Category: News

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised his supporters in Likud Thursday that “whoever dares raise his hand against soldiers or police will pay a heavy price for it.” Regarding the recent riot in an army base, he said: “We will arrest the rioters, we will distance them and we will try them. There will be no…

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said this week that Turkey’s recent polices in the Middle East “have made Israel kneel down” in front of Turkey and isolated the Jewish State in the region. The Turkey-based Today’s Zaman reported that Davutoğlu made the comments in remarks he made during budget talks in the Turkish Parliament on…

A verbal confrontation broke out on Thursday between MK Ahmed Tibi (Raam-Taal) and the head of the Manhigut Yehudit faction in the Likud, Moshe Feiglin. The argument took place when both were interviewed on a Channel 2 News program. The issue at hand was the ‘price tag’ operations and specifically the latest torching of mosques…

Several Lebanese financial institutions with alleged ties to the Hizbullah terror organization were part of a massive scheme that funneled hundreds of millions of dollars in criminal proceeds through the United States, prosecutors charged on Thursday. AFP reported that a criminal complaint in a New York federal court targeted the Lebanese Canadian Bank and two…

Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky has called for the immediate release of Jonathan Pollard. Sharansky made the comments in a speech he gave on Wednesday at the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial in Washington, DC. “As someone who has brought up the subject with White House and cabinet officials in Washington, I realize that this…

Just 20 days before the Iowa caucus begins Mitt Romney came out swinging at front-runner Newt Gingrich, saying “Zany is not what we need in a president.” “Zany is great in a campaign. It’s great on talk radio. It’s great in print, it makes for fun reading,” Mr. Romney told The New York Times. “But…

The United States declares a formal end to the Iraq War Thursday in Baghdad, with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arriving in the Iraqi capital to attend the ceremony that will wrap up the 8 1/2 year mission. Under the terms of the security agreement signed between the U.S. and Iraq in 2008, American troops were required…

Another day, another barrage of mortar fire from Gaza disrupting life for residents of communities in southern Israel. People living in the western Negev were forced to make a run for it Thursday afternoon when the Color Red rocket alert siren activated across the region. Civilians were told to remain in their shelters as security officials…

The Vatican’s former foreign minister asked to place some Israeli holy places under Vatican authority, alluding to the Cenacle on Mount Zion and the garden of Gethsemane at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. The first site also houses what is referred to as King David’s tomb.  “There will not be peace if the question…

Palestinian Authority Arabs targeted motorists Thursday afternoon in what is starting to again become a common phenomenon on the roads of Judea and Samaria, as it was in the days of the 2002 Second Intifada. In September of this year, in fact, the number of such attacks had more than doubled in comparison to the figures for…

As diplomacy begins to thaw between India and Pakistan a wandering primate who strayed across a disputed border region into Pakistan has sparked a media firestorm. The monkey, who remains unnamed, was found by members of a paramilitary ranger unit in Pakistan’s desert region of Rahim Yar Khan on November 19. They packed him off…

Egyptian navy ships were on their way to the waters off Turkey Thursday afternoon, where they will rendezvous with Turkish navy vessels for a joint exercise. Egypt’s top naval commander, Muhav Mamish, said in an interview that the the exercise is “not directed against any specific country, and is designed to strengthen ties and exchange…

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday endorsed harsher sanctions on Iran, as part of U.S. attempts to weaken Tehran economically and derail its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The Associated Press reported that House lawmakers voted for two bills that would strengthen current sanctions, while expanding the list of companies and individuals subject to penalties.…

The rumors of an imminent destruction of a Jewish community came true early Thursday morning as Border Police officers arrived without warning in large numbers in the outpost of Mitzpe Yitzhar in the Shomron and destroyed two buildings. Local residents reported that the troops had entered the community through a nearby Arab village instead of the…

Syrian army defectors killed at least 27 soldiers and government personnel early Thursday. The deaths came in three separate clashes at dawn in the southern province of Dara’a, where the uprising began against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. According to a report released Thursday by the New York-based Human Rights Watch group, Syrian military…

A former top Pentagon official said that the drone Iran exhibited last week “appears to be a fake,” USA Today reported Thursday. The official requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press on the issue of the downed drone. Last week, Iran said it had seized an American RQ-170 Sentinel drone…

A proposal bill to ban Jewish kosher slaughter of animals in Holland was rejected late Tuesday by the upper house of the Parliament on the ground that it violates freedom of religion, the European Jewish Press reported. The bill, which was presented by the small Animal Rights Party earlier this year, called for a total…

Iran’s intelligence chief visited Riyadh for talks with Saudi Arabia’s top security officials on Monday amid continued tensions between the Persian Gulf rivals. Iranian Intelligence Minister Haidar Moslehi met with Saudi Crown Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, who is also the Saudi interior minister; Saudi intelligence director Prince Muqrin; and other top Saudi royals, Saudi…

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday said that Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich’s remarks about Palestinian Authority Arabs were “unhelpful.” Gingrich told The Jewish Channel last week that the claim of Palestinian Authority Arabs to be “a people” is not legitimate. The former Speaker of the House of Representatives said in the interview, “Remember, there was…

The Israel Prison Service (IPS) uploaded the list of prisoners designated to be released in the second stage of the Gilad Shalit deal to its website on Wednesday. From the time it was posted, there are 48 hours in which motions may be filed. The list includes the names of 550 terrorists. Israel agreed to…

The United States predicted on Wednesday that the downfall of Syrian President Bashar Assad is imminent, The Associated Press reported. According to the report Frederic Hof, a senior official in the State Department, likened Assad’s regime to a “dead man walking” over its brutal crackdown on pro-reform demonstrators and its increasing international isolation. Hof told…

The United Nations has been warned — Syrian citizens are dying by the thousands, with the death toll in Syria rising by at least 1,000 in the past 10 days — and more losing their lives in the daily bloodbath that comes with each clash between loyalist troops and opposition forces. The figures reflect the…

Cal State has joined the Ivy League and New York State University in rescinding a ban on its students studying in Israeli universities after 9 years. The California State University system (CSU or Cal State), which has 23 campuses and some 420,000 students, shut down its Study Abroad program in Israel during the height of…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accepted the recommendations of Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman for dealing with disturbances in Judea and Samaria.  The ministers formulated the recommendations after meeting with ISA, IDF, Israel Police and State Attorney’s Office teams, which were: The immediate issuing of administrative detention orders against…

Even as Yemen swears in its interim government and prepares to say goodbye to outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh, terrorists from Al Qaeda continue to grab headlines in the teetering Gulf country. At least 13 Al Qaeda-linked terrorists escaped earlier this week from a prison facility in the southern port city of Aden, a source…

Egyptians are heading to the polls for round two of their parliamentary elections. The selection of a new parliament in Egypt is a three-stage process, with the second round taking place in Giza, Luxor, Aswan and Ismaila. In Giza, as in last month’s election, about 100 people were waiting to cast their ballots — and…

The Hamas rulers of Gaza are celebrating their 24th anniversary since the terrorist group was founded. Tens of thousands of their supporters joined in the celebrations Wednesday, waving the signature green flags of Hamas and honking vehicle horns in the streets. For its annual rally to celebrate the occasion, a huge stage formed in the…

Police pounced on expelled Yesha residents in Jerusalem’s Kiryat Moshe neighborhood Wednesday afternoon, throwing some of them out of windows, an eyewitness said. Protesters fought police, and three of them were injured in the fracas. Six people were arrested. Authorities have not said if there is a link between the police action and the infiltration…

According to the Swiss paper Tagesanzeiger authorities in Germany and Switzerland are investigating possible links between the 2001 murder of an Israeli-born rabbi in Zurich and a series of murders perpetrated by neo-Nazis. Rabbi Abraham Grunbaum, 70, was shot and killed on June 7, 2001 in the Agudas Achim synagogue in Switzerland. According to the…

Relatives of more than 14,000 Jews and others massacred by the Nazis in the Ukrainian city of Simferopol 70 years ago gathered Sunday to remember the horror. They observed a moment of silence, held a march and erected a monument in memory of the victims, as reported on the Arutz Sheva Russian site. The Nazi…

Iran’s supreme Muslim leader, Ali Khamenei, has ordered the arrest of several Revolutionary Guards, along with one of his sons, suspected of plotting to assassinate him, the Jordan-based Al Bawaba website reported. Sources said that some of Khamenei’s own bodyguards are among those suspected in the plot. Other prominent members of the Guards, Iran’s elite force…

Police suspect that arsonists attacked an unused mosque near downtown Jerusalem in the pre-dawn hours Wednesday. Investigators found slogans against Muslims and the words “price tag” spray-painted on the walls of the mosque on Strauss Street. Firefighters quickly extinguished the fire after receiving reports that smoke was seen pouring out of the mosque. Damage was limited,…

Religious students from the Beit Yatir pre-military academy located in the Hevron Hills in Judea held a demonstration on Tuesday evening in support and solidarity with Israeli soldiers. The demonstration of support was held at the entrance to the base of the IDF’s Judea Brigade. The students, who were accompanied by the academy’s Dean, Rabbi Moshe…

The National Conference on Jewish Affairs (NCJA), a coalition of Jewish leaders and heads of Jewish, pro-Israel, pro-America organizations in America and abroad, welcomed on Tuesday recent comments by Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich, who last week told The Jewish Channel that the claim of Palestinian Authority Arabs to be “a people” is not legitimate.…

A former top advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that there is still time to stop Iran’s nuclear program using economic and political pressure. Dennis Ross, Obama’s former Middle East advisor, said that the Obama administration is committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear arms as a “vital national security interest,” according…

Religious students from the Beit Yatir pre-military academy located in the Hevron Hills in Judea held a demonstration on Tuesday evening in support and solidarity with Israeli soldiers. The demonstration of support was held at the entrance to the base of the IDF’s Judea Brigade. The students, who were accompanied by the academy’s Dean, Rabbi Moshe…

A key U.S. lawmaker denied on Tuesday Iran’s claims that its military brought down a U.S. drone last week, and said technical problems pulled the UAV from the sky and into Tehran’s hands. “I will say without hesitation that this is not something that anyone had anything to do with coming down with, other than…

Bahrain’s King Hamad on Tuesday charged Syria with training opposition figures and provocateurs in his tiny island kingdom. King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa told Britain’s Daily Telegraph, “We have evidence that a number of Bahrainis who oppose our government are being trained in Syria …. I have seen the files and we have notified the…

Israel is about to find itself in the thick of the fierce competition between Apple and the companies that make Android-platform smartphones – and specifically Samsung. According to a report in Calcalist, Apple is interested in spending between $400 and $500 million for Israeli startup Anobit, a maker of improved flash memory for cellphones and…

Iran is taking revenge on Israel with an “Attack on Tel Aviv” game for EA’s Battlefield 3 computer game that features U.S. soldiers in Tehran. Battlefield 3 has been a sensation worldwide – except in Iran, where the Ahmadinejad regime is not thrilled with the game’s setting in Tehran, where a U.S. military raid on Tehran is…

The deputy commander of the IDF Southern Command said Tuesday a major incursion into Gaza is becoming inevitable. “I think we can’t avoid another confrontation; there’s a lot of weapons in the Gaza Strip, a lot of terror groups,” Col. Jonathan Bransky told reporters during a tour of the border area. The terrorists “try to…

A hand grenade attack in the eastern Belgian city of Liege on Tuesday killed 4 and injured 64. A two-year-old child is reportedly fighting for life in hospital. Six of other victims are said to be gravely injured. Initial new reports said that around 12:30 local time a man lobbed several grenades at a bus…

  Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed senior security officials to prepare an emergency plan to deal with settler violence against the IDF during an ’emergency session’ of the cabinet on Tuesday. The meeting was held the morning after a night raid by scores of angry youth on an IDF base in Samaria who were angry…

UN human rights chief Navi Pillay told the Security Council on Monday that the death toll in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s nine month crackdown on anti-regime protesters has surpassed 5,000. The figure represents a sharp increase over the 4 000 that she cited just 10 days ago. “Today I have reported that the figure exceeds…

Iran is having a field day over the latest downed Drone, saying that President Barack Obama “begs to give him back his toy plane.” “Obama is hoping that the Iranian government is in a Christmas mood because he has asked Tehran to send him his Christmas preseIran Mocks Obama Who ‘Begged; for Dronent back,” chided…

Pakistani police rescued 45 brutalized students found chained in the basement during a raid late Monday on an Islamic seminary in the southern port city of Karachi. Officers also arrested two clerics at the Madrassa Zakarya in Karachi’s central Sohrab Goth area, but the head of the seminary managed to escape, police official Mukhtiar Khaskheli…

The Sentinel drone that was downed or malfunctioned over Iran has become a topic of political controversy. Former U.S. Vice President and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney attacked President Obama for failing to protect American technology that was part of the drone downed in Iran.  In an interview with CNN’s Erin Burnett, Mr. Cheney said the drone, should never have been allowed…

Dozens of youths from Judea and Samaria entered an IDF base in Samaria late Monday night following rumors of an imminent destruction of a Jewish community. Several were arrested. Clashes broke out between soldiers and the protesters, who burned tires and damaged some military vehicles. Police reinforcements helped chase the youth from the base while…

On Monday, the exhibit “Revealing the Operation to Capture Eichmann”, which marks the 50th anniversary of the trial of Adolf Eichmann, opened in the Knesset. The exhibit presents documents from the State Archives and materials revealed by the Mossad for the first time regarding the operation to capture Eichmann in Argentina and bring him to…

An explosion ripped through a gas pipeline near the town of Rastan in the central Syrian province of Homs on Monday, according to a report by the Reuters news agency. An eyewitness told the news agency that flames had been seen rising from the site. It was the second reported blast at an energy pipeline…

Holland is reviewing its policy of funding the UNRWA agency for Arab ”refugees,” which treats them differently from other refugees. In reply to a question from Speaker of the legislature Hans Ten Broke, Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said the government will “thoroughly review” its annual contribution of approximately $30 million, according to the European Jewish…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is making inroads into Israel by signing an exchange pact with Nazareth, an Israeli Arab city in the Galilee. The official PA website WAFA calls the pact “an important cooperation agreement [which] will strengthen the bonds of love and social ties between the cities of Ramallah and Nazareth.” WAFA’s report reveals…

Although it has always been the policy of right leaning American Jewish Zionist groups to avoid criticizing Israeli government policy in public, it seems that recent actions by the Netanyahu government are beginning to erode that policy, already severely shaken by the Gush Katif disengagement during PM Ariel Sharon’s term of office. On Sunday morning,…

Middle East expert Professor Eyal Zisser warned on Monday against a possible Syrian attack on Israel, if President Bashar Assad feels threatened by the anti-regime protesters. In an interview with Arutz Sheva, Zisser said that in the short term there is no reason for particular concern, because a situation which is bad for Assad is…

The Central Bureau of Statistics released a population forecast on Monday which predicts a significant rise in Israel’s hareidi-religious population by the year 2059. The forecast was prepared at the request of the Finance Ministry’s Budget Division, which had sought a long-term forecast of Israel’s population for the coming fifty years. The forecast was divided…

America’s Voices in Israel is hosting this week a delegation of Hollywood celebrities. During the week-long visit, the delegation experiences Israel in a tailor-made tour that is both high impact and tailored to the group’s interests. The stars include mega-hit TV show “24” co-star Mary Lynn Rajskub; Greg Grunberg, co-star of the world wide TV…

An attempt by Palestinian Authority Arab teenagers to carry out a terrorist attack on Israeli citizens was foiled late Monday afternoon by Israeli soldiers and police. The three would-be terrorists were tracked down and arrested in the Samaria (Shomron) region, in an area between Beit Soreq and the Jewish town of Itamar. The teens were…

Publication of routine tenders for construction of 40 new homes approved last spring has been labeled a “provocative action” by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The minute expansion is seen as a drop in the bucket in the vibrant, popular city close to Jerusalem where numerous potential residents have been turned away, and even new immigrants have reconsidered their plans…

Arab terrorists in Hamas-run Gaza resumed rocket attacks on Israel Monday evening, launching a short-range Qassam rocket at southern Israeli communities in the western Negev. The rocket exploded in an open field in the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council district at about 8:15 p.m., triggering anxiety attacks in some people but causing no physical wounds. Those…

Hizbullah launched a furious media salvo at Military Appeals Court presiding Judge Alice Shabtini  for releasing four members of the Al-Alam family convicted of collaboration with Israel. “Some members of the Lebanese judiciary committed a dangerous precedent by releasing a group of hardcore Israeli agents who spent only a year and a few months [in…

Government forces set out after dark Monday night to destroy five budding Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Residents of the central Samaria outpost of Ramat Gilad received a message late in the evening that Israel Police officers and IDF soldiers were “on the way” to their location first. The residents told Arutz Sheva they…

Seven people, including foreign nationals, were killed, and more than a dozen wounded in another blast in Iran, this time at a steel plant. It is not known if the factory has any connection with Iran’s nuclear facilities, but Iran recently imported special steel from North Korea, possibly for use in missile engines or enrichment…

A senior commander from Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said Sunday that his country will not return an American surveillance drone captured by Iranian armed forces. However, he also indicated willingness to reach a deal, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. In remarks broadcast on Iranian state television, General Hossein Salami said the violation…

Bill Clinton might have freed Jonathan Pollard in 2000 if Jewish Senators had stood up for him, civil rights lawyer Prof. Alan Dershowitz said Monday. Asked about the matter at the annual Israel Business Forum on Monday, Dershowitz said Pollard has not been freed “because of Jewish senators.” The renowned lawyer and Harvard professor said…

Syrians went out to vote in municipal elections Monday despite the battles that raged in the streets between government troops and army defectors, and a feeling by some that in any case, the effort was useless. More than 17,000 seats on local councils across the country’s 14 provinces are up for grabs, but turnout was…

A Saudi woman was beheaded Monday after being convicted of practicing sorcery, which is banned in the ultra-conservative kingdom, the Interior Ministry said. Amina Bint Abdulhalim Nassar was executed in the northern province of Jawf for “practicing witchcraft and sorcery,” the ministry said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency. Bin Salim was…

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said Monday it will not “act unilaterally” when reviewing the 1979 Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty. The Brotherhood, set to control Egypt’s parliament following the current election cycle, ignited a political firestorm when it said it would reconsider peace with Israel. “A decision on such a national issue will be taken jointly by parliament,…

The opposition in Syria staged a general strike on Sunday in Damascus, the stronghold of President Bashar Assad, as battles raging throughout the country left at least 100 dead and scores wounded. The capital is the home of tens of thousands of government employees, who generally have been loyal to Assad during the nine-month Arab…

Terrorists north of the border fired a Katyusha rocket at Israel late Sunday night but it failed to reach Israel and instead injured a Lebanese woman. The attack was staged from the area of Bint Jbil, where Hizbullah terrorists and the IDF fought a bloody battle in the Second Lebanon War in the summer of…

Activists for Neighborhood Watch, a group of nationalists headed by MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) and the chairman of the Our Land of Israel movement, Baruch Marzel, held a demonstration on Sunday evening at the Levinsky Park in Tel Aviv. The group was demonstrating against the massive infiltration of immigrants from Sudan. The infiltrators enter…

Turkish president Abdullah Gul on Sunday said Israel should take advantage of the changes in the Middle East to achieve peace with the Palestinian Authority and the entire Arab world, the Turkey-based Today’s Zaman reported. Speaking upon his return from Vienna, where he snubbed an official lunch on Friday because of the presence of Defense…

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, spoke at a recent event of Maagalim, an organization that helps disadvantaged youths. During his talk, Prosor spoke about the challenges Israel currently faces, as well as about the difficulty of being an Israeli ambassador in the UN. “Coming to the United Nations you really feel sometimes…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Sunday that the downfall of Syrian President Bashar Assad would be a “blessing to the Middle East.” In a speech at the World Policy Conference in Vienna, Barak predicted that the Assad regime will fall within weeks. “We are witnessing the last days of fighting between forces loyal to…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday with praise for Israel’s newest Nobel Prize laureate, chemist Prof. Dan Schechtman. Netanyahu pointed to the pattern on his tie and said: “Do you see this necktie?  These are Prof. Dan Shechtman’s quasi-crystals. Ten years ago, he discovered something that was apparently impossible, clung to…

Russia launched two satellites on Sunday, one of them designed by Israel and carrying sophisticated communications systems. A Proton-M carrier rocket blasted off from the Kazakhstan space center carrying Russia’s Luch-5A spacecraft and the Amos-5 satellite. Israel’s satellite, which was manufactured in Russia, will join the satellite grouping of Amos-2 and Amos-3 to provide various…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak alluded to the 2005 Disengagement from Gaza Sunday as he warned that Israel would strike back at terrorists there. “Since Friday, about 36 missiles have been fired from Gaza at Israeli communities,” he said in a speech at the World Policy Conference in Vienna. “Israel will know how to defend itself…

Iran has discovered a vast new natural gas field in the depths of the Caspian Sea, its Petroleum Minister Rostam Qasemi announced Sunday. The news was posted on the Iranian Ministry of Petroleum’s news website, Shana. Qasemi told journalists at a news conference in Tehran the gas reserves were located at a depth of 700…

President Shimon Peres challenged presidents Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy Sunday to back up their vows not let Iran go nuclear. “I want to see actual results,” the Israeli president said. Speaking at the opening session of the annual Israel Business Conference, President Peres declared to a CNN reporter, “Iran is the center of all…

A slick little attempt by the Palestinian Authority to gain statehood recognition — at least on paper — in a listing at a United Nations convention on climate change was stymied over the weekend by the United States and Israel. Israeli envoys to the conference, held in Durban, South Africa, discovered upon their arrival that…

Army defectors squared off against their former compatriots Sunday in one of the fiercest battles to wrack the country in Syria’s emerging civil war. Loyalist forces backed by tanks clashed with hundreds of army defectors in southern Syria, not far from the northern border of Jordan. The troops were mainly from the 12th Armored Brigade based…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declared war on illegal infiltrators at the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday and said he will fly to Africa to discuss sending them back home. The Cabinet unanimously approved a government program to deal with the illegal immigrants, whose numbers have reached tens of thousands and present a clear and present danger…

The downing of an American stealth RQ-170 Sentinel drone last week has caused consternation in the United States, who didn’t believe Iran capable of such an electronic or other military attack. On Thursday, the Islamic Republic aired footage of the missing drone, which appeared to have suffered only minimal damage. Both current and former U.S.…

Israel’s new ambassador to Egypt is expected to depart for Cairo on Monday, the Foreign Ministry announced Saturday evening. But because no secure embassy building yet exists for Israel in the Egyptian capital, Yaakov Amitai will temporarily operate from his residence. Foreign Ministry officials said they have not yet found a new building in which…

Some of the participants in the 2011 Pan Arab Games, taking place in Qatar, were upset this weekend after discovering that a map showing “Palestine” presented its boundaries as only included Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The map was presented, along with the maps of other participating countries, at the opening ceremony of the games in…

The IDF retaliated once again for a barrage of rocket fire aimed at southern Israel overnight Saturday. According to a statement by the IDF Spokesman, IAF aircraft struck a weapons manufacturing site in northern Gaza. The statement said that the aircraft directly hit their targets and added that several secondary explosions were detected. All Israeli…

Gilad Shalit, who was freed in October after five and a half years in Hamas captivity, thanked on Saturday the many activists who had worked to secure his release. The Shalit family held a special thank you dinner for the activists in Kibbutz Shefayim in central Israel on Saturday evening. Gilad himself did not attend…

In the biggest protests since the fall of the Soviet Union, some 50,000 people approached the Kremlin to protest the rule of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Demonstrators claimed in a rally Saturday that last Sunday’s parliamentary elections were rigged, and demanded a new poll be taken. The rally had been permitted by authorities, as long…

Terrorists resumed their rocket fire on southern Israeli communities early Saturday morning. Two Grad Katyusha rockets slammed into the Asheklon Coastal Region, both exploding in open areas of the district. Earlier in the morning, two short-range Qassam rockets were launched at the Eshkol Regional Council District at about 7:30 a.m. Both exploded on open fields, causing no…

Israeli fighter pilots attacked terrorist targets in southern Gaza late Friday night in retalation for a barrage of rocket fire aimed at southern Israel earlier in the day. According to a statement from the IDF Spokesperson’s office, a terror-affiliated site in the southern part of Gaza was targeted, and a direct hit was confirmed. There was…

GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich has gotten himself into hot water with the Arab world, and with the Palestinian Authority over an interview he gave to The Jewish Channel. Gingrich last week told the Jewish cable television station that the claim of Palestinian Authority Arabs to be “a people” is not legitimate, and that diplomatic…

  Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, currently mayor of Chicago, says the bond between the United States and Israel is “rock solid.” In a televised interview with journalist Dana Weiss on “Meet the Press” at the Saban Forum in Washington D.C. over the weekend, Emanuel was emphatic that President Barack Obama has…

Turkish President Abduallah Gul skipped a lunch attended by Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday at an international conference held in Vienna, Austria. Officials at Gul’s office said that the president found out that Barak would be attending the event, held as part of the Fourth Edition of the World Policy Conference, and decided…

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich thrust himself into controversy on Friday by declaring that the Palestinians are an “invented” people who want to destroy Israel. The former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives predictably sided with Israel in its decades-old dispute with the Palestinians but took it a step further in an interview…

Three rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning, yet landed in open spaces and caused no injuries or damage. On Friday, a Qassam landed in an open area in Hof Ashkelon, following IAF strikes in Gaza on Thursday. Earlier Friday morning, a rocket also fell in the Negev area of southern Israel.…

The Washington Post castigated President Barack Obama in an editorial Friday for sending Iran “the wrong signals” in the showdown over its nuclear weapons program. “Iran has been showing signs of increasing nervousness about the possibility that its nuclear program will come under attack by Israel or the United States,” the editorial opined. “From the…

The rockets and missiles from Gaza continued to fly on Friday afternoon and early evening (Israel time), as it became clear that residents of southern Israel will have to spend their Sabbath in protected spaces and shelters. Shortly before 8:00 p.m. (Israel time), terrorists fired two Grad missiles from Gaza at the city of Ashdod.…

The violence in Syria continued on Friday, and at least 30 people were killed in renewed anti-government protests across the country. According to a report by the BBC, the Syrian Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC) put Friday’s death toll at 35. At least 11 of the deaths were in and around the city of Homs, according…

Jordan’s foreign minister warned Israel on Friday not to demolish the Mughrabi Bridge which links the Western Wall to the Temple Mount. Speaking in an interview on the Arabic-language Al-Rai network, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said, “Jordan rejects any Israeli attempt to influence the holy sites in Jerusalem and the character and heritage of the…

MK Aryeh Eldad said Thursday that Israel had failed to think outside the box in trying to bring home abducted soldier Gilad Shalit. He spoke at a conference hosted by the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center. “Israel had a problem in that it gave up on thinking outside the box, about ways of action that are neither…

In a move that is sure to fuel the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the United Nations’ cultural agency plans to fly the PLO flag at its Paris headquarters next week. In a statement it released on Wednesday, the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said it plans to raise the…

A terrorist rocket struck Israel Friday morning, in the general area of Sderot. No one was hurt and no damage was caused. Arabs in terrorist controlled Gaza say that one person was killed and 20 were wounded in IDF air strikes overnight. The IDF reportedly struck three different targets, including Hamas training camps in Gaza.…

The IDF detained on Thursday one of the prisoners who was released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, the “ministry of prisoners’ affairs” in the Palestinian Authority (PA) told the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency. The ministry said soldiers detained Ayed Muhammad Khalil from the village of Qaffin in Samaria (Shomron) along with his brother and sister…

Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich said on Thursday that if he is elected President, he would consider freeing Jonathan Pollard. In an interview with CNN, Gingrich said, “I’m prepared to say my bias is towards clemency and I would like to review it. He’s been in [prison] a very long time, but we’re pretty tough…

IAF aircraft struck two centers of terrorist activity in southern and northern Gaza overnight Thursday, according to a statement by the IDF Spokesperson. Direct hits were identified and all aircraft returned to their bases safely, the statement said. The air strikes came in response to the latest firing of rockets and missiles from Gaza towards…

As it had promised to do, Iran presented on Thursday video footage of the U.S. drone it shot down earlier this week. The footage presents the UAV, with a commentator explaining that its length is seven meters and its height is 85 cm. He adds that it is equipped with highly advanced surveillance systems, electronic…

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood said Thursday it would shun a new council set up by Cairo’s caretaker junta to help oversee the drafting of a constitution. The popular Islamist group – backed by hard-line Salafi allies – said it feared the civilian body, which brings together politicians, presidential candidates and youth representatives, would usurp the authority…

Drawing yet another political line in the sand, former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Thursday that he “openly and proudly” supports the uprising of the Syrian people. Hariri’s declaration came one day after Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah repeated his support for the Syrian regime. “If Hizbullah openly supports the Syrian regime, we openly…

The rocket fire from Gaza into southern Israel continues, and terrorists fired several Qassam rockets shortly before midnight (Israel time) on Thursday. The rockets exploded in open areas in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council. There were no reports of physical injuries or damage. Prior to that, a Grad missile was launched from Gaza and exploded…

It was revealed Wednesday that French President Nicholas Sarkozy doesn’t necessarily think that Binyamin Netanyahu is an actual “liar,” even though he called the Prime Minister one last month. What Netanyahu did was perhaps worse – violating “French pride,” so Sarkozy said to members of the Jewish community when he met with them several weeks…

A Home Front Command drill testing air raid sirens in the north on Thursday panicked students who were unaware the test was taking place. The practice has become routine as Home Front Command continues its efforts to prepare Israel’s citizens for whatever may soon come their way from surrounding Arab nations, as well as from…

A new Knesset exhibition will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the verdict against Adolf Eichmann, who was instrumental in the planning and execution of Nazi Germany’s “final solution,” the direct result of which was the murder of over 6 million Jews during the Holocaust. Among the items to be displayed will be the infamous “glass…

Hundreds of imprisoned Palestinian Authority terrorists are scheduled to be freed later this month in order to fulfill the second stage of the prisoner exchange deal with the Hamas terrorist rulers of Gaza. In the first stage of the deal, kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit was returned to Israel in exchange for 477 Hamas terrorists…

In the latest instance of illegal Arab takeover of public lands in Jerusalem, observers and witnesses said that Arabs have begun moving to claim a national historic site – the Ophel Corner (Keren Ophel), along the southeast corner of the Temple Mount. The area around the Temple Mount is all considered a national historic and…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. After the meeting, Lieberman told reporters that Russia’s positions on the Middle East “were not helpful.” “Israel and Russia differ on a number of issues regarding relations between Israel and the Palestinians, and events in the Middle East,” Lieberman said.…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s plan for dealing with illegal work infiltrators will be submitted for Cabinet approval on Sunday, December 12. The plan, the details of which were revealed by Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday, is composed of several parallel stages: In the first stage, the Egypt-Eilat border fence will be completed, with 280 million shekels…

Mexico foiled an attempt by one of toppled Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddafi’s sons to smuggle himself and his family into the country, Mexican authorities said Wednesday. The Mexican government’s Secretary Alejandro Poire told AFP that intelligence officials uncovered an elaborate plan, at the height of pro-democracy protests in Libya, to bring Saadi Qaddafi and other relatives…

The Jerusalem municipality’s local planning committee approved on Wednesday a new housing complex in the Ras Al-Amud neighborhood in the eastern part of the city. According to report on Channel 10 News, the complex will be called Ma’aleh David and will contain 17 new residential units for new Jewish families. The report noted that the…

GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich promised Republican Jewish activists on Wednesday that, if elected President, he would move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The Washington Post reported that Gingrich also promised to use U.S. dollars to fund “every dissident group” in Iran and said he would appoint former UN Ambassador John Bolton,…

Syria’s Foreign Ministry is backpedaling fast after President Bashar al-Assad bluntly refused in American television interview to take responsibility for ordering his forces to crack down on anti-government protesters over the past nine months. According to the English-language Al Arabiya news service, Syria’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying, “A U.S. State Department spokesman has…

Americans can be thankful President Barack Obama never pursued a career as an investment banker. The Obama administration spent some $200 million backing liberal and pro-Western political parties in Egypt’s elections. But with 65 percent of the vote going to Islamist parties – including the Muslim Brotherhood – it looks like a poor investment. According…

The leader of the Syrian National Council warned Iran against protecting President Bashar al-Assad – and accused Lebanon’s Hizbullah on Tuesday of letting down the Syrian opposition. Iran is “participating in suppressing the Syrian people” by backing Assad during a nine-month crackdown that has killed over 4,000 civilians and sent Syria spiraling into civil war,…

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev called on Russian authorities Wednesday to annul the disputed results of Russia’s parliamentary elections and hold a new poll as anger grows over allegations of election fraud. Gorbachev told the Interfax news agency that “authorities must hold a fresh election or deal with a rising tide of discontent” following protests…

Home Front Defense Minister Matan Vilnai said on Tuesday that Israel is considering deploying the Iron Dome anti-missile system in the northern city of Haifa. Vilnai made the comments during a meeting with the CEO of Oil Refineries Limited, Pinchas Buchris, and company chairman Yossi Rosen. During the meeting, the three discussed the issue of…

The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned the Palestinian Authority’s diplomatic mission from using a map showing all of Israel as “Palestine. The “Discover Palestine” map showed Israel – from the Lebanese border to the Egyptian border – in the colors of the Palestinian Authority flag and included tourism links without referring to the…

Israeli-based Elbit System has won contracts worth nearly $60 million to help arm the U.S., Israel and Europe. The company, traded on the NASDAQ exchange, announced Wednesday that it will upgrade the IDF’s lightweight weapons arsenal. The $11 million contract involves weapons stations mounted on Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) and Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs). Elbit…

A female Palestinian Authority Arab terrorist failed in her mission Wednesday when she tried to attack an Israeli soldier on duty near Hevron in Judea. The terrorist, who tried to stab a Border Guard officer working at a checkpoint near the ancient Jewish city of Hevron, was stopped by other Israeli security forces and arrested…

The Quartet continues to go through the motions of “peace talks” even though Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has publicly dismissed them as being irrelevant. Foreign media for years have adopted the U.S. State Department line of pushing Israel to make constant concessions to Abbas, but they recently have given up the ghost on the…

The residents of Kiryat Arba have renewed the work of the local civilian patrol of area roads and are working to protect one another from terrorist attacks. Rabbi Shimon Ben-Zion, a resident of Kiryat Arba who is organizing the effort, said on Tuesday that the civilian patrol force, which was established after the murder of…

IAF aircraft attacked two terrorist cells in northern Gaza overnight Tuesday, foiling an attempt to launch rockets at IDF forces. A statement from the IDF Spokesperson said that in both cases, the terrorists had been engaged in final preparations for firing rockets at IDF forces. The statement said that direct targets were hit and all…

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is promising to bolster the United States’ ties with Israel if he becomes the Republican presidential nominee. According to a report on Tuesday by the Reuters news agency, Romney intends to promise Jewish Republicans that Israel will be his first foreign stop if he becomes the Republican presidential nominee and…

Twin bomb attacks in Afghanistan killed at least 58 people at Shiite shrines and wounded at least 150 more on the Islamic observance of Ashura. According to the Kabul Press, the first blast tore through a crowd of worshippers at the entrance to a riverside shrine in central Kabul, where hundreds of  Shiite Muslims had…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz stepped on a political landmine Tuesday when they were caught joking while female soldiers sang at a social event. Barak: “Who are these girls? From the battalion? The brigade? The division? Gantz: “They sing on breaks.” Barak: “There is Dana from the Minister’s office.…

Former chief of staff for Israel’s Prison Service Shlomo Twizer told Arutz Sheva on Tuesday that the entry of former President Moshe Katsav into prison on 7 December will be “a black day for Israel.” Twizer lamented, “Imagine the guards, who until a few years ago stood at attention in front of President Katsav when…

Future Movement Secretary-general Ahmad Hariri said Tuesday the March 14 coalition will challenge Hizbullah on the divisive issue of “false witnesses” in the case of the 2005 assassination of late Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. “The Future Movement and March 14 forces are ready to go with the so-called false witnesses’ file to the very end,”…

IDF Spokesman Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai denied Tuesday morning that there has been a spike in the number of terror alerts regarding Israel’s southern border with Egypt. While the Ministry of Education reported that it had canceled planned field trips to the region due to increased tension, the IDF Spokesman said that on the contrary,…

Saudi Arabia plans to obtain nuclear weapons, but its nuclear power will be only for “peaceful use,” a former intelligence official said Monday told a security conference on Monday. “Our efforts and those of the world have failed to convince Israel to abandon its weapons of mass destruction, as well as Iran… therefore it is…

The IDF Civil Administration tore down structures near Givat Ze’ev, northwest of Jerusalem, on Tuesday. The structures were built by Arabs and served for commercial purposes. The demolition was carried out at the insistence of Regavim, a grassroots NGO that receives support from the Independent Israel Fund and struggles to preserve Israel’s land and national…

Hizbullah leader Nasrallah, who stays in hiding so Israel won’t target him, made a rare public appearance Tuesday and asked to be martyred. He showed up in public for the first in more than three years, in the southern suburbs of Beirut Tuesday at a mourning ceremony on Ashura, when Shiite Muslims mark the anniversary…

An evangelical Christian movie, released last year, leans on an interview with Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah and shows a picture of Jesus on the security wall. The “Little Town of Bethlehem” movie, financed by a U.S. Christian millionaire, links the Arab-Israeli struggle with the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s to show…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday that recent Syrian maneuvers that included missile launches were a sign that fear is gripping the regime of Bashar el-Assad. Barak, who was conducting a tour in the northern part of Israel, said: “We are here in the Golan Heights; right now it is quiet, but just a…

The Jerusalem District Court sentenced David Mizrachi of Kiryat Arba to three months’ community service for running over a terrorist who stabbed his wife. Mizrachi, 57, was convicted in June of serious assault as part of a plea bargain, and the sentence was handed down Tuesday. The incident took place at the gas station at…

Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, called on his nephew to step down in a recent interview on Al-Arabiya TV. The interview took place on December 2 and was translated and presented on the website of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). During the interview, the former Syrian Vice President who was…

The United States admitted on Monday that one of its drones is in Iranian possession. A senior U.S. military source told Fox News that the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 stealth unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which Iran said it downed on Sunday, likely “wandered” into Iranian air space after losing contact with its handlers. The source said…

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have raised their operational readiness and are preparing for war, according to a report in the British Telegraph. The report indicated that an order from General Mohammed Ali Jaafari, the commander of the guards, has initiated preparations for potential external strikes and covert attacks. Western intelligence officials told the Telegraph that the…

Noam Shalit, father of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit who was recently released over five years in Hamas captivity, updated reporters on Monday about his son’s condition. “Gilad is fine,” Shalit told reporters. “He is in much better condition than when he was returned to us. He is recovering from surgery, going through physical therapy, and…

Lebanon filed a complaint Monday against Israel at the United Nations for firing “missiles” into southern Lebanon on November 29. On November 29 the Abullah Azzam Shaheed Brigades fired four Katyusha rockets at communities in northern Israel, destroying a chicken coop and causing a fire when gas tanks were hit. IDF forces immediately responded by firing six…

At least three firebombs were thrown at vehicles passing near the city of Shechem, north of the Jewish community of Yitzhar. No one was physically hurt in any of the attacks. IDF soldiers launched a search for the attackers. Firebomb attacks on Israeli motorists by Arab terrorists have become more frequent in recent months, as…

Iran is trying to spread its international terrorist axis by luring Argentina to join Venezuela in a trans-Atlantic terror axis, diplomats told Reuters. The Latin American country’s links with Iran have been suspected ever since 1992, when Hizbullah claimed responsibility for killing 29 people in a bombing at the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires. Two…

The huge explosion that destroyed a major missile-testing site near Tehran three weeks ago was “a major setback for Iran’s most advanced long-range missile program,” according to “current and former” US and Israeli intelligence officials and missile technology experts quoted by the New York Times Monday. The experts said surveillance photos showed that the Iranian…

A former Muslim Brotherhood leader spells out its ideology: Muslims “are masters of the world” and Jihad should be waged against the “thieving gangs of Zion,” according to a Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) translation of the book by Mustafa Mashur, “Jihad is the Way.” He was the official leader of the Muslim Brotherhood from 1996…

Syria is showing its muscle Monday with war games, and Israeli Knesset Member Shaul Mofaz (Kadima), a former IDF Chief of Staff, said that the closer Syrian President Bashar Assad comes to his demise, the greater the threat to Israel. “There is a reasonable possibility that in the twilight window of his regime, Assad will…

Intelligence officials have raised a major terror alert in southern Israel and warned all hikers to leave the area immediately. The order does not affect trips within the city of Eilat, which borders Egypt. All school tours in the area have been abruptly halted, and schoolchildren were bused outside of the south. Speculation was raised that…

A senior U.S. State Department official said Monday that “strong steps” need to be taken against Iran’s nuclear program urgently. The statement is arguably the toughest yet made by the Obama administration on the subject. “Iran is violating international obligations and norms. It is becoming a pariah state,” Robert Einhorn, the State Department senior adviser…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu decided on Sunday to hold the primaries in his Likud party earlier than scheduled, on January 31, 2012. Prior to announcing his decision, Netanyahu held telephone conversations with ministers from his party and informed them of the decision. The Likud primaries were to take place several months before the elections (which…

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not only criticize what she claimed are Israel’s “anti-democratic” proposals in her address to the Saban Forum in Washington, but also criticized Israel’s foreign relations, Channel 10 reported on Sunday. According to the report, Clinton said in her remarks on Saturday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had been…

Syria said Sunday it is still negotiating with the Arab League over its request to send observers into the country, The Associated Press reported. A Foreign Ministry spokesman was quoted by AP as saying some headway had been made, but there was no official announcement on whether Syria would sign the agreement. Sunday was the…

The IAF’s use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) has increased dramatically in recent years, the IDF website reported Sunday. It quoted Lieutenant Colonel Amir Weiss, of the IAF’s UAV department, as saying that UAVs now conduct more than 50% of the Israel Air Force’s flight hours. Weiss spoke at the 2011 Aerospace Conference last week.…

Norway is suffering from an unprecedented wave of rapes that are largely being perpetrated by Muslim immigrants against local women, according to Yehuda Bello, an acclaimed Israeli blogger whose special interests include Norway. Bello, who understands Norwegian and has Norwegian contacts, reported that from January to late October, 48 rapes were confirmed to have been…

The official Iranian news agency IRNA reported Sunday that national military forces have brought down a US Lockheed Martin RQ-170 stealth unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The aircraft sustained “little damage” and is in the possession of the Iranian military, IRNA reported. Iran’s Arabic-language Al Alam state television network quoted an unnamed source as saying the…

Attorneys for the convicted Arab murderer of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy say he is innocent and hope to set him free. William F. Pepper and Laurie Dusek have filed another in a series of countless such appeals, this one claiming that Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, an immigrant to the United States born in British Mandate Jerusalem…

In a further sign of deteriorating relations, Pakistan has ordered the US to leave a strategic airbase after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a cross-border NATO air strike on two army posts. The U.S. was told to evacuate its personnel from the Shamsi air base, from where CIA drones reportedly fly missions against terrorist…

Iran pulled out its “oil card” Sunday, warning the West that blockading Iranian crude will result in sky-high prices at the pump. Iranian Foreign Ministry official Ramin Mehmanparast told the reformist daily Sharq, “The oil price would soar to above $250 a barrel” if Western nations were to stop Iran’s oil-exporting capabilities through sanctions or…

Tunisians are out in the streets for a fourth day of protests as a new constitution is being drafted for the nation. Although national elections have already been held, calm has not yet returned to the nation that ignited the “Arab Spring” across the Middle East. Former long-time President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled…

Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel approved the sale of a Dolphin-style military submarine U-boat to Israel last week on condition that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu unfreeze taxes collected for the Palestinian Authority, Die Welt reported Sunday. The Prime Minister ostensibly freed the taxes, which were frozen in retaliation for the PA’s unilateral bid for United Nations…

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad appears to be ignoring an ultimatum by his fellow Arab leaders, and what may have been their final attempt to toss out a life preserver before abandoning him to the fate of his late friend, Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi. Sunday was the deadline for Syria to agree to a final invitation…

An El Al plane nearly hit another plane on the ground in Zurich earlier this week – but miraculously was able to avoid the other plane. On the plane was Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin. According to reports, the pilots of both planes – one of them an El Al plane and the other a Swiss…

An Arab League ministerial committee has presented Damascus with yet another ultimatum to accept observers to monitor the unrest in the country, Al-Jazeera is reporting. Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al-Thani announced the new deadline for Syria to avoid sanctions following a meeting in Doha on Saturday, to discuss the measures decided against…

South Carolina Representative Alan Clemmons visited on Friday the community of Netzer, between Elazar and Alon Shvut. During the visit, Clemmons was given a tour by the leader of the Women in Green movement, who explained about local residents’ daily struggle to safeguard state lands from Arab encroachment. Clemmons, a Christian friend of Israel, is…

Following its big win in the first round of parliamentary elections, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood is seeking to reassure Egyptians that it would not sacrifice personal freedoms in promoting Islamic law. Speaking to The Associated Press, the deputy head of the Brotherhood’s new political party, Essam el-Erian, said the group is not interested in imposing Islamic…

An Arab organization opposed to the Jewish presence in Jerusalem over the weekend proclaimed that Israel’s plans to expand the prayer area for women at the Kotel was “very dangerous.” The Islamic-Christian Council for Support of Al-Quds and the Holy Places, as the organization is known, said that Jews did not have a right to…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu personally intervened over the weekend to halt an ad campaign aimed at Israeli yordim (former Israelis) living in the United States encouraging them to consider returning to Israel. The campaign was cancelled after Israelis living in the U.S. and American Jews complained that the campaign was “insulting and hurtful.” The campaign,…

The recent explosions in Iran – possibly affecting that country’s nuclear facilities, according to some reports – were not part of a “shadow war” against Iran’s nuclear program, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Saturday night. In an interview on Channel Two Saturday night, Barak said that “Iran’s nuclear program must be fought with all means…

With his boss, U.S. President Barack H. Obama, doing poorly in the polls less than a year before the 2012 election, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lashed out at Israel Friday, demanding that Israel “just get to the damn table” and negotiate with the PA. Ignoring Israel’s ongoing and constant appeals to Palestinian Authority chief…

Israel’s worst fears regarding its relationship with the Arab world – and with Egypt in particular – are coming true before its eyes, Middle East expert Dr. David Buk’i told Arutz 7 in an interview Saturday night. “The rise of the Islamists in Egypt means the end of the peace treaty with Egypt and the…

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta urged Israel on Friday to “reach out and mend fences” with Turkey, Egypt and other security partners in the Middle East, saying he is troubled by the Jewish state’s growing isolation in the volatile region. He also pressed Israeli leaders to do more to restart peace talks with the Palestinians…

The collapse of the 40-year-old Assad regime in Syria would radically change the politics of the Middle East, reducing the influence of Iran and its Islamist proxy Hezbollah in Lebanon, the main Syrian opposition leader in exile has said. Syria would align itself with the Arab League and the Gulf, Syrian National Council leader Burhan…

Lebanese media reported on Friday that two people were wounded in a blast that occurred in the south of the country, between the towns of Srifa and Deir Kifa. According to some of the reports, the blast targeted espionage devices which were destroyed by Israel after being exposed by Hezbollah. However, a different report suggested…

Millions of dollars have been deposited suspiciously into the bank accounts of 15 Kuwaiti MPs suspected of money laundering, Kuwait’s al Jarida newspaper reported on Wednesday. Kuwait’s central bank informed prosecutors that bank accounts held by the 15 lawmakers “have received suspicious deposits and the anti-money laundering law applies to them.” But the central bank…

An explosion was heard on Friday in the southern Lebanon towns of Srifa and Deir Kifa, the Beirut-based Daily Star reported. According to the report, there was conflicting information regarding the explosion, with some sources speculating that it was a result of a cluster bomb and others saying it may have been caused by an…

The United Nations’ human rights chief called on the international community to protect Syrian civilians on Friday, as violence surged across the country. The UN estimates that more than 4,000 people have been killed since the uprising in Syria began in the middle of March. The Associated Press reported on Friday that November was the…

The head of Egypt’s election commission announced on Friday that 62 percent of eligible voters took part in the initial round of Egypt’s first parliamentary elections since Hosni Mubarak’s ouster, The Associated Press reported. The head of the election commission, Abdel-Mooaez Ibrahim, who said the turnout was “the highest since the time of pharaohs,” did…

The Al Qaeda terror group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of a Jewish American man in Pakistan, according to an Internet statement released on Thursday. “Just as the Americans detain all whom they suspect of links to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, even remotely, we detained this man who has had an active part…

The European Union tightened sanctions on Iran in a clampdown on the country´s nuclear program, while divisions festered over a possible halt to purchases of Iranian oil amid Europe’s sovereign debt crisis. Following up on penalties imposed by the US last month, the EU added 180 Iranian officials and companies to a blacklist and started…

Russia has delivered anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria, the Moscow-based Interfax news agency reported on Thursday, citing an unnamed military source. “The contract was completely fulfilled, almost ahead of time,” Interfax cited the source as saying of the deal, estimated at $300 million. The source did not say when the deliveries had taken place. “This…

Palestinian Authority chief negotiator Saeb Erekat on Thursday claimed Israel was refusing to submit proposals for borders and security arrangements for indirect talks to be mediated by the Quartet for Middle East Peace. An Israeli official close to the negotiations dismissed Erekat’s charge as “spin,” saying the PA had offered nothing new and reiterating Israel…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party is generally seen as the more moderate of the Arab factions and is seen as a “partner for peace” with Israel. However, that notion may be completely off, according to comments recently made by the PA’s Ambassador to India, Adli Sadeq. In an article he wrote in the…

The European Union is denying that it has ever provided funding to the extreme leftist non-governmental organization (NGO) Peace Now. The EU’s spokesman in Israel, David Kriss, made the comments in a conversation with Arutz Sheva on Thursday. The interview took place in the wake of the Knesset’s Legislation Committee’s recent support for the proposed…

Kuwait issued an urgent warning to its citizens Thursday, telling them to leave Syria “to ensure their safety” — while they still can. Saudi Arabia had already issued a similar warning on Tuesday. Earlier in the day, the Arab League tightened economic sanctions against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, and adding 17 high-ranking officials…

Like most Muslim politicians, Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha is no shrinking violet. But despite the fact the nation he leads is a Muslim nation, Berisha made his commitment to the Jewish State crystal clear during his most recent visit to Israel, visiting the Western Wall and ignoring the Al Aqsa Mosque. Albania, Berisha emphasized,…

Major General Eyal Eisenberg of the IDF Home Front Command said Thursday that Israel’s deterrence is rooted in its ability to conquer foreign territory when attacked. “A principal pillar of Israel’s deterrence is the IDF’s maneuverability, and the enemy knowing that the price it will pay for attacking us is losing the land we took defending…

The Arab League tightened its sanctions against Syria early Thursday in cooperation with the international effort to force President Bashar al-Assad to end government violence against civilians or step down from power.  The Cairo-based regional body added 17 high-ranking Syrian officials to a list banning travel to other Arab states, including on its “black list”…

Italy summoned Iran’s envoy to Rome’s foreign ministry on Thursday to express its “firm condemnation” of the storming of the British embassy in Tehran – leading some to suggest Iran and the West are on a collision course. Rome announced it had also demanded security guarantees for diplomats during the meeting with Tehran’s envoy, Mehdi…

Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Thursday told Kol Yisrael radio that Israel was not planning to strike Iran’s nuclear program – yet. “We have no intention of acting for the moment… We should not engage in war when it is not necessary, but there may come a time or another when we are forced to…

Judges overseeing the vote count in Egypt’s parliamentary elections say Islamist parties have won a majority of the contested seats in the first round. They say the Muslim Brotherhood could take 45 percent of the seats up for grabs. The liberal Egyptian bloc coalition and the ultra-fundamentalist Nour party are competing for second place. Together,…

President Barack Obama tried to reassure his worried Jewish supporters that his administration is committed to Israel’s security, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday. According to the report, Obama told the supporters, “We don’t compromise when it comes to Israel’s security.” Obama made the comments while speaking to a group of campaign contributors at the…

The Israel Green Building Council held its second green building conference at the Avenue Convention Center near the Ben Gurion Airport on Wednesday. The conference dealt with such issues as groundbreaking green building, sustainable urban planning, innovative application of green building principles and greening existing neighborhoods. It featured Dan Epstein, Director of Sustainability on the…

One day after a judge delivered a guilty verdict to the second of the two murderers of the Fogel family in Itamar, Israeli authorities arrived in the middle of the night to destroy a new neighborhood in the same community. The budding hilltop outpost of Gal Aryeh, established in memory of the Fogels, was the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is looking at rewording and watering down the proposed NGO bill, which limits the funding that political non-governmental organizations (NGOs) may receive from foreign governments and international bodies. According to a report on Channel 2 News on Wednesday, Netanyahu has asked Cabinet Secretary Zvi Hauser to look at rewording the law so…

The reason the U.S. and other Western countries seek to punish Iran is not directly connected to its nuclear program, top Iranian clerics say; it’s because they fear the rise of Islam, and are doing their utmost to fight it. Nevertheless, they will fail; Islam will emerge victorious. Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, Iranian…

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas met with Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni in Amman on Wednesday to discuss the moribund peace process. A statement from Abbas’ office published by the official PA news agency WAFA said Abbas told Livni of his continued support for negotiations. Abbas reportedly told Livni, “the option of peace and negotiations…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is not serious about reconciling his Fatah faction with rival Hamas despite public statements to the contrary, a senior Hamas official charged Wednesday. Hamas co-founded Mahmoud Zahar said Abbas “is not interested in achieving” a unity government – alleging this is because the US and Israel oppose it. “Reconciliation will…

Britain has ordered the closure of the Iranian embassy in London, and told the Iranian ambassador and his staff they have 48 hours to leave the country. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague accused the Tehran government of backing the invasion of Britain’s embassy in the Iranian capital on Tuesday. A violent mob stormed through the…

In a continuation of the diplomatic war between Iran and Britain, the Islamic Republic warned on Wednesday that it will take measures against Britain, following its decision to close the Iranian embassy in London. “The British government’s asking Iranian diplomats in London to leave this country is a passive and hasty action,” Ramin Mehmanparast, a…

Germany will sell Israel a fourth Dolphin-class submarine – the first since 2005 – and will finance a third of its costs, reports said Wednesday. Two of Israel’s other Dolphins were paid for by Germany, while the third was half-funded by Israel. Two more are under construction. Germany has already set aside 135 million euros…

Should Hamas run in Palestinian Authority elections despite its being a terrorist group? The U.S. says it’s an “internal matter,” but, well, after all, maybe not. Asked by a reporter at the State Department’s daily news briefing if the United States supports the Palestinian Authority decision to hold new legislative elections, spokesman Mark Toner replied,…

America’s “Bible Belt” takes the Scriptures seriously – very seriously. There still are some folks there who think Jews have “horns on their heads,” a view based on the improper translation that Moses descended from Mount Sinai with “horns” of light on his head, based on the literal translation of the Hebrew word “keren,” which…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Wednesday criticized the decision of eight senior ministers to release frozen tax revenue funds to the Palestinian Authority. “The decision to transfer the funds to the Palestinians is a painful decision that may help restore relations between Israel and the Palestinians, but will allow the PA to continue to use…

Kuwait’s outgoing defense minister Sheikh Jaber Al Mubarak Al Sabah is expected to replace Sheikh Nasser Al Mohammad as the country’s next prime minister. Shaikh Nasser, under intense pressure from opposition groups who stormed the parliament protesting widespread corruption, tendered his resignation on Monday following an emergency cabinet meeting chaired by Emir Shaikh Sabah Al…

The principal of a Sunni school in Yemen’s northern province of Sa’ada declared Jihad on Al Huthi rebels who have laid a month-long seige on the school. “The Imam of Dar Al Hadeeth in Dammaj district, Yahya Al Hajouri, has declared war on the fighters of Huthi rebels who refuse to break their blockade on…

The Palestinian Authority must return to Mideast peace talks with Israel, Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, adding that Palestinians should not allow themselves to be swept up by extreme Islamic forces. Livni’s comments were made during a meeting with Abbas in the Jordanian capital of Amman, which was also…

The explosion earlier this week that Iran said was at a uranium enrichment site actually damaged a nuclear plant and was far from accidental, The London Times reported Wednesday. The newspaper quoted Israeli intelligence officials as saying that satellite photos revealed extensive damage from the explosion at Isfahan, near Tehran. The Israeli sources, so far…

Turkey has struck Syria with a list of economic sanctions designed to break the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The move comes in cooperation with the European Union, the Arab League, the United States and Canada. Each has levied its own set of sanctions against the Assad government to punish the regime for its refusal to…

The Security Cabinet Wednesday approved unfreezing tax revenues collected for the Palestinian Authority despite PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ unilateral moves to win United Nations recognition. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu explained Tuesday he has reversed his position because Abbas has shown diplomatic “calm” since his failed bid for full membership in the United Nations and his…

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee delayed a discussion entitled “Jordan is Palestine” citing the “sensitivity of the issue,” according to MK Aryeh Eldad. Eldad, who called for the discussion, said “the discussion is relevant and more urgent than ever. The shocks and upheavals in the Middle East will not pass Jordan by.” A…

A joint Shin Bet (ISA) and Israel Police raid in Jerusalem resulted in the re-arrest of several Hamas members who had been previously released, Israel’s General Security Services said Tuesday. The raid came as the culmination of an investigation by the General Security Services that revealed a Hamas cabal secretly raising and laundering funds to…

Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan on Tuesday said Israel’s system of government needs an overhaul – adding senior officials were seeking to silence his opposition to striking Iran’s nuclear program. Dagan, who has traditionally limited his comments to foreign affairs, told the Hebrew-language Maariv he planned to lead a movement pushing to reform Israel’s system…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu continued his staunch opposition to judicial reform in Israel by attempting to cloak himself with the authority of Likud founder Menachem Begin on Tuesday. “Begin said ‘There are judges in Jerusalem’, and I say ‘There will be independent judges in Jerusalem,’” Netanyahu proclaimed at a legal conference. “On my watch we…

Palestinian Authority Economy Minister Hassan Abu Libdeh has been charged with fiscal misconduct, court sources said on Tuesday. The indictment adds mounting pressure to the already tenuous government of PA prime minister Salam Fayyad. According to Reuters, there was no immediate comment from Abu Libdeh, who has always denied accusations of corruption. Under PA law…

The United Nations on Tuesday continued to demonstrate it is not an honest broker in the Israeli-Arab conflict as senior UN officials marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that a Palestinian state was “long overdue,” in an official statement released by his office. “The…

The World Zionist Organization is staging in Jerusalem on Tuesday (today) a re-enactment of the November 29, 1947 recognition of Israel by the United Nations. The event will take place at 1:30 p.m. at 48 King George Street in the center of the capital. The dramatic vote in the United Nations 64 years ago gave…

A military court Monday convicted Amjad Awad for murdering five members of the Fogel family. He will be sentenced later. His cousin Hakim Awad is serving five life terms for the slaughter of Rabbi Ehud Fogel, his wife Ruth, and three of their six young children, including an infant, on a the Sabbath eve in…

A new Knesset lobby was established Monday, to advocate for imposing the death penalty on terrorist murderers. A new Knesset lobby, the Lobby for the Imposition of the Death Penalty on Terrorist Murderers, was formally established Monday evening. The first meeting of the lobby was held in the Knesset and chaired by Deputy Minister Ayoub…

The Lebanese army has admitted to one rocket attack on Israel overnight but said it does not know who fired it. Hizbullah has not commented. “We know that a rocket was fired from the region of Rmaish and we are investigating,” an army spokesman told AFP. The village is in southern Lebanon, thoroughly under Hizbullah…

The High Court for Justice heard on Monday a motion by Peace Now demanding the demolition of 20 homes built on land defined in the Shiloh zoning plan as agricultural land. Peace Now – a group that opposes Jewish rights in Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron, or Yesha) – also wants a halt to…

U.S. Ambassador to Cairo Anne W. Patterson congratulated Egypt on what seemed to be a significant and respectable turnout in its first parliamentary election since the fall of former President Hosni Mubarak. Britain called the vote a “milestone” in the history of the nation, as Western nations held their breath, hoping that last week’s bloody…

At least four Katyusha missiles were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel overnight Monday. Kol Yisrael Radio reported that the missiles exploded in two communities near the border with Lebanon. There were no reports of physical injuries but damage was caused to a chicken coop in one of the communities. The IDF Spokesman said that…

Reports from Iran Monday said a large explosion was heard in Isfahan, where several key nuclear facilities are located, including a uranium enrichment plant. Isfahan is one of the largest cities in Iran. If accurate, the reported blast would be the second in nearly as many weeks, following an explosion that left 17 members of…

The day after the Arab League announced it would impose sanctions against Syria, the European Union made a similar announcement, saying it, too, has decided to increase those it already has in place. The unprecedented move by the Arab League came following its suspension of Syria’s membership earlier in the month and included a travel ban…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Monday that he would oppose intentions to release funds to the Palestinian Authority (PA). He called such a move “irresponsible” and said it would encourage murder. The funds — from tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the PA – were frozen after the PA took unilateral steps toward…

If names and weight mean anything, Germany is in trouble. A Muslim gave birth in Berlin to a 13-pound (six kilogram) baby and named him Jihad. The birth set a record in Germany for the fattest baby every born there. The proud mother, to whom many are not in a hurry to wish a mazal…

President Shimon Peres made an unannounced visit to King Abdullah, two weeks after the monarch visited Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. After the conversation at the king’s palace, the President’s office and the king’s palace reported on the visit. Neither of the leaders made surprising statements, but the timing of the visits to…

The United States and Canada have issued stamps ahead of the eight-day Chanukah festival, which begins Tuesday night on December 20. “This year, for the first time, all of our holiday stamps are being issued as ‘forever’ stamps,” said Stephen Kearney, executive director of Stamp Services for the U.S. Postal Service and quoted by the…

In a continuation of its statements from the past several days, Iran on Sunday threatened Israel with a barrage of missiles, if the Jewish State attacks its nuclear facilities. Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi told the Fars news agency that Israel will not have a minimal chance of survival after attacking Iran. “The…

The government approved Sunday a bill proposed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, to give IDF reservists’ widows a one-time grant of NIS 100,000. The grant will be given in two installments. All widows of IDF veterans killed during their army service – from 1948 to 1998 – will now be eligible for the grant. The…

The Palestinian Authority continues to speak in two languages. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas official says he recognizes Israel but officials mourn the Balfour Declaration of November 2, 1917, in which Britain expressed Britain’s support for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people.” In its annual condemnation of the Balfour statement,…

For the second time in six years, the United States has urged Mideast elections, and for the second time, a terrorist party is likely to win. In 2005, then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was awakened in the middle of the night with shocking news that was no surprise to Israel – the Hamas terrorist…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says he may release Palestinian Authority (PA) tax revenues collected by Israel because PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas has “calmed down” after his failure to win full membership in the United Nations. The Prime Minister’s suggestion put a different spin on Abbas’ success in winning membership on a United Nations agency – UNESCO…

Saboteurs blew up Egypt’s gas pipeline to Jordan and Israel early on Monday morning, just hours before the country holds its first election since President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February. Witnesses told the Reuters news agency that the explosion struck the pipeline west of El-Arish in Sinai. They said there was a second consecutive…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu prevented at the last minute the demolition of the Mughrabi Bridge, which links the Western Wall Plaza to the Temple Mount. According to a report on Sunday on Israel’s Channel 2 News, Netanyahu’s decision came after pressure from Jordan and Egypt. Both countries said that demolishing the bridge will result in…

Tens of thousands of supporters of Lebanon’s anti-Syrian opposition gathered in the Lebanese city of Tripoli on Sunday to denounce the regime in Damascus and its ally, the Hizbullah terror group. According to AFP, the rally in the northern port city was organized by the Future Movement, the main opposition party headed by ex-premier Saad…

The Muslim Brotherhood, which is poised to win the first stage of elections in Egypt Monday, is already planning for the day after the elections – and the plan does not look good, from an Israeli perspective. The organization intends to cause Egypt to adopt an anti-American line and to support the Palestinian Authority (PA)…

Residents of Samaria donated blood directly to Beilinson hospital instead of through Magen David Adom (MDA), in protest of MDA’s decision to remove the Jewish star from its ambulances operating in Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron, or Yesha). MDA reached an agreement with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) not to use…

MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) warned Sunday that Israel must prepare for the possibility that Egypt will deploy its military in the Sinai peninsula – and respond to that act as a declaration of war. Eldad, who is a member of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, said Israel “must prepare for the annulment”…

Three American students arrested in Cairo are safely back home and charge that prison guards threatened to shoot them if they moved and that accusations they threw Molotov cocktails at police are “lies.” Egyptian authorities claim that the three young men studying at American University in Cairo were filmed hurling firebombs at police during recent…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday conceded Israel’s judicial system needed reform while at the same time vowing to defend the courts. “I want to clear: The courts in Israel are among the cornerstones of Israeli democracy,” Netanyahu said. “They are an important institution, a healthy and vital continuation of our democratic life here.” Netanyahu…

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad admitted Sunday Israel’s decision to freeze tax revenue transfers to the PA were cutting deep. Fayyad told reporters Sunday that the sanctions have a “devastating impact” on the economy in PA-run enclaves. Israel froze the transfer of tax revenues – amounting to roughly $100 million per month – after…

U.S. authorities have shut down a number of websites in the latest crackdown on online trafficking in counterfeit goods. More than 130 domain names were seized by US authorities over the weekend in an operation described as “the largest yet,” according to the website Torrent Freak. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokeswoman Gillian Christensen…

The Arab League on Sunday approved sanctions against Syria hoping to pressure the regime to end its deadly eight-month crackdown on anti-regime protesters. In doing so, they join Western nations in their hard-line against Damascus. Damascus slammed the move as a betrayal of Arab solidarity, with President Bashar al-Assad saying he would not be deterred…

Iran has threatened to target NATO’s missile defense installations in Turkey if the U.S. or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic, The Associated Press reported. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace division, made the threat on Saturday, saying the warning is part of a new defense strategy to counter what he…

Arab states plan to cut commercial ties with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and freeze its assets in response to violence in the country, Reuters reported on Saturday. The sanctions were drawn up by an Arab League economic committee in Cairo on Saturday and need to be ratified by foreign ministers meeting on Sunday before…

Though final results are not expected until Sunday, initial results are showing that an Islamist party is on track to become the largest party in Morocco’s new parliament. According to a report in The Associated Press, Morocco’s Interior Ministry announced on Saturday that the Islamist Justice and Development Party has taken 80 seats, almost twice…

  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Saturday evening, reiterated his opposition to a bill that would require petitioners to the High Court to prove they posses legal standing before their motions can be heard by the court. Netanyahu’s statement Saturday led observers to suggest he is worried by Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor’s threat to resign…

  Snubbing its nose at the global economic slowdown, NASA on Saturday launched a $2.5 billion nuclear-powered rover toward Mars. The 20-storey-tall Atlas 5 booster rocket lifted off and shot into space at 10:02 EST, sending Nasa’s Mars Science Laboratory on a 556 million km journey to the “Red Planet.” The car-sized rover, nicknamed Curiosity,…

One of the signature issues of the Obama Administration, the so called “reset with Russia”, is imperiled.  Russia has announced that it will target the European bases of the NATO missile shield that is intended to combat nuclear missiles by rogue states such as North Korea and Iran. Although there is no way that the…

Motti Kugel is working towards making his dream of a new city, moments away from Jerusalem, a reality – despite a jungle of bureaucratic red tape. Kugel, a land developer who has been involved in reclaiming land in Judea and Samaria for 20 years, told Arutz Sheva, “the only obstacle to starting construction on this…

An Iranian general on Saturday threatened retaliation against Israel if any of its nuclear or security sites are attacked. “If Israeli missiles hit one of our nuclear facilities or other vital centers, then they should know that any part of Israeli territory would be target of our missiles, including their nuclear sites,” General Yadollah Javani…

The U.S. Treasury will send its top national security official to the United Arab Emirates and Israel this weekend to brief government officials on new U.S. actions to increase financial pressure on Iran. The Treasury said David Cohen, undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will discuss the Obama administration’s decision to declare Iran a jurisdiction…

French President Nicolas Sarkozy met for lunch on Thursday with leaders of the French Jewish community, and said that his description of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a liar “was taken out of context.” The meeting was held at the the Élysée Palace in Paris. Sarkozy made the comment during a private conversation with…

It was another bloody day in Syria on Friday, as the violence continued and the Assad regime faced the possibility of sweeping economic sanctions from the Arab League. Local activists told The Associated Press that at least 11 people were killed by security forces on Friday, while the military announced that six elite pilots and…

More than 100,000 people packed into Cairo’s Tahrir Square on Friday for their biggest demonstration since the current round of protests began. The Associated Press reported that activists were accusing Egypt’s ruling military of trying to extend the old guard and demanding they step down immediately after failing to stabilize the country, salvage the economy…

Tens of thousands of residents of Gaza took part on Friday in a rally in which they called to save Jerusalem from its “Judaization” (ie the settling of Jews in their capital) by Israel. The procession was organized by the Hamas terror group and similar rallies were held in other Arab countries. The main procession…

In an exclusive interview with Arutz Sheva, New York City topographer and recent ZOA awardee Mark Langfan, responded to statements made by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon while on an official visit to Greece. According to wire service reports, during a news briefing on Tuesday, Ayalon was asked what Israel’s reaction would be to a…

MK Israel Hasson (Kadima) announced the Ministerial Legislative Committee will submit a bill requiring the state to automatically recognize all former POWs as having a 20% disability. Moses Tzin, head of the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Division criticized the proposed bill. “You cannot say all former POWs are handicapped at the 20 percent level automatically,” Tzin…

The Palestinian Authority plans to seek the United Nations’ support in pressing for the release of wanted terrorists from areas under its jurisdiction who are held in Israeli prisons. “All the legal preparations are currently in place and we are ready to lodge the case with the UN General Assembly very shortly,” Eisa Qaraqei, the Palestinian Minister…

Shas faction chairman MK Avraham Michaeli took a tour on Thursday of the Binyamin communities slated for demolition: Givat Assaf, Migron and the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El. He came as a guest of MK Uri Ariel (National Union). Several issues are at the root of the demolition issue: Supreme Court Dorit Beinisch has ruled…

The Palestinian Authority may soon fail financially and cease to exist, its prime minister warned on Thursday. Salam Fayyad warned that if Israel does not resume the transfer of tax revenues it collects for the PA, the entity will collapse economically and thus cease to exist. Already now, Fayyad claimed, the PA cannot pay salaries…

Professor Moshe Sharon, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said on Thursday that he believes there are good chances that the extremist Muslim Brotherhood will win the parliamentary elections in Egypt next week. “They (the Muslim Brotherhood) are very strong in the Egyptian street,” Sharon…

Egypt’s ruling military council has asked a former prime minister, Kamal al-Ganzouri, to form a new cabinet, the Al Jazeera network reported on Thursday. Ganzouri headed the government from 1996 to 1999, under former president Hosni Mubarak. Al Jazeera cited a report on the website of the state newspaper Al-Ahram, which quoted sources close to…

About 100 people held an anti-Israel demonstration on Thursday during a lecture by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at a synagogue in the city of Bochum in Germany, Israel’s Channel 2 News reported. According to the report, Olmert spoke to about 2,000 members of the local Jewish community on Israel and the current political situation.…

Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy on Thursday accused Egyptian police of taking advantage of her helplessness and assaulting her during a 12-hour detention after she took part in Tahrir Square protests. “Besides beating me, the dogs of (central security forces) subjected me to the worst assault ever,” Eltahawy said. “Five or 6 surrounded me, groped… and grabbed…at me and…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called in Israel’s top diplomat and the Mossad director on Sunday to broker a truce on Sunday, Israel Radio reported. The Foreign Ministry and security services are said to have been engaged in an acrimonious turf war that ended in a total impasse. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman reportedly suspended all cooperation…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressed satisfaction Thursday with the latest sanctions imposed on Iran by the United States, Britain and Canada. He warned, however, that they were not enough. At his joint press conference with Romanian Prime Minister Emil Boc, Netanyahu said: “The goal of Iran’s nuclear program had been the subject of controversy but…

Pakistani police on Thursday arrested a woman they say killed her husband and was attempting to cook his body parts, after he planned to take a second wife without her permission. According to family law in Islamic Pakistan, a man must get permission from his first wife before his second marriage, but the law is…

Nationalist politicians reacted angrily to news of the meeting between Palestinian Authority and Fatah head (PA) Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas head Khaled Mashaal, and Abbas’s statement that there are “no more differences” between the two movements. Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Public Diplomacy Yuli Edelstein (Likud) said in response that “the announcement by Abu Mazen…

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal on Thursday hailed their new “partnership” after talks in Cairo. “We want to assure our people and the Arab and Islamic world that we have turned a major new and real page in partnership on everything do to with the Palestinian nation,” Mashaal told reporters.…

This year, the holiday of Thanksgiving will carry a special meaning for the families of three U.S. students in Cairo. On Thursday — the day of the historic American holiday — an Egyptian court ordered the release of the three students, all of whom attend the American University in Cairo, according to a source who…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu alluded Thursday to the tension in Egypt after the latest riots and interim government’s resignation.  “Israel and Egypt have an interest in preserving peace and stability in the Middle East,” he stated. “This ensures the sea lanes, economic stability, quiet and many other things – for Egypt, for Israel and for…

The IDF’s Southern Command is establishing a new regional brigade that will operate as part of the Edom army group. The IDF website explained that the Eilat Regiment “was born as a result of tension along the border with Egypt, that rose following the toppling of the government in Egypt and intensified after the terror…

The political bureau of the Hamas terrorist organization, long hosted in Damascus, is being forced to seek another venue as President Bashar al-Assad faces his own uncertain future.  Talks with Jordan originally planned for earlier this week were also abruptly canceled, with Hamas official Musa Abu Marzouq blaming Jordan for a “lack of commitment.” Abu Marzouq…

Israel’s economy is strong – strong enough to allow the government to increase spending on social programs, says Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – but the struggling economies in the U.S. and Europe are set to have an unpleasant impact on Israel in the coming months, he told MKs in a Knesset speech Wednesday. Advocating caution…

An Iranian official said that Tehran has arrested 12 people whom it claims are “CIA agents” – and that they had working in coordination with the Mossad and other security agencies. Parviz Sorouri, a member of the Iran government’s foreign policy and national security committee, was quoted in Iranian media Wednesday as saying that “The…

Russian warships that have reached waters off Syria in recent days were carrying, among other things, Russian technical advisors who will help the Syrians set up an array of S-300 missiles Damascus has received in recent weeks, a report in the London-based Arabic language Al Quds-Al Arabi said Thursday. Citing sources in Syria and Russia,…

A terrorist who was convicted of the murders of U.S. tourist Christine Luken (Logan) and Zichron Ya’akov resident Neta Blatt Sorek was sentenced to two life sentences, plus an additional 60 years in prison. The terrorist, Kafah Ghanimat, headed a gang of three terrorists who committed not only those murders, but a long list of…

In the wake of a pair of security alerts and the deaths of two Egytian policemen Wednesday night, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Thursday that Israel intended to do whatever was necessary to prevent terrorists from using the Sinai as a base of operations against Israel. “We will never allow the Sinai Peninsula to again…

Egyptian officials said Wednesday night that two members of the police force in Sinai were killed as they were pursuing Bedouin smugglers. The incident occurred on the Israel-Sinai border, in an area near Kadesh Barnea. The IDF has opened an investigation into the incident, and determined that the smugglers, who were suspected of carrying drugs,…

MK Ahmad Tibi (Ram-Ta’al) – a former political adviser to late PLO arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat – proposed an amendment to Israel’s Basic Laws on Wednesday that would proscribe Israeli residents in Judea and Samaria from serving on the Supreme Court. The bill reads candidates “will not be appointed as Supreme Court justice if he does…

Pakistan appointed a new ambassador to the United States on Wednesday after the previous one resigned amid tensions with the country’s powerful military. Sherry Rehman, a former magazine editor and information minister, is an important player in the country’s ruling party. Considered something of a liberal, Rehman was close to former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto,…

The Obama administration on Monday announced a new round of sanctions against Iran, but what do they entail? Uses a section of the Patriot Act to identify for the first time Iran’s entire banking sector, including the country’s central bank, as a threat to other governments and institutions. The designation of Iran as a “primary…

MK Miri Regev (Likud) on Wednesday responded to a proposal by MK Ahmad Tibi (Ram-Ta’al) that would proscribe Israelis living in Judea and Samaria from serving on the Supreme Court by calling it “perverse.” “Every Jewish citizen has the moral and ethical right to live anywhere in Israel from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the…

Palestinian Authority and Fatah chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal will meet in Cairo this week despite the unrest rocking Egypt. Egypt has been shaken in recent days by renewed protests calling for the interim military junta that has ruled the country since President Hosni Mubarak’s ouster in February to step down. But…

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Wednesday urged the Palestinian Authority to reconsider economic ties with Israel. In a statement, deputy PFLP secretary-general Abdul-Rahim Mallouh called on the PA to assign a specialized committee to analyze economic relations and protect the economy from subordination to Israel. Mallouh urged Palestinians to boycott Israeli…

Egyptian authorities denied Wednesday reports that its security forces fired banned, poisonous gas during a five-day crackdown on renewed protests in the country. “Security forces have not used poison or internationally prohibited gases against the demonstrators in Tahrir Square or outside security directorates in some governorates,” state television quoted an official source as saying. The…

Two Florida and New York Congress members have asked for an investigation to determine if the Palestinian Authority is using U.S. aid for terrorists. Ted Deutch and Steve Israel, both of them Democrats wrote to the Government Accountability Office following reports earlier this month in Arutz Sheva and other media that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has…

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court at The Hague has agreed to try Saif al-Islam, son of former Libyan strongman Muammar Qaddafi, in his home country. Libya’s National Transitional Council had said Sunday that they would not turn him over to the Court for transfer abroad to The Hague for his trial. The…

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul warned Britain’s Royal Society Wednesday in London that Syria has “come to a point of no return.” The government crackdown on civilian protesters by President Bashar al-Assad that began in March, said Gul, has exacerbated  Sunni-Shi’ite tensions that already have threatened the region. The Turkish president urged Syria’s opposition to reach…

Syrian and Iranian-backed Hizbullah boasted Wednesday it had vanquished the CIA and Mossad. “Our security… has exposed several American and Israeli plots on Lebanon,” Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah told reporters outside parliament. “We call on the Lebanese government to take immediate action… and raise the issue with the United Nations and embassies, so that the…

Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh resigned Wednesday as president after almost 10 months of protests calling for him to quit, AFP reported. Saleh has ruled the fractious desert country for three decades. He was badly wounded by a bombing at a mosque in the presidential palace in June, but returned home after three months of treatment…

Middle East expert Dr. David Bukay of Haifa University said on Tuesday that he is concerned over the possibility that the extremist Muslim Brotherhood will take power in Egypt. Bukay’s comments come on the heels of the renewed protests in Egypt, some of which have been led by the Muslim Brotherhood. He told Arutz Sheva…

The defense and health ministries will stage an exercise dubbed ‘Orange Flame 6” in the north next week and simulate an “unconventional terrorist” attack. The two-day drill next Wednesday and Thursday will simulate a biological outbreak of a contagious disease, attacking and infecting the cities of the north, primarily Afula, Tiberias, and the Nazareth area…

A month after abducted soldier Gilad Shalit was released and amid fears that terrorists are planning further kidnappings, the IDF is planning to increase the frequency of its exercises and stage the kidnapping of a soldier once a month. According to a report on the IDF website on Tuesday, the monthly “kidnapping exercises” will begin…