Category: News

Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has been causing a stir on his latest trip to Israel, particularly with his high-profile support of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. Earlier this week, the former Arkansas governor opted to hold a fundraiser in the town of Shiloh in Samaria, provoking a furious backlash from many left-wing media outlets and…

Avital Engelberg speaks about her journey from a degree in theater from Tel Aviv University, to studying in a three year Halakha program in Lindenbaum to studying for the rabbinate at Yeshivat Maharat.  She speaks about her title “Rabba” and the politics behind it. Rabba Avital also talks about the new phenomenon of haredi feminism.…

The government will discuss on Sunday a proposal to concentrate all powers to counter the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement into the Strategic Affairs Ministry, headed by Gilad Erdan.  The text of the proposal, obtained by Haaretz, states that “all activities of government agencies relating to this area, including cooperation with NGOs in Israel and abroad will be regularly…

The bitter family feud tearing apart France’s far-right National Front (FN) will resume Thursday, AFP reports, with its executive board ruling on whether to boot out party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen. The 87-year-old has been an increasingly irritating thorn in the side of his daughter, Marine Le Pen, who took over the party from him in 2011 and has tried to steer…

Teachers working at United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools in Gaza, Judea and Samaria, Lebanon and Jordan have received no disciplinary action for supporting anti-Semitism and terrorism on social media, the Elder of Zion blog has revealed in an ongoing investigative report.   According to the blog’s findings, the teachers often published Facebook posts against the Jewish state and in support of terrorist activity.…

The White House on Wednesday insisted it had confidence in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), after it emerged that the UN nuclear watchdog may allow Iran to self-inspect some suspected nuclear sites, AFP reported. The White House stressed that a purported deal between the IAEA and Tehran was separate from the soon-to-begin inspection regime…

Azzam Tamimi, formerly the head of the Institute of Islamic Political Thought in London, which is considered to be affiliated with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, claimed on Wednesday that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair invited Mashaal to London to hold talks about the truce agreement with Israel. In an interview with the Hamas-affiliated Al-Risala…

A large bomb exploded early Thursday morning (local time) near a national security building in the Shubra neighborhood of Cairo, Egyptian security officials said, according to The Associated Press (AP). At least six people were wounded early in the attack, which was caused by a car bomb, security sources told the Reuters news agency. The…

Two more Democratic senators announced on Wednesday night that they would back the nuclear deal with Iran. Senator Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, said on Wednesday he would support the deal, explaining in a statement that he believed “that if strictly implemented, this plan can be effective,” according to Reuters. He was followed by Senator…

Iran’s parliament announced on Wednesday the final composition of a 15-member panel largely composed of conservative lawmakers to review the country’s nuclear deal with world powers, AFP reported. Iranian MPs have demanded a stronger say in the deal negotiated by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif with Secretary of State John Kerry and top diplomats from…

Iran has denied a request by Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas to visit Tehran, a senior Iranian official said Wednesday. Speaking to the Hamas-affiliated Al-Risala website, the advisor to the Iranian Parliament Speaker for International Affairs, Hossein Sheikholeslam, dismissed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officials’ claims that Abbas will make a trip to Tehran…

A haredi woman has for the first time been accepted into El Al’s elite pilot training course, which will begin in three months, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Wednesday.  Nehama (full name withheld), in her 30s, lives in a haredi community in Jerusalem and is married with three children. She is a graduate of a Beit Yaakov school and at…

An indictment was filed with the Central District Court in Lod on Thursday morning against resident Salman J’aribia, 29, on charges of espionage, conspiracy, theft and disclosing secret information.  Indictments were also filed against Iyad Kishek, 26, a resident of Jaljulia and Wadim Hodtov, 24, a resident of Hadera. Kishek is charged with weapons possession and…

ISIS has claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack this morning in the Cairo suburb of Shubra Al-Khaima. Six police officers were reportedly among the 29 people who were injured in the blast. In a statement on Twitter, the Sinai-based ISIS branch “Sinai Province,” said that the attack was revenge for the execution of six…

The IDF has deployed the Iron Dome missile-defense system to the southern city of Ashdod, over fears Islamist terrorists in Gaza could launch rocket attacks if Islamic Jihad hunger striker Mohammed Allan dies. Allan’s condition deteriorated Wednesday after more than 60 days of hunger striking. Doctors have said he is suffering from brain damage, although…

The IDF soldier wounded in the explosives attack on a road leading out of Jerusalem on Wednesday night remains in moderate condition on Thursday, Channel 10 reports.  A member of the Kfir Brigade, the soldier was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in the capital after being treated by medical crews on the scene.  The soldier suffered shrapnel in his face, and according to Channel…

Israel’s Deputy Health Minister has condemned a top doctor for calling on colleagues to refuse to comply with a government law calling for the force-feeding of hunger-striking terror suspects. For at least 63 days,  Islamic Jihad member Mohammed Allan has been on a hunger strike protesting his administrative detention for his affiliation with the terrorist group. Israel’s administrative…

Israel has reportedly refused a request by a senior Hamas official in Gaza to travel to Turkey for medical treatment via Israel, citing the Islamist terrorist group’s continued isolation of a mentally-ill Israeli. According to Kol Yisrael Radio Palestinian Affairs Correspondent Gal Berger, Ihab al-Rasin – a senior official at Hamas’s Information Ministry – asked the…

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) urged the defense establishment on Thursday to reduce its use of administrative detention.  Ariel made the call on Army Radio in reaction to the High Court’s decision Wednesday night to cancel the detention of hunger-striking terrorist prisoner Mohammad Allan.  “This case saw mistake after mistake,” Ariel argued. “My problem is not…

The High Court for Justice has largely ruled in favor of Islamic Jihad terrorist and hunger striker Mohammed Allan on Wednesday, allowing for his release in the event of irreversible brain damage – and, likely, his release in November in the event he recovers.  The High Court ruling cancels the administrative detention order against Allan,…

Ezri Tubi, spokesperson for the Samaria community of Yitzhar, released a video on Wednesday debunking the claims of Robert Cohen, a former editor of the New York Times who happens to be Jewish. Cohen claimed that Palestinian Arabs ride around in “donkey carts” on “dirt roads” to their orchards, while Jews ride in fancy cars on modern highways nearby –…

