Category: News

The Obama administration ordered the Venezuelan consul general in Miami expelled on Sunday. The State Department declared the diplomat, Livia Acosta Noguera, persona non grata and gave her until Tuesday to leave the United States. Spokesman Mark Toner said the Venezuelan government was notified of the decision on Friday, giving her 72 hours to depart…

A British Minister on Tuesday kept up his nation’s mantra that Israeli construction is a material bar to final status talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority saying it is “counter productive.” Addressing a group of Bar-Ilan University political science students this afternoon, Burt said “Many will argue that now is not the time to…

Mitt Romney has won the New Hampshire primary, according to CNN projections, with 35% of the votes. The network is reporting that voters turned out in expected record numbers Tuesday in the second contest of the Republican presidential race. The CNN projection, based on early results and exit poll data, came after final polls closed…

Senior diplomatic sources in Jerusalem and Ramallah say the recent round of diplomatic contacts in Amman, Jordan that ended on Monday aren’t producing results. In a conversation with Arutz Sheva a senior Israeli source said Palestinian Authority officials refuse to back down from their unilateralist tack and continue to blame Israel for their refusal to…

Two Kuwaiti military officers attached to an Arab League observer team in Syria were slightly injured when a mob attacked their delegation on Monday. “The team of the Arab League mission in Syria was attacked by unknown protesters,” a spokesman for the Kuwait general staff told the official Kuwait News Agency (Kuna). The two officers…

IDF spokesman Brigadier General Yoav “Poly” Mordechai said Tuesday that journalists who reported on preparations to absorb Alawite refugees from Syria had taken Chief of Staff Benny Ganz “out of context.” Mordecai wrote, “During the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting a Knesset member asked the CoS whether we are prepared for an eventuality in…

Lebanese security officials on Tuesday reported the Army had begun searching for an ‘object’ dropped by an IAF fighter between the towns of Telos and Holeh in Southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s state-run news agency reported that Israeli aircraft dropped the unidentified object in the valley between the two towns. However, security forces were said to have…

In yet another sign of tensions in the Persian Gulf the Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera is being jammed by Tehran “Al Jazeera is affected… from two different locations in Iran,” near Tehran and near the northwestern city of Maragheh, the satellite operator Arabsat said in a statement received on Tuesday. Arabsat on Sunday announced…

Syrian President Bashar Assad dug himself deeper in a hole Tuesday, stating in a “major” speech that the “people” are behind him and blaming a “foreign conspiracy” for the slaughter of protesters. He told his country that “nobody is deceived anymore” by the alleged conspiracy, which he vowed will fail. Echoing the cries of Hosni…

Israel told visiting Indian officials Monday it backs India’s becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, Israel told visiting Indian officials Monday it backs its becoming a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, where the Palestinian Authority lacked only vote to win its bid for full membership in the international…

The Google Internet search engine actually is a camouflaged spying tool, charges Iran’s police chief, but the Islamic Republic’s regime has a solution: a national Internet, under its control. Police chief Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam told the Iranian labor website, “By launching own national internet, we are not cutting our cyber relations abroad and with international…

IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said Tuesday that he expects Syrian President Bashar Assad to lose power and that the IDF is planning to absorb a large influx of Alawite Muslim refugees in the Golan Heights. The Alawites are a minority in Syria but rule the country under Assad, and a full-scale presence in…

Peace Now revealed a sharp increase in building in Judea and Samaria on Tuesday, and the chairman of the Samaria Regional Council responded by thanking the left-wing group for proving Zionism is alive and well. New housing starts last rose by 10 percent from a year earlier, when the temporary building freeze was in effect…

Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika said he was pleased by a report released by the extreme-leftist Peace Now organization saying construction in Judea and Samaria has increased by 20%. “I’m glad that Peace Now uses the funds it receives from the European Union to document the Zionist settlement of Eretz Israel for future generations,”…

A Knesset ministerial committee has passed a bill imposing a fine of NIS 100,000 on perpetrators who use as a slur any Holocaust symbol or calls anyone a “Nazi.” The measure was proposed by National Union Knesset Member Uri Ariel after a demonstration by hareidi religious protesters who pinned yellow stars on the chest of…

The FBI has arrested a 25-year-old Muslim extremist who was planning a terrorist attack in Tampa, Florida. Sami Osmakac was caught with an AK-47, a pistol and explosives, as well as a car bomb that he purchased from an undercover agent, according to FBI officials. The weapons had been disarmed before the sale, officials said.…

Next March,  the Bible College in Bethlehem will host dozens of US theologians, activists and ministries for the “Christ at the Checkpoint 2012 Conference”. It is to be a major religious and political event meant to demonize Israel and to support the Palestinian Intifada against the “ethnocentric” Jewish State. The impressive range of Christian theologians…

The second round of talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority has ended in the Jordanian capital. Israeli government negotiator Yitzchak Molcho and chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat met as they did last week in an effort to breathe new life into the moribund final status talks.  Representatives from the Quartet of peacekeeping nations — the…

The Knesset approved late Monday night the law that would prevent infiltrations into Israel, Channel 2 News reported. The law allows for the arrest and detention of infiltrators for a period of three years. It also includes a provision that permits imposing a life sentence on any infiltrator convicted of property related crimes. Another provision…

Tunisia’s Islamic leadership nixed anti-Semitic chants by a handful of radical Muslims Monday upon the arrival of visiting Hamas de facto Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh from Gaza. “Ennahda condemns these slogans which do not represent Islam’s spirit or teachings, and considers those who raised them as a marginal group,” Rashid Ghannouchi emphasized in a statement.…

The assets of ousted Fatah strongman Muhammad Dahlan were seized by Jordanian authorities on Monday as officials in Ramallah pursue corruption charges against him. According to Jordan’s Al-Rai newspaper, the head of Public Prosecutions in Amman ordered the Central Bank of Jordan to foreclose the real estate and financial holdings of Dahlan, his brother and…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday reiterated his opposition to the so-called Outpost Law aimed at normalizing the status of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. The bill, proposed by Welfare and Social Services Minister Zevulun Orlev, would forbid demolitions and evictions in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria that have stood for four years…

Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists were out on the road in Judea and Samaria attacking vehicles with Israeli license plates late Monday afternoon, hurling rocks in an attempt to force drivers to lose control of their cars. Rocks were hurled at vehicles traveling south of the Jewish community of Shilo, in the Samaria region, with one…

The Palestinian Authority has again praised the perpetrator of the worst terrorist attack in Israeli history, this time during television broadcasts to mark the 47th anniversary of the Fatah faction. The videos were broadcast over PA TV (Fatah) on December 30 and 31, 2011 and January 1, 2, and 4, 2012. In 1978, Dalal Mughrabi…

The father of former kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit announced Monday that he intends to run as a candidate for the Knesset in the next election, and informed Labor Party chairwoman Shelly Yechimovich that he intends to run for a place on the party’s list. “After years of public struggle in which I was privileged to…

Security forces raided a small outpost community in Samaria Sunday night, destroyed structures and evicted residents. The demolished community is named Gal Yosef Hill and is situated next to Adei Ad, in the Shilo Bloc of the Binyamin region. Last week, the IDF issued an administrative distancing order against a resident of Gal Yosef. MK…

Israel Aerospace Industries has won the $1.1 billion prize in competition for supplying weapons systems to an unidentified Asian country. Israel previously has exported to India, China, Singapore and South Korea. The sale over a period of four years will boost Israel Aerospace’s revenues, which were $3.15 billion for all of 2010. Although the purchasing country…

The Shin Bet has allowed the publication of the fact that seven Arabs from the village of Harbata al-Masbah have been arrested for attacks on cars traveling down Route 443. The suspects are aged 20 to 31. They have admitted under interrogation that they threw fire bombs and rocks at cars on the central highway…

Iran has sentenced an alleged US spy to death, escalating tensions in a war of nerves between the Obama administration and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, an American of Iranian descent, is a former U.S. Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and was a translator. Iran alleges he spied for the Central…

Casino billionaire tycoon Sheldon Adelson has donated $5 million to a political action group (PAC) backing Newt Gingrich as the Republican party presidential nomine to face President Barack Obama in November. Adelson’s contribution gives a critical boost to Gingrich, who lost last week’s Iowa caucus after winner Mitt Romney spent millions of dollars on advertisements…

Pro-Israel philanthropist Newton Becker died on Sunday, January 2, The Jewish Journal reported. Becker is survived by his wife, Rochelle, and his son, David. He died at the age of 83 after a long struggle with illness. He lived in Bel Air. Becker was a prolific donor who had a reputation for humility, said the…

Bulgaria’s security services recently thwarted a planned terror attack against Israeli tourists in the capital Sofia, it was published on Sunday. According to reports, the Bulgarians were able to locate suspicious suitcases that had been loaded with explosives and which the terrorists planned to blow up on a bus carrying Israelis who were on their…

Hamas’ Gaza prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, promised “difficult days” for Israel on Sunday, AFP reported. Speaking at a rally in the Tunisian capital of Tunis, Haniyeh urged Arab Spring revolutionaries to fight for an independent Palestine. AFP reported that he received an ovation from a crowd of some 5,000 men, women and children, who gathered…

Iran has the ability to temporarily block the Strait of Hormuz but the U.S. “would take action and reopen” it, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey said Sunday, making clear to Iran that in threatening to close the straits, it is literally playing with fire. . “They’ve invested in capabilities that could, in…

Iran has again threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, this time using the excuse of a military exercise set for January 27. According to Esmaeil Kowsari, a Iranian legislator who is a member of the parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, the country’s elite Revolutionary Guards corp will launch the naval exercise. Kowsari…

  MK Rav Menachem Moses of United Torah Judaism voiced opposition Sunday to attempts to tear down the Ulpena Neighborhood of Beit El. MK Moses, who is also Deputy Education Minister, was given a VIP tour of Beit El by his colleague, MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh), Chairman of the National Union. In the course of…

Iran’s underground uranium enrichment plant will go into operation “in the near future,” regime officials claim. “The Fordow nuclear enrichment plant will be operational in the near future … 20%, 3.5% and 4% enriched uranium can be produced at this site,” Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization Fereydoun Abbasi Davani director was quoted as saying by the…

