Category: News

The fact that “many Jews are leaving Europe is most alarming,’’ writes European Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans in a letter to Rabbi Menachem Margolin, General Director of the European Jewish Association (EJA). “I am convinced that a Europe where Jewish people and other minorities do not feel home will no longer be the Europe…

A Palestinian Arab attempted to stab an Israeli Jew Sunday afternoon at Einun junction, north of Kiryat Arba and Hevron.  The IDF confirmed in the minutes after the attack (update: 1:55 pm local time) that the stabbing unfolded during a clash between Palestinian Arab rioters and security forces at the junction, outside the Palestinian Arab village…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed Israel’s multibillion dollar gas deal with US energy giant Noble Energy at the start of his Cabinet meeting on Sunday.  “Today we are taking a major step toward advancing the supply of gas in the State of Israel,” he declared. “Natural gas will be the number one growth engine in Israel in the coming…

Jerusalem District Police and Israel Security Agency officials have arrested a Palestinian Arab resident of Abu Dis on suspicion he planned the terror stabbing on Haggai Street in Jerusalem’s Old City over Sukkot.  Rabbi Nehamiah Lavi, 41, and Aharon Bennett, 21, were both killed in the brutal attack, which occurred minutes after the end of Shabbat. …

Economy Minister Aryeh Deri officially resigned Sunday, opening the way for the government to greenlight a multibillion dollar gas deal with US energy giant Noble Energy, a statement from the Prime Minister’s office said. “Minister (Aryeh) Deri announced to me his intention to quit. In order to proceed with the (offshore gas) agreement the ministry will be transferred to me and…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu instructed the cabinet secretary and chairman of the National Security Council to intervene in the issue of sports boycotts against Israel on Sunday morning, following an urgent request from Culture and Sports Miri Regev over an incident at a global judo competition over the weekend.  Israeli judaokas Yarden Gerbi and Sagi Muki took home two…

Former Balad MK Said Nafaa began his one-year prison sentence on Monday – a year and a half after he was convicted of illegally entering an enemy state and of contact with a foreign agent.  In 2007, Nafaa, who is Druze, organized a pilgrimage to Syria, where he allegedly met with members of the Popular Front for…

Zehava Shaul, whose son Oron Shaul was killed in Operation Protective Edge, and whose body is being held by Hamas, expressed anger Sunday at the security establishment’s decision to hand over the bodies of terrorists to the Palestinian Authority for burial. She joined the parents of Hadar Goldin, who was also killed in the war…

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to return to power following Turkey’s elections today. Almost 90 percent of the ballots have been counted, and the official Anadolu news agency says that AKP is on track to receive 49.9 percent of the votes. The other parties expected to pass the 10 percent…

Arabs in Haifa threw a rock that hit a Jewish youth in the head Saturday, and tension between Jews and Arabs in the northern port city has been growing, according to Rabbi Shmuel Sasson, who heads the Torah nucleus group in the city. The boy, whose parents are members of the Torah nucleus group, was…

The immigration crisis rocking Europe has once again underlined how events far away in the Middle East can have a massive impact on Europe and other western democracies. But how democratic leaders can effectively confront contemporary challenges to the very fabric of their societies – from radical Islam to mass immigration – is far from simple. Western intervention in the…

The European Union on Sunday said it was allocating an extra 28 million Euro ($31 million US) to Jordan to help it meet the urgent needs of Syrian refugees as winter sets in. EU humanitarian affairs commissioner Christos Stylianides made the announcement during a visit to the Zaatari camp in northern Jordan that is home to 80,000 refugees from across the…

Over the weekend, the IDF’s intelligence branch sent a letters to all officers and soldiers, warning them against foreign attempts to enlist spies from among the IDF’s ranks. Channel 2 reports that the message, entitled “enlistment of ex-special forces soldiers to an organization,” included a clipping from daily newspaper Yediot Aharonot which told the story of a 2012 attempt by the CIA…

Three Border Police were reported hurt in a car terror attack at Bayt Einun Junction near Hevron. One victim suffered head wounds that were initially described as moderate but his condition later deteriorated and was described as serious. He was evacuated to Hadassah ein Kerem Hospital. Two others, one male and one female, also from the Border Police, were lightly hurt and…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s office on Sunday evening clarified that the state of Israel invests heavily in Jerusalem, after the mayor of the capital, Nir Barkat, sent a strongly-worded letter urging Netanyahu to take action and stop “ignoring Jerusalem’s needs”. “The government is investing billions in the development of Jerusalem, in a scope and pace…

The president and founder of MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute), Yigal Carmon, says the American media has dangerously refused to notice that Iran has not only not approved the terms of the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action it signed with the P5+1), but that it has no plans to do so. Even…

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday evening described the outcome of a general election which swept his AK Party back to a parliamentary majority as “a victory”. “Today is a victory for our democracy and our people,” Davutoglu told a crowd of cheering AKP supporters outside his home in the central Anatolian city of…

The commander of the IDF’s Homefront Command, Major General Yoel Strik, paid an official visit to the Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency medical service today, along with additional senior officers from the Homefront Command. At the beginning of the visit, the general was given an overview of MDA’s regular and emergency operational activities. During the…

Dr. Michael Ben Ari, Chairman of Otzma Yehudit, said Sunday at the 25-year memorial ceremony for Rabbi Meir Kahane Hy”d that he intends to run in the next Knesset election. “I was asked if I am running for Knesset,” he said. “No question whatsoever. I am running for Knesset because there is no Right in…

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat wrote a strongly-worded letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu today, after months of dialogue with the Ministry of Finance about strengthening Jerusalem reached a dead end. Barkat urged Prime Minister Netanyahu to immediately and personally get involved in the situation, warning: “The end has come for public words and warnings about the importance…

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation approved Sunday for legislation a bill submitted by MK Yoav Kisch (Likud) called “Parents and their Children.” The law would make Israel the first country in the world to take away parents’ rights as legal guardians of their own children. It would hand over vast power to social workers, who will…

(AFP) Barack Obama’s decision to send special forces to Syria is too little and too late, say critics, who accuse the US president of lacking a strategy for the war-torn country. After four and a half years of conflict that have left 250,000 dead and millions displaced, Washington says it will deploy elite US commandos to…

Gunter Schabowski, a German politician who accidentally led to the fall of the Berlin Wall, has passed away at the age of 86. During a press conference in 1989, Schabowski, then a spokesperson for the East German government, said that both Germanies planned to cancel the ban on East Berliners crossing to West Berlin. The press conference…

Officials in the Jewish Home party on Saturday night accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of “betraying” voters on the right, after Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid said in a television interview that the Likud had offered his party the ministerial portfolios currently held by Jewish Home. Speaking on Channel 2 News’ “Meet the Press” program,…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) health ministry on Saturday issued a report of the toll of October’s terror wave, in which it stated that 71 Palestinian Arabs died – all of them were termed “martyrs,” a term employed for Arab terrorists who die committing their attacks. In addition to the dead, more than 2,130 people were reportedly…

The IDF on Saturday debunked Palestinian Arab claims that its use of tear gas to break up Arab riots in Judea was at all connected to the death of an eight-month-old boy, after the Palestinian Authority (PA) health ministry said he was asphyxiated. On Friday, the PA ministry made the claim that Ramadan Thawabteh was asphyxiated in his Bethlehem home by tear…

Israeli authorities returned the bodies of Arab terrorists to their families and are preparing to return the bodies of even more terrorists – despite the Security Cabinet decision over two weeks ago not to return the bodies of terrorists in a deterrent measure. Up until now the bodies of seven terrorists who were shot and killed while conducting attacks…

The security system transferred two more bodies of terrorists to their relatives in the Palestinian Authority (PA) overnight Saturday/Sunday, despite the Security Cabinet decision over two weeks ago not to return the bodies of terrorists. The terrorists who were transferred have not yet been named.  Defense officials claimed in the decision’s wake Sunday morning that the deterrence measure…

While a slim majority of Israelis feel Jews living in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) prevent peace with Palestinian Arabs, a slim majority also does not believe in building freezes to stop the “settlement movement,” a poll revealed Sunday.  According to the Midgam poll for Channel 2, 55% feel “settlers” are an obstacle for peace, 45% do not, and…

After five straight days of severe storms across Israel last week, rain will return this week to greet November.  Sunday will be partly cloudy with a slight increase in temperature. In the afternoon, northerly winds will be felt along the coast. There will be no noticeable drop in temperature on Monday, but locals rains are expected…

President Barack Obama on Saturday night touted the “two-state” solution to resolve the conflict between Israel and Palestinian Arabs, in a video address at the memorial marking 20 years since the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. “A bullet can take a man’s life, but his spirit and his dream of peace will never die,”…

A Syrian member of parliament on Saturday blasted the United States’ decision to send troops into Syria as an “act of aggression”. Speaking to The Associated Press (AP), the lawmaker, Sharif Shehadeh, said the American troops will have no effect on the ground, but Washington wants to say it is present in Syria. “What has…

Two of Europe’s largest airlines on Saturday decided to avoid flying over the Sinai Peninsula following the crash of a Russian airliner which the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed to have downed. German carrier Lufthansa and Air France-KLM have decided to avoid the area for safety reasons, spokeswomen for the carriers said on Saturday, according to…

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Saturday he was “encouraged” by Friday’s talks in Vienna bringing together the main outside players in the four-year-old Syria crisis for the first time, AFP reported. The comments by the UN chief came hours after he told Spanish media that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad had taken the talks on…

The Mattot Arim NGO on Saturday night sent a letter to the American Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, telling him that Washington had shown “disrespect” for former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. In the letter, sent as Israel marked the 20th anniversary of Rabin’s assassination, the NGO pointed out to Shapiro that the late prime minister…

Sports and Culture Minister Miri Regev (Likud) on Saturday strongly condemned the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the same day that two Israeli judaokas won bronze at a prestigious tournament in Abu Dhabi – but were forced to compete without the Israeli flag. “The boycott against Israel in sports and culture is infuriating and outrageous, and I…

Israeli judaokas took home two bronze medals on Saturday at a tournament in the United Arabs Emirates (UAE). At the Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, Yarden Gerbi and Sagi Muki brought honor to the Jewish state. Both Gerbi versus her opponent from Holland and Muki against a judaoka from Belgium won by ippon, namely throwing their opponent…

US State Department spokesperson John Kirby criticized Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s unilateral step late Friday, in which he held his first meeting with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in an attempt to sue Israel for “war crimes.” After officially being admitted to the ICC on April 1 in a unilateral move breaching the 1994 Oslo…

National Insurance Institute director-general Shlomo Mor Yosef spoke on Saturday about the recent terror wave and how it affects his institution, in remarks made during a cultural event in Be’er Sheva. “The family of a child who is convicted of conducting a terror attack – will not be eligible to receive child allowances for that child,” Mor…

Syrian media outlets reported on Saturday that Israel Air Force (IAF) fighter jets struck two targets in the country on Friday night, around 11 p.m. The strikes targeted military targets of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the Iranian terror proxy Hezbollah, and both took place in the mountainous Qalamoun region on the border with Lebanon, according to…

A Russian airliner crashed over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula Saturday evening, killing all 224 passengers and crew on board, Russia has confirmed. The Airbus A-321 of the Russian company Metrojet had left the popular tourism resort of Sharm al-Sheikh and was heading towards St Petersburg when it went down for as-yet known reasons. However, a local jihadi ISIS-affiliate,…

US Secretary of State John Kerry refused Saturday to rule out more US commandos being sent to Syria beyond the 50 already assigned to the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) group. Speaking in the Kyrgyz capital during a tour of Central Asia, Kerry said he fully supported President Barack Obama’s decision to put troops on the ground in Syria –…

A rocket was fired at Israel from Gaza on Friday night, around 12 a.m., by a group identified with Islamic State (ISIS). To the dismay of the terrorists, who hail from the Salafist “Sheikh Amar Hadid Brigades,” the attempt to murder Israeli civilians failed as the missile fell far short of its target. Instead of hitting…

Arab rioters clashed with the IDF in the city of Hevron in Judea on Saturday, amid the funeral of five Arab terrorists who were killed attacking security forces. The funerals came even as an Arab terrorist tried to stab a security officer at Gilboa checkpoint near Jenin in Samaria. An investigation of the incident showed the…

A Palestinian Arab delegation, led by Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas, on Friday met with the International Criminal Court (ICC) to hand over a file documenting alleged Israeli crimes such as “ethnic cleansing,” Palestinian officials said, according to AFP. Abbas arrived late Friday at the court for talks with prosecutor Fatou Bensouda accompanied by…

According to initial reports an Arab terrorist attempted to stab soldiers stationed at the junction between Ramallah and Bet El, north of Jerusalem. The terrorist was shot and injured by troops before he was able to reach them. There were no injuries to IDF forces. It is the third stabbing attack of the day. Early Friday afternoon two…

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Thursday that he thinks President Barack Obama “hates Israel”, but the Jewish state would be safe with him as President. Speaking during a campaign speech in Nevada, Trump responded to a person in the crowd who shouted “Israel” to get his attention and said, “I heard the beautiful name…

Major powers who met in Vienna on Friday remained divided over Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad’s fate, agreeing to disagree for the time being. Key backers of Syria’s rival sides meeting in Vienna sought to narrow their divisions over a conflict that has claimed a quarter of a million lives and triggered an exodus of refugees…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday clarified his comments about the connection of the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, to the Holocaust, which had caused an uproar. Writing on Facebook, Netanyahu made clear that it was Adolf Hitler and the Nazi leadership who were responsible for the murder of six million Jews in the…

President Barack Obama has authorized the first sustained deployment of special forces to Syria, the White House said Friday, relenting on a long-standing refusal to put American boots on the ground. Obama okayed a deployment of “fewer than 50” special operations forces in the north of the war-ravaged nation in a bid to strengthen forces…

Reports surfaced on Friday revealing that the North Korean regime is digging a new tunnel at its nuclear test site to conduct new nuclear weapon tests, according to South Korean media. The nuclear site, which is located on North Korea’s east coast and which has already seen three previous nuclear tests, has recently been filled…

Iran on Thursday signaled it might be willing to back away from its insistence that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad remain in power, Reuters reported. The shift in the Islamic Republic’s stance comes on the eve of an international conference aimed at ending Syria’s four-year-old civil war, which Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is slated…

Hamas is calling for a “Day of Rage” on Friday throughout Judea and Samaria and encouraging rioting and clashes with IDF forces. In a statement issued by Hamas on Thursday evening, the organization welcomed the “heroic actions” of young Palestinians, saying “the enemy understands only the language of force”. Meanwhile, the deputy leader of Hamas,…

Iran is planning to send a fleet of warships to the Atlantic Ocean in the near future, its Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari announced on Wednesday, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency. “Our warships will soon berth at ports in the Atlantic Ocean,” he declared while addressing a welcoming ceremony in Iran’s northern…

Roger Waters, the former Pink Floyd star who is notorious for his anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rants, may face a group of pro-Israel protesters outside his gig in New York on Friday. According to a report by the World Entertainment News Network, Waters is set to play a show at the Bay Street Theater in Sag…

Denis Cuspert, a German rapper who joined the Islamic State (ISIS) group, has likely been killed in an American airstrike in Syria, a defense official said Thursday, according to AFP. “We believe he was killed in a U.S. strike earlier this month,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He was not considered a…

An Arab terrorist stabbed two people at the Ammunition Hill light rail stop in Jerusalem Friday afternoon, close to 1:15 pm local time.  One, a 22 year-old yeshiva student and US citizen, is suffering from stab wounds to his upper body, Arutz Sheva has just confirmed.  A second victim, 20, is also in moderate condition, suffering wounds to his lower…

Shas chairman and minister Aryeh Deri is expected to leave the Economy Ministry early next week, due to his refusal to sign the gas plan and to go around the Antitrust commissioner’s authority. Deri will step down as Economy Minister, and instead be appointed as the first Periphery Minister. There are no intentions to establish a new Periphery…

Russian President Vladimir Putin is “winging” it in Syria, US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper says, in damning remarks of the Kremlin strongman’s actions in the war-torn country. “I personally question whether he has some long-term strategy or whether he is being very opportunistic on a day-to-day basis,” Clapper told CNN late Thursday. “And…

Talks on a political solution to the civil war in Syria got underway Friday, with 17 countries plus the United Nations and European Union taking part. Syria itself was not represented, but senior envoys from Turkey, Italy, Britain, Lebanon, Iran, Jordan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Egypt, Germany, Qatar, France, the UAE, Oman, the United States and China were present in Vienna.…

A Polish court is expected to decide Friday whether to extradite to the United States Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski who pleaded guilty in 1977 to raping a 13-year-old girl but left the country before sentencing, AFP reports.  The 82-year-old French-Polish fugitive did not attend the open court hearing that began Friday morning “because of emotional reasons,” his lawyer Jan Olszewski told the judge. But he added…

Arab terrorists on Thursday launched a drive-by shooting at a hitchhiking station adjacent to the town of Ofra, located in the Binyamin region of Samaria. IDF forces on the scene responded by opening fire at the terrorists’ car, which fled towards the Arab town of Yabrud.  Currently the soldiers are conducting a pursuit after the terrorists.…

Supreme Court judges on Thursday held a hearing on the demolition of the homes of seven Arab terrorist murderers, and at the end of their discussion ordered the state to issue a response to various issues raised, thereby delaying the demolition further. The judges are requiring the state to explain how urgent it is to…

Iran has launched a new Shi’ite terrorist group in Gaza, in an apparent attempt to extend its regional hegemony in a similar fashion to its activities in Lebanon via its terror proxy Hezbollah – the new group even has the same emblem as Hezbollah. Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh revealed details about the new terror…

Rambam Hospital in Haifa held a drill Thursday which simulated the aftermath of a large explosion involving dozens of casualties. In the drill, after the casualties arrive at the hospital, it turns out that they have been exposed to radiation. The large scale exercise was held by the Home Front Command together with the Health…

The Military Advocate General (MAG) on Thursday submitted indictments against five combat soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion of the Kfir Brigade, over suspicions that they struck two Arab terrorists in two separate incidents. From the details of the indictments, which were submitted together with a request for detention until the end of legal proceedings, the…

US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet his Iranian counterpart in Vienna on Thursday afternoon, ahead of multilateral talks over the Syrian conflict later in the day, a senior State Department official said. Tehran will take part for the first time in international negotiations aimed at resolving the war, as key nations backing Syria’s…

President Reuven Rivlin this morning (Thursday) met at his residence with the President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez Alvarado, who is currently visiting Israel, accompanied by his government’s Minister of Foreign Relations, Minster of Infrastructure Energy, Minister of Defense Minister, and the Chief of Staff of the Honduran military. President Rivlin warmly welcomed the Honduran…

New Zealand is moving forward with a draft UN resolution aimed at reviving Israeli-Palestinian Authority peace talks despite objection from Israel, AFP reported on Thursday night. The resolution, which calls for a freeze on Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria and halts moves to prosecute Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC), was circulated to…

Despite pressure from Arab countries, Israel on was accepted on Thursday as a member in the United Nations space committee. The decision to accept Israel to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space passed by a majority of 117 votes in favor and one against and is a great victory for…

A pregnant 26-year-old woman was wounded on Thursday evening when Arabs threw rocks at her car near Karmei Tzur on Highway 60, in Gush Etzion. Magen David Adom paramedics who were called to the scene treated the woman, who was hit in the face by shrapnel, and evacuated to the Shaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem.…

At the military court in Yafo on Thursday, a several-hour long discussion about four IDF combat soldiers accused of hitting a terrorist was held, and concluded with the four being left temporarily in detention. Representatives of the Military Advocate General (MAG) requested that the fighters from the Netzah Yehuda Battalion be arrested until the end of the legal proceedings…

The Spanish airline Iberia initially apologized after one of its pilots welcomed Israelis in Spanish to “Palestine” on Wednesday, right before they touched down in Tel Aviv – but now the airline has changed its tune and is denying the incident ever occurred. Numerous passengers wrote angry letters to the airline and reported the incident to…

A court decided Thursday that the Israel Police will pay Hevron-based nationalist activist Elisheva Federman 85,000 shekels (nearly $22,000) as compensation for damages it caused her and her family during the demolition of their home in Kiryat Arba in October 2008. The Federman’s home and farm were destroyed in a 1:30 a.m. raid. Noam was not…

Shaare Zedek Medical Center announced Thursday morning a slight improvement in the condition of the woman injured in a stabbing attack outside the Rami Levy supermarket in Gush Etzion.  After being stabbed and moderately wounded by an Arab terrorist Wednesday afternoon, the woman was evacuated to the Jerusalem hospital with the knife still in her back.  The knife’s blade was…

The latest “victim” of the wave of terror in Israel is the Knesset silverware cart. Visitors to the Knesset dining room this week said that they had a “difficult time” finding knives and forks for their meals, and were forced to search for the utensils until finding them in a remote corner of the room. It was…

Israel has been awash in wintry weather for the past week and the heavy rains and thunderstorms are expected to continue Thursday until the early afternoon.  The heavy rains, typical of the season, are a result of the many rain clouds making their way to Israel’s shores. As the temperatures of sea waters are still relatively warm, the…

Qatar’s Foreign Minister on Wednesday ruled out the possibility that his country would cooperate with Israel, accusing the Jewish state of “offending 1.5 billion Muslims”. Speaking to Al Jazeera and quoted by Haaretz, the minister, Khalid Al Attiyah, said, “I don’t think we are in a position to have any cooperation with Israel at this…

Hamas’s former interior minister recently declared that Allah had created man “to wage jihad” and declared that “this intifada will never stop”. The address by Fathi Hammad aired on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV on October 19 and was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). According to Hammad, Allah took it upon himself “to…

Russia has helped Iran deliver weapons into Syria twice a day over the past 10 days, western intelligence sources told Fox News on Wednesday. According to the sources, Russian cargo planes transported the weapons. The planes were spotted earlier this month on the tarmac at the Russian air base in Latakia, Syria’s primary port city,…

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad renewed his accusation that Western states including France are supporting “terrorist” groups in his country’s conflict, at a meeting on Wednesday with a French parliamentary delegation. “Several countries in the region and the West, including France, are continuing up until now to support terrorism by giving political cover to terrorist groups…

Russia has put a 19-year-old female student behind bars on suspicion of attempting to join a terrorist group after Turkey detained her close to the Syrian border in June, AFP reported Wednesday. Moscow’s Lefortovo court ruled that Varvara Karaulova be detained behind bars until December 23, the court’s spokeswoman Yulia Skotnikova told the TASS state…

Mayehm broke out at a Knesset Education Committee meeting Wednesday after MK Hanin Zoabi (Joint List) accused Israeli soldiers of “murdering Palestinian children.” “There is an army here pursuing the Palestinian youth, an army that kills people. They are putting Palestinians on trial in the field and killing them,” Zoabi charged during a discussion of incitement within the…

China announced Thursday that it was ending a governmental policy in which families could legally have only one child, adding it was now upping that number to two.  The policy, in force for the past three decades, was implemented in a bid to curb the country’s overpopulation. The policy was first eased in mid-2014, when authorities allowed…

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) rejected Thursday the idea of a special court to deal with security issues.  The idea of a terrorism tribunal was first floated by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu at a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting on Wednesday.  Netanyahu declined to go into specifics about what implementing such a…

Israel has resoundly rejected New Zealand’s efforts to impose negotiations for a two-state solution via its position as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.  According to Channel 2, New Zealand’s ambassador to Tel Aviv was summoned by Israeli government officials to listen to their displeasure over his country’s plans to prepare a draft resolution aimed at reigniting negotiations. …

A prominent haredi publication has raised eyebrows with an open letter in Hebrew and Arabic begging Arab terrorists not to attack haredi Jews, by highlighting the fact that most haredim do not visit the Temple Mount. The letter was published in the haredi weekly Mishpacha Magazine this morning (Thursday), penned by Mishpacha’s Deputy Editor, Aryeh Ehrlich. It…

It’s “ironic” that Richard Lakin, 76, was killed in a terror attack perpetrated by Arab terrorists in Jerusalem, friends and relatives said, for he had been an ultimate symbol of the importance of coexistence between all peoples and religion. “It’s difficult for us to accept, but in a way we are comforted that he is now in a better…

Following the stabbing of a woman outside a Rami Levy supermarket in Judea’s Gush Etzion, which caps off a rising terror wave, IDF and regional leaders in Gush Etzion held an appraisal of the situation on Wednesday night. The meeting was led by Etzion Division Commander Col. Roman Gufman, Gush Etzion regional council head David Perl,…

The incessant terror incitement of the Palestinian Authority (PA) has shown a new twist, as Mahmoud Abbas’s organization is giving signs that it’s all for gender equality – when it comes to using rocks to murder Jews, that is. Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, the official daily of the PA – which ironically has stood back amid ever…

Israeli lawmakers voted Wednesday to make Arabic classes compulsory for students from the age of six, in a move backers hoped would help improve ties between Israeli Jews and Arabs. The vote came amid increasing tensions, with a month-long wave of deadly attacks on Israelis and violent clashes at protests in Judea-Samaria.  The Knesset voted unanimously in favor of the bill in…

US retail giant Walmart already conceded to criticism of supporting the “occupation” by withdrawing an IDF soldier Halloween costume from its site, but Arab-American groups are continuing their offensive against the holiday outfit. The costumes are still being advertised Wednesday by other retailers, including Amazon and eBay. In response, Arab and Muslim groups in America are now pressing to demand their immediate…

Some 2,400 households remain cut off from electricity on Wednesday evening, the Israel Electric Company (IEC) has announced.  Following a rainstorm late Wednesday morning, several high voltage power lines were damaged in the central, Sharon and Krayot regions, leaving 15,000 homes disconnected.  The number jumped to 20,000 in the early afternoon before dropping down to…

A left-wing British MP has claimed that “Jewish money” has influenced British politicians to support Israel, during a shocking anti-Semitic speech delivered in the UK parliament Tuesday. Veteran Labor MP and longtime anti-Israel activist Gerald Kaufman was speaking at an event organized by the Palestine Return Council (PRC), a group with close organizational links to Hamas and…

International talks in Vienna this week will test whether Russia and Iran are “serious” about a political solution to the war in Syria, the Saudi foreign minister said Wednesday. “If they’re serious we will know, and if they’re not serious we will also know and stop wasting time with them,” Adel al-Jubeir said at a press conference with visiting British Foreign Secretary…

A senior Palestinian Arab official declared on Wednesday that the Arabs will not allow “the Israeli occupation”, as he put it, to intervene in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, even for the purpose of installing security cameras as agreed upon with Secretary of State John Kerry. Speaking with Hamas’s Palestine newspaper, the Director of the Department of…

Rabbi Yosef Berger of Jerusalem told Arutz Sheva’s Shimon Cohen of a recent miracle that he and hundreds of others heard via first-person testimony. “Every Saturday night,” Rabbi Berger said, “in the courtyard of King David’s Tomb on Mt. Zion, we have a festive Melaveh Malka meal to usher out the Sabbath. Hundreds of people,…

US Secretary of State John Kerry asserted Wednesday that the escalating wave of Arab terror in Israel showcases what would be in store if the Palestinian Arabs were not to achieve statehood.    During a speech in Washington, Kerry emphasized the United States’ commitment to advancing the two-state solution, which he called “the only viable alternative.” According to the…

The US-led coalition against Islamic State showed no immediate sign of increasing strikes in Syria, figures released Wednesday showed, even though the Pentagon chief has said America would intensify its campaign. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter on Tuesday said the coalition would conduct extra bombing runs against ISIS jihadists in Iraq and Syria, but only two strikes have been conducted in Syria the last six days. The diminished…

Israelis returning home from Madrid on Wednesday were shocked when the pilot aboard Iberia Airlines flight 3316 announced that in a few minutes the plane would land in Tel Aviv, in “Palestine.” The startling announcement, delivered in Spanish, was followed by a similar in message in English, albeit without the mention of “Palestine” or of Israel.  “I…

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein on Tuesday informed attorneys representing former Labor party chairman Binyamin Ben-Eliezer that he had decided to place Ben-Eliezer on trial on charges of bribery, money laundering, fraud and breach of trust and tax evasion. Ben-Eliezer is suspected of receiving money related to his public activities from various businessmen, and then using…

British author JK Rowling, of Harry Potter fame, is against a cultural boycott of Israel but is opposed to the Israeli government’s policies, reports The Guardian. Rowling is a member of a group of 150 British artists and authors who last week signed a letter calling for a network promoting coexistence and dialogue between Israelis…

Jordan wants the new surveillance cameras on the Temple Mount to be installed within days and the footage to be streamed live online, The Associated Press (AP) reported Tuesday. The plan to install security cameras on the compound was announced on Saturday by Secretary of State John Kerry, who said that Israel had agreed to the 24-hour surveillance…

Walmart on Tuesday dropped two costumes from its Halloween selection that had caused outrage and controversy on social media, The New York Times reports. The two costumes in question are an IDF soldier and a “Sheikh Fagin nose”, a latex nose enlargement which was described as “perfect for an Arab Sheikh”. The Israeli soldier’s costume…

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush recently said that the next American president must repair relations with Israel. Bush, who took part in a forum hosted in South Carolina, said that Israel is “the most important ally of the United States in the Middle East” but the personal relationship has been destroyed because “President Obama got…

As his Fatah party continues with a campaign of incitement glorifying stabbing attacks against Jews, Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday blasted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and claimed he is not interested in peace talks. Abbas’s claim came in a letter to the heads of Arab and Jewish local authorities in the Galilee,…

A Kuwaiti intern at the French embassy in the United States was dismissed Tuesday after she was accused of publishing an anti-Semitic rant on Facebook. The intern was also suspended by Sciences Po university in Paris, where she was a student, pending further investigation, a faculty spokesman told the AFP news agency. The alleged comments…

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas called Wednesday in Geneva for the creation of a “special regime” for the protection of his people, despite the fact that it is the Palestinian Arabs – not Israelis – causing the waves of terror in Israel over the past month. Abbas called on the UN, “more urgently than any time before,…

The world’s oldest bible is among 200 objects tracing Egypt’s religious evolution in an exhibition at London’s British Museum, which opens Friday and spans the 1,200 years since Cleopatra’s death. Titled “Egypt: faith after the pharaohs”, the exhibition covers 12 centuries, from the country’s integration into the Roman Empire in 30 BC to the fall of the Islamic Fatimid dynasty in…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu condemned the visit of an Arab MK to the Temple Mount despite a blanket ban on Wednesday, but qualified that MKs must remain calm in spite of their outrage.  “The Mount has been quiet for two weeks and we are trying to keep the peace – and there is someone disturbing…

Seven soldiers from the Nahal Haredi-Netzach Yehuda battalion were arrested over the past week, on charges of beating two or three terrorists.  Three soldiers were arrested in one incident, wherein a terrorist arrested during a bust in Jenin was taken to the restroom and refused to leave. According to a military investigation into the incident,…

Following a rainstorm Wednesday, several high voltage power lines were damaged in the central, Sharon and Krayot regions. About 15,000 homes are disconnected from electricity. Israel Electric Company (IEC) teams are working in emergency mode to restore power. Loading… Intermittent rain and thundershowers are expected throughout Israel, from the northern region to the Negev, and…

(AFP) With only two months to go before the copyright of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” expires, debate is raging over whether the anti-Semitic manifesto should again be published in Germany, where all reprints have been halted since the defeat of the Nazis. Authorities in the southern Bavaria region were handed the copyright by Allied forces after World…

Arutz Sheva got the chance to sit down with famed “Jewish Jazz” musician Daniel Zamir as he releases his new album “Alive.” Zamir said that as a visibly religious Jew, he “tries not to make an issue” of his identity outside of Israel, instead stressing the “unity of all mankind” in a call for people to embrace their differences…

A soldier has been wounded in a stabbing attack at Gush Etzion Junction, south of Jerusalem. The 19-year-old soldier was evacuated to Jerusalem’s Shaare Tzedek hospital in moderate condition, with stab wounds to his upper body. Two terrorists were involved in the attack – both were shot dead by security forces. Gush Etzion Mayor Davidi Perl…

Children all over America will dress up for Halloween this Saturday, and now thanks to Wallmart they have the option to do so in IDF soldier uniforms – a fact that has haters of Israel in a furor. The costume, which is sold on the store’s website for $27.44, includes a red beret and a…

Iran has been invited to take part in talks over the Syrian civil war for the first time, as the Obama Administration continues to warm its ties with Tehran. US officials told AP Tuesday that Russia extended the invitation to Iran, but with support from Washington. The Vienna talks will involved US Secretary of State John Kerry,…

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson has outpaced his competitor Donald Trump in a survey published Tuesday, marking the first time Trump has not led the Republicans since the surveys began in June. The New York Times / CBS News poll gave the retired neurosurgeon Carson a full 26% of support, as opposed to Trump’s 22%. Coming in a distant…

The top US military officer revealed on Tuesday that the Iranian regime has deployed 2,000 soldiers in Syria to prop up Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and another 1,000 or more in Iraq. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, made the revelation while saying Iran has increased and decreased…

Two people were killed and two others wounded in a lethal traffic accident that took place Tuesday afternoon between a private car and a full trailer truck, in one of three serious accidents that happened around the same time. The lethal crash occurred at the entrance to the town of Elazar, located in the Gush Etzion region…

Russian jets have struck Syrian rebel positions near the Golan Heights, marking the closest Russian airstrikes to the Israeli border since Russia’s intervention in Syria began, according to Iranian reports. Semi-official Iranian Fars News claimed the Russian air force hit Islamist rebels in Tal al-Harra and Tal Antar near Deir al-Adas in the northern countryside…

Finding a solution to the conflict in Syria will require talking to President Bashar al-Assad, a French opposition lawmaker visiting the war-torn country said on Tuesday. “The settlement of the Syrian political situation necessarily requires a dialogue with the Syrian president who is in place and is elected by the Syrian people,” said Jean-Frederic Poisson,…

The tenth and final test of Abraham’s faith takes place in this week’s Torah portion of Vayera: Akeidat Yitzchak, the Binding of Isaac, a seminal event in the consciousness and development of the people of Israel. This week on Temple Talk, Yitzchak Reuven and Rabbi Richman explore Abraham’s unique relationship with the Temple Mount, and its connection…

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on Tuesday urged Israel Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas to meet Quartet representatives “within days” in the hope of kick-starting stalled peace talks. “I have asked both Netanyahu and Abbas to receive the Quartet envoys in the coming days, not weeks,” Mogherini said,…

Associates of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto said on Tuesday evening that the rabbi would be departing the United States and returning to Israel, where he is due to stand trial for corruption. Rabbi Pinto was supposed to return to Israel on Monday, but he did not board the plane to return from New York to Israel,…

Senior Hamas politburo official Fathi Hamad has called for an increase in the terror wave sweeping Israel, and said Arab citizens of Israel are using their status to betray the state and facilitate the attacks. Hamad, who previously served as Interior Minister in the Hamas terrorist government in Gaza, made the statements in an interview…

No less than 58% of the Israeli public supports canceling the resident status and its accompanying rights for Arab residents of eastern Jerusalem, according to a new poll released Tuesday. The poll, conducted by the Midgam Institute under Dr. Mina Tzemach’s supervision, comes after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu suggesting stripping residency from Jerusalem Arabs this week…

The notorious head of the extremist Islamic Movement, Raed Salah, may have just been sentenced to jail for incitement, but that hasn’t stopped his deputy from continuing to urge Muslims to carry out terrorist attacks against Israel. In an interview with Hamas’s Palestine magazine published on the eve of the verdict against Salah, deputy leader of the Islamic Movement’s…

Not only did Fatah support stabbing attacks, it also lionized an Arab knife terrorist responsible for a recent serious attack. On its Facebook page, Fatah on Monday published a picture lauding Raed Jaradat, an Arab terrorist who earlier in the day stabbed and seriously wounded an IDF soldier at a junction outside the Arab village of…

Popular chat app WhatsApp constitutes an active security breach for the IDF, leading to multiple bans on the product over the past several years.  But amid an unending wave of Arab terror, even the IDF has chosen that age-old adage: if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.  The IDF has broken its way into WhatsApp…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu gently reprimanded Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely Monday after her remarks about dreaming of an Israeli flag fluttering over the Temple Mount aroused controversy. Netanyahu’s bureau published a statement and stressed, without mentioning Hotovely specifically, that “the Israeli government’s policy about the Temple Mount was expressed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in his…

Britain’s ambassador to Israel on Monday evening stressed that the UK is opposed to boycotts of Israel, after a group of 343 British university professors signed a letter supporting such a boycott, which will appear as a full-page advertisement in the Guardian newspaper on Tuesday. “The British Government firmly opposes calls to boycott Israel. We…

Iran, which is notorious for its draconian use of the death penalty and other critical human rights issues, is now open to discuss the issue, the UN rights expert said Monday, according to the AFP news agency. But beyond a willingness to discuss UN grievances, Iran has yet to take concrete steps to improve its…

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini met Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas late Monday to discuss “concrete steps” to calm the surge of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. “We have a meeting tonight to discuss the ways EU can contribute to a de-escalation,” Mogherini said in brief comments before a working dinner,…

Rock legend Roger Waters is known for his extreme leftist views and his long list of anti-Israel statements, but it turns out that even Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is too hawkish for the former Pink Floyd member. Waters on Monday expressed concern that Clinton, if elected president, might use nuclear weapons, telling Rolling Stone…

The Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group has executed three people in Syria’s ancient city of Palmyra by binding them to three historic columns and blowing them up, a monitoring group said Monday, according to AFP. Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said ISIS on Sunday “tied three individuals it had…

Thousands of Israelis have joined a lawsuit against Facebook in a New York court, alleging the social network allowed jihadists to openly recruit and train terrorists and plan terror attacks on its pages. Some 20,000 Israelis, organized by the Israel-based non-profit Shurat HaDin-The Israel Law Center, joined a civil lawsuit filed Monday in the Supreme…

A Jerusalem police officer from the David Precinct thwarted a stabbing Tuesday, after he noticed two Arabs near IDF square looking nervous. The officer, who had been on his way to work, waited there and noticed that they were observing pedestrians, apparently in an attempt to ambush the Jews and attack them as soon as possible. He inched…

Two senior terrorists, one from Hamas and the other from Islamic Jihad, were arrested together before dawn Tuesday by the IDF, Israel Security Agency (ISA) and the Border Police’s undercover unit. The two men, who were arrested at their hideout in Jenin, had been planning to carry out attacks against Israeli security forces. One of…

Jordanian minister of Islamic Affairs for the Waqf, Ha’il Abed al Hafez, criticized Israel’s involvement in the placement of cameras on the Temple Mount Tuesday, claiming that the neutral interference of ‘professional bodies’ Israel promised could not be trusted. “The installation of cameras must be done under the supervision of the Islamic Waqf,” Hafez claimed…

Loading… Uziyah Tzadok, 13.5, brought tears of emotion to the eyes of thousands with a sparkling rendition of “Tzel Etz Tamar,” on a talent show called “The Music School.” Uziyah is the eighth child in the Tzadok family, which lives in Avnei Hefetz, in northern Samaria. He began performing when he was 11.5. Israel Prize winning singer…

76-year-old educator, writer, and Massachusetts native Richard Lakin has died from wounds sustained in the brutal knife and gun attack on a Jerusalem bus earlier this month, Hadassah Ein Kerem announced Tuesday morning.  Two terrorists, one armed with a gun and another with a knife, boarded the 78 bus on October 13 and began attacking both passengers and the driver. One was…

Deputy Finance Minister Yitzhak Cohen (Shas) mounted a fierce attack Tuesday on the politicians who favor Jewish ascent to the Temple Mount and blamed them for the current wave of Arab terror. He specifically singled out Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) and Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home), both of whom ascend the Temple…

MK Yoel Hasson (Zionist Union) seeks to change the Compensation for Terror Victims Law to apply to illegal aliens residing in Israel, Walla! News reports Tuesday, after the lynching of Eritrean migrant Haftum Zarhoum during a terror attack earlier this month.  Under the current law, a person may be recognized as a terror victim under one of…

The Israeli government has reportedly hired Arabs from the Ras el-Amoud neighborhood to guard over the Mount of Olives cemetery, upon the advice of the police and Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet). The ancient cemetery has been plagued by rampant Arab vandalism for years, and many Jews fear going there because of frequent rock…

‘Code red’ rocket alert sirens sounded near the Gaza border and in the Sdot Hanegev and Sha’ar Hanegev regions just after 7:05 pm Monday night.  At least one rocket struck an open field in the Sha’ar Hanegev region. No injuries or damage were reported.  A Salafist organization, the Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigades – which is affiliated…

Opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog (Zionist Union) spoke Monday evening at the special Knesset session held in honor of Yitzhak Rabin’s memory. Rabin was murdered by extremist Yigal Amir on the evening of November 4, 1995. He had been attending a mass rally at the Kings of Israel Square (now Rabin Square) in Tel Aviv, held in support of the Oslo Accords.  “Rabin tried…

Speaking before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu expressed the need for a smartphone app that Israelis could use to call for help in the case of an emergency. Netanyahu said that his office had conducted numerous meetings on how to increase security for Israelis in the wake of…

With just a single vote between it and oblivion, the common wisdom has it that the fall of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s government is just a matter of time. Recent polls, however show that the right could gain if new elections were to be held now. But if it does, count Finance Minister and Kulanu head…

Israelis are, per capita, one of the world’s smallest consumers of pork products – and that’s a healthy thing, the World Health Organization said in a new report. Much of the rest of the developed world gorges itself on processed pig products such as bacon, sausage, and ham – processed meats that carry with them…

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein clarified Monday that security forces are prohibited to fire at a terrorist already neutralized – despite the unprecedented Arab terror wave. Weinstein issued the ruling as a response to a petition sent by the extreme leftist group “Adalah”, following a complaint from the organization on the excessive use of firearms against Palestinian Arab terrorists.  “Given the large…

The US State of Colorado signed a lucrative trade agreement with Israel last week. Colorado had already signed an RD agreement with Israel in 2010, but the two states decided to renew the agreement following Colorado’s decision to significantly increase budgets earmarked for Coloradoan companies conducting RD, including grants for local industry. In a statement the Israeli…

More than 24 hours after the major winter storm that hit Israel Sunday morning, some 40,000 households, mostly in the Sharon region, were still without power – and politicians are hopping mad. On Monday, the State Control Committee announced that it was opening an investigation into the activities of the Israel Electric Company over the…

The female bishop of a church in Stockholm says she wants to take down the crosses in the religious institution – so that Muslim migrants will feel more at home. The bishop, Eva Brunne, leads Seamen’s Church in Freeport. She explained that she wishes to make her church “more inviting” for visiting sailors of other…

The United States was quick to express concern on Monday evening, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu indicated he is considering taking away the Israeli ID cards from Arab residents of eastern Jerusalem. Channel 2 reported Sunday that Netanyahu had suggested the idea in the Cabinet. He reportedly said that “we cannot continue with the present…

The Israeli Air Force on Monday evening launched airstrikes against two terrorist infrastructures belonging to Hamas in southern Gaza. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement the airstrikes were in retaliation for an earlier rocket attack on southern Israel. In the attack, which took place just after 7:05 p.m., at least one rocket struck…

The Israel Prison Service (IPS) dismissed a top commander Monday, after terrorist prisoners were found at the Nafha detention facility with contraband mobile phones.  Nafha is considered one of the most secure prisons in Israel, and holds hundreds of security prisoners – many from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Fatah.  Despite this, dozens of prisoners managed…

MK Yoel Hasson (Zionist Camp) demanded Monday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu fire Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely “immediately, tonight,” over “messianic” comments she made that “could inflame the entire Middle East.” Hotovely’s “sin,” as far as Hasson is concerned, was a comment she made in an interview on the Knesset Channel earlier Monday, in…

At least 120,000 people have been displaced by fighting in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Hama and Idlib since the beginningof October, the United Nations said on Monday. “This is up from 50,000 we reported last week,” Vanessa Huguenin, spokeswoman for the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), told journalists in Geneva. She added that most…

Whether or not it has a partner in the effort, Israel will act to reduce the tension with the Palestinians, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday. Speaking at a Knesset event commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, Netanyahu said that Israel would implement its own steps to reduce the level of…

Speaking at a Knesset event commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the murder of Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that the event was “traumatic” for Israelis, and that still twenty years later Israelis were struggling to come to terms with it. “This tragic event ripped open a hole in the heart of Israeli democracy,…

343 university professors from the United Kingdom signed a letter supporting an Israel boycott, and the letter is due to appear as a full-page advertisement in the British Guardian Tuesday.  Simon Johnson, the Chief Executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, blasted the professors as being out of touch with academia – and supporting a crackdown on academic freedom. …

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) supports full freedom of religion on the Temple Mount, he affirmed Monday, as well as the controversial agreement between the US, Israel, and Jordan to place CCTV cameras at the site.  “I am for freedom of worship for all religions everywhere and back the move by the Prime Minister regarding…

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Sunday said he welcomed Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s statement regarding maintaining the “status quo” on the Temple Mount – so long as it is implemented. “I followed up on the Israeli prime minister’s remarks last night and his assurances to commit to the status quo arrangements, and not to change…

Interior Minister Silvan Shalom on Sunday asked Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to examine the possibility of revoking the citizenship of the Arab-Israeli who paraglided into Syria to join Islamist rebels there. Shalom seeks to effectively exercise his authority, as stipulated in the Citizenship Law, according to which he must receive the consent of the Attorney General…

Saudi Arabia, which holds a seat on the UN Human Rights Council, is set to execute a Shiite cleric who called for pro-democracy protests in the country, Reuters reports Sunday. According to the news agency, Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal against the death sentence passed this year on Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, who…

The High Court needs to know its place, MK Nissan Slomiansky (Jewish Home), chairman of the Knesset Constitution Committee, told Arutz Sheva on Sunday, after the director of Israel’s Courts demanded that Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein sanction MK Motti Yogev (Jewish Home) for his criticism of the High Court’s decision to hold off on demolition…

Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto violated a court order Monday by not boarding a plane to return from New York to Israel to stand trial for corruption, with his followers claiming he collapsed at the door of the El Al plane – marking the second time he’s collapsed on his way to trial. Followers of the corruption embroiled Pinto reported…

MK Yisrael Eichler of the haredi UTJ party caused a firestorm of indignation at the Knesset Monday when he compared the Women of the Wall (WoW) to the Islamist murabitat – the women whose job it is to scream and shout at Jews who ascend the Temple Mount. He spoke at a session of the…

The Southern District Court on Monday issued an indictment to the Be’er Sheva Magistrate’s Court against 20-year-old Omer Al-Okabi, the brother of the terrorist Muhaned Al-Okabi who conducted a lethal attack in the southern city’s Central Station last Sunday. Al-Okabi, a Bedouin Arab citizen of Israel, murdered 19-year-old IDF soldier Omri Levy and wounded nine others in the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday that he is considering taking away the Israeli ID cards from Arab residents of eastern Jerusalem. He added that he intends to tour eastern Jerusalem to examine the situation there from up close, and that he will invite some Cabinet members to…

Yisrael Beytenu chairperson Avigdor Liberman on Monday morning issued a grave warning, in response to Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s rare public appearance last Friday. Liberman spoke about Nasrallah, who heads the Lebanese terror group, before entering the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “Beyond the recent wave of terror, I must note that I’m very troubled by…

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson doubled down Sunday on comments in which he said an armed Jewish population could have stopped the Nazis from carrying out the Holocaust. Carson said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that many Jewish people, including rabbis, have told him he was “exactly right.” “I think, you know, some of the…

Just days after the horrific fire that burned down the historic Congregation Poile Zedek Synagogue in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the synagogue’s Rabbi Abraham Mykoff recalled the difficult events of last Friday night. “It’s impossible to describe the awful feeling, aside from the synagogue that went up in flames with Torah scrolls in the ark,” the…

Rabbi Elan Adler admits to being in a bit of a chatty mood today, but once he gets focused, it’s all about developing patience as an aspect of Derech Eretz. Is patience always a good thing? Maybe sometimes it’s better to be impatient? Listen and find out, if you have the patience. Click here to download the podcast

“No power in the world” can stop the “intifada”, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh declared on Sunday, according to the Ma’an news agency. Speaking at a demonstration in Beirut, Haniyeh said, “We are ready for political and popular unity at all levels and willing to agree on a united national strategy to protect the intifada, regain…

After a freak, severe winter storm hit Israel Sunday morning, knocking out power in dozens of communities throughout the country, thousands of homes are still without power – not necessarily because the power can’t be fixed, but because of what one consumer rights group said was an “organized slowdown” by workers, who have been feuding…

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said Sunday his country must “eradicate terrorism” to find a political solution to its civil war, even as he reportedly expressed a willingness to hold new elections. Meeting a Russian parliamentary delegation as Moscow steps up efforts for a political deal, Assad emphasized the need for greater security. “The eradication of…

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon will fly to the U.S. on Sunday night for a series of meetings. Yaalon will be in the U.S. for three days, his office said. Yaalon will be in Washington as the guest of Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter. The two will discuss a series of issues, including strategic discussions regarding…

Hours after a Jewish man was stabbed at the Ariel Junction in Samaria Sunday afternoon, the stabber has been arrested, according to the Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet). The suspect, Tamer Khdeir, 26, is a resident of Beta, near Shechem. His victim, aged about 25, is in serious condition. MDA paramedic Yaniv Bakish,…

The Jewish Home Chairman, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, tried to lower the flames of acrimony between the Supreme Court and MK Moti Yogev of Jewish Home, following the court’s decision last week to postpone demolition of terrorists’ homes. “Recently, there has been growing criticism by parts of the nation and by politicians from my camp…

MK Moti Yogev (Jewish Home) on Sunday evening slammed Michael Spitzer, Director of the Israel’s Courts, over a letter he sent to Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, asking the latter to sanction Yogev for his criticism of the High Court’s decision to hold off on demolition of terrorists’ homes. Spitzer’s criticism, said Yogev, is “another example of…

An Arab woman attempted to stab a soldier at a police checkpoint in Hevron Sunday afternoon. The terrorist was shot dead by alert border police officers before she was able to injure anyone.  The Arab terrorist approached the checkpoint close to the Cave of the Patriarchs and aroused the suspicion of border police stationed there.…

The terrorist behind the deadly Be’er Sheva Central Bus Station shooting and stabbing last Sunday night was in contact with the Hamas terror organization prior to the attack.  Police uncovered a lengthy correspondence between Muhaned Al-Okabi and Hamas, in which the former expressed great interest in conducting terror attacks. Photos of Hamas terrorists, weapons and other materials were also found…

The Israeli government ruled Sunday afternoon to formally declare several organizations previously defined as “unlawful associations” as “terrorist organizations.”  Among them:  Islamic state (ISIS) – increasing areas under its control, which currently include large swathes of both Iraq and Syria; gaining Islamist support worldwide; has inspired ‘affiliate’ groups in Israel, Judea-Samaria and Gaza; Al-Nusra Front – Syrian…

Despite delays and postponements over the demolition of terrorists’ homes, the entire process has become much easier than in the past, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) revealed in an Arutz Sheva interview Sunday.  “You have to understand that there are several steps until we can demolish a home – the opinion of the Israel Security Agency…

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid spoke with students at Derech Avot high school in Gush Etzion Sunday in honor of the official memorial day of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.  In remarks to Arutz Sheva during the event, Lapid addressed the stabbing attack Sunday morning in the nearby community of Metzad, in which an Israeli suffered moderate wounds.  “First…

Israel’s first winter storm entered with a thunderclap on Sunday morning, with unusual weather along Israel’s coastal region endangering lives.  A 20-year-old man was critically injured after a wall collapsed on a construction site in Pardes Hana. He was transferred to Hillel Yafeh hospital in Hadera, where he was confirmed dead. “We found an unconscious…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has formally agreed to Jordanian demands to place security cameras on the Temple Mount, he stated in his opening remarks to his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, in order to uphold a ban on Jews praying at Judaism’s holiest site.  “I made clear in my talks with Secretary of State John Kerry…

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad is willing to eventually hold parliamentary and presidential elections and is ready to run himself for president, a Russian lawmaker told AFP from Damascus on Sunday. “He is ready to conduct elections with the participation of all political forces who want Syria to prosper,” Russian lawmaker Alexander Yushchenko said by phone after meeting Assad in the…

Ynet, the web site of daily newspaper Yediot Achronot, has fired one of its English-language editors for posting a Photoshopped image of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wearing an SS uniform on social media. The image was posted last Wednesday, and Netanyahu immediately filed a police complaint. According to sources at Ynet, the editor, Gilad Halpern,…

The Ministerial Law Committee on Sunday approved for legislation a new law that would require children to study Arabic in elementary grades, starting with first grade. The law was proposed by MK Oren Hazan (Likud), and it will be introduced for its first reading in the coming weeks. Hazan, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, said…

Meat and chicken could be in short supply in the coming days if veterinarians go on strike as planned. All meat and poultry producers in Israel are required to have their facilities inspected by veterinarians of the Agriculture Ministry’s Veterinary Service several times a week. Without those inspections, any “live” food – meat, chicken, or…

France’s highest court of appeals has upheld a decision that found BDS advocates guilty of inciting hate and/or discrimination, the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions has reported. Last week the Court of Cassation ruled on a case involving two attempts to boycott Israeli products in the Carrefour supermarket, one in 2009 and one in…

The family of an Israeli Arab who paraglided into Syria to join Islamist rebels there say they received a phone call – presumably from rebels – telling them their son was unharmed. “The uncle said the young man’s father had received a phone call about an hour after an (army) observation post spotted the paraglider,…

A terror attack has been reported at Ariel Junction. A Jewish man, aged about 25, was stabbed and suffered moderate-to-serious wounds in the upper body. The stabber escaped. Magen David Adom teams are at the site of the attack and tending to the victim. Security forces are combing the area in search of the terrorist. MDA paramedic Yaniv Bakish, who…

The former prime minister told CNN, “I can say that I apologize for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong because, even though he had used chemical weapons extensively against his own people, against others, the program in the form that we thought it was did not exist in the way that we thought.”…

The United States is cutting economic aid for the Palestinian Authority (PA), partly because of “unhelpful actions” by the Palestinians, an American diplomat said on Saturday, according to AFP. The Al-Monitor news website had earlier said the State Department intends to reduce aid for the PA-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria and Gaza in fiscal…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke about the importance of the Temple Mount tonight (Saturday). “Recognizing the importance of the Temple Mount to peoples of all three monotheistic faiths – Jews, Muslims and Christians:  Israel re-affirms its commitment to upholding unchanged the status quo of the Temple Mount, in word and in practice,” he said. “As…

A car exploded in Kiryat Gat earlier this evening. Two people were lightly to moderately wounded, while several more were treated for shock. Police believe that the explosion was an attempted underworld assassination.

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday traveled to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Salman expected to focus on the four-year-old conflict in Syria, ​AFP reports. Kerry flew in to Riyadh from Amman where he held separate talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Palestinian-Israeli unrest. He first…

Hundreds of people are attending tonight’s funeral for Rabbi Haim Yehiel Rotman, who passed away earlier today as a result of his injuries from the Har Nof synagogue massacre last November. The funeral set out from the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue, where the attack took place, and will end at the Givat Shaul cemetary. Fifty-five-year-old…

A senior member of the Islamic Jihad’s political bureau, Muhammad al-Hindi, has expressed his support for declaring the recent wave of terror to be an intifada, and for setting realistic goals to achieve. Al-Hindi posted on his Facebook account that ending what he referred to as the settlements and the land thefts, as well as breaking up the…

ISIS is continuing to commit crimes against humanity on a large scale, including mass executions using a variety of means. After burning prisoners alive, beheadings, crucifixion, drownings, and blowing up victims’ heads with explosives, the jihadist group has now used a tank to run over a man. The Syrian human rights organization al-Marsad reports that…

Three Jewish men, including a rabbi, were attacked in the French city of Marseille this morning (Saturday). The group was walking to the morning’s prayers when a man attacked them with a knife, all the while yelling anti-Semitic remarks. According to French media, the rabbi and a congregant were walking to the morning’s prayers when a man…

Russia said Saturday it was ready to provide air support for Western-backed moderate rebels battling both jihadists and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as Moscow presses on with its diplomatic offensive over the conflict. Speaking after a surprise summit between Syria’s embattled leader and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin this week, Foreign Minister Sergei…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has ordered Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) not to vote on the Jewish State Bill tomorrow. The bill was proposed by MK Avi Dichter (Likud) along with 13 other MKs from the Likud, Jewish Home, Kulanu, and Yisrael Beytenu. It calls for a new Basic Law explicitly defining Israel as…

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that Israel provide him political incentives in exchange for his efforts to stem the latest wave of Arab terror, Channel 10 reported Saturday night.  Israel, however, is reportedly reluctant to agree to Abbas’ demands and has only offered the Palestinians technical solutions.   Abbas attended a series of meetings on Saturday…

Russia and Iran have agreed to strengthen their cooperation in order to bring stability and security to the Middle East, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, according to Reuters. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif held a telephone conversation on Saturday at Moscow’s request, the ministry added. The…

Egypt’s leading ultraconservative Islamist party on Saturday said gunmen on a motorcycle have killed their party’s secretary, who was a parliamentary candidate in the northern Sinai city of El-Arish, reported The Associated Press (AP). The Salafi Al-Nour Party said in a statement that the man, Mostafa Abdel-Rahman, was shot dead Saturday in front of his…

An historic synagogue in New Jersey was destroyed in a fire on Friday night. Police and fire officials said on Saturday the cause of the fire at the Congregation Poile Zedek in New Brunswick appears to be accidental, according to WABC News. Authorities say the fire started on the first floor of the century-old building,…

More than 50 Bedouin leaders have published a joint statement in which they call on Jordanian King Abdullah to create a military unit tasked with “liberating” Jerusalem. “Arab regimes in general, and the Jordanian regime in particular have shirked their religious, national, and ethical responsibility towards the most important Arab and Muslim problem, the Palestinian…

Two separate intended terror attacks were prevented today (Saturday), one in Jerusalem and one in Tel Aviv. A Jewish man said that he was walking near Nablus Road in Jerusalem, when an Arab tried to stab him with a knife. The Jewish victim fought back and managed to knock the knife out of the aggressor’s…

An Arab terrorist tried to stab a security guard at the Jalame checkpoint, near Jenin, before being shot and killed. The 16-year-old terrorist had was able to approach the guard by pretending to sell Krembo snacks. The attacker’s name has not yet been released, but authorities say that he approached a number of vehicles in…

Almost a year after the massacre in Har Nof, in which two terrorists attacked a synagogue with guns and axes, one of the wounded men has died from his injuries. Rabbi Haim Yehiel Rotman was praying at the Kehilat Bnei Torah synagogue last November when the terrorist broke in. He received multiple blows to the…

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that Israel has agreed on steps to calm tensions over the Temple Mount, including 24-hour security cameras, AFP reports. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to announce details of the measures later the same day, Kerry said after meetings in Amman with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas. He said Netanyahu…

Israel’s ambassador in Spain joined Spanish officials on Friday in celebrating the name change of the ancient Spanish town of Castrillo Matajudios, which translates as “Camp Kill Jews”, to Castrillo Mota de Judios – meaning “Jews’ Hill Camp”, The Associated Press (AP) reports. The event came a year after the north-central village, of some 50…

Three family members, including a four-year-old girl, were injured in a firebomb attack on Friday afternoon, before Shabbat. Terrorists threw a firebomb towards the family’s car on Highway 60, between Givat Assaf and Beit El. Magen David Adom paramedics evacuated to the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem a four-year-old girl in moderate condition with…

Arutz Sheva’s Israel desk is stopping its round-the-clock news updates of IsraelNationalNews.com at this time in honor of the Sabbath. Jerusalem candle lighting time is 17:19 Summer Time (Friday). Arutz Sheva’s North American desk will continue to keep you informed until just before candle lighting time in New York at 17:46 EDT. The time posted…

The business sector is also suffering from the wave of Arab terror in Israel, Channel 10 reports Friday, eroding mistrust between Jewish and Arab business partners.  Some 60% of Israelis polled by the New Wave Economic Institute stated they have refrained from buying from Arabs or being in touch with Arab-owned businesses since the terror wave began…

The top diplomats of Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United States started key talks on Friday in Vienna to try to find a way to end the Syrian conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov – whose government backs Damascus – was meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry along with the foreign ministers of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, who all support Syrian…

France will present a draft UN Security Council resolution in the next few days seeking to ban the use of barrel bombs by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed Friday. “We have to ensure that the regime stops bombing the civilian population,” Fabius said after talks with the UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura. It…

Border Police officers arrested four Arab teens on Thursday, after they were spotted near the entrance to Shuafat in Jerusalem wearing the same clothing and engaging in suspicious activity.  A 14 year-old boy wearing a pink shirt and carrying a backpack rendezvoused with three others – one of whom was dressed identically – at a…

The UN Watch non-governmental organization on Friday urged member states of the UN General Assembly to oppose the re-election this coming Wednesday of egregious human rights abusers Venezuela, Pakistan and UAE to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), as well as Burundi, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Kyrgyzstan, Lao, and Togo, due to widespread criticism of these governments’…

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday said that it was time for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to meet face-to-face to lower tensions over the current terror wave. “I strongly suggested and urged them to sit down together,” Ban told reporters after his return from the Middle East, where he met separately with Prime Minister Binyamin…

The brutal Islamic State (ISIS) terror group published a threatening video in Hebrew on Friday morning, intended for the Israeli public in light of the wave of Arab terror sweeping the Jewish state in recent weeks. A masked youth speaks in fluent Hebrew addressing Israelis in the video, reports Channel 2. YouTube removed the video for…

Israeli police said they have lifted age restrictions for the main weekly prayers at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount compound on Friday, for the first time in weeks. The restrictions on male worshippers have been imposed on and off since September, as radical Islamists have been continuously holding violent riots on the Temple Mount since the Rosh Hashanah holiday. Their lifting comes after…

An Arab terrorist conducted a stabbing attack on Friday morning in the area of the Gevaot Checkpoint, located between Beit Shemesh and Gush Etzion. The terrorist was shot in the leg and wounded in the incident, which took place when an IDF force opened the gates of the checkpoint for Palestinian Arabs who were coming to work…

Indonesian meatball seller Ahmad Junaedi was drawn to the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Syria by the promise of a high salary to pay off his debts and a desire to help children living in the jihadists’ “caliphate.” But the 32-year-old villager from Java island quickly became disillusioned – bored with his job making kebabs for Arab fighters, disappointed at…

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) foreign minister Riad al-Malki said on Thursday that the Palestinians are not opposed to a meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, but have conditions for such a meeting. Speaking to Kol Yisrael radio, al-Malki said that, among other things, the Palestinians demand a “return to the…

Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the radical northern branch of the Islamic Movement, is continuing his incitement against Israel, this time calling on Jordan to annul the peace treaty with Israel. Salah claimed on Thursday that Israel is taking advantage of the treaty with Jordan to impose a division of the Al-Aqsa Mosque which will…

Britain, France and Spain will soon present a draft resolution to the UN Security Council on stopping the Syrian regime from using barrel bombs, the French envoy said Thursday, according to AFP. But it remains highly unlikely that Russia, Syria’s ally, would support such a measure, which comes amid fierce Western criticism of Moscow’s air…

A Palestinian Arab cleric on Thursday claimed that the Western Wall in Jerusalem belongs to the Muslims. Speaking to Hamas’s Palestine newspaper, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, head of the Supreme Muslim Council and formerly the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, said that Muslims are the “legal owners” of the Al-Buraq Wall (Western Wall in Arabic) and, as…

The United Nations has suspended and cut the pay of several employees of its “refugee agency” UNRWA, after the UN Watch NGO exposed that they incited to anti-Semitic violence. UN Watch twice in the last month published evidence  of incitement to anti-Semitic violence committed by at least 22 UNRWA employees. In September, the group released…

The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday passed a bipartisan resolution condemning anti-Israel and anti-Semitic incitement within the Palestinian Authority.  Passage of the resolution, which was authored by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), came after a hearing entitled “Words Have Consequences: Palestinian Authority Incitement to Violence.” “The escalation of violence against Israelis is praised, encouraged, and…

The Jerusalem Municipality has published safety instructions for people attending synagogue this Friday/Saturday, following a full month of terror attacks throughout the capital.  Among the guidelines:  People with personal guns are advised to bring them, hidden under the worshippers’ clothes; synagogue officials should make a list of attendees with guns; armed worshippers should sit near…

An IDF soldier was struck with a large rock and lightly wounded on Friday afternoon, amid clashes between Arab rioters and security forces. The clashes took place adjacent to Givat Assaf, in the Binyamin district of Samaria just north of Jerusalem. Reports indicate that an IDF checkpoint was targeted by the rioters. The soldier was…

Dozens of protesters took part on Friday in a memorial for Avraham Asher Hasno at Al Fawar Junction near Hevron in Judea, the site where he was murdered on Tuesday. Hasno was lured out of his car by an Arab rock ambush, at which point an Arab truck driver ran him over and killed him.…

Palestinian Arab artists are taking advantage of the security situation to produce propaganda songs and encourage, through “nationalist” music, the murder of Jews. A plethora of incitement videos showing scenes from recent stabbing attacks have been airing recently, which the New York Times presented as a means of Palestinian “self-expression.” The report quotes local teenagers from Ramallah, who say that songs…

Nine Russian air strikes have hit hospitals or field clinics operating in war-torn Syria, killing civilians and medical staff, a Syrian medical organization said late Thursday. The Syrian-American Medical Society, which operates several facilities in Syria, said a deadly strike earlier this week “adds to the previous estimated eight Russian air strikes on hospitals in Syria, as well as the 313 attacks…

Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Nurit Koren (Likud) submitted a bill on Thursday, calling to sharpen the sentencing against rock throwing terrorists who cause the death of their victims by classifying such cases as murder, and not manslaughter. Koren’s bill comes following the surprising indictment of manslaughter against the terrorists who threw rocks at Alexander Levlovich (64) as…

Deploring a failure of diplomacy, New Zealand said Thursday it will present a draft UN resolution to try to revive “peace talks” between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), despite the ongoing Arab terror wave and after a French measure fell flat. Foreign Minister Murray McCully told the Security Council he hoped the measure would help “stimulate a level of debate” on…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier Thursday, and urged he take action to stop the Palestinian Authority (PA) incitement at the start of their meeting. “I always welcome the opportunity to have discussions with Foreign Minister Steinmeier,” began Netanyahu. “He’s an experienced and very seasoned diplomat and political leader who understands…

A gag order was lifted on the identity of the Jewish man who was mistaken for a terrorist and shot dead Wednesday night in Jerusalem; the man was named as Simcha Hodedtov, a 28-year-old resident of the capital. Police revealed the apparently mentally unstable immigrant from Dagestan shouted “I am ISIS!,” while grappling with soldiers near…

This week’s surprise Moscow summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was perhaps one of the most sensitive meetings the Kremlin walls have seen in recent times. At stake was the future of the Syrian conflict – and also Russia’s place on the world stage as Putin seeks to muscle his way back to global influence after months…

A group of British artists and authors are calling for a network promoting coexistence and dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians instead of a cultural boycott of Israel. JK Rowling, Hilary Mantel, Simon Schama and Zoë Wanamaker are among more than 150 figures from arts and politics who have signed a letter, published on Thursday by…

Despite its ongoing incitement to terrorism, Israel is continuing to make “gestures” to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its chairman, Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas’s brother in law on Wednesday underwent major surgery at the private hospital Assuta in Tel Aviv. He is now hospitalized in the hospital’s intensive care unit. This would not be the first…

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused the West of playing a “double game” with terrorist groups in Syria, where both Moscow and an international coalition are conducting separate bombing campaigns. “It’s always difficult to play a double game: declaring a fight against terrorists while simultaneously trying to use some of them to arrange the…

President Reuven Rivlin on Thursday morning paid a visit to the Theresienstadt death camp, accompanied by Czech President Miloš Zeman. While at the Nazi death camp, the two took part in an official military memorial ceremony and laid a wreath, before the national anthems of both Israel and the Czech Republic were played, and the El Maleh…

Israel’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Danny Danon, addressed the Security Council for the first time, in a meeting about the situation in the Middle East. Ambassador Danon responded to the French initiative which called to consider stationing international observers on the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, and said: “Israel will not agree to an…

Moshe Negbi, the legal affairs reporter for Israel Radio, is being targeted in a lawsuit and police complaint for incitement against the religious public. The lawsuit was initiated by Attorney Aviad Visoly, who has had a long history of activism as a media watchdog. Visoly’s lawsuit is based on a broadcast Negbi made on his…

A stabbing attack occurred several minutes before 8:00 a.m. outside a synagogue on the corner of Yehezkel and Habakuk HaNavi Streets in Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem.  An 18-year-old haredi youth was lightly-to-moderately injured with multiple stab wounds to the upper body.  Magen David Adom paramedics treated the injured victim on the scene, before evacuating him to…

An IDF soldier who returned to visit his native Armenia is on his way back to Israel, Maariv reported Thursday, after he was detained by authorities there. Arik Martoyan, who has lived in Israel since he was five-years-old, was detained in Armenia and prevented from leaving the country after arriving there on a family roots trip,…

The luxury Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem has ranked seventh in Conde Nast Traveler‘s list of the one hundred best hotels in the world in 2015.  Over 128,000 travelers participated in the prestigious tourism magazine’s 28th annual Reader’s Choice Awards, ranking the best cities, island, cruise lines, airlines, hotels and resorts worldwide.  Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem received a score…

A major increase in violence by Islamic State saw over 1,000 attacks and nearly 3,000 deaths worldwide in the past three months, analysis firm IHS Jane’s said Thursday. The figures show a 42-percent jump in daily attacks by the jihadist group, averaging 11.8 per day from July to September, up from 8.3 per day between April and June. The figures…

The United States, Britain, France and Germany called on Wednesday for the United Nations Security Council’s Iran sanctions committee to take action over Iran’s recent ballistic missile test, Reuters reports. In a letter containing details on the launch, the four countries said the ballistic missile was “inherently capable of delivering a nuclear weapon.” The letter,…

Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev on Wednesday called on FIFA to take action against Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Football Association, following his recent inciting remarks against Israel. In a recent interview on Palestinian Authority TV, Rajoub advocated murdering Jews in Judea and Samaria. Actually, he told the interviewer, if not for…

Iran will not work to keep Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in power “forever”, Iran’s deputy foreign minister said during a trip to Britain on Wednesday, according to the AFP news agency. It was the first visit by an Iranian delegation to Britain since the two countries re-opened their embassies in London and Tehran due to…

Vice President Joe Biden ended months of speculation on Wednesday with an announcement that he wouldn’t seek the presidency, CNN reported. With his wife, Jill, and President Barack Obama at his side in the White House Rose Garden, Biden said the window for a successful campaign “has closed,” noting his family’s grief following the death…

Relatives of a 19-year-old American citizen who was killed in Israel’s 2010 raid on the Turkish Mavi Marmara ship are suing former Defense Minister Ehud Barak for the raid, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Furkan Dogan, a dual Turkish-U.S. citizen, was filming on the flotilla which carried some 700 activists who claimed to be carrying humanitarian…

Germany’s Federal Health Minister apologized last week for the treatment of Jewish doctors during Nazi-era Germany.  On a visit to the Jewish Hospital in Berlin, Herman Gröhe said “the participation of German doctors during the 1930s, in excluding their fellow (Jewish) doctors from the German Medical Association, was an utter disgrace.” Accompanying Minister Grohe on his visit to the hospital…

The death of a young Jewish man Wednesday night in Jerusalem – who was taken for a terrorist by security officers – could have been avoided, said Zaka chairman Yehuda Meshi-Zahav. “They could have disabled him by shooting him in the legs, instead of aiming for his chest,” he said. “Obviously the soldiers were responding to the…

According to MK Eli Elaluf (Kulanu), one of the reasons for the surge in Arab terror across Israel in recent weeks is poverty.  The chairman of the Knesset Labor, Health and Welfare Committee, Elaluf asserted on Tuesday that “some of the protest and revolt from the Arab population we’ve been seeing in recent weeks is…

An Arab terrorist attempted a stabbing attack Thursday afternoon at the entrance to the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hevron in Judea.  According to initial reports, the terrorist tried to stab both a female civilian and an IDF soldier. The soldier responded quickly, firing into the air and driving away the terrorist.  The terrorist reportedly fled in the direction of…

Adnan A’it, head of the Jerusalem unit of the Tanzim terror group – the armed wing of Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah terror group – asserted Thursday that his ostensible boss had no authority over what was happening in Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. A’it, the “neighborhood enforcer” for the Tanzim gang in Arab villages around Jerusalem, told Israel Radio,…

Israel’s military police have opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a Jewish man shot by security forces near Chords Bridge in Jerusalem on Wednesday night.  An initial probe revealed that two IDF soldiers grappled with the man, who they suspected was a terrorist. The man attempted to steal the soldiers’ weapons prompting the…

Radio presenter Natan Zehavi, known for his vociferously anti-religious stances, has lashed out at a new campaign featuring government officials, entertainers, and ordinary Israelis, urging people to “respect the mezuzah,” especially during troubled times. According to Zehavi, the campaign appeals to the superstitious only, and encourages the values of primitivity and backwardness. “There is no…

An Arab terrorist attempted to run over a number of Israelis in Judea’s Gush Etzion region on Wednesday night. According to initial reports, Arab rioters threw rocks at two Israeli vehicles – one a security vehicle, the other private – on Route 60 between Beit Ummar and Karmi Tzur. Soldiers from the military vehicle exited their car carrying weapons to confront…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has drawn much flack for saying that the Mufti of Jerusalem gave Hitler the idea of exterminating European Jewry – but there is in fact much evidence of the Mufti’s very significant involvement in the diabolical scheme. Speaking to the 37th Zionist Congress in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Netanyahu wished to show that the desire…

The local committee for planning and construction in the Jerusalem municipality approved 100 housing units Wednesday, in an unusual and rare step to allow large-scale construction for the Arab sector in the capital, Army Radio reports. The move, slated for Beit Tzafafa, has been made just as Arab terror against Jews and Israelis proliferates nationwide – and a…

South Africa’s ruling party hosted a rally in Cape Town for a top Hamas leader on Wednesday, capping off a controversial visit by pledging to stand by Palestinians amid increasing Arab terror in Israel.  The African National Congress (ANC) invited Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and colleagues from the Islamist terror group on a three-day visit to South Africa, sparking strong criticism…

MK Ahmed Tibi (Joint List) had Absorption Minister Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) thrown out of the Knesset on Wednesday after an unprecedented fiery exchange of words between the two.  Speaking from the Knesset platform, Elkin blasted the Deputy Knesset Speaker and members of his Joint List party, stressing that “the blood of the murdered” was on their…

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) appealed to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, asking to renew rights of ministers and MKs to visit the Temple Mount.  “Preventing the visits of the symbols of sovereignty, ministers and Knesset members – is a violation of sovereignty,” Ariel noted, in an open letter.  Ariel pointed out, as well, four separate proposals regarding…

Professor Irwin Horwitz of Texas AM University returns to The Goldstein On Gelt Show to share his thoughts on the American education system. Find out how the decline in standards may ultimately affect the economy. Are we are focusing on the right things in education?  Click here to download the podcast

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council on Wednesday that he was “not optimistic” following talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to urge them to defuse tensions, a diplomat said, according to AFP. Ban addressed a closed-door emergency session of the council by video-conference from Amman, the latest stop on his mission to de-escalate…

Radical left wing Meretz head MK Zeheva Galon accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of whitewashing Adolf Hitler in his speech Tuesday at the Zionist Congress. “Hitler did not want to annihilate the Jews at the time,” she quoted Netanyahu as saying. “He wanted to expel them. And Hajj Amin al-Husseini went to him and said – ‘if…

Tel Aviv held its annual “Night Run” on Tuesday night, in an event in which 20,000 runners participated. No less than five people were hospitalized in the roughly three-hour run that started at 8 p.m., and one 35-year-old runner was hospitalized in moderate to serious condition at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital after suffering heat stroke.…

In so many ways, this connection is making itself felt these days, as the Temple Mount becomes the focus of world attention. What is really going on here? Yitzchak Reuven and Rabbi Chaim Richman examine the evidence, especially in the light of this week’s Torah portion of Lech Lecha, where we are introduced to Avram,…

IDF soldiers on Wednesday morning foiled an attempt to infiltrate into the Shomron community of Yitzhar. The soldiers, who were dispatched to the area after a suspicious figure was seen near the community, identified a female terrorist and shot her. The terrorist was wounded by the gunfire and was taken for treatment. There were no…

The Islamic State (ISIS) group may dominate headlines about the destruction of heritage sites in Syria, but it is far from the only culprit, new US research warned Wednesday. The Syrian regime, Kurdish and other opposition forces are also major players in the destruction, according to the study led by a specialist in Middle East archaeology at Dartmouth University. The findings, published…

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will brief the Security Council on Wednesday on his trip to the Middle East where he is seeking to defuse weeks of violence, diplomats said Tuesday night, according to AFP. Ban made the request to urgently speak to council members by video-conference from the city of Ramallah. The closed-door emergency meeting…

Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid on Tuesday met Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond, and asked Britain to thwart the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) initiative to pass a resolution at UNESCO stating that the Western Wall is part of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Lapid told Hammond during their meeting in London that the PA’s initiative is a direct…

The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Ali Larijani, has warned the West that his country will build nuclear plants if the implementation of the nuclear deal is delayed. The Western powers are facing a “tough test”, Larijani said in a speech in the central Iranian city of Garmsar, the Iranian Tasnim news agency reported on Tuesday.…

French bank Credit Agricole will pay a $787 million fine and install an independent monitor to resolve charges it violated American sanctions on Iran and other countries, regulators in the United States announced Tuesday, according to AFP. Regulators charged Credit Agricole with intentionally mislabeling thousands of transactions during 2003-2008 to disguise from regulators payments and…

Canada’s prime minister-elect Justin Trudeau on Tuesday told President Barack Obama that Canadian fighter jets would withdraw from fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Iraq and Syria, but gave no timeline, AFP reported. “About an hour ago I spoke with President Obama,” Trudeau told a press conference. While Canada remains “a strong member of…

A 19-year-old Israeli woman was seriously injured on Wednesday afternoon in a terrorist stabbing north of Jerusalem, at the Adam Junction, in the Binyamin region. Initial reports indicate that two terrorists approached the young woman and stabbed her in the upper body and neck. Israel Police confirmed that one of the terrorists was killed by security forces…

Following a day on Tuesday riddled with no less than five major terrorist attacks that left one Jew murdered and numerous others wounded, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) unity government completely whitewashed the attackers in blaming Israel. The PLO government headed by Rami Hamdallah condemned the “executions” of the “Israeli occupation army and gangs of…

UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) passed a resolution Wednesday listing the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem as Muslim sites. The resolution – which passed with 26 in favor, six voted against, and 25 abstentions – condemned Israel for archaeological excavations in the Old City of Jerusalem and…

The Hamas paper Al-Risala published an interview with a terrorist on Tuesday, who called for the current wave of Arab terror attacks plaguing Israel to be escalated by poisoning the knives used to stab Jews. The interviewee, Amar Abu Sarhan, stabbed three Israelis in October 1990 and was jailed until being released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit…

Hamas deputy leader Ismail Haniyeh, who is the acting ruler in Gaza, on Tuesday praised the role Palestinian media is playing in inciting an intifada terror war. Haniyeh made the comments during a visit to the offices of Hamas’s TV channel Al-Aqsa in Gaza, in which he praised the broadcasters, editors and producers for their role in…

The police on Wednesday recommended putting senior members of the Yisrael Beytenu party on trial as part of the massive public corruption scandal that broke late last year. Among the senior figures of the party are former Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirshenbaum, former Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov, and 34 other suspects. The Lahav 433 anti-corruption…

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syria’s embattled leader Bashar al-Assad stressed that military operations in Syria must be followed by political steps to try to end the conflict, during a surprise visit to Moscow by Assad on Tuesday. “We are ready to make our contribution not only during armed hostilities in the fight against terrorism but also during a political process,” Putin…

The United States and Russia have signed a memorandum of understanding that establishes air safety measures so pilots from the two countries steer clear of each other as they conduct separate bombing campaigns, the Pentagon said Tuesday. “With today’s signatures, the memorandum of understanding is now in effect,” Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters. “That was signed a short time ago, earlier…

In a meeting Tuesday evening with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu once again rejected accusations by the Palestinian Authority that Israel is seeking to change the “status quo” on the Temple Mount. On the contrary, the prime minister accused the PA and Islamist groups of themselves attempting to breach the current…

A Wall Street Journal report Monday that underplayed the savagery of the current Arab murder campaign against Israelis, and focused instead on alleged Jewish “racism,” was engineered by a New Israel Fund-financed NGO, according to an Israeli media expert. The report highlighted the tragic event that played out when a Bedouin security guard mistook an Eritrean national for…

The Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) published a research article on Tuesday, arguing that precisely now as Russia gets militarily involved in Syria, Israel should take action to take down President Bashar al-Assad. The article was authored by researcher Carmit Valensi and INSS director Maj. Gen. (ret.) Amos Yadlin, former head of Military Intelligence. In it, the…

IDF forces and Yamam counter-terror Border Police units on Tuesday conducted sniper fire at a terror cell over the border in southern Gaza, killing one of the terrorists. The IDF noted that the cell was responsible for several incidents of sniper fire targeting IDF forces over the border last week, and had planned additional sniper attacks.…

Since the young Henkin couple was murdered in front of their four children on October 1, a day after Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas effectively canceled the 1994 Oslo Accords at the UN, Israel has been witness to a wave of Arab terrorism. Magen David Adom (MDA) on Tuesday released official figures about the terror…

UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned of a “dangerous escalation” and urged Israelis and Palestinians to move quickly to calm nearly three weeks of unrest during a visit to Jerusalem on Tuesday.   “My visit reflects the sense of global alarm at the dangerous escalation in violence between Israelis and Palestinians,” he told journalists after meeting…

Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on Tuesday urged Israel and the Palestinian Authority to avoid action that could “further inflame” nearly three weeks of unrest, warning of “incalculable consequences”. “I appeal to all those responsible not to add fuel to the fire now, but to act with moderation and to help calm the situation,” Steinmeier…