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) humorously rebutted a Twitter troll against him Wednesday, apparently taking yet another incident of incitement against him by the horns in a lively exchange.  The back-and-forth began with a photo Bennett posted of a meeting he held with school principals in Nazareth.  Then, a Twitter user by the name…

Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid met with a delegation of senior leaders from Chicago on Wednesday afternoon, who accompanied Republican Congressman Peter Roskam (IL-6th District) on a special trip to Israel.  In his opening remarks, Lapid thanked Roskam for his actions in leading the fight against the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Roskam is the co-chair of…

Jailed Islamic Jihad terrorist Mohammed Allan, who has been hunger striking for over 60 days, has suffered brain damage according to doctors on Wednesday – in a finding that comes hours after the state agreed to release him immediately in the case of irreversible brain damage. The Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon announced on Wednesday afternoon that an…

Hanan Ben-Ari, the talented nephew of former MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, has released a third single after his first two achieved great success on radio, and in doing so continues his advance towards releasing his debut album. The new single, entitled “Mother,” recalls Ben-Ari’s experiences as a 17-year-old when he stayed in Gush Katif’s Neve Dekalim for…

They met in the Bergen-Belsen death camp, got married – and immediately after World War II, they were able to escape the clutches of the Nazis and emigrated to Sweden, where they lived for five years before moving to the United States. Now, decades later, and at the ages of 90 and 94, Feige and Felix Bandos realized their…

Gaza’s Hamas rulers on Wednesday night said that gunmen abducted four Palestinians in neighboring Sinai after intercepting a bus bound for Cairo airport, The Associated Press (AP) reports. The Hamas interior ministry said the Palestinian travelers had crossed from Gaza into Egypt late Wednesday on the third day of the partial opening of the Rafah…

Gaza’s Hamas rulers on Wednesday night said that gunmen abducted four Palestinians in neighboring Sinai after intercepting a bus bound for Cairo airport, The Associated Press (AP) reports. The Hamas interior ministry said the Palestinian travelers had crossed from Gaza into Egypt late Wednesday on the third day of the partial opening of the Rafah…

Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms, operating under a secret agreement with the UN agency that normally carries out such work, according to a document seen by The Associated Press (AP) and exposed on Wednesday. The agreement, for…

MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) on Wednesday said that the High Court’s decision to cancel the administrative detention of terrorist Mohammed Allan is a legitimate decision, though he admitted he didn’t like the ruling. “I’m sorry that once again, I find myself swimming against the current of my colleagues on the right – who strongly…

The IDF reported on Wednesday night that an explosives attack took place on a military post on the tunnel road leading out from Jerusalem to the south, towards Gush Etzion in Judea.  According to the IDF statement an explosive was hurled by Arab terrorists at a lookout post, with the shrapnel moderately wounding a soldier in the eye. The…

Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) on Wednesday night strongly condemned the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of the jailed Islamic Jihad terrorist Mohammed Allan, who has been conducting a hunger strike for over 60 days. Despite just 15 days ago rejecting a petition to end the terrorist’s administrative detention, the court on Wednesday ended the detention, allowing…

Two Israelis were wounded on Wednesday night by Arab terrorists throwing rocks on Highway 443, which runs from Lod past Modi’in to the northwest of Jerusalem – one of them was a two-year-old baby girl. The infant was lightly wounded by the rocks, and another man was likewise wounded and initially refused to be evacuated for…

Two top Republican senators sent a letter to the US State Department on Wednesday, demanding the public release of letters sent by the Obama administration that allegedly promise foreign governments their companies won’t be penalized for breaching sanctions on Iran. The letter was written by Senators Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Marco Rubio (R-FL), and was revealed…

The High Court for Justice has largely ruled in favor of Islamic Jihad terrorist and hunger striker Mohammed Allan on Wednesday, allowing for his release in the event of irreversible brain damage – and, likely, his release in November in the event he recovers.  The High Court ruling cancels the administrative detention order against Allan,…

Liberal American Jewish community leaders have begun taking swipes at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for naming Danny Danon Israel’s new ambassador to the United Nations, warning his appointment could become a diplomatic “disaster.” Danon, the outgoing Science, Technology and Space Minister, has received heat from Israel and abroad, from critics who consider his views, including opposition to the two-state solution, extreme.  “Once…

Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat is set to stop the Sabbath operations of eight minimarkets in central Jerusalem, according to Army Radio. Secular city councilors said that this is part of a tradeoff Barkat has made with haredi councilors, according to which they will countenance the opening of a new movie complex – the Yes Planet – on…

Syria’s government on Tuesday slammed United Nations envoy Staffan de Mistura for his criticism of regime air raids that killed nearly 100 people in a rebel-held town, AFP reported. “In his recent comments Staffan de Mistura has strayed from neutrality,” Syrian state media said, citing a source at the foreign ministry in Damascus. The source…

A senior Iranian official has placed another roadblock in the UN’s atomic energy agency attempts to inspect his country’s nuclear sites, The Washington Free Beacon reports. According to the website, Iran’s deputy foreign minister Abbas Araqchi declared on Monday that international nuclear inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would only be permitted into…

The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday accused Hamas of holding secret talks with Israel that would endorse the separation of Palestinian territories, AFP reports. Arab and Turkish media have carried reports, picked up by Israeli media, claiming Israel and the Hamas were holding talks reportedly aimed at reaching an eight- or 10-year truce, with Israel removing…

Ancient artifacts that have yet to be unearthed in Israel could turn up on display in a museum dedicated to the Bible opening in Washington in 2017, AFP reported on Tuesday. In a statement, the Museum of the Bible said it will fill its entire top floor with a selection of priceless items from the…

Egypt detained a senior Hamas official at Cairo International Airport, security sources said on Tuesday, according to the Reuters news agency. Hassan Asseify, the deputy religious affairs minister in Hamas-ruled Gaza, was stopped on his way back from Saudi Arabia to Gaza after Cairo airport security found “issues in the security approval for his entrance…

Jay Shapiro claims that President Barack Obama is not an anti-Semite. He thinks that the problem with him is that he is opposed to western Judeo-Christian civilization and he perceives Israel as an outpost of that civilization in the Middle East. That is why he is indifferent to the fate of Israel.    Click here to…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday night responded to threats from the Islamic State (ISIS) to conquer Istanbul, reiterating his country’s determination to fight anti-state terrorists. “Every bullet and every bomb fired, and every hole dug against the state and its people, will be brought to account,” he said at a ceremony at the…