The Arab League is meeting in Cairo to decide whether it’s time to invite the United Nations to join its mission to Syria, after repeatedly having to increase its monitor force to deal with escalations in clashes and a growing death toll that is rising by the thousands. Despite the start of the Arab League’s…

A Dubai fitness center has pulled an ad that featured train tracks to the Auschwitz death camp and the slogan,” Kiss your calories goodbye.” Phil Parkinson, manager of the Circuit Factory in Dubai, admitted he was “not surprised people have reacted so strongly regarding the poster,” according to GulfNews.com. “The creative team got it badly…

At least 11 people died early Sunday in clashes between government forces and army defectors in the province of Dera’a. According to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the battle took place at the village of Basr al-Harir.  By mid-afternoon, the Syrian Revolution General Commission had also reported five more killed, including two who…

Border Police Sunday morning foiled large-scale terrorist attacks by Palestinian Authority Arabs who carried pipe bombs and an 8-inch commando knife when they were searched at a security fence checkpoint in Samaria. Border Police arrested four terrorists from the village of Balata, near Shechem in central Samaria. In addition to the bombs and knife, police…

Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye, who fought German soldiers in WW II and later thought about converting to Judaism, led a three-Senator delegation to Israel Sunday, starting off with a meeting with President Shimon Peres. Sen. Inouye, chairman of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, is being accompanied by the committee vice chairman, Republican Sen. Thad Cochran,…

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has just completed a trip to Iran. He is trying to cool down two crises. The first is the escalating talk of war and sanctions between the West and Iran and the second is the eruption of conflict between Sunnis and Shiites triggered by the governmental crisis in Iraq. If…

  The Iranian Foreign Ministry thanked the United States on Saturday after an American Navy destroyer rescued 13 of its fishermen from Somali priates. U.S. officials had announced Friday the fishermen were picked up after the rescue a day earlier, more than 40 days after their boat was captured in the northern Arabian Sea.    …

Is Google supporting the revolution in Syria? The answer is yes, according to a report on a Syrian website on Saturday. The website, Damas Post, said that Google Earth has been replacing some of the street names in the country with names identifiable with the ten-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad. The report was presented…

The rate of IDF combat service by Jewish youth in Judea and Samaria – ‘settlers’ in mainstream media language – is 60 percent higher than the countrywide rate. Last month’s infiltration of an IDF base in Samaria by approximately 50 youth was headlined for days by local and foreign media as supposed evidence of an…

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood denied on Saturday that it plans to uphold the peace treaty that was signed between Israel and Egypt in 1979, Channel 10 News reported. According to the report, the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, which won the recent elections in Egypt, told Arab media that the final decision on the matter is…

Despite the recent reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, tensions are continuing and on Saturday, Hamas denied a delegation of senior Fatah officials entry to Gaza. “When we wanted to enter Gaza Hamas security forces came, took our ID cards and made us wait for over an hour,” the officials told the WAFA news agency. “We…

Hackers who attempt to attack Israel in cyberspace will be met with a “forceful response,” warned Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon on Saturday — one comparable to the response meted out to terrorists. Speaking at a cultural forum at a community center in Be’er Sheva, Ayalon said Israel views incidents such as the attack in which…

Six suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder of the leader of the Christian community in Jaffa (Yafo), Gabriel Cadis. The chairman of the Jaffa Orthodox Church Association had won election to his post for a third time, just three weeks ago. He was stabbed to death Friday night during a march on…

  The New York-based Anti-Defamation League issued a friendly reminder to GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum Friday that Americans prefer to maintain their separation of church and state — even when greeting candidates on the campaign trail. The reminder came in response to the former Pennsylvania Senator’s attempt last Thursday on a radio show to…

A top Syrian Air Force colonel defected to the opposition along with dozens of other Syrian Army soldiers, Arab media reported Saturday. According to the report by the pan-Arab satellite television channel Aljazeera, some 50 soldiers had abandoned their posts along with Colonel Afeef Mahmoud Suleiman, identified as being from the air force logistics division…

  Four Jews were injured on the Sabbath by Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists who hurled rocks at them in the Samaria neighborhood of Givat Ronen. The Arabs climbed to the hilltop neighborhood next to the Jewish community of Har Bracha to carry out the attack. One of the injured was rushed in fair condition to…

Despite recent tensions between Iran and the United States, the U.S. Navy announced on Friday it had rescued 13 Iranian fishermen being held by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea. Fox News reported that an SH-60S Seahawk from the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd detected the pirates while a simultaneous distress call was received from the…

A Hamas official slammed Jordan’s King Abdullah on Thursday and said his fate will be similar to that of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Mustafa Sawaf, editor-in-chief of the Gaza-based, Hamas-affiliated paper Felesteen, criticized the King for his support of the renewed talks between Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials. In his editorial, Sawaf accused the…

At least 25 people were killed in Damascus on Friday, after a bomb exploded at a busy intersection, The Associated Press reported. Dozens were wounded in the attack, the report said, and officials were quoted as having vowed to respond to further security threats with an “iron fist.” The government blamed “terrorists” and said a…

An Israeli blogger claimed on Friday that he was able to figure out the identity of the Saudi hacker who exposed the credit card numbers and information of thousands of Israelis this past week. The hacker claimed that he was based in Saudi Arabia, but the blogger, Amir Fedida, is claiming that the hacker is…

Iraq’s security situation continues to worsen in the wake of the Obama administration’s pullout of US forces. A coordinated wave of bombings targeting Shiite Muslims killed at least 78 people on Thursday. The attacks mark the second large-scale terror assault in Iraq since the US pullout was completed last month. Coming one day before a…

Turkey’s former military chief was arrested Friday for allegedly “attempting to destabilize” Turkey’s Islamic-rooted government via the Internet, Ankara’s state-run Andolu Agency reported. An arrest warrant was issued against Gen. Ilker Basbug on Friday pending trial. Basbug is the most senior officer to be jailed in a series of investigations into alleged plots to bring down…

US State Department Victora Nuland told reporters Thursday that Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood had assured Washington it would uphold extant diplomatic accords, including the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty signed by Anwar al-Sadat and Menachem Begin. Nuland’s statement flew in the face of statements by Rashad al-Bayoumi, the Brotherhood’s number two man, who told the London-based Al-Hayat…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday that there was little hope for a breakthrough in the peace process after Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators met this week. The talks between PLO chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and Netanyahu-envoy Yitzhak Molcho in Amman, Jordan were the first direct discussions between Israel and the PA in 15 months.…

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said support for “Palestine” should be a “religious and nationalist commitment” for Arabs as he arrived in Tunis Thursday. “Palestine is not a banner that we brandish like nobody’s business. It’s a religious and nationalist commitment,” Haniyeh said after a meeting with Tunisia’s moderate Islamist prime minister, Hamadi Jebali. “We have…

Israeli authorities demanded Egyptian officials move with greater alacrity to improve monitoring along the Sinai border on Thursday. Egyptian security officers told the Palestinian Authority affiliated Ma’an News Agency the warning was issued after 17 migrants crossed illegally into Israel on Wednesday. Ironically, the Egyptian security officials said Israel was employing migrant African workers in…

Israel National News has frequently taken a cynical appraisal of the European Union’s motivations in the Middle East and that cynicism was not groundless. Nevertheless, if the European Union does go ahead and implement sanctions on the purchase of Iranian oil, this could prove a game changer in the sanctions regime. If a second tier…

The Israeli military is gearing up together with U.S. forces for a major missile defense exercise, the IDF announced Thursday. The Associated Press reported that the “Austere Challenge 12” drill is designed to improve defense systems and cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli forces. While the drill follows a ten-day Iranian naval exercise near the…

At a time when tensions are high between hareidi-religious, religious-Zionist and secular Jews in Israel, a group of students proved on Thursday that it does not have to be this way. On Thursday evening, after the Tenth of Tevet fast concluded, the students gathered at the Paris Square in Jerusalem where they called for unity…

Many people think that the help that Anne Frank’s family received from workers and friends typified the Dutch during the Holocaust. The facts are apallingly different. More than 100,000 of the country’s 140,000 Jews were deported with no outcry from official Dutch quarters but with the cooperation of many Dutch citizens. On Wednesday, in the Netherlands,…

Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said Wednesday that the PLO talks with Israeli envoys in Amman this week would damage Fatah’s reconciliation deal with the terror group. “We consider these meetings a blow for national reconciliation, especially as we agreed in Cairo to face Israel’s settlements, wall, and attacks together,” Radwan said. Hamas signed a unity…

Terrorists fired an average of nearly two missiles a day at Israel in 2011. In the course of the year, 680 rockets, mortars and Grad missiles were fired at southern Israel, according to data compiled by the Home Front Command and reported on the IDF Website. Eighty Grad missiles were fired at Israel in 2011,…

Saudi hacker “0xOmar,” who succeeded in hijacking at least 15,000 Israeli credit card numbers, published the details of 11,000 more cards Thursday. More than half of these are out of date, however. “A stupid Israeli student claims that we only leaked 14,000 cards, yet just one of the files [stolen] includes 27,000 working numbers,” the…

Three years after it began its work, a committee headed by retired judge Meir Shamgar handed over to Defense Minister Ehud Barak its recommendations on ways to deal with freeing abducted, missing and captured IDF troops, without resorting to mass releases of terrorists. The report comes months after Israel freed over 1,000 terrorists in exchange for…

The Chabad-Lubavitch movement has issued a rare condemnation, slamming the Jewish leadership of Lithuania for its silence in the face of media anti-Semitism. The fiery statement came in the wake of a report published by a  Lithuanian tabloid newspaper targeting the country’s Chabad-Lubavitch emissary in a misleading attack article on paying one’s taxes. The newspaper,…

Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Omar confirmed on Thursday that peace talks with the United States are on the horizon. Omar has demanded the release of Afghan prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and complete withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Afghanistan, The News reports. The U.S. State Department, however, said they have not yet made…

The Taliban announced Tuesday it would be opening its first overseas political office in what is seen as a political gesture to the United States. In a statement on its “Voice of Jihad” website the Taliban said they had taken the initial steps necessary to open an office outside Afghanistan. “We’re now prepared, while having…

Israel will attempt to pursue a dialogue with Islamic factions in Egypt. According to the Hebrew-language Maariv, Israel’s Foreign Ministry has instructed Ambassador Jacob Amity to seek talks with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and Salafi parties. The initiative, proposed by former Ambassador to Egypt Yitzhak Levanon, was previously rejected by the Foreign Ministry. However, the Islamists’…

