institutions will…

Flickr, one of the largest social photo hosting services, has decided to remove the maps of Israel from its site, the Israeli photography website MegaPixel.co.il has found out. In an article published on the website on Sunday, it was noted that several weeks ago, photographer Giora Pinhasi, a long time writer with MegaPixel, discovered that…

IAF aircraft struck a terror tunnel and a weapons storage site in northern Gaza, as well as a rocket launching site in southern Gaza on Sunday night. According to a statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, direct hits at the targets were identified. All Israeli aircraft safely returned to their bases. “The IDF will not…

Palestinian Authority Arabs unsuccessfully attempted to kidnap Jewish girls from Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron) on Sunday evening. A number of Jewish girls reported that a vehicle driven by PA Arabs stopped next to them as they were standing at a hitchhiking station at the Ofra junction in Binyamin. The Arabs tried to convince…

The Delek group, along with its partner, Avner Oil Exploration Ltd., on Sunday morning informed the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that it was preparing to drill another exploratory well in the Mediterranean. According to geological surveys, the companies said, there was a 70% chance that some 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas were located…

A direct strike on a home in Sderot was reported after 7:30 p.m. Sunday evening, as Gaza terrorists continued to fire a barrage of missiles at Israeli civilian men, women and children.  Initial reports said no one was injured despite the direct hit. Many of the rockets fired Sunday were timed for the end of…

About 5,000 Chabad “shluchim,” or emissaries, came to the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s home in Brooklyn Sunday for their annual get-together. The emissaries serve Jewish communities all over the world, bringing Jewish religious services, holiday celebrations and Torah learning to Jews who would otherwise have a hard time reaching them. They do this at great personal sacrifice,…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also warned Sunday against any plan that President Bashar al-Assad might consider with regard to attempting to cross into Israel. “We are ready for any development on the Syrian border as well,” the prime minister said in his opening remarks at the weekly Sunday cabinet meeting. Syrian Army regulars fired a…

Israeli scientists are getting closer to developing a blood test to detect the asymptomatic, early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers at Tel Aviv University say the earliest clues to the disease are found in metabolic processes which can already been seen in the brain. Shiri Stempler, a PhD candidate at TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine…

Unidentified persons, expected to be Neo-Nazi vandals, uprooted 11 memorial plaques commemorating Jewish Nazi victims in the German city of Greifswald on Friday, the 74th anniversary of Kristallnacht, Die Welt newspaper reported. The plaques were part of the Stolpersteine, meaning “stumbling blocks”, project by German artist Gunter Demnig, memorializing victims of the Nazi regime throughout…

After several warnings were ignored, Israel Defense Forces finally returned fire Sunday following Syrian Army shelling of the Golan Heights by Syrian regulars. Syrian soldiers shelled an IDF outpost, prompting Israeli soldiers to fire warning shots back in response. Israel has repeatedly asked the United Nations peacekeeping forces stationed in the demilitarized zone between the…

Residents of Be’er Sheva joined their brethren in the rest of southern Israel after the Color Red rocket alert siren blared through the city.  At least two explosions, possibly three, sounded throughout the city about 90 seconds after the siren sounded the alert for residents to head for the shelters. At least one – possibly two –…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu pre-empted the usual calls for restraint in the wake of an escalation of Hamas attacks Monday morning and told Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting that Israel “is prepared to escalate.” “The world must realize that Israel won’t sit by idly in the face of attempts to attack us. We are prepared to escalate our actions,”…

Four Israel civilians suffered shrapnel wounds from rockets fired by Gaza terrorists during the Sunday morning rush hour to school and work. All of the victims were evacuated to Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva, where they are being treated for light injuries. One of the victims was wounded in Sderot, located less than a…

An Arab terrorist attacked and stabbed an Israeli woman in her 30s during an attempted carjacking in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem Sunday afternoon. The woman was taken to Hadassah Mt. Scopus Hospital for treatment. Doctors said she suffered light wounds, and would likely be released later Sunday. The incident occurred outside the Jinogli…