The Spanish government condemned on Tuesday a Spanish reggae festival’s decision to cancel a concert by American Jewish musician Matisyahu, after he failed to reply to a demand to clarify his position on Palestinian statehood, Reuters reported. Matisyahu’s appearance was canceled by the organizers of the Rototom Sunsplash festival, which will take place next weekend,…

The security establishment has informed Maher Al-Hashalmoun of Hevron, the terrorist who  murdered 25-year-old Dalia Lemkos Hy”d of Tekoa last November, that it intends to raze his home. His family has been given 48 hours to file a motion appealing the demolition order. A final date has not yet been set for the demolition, and the…

Education Minister Naftali Bennett was unmoved Wednesday by a group of artists and creators demanding he reverse his decision and keep Dr. Bilha Blum as chairwoman of the Culture Basket’s theater committee.  The Jewish Home chairman chose not to extend Blum’s tenure after learning the committee had approved, as part of the Culture Basket’s theater repertoire,…

Hamas authorities in Gaza claim to have captured an Israeli “spy dolphin” off the coast of Gaza Wednesday. Yes, a spy dolphin. Sources in Gaza say the dolphin in question was wearing cameras and other equipment, and was captured by Hamas’s “military wing,” the Ezzedine al-Qassan Brigades, according to IDF Radio. Dolphins are believed to…

The chief of Thailand’s national police force suggested Wednesday that the deadly bombing Monday night at a shrine in Central Bangkok was carried out by “a network.” Police chief Somyot Poompanmoung was headed into a meeting of national police commanders when he made the claim, adding that he was carrying orders from the prime minister who “is worried…

Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) said Wednesday that he opposes the official offer made by the State Attorney’s Office to hunger striking terrorist Mohammed Allan, to release him in November. “His release will be a prize for the hunger strike he initiated and could cause a wave of mass hunger strikes among security prisoners,…

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), has rallied several major African-American churches in Detroit in support of Israel.  Eckstein spoke on Sunday before the congregations of the Second Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ at the New St. Paul Tabernacle; the mega-church Third New Hope Baptist Church;…

Typhoid has broken out among Palestinian residents in from the besieged Yarmouk camp in the Syrian capital Damascus, a UN agency said Wednesday. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA said it had been able to confirm the outbreak after gaining access to residents of the camp sheltering in the nearby Yalda neighbourhood. “UNRWA has had…

Social Equality Minister Gila Gamliel (Likud) visited Samaria on Tuesday to discuss promoting new initiatives for pensioners and young people in the area.  During her trip, Gamliel visited an old age home in Elon Moreh, toured Har Bracha, and also met with both Samaria’s Chief Rabbi Elyakim Levanon and Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan.  The…

The US condemned Israel on Tuesday for supposed unequal treatment of US citizens traveling to the country, following reports that Palestinian-Americans have been asked to enter Israel through the Allenby Bridge from Jordan rather than Ben-Gurion Airport. However, the condition is in fact stipulated by the 1993 Oslo Accords, according to which Palestinian Arabs with dual American citizenship…

Did French media endanger the life of a man in January by revealing he was hiding in a printing shop where two of the Muslim terrorist Charlie Hebdo attackers were facing off with special forces? Prosecutors in the French capital have launched a probe into the handling of the news by TF1 and France 2 television stations, as well…

A pro-Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist video has urged Turks to rise up against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accusing him of being a traitor who has sided with the US. The video – said to have been recorded in the ISIS-controlled Raqa province of northern Syria – is one of the clearest such threats yet made by ISIS against Turkey. Previously…

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has yet to say whether he’ll support President Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, angering liberal groups. Reid told Nevada political reporters last week that he is still studying the agreement, and hinted that he wants to consult with prominent Jewish backers before he makes the decision – although…

Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Tuesday that he does not regret his statement, according to which President Barack Obama is “leading Israelis to the oven” with his Iranian nuclear deal. Huckabee spoke at Shiloh, in Samaria. “I have no regret regarding what I said about the president,” he told reporters. “My only regret is…

Opposition head MK Yitzhak Herzog of the leftist Zionist Union party met with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday afternoon, in which he made a new call for a peace deal. The two met for over an hour, on the background of the recent wave of terrorist attacks that has seen expression in numerous…

There has been much controversy over the deal passed Sunday to develop Israel’s offshore natural gas fields, but what’s all the fuss about? To find out, Arutz Sheva sat down to talk with Prof. Eytan Sheshinki of Hebrew University, a renowned expert of economics. The professor explained that the deal is a “serious improvement,” noting how Israel was faced…

Hunger striking terrorist prisoner Muhammad Allaan emerged from a coma Tuesday, only to pledge to resume fasting if Israel did not resolve his case within 24 hours, an Arab group said. Allaan “declared in front of his doctors that if there is not any solution to his case within 24 hours he will ask for…

Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists beheaded an antiquities scholar in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra and hung his body on a column in a main square of the historic site, Syria’s antiquities chief said on Tuesday, according to Reuters. ISIS captured Palmyra in central Syria from government forces in May, but its jihadists are not…

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Tuesday returned the mandate to form a government to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Anadolu news agency reported. Erdogan received Davutoglu at 7.30 p.m. local (1630 GMT) at the Presidential Palace in capital Ankara, according to the news agency. Davutoglu, who is also the chairman of the Justice and…

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on Tuesday welcomed the announcement by Democratic Senator Robert Menendez that he would vote against the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers. In a statement, the group welcomed Menendez’s efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and called on his fellow Democrats to consider…

Iran’s Defense Minister Brig. Gen. Hossein Dehqan on Tuesday gave a run-down of the army’s upcoming military buildup, and revealed that a new fighter jet announced in February has been delivered to the Iranian Air Force. Dehqan said the domestic double-cockpit supersonic Saeqeh 2 jets – whose name means “Thunderbolt” – have been deployed, reports the semi-official Fars News…

Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) on Tuesday announced he will oppose the Iran nuclear deal, become the second Democrat to announce his rejection of the agreement after Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) previously did so. Menendez announced in a speech that the deal would allow Iran to become “flush with money,” that it could use “to further…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, visited the northern theater Tuesday and received briefings from top commanders. Netanyahu used the opportunity to warn against the funds that will flow to Iran as a result of the nuclear deal struck with world powers. “Iran’s leader (Ali)…

“He can win by getting one-third plus one of either house, so he’s still got a great likelihood of success,” he said of the president. However, he added that the next US President could review the deal. McConnell said Republicans would universally oppose the deal, and that the President was therefore naturally focusing his lobbying…

Seven decades after the Nazis liquidated the Lodz Ghetto and sent its remaining Jews to Auschwitz, the Jerusalem-based nonprofit Shavei Israel, in partnership with the Lodz Jewish community, announced today that it will open the first Jewish kindergarten in the Polish city at the beginning of next month. “There is a growing Jewish community in…

Police in Thailand have identified a suspect in Monday’s terrorist attack in the heart of the capital Bangkok, which killed at least 21 people and left dozens wounded. A large bomb was detonated next to the Erawan Hindu shrine in central Bangkok, a major attraction which also draws a large number of Buddhist worshipers and other foreign…

For the second time in less than a week, a Jewish congregation in San Antonio, Texas, uncovered anti-Semitic graffiti on its property Monday morning, the My San Antonio news website reported. Monday’s incident came just days after the discovery of swastikas, racial slurs and widespread vandalism rocked a neighboring Jewish community. Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham said…

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, on Monday night called on UN chief Ban Ki-moon and on the Security Council to condemn the latest series of terrorist attacks against Israelis. “One can begin to identify a trend of terrorists posing as people who need help, taking advantage of the humanity of their Israeli victims,…

Thailand’s army chief on Monday hinted that the bomb blast at a popular shrine in Bangkok that killed 22 people may have indeed been a terror attack, according to Reuters. While he did specifically say the bombing was a terrorist attack, he did say the bombing did not match the tactics used by separatist rebels…

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Monday voiced “serious concern” over reports that the Islamic State (ISIS) group has used chemical weapons in Iraq. “Recent reports of possible use of chemical weapons in Iraq by non-State actors are a matter of serious concern,” The Hague-based OPCW said in a statement quoted…

Egypt has opened its border with Gaza for the first time in two months, The Associated Press (AP) reported on Monday. The Rafah border crossing opened Monday for four days, allowing Palestinian Arabs to travel in both directions, according to the news agency. Crossing director Khaled al-Shaer said some 20,000 people have applied to exit…

An expose by a British paper has revealed that a senior Amnesty international official has links with Hamas and a wider secret global Islamist network, once again raising questions about the NGO’s alleged “impartiality.” The report by The Times revealed that Amnesty’s director of faith and human rights, Yasmin Hussein, is linked to a British “aid agency” which helps…

Mohammed Allan, the Islamic Jihad member whose hunger strike drew world attention, has woken up in Ashkelon’s Barzilai Hospital. The doctors treating Allan say that they have ceased anesthetizing him and removed him from a respirator. An official hospital statement says that is communication and is continuing to receive essential medical treatment. Allan began his…

For more than six months, MKs from United Torah Judaism (UTJ) have been working the Ministry of Defense’s legal advisor, Ahaz Ben Ari, in order to come up with an amendment to the conscription law passed during the last administration. Their goal is to find a legal formula that will prevent repercussions should haredim not join…

230 olim, among them 59 lone soldiers, arrived in Israel Tuesday morning aboard a Nefesh B’Nefesh charter Aliyah flight Tuesday morning. The new olim were welcomed at the airport in a special ceremony attended by Housing Minister Yoav Galant. The new arrivals landed in Israel on a Nefesh B’Nefesh charter Aliyah flight, and hail from the US and Canada.…

In advance of the upcoming Sukkot holiday season, Israeli distributors of the four species (arba minim) are predicting that the shmitta Sabbatical year will take a very heavy toll on their sales, due to widespread ignorance of the laws pertaining to shmitta. This despite well-known and commonly accepted halachik adjudications that allow for the purchase of Israeli-grown produce.…

An elderly Jewish woman was assaulted while visiting the Temple Mount Tuesday morning – and police did nothing to protect her or arrest her attacker.  Brenda Rubin, a resident of Jerusalem who made aliyah from the US seven months ago, was visiting the Temple Mount for the first time when the violent attack occurred. Despite being Judaism’s holiest…

A top Iranian official has said that Iran will sign a deal to purchase advances S-300 missile systems from Russia by next week. Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan claimed Tehran and Moscow have already reached an agreement on the terms of the deal, and could even formalize the purchase as early as this…

A second explosion has been reported in the Thai capital of Bangkok Tuesday, just a day after a bomb attack at a popular tourist site killed more than 20 people and left scores more injured. No one was hurt in Tuesday’s bombing, police said. The bomb in question appears to have been a hand grenade…

Israel denied reports circling the Arab world on Monday of long-term ceasefire discussions being held in Qatar’s capital of Doha on behalf of the Jewish state and Hamas.  One report suggested former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair had passed a document to Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal regarding a long-term ceasefire with Israel in return for a removal of the…

As many as 27 people have been reported killed and dozens wounded in an explosion near a shrine and popular shopping mall in the center of Thailand’s capital, Bangkok.  But, “no Israelis are among the dead,” claims Nati Hadad, a member of the Ko Samui search and rescue team at the site.  Rabbi Nehemia Wilhelm, the Chabad emissary in Bangkok,…

More than 300 liberal American rabbis wrote members of Congress Monday urging them to support the international nuclear deal with Iran, signaling the US Jewish community is split over the historic but controversial accord. The religious leaders come from across the spectrum, but hail overwhelmingly from Judaism’s Conservative and Reform streams as well as other…

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin responded to reports Monday that some of the rabbis on the new independent conversion courts do not require converts to obligate themselves to a full religious lifestyle.  Riskin, the Chief Rabbi of Efrat, was named by Haaretz as one such rabbi who recognizes converts who commit to a “traditional” lifestyle in place of the Orthodox lifestyle demanded of them…

As many as 27 people have been reported killed and dozens wounded in an explosion near a shrine in the center of Thailand’s capital, Bangkok, as the death toll continues to rise. Police and Thai officials confirmed the explosion was caused by a bomb. Many foreign tourists are believed to be among the dead. “It was a…