Amid heightened tensions in the Persian Gulf over Iran’s nuclear program and threats to close the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, an old fashioned oil feud is boiling to the surface. Kuwait on Wednesday summoned the Iranian Charge d’Affaires in Kuwait City to explain recent remarks by Iran that it planned to develop unilaterally a…

European Union governments moved closer to halting oil purchases from Iran on Wednesday, stepping up the confrontation over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. Bloomberg reported that EU foreign ministers are aiming to announce harsher sanctions on Iran’s energy and banking industries at their next meeting on January 30. According to the report, the move is…

A Lebanese newspaper reported Wednesday the Israeli Air Force conducted a three-hour drill in the skies above southern Lebanon. The display was not one the usual surreptitious reconnaissance flight, according to The Daily Star, but allegedly “an unusual show of force” by at least ten warplanes. The IDF also staged a surprise drill at its…

Anat Kam, who is serving a 4.5 year sentence for serious espionage and transferring secret information, filed a motion Wednesday to the Petach Tikva District Court asking to change the definition of her crimes in the Israel Prisons Service computers. Kam claims that when she entered jail, one of the wardens told her that she had…

Maronite bishops in Lebanon called Wednesday for Beirut to implement a longstanding deal on the disarmament of ‘Palestinian’ groups outside their ‘refugee camps.’ Voicing concern about the country’s “fragile” security situation, the bishops called on political leaders “to stand firm on a decision taken during [a previous meeting] of the national dialogue committee regarding the…

The grim truth leaking out of Syria through Internet social media outlets is that government forces continue to kill protesters despite the presence of Arab League monitors in the country. Syrian opposition groups say the death toll has risen beyond 6,000 as President Bashar al-Assad’s forces continue his ruthless campaign to extinguish the voices of…

Police arrested two terrorists at different locations Wednesday morning and prevented intended attacks on Be’er Sheva residents. Acting on intelligence information, Border Police raided an apartment in the capital of the Negev and arrested a terrorist from Jenin, in Samaria, and confiscated a knife he intended to use to attack Be’er Sheva citizens. In a…

The IDF staged a surprise drill at its base at the port of Haifa as Iran completed ten days of “war games” that included a threat on Israel. Iran claimed it tested a long-range missile that can reach Israeli bases as well U.S. military posts in the Middle East, but Russia rejected the idea that…

New U.S. sanctions dealt Iran a potentially lethal economic blow this week even before they took effect, sending the local currency into a nosedive before the government artificially posted a higher rate for the “rial.” President Barack Obama on Saturday signed a law that includes sanctions against countries dealing with Iran’s energy sector and its…

Algerian police are systematically raiding merchants selling clothing bearing a “Made in Israel” label on the items. According to a report published Wednesday in Algeria’s El-Khabar daily newspaper, the sting was carried out the day after New Year’s Day at a shopping center in the Al-Wadi district of the nation’s capital. Police allegedly were tipped…

The meeting in Amman on Tuesday between Israeli delegate Yitzhak Molcho and the Palestinian Authority’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, was positive, Channel 10 News reported. According to the report, the parties have agreed to meet again next week in Jordan. The Israeli side had expressed interest that future meetings be held between leaders, the report…

The Turkish army nearly downed an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on Tuesday, Turkish daily Today’s Zaman reported. According to the report, which was based on a claim made by another Turkish daily, the Taraf, the Heron was observed spying above the Turkish 14th Hawk B. Brigade Command in Hatay’s Kırıkhan district for four hours. Taraf…

A raid in northern Samaria on Tuesday morning that netted a cache of weapons also resulted in the capture of a senior Islamic Jihad terrorist. Israeli forces raided the home of Sheikh Osama Al-Shalabi in Silat al-Dhahar village south of Jenin, before detaining the Islamic Jihad leader, locals told the Palestinian Authority affiliated Ma’an News…

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday he hoped a conference between Israeli and PA envoys would jump-start the moribund peace process. “God willing, results of this meeting will be revealed in the coming two days, and based on that we will set the suitable grounds for resuming negotiations,” Abbas told reporters. “This would be…

The US military said Tuesday that United States will continue to deploy warships in the Persian Gulf via the Strait of Hormuz after Iran warned a US aircraft carrier not to return to the region. “The deployment of US military assets in the Persian Gulf region will continue as it has for decades,” Pentagon spokesman…

The Bank of Israel (BoI) stated Tuesday that the number of charge card accounts hacked by Saudi hackers is about 15,000, much less than the 400,000 originally claimed by the culprits. “As published in the press, the details relating to clients who hold charge cards were recently exposed on the Internet, as a result of…

An unidentified South American country has agreed pay Israel’s Elbit Systems $50 million for its Hermes unmanned aerial system (UAS), the company announced Monday. The country apparently is a first-time purchaser because Elbit’s General manger Elad Aharonson said, ”We are very proud that yet another customer has selected the Hermes 900, following orders by the…

Al Qaeda claims to be operating a “Sunni Youth” terrorist cell in Jerusalem as Muslim extremism grows throughout the Middle East. The “Sunni Youth Movement Cell in Greater Jerusalem” issued its first message Monday night, according to Debkafile, an Israeli website that  is often criticized for using unidentified sources and rumors but whose reports often…

Iran taunted the United States Tuesday with a statement by its army chief, warning an American aircraft carrier not to return to the Persian Gulf. Gen. Ataollah Salehi spoke as a 10-day Iranian naval exercise ended Tuesday. The official IRNA news agency quoted Salehi as saying: “We recommend … to the American warship that passed…

A senior anti-Qaddafi rebel commander says he was among the IHH-terrorists on the Mavi Marmara who attacked IDF navy commandoe. “I was wounded on the Mavi Marmara and spent nine days in an Israeli prison,” Number Two rebel commander Mahdi al-Harati told the Spanish daily ABC last month. Al Harati was second in command to…

A group of Saudi hackers published on Monday the credit card information of 400,000 Israelis and said they are making use of the information they stole. The same group hacked the Israeli sports information website One on Monday evening and posted a file containing the details of some of the cardholders. Channel 10 News, which…

Hamas’ co-founder said on Monday that his organization plans to continue the armed struggle against Israel. Mahmoud al-Zahar’s comments to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency are in sharp contrast to comments recently made by the group’s politburo chief Khaled Mashaal – and which al-Zahar himself later confirmed. “We need to continue the armed resistance,” al-Zahar…

The Palestinian Authority anti-corruption commission announced Monday it was seeking to restore plundered public funds hidden abroad by PA officials. Rafiq al-Natsheh told the PA affiliated Ma’an News Agency that the commission is chasing corruption suspects living outside PA enclaves pending an agreement with their countries of residence. Natsheh’s remarks follow a report in the…

The trial of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has resumed in Cairo, with a verdict in the case possible before the end of the month, lawyers told reporters Monday. “I expect a verdict January 25, the anniversary of the [Tahrir Square] revolution,” civil rights attorney Khaled Abu Bakr told journalists at a news conference. The date…

Hamas is calling on the Palestinian Authority to abandon talks with Israel, set to resume Tuesday in Amman for the first time in 15 months. Israeli government representative Attorney Yitzchak Molcho is set to meet with veteran PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, together with representatives of the Quartet of peacekeeping nations — the U.S., Russia,…

Abbas delivered a cryptic and contradictory message on the eve of Palestinian Authority-Israeli talks in Jordan. He said that “all options are on the table” but said that he opposes a renewal of the “Intifada.” Jordan is to host the talks on Tuesday, three weeks before the January 26 deadline that the Quartet has set…

Ilan Grapel, arrested by the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt on spy charges and released months later, writes that he tried to teach his captors Zionism during his arrest and that they asked for forgiveness. Writing in The Washington Post Monday, the American resident who served in the IDF and also was a pro-Arab activist, displayed a…

Dr. Jeremy Levin was named new CEO for Teva Pharmaceuticals Monday, when Shlomo Yanai announced he is stepping down. Dr. Levin, an American Jew, was at a Monday morning press conference called by Yanai and surprised observers not only by his being appointed CEO but also by his Hebrew, although less than fluent. He soon…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Monday that there are “cracks” in the “dominance and hegemony” of the United States in the Middle East. He spoke before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, where he gave an analysis of the strategic, political and security situation at the beginning of the new civil year. Barak said…

Mahmoud Abbas rewards a senior terrorist under Arafat, recently freed win the Shalit deal, appoints him as an advisor. Mahmoud Damara, arrested in 2006 for involvement in the shooting and bombing to death Israelis, was part of Yasser Arafat’s feared Force 17 terrorist group and was one of Israel’s most wanted terrorists until he was…

Syrian forces killed eight more protesters on Monday leading the Arab Parliament to accuse Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was making a mockery of the Arab League’s observer mission to Damascus. The Arab Parliament, an 88-strong advisory committee of delegates from the Arab League’s member states, said violence was continuing to claim many victims and that…

Activists Yehudit Katsover and Nadia Matar related the latest chapter in their never-flagging struggle for the hill of Netzer in the Etzion Bloc in an e-mail sent Sunday. The events described took place on Friday, as the Sabbath was nearing: “Our thanks to the anonymous Alon Shvut resident who called Women in Green on Friday,…

The Population and Immigration Authority reported Sunday that 2,931 people entered Israel illegally through its border with Egypt in December. This is a record number, it said. Minister of Interior Eli Yishai said in response that the situation is “unbearable,” according to Ma’ariv/NRG. He added: “Action needs to be taken to erect holding facilities in…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement exposed on Sunday a video which shows the former head of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s military wing, Khalil al-Wazir (who was known as “Abu Jihad”), plotting to kill Ariel Sharon who then served as a Cabinet minister, Channel 2 News reported. According to the report, the video was…

The two mortar shells that Gaza terrorists fired at the western Negev Sunday morning contained phosphorus – a substance that causes burns upon contact with human skin. Police sappers discovered the substance upon analyzing the exploded shells. The Gaza Arabs have fired phosphorus shells in the past. The last time this occurred was in August,…

Hamas political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal has fled Damascus together with his family, according to a report published Sunday by the London-based al-Hayat newspaper. The report, quoted by state-run Voice of Israel radio, added that a number of other Hamas leaders and their families had also fled the Syrian capital. The entire group has reportedly…