Palestinian Authority PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas used the anniversary of Yasser Arafat’s death Sunday to adamantly state he will submit a bid to the United Nations General Assembly (GA) this month for Non-Member status, which would lead to more pressure on PA territorial demands. “We’re going to the United Nations in November 2012, not 2013, or 2014,” Abbas…

Sheldon Adelson wrote in his Yisrael HaYom newspaper Sunday that former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s accusations of his using Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s to interfere in the U.S. elections are baseless. Adelson concluded that Olmert may hold a grudge against his newspaper. Writing under the headline “Conspiracy Theory,” the casino magnate stated that Olmert has no…

Dr. Michael Sharf, head of the Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva, said on Saturday evening that the wounds of the IDF soldier who was hit in a terrorist attack on a jeep near Gaza were life threatening. “Whenever someone is seriously wounded there is a danger to his life,” Dr. Sharf told Channel 2 News.…

IAF aircraft attacked on Saturday night a terrorist squad in northern Gaza that was in the midst of an attempt to fire rockets at southern Israel. The IDF said in a statement that a direct hit was detected. Sources in the Palestinian Authority said that a terrorist from the Islamic Jihad group was killed in…

Hamas parliament member Yahya Moussa, one of the senior officials in the movement, has declared Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas persona non grata in Gaza. In a statement translated by Arab affairs expert Dalit Halevi, Moussa said that he opposes a visit by Abbas to Gaza, because Abbas wants to take advantage of such a…

IAF aircraft attacked a number of terror targets in Gaza overnight Saturday, according to a statement by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. According to the statement, the targets included a weapons manufacturing site, two weapons storage sites and two rocket launching sites in northern Gaza, as well as a terror target and a weapons storage site…

Syrian opposition groups meeting in Doha have agreed in principle on a plan to unite against President Bashar Al-Assad, participants announced following marathon talks. “We have agreed on the main points of the formation of a Syrian national coalition for the forces of the opposition and the revolution. We will continue our discussions on the…

Gaza terrorists fired at least 12 rockets at Israel Saturday, in the aftermath of an attack on an IDF jeep that left four soldiers injured. The rockets reportedly did not cause casualties or damage. Two rockets were fired at the Sderot area, and two at the Eshkol regional authority. IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.…

Heavy fighting between Syrian rebels and troops sent thousands fleeing across the border into Turkey on Friday, AFP reported. The clashes over a border post near the northeastern town of Ras al-Ain killed 46 combatants in two days, a watchdog said, and highlighted the humanitarian crisis and regional dangers posed by Syria’s nearly 20-month conflict.…

The continued spillover of the fighting in Syria into Israel has caused the IDF to change the rules of engagement along the Syrian border. According to a Channel 2 News report on Friday, the new orders instruct soldiers to respond if fire from Syria is dangerous and persistent. The report noted that while Israel wants…

Gaza terrorists hit an IDF jeep with an anti-tank missile early Saturday evening. The IDF Spokesman announced that four soldiers were hurt but gave no specific details regarding their degree of injury. IDF Radio said that on soldier was very seriously wounded and another soldier was “moderately” wounded. There are reports the second soldier is…

More than 10,000 ultraconservative Muslims demonstrated Friday in Tahrir Square central Cairo, demanding that Egypt’s new constitution be based on the rulings of Islamic Sharia law. The rally was organized by a number of minority Salafi groups, but neither the Muslim Brotherhood nor the main Salafist Al-Nour party backed the protest, according to Al Jazeera.…

The usually sunny and warm tourist city of Eilat was hit by rain on Friday afternoon. The rain storm caused flooding and many delays throughout the city. The city’s airport was flooded and closed for flights, cars were seen floating in the streets and houses filled with water as the heavy rains flooded the city.…

Two Kassam rockets fired by Gaza-based terrorists exploded in open areas in the Eshkol Regional Council on Friday afternoon. The rockets did not cause any physical injuries or damage. The rockets were fired despite an Egyptian-brokered “ceasefire” that was supposed to have gone effect in late October, after Gaza-based terrorists fired more than 80 rockets…

President Shimon Peres denied on Friday recent media reports that he is planning to end his term early and run in the next Knesset elections as head of Israel’s center-left bloc. This week it was reported that former Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni has been pressuring Shimon Peres to head a center-left Knesset list in the…

The UN atomic agency said on Friday it will hold in December its first talks with Iran since August over Tehran’s nuclear program, AFP reported. “The IAEA and Iran have agreed to hold further talks on 13 December in Tehran,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) spokeswoman Gill Tudor told AFP in an email, without elaborating.…

Israeli President Shimon Peres on Friday hailed a “determined” stance from Russia on Iran’s nuclear program and said Moscow’s position on a range of issues was close to Israel’s. “The positions of the Russians are much more complex than what we think –more, let’s say, on Israel’s side on a lot of issues,” Peres told…

After condemnation by the United Nations and Israeli warnings to Syria not to enter the demilitarized buffer zone have done nothing to halt the numerous incidences of Syrian spill over into the Golan Heights, Israel’s deputy prime minister Moshe Yaalon warned Damascus on Friday that it would act to defend its sovereignty if the bloody…

More than 8,000 Holocaust survivors have not received reimbursement for medical expenses that they are entitled to get from the Foundation for the Benefit of Holocaust Victims in Israel. Administrators for the fund say they simply cannot meet all the requests for help. “We’re out of money,” declared Fund director Elazar Stern. Stern, formerly the…

A report on births in Israel in 2011 was published Thursday at the annual Israel Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology conference. The report was based on 160,257 recorded births in 2011, which made up 96.3% of births for the year. The report found that use of the epidural painkiller during labor was up to 58%.…

During his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, President Shimon Peres reminded his Russian counterpart of his promise to ensure that Iran does not get nuclear weapons. “The responsibility to ensure that something like the Holocaust never happens again rests on your shoulders,” Peres told Putin. “You said that whoever denies the Holocaust…

A smuggling tunnel exploded in southern Gaza on Thursday evening, as a group of IDF soldiers were in the middle of an operation to uncover it. One of the soldiers was very lightly wounded in the incident. An official IDF statement noted that the explosion caused damage to an empty military vehicle that was standing…

Envoys from the Palestinian Authority on Thursday unveiled the resolution they hope will give them observer membership at the United Nations but held back from setting a date for a vote, AFP reported. Arab League foreign ministers are to discuss the resolution next week, diplomats told AFP. The PA’s mission to the United Nations sent…

Residents of Migron who were expelled from their homes two months ago were shocked recently to discover that Arabs had looted their abandoned homes. Shuki Sat, a resident of Migron, told Arutz Sheva on Thursday that the Arab looting was made possible because the IDF, which was supposed to continue securing Plot 10 that the residents…

What were two skeletons doing at the bottom of a rare Stone Age well being excavated in the Jezreel Valley? Both skeletons were dated along with the well to approximately 8,500 years ago. The excavation was directed by the Israel Antiquities Authority prior to enlarging the Yogev Junction by the National Roads Authority. It will be…

In the aftermath of a divisive election in which some campaigns devolved into harsh recriminations and ugly personal attacks, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued a statement calling on political leaders in Washington, D.C. to strive for “a new day of civility and compromise” and to unite in order to benefit the common good. ADL has…

French President Francois Hollande criticized Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for being “obsessed with Iran” and for turning a recent memorial service, for four Toulouse Jews killed by an Islamic terrorist, as an “election rally.” “Netanyahu came to France to campaign and we knew that,” Hollande told journalists in private remarks which were later leaked…

Billionaire Sheldon Adelson did not do very well in the U.S. elections. According to Israel’s Channel 2 TV, only one of the ten candidates whom he helped financially was elected. Adelson was the biggest donor to Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney’s campaign, and in addition contributed to the campaigns of none Republican contenders for the…

Iran is willing to talk to the U.S. about its nuclear program anytime, anywhere, said Secretary of Iran’s Human Rights Council Mohammad Javad Larijani – “even at the bottom of hell.” However, he said, the negotiations must be based on “fairness,” and pressure by the U.S. to force Iran to do anything would not be…

In an interview with the Travel section of the UK’s Telegraph newspaper, famed Italian tenor, multi-instrumentalist and classical crossover artist Andrea Bocelli spoke affectionately of his time in Israel. In response to the question “Which was your best holiday,” he responded by saying,“A country that has really resonated with me and I was really impressed…

They came from Sweden, Poland, France, and Israel, all for one reason — to rock. The ProgStage 2012 festival brought together several international and local acts in the genre of progressive metal, art rock and alternative hard rock. The festival took place on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the Kinneret. Arutz Sheva’s Israel…

The Israeli Security Agency (ISA, Shabak) and IDF announced Thursday that they had arrested three Arab terrorists who shot at an Israeli vehicle on the access road between the towns of Ma’ale Shomron and Karnei Shomron. The incident occurred on September 30, with a car driven by a resident of Karnei Shomron sustaining substantial damage.…

Fighting between government troops and rebels in Syria has once again spilled over into Israel. On Thursday morning, three mortar shells were fired into Israel, with one of them hitting a neighborhood in the town of Alonei HaBashan, which is several kilometers from the border. None of the shells exploded. IDF sappers rushed to the…

Syria’s foreign ministry warned Palestinian Authority Arabs residing in the country against becoming embroiled in the country’s uprising on Wednesday, AFP reported. “Syria will strongly oppose any attempt to bring the Palestinians into what is happening in Syria,” a ministry source said, according to a report on Syria TV. “All Palestinian factions must keep away…

Two vehicles caught fire on Wednesday night in Jerusalem’s French Hill neighborhood. Firefighters who arrived on the scene said that flammable material, maybe a firebomb, had been thrown at the vehicles. The vehicles sustained severe damage but there were no injuries. Police said they believe that Arabs carried out the attack and added they were…

Project Red Sea set out this past election season to bring the voice of Americans living in Israel to like minded pro-Israel voters in key U.S. states. Through their use of the press, social media and ground efforts, the group brought to these key states their message of what’s good for Israel.  Ruth Lieberman was part…

A U.S. man behind an anti-Muslim film that led to mass protests in the Middle East was sentenced on Wednesday to a year in jail for probation violations, the BBC reported. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula was sentenced by a judge in California after admitting four violations which stem from a 2010 conviction for fraud, said the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu congratulated US President Barack Obama on Wednesday for winning a second term in office and said the strategic alliance between their two countries was “rock solid.” “I want to congratulate President Obama on his reelection,” Netanyahu said during a televised appearance with U.S. ambassador Daniel Shapiro. “I think the United States…

An IDF position near the border with Syria was hit by what appear to be stray bullets Wednesday. No one was hurt and no damage was caused. The IDF said that the bullets appear to be strays from light weapons used in internal fighting in Syria. Three Syrian tanks entered the demilitarized area between Syrian…

Jewish Democrats seeking congressional seats fared better in Tuesday’s election than Jewish Republicans. Lois Frankel and Alan Grayson, both Jewish Democrats, won congressional seats in Florida. On Tuesday, Frankel, 64, a former member of the Florida House and an ex-mayor of West Palm Beach, defeated Adam Hasner, a former majority leader in the Florida state…

Taliban terrorist insurgents told newly re-elected President Barack Obama on Wednesday to admit that the United States has lost the war in Afghanistan and to act accordingly by pulling its troops out of the country immediately. “Obama must by now know that they have lost the war in Afghanistan,” said spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid in a…

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on Wednesday congratulated President Barack Obama on his re-election victory and said he hoped it would strengthen the “friendship” between their two countries. Morsi hoped for a “strengthening of the friendship between the two countries to serve their common interests, namely justice, freedom and peace,” in a telegram of congratulations released…

Turkey is planning to ask NATO for Patriot missiles to help defend its southern region from Syria, said an Ankara source quoted by international media. The missile defense battery would be stationed  along the country’s 910 kilometer (560 mile) border with Syria, said a senior Turkish foreign ministry official. “An imminent official request is to…

With more than a million households still without power in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut brace for another storm: a nor’easter. Some 1.4 million households still have no electricity in the Northeast, and the weather is getting colder. In New York City, some 30,000 people are homeless and now…

Britain is negotiating a military deal with the United Arab Emirates and if successful, will sell the Arab nation 60 new fighter jets. The two countries have already concluded an  agreement that includes a range of defense and bilateral partnerships. British Prime Minister David Cameron met Tuesday with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah and other top Saudi…

Arab media are reporting that rebel forces have shelled the palace of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. The military airport and intelligence headquarters in the capital allegedly were also bombed, according to the pan-Arab Al Arabiya television news network. The unconfirmed report came following an intense round of overnight mortar bombing in the pro-Assad Alawite…

The new chairman of the Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett, made a victory speech shortly after midnight on Tuesday night. With all the ballots counted, Bennett defeated his rival, MK Zevulun Orlev, with a majority of 67%. “If there is anyone who still thinks that religious Zionism has finished its historical role, that it is…

President Barack Obama won 70 percent of the Jewish vote, compared with 74 percent in 2008, according to exit polls. At one point in the campaign, polls showed that Jews would support Obama by only 60-65 percent. In Israel, Romney won more than 80 percent of the vote of Jewish living in the Jewish State,…

A Border Guards officer was wounded Tuesday night when Arabs in the Shuafat area of Jerusalem rioted. The officer was stabbed by one of the rioters. At least seven other officers were injured by rocks thrown by the rioters. Three of the officers, including the stabbing victim, were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment,…

As Americans go to the polls, Kabbalists in Jerusalem are doing their part to help Mitt Romney pull through and win the presidency. Rabbis and students at Yeshivat Hatzot in Jerusalem were reading psalms and conducting special prayers to influence the election, and “turn the hearts of voters to Romney,” one student present at the…

According to an old bit of wisdom, an army marches on its stomach. It stands to reason that the healthier the food that goes into soldiers’ stomachs, the healthier soldiers will be, so the IDF has begun a program designed to encourage soldiers to eat more healthfully, exercise more, and take better care of their…

Seventy years ago Aryeh Sadeh’s life was saved thanks to Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. This week he celebrated his bar mitzvah, and took the opportunity to thank his rescuer yet again. Sadeh, 84, became bar mitzvah 71 years ago but never had a chance to celebrate.…

Israel has filed a formal complaint with the United Nations about the military spillover over the northern border from Syria’s civil war. Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor wrote a scathing letter to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, deeply critical of three tanks that crossed into the demilitarized zone between Syria and Israel last week.…

A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine sailed within 200 miles of the U.S. East Coast, defense officials told the Washington Free Beacon. The report follows by three months a similar revelation by the newspaper that a Russian nuclear sub patrolled the Gulf of Mexico undetected for more than a month.   The submarine off the East…

The Harvard Kennedy School of Government has, once again, provided a platform for Israel’s detractors. Diana Buttu, a former Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) spokeswoman and current fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, “delivered a lecture that purported to discuss the ‘reality’ of the Middle East peace process, but instead disseminated lies to her…

Israel has issued tenders for additional 1,213 homes in areas of Jerusalem restored to the country after the Six-Day War, according to the anti-nationalist Peace Now organization, quoted by AFP. The report was based on Peace Now’s citing tenders published by the Israeli Housing Ministry, for 607 units in the northern Jerusalem area of Pisgat…

According to websites associated with the Fatah movement, Hamas is planning to carry out suicide attacks against Israel from Judea and Samaria, in order to bring down the wrath of the IDF on the Arabs in that region and topple the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority there. The websites have published a document summarizing the contents of…

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has criticized the Ukrainian Opposition Party of Yulia Tymoshenko for having signed a parliamentary alliance that gave legitimacy to a far-right extremist party well known for its anti-Semitic views. ADL National Director, Abraham Foxman issued a statement in which he expressed “alarm” at the strong electoral support for the neo-Nazi Svoboda…

A Turkish court on Tuesday began what Israel calls an in absentia “show trial” of former IDF Chief of Gabi Ashkenazi and three other former senior military officers over the 2010 clash with the terror-linked IHH organization. The prosecutors are demanding multiple life sentences that would amount to 18,000 years in jail for the four officers…

Syrian security forces on Monday shut down all the offices belonging to Hamas in the country, Al-Jazeera reported. Despite previously being close allies, there has been a rift between Hamas and the Syrian regime ever since the uprising against President Bashar Al-Assad began. In the first months of the uprising, Hamas’ leaders expressed support in…

The Palestinian Authority will push on with a bid to achieve non-member status at the United Nations despite pressure to back down, PLO top negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Monday, according to AFP. “No matter what pressure we are facing… we will not go back on our decision,” Erakat said in Amman after talks between…

A Swiss laboratory team has arrived in Ramallah to prepare for the exhumation of former Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, PA sources told AFP on Monday. The team, along with French investigators, is expected to participate in Arafat’s exhumation on November 26, as part of a new investigation into the circumstances of the late leader’s…

Turkey on Monday hosted former Syrian Prime Minister Riyad Hijab, amid a four-day meeting of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) in Doha. The Turkish daily Hurriyet reported that the country’s Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, met with Hijab in his second visit to Turkey since September, following his participation at the gathering of leading Syrian…

At least 50 are dead following a massive suicide bombing in central Syria, activists and state media report. “At least 50 government troops and loyalist militiamen were killed this morning in a car bomb explosion near a military post in the village of Ziyara,” UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman told…

United Nations nuclear agency chief Yukio Amano told the UN General Assembly Monday Iran is not cooperating with its investigation. In his annual report to the world body, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said talks have intensified over the past year. However, he added, “no concrete results have been achieved” thus far.…

An Israeli military jeep was hit Monday by Syrian gunfire on the Golan Heights, AFP reported. IDF soldiers were patrolling this evening near the northern border when they came under gunfire from the Syrian side of the border. The IDF Spokesperson told Arutz Sheva there were no casualties and that the incident is under investigation. According to…

The father of a Jewish family was badly beaten and the family home was completely trashed on Sunday by local youths in Marseille, France.Residents in their Jewish neighborhood are stunned following the incident. Marseilles is home to some 80,000 Jews – 10 percent of the general population but a small fraction compared to the 250,000…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised on Monday that by the time his term as Prime Minister is over, Iran will not have a nuclear weapons program. Speaking to Channel 2, Netanyahu said that if it is necessary, he will lead an independent Israeli attack against Iran, even without the support of the United States. “When…

Only 52 % of Arab-Americans back President Barack Obama, with 16% undecided, and their votes could be the deciding factor in several swing states, according to a poll by the Arab-American Institute. Obama won 67% of the Arab-American vote in 2008, and the new numbers are “signaling a potential loss of some 100,000 voters for…

Microsoft director Steve Ballmer met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Monday on his fourth trip to Israel, this time to discuss cooperation on cloud technology. They discussed Microsoft’s commitment to Israel, its vast investments in the local market and the impact it is having, driving economic growth through national level activity and programs focused on…

Iranian experts have succeeded in building a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) drone which will be unveiled in the coming months, the Mehr news agency reported on Sunday. According to the report, the new drone will be unveiled during the festivities marking the 34th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in mid-winter. Abbas Jam, the lead…

“When members of the Democratic Party booed the inclusion of G-d and Jerusalem in their party platform this year, I thought of my parents,” writes Jewish philanthropist Sheldon Adelson in the Sunday edition of The Wall Street Journal. “They would have been astounded.” Adelson, who has emerged as one of the largest patrons of Republican…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas received a phone call from President Shimon Peres on Sunday, the PA-based WAFA news agency reported. According to the report, the two discussed the peace process. The conversation between the two came after comments Abbas made in an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 News over the weekend caused a hype…

French President Francois Hollande voiced support on Sunday for a transitional Syrian opposition government, AFP reported. According to the report, Hollande also called Iran’s nuclear ambitions a “threat” to the region and the world. “France is very keen on the formation by the opposition of a transitional government that would give it full legitimacy and…

A Channel 2 investigative report says that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the military and intelligence service to prepare for a military strike on Iran in 2010, but met stiff opposition from then-IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and then-Head of Mossad Meir Dagan. While Dagan and Ashkenazi…

Four IDF soldiers were slightly hurt Sunday when a jeep they were in overturned, near Ein Yahav, in the Arava region north of Eilat. The accident occurred in the course of routine military activity. Two soldiers were evacuated in ambulances to Yoseftal Hospital in Eilat, and two others were taken by helicopter to Be’er Sheva’s…

The Ministry of Defense officially announced Sunday that a series of tests to the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system has been successfully completed, in an important step in the IDF’s plans to upgrade the system. Following the tests, IDF forces will acquire an additional Iron Dome battery, this one with improved capabilities. The new battery,…

China’s Ministry of Industry in recent weeks published statistics on the growing kosher industry in the country. The bottom line: There has been a “kosher revolution” in China, with more kosher products produced for domestic use and export than ever. According to the report, the amount of kosher production rose 60% in 2012, compared to…

The United Kingdom’s Foreign Office has raised its terror threat level in Egypt from “general” to “high”, following reports of an al Qaeda-inspired plot to attack western tourists. In recent days, Egyptian police reported they had foiled a terror attack aimed at tourists in northern Sinai, close to the border with Gaza. The Foreign Office…

A huge bomb exploded Sunday morning at a Damascus hotel often used by United Nations observers, state media reported. Several people were wounded in the explosions at the Dama Rose hotel, and it is not known the extent of their injuries or if there were deaths. No one has taken responsibility for the bombing, which…

Russian police have detained 25 men wearing black field overcoats with images of Nazi swastikas in Moscow Sunday, the RIA Novosti news service reported. The arrests coincided with Unity Day, a national holiday established by the Kremlin in 2005 to replace commemorations of the Bolshevik Revolution. “The Moscow police have detained 25 people in black…

Gunmen killed three Egyptian policemen and seriously wounded a fourth on Saturday in El-Arish, in the Sinai Peninsula, state television said. “Armed men who might belong to a jihadist group attacked a police vehicle and fired on its passengers before fleeing,” a security source was quoted by AFP as having said. “The dead and wounded…

Arutz Sheva visited the annual Go4Europe conference, one of the most prestigious conferences in Israel. Go4Europe addresses the current issues of raising funds and establishing strategic alliances in Europe. “The conference was established ten years ago,” said Edouard Cukierman of Cukierman Co. Investment House, one of the organizers of Go4Europe. “We bring people from Europe…

Gaza terrorists attack Israel with their 611th rocket this year on Sunday, and media continue to ignore the missile strikes – so long as there are no injuries or damage. Sunday’s Qassam rocket struck in the early morning in the Western Negev and caused no physical damage or damage. The daily trauma of children having…

Iran has suspended 20-percent uranium enrichment in order to have Western-imposed sanctions lifted, a parliament member told the Al Arabiya network on Saturday. Earlier, according to the report, Foreign Policy and National Security Commission of Parliament Mohammad Hossein Asfari told the ISNA news agency that Tehran’s move was a “good will” gesture, hoping that Western…

The spokesman for the Palestinian Authority (PA), Nabil Abu Rudeineh, published a clarification Saturday evening following an interview PA head Mahmoud Abbas gave Israel’s Channel 2 television news. After Hamas accused Abbas of giving up the “right of return” of Arabs to territory officially within Israel, Abu Rudeinieh stated: “The Chairman of the PA and…

President Shimon Peres on Saturday saluted as “courageous” remarks by Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas in which he appears to relinquish the demand for a “right to return” of PA Arabs to their former homes in what is now Israel. “Abu Mazen’s courageous words prove that Israel has a real partner for peace,” Peres…