Britain’s Labor Party has said it will launch an official investigation after dozens of anti-Semitic hate messages were sent to non-Jewish MPs who criticized the front-runner in the party’s leadership race. Far-left MP Jeremy Corbyn is currently seen as favorite to be elected Labor leader, despite his disturbing links to a wide range of extremists, spanning…

The fate of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers is still undecided but it will not leave the country open to US influence, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday. Khamenei, the country’s highest authority, said in a statement quoted on his website that Tehran would block any US attempt to influence Iran despite the…

Turkey’s prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, on Monday said no agreement was reached at a last-ditch meeting with a nationalist party to form a coalition alliance, reports The Associated Press (AP). The failure of the meeting leaves Turkey with little option but to hold new elections. The ruling party came first in elections in June but…

The State Department in Washington on Monday said it was too soon to tell if a blast at a renowned shrine in Bangkok that killed at least 16 people was a terrorist attack, Reuters reported. State spokesman John Kirby said authorities in Thailand were investigating and had not requested assistance from U.S. officials so far.…

American Jewish musician Matisyahu on Monday responded for the first time to his being disinvited from a music festival in Spain due to pressure from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In a post on Facebook, the well-known musician said that music and politics should not be mixed together, and said the decision to…

Two hundred and thirty two new immigrants to Israel departed New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport on Monday, aboard a Nefesh B’Nefesh charter Aliyah flight.  The flight was facilitated in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah Immigrant Absorption, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel, JNF-USA, and Tzofim-Garin Tzabar. Passengers on the flight include 29…

The United States condemned on Monday Syrian airstrikes on a rebel-held town that left nearly 100 dead, and insisted President Bashar al-Assad must go. “Yesterday’s air strikes, following its other recent market bombings and attacks on medical facilities, demonstrate the regime’s disregard for human life,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said. “As we have said, Assad has no legitimacy to…

Former Arkansas Governor and GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee on Sunday told CNN that he plans a two-day trip to Israel. He’ll depart Tuesday. He said the trip to the country that he’s visited “dozens and dozens of times” since 1973 will include some fundraising efforts, but added it will be focused on meeting with…

Turkey and the United States said Sunday that Washington would withdraw its Patriot missile batteries from the country in October, after bolstering Ankara’s air defenses against threats from Syria’s civil war. The NATO mandate for the mission will run out in October and will not be renewed, but the United States is prepared to return…

Republican presidential candidate and retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson accused President Barack Obama Sunday of being anti-Semitic, as evidenced by Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Carson told Fox News Sunday, in response to a question on his criticism of the Iran deal, : “Well, all you have to do, Chris, is, like I have, go to Israel,…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction is up in arms over reports of long-term ceasefire discussions held in Qatar’s capital of Doha, negotiated by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal. Reports indicate Blair passed a document to Mashaal regarding a long-term ceasefire with Israel in return for a removal of…

World Jewish Congress (WJC) President Ronald S. Lauder on Sunday expressed “outrage” and “utter bewilderment” at news that a music festival in Spain had disinvited American Jewish musician Matisyahu for failing to sign a pro-Palestinian declaration. “This is a clear instance of anti-Semitism, and nothing else,” Lauder said in a statement, urging Spanish authorities “to…

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Sunday approved an anti-terrorism law that sets up special courts and provides protections to its enforcers in the face of a two-year-long insurgency that aims to topple his government, Reuters reported. The law also details sentences for various terrorism crimes ranging from five years to the death penalty. It…

A capital murder trial will begin this week for a Missouri man who claims he was morally obligated to kill three people last year outside two suburban Kansas City Jewish sites, The Associated Press (AP) reported Sunday. Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., a 74-year-old avowed white supremacist, has publicly acknowledged firing the shots that killed 69-year-old…

Around 50 hard-line students and activists in Iran staged a rally, calling on the parliament to reject the landmark nuclear deal reached with world powers last month, The Associated Press (AP) reported on Sunday, citing Iran’s official IRNA news agency. The report said the protesters carried signs outside the parliament building decrying the agreement as…

Gerald Molen, the producer of Schindler’s List, has responded to 98 prominent Jews in Hollywood who published an open letter in support of the nuclear deal with Iran, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “Can we trust Iran? Do they not deny the Holocaust? Do they not invest in terror organizations?” Molen asked in an email…

Danish police said Sunday they had arrested a man on suspicion of torching a mosque in Copenhagen earlier in the day, AFP reported. “At 11:31 a.m. (0931 GMT), the police were informed that a man had started a fire by throwing a flammable liquid … at the Muslim center,” a police statement said. The fire,…

The toll in Syrian government air strikes on a rebel-held town outside Damascus neared 100 Monday, as the UN’s humanitarian chief expressed horror and appealed for civilians to be protected. Sunday’s series of raids on the town of Douma, in the rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta, was one of the bloodiest regime attacks in Syria’s four-year war. They came almost exactly two years…

The state on Monday submitted to the Supreme Court its response to the release petition of Mohammad Allaan, a jailed Islamic Jihad terrorist who has been hunger-striking more than 60 days. Allaan is being treated at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon although he has yet to be force fed as stipulated by a new law. Arabs have…

Just three months before the 20th anniversary of the nationally traumatic assassination of then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a new book about the murder has been published – once again opening the painful debate about what really happened in Tel Aviv on the night of November 4, 1995. The new book, so far only in Hebrew, is…

A terrorist stabbing attack was thwarted Monday afternoon near the town of Tapuach in Samaria. The terrorist approached Border Patrol officers standing at Tapuach Junction, and attempted to attack him with a large knife but was shot and neutralized. The officer was very lightly wounded by the stabbing, while the terrorist died of his wounds shortly after. Loading… Courtesy…

Azizi Brum, a 57-year-old Jewish resident of Ashkelon, arrived at Barzilai Hospital in the coastal city on Sunday where protests continued, as Arabs demonstrated in support of the hunger-striking Islamic Jihad terrorist Mohammad Allaan. Allaan is being treated at the hospital and may be force fed; Jews have been counter-protesting against the presence of the pro-terrorist rally,…

Some of the rabbis on the “independent” conversion courts announced last week outside the framework of the Chief Rabbinate do not require converts to obligate themselves to a full religious lifestyle, reports Haaretz on Monday morning. The newly established Beit Din religious courts include several different panels of rabbis, each of them granted independence in terms of their halakhic (Jewish legal)…

Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor met this week with Carmen Lapointe, UN Under-Secretary-General for Internal Oversight Services, and submitted a demand for an investigation into the behavior of Rima Khalaf, Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA). Prosor demanded that Khalaf be placed before a disciplinary court, according to a…

Intelligence officials are comparing a newly discovered secret Islamic State document to Hitler’s “Mein Kampf,” as it blames Israel for the rise of the Islamic State and crowns U.S. President Barack Obama as the “Mule of the Jews.” Found in Pakistan’s remote tribal region by American Media Institute (AMI), the 32-page Urdu language document promotes…

Arabs and Jews rioted against each other at Ashkelon Junction Sunday, not far from Barzilai Hospital, where a hunger-striking terrorist prisoner is being treated. The Arab rioters demand that the terrorist, Mohammed Allaan, be freed. Allaan lost consciousness on Friday and he is being artificially respirated at Barzilai. Allaan’s hunger strike is on its 61st…

Charges were filed Sunday against an Arab man from Hevron who ran over a soldier on July 19, after a police chase. According to the charge sheet, a soldier and policeman were carrying out traffic enforcement activities on Highway 60, near Kiryat Arba, when they spotted a suspicious vehicle being driven by the defendant, Amar…

Arsonists set fire to a small roadside synagogue in north-central Israel before dawn in Friday, but the fire was put out before it could consume holy books and tefillin (phylacteries). The synagogue is located next to a rest stop on Highway 6, and enables travelers to make a “pit stop” for praying and then continue to…

  The WSCI – World Science Conference Israel – opened Sunday at the Hebrew University campus in Jerusalem. The conference’s participants included Nobel Prize winners from the world over. Among these was French physicist and Nobel Laureate Prof. Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, who told Arutz Sheva that Israel can serve as a model for the world, because…

In an effort to lessen confusion among soldiers operating in Judea and Samaria regarding the recently tightened open-fire orders, the commander of the Border Police – a combined military and police force – Deputy Commissioner Amos Yaakov, spoke Sunday with the soldiers who killed a terrorist Saturday in Samaria. The incident occurred at the junction…

At least 82 people were killed in Syrian regime air raids Sunday on a town outside Damascus, a monitor said, as the UN’s top humanitarian chief held talks with government officials. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said at least 200 people were also injured in a string of 10 strikes…

A massive arms cache seized by security forces in Kuwait was smuggled into the gulf state by Iran, and was destined for a Hezbollah “sleeper cell,” Kuwaiti media reported Sunday. On Thursday, Kuwait’s Interior Ministry announced police had seized ammunition, explosives, weapons and grenades buried under several homes near the border with Iraq, and arrested three…

After years of bickering and haggling, the government approved on Sunday the outline for development of offshore natural gas fields, as presented by Minister of Energy, Dr. Yuval Steinitz, with the support of the prime minister. The deal that is to be signed with private developers will increase the amount of gas produced from the…

Senior members of Hamas have escalated their threats against UNRWA (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), following UNRWA’s announcement that it will have to reduce its services due to a lack of funding. UNRWA is the largest organization belonging to the United Nations, with an operating budget…

Alcee Hastings, a member of the US House of Representatives from Florida, has joined the growing list of Democrats who are opposing the recent nuclear deal with Iran. Hastings recently announced that he considers Iran to be a significant enough threat that he is preparing an authorization to go to war in order to prevent…

Deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has filed an appeal against his two sentences of death and life in prison. According to Abdel-Moneim Abdel-Maqsud, one of Morsi’s defense lawyers, told Egyptian media that the court ruling was based on flawed evidence. Morsi, who represented the Muslim Brotherhood, was elected in 2012 and overthrown in the 2013…

Earlier this evening, police stopped a suspicious car in Tel Aviv. The officers found five illegal residents inside the vehicle. All five have been taking for questioning. An explosives expert has been called to the location in order to examine the car for weapons.

One of Chicago’s most prominent Jewish organizations has rejected the Iran deal – and along with it, US President Barack Obama’s attempts to lobby Jewish groups for support for the deal in US Congress, it said Saturday.  After a lengthy meeting, “a majority opinion emerged and was adopted: to call on Congress to oppose the JCPOA…

The fire that broke out Friday evening at a self-service gas station on Highway 60, near the Eli community in the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, has been confirmed as an attempted terror attack.  The gas station, which is located on one of the main traffic arteries in Judea and Samaria, is accessible to both Israelis…

Six of Israel’s eight universities are listed among the world’s top 500 universities on Sunday, with two in the top 100.  The Hebrew University of Jerusalem was ranked #1 in Israel and #67 among the top universities in the world in the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities – up three slots from 2014, but not quite back to…

The United States government has test results from an Islamic State (ISIS) attack in Hasakah, Syria, from two weeks ago that confirm the terror group used a mustard agent as a weapon, intelligence and military officials told CNN over the weekend. The U.S. is continuing to investigate an attack this week in northern Iraq that…

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will host his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Monday to discuss the deal on Tehran’s nuclear program and the conflict in Syria, AFP reported on Saturday. “The visit is taking place in the context of an increasingly active Russian-Iranian dialogue of late that reflects the high level of mutual…

Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, the lone Republican who was considering supporting the Iran nuclear deal, announced plans on Saturday to vote no, reports The Associated Press (AP). The announcement deals a significant blow to the White House’s efforts to garner bipartisan backing for the deal. Flake, a freshman who had praised President Barack Obama for…

An Indonesian domestic passenger aircraft with 54 people on board has gone missing over eastern Papua, the National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) stated Sunday, after losing contact with air traffic control.  The flight, operated by Trigana Air Service and a short 50-minute jaunt over land from Jayapura’s Sentani airport to the capital of Papua province, Oksibil, was carrying…

Housing prices in Israel soared last year by 5%, new figures published Sunday demonstrate, with a 2.7% increase in the last quarter (April to June) alone. According to a report released by the Chief Government Appraiser, the average price of four-room apartments rose by 2.7%, while consumer prices grew by only 1.3%.  Despite the heady increase in…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a harsh warning to terrorists on Sunday, after multiple attacks over the weekend – including two stabbings and an arson attack on a gas station.  “I would like to congratulate the soldiers and Border Policemen on their determined action this weekend which halted several terrorist acts. Our policy is zero tolerance for terrorism.…

The State of Israel has mostly remained quiet since the announcement that Israeli citizen Avraham Mengistu was abducted by Hamas – but, weeks later, the Mengistu family refuses to stay silent.  On Monday, the Mengistus will protest in front of the Hadarim Detention Center, between Raanana and Netanya, as the families of terrorist prisoners arrive for…

A Spanish music festival has cancelled a performance by Jewish reggae star Matisyahu – because he refused to produce a statement clearly endorsing “Palestinian statehood,” according to Spanish media outlets. Matisyahu – who shot to fame as a bearded “hassidic raggae” star, before leaving Orthodox Judaism in 2011 – was due to appear at the Rototom…

Former Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) chief Avi Dichter has called to separate the roads between Israeli and Palestinian Arab motorists on Sunday, in order to prevent more vehicular terror attacks.  “This is a significant point politically, not only operationally,” Dichter stated on Israel Radio. “Ultimately we have to separate them.” “They are…

Jerusalem feels it has no choice but to fight Washington on the controversial Iranian nuclear agreement, Israel’s ambassador to the United States asserted during a television interview which aired Saturday.  “There’s no question that this is the most important relationship in the world, and we are not eager in any way to have to be…

Hunger-striking terrorist Mohammed Allaan may have caused an uproar against Israel from the Arab world – but despite the headlines, there has been a marked decline in the number of hunger strikers over the past several years, according to a report released Sunday. Just 30 prisoners went on hunger strike between January and June 2015, Walla!…

Absorption Minister Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) dismissed on Sunday rampant leftist criticism to Danny Danon’s recent appointment as Israel’s United Nations Ambassador.  “This is an appointment that was always on the agenda,” Elkin asserted during an interview with Army Radio. “I’ve heard a lot of jeering voices in the past two days, saying ‘How does he know English?’ and ‘Is he suitable?’”…

Iran has handed over information on its prior nuclear work to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as required by the recent nuclear deal. Observers say that the documents are necessary in order to know how far Iran is from completing a nuclear weapon, should it break the treaty. However, the IAEA acknowledged that it…

Palestinians stabbed a border guard and an IDF soldier in separate incidents today (Saturday). These were the second and third stabbings this week. The border guard was stabbed in the back late this afternoon near Tapuah Junction, in northern Samaria. Other guards quickly responded by opening fire on the terrorist. Lance Corporal B., who ultimately…

The Islamic Jihad terrorist group on Friday threatened Israel with force if Palestinian hunger striking terrorist Mohammed Allaan dies, Haaretz reports. The spokesman for the group’s “military wing”, the Al-Quds Brigades, threatened that in the event of Allaan’s death, Islamic Jihad will hold Israel responsible, and will be free of any commitment to show restraint.…

 A man was shot dead as members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) clashed with Turkish security forces in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeast, security sources said Friday. The 40-year-old man was killed when he was caught in the crossfire of an armed clash between Turkish forces and the separatist PKK militants in the southeast city of…

Arab worshipers have begun protesting on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem on Friday, over the comatose state of a hunger-striking terrorist being held in Israeli prison.  Several police units are at the scene, attempting to restore order, according to Maariv. Terrorist Mohammed Allaan, who was being held in Israeli prison for his crimes, lost consciousness on Friday…

Earlier reports that Israel refuses to hold a planned military exercise with the Americans have been nixed – and in fact, Israel is anxious to hold a larger-scale drill than originally planned.  It had been reported that Israel was “upset” with the U.S. over the Iran deal, and was therefore not willing to cooperate militarily, at least…

After talks with Moscow’s top diplomat, Syria’s main opposition group insisted Friday that Russia is “not clinging” to President Bashar al-Assad. The head of Syria’s National Coalition, Khaled Khoja, met Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as part of a fresh push by Moscow to find a way out of the four-year civil war that has cost some 240,000 lives. Moscow –…

Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, on Friday vowed to undo the nuclear deal with Iran if he is elected president. Speaking to the Foreign Policy Initiative in New York and quoted by MSNBC, Rubio linked the White House’s diplomatic efforts in Iran to its warming of relations with Cuba,…

The UN’s top aid official will pay his first visit to Syria next week to step up relief efforts in the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, AFP reported on Friday. Stephen O’Brien, who took up the job in May, is to hold talks with Syrian officials in Damascus and hopes to meet refugee families in Homs…

A senior Russian diplomat on Friday denied claims that an Iranian general visited Moscow in violation of United Nations sanctions banning travel, reports The Associated Press (AP). The reported visit last month by Maj. Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the elite Quds Force in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, had raised concerns in Washington. U.S. Secretary…

Israel has no strategy against Hezbollah, the group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday, according to the Hebrew-language Walla! news website. In a televised speech on the anniversary of the end of the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Nasrallah declared that Israel is now “well aware of Hezbollah’s deterrence capability.” “Israel admits it has no…

Arab Bank has reached a settlement with hundreds of American victims of attacks in Israel and the Palestinian Authority who filed a lawsuit accusing the bank of supporting terrorism, AFP reported on Friday. A spokesperson for the bank confirmed to the news agency that an agreement had been reached, but provided no details of the…

Police are suspecting arson may have been involved, after a fire broke out Friday evening at a self service gas station on Highway 60, near the community of Eli in the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council, north of Jerusalem. The gas station, which is located on one of the main traffic arteries in Judea and Samaria,…

Secretary of State John Kerry was in Havana, Cuba, on Friday, as he presided over a ceremony raising the American flag over the newly reopened embassy, Reuters reports. In a speech, Kerry declared a new era in relations between the United States and Cuba, but also urged political change in Cuba, telling Cubans they should…

The UN Security Council will hold a meeting this month to hear about Islamic State (ISIS) attacks on sexual minorities, the first-ever council meeting focused on gay rights, the US ambassador said Thursday. The informal meeting on August 24 will shine a spotlight on “ISIL and its systematic targeting of LGBT persons who find themselves in ISIL-controlled territory,” said Samantha Power, using…

MK Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home) took a swipe at his own party chairman, Naftali Bennett, Thursday, over the issue of homosexuality. In an interview on Galei Yisrael radio, Smotrich was asked if he would repeat the phrase “abomination parades,” which he recently used in a tweet with regard to the “gay pride” parades. Smotrich replied…

Former Vice President Al Gore’s supporters have started chatting with him about a potential 2016 presidential bid, The Hill reported Thursday, citing BuzzFeed News. “They’re figuring out if there’s a path financially and politically,” a Democratic source told the website, which noted Gore hasn’t made any moves toward running. “It feels more real than it…

The nuclear deal with Iran will give the United States, Israel and other countries the “freedom” to confront Tehran’s support for terrorism and violations of human rights, Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz told Jewish groups Thursday, according to The Hill. Speaking from Washington in remarks broadcast live online, Moniz told the gathering that the agreement with…

Former President Jimmy Carter, who on Wednesday revealed he is suffering from cancer, on Thursday painted a bleak picture of the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) – and placed the blame for the deadlock on Israel. “At this moment, there is zero chance of the two-state solution,” Carter told the…

United States Secretary of State John Kerry called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Thursday to express concern about a visit to Moscow by the commander of Iran’s covert forces, a senior State Department official said, according to AFP. General Qassem Soleimani, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ foreign operations, reportedly visited Russia late…

A group of 98 prominent members of the Los Angeles Jewish community, most with ties to Hollywood, have signed an open letter supporting the proposed nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers led by the United States, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Identifying themselves as “American Jewish supporters of Israel” in the full-page ad,…

Kuwait authorities have seized a huge arms cache smuggled from Iraq and hidden beneath houses near the border, arresting three suspected members of a terrorist cell that was plotting to destabilize the country, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing local media. Majority-Sunni Muslim Kuwait has been on alert since an Islamic State suicide bomber blew himself…

The Turkish military has started building a concrete wall along the border with Syria following a series of attacks, state media said Friday. The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is building the three meter (10 feet) high wall in the Reyhanli district of Hatay province just across from the Syrian town of Atmeh, the official Anatolia news agency said. The military is…

Jordan and Israel are quietly holding talks about the airport being built in Timna, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) revealed Thursday – months after Amman complained to the UN International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) over the project.  “We are managing this,” Katz stated to Israel Radio. “The Jordanians are displaying sensitivity regarding the issue.”  “We are, in…

Lt. William Francis Lynch, U.S. Navy (Wikipedia Commons)  William Francis Lynch (1801-1865) was a naval officer who served in both the U.S. Navy and the Confederate Navy.  In the 1840s he proposed to the United States Government to undertake a voyage to the Holy Land to explore and map the Jordan River and the Dead Sea.  Lynch conducted his mission with a…

An advisor to Presidents and high level political figures told me to never get down or depressed. Remember, he told me “you are a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob”. No one can hold a candle to the Jewish People. These political figures need you. I would be the first to tell the Prime Minister…

Science and Space Minister Danny Danon will replace Ron Prosor as Israel’s UN Ambassador, according to Channel 2 reporter Amit Segal. If the report is true, Danon will resign from the Knesset, allowing in Sharren Haskel, who was number 31 on Likud’s Knesset list in the last elections. In a Ynet interview in June, Haskel was depicted as a “moderate” who…

Hunger striking terrorist Mohammed Allaan has lost consciousness and he is being artificially respirated at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Allaan’s strike is on its 59th day. The hospital said that his situation is stable. The artificial respiration is the first medical procedure to be carried out on Allaan since he was admitted to the hospital.…

Only one in three Americans approve of President Barack Obama’s handling of the situation in Iran, according to a new Gallup poll. This is his lowest rating among eight issues measured in the survey. These data are from an Aug. 5-9 Gallup poll, conducted as Congress debates the Iran nuclear deal. In February, noted Gallup,…

The US Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, received several threatening letters in the course of the past week, because of his country’s deal with Iran, allowing it to gradually develop nuclear weapons. The letters included outright threats against Shapiro’s life, and his security team has received instructions to increase its presence around him. Beside the letters,…

Syrian forces have dropped more than 2,000 barrel bombs across the country since July, killing hundreds of people, the US ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday.  US envoy Samantha Power called for action to end the use of a type of improvised explosive that has particularly been targeted at the Damascus suburb of Darayya and the southwest region of Zabadani, near…

IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot on Thursday published a document to the Israeli public entitled “IDF Strategy,” which maps out the changing threats to the Jewish state and the IDF’s evolving methods of confronting them. There have been many strategic changes in recent years, both regarding the nature of the threats on Israel as well…

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who is visiting Israel, expressed his confidence in a news conference Thursday that the nuclear deal with Iran will not be approved by Congress. “Knowing what I know about the agreement,” he said, “at the end of the day, it’ll be disapproved.” McCarthy rejected the argument that the lifting…

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Thursday that coalition talks with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) had ended in failure and early elections looked now to be the “only option.” The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by Davutoglu had negotiated for several weeks with the CHP, after losing its overall parliamentary majority in June 7 polls for the first time…

The wife of Ezra Sheinberg, the disgraced former head of Orot Ha’ari Yeshiva in Tzfat, said he told her about two cases in which he performed indecent acts with women he was supposedly treating. The wife is heard saying this in a conversation with Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Rabbi of Tzfat, a recording of which reached…

Syria’s main opposition group on Thursday insisted President Bashar Al-Assad must go and rejected calls to join forces against Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists as it met with Russia’s foreign minister. The head of Syria’s National Coalition Khaled Khoja held talks with top diplomat Sergei Lavrov as part of a fresh push by Russia to find…

“Israeli defense minister storms al-Ibrahimi Mosque,” blares the headline of an EgyptIndependent.com headline this week, referring to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s visit to the Machpelah Cave in Hevron. The article actually proceeded to quote the Islamic director of the Machpelah mosque as saying that the “incident” comes in the “framework of the Israeli occupation to…

Senator Al Franken (D-MN) on Thursday announced that he would support the nuclear agreement between six world powers and Iran. Franken, who wrote an editorial on the matter for CNN’s website, admitted that the agreement “isn’t a perfect agreement” but added that he believes it “is a strong one.” “This agreement is, in my opinion,…

A delegation of ten Israeli gaming companies