The Muslim Brotherhood comes up with a neat trick to break the peace treaty with Israel without formally doing so. Egypt’s next likely ruling party says it simply will hold a plebiscite and let the people do it. Rashad Bayoumi, deputy Supreme Leader of the Brotherhood, told the London-based newspaper Al-Hayat on Sunday it respects international…

Arabs attacked police Sunday morning in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Maaleh HaZeitim, also known as Ras al-Amoud, where soon more Jewish families are expected to be moving in. The neighborhood is located in the eastern section of Israel’s capital city of Jerusalem and has been the focus of conflict since Jewish families moved into the…

Jordan may be playing a role in mediating talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), sources reported Sunday. No final word has yet been given as to whether or not negotiations will actually get off the ground, according to the source. However, at least one report in the Hebrew-language media claimed Sunday that direct…

An advisory board within the 22-nation Arab League is warning the organization to pull its monitors from Syria. The speaker of the Arab parliament, Salem al-Diqbassi, urged Arab League secretary-general Nabil al-Araby to “immediately pull out the Arab observers, considering the continued killing of innocent civilians by the Syrian regime.” In his statement Diqbassi continued,…

As hundreds of hareidi-religious Jews were demonstrating in Jerusalem Saturday night against what they said was the unfair treatment of them in the media over the past several weeks, dozens of nationalists demonstrated in front of the Russian Compound in the city, where police headquarters are located, under the title: “The settlers are not enemies.”…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on Thursday at the conclusion of the 163rd Israel Air Forces pilots’ training course. The concluding ceremony took place at the Hatzerim Airbase on the outskirts of Be’er Sheva. Netanyahu praised the graduates of the course and particularly the five women who were among the graduates. His remarks came on…

Leftists and anarchists conducted their usual protests outside the homes of Jews in the Shimon Hatzaddik (Sheikh Jarrah) neighborhood of Jerusalem Friday evening, and as usual threw stones and other objects at Jews walking to and from synagogue. And on Friday night, their stones hit one of the residents of the area, who was taken…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday signed into law tough new sanctions targeting Iran’s central bank and financial sector, AFP reported. The measures, meant to punish Iran for its nuclear program, were contained in a $662 billion defense bill, the report said. The bill was approved several weeks ago. The sanctions are meant to hit…

Hamas’ Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, reiterated on Saturday that his organization will never recognize Israel and will never give up on Jerusalem, Channel 10 News reported. Haniyeh made the comments during talks in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, where he several days ago met President Omar al-Bashir. The visit to Sudan is part of…

Syria’s opposition groups are getting ready for “the day after” the fall of the Assad regime, and are anticipating a new, democratic regime. But some things are unlikely to change; Syria’s likely future leaders still consider Israel an enemy, and will continue to demand Israel’s withdrawal from the Golan Heights. The two largest opposition groups…

Residents of Yitzhar in central Samaria say they prevented a terrorist attack when they used force to halt a truck that ignored numerous orders to halt, and careened around several checkpoints at high speed. Their account was disputed by the IDF, which claimed that the residents attacked an innocent driver who had lost his way. The…

The Iranian proposal to rejoin EU-led talks over its nuclear program is a classic divide and rule tactic. Iran wants talks with the 5+1 contact group comprising the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany. Two of the five permanent Security Council members – Britain and France – are members of the…

MK Zvulun Orlev (Bayit Yehudi) intends to introduce Knesset legislation that would limit the authority of the government to abrogate prison sentence of terrorists and use them as “bargaining chips” to realize a policy objective. Orlev said that the recent experience of Israel’s release of over 1,000 terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit had convinced…

President Shimon Peres admitted on Friday that he had held secret talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. In an interview with the pan-Arabic daily Alsharq Alawsat, Peres said the meetings with Abbas were held with the knowledge and cooperation of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. He added that there were signs of progress in the…

At least 32 people were killed during protests across Syria on Friday, the Al Jazeera network reported. Activists told the network that the deaths came as protesters, emboldened by the presence of Arab League observers in the country, took to the streets after noon Muslim prayers. The demonstrations were taking place in 18 different provinces…

Iran will fire long-range missiles during a naval drill in the Gulf on Saturday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Friday. “The Iranian navy will test several kinds of its missiles, including its long-range missiles, in the Persian Gulf on Saturday,” Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, deputy commander of the Iranian navy, told the news agency.…

Hamas’ Gaza Prime Minister, Ismail Haniyeh, visited Sudan on Thursday, where he held talks with President Omar al-Bashir, AFP reported. The visit to Sudan was part of Haniyeh’s first official regional tour since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. According to AFP, he was joined in the meeting with Bashir by other high-ranking Hamas…

The IAF launched an air strike on a terror cell in northern Gaza early Friday morning as it prepared to launch rockets at Israeli targets. The IDF spokesperson’s officer reported a direct hit. According to the IDF the terror cell was the same one that has been launching missiles at Gaza-area communities over the past…

The European Centre for Jewish Students (ECJS) said on Thursday it was alarmed over the results of new research showing a rise in the rate of intermarriage among European students. According to a report in the European Jewish Press, the study found that there has been a rise of 17% in the rate of intermarriage…

Amatuer video from Syria on Friday showed Arab League observers running from gunfire as security forces opened fire on civilians. The film comes as tens of thousands took to the streets in continued protests against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The Arab League mission to verify whether President Bashar al-Assad is keeping to a…

“The next abduction of an Israeli soldier will lead to war,” Israel’s forum of eight senior ministers said on Friday. According to Yisrael Hayom the senior ministers accepted a recommendation from senior IDF commanders in the “Shamgar report” that any kidnapping of an Israeli soldier or civilian would serve as a trigger for war. The…

Switzerland finished the process of ‘rehabilitating’ more than a hundred people punished during WWII for helping Jews escape Nazi persecution on Wednesday. But only one of the 137 people vindicated by the report actually lived to see their name cleared. “All these people are today dead,” Alexandre Schneebeli, secretary of the Swiss parliament’s rehabilitation commission,…

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officials said Friday their decision to return to ‘popular resistance’ is aimed at ‘disengaging’ from Israel. PLO Executive Committee member Tayseer Khalid said the new unified Fatah-Hamas strategy will be based on ‘popular resistance’ which will spread into PA enclaves in Judea and Samaria. “The popular resistance will reshape the Palestinian…

The Cairo offices of at least five non-governmental organizations ‎‎(NGOs) were raided on Thursday by ‎Egyptian prosecutors accompanied by police and military personnel. The five ‎NGOs were the Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary ‎and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP); the Budgetary and Human ‎Rights Observatory; and the Washington-based National ‎Democratic Institute, the International Republican…

Zakaria Zubeidi, the former Fatah leader in Jenin, turned himself to the Palestinian Authority on Thursday evening. Earlier, Zubeidi told the Ma’an news agency that Israel had canceled his pardon and instructed him to hand himself in to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Zubeidi, who headed the Al-Aqsa Brigades during the murderous terror war launched by…

About 40,000 people visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem during Hanukkah, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation said on Thursday. According to the foundation, thousands attended the daily lighting of Hanukkah candles at the Kotel. Among the visitors were Israel’s Chief Rabbis, State Comptroller Micha Lidenstrauss, Education Minister Gideon Saar, Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser, Police Chief…

President Shimon Peres called on Thursday to distinguish between the extreme hareidi-religious Jews who exclude women and those who hareidim who do not do so. Peres made the comments during a visit to the home of Tel Aviv’s Chief Rabbi, Rav Yisrael Meir Lau, who is sitting shiva following the death of his brother, Rabbi…

The remains discovered in a bunker on the Golan Heights are those of a Syrian soldier, police said Thursday – not of missing IDF soldiers Guy Hever or Maji Halabi, as had been rumored. Police said Thursday that an examination of the remains found in the bunker, found on the former border between Israel and…

A prominent Lebanese parliamentarian announced in an interview published Thursday that Maher al-Assad, the brother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, “has absconded.” “Whether he is injured and is being treated away from the limelight, or Bashar al-Assad is keeping him away from the military operations,” is unclear,” MP Khaled Daher told Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anba’a. Assad,…

The Hizbullah terrorist organization is in hot water over a scheme to launder hundreds of millions of dollars in multi-national drug trafficking revenues. According to a report published by the World News Tribune, the Lebanon-based terrorist organization is using American banks and other financial institutions to process money earned from trafficking in South America. The…

The Israel Law Center (Shurat Hadin) has a “social media” message for Twitter: Stop providing communication facilities for terror groups like Hizbullah, or face a lawsuit on behalf of American citizens and others who have been victims of terrorism. In a letter to Twitter executives, Israel Law Center head Nitsana Darshan-Leitner warned the social media…

Babies and toddlers asleep for their afternoon naps were rudely awakened and snatched from their beds as the Color Red rocket alert siren blared its warning Thursday for a second time. Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists in northern Gaza aimed their Qassam rocket attack on Jewish communities in the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council district.  The area…

Mossad chief Tamir Pardo doesn’t believe a nuclear armed Iran would mean the destruction on Israel. Pardo reportedly told a forum of Israeli diplomats that while Israel continues in its efforts to thwart Iran’s nuclear program he does not believe an Iranian atomic bomb poses an existential threat to the Jewish state. “Does Iran pose…

Arab monitors revisited the Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday as more bloodshed was reported across the country, AFP reported. In one incident, army defectors killed at least four soldiers in the village of Daal, located in the southern province of Daraa. The group posted a video to YouTube which shows its attack on forces…

An Israeli shepherd who was working in the Golan Heights found on Wednesday the remains of a man in uniform. Army Radio reported that the shepherd called in the army and the police upon finding the remains. According to the report, the remains were located inside an old Syrian bunker in the heart of a…

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales has offered the Palestinians a powerful tool of propaganda: the comparison with Jesus’ passion. “We are to be freshly attentive to the needs of those who, like Jesus himself, are displaced and in discomfort”, Archbishop Vincent Nichols said during his Christmas Mass sermon at…

U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were named by Americans as the Most Admired Man and Most Admired Woman living today in any part of the world, in a Gallup poll. Clinton has been the Most Admired Woman for each of the last 10 years, and Obama has been the Most…

The daughter of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, Aisha, is seeking political asylum in Israel, according to a report on the Intelligence Online website. The report, which was quoted by Yeshiva World News on Wednesday, said that Aisha Qaddafi has hired the services of Nick Kaufman, a former prosecutor assigned to the Jerusalem District Prosecutor’s…

An American man who has been accused by Iran of working for the CIA could face the death penalty, the Fars news agency reported on Tuesday. According to the report, the prosecution applied for capital punishment during a closed court hearing on Tuesday. The reason cited for requesting the death penalty was because the suspect,…

The commander of the IDF Southern Brigade, Colonel Tal Hermoni, doesn’t believe Hamas will react to IDF strikes targeting Islamic Jihad. On Tuesday a pair of IDF airstrikes killed Kafarneh Rami Daoud Jaber, 27, an Islamic Jihad terrorist from Jabaliya, and Hazam Alsaker Muhammad Saadi, 26, an Islamic Jihad terrorist from Beit Hanoun. Hermoni, briefing…

The IDF website says enhanced weapons systems will make Israeli forces entering Gaza more effective than they were in the 2008-2009 Cast Lead Campaign. These include more accurate mortars and gun sights. The website’s Hadas Duvdevani quoted Major Roniel Turgeman, head of the Infantry Corps’s Weaponry and Unmanned Vehicles department, who explained that, “Because this…

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Iran’s Saudi-led Persian Gulf allies of being American pawns on Wednesday, the Fars news agency reported. “The colonialists are friends of no one, they only friends to money, wealth and power. They have deceived their friends and are using a number of Arab states for the sake of others in…

The Jerusalem municipality on Wednesday green-lit construction of 130 homes in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem. The units will be in a 12-story tower block in Gilo settlement, city councilor Pepe Alalu told AFP. The city council also approved plans to build a tourism center in the City of David, called Silwan by Arab residents.…

Unity apparently isn’t everything when it comes to living in Gaza, a region still ruled under the iron fist of the Hamas terrorist organization. Just last week, Hamas agreed to join the Palestine Liberation Organization after years of reconciliation talks, agreements, broken deals and then more negotiations.  The latest decision, which came during two days…

Just when you thought it was safe to assume there would be no more “best of… ” competitions this year, with only three days left to go till the end of 2011, Israel has joined a new race, this time entering its capital city into the international contest for top city of the world. The…

After a nearly three-month hiatus the trial of ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak resumed on Wednesday – only to be postponed until January 2. Mubarak, 83, faces numerous charges of corruption as well as complicity in the deaths of nearly 840 protesters during the popular uprising that ended in his ouster on February 11. He…

Mohamed ElBaradei, a prominent Egyptian political figure and a possible candidate for the presidency, said on Tuesday that the United States is doing whatever it can within to stop Egypt from annulling the 1979 peace agreement with Israel. In an interview with the Iranian-based Fars news agency, ElBaradei revealed that the future of the Camp…

As the Hamas terror group recently marked the 24th anniversary of its founding, its leader in Gaza used the opportunity to remind everyone of his group’s real goals. At the ceremony, Hamas’ Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that Hamas may work for the “interim objective of liberation of Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem,” but…

The fall of former Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi has caused Libyan Jews to wish to return to their homeland and resume the great heritage they established there, a Libyan Jewish leader told Arutz Sheva on Tuesday. Meir Kachlon, Chairman of the World Organization of Libyan Jews, said that his organization has created an excellent relationship…

A pinpoint IAF airstrike in Gaza on Tuesday evening killed one Islamic Jihad terrorist and injured three others. Islamic Jihad told CNN the strike hit a small vehicle in northern Gaza. The operation targeted “a squad affiliated with recent terror activity,” the IDF released in a statement. The IDF made no reference to deaths or…

For the second time in several hours, the IAF struck late Tuesday evening a Global Jihad terrorist cell that was preparing to carry out a terror attack against Israelis. The IDF Spokesperson said in a statement that the terrorists were struck down in a joint IDF-Israel Security Agency (ISA) operation. The statement added the terrorists…

As soon as the US totally withdrew its forces from Iraq claiming victory, the country faced growing chaos. Not only did the bombings resume with a vengeance, but the government and the entire country appear on the verge of unraveling. A de facto Kurdish autonomy already exists and now the Sunni provinces of Iraq are clamoring for…

Iran says it chased away a Western helicopter that approached its navy war games area and did not leave until three warnings were issued. The United States, Britain and France are the only non-regional powers with troops in the region. None of the countries has commented on the Iranian claim, published in its semi-official media.…

The Iranian nuclear threat is dangerous, but let’s not get hysterical over it, President Shimon Peres said Tuesday. Speaking at a conference of Israeli ambassadors in Jerusalem, he said, “Israel has real or perceived capabilities which contribute to our deterrence, like Dimona. We have no interest in turning Iran into an Israeli monopoly” because it…

While its second store outside Netanya is still being rebuilt after a devastating fire last year, Ikea on Tuesday announced plans for a third Israeli store – this one to be built in Kiryat Ata, a highly populated suburb of Haifa. The announcement Tuesday confirms a previous general commitment by Ikea to build a third…

An observant IDF soldier may have prevented a major terrorist attack in a large Israeli city, in what soldiers and commanders called a “Hanukkah miracle.” An Arab terrorist who may have been on his way to the town of Har Bracha in central Samaria, was nabbed Tuesday morning when an IDF soldier arrested him, finding…

A Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official warned Monday the organization might consider reversing its recognition of Israel — the primary condition and foundation on which the Oslo Accords were formed. PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi said in an interview on Voice of Palestine radio that taking a Palestinian decision to withdraw recognition of Israel…

Syrian government forces attacked an Arab League monitor Monday night, leading analysts to question whether the Arab League mission would continue even as it had barely begun. The observer, a former officer in the Egyptian army, was shot by Syrian troops in the central city of Homs, according to a report broadcast on IDF Army…

A former senior aide to GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul has decided to “set the record straight” in a ‘tell all’ post on the Right Wing News blog — and in the process, has confirmed that Paul wishes “the Israeli state did not exist at all.” Eric Dondero served as former senior aide to Paul…

Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs, Moshe Ya’alon, spoke on Sunday at a Likud Anglo event in Jerusalem. In his talk, Ya’alon spoke about the security issues Israel currently deals with. Addressing the relatively calm security situation right now, despite the rocket barrages coming from Gaza once in a while, Ya’alon said that…

The United Nations Security Council may have imposed economic sanctions on Iran, but Tehran has managed to sign a new oil deal anyway — with Afghanistan.  The deal, which closed Monday, will provide one million tons of gasoil, gasoline and jet fuel to Afghanistan from Iran, beginning in 2012, according to the state-run IRNA news…

Israeli prosecutors have indicted an Arab member of Knesset on charges of visiting an enemy country and meeting foreign agents. The indictment charges that in 2007, MK Said Nafa’a (Balad) visited Syria and met with leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group. The PFLP – which pioneered armed aircraft hijackings…

The United States has condemned Palestinian Authority “doublespeak” and bluntly called on the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization to ensure no funds reach the entity. U.S. Ambassador to UNESCO David T. Killion made the statement following a report by the Palestinian Media Watch which exposed the glorification of Hitler by the Palestinian magazine…

MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) says the chill in relations between Jerusalem and Ankara is the perfect opportunity to recognize the Armenian Genocide of World War One. “A genocide against the Armenian people was conducted in Ottoman Turkey during the first world war,” Eldad told Arutz Sheva. “This is a historical fact that cannot be…

Nearly two dozen Syrians were killed Monday as more Arab League monitors were scheduled to arrive in the country to observe the compliance of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces with a plan to end the violence. Opposition activists told reporters the central city of Homs has been shelled by government forces since the weekend. On Monday, at…

PLO executive committee member Bassam Al Salhi told Gulf News, “Even if the vote fails at the UN Security Council, we will submit a fresh request demanding a UN full member state.” To obtain full statehood recognition for the Palestinian Authority the application must gain nine affirmative votes in the 15-member decision-making Security Souncil before…

Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar said Sunday that he expected the Islamic terror movement would “win a sweeping victory” in upcoming PA legislative elections scheduled for May. Zahar is confident Hamas will improve on their 2006 election victory, where they won 74 of an available 132 seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council. Analysts say a sweeping…

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh departed Gaza on Sunday to begin his diplomatic tour of Egypt, Sudan, Qatar, Bahrain, Tunisia, and Turkey. The trip marks the first time Haniyeh has left Gaza since Hamas seized the coastal enclave from the PLO in a violent putsch in June of 2007. Haniyeh deputy Mohammad Awad said the goal…

Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists launched a Qassam rocket attack Monday night at southern Israel. The attack, launched from northern Gaza, was aimed at Israel’s Gaza Belt region, located only a few kilometers from the Hamas terrorist-run region. Qassam rockets, although modified in the past several years, still are limited to a range of approximately 10…

The government has decided to tackle head-on the alleged “Arab refugees” issue by renewing efforts for compensation for Jewish victims of Arab pogroms . Estimates of property losses range from $16 billion to $300 billion in Arab countries where Arab leaders seized their property or took it over after Jews were expelled or forced to…

Bedouin and other Arabs in the northern Negev are increasingly involved in predatory relationships with young Jewish girls, according to Voice of Israel government-run radio. The relationships sometimes begin as romantic involvements, often with under-aged minors, and develop into rape, abductions and abuse. Seven victims last month alone are aged 11-18. These are only cases…

The official Syrian government news agency SANA claims Israeli Druze in the Golan Heights rallied to “stand by their motherland Syria.” “The people of the occupied Syrian Golan stressed that terrorism which struck in Damascus on Friday reflects the criminality of the armed groups and their sponsors,” SANA reported as part of an-out campaign that…

Heavy rains in Jerusalem have heavily damaged the President’s House and forced Shimon Peres to take up lodgings in a hotel before arrangements can be completed to move him and his office to the luxurious David’s Village near the Old City. It will take approximately four months before he can return to his regular quarters…

It sounds like one of those diseases that should have been wiped out long ago, but malaria, unfortunately, is alive and well, especially in Africa and other tropical, third world locations. Battling malaria is complicated for numerous reasons, among them the difficulty of creating drugs to battle the disease. Now, however, Hebrew University researchers have…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that if Hamas joins the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) government, Israel will not be able to negotiate with the PA. Speaking at a conference of Foreign Ministry delegation heads, Netanyahu stressed: “We are prepared to meet the Palestinians at any time and place.” “The Palestinians will have to recognize…

Canada has decided to impose new sanctions on Syria, including a ban on the export of software for the monitoring of telephone and internet communications, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced on Friday. “Canada will continue to put the squeeze on the Assad regime,” Baird was quoted by the CBC as having said about President…

A senior official in the Hamas terror organization confirmed on Sunday that the organization intends to focus on popular protests in the spirit of the Arab Spring. In conversation with Channel 10 News, Hamas co-founder Mahmoud al-Zahar confirmed statements that were made on Friday by the group’s Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal, who told The…

The Palestinian Authority, considered by many to be a moderate entity which seeks to reach a peace agreement with Israel, is continuing to glorify terror groups that carried out lethal attacks against Israelis. On the 44th anniversary of the establishment of the terror organization the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), PA TV…

Israel is set to join France and recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide, according to a report Sunday on Channel 10 News. The report said that the Knesset’s Education Committee will hold a discussion on Monday regarding an initiative presented by MKs Aryeh Eldad (National Union) and Zehava Gal-on (Meretz) to recognize the Armenian genocide. According…

Israeli fighter jets, helicopters and possibly a submarine were involved in multiple attacks on targets in Sudan last week, according to local news outlets. The reports say that Israeli jets hit targets in the eastern part of the African country, near its border with Egypt, last Thursday. They allegedly hit six Land Cruiser jeeps and…

Foreign Minister and Yisrael Beitenu head Avigdor Lieberman called Sunday for a change of tack regarding peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA), and said that peace is not in the offing. “To continue to insist on a path that failed for 15 years will not lead anywhere and unfortunately today we are already on…

The Muslim Brotherhood was the clear victor on Saturday in Egypt’s second round of parliamentary elections. Hardliner Salafists from the al-Nour party followed closely on the Brotherhood’s heels. Abdul Moez Ebrahim of Egypt’s Higher Election Commission told reporters the Islamist parties had clearly dominated the most recent round of voting for party lists, but added official…

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that swine flu is back, with 12 cases reported by Friday. The most recent case was a child infected with the H3N2 virus in West Virginia, according to the national U.S. health agency. So far cases have been reported in five states — Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Pennyslvania and…

The Israel Antiquities Authority held a special press conference in Jerusalem’s City of David on Sunday to unveil a rare coin from the Second Temple era. The cartouche – or seal – never seen by the public before, is the size of the modern New Israeli Shekel coin and bears the Aramaic inscriptions “it is…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has ordered the police and attorney general to take all measures to stop harassment against women – or me, he said at the start of Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting. “There is no place in [Israel] for discrimination. The police will continue to arrest all those who spit, raise their hand, and…

The United States has posted a $10 million reward for information leading to the location of Syrian-born Al Qaeda terrorist now based in Iran. “Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil, more commonly known as Yasin al-Suri, moves money and recruits from across the Middle East into Iran, and then on to Pakistan, to support Al Qaeda’s senior…

The United Nations will cut its budget for only the second time in 50 years – by some $260 million dollars. An accord struck at dawn on Saturday by the 193-member body saw the 2012-13 budget set at $5.15 billion, down from $5.41 billion in 2010-11. The United States and European countries grappling with a sovereign…

The Islamist sect Boko Haram claimed responsibility for five church bombings in Nigeria on Monday. An explosion at the St. Theresa Roman Catholic church near the Nigerian capital Abuja during Christmas morning mass killed at least 27 people.  A second explosion in the central city of Jos near another church was heard. Boko Haram said it…

Israeli experts note a “change in the music” coming from Washington regarding the possibility that the U.S. will attack Iran militarily to prevent its acquiring nuclear weapons. The latest chord in this new tune comes from Matthew Kroenig, a nuclear security expert on the Council on Foreign Relations who served in the Obama administration’s Defense…

Terrorists fired two Qassam rockets from Gaza at the western Negev on Saturday evening. One rocket exploded in an open area in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council and the other, which was fired from northern Gaza, exploded in an open area in the Sha’ar Negev Regional Council. In both cases there were no physical injuries…

War scares are running high in Great Britain, while the British Foreign Ministry is trying to cool down tensions with Argentina. At the same time Britain is attempting to demonstrate that it has no intention of abandoning the Falkland Islands claimed by Argentina. Prime Minister David Cameron, in his broadcast on Saturday, pledged to the Falklanders “We will always…

If Russian President Dmitry Medvedev believed that his reform package was going to assuage the protest movement, then the more powerful demonstrations throughout Russia today should have disabused him. The reform package proposed by Medvedev was extensive: It included restoring directly elected governors (currently appointed by the Kremlin), allowing them to acquire an independent power…

An Israeli vehicle was fired upon when leaving the community of Maale Shomron in Samaria (Shomron) on Saturday. Maale Shomron is a mixed secular and religious community, which allows driving in the town on Shabbat except for the area of the synagogue.  No physical injuries were reported, but the car sustained bullet damage. Security forces responded…

Yemen’s elite Republican Guard forces fired rifles, tear gas, and water cannons on over 100,000 marchers on a road leading to the capital of Sanaa, killing at least 9 and wounding at least 90. Participants in the so-called “March of Life” followed a 270-kilometre route from the southern city of Taez, a major opposition stronghold.…

In what some may see as an ironic twist of fate a Hamas security officer who was grabbed by Israeli intelligence in the Sinai and transferred to Eilat three weeks ago was planning to kidnap Israelis. According to a Friday report in Asharq al-Aswat Taher Atwa, whose family lives in the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza…

Israeli forces closed all the entrances to the Arab village of Azzun near Keddumim in Samaria (Shomron)  while pursuing a terrorist on Saturday. According to the PA-affiliated and Bethlehem-based Maan News Agency, locals reported that a large IDF force stormed the village in the late morning. The soldiers were pursuing a shotgun wielding terrorist who opened…

Security forces in Bahrain stormed the headquarters of the country’s largest opposition party on Friday – firing tear gas and rubber bullets. Police also used tear gas to disperse hundreds of opposition supporters attempting to protest elsewhere in the capital. The raid on the Al Wafeq party compound comes just one month after Bahrain’s government…

Hizbullah on Saturday blamed the United States for Friday’s twin car bombings in Damascus that killed at least 44 and wounded at least 100, saying Washington was the “mother of terrorism.” “These bombings which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of people, mostly women and children, are the specialty of the United States,…

Hamas and Fatah are preparing to release the lion’s share of their respective ‘political prisoners’ by the end of the year. “By the end of the year, all political detainees will be released except those who wish to remain in custody for special reasons related to their security both in the West Bank and in…

Police in Germany believe that a young Israeli-Arab woman who was found dead on Wednesday in the University of Göttingen was murdered for nationalistic reasons, Channel 2 News reported on Friday. The woman is 26-year-old Souad Hamza who was found dead in the German university’s dormitories. She had been a student of medicine at the…

Terrorists in Gaza fired two mortar shells at the Eshkol Regional Council on Friday afternoon, Channel 2 News reported. Both shells exploded in open areas and it is believed one landed within Gaza itself. There were no physical injuries or damages. Channel 2 reported that the mortars were likely aimed at IDF soldiers who were…

Hamas will focus on holding Arab Spring-style mass protests against Israel but is not renouncing the use of violence against the Jewish state, leader Khaled Mashaal told The Associated Press late Thursday. Mashaal told the news agency that popular protests have “the power of a tsunami,” pointing to the recent waves of demonstrations across the…

At least 40 people are dead after two suicide car bombers struck two security facilities in Damascus on Friday, Al-Jazeera reported. Faisal Mukdad, Syria’s deputy foreign minister, told the network most of the dead are civilians. He added at least 100 other people were wounded in Friday’s attack in the Kfar Sousa district. State media…

The Ministry of Defense said on Friday that it is looking into a report that Israeli-made internet-monitoring software was being used in Iran. Channel 10 News quoted the Defense Ministry as having said that the appropriate course of action will be decided upon based on the findings of the investigation. Earlier on Friday, Bloomberg reported…

The Dutch government will appoint a commission to study new tightened rules for ritual slaughter, the European Jewish Press reported on Thursday. The commission will attempt to satisfy animal rights activists without infringing on Jewish and Muslim traditions. The announcement came as the leader of the Dutch small Animal Rights Party, Marianne Thieme, decided to…

The success of Islamist parties in North Africa during the Arab Spring has inspired the Hamas terror organization to rebrand itself as ‘pragmatic.’ Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since seizing the coastal enclave in a bloody 2007 putsch, is now jockeying to reposition itself amid the shifting terrain of the Arab world. Hamas is reported…

Internet-monitoring software produced in Israel is being used by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Bloomberg reported on Friday. According to the report, software distributor RanTek in Denmark has been stripping away packaging and labels from products produced by the Israeli company Allot and then re-selling the software to Iran. Israeli officials say their they were…

A series of deadly bombings killed at least 69 people in the capital Baghdad on Thursday in what officials described as a “political message.” The blasts mark the first major attack following a sectarian crisis in the Iraqi government which sidelined Sunni political rivals to Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki. At least 18 people were…

President Michel Sleiman of Lebanon said Thursday that terror attacks targeting UNIFIL were aimed at forcing UN peacekeepers out of Israel’s northern neighbor. Sleiman also condemned the firing of rockets from south Lebanon toward Israel, saying such attacks harmed the country’s security and stability and called for the arrest of the culprits. The remarks were…

The Defense Ministry has ordered Israel Aerospace Industries and Elbit Systems Ltd. to cancel the sale of advanced intelligence equipment to Turkey, Channel 10 News reported on Thursday. According to the report the canceled deal, which was signed in 2009 and is worth $140 million, was for the sale of an advanced infrared camera and…

As the civil war in Syria continues and the ethnic tension is rising, the country’s Sunnis are threatening the Alawite minority against their continued support of President Bashar Assad, who is an Alawite himself. Mamoun al-Homsy, a former Syrian MP and one of the country’s opposition leaders, has reportedly recently distributed a recorded message to…

The Hizbullah terror group on Thursday denied charges by the United States that it was involved in drug trafficking and money laundering schemes to fund its activities. The group said in a statement quoted by AFP, “The United States’ allegations that Hizbullah is funding its activities illegitimately is merely another attempt to tarnish the image…

The United States will double the special aid it gives Israel for the development and implementation of anti-missile systems, the Globes financial newspaper reported on Thursday. According to the report, the House and Senate’s Committees on Appropriations approved the aid following a request by the U.S. Administration to approve aid totaling $106.1 million for the…

Ahmet Davutgolu, Turkish Foreign Minister and the architect of his country’s neo-Ottoman foreign policy, bragged about bringing Israel to its knees. Turkey is not down on its knees but has been experiencing a few setbacks. The French National Assembly disregarded Turkish threats and voted in favor of a law criminalizing denial of the Armenian genocide.…

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said Thursday that naval maneuvers dubbed Velayat 90 will start on Saturday in an area ranging from the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Aden. According to Sayyari, this is the first time that Iran’s Navy will have carried out naval drills in…

Palestinian Authority officials kept up their mantra of abrogating all bilateral accords with Israel on Thursday saying it would seek territorial redress in international courts. “We are studying currently total termination of all kind of dealings with the Israeli courts which basically belong to the occupier and never delivered the Palestinians with fair verdicts,” Palestinian…

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced Thursday that he would cancel all political, economic and military meetings between representatives of Turkey and France. He also forbade French aircraft from landing in Turkey and said French ships were no longer welcome in Turkey’s ports. Turkish television reported earlier that Ankara would call back its ambassador…

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat is promoting a plan for new municipal boundaries that would swap land, leaving some Arab neighborhoods outside the city. Barkat met with senior religious Zionist figures in an attempt to persuade them to support the plan, which includes a new security fence and abandoning the land on the other side of…

Israel and Turkey are reactivating their military ties, beginning with a coordination mechanism between the two air forces. The link exists to prevent aerial mishaps and potential disasters between aircraft from the two nations over the Mediterranean Sea. The coordination mechanism was recently reactivated, a senior IAF officer said, as part of the effort on both…

Former US President Bill Clinton says Iran is more likely to have terrorists do its dirty work than to launch a nuclear war itself. Clinton offered the assessment during an interview with Fox News journalist Bill O’Reilly Wednesday on the Fox television network to promote his latest book, “Back to Work.” Although not present at security…

A New York State resident has filed a $10 million lawsuit against Delta Airlines and Air France for failing to stop a terrorist from getting on a plane in 2009. The terrorist in question is the infamous “underwear bomber,” who tried to blow up a plane bound for Detroit in 2009 using a bomb hidden…

The Arab League has sent a 10-member advance team to Syria to ensure that monitors will have free access across the country. The Arab League has sent an advance team to Syria to prepare for the arrival of observers who will monitor the compliance of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime with the League’s demand to end…

The Hamas terrorist organization has agreed to join the Palestine Liberation Organization, according to the Associated Press. The decision came during two days after a meeting in Cairo between Palestinian Authority Chairman and PLO leader Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal and Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shalah. The gathering, which constitutes a gathering of…

The Hamas terror group on Thursday signed a deal with the Fatah terror group that would unify both “wings” of Palestinian Authority terror under the banner of the Palestine Liberation Organization. Hamas top terrorist Khaled Mashaal signed the deal with Fatah’s terror leader and PA chief, Mahmoud Abbas. Mashaal on Thursday agreed to join a…

As part of the recent celebration of its 24th anniversary, Hamas held a mass rally in Gaza in which the terror group expressed an intransigent commitment to the jihad against Israel. In his speech at the rally, Hamas’ Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh called for the establishment of “the al-Quds Army for the liberation of Palestine.”…

Graves belonging to Jews were recently found in a cemetery in Gaza, according to a Channel 10 News report on Wednesday. According to the report, the cemetery in question is the British cemetery located in central Gaza. The cemetery sustained damage in the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead in early 2009, and has undergone renovations. It…

Dennis Ross, President Barack Obama’s former Middle East advisor, said on Wednesday that the Obama administration is determined to prevent Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon and would certainly consider military action against the Islamic Republic. In an interview with Israel’s Channel 10 News, Ross said that the recent public statements by Defense Secretary Leon…

Kuwait officials denied reports on Wednesday they had agreed to release two Iranians convicted by  Kuwait on espionage charges after Iran released two two Kuwaitis it detained for 36 days to go home. Tehran on Sunday released two Kuwaiti nationals, Adel Al Yahya, a lawyer and journalist, and Raed Al Majid, a television cameraman, which…

The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) announced Wednesday it is reviewing whether to downgrade ties with Israel and halt security cooperation in light of the moribund peace process “This is the current Palestinian move as the Israeli government stalled the peace process and completely locked the political horizon,” PLO executive committee member Wasel Abu Yousuf said…

Iran will be able to produce a first core for a nuclear bomb in about one year’s time, according to Dr. Efraim Askolai, a former member of the Israeli Atomic Energy Committee. Askolai’s estimate jibes with similar ones made recently by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and correlates with an estimate by his Israeli counterpart,…

At least 675 Pakistani women and girls were murdered during the first nine months of 2011 for allegedly defaming their family’s honor, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan report said Tuesday. “A total of 675 women and girls were killed in the name of honor across Pakistan from January to September,” a senior official with…

According to the London-based al Hayat newspaper, Jordan is leading secret talks with several nations to find a home for Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal. The report comes as tensions between the Hamas terror organization, which openly seeks the destruction of Israel, and Syrian authorities become increasingly strained over Hamas’ support for anti-regime protesters in…

Gulf Arab leaders Tuesday rallied behind Saudi King Abdullah’s call to form a “single entity” in their ongoing move to form a strategic bulwark against their increasingly aggressive rival Iran. King Abdullah said Monday the security of Saudi Arabia and its Arab neighbors was being targeted, in an apparent reference to Iran, and called on…

Israel sharply criticized European members of the UN Security Council on Wednesday. The criticism came following a condemnation of Israel by UN Security Council members on Tuesday over the planned Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria as well as for ‘price tag’ vandalism. The condemnation was led by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal. “[The European…

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel offered his best wishes to downtown Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Meir Chai Benhiyoun and his family prior to the celebration of the public celebration of the first night of Chanukah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, but skipped attending the lighting of the first candle of the public menorah that always takes place…

Some 10,000 women marched Tuesday from Cairo’s Tahrir Square to the nearby Press Syndicate building chanting “Egyptian women are the red line,” according to local media reporting on military brutality against female protesters. The protest was provoked by an image published in media around the world of soldiers violently stripping a Muslim woman during protests…

The head of the Egypt’s Salafi movement says the party will honor the country’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel. The top two Islamist parties in Egypt won an overwhelming majority in the first two phases of the country’s parliamentary elections. The Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party is in the lead, but the Salafi al-Nour…

Death threats, apparently from Arabs, appeared on Facebook pages of Knesset Member Anastassia Michaeli, after she submitted a bill to stop noise pollution from mosques. She has filed a complaint with police. MK Michaeli, a member of the Yisrael Beiteinu party, has approximately 20,000 “friends” on her Facebook account, and after she wrote them asking…

The roads of Samaria (Shomron), so often poorly lit throughout the year, will glow this week with the giant public Jewish menorahs used for the Festival of Lights. The Samaria Regional Council has erected the giant candelabras for the Hanukkah holiday all along the part of Highway 60 that goes through Judea and Samaria, to publicize the miracle that…

Five Iranian technicians have been kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in the central Syrian city of Homs. The technicians, who are all electrical engineers, were part of a group of eight who were abducted while working on the city’s power plant. It is not clear who was behind the kidnappings, nor did the the semi-official Iranian Press…

The Mercosur trade group of four South American countries signed a free trade agreement with the Palestinian Authority on Tuesday. AFP reported that the PA’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Riyad Al Maliki, signed the agreement with the foreign ministers of each of the core Mercosur nations — Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Diplomats have been negotiating…

Kadima MK Otniel Schneller was a victim of Arab terrorism on Tuesday, when his car was firebombed twice as he was driving near the Binaymin community of Ofra, on his way to Hanukkah candle lighting at his daughter’s home in Neve Tzuf, northeast of the city of Modiin. Schneller’s wife and two of his grandchildren were in…

UN Security Council members condemned Israel on Tuesday for the planned Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria as well as for ‘price tag’ vandalism. According to a report by AFP, the condemnation was led by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal. The four said in a joint statement after a council meeting on the Middle East…

The European Union received two items of bad news: The first was the return from the cold of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn who has been on ice since he was implicated – and cleared – in a sex scandal; the second was a failure by the EU to come up with €200 billion in pledges to…

Convicted Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk’s bid to regain his U.S. citizenship was denied on Tuesday, The Associated Press reported. According to the report, U.S. District Judge Dan Aaron Polster said Demjanjuk had lied about where he was during World War II. Polster rejected the retired autoworker’s citizenship claim, which was based on newly discovered…

Chief Rabbis of Israel and Education Minister attended the Western Wall lighting of the menorah on the first night of Hanukkah.

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey said Tuesday that the United States can successfully attack Iran, if necessary. His biggest worry is that Iran will “miscalculate our resolve. Dempsey, speaking to CNN during a worldwide tour, spoke one day after Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta warned that the American government will…

Iran has moved most of its government websites from foreign-based hosting companies to new computer facilities inside the country to protect them against cyber attacks, Reuters reported on Tuesday. A senior official in the Islamic Republic was quoted as having told the official IRNA news agency, “The location of the hosts of more than 90…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barack on Teusday visited the Ephraim Brigade headquarters in Samaria to light the first Hannukah candle this year. During the visit Barak and Netanyahu were accompanied by Judea and Samaria Battalion commander Shai Avital and Ephraim Brigade commander Colonel Ron Kahane. The event – staged for the…

State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss slammed the Israel’s top security officials on Tuesday saying Israel is short on bomb shelters and ill-prepared to defend its citizenry should war break out. The state comptroller’s annual report, published in part on Tuesday, blasted officials saying Israel “has not learned the lessons from the 2006 Lebanon war.” During that…

Amid the Islamic tsunami sweeping Egypt’s parliamentary elections the ultra-conservative Salafist Nour party says it is willing to hold talks with Israel. Salafi al-Nour Party spokesman Yousri Hammad told Egypt’s daily al-Arabia that reports party chairman Emad Abdul Ghafour was willing to maintain contacts with Israel were true – and added doing so did not…

Did the Prime Minister hint, in a Cabinet meeting earlier this week, that he wants Tel Aviv’s future subway stations to double as mass emergency shelters? If he did – IDF Radio seems to have had no compunctions about leaking and broadcasting the matter. The military radio station’s website reported Tuesday that Prime Minister Binyamin…

Lebanon said Monday it knows who is behind rocket attacks on Israel but won’t say. Later, it revealed the secret: Israel – of course. Lebanese Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn Monday reasoned that Israel is behind missile attacks on its own citizens because it is trying “to undermine security and stability in south Lebanon,” The Beirut…

While the death of North Korea’s leader in the past 17 years, Kim Jong Il, may seem like it is not connected to Israel, Attorney Nitzana Darshan-Leitner who heads the Shurat HaDin organization, reminded on Monday of the connection between North Korea and terrorism in the Middle East. “North Korea has been involved in the…

Protesters rioted in Bahrain for a third day as minority Shi’ites demanded more rights from the Sunni monarchy in renewed unrest. Riots have erupted regularly over the year since the advent of the Arab Spring uprisings across the region. Bahrain’s King Hamad last Tuesday charged Syria with training opposition figures and provocateurs in his tiny…

The Indian press fussed about an editorial in the Chinese Communist Party organ, the People’s Daily, that expressed concern over the forthcoming February launch of India’s new Agni-V missile. This missile with a 6000 km range has MIRV capability, meaning that it can carry multiple warheads. According to the Chinese daily, the launch reflected India’s…

Tunisia’s newly elected president on Monday called the country’s Jewish population to return to his country, The Associated Press reported. During a meeting with the country’s Grand Rabbi Haim Bittan, President Moncef Marzouki said that Tunisia’s Jews are full-fledged citizens and those who had left the country were welcome to return. Today, Tunisia has a…

Iran is a year or less from “N-Day,” but the United States will stop it – no matter what, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told CBS Monday night. His comments were far stronger than those of President Barack Obama, who has said that Iran must not reach nuclear capability but has not categorically stated that his…

A wealthy Saudi Prince has bought three percent of Twitter, the latest of Arab world investments that are making inroads on Western-based companies. Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who heads the Kingdom Holding Company and who has been rated as the world’s richest Arab,  announced Monday  the $300 million purchase of Twitter shares, the Dow…

South Korean president Lee Myung-Bak learned North Korean despot Kim John Ill died of a heart attack from the North’s state-run TV on Saturday morning. Defense Minister Kim Kwan-Jin was briefing legislators in parliament on a defense reform bill when Pyongyang dropped its bombshell. He rushed back to his ministry. The chairman of the Joint…

The Rebbe of the Satmar Hassidic movement, Grand Rabbi Aron Teitelbaum, spoke out Saturday night against Jews who oppose U.S. President Barack Obama. The Rebbe, who lives in the New York State Hassidic town of Kiryas Yoel, made his remarks during a speech delivered during the sect’s annual dinner commemorating the 67th anniversary of the miraculous…

Germany called on Israel to refrain from publishing construction tenders in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem saying it sends a “devastating message” for peace efforts. “The Israeli government must be aware that the continuous announcements of new settlements convey a devastating message with a view to the current efforts and resumption of peace negotiations,” government spokesman…

A British legislator in Cameron’s government has lost a key post and is under probe for celebrating at a Nazi costume stag party. Conservative party Member of Parliament Aidan Burley was photographed next to a Nazi-uniformed bachelor at a stag party where guests raised their glasses to toast the third Reich. Burely was wearing regular…

Troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad continued to kill opponents Monday while he agreed to sign an Arab League proposal for sending observers. The document was signed by the Syrian foreign minister, who has arrived in Cairo. The question remains whether Assad will honor his signature. Syria’s deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad has arrived…

The Lebanese army discovered four Katyusha rockets ready for launch at Israel Monday, while government officials said they know who fired at Israel earlier this month. The rockets were discovered on launching pads in southeast Lebanon, according to the Beirut Daily Star. Terrorists in Lebanon fired four rockets on northern Israel in late November in…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of the Yisrael Beitenu faction, said Monday that the attacks against Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron, or Yesha) are wrong and hypocritical. “There is no justification, and no excuse can be accepted with regard to hurting IDF soldiers,” he said, in reference to the incident a…

An alleged CIA agent being held in Tehran was shown on Iranian state television on Sunday. The channel named the man as Amir Mirzai Hekmati and said he was an American of Iranian descent born in Arizona. The report showed Hekmati confessing to his “mission” to infiltrate the intelligence ministry, AFP said. The Iranian channel…

Now that the second phase of the Shalit deal has been implemented and 550 terrorist prisoners have been released, the Hamas terror group is already planning the next kidnapping. In a press briefing held on Sunday evening, the spokesman of Hamas’s military wing, Abu Obeida, welcomed the Shalit deal and called it “an achievement of…

Egypt’s two leading Islamist parties said on Sunday their parties have secured about three-quarters of votes cast in the second round of a parliamentary election, Reuters reported. A source from the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) told Reuters the party was on track to win about 40 percent of votes for party lists,…

He is still president for another few months, but Dmitry Medvedev has become Russia’s almost forgotten man. At Vladimir Putin’s four and a half hour call-in show last week he received precisely one mention. This is a far cry from the glory days of the tandem and Medvedev as Putin’s protégé’. Unless you are a…

Israel has offered to export natural gas to India, The Times of India is reporting. According to the report, the offer was made by Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz to the Indian government during his visit to the country last week. The report said that in his conversations with his Indian counterpart, Pranab Mukherjee, and…

An IDF soldier was lightly wounded Sunday from rocks thrown by an Arab mob north of Jerusalem. The riot took place near the Bitunia checkpoint, not far from Beit El. The soldier received initial medical treatment on the spot. The Arabs reportedly numbered about 400. They burned tires, threw fire bombs and hurled rocks at…

The Israel Electric Company has just signed an $8 billion deal to buy natural gas from the Noble Energy-led group developing the Tamar gas field off the coast of Haifa. The company will purchase an estimated 3 billion cubic meters of gas per year, starting in mid-2013, for the next 15 years, IEC officials said…

Egyptians on Sunday entered a third day of deadly clashes between protesters and government forces on a street close to Cairo’s Tahrir Square, and home to a campus of the American University. One of the university’s research centers was gutted by a blaze during the clashes on Saturday. At least 10 people have been killed…

At least 650 people are dead, and some 800 others are still missing on the southern island of Mindanao after Tropical Storm Washi struck the Philippines on Friday. Entire villages were swept away in the storm. The two port cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were also badly damaged Friday night, with hundreds of…

A video uploaded to YouTube on Saturday reveals an Arab attempt to lynch a Jew near the village of Asira al-Qibliya in Shomron. The video, which was filmed by the Arabs, shows a group of Arabs surrounding the Jewish man and begin to pelt him with rocks. The Jew is shown tripping and falling on…

It is worth reviewing the lecture by David Richards to the Royal United Services Institute for an inkling about the changing balance of power. On the one hand, the top British General  claimed that Britain would remain more powerful than its European allies, but he could only envy the Afghan army in terms of men…

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry said Saturday that its agents have arrested a person of Iranian origin on suspicion of spying for the United States, the Associated Press said. Iran’s Foreign Ministry taunted the US Saturday, saying any espionage activity against his country would lead to humiliation. In a statement broadcast on state TV, the ministry said…

Video shot Saturday shows Egyptian soldiers administering savage beatings to protesters in Tahrir Square. Al Jazeera reported nine people had died in two days of violence. Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri accused the demonstrators of mounting “an attack against the revolution.” According to the BBC, the demonstrators had staged a sit-in Friday near the cabinet building…

A man who witnesses said appeared to be an Arab stabbed and lightly wounded a security guard at the entrance to Maaleh Adumim Saturday. The stabber escaped. The guard, aged about 50, was evacuated so that he could receive medical attention. The stabber is believed to have escaped into one of the adjacent villages, east…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Thursday that he would battle the recently proposed legislation that would change the way judges are elected to Israel’s Supreme Court and restrict the foreign funding received by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Speaking at the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial in Washington, DC, Barak said, “As the Defense Minister of…

Recent violent incidents ascribed to right-wingers may have rattled the government enough to cause it to reappraise its attitude toward leftist and Arab violence, too. Government Secretary Tzvi Hauser told Channel 2 that “whoever burns a mosque and damages a site that is holy to others disgraces this nation and causes it to be slandered,”…

Syrian security forces opened fire on anti-government protesters after prayers at several locations around the country on Friday, The Associated Press report. At the same time, the report said, the army sent reinforcements into a southern area where military defectors recently launched deadly attacks on regime troops. According to two local human rights groups, the…

A senior Hamas official has warned that a new Arab intifada could start due to the recent torching of mosques in Judea and Samaria. The terror group on Thursday condemned the arsons and called on the “Palestinian people” to act as one against the “Zionist attacks.” Hamas also called on the Arab League and on…

Two protesters have been killed by gunfire in clashes that broke out on Friday between Egyptian soldiers and anti-military protesters. A youth activist told The Associated Press that she saw the bodies of the two protesters and accompanied them to the morgue at a Cairo hospital. She claimed that both had gunshot wounds. According to…

Russia surprised Western diplomats on Thursday when it put forth a draft resolution in the United Nations Security Council taking a harder line on violence in Syria. Moscow, which has billions of dollars of contracts and investments tied to the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, has thus far been an obstacle to Western attempts…

A proposal released Thursday would see the U.S. Congress allowing American economic aid to the Palestinian Authority to continue next year, so long as the entity is not admitted as a state to any more United Nations organizations. Reuters reported that the measure also says that the PA mission in Washington can remain open, so long…

A senior leader of Canada’s Muslim community compared a recent policy requiring no face-coverings be worn when new immigrants take the citizenship oath to the dire oppression of Jews in Nazi Germany. Imam Sayed Soharwardy, a Canadian of Pakistani descent who serves as president of the Supreme Muslim Council of Canada, made his comparison on…

A city in western China is trying reduce religious fervor by prohibiting people from wearing veils, traditional Arab dress, or growing long beards, Associated Press reports. “Dilute religious consciousness, advocate a civilized healthy life style,” the notice in the Dunmaili district of Yining in China’s heavily Muslim western reaches read. The notice added the campaign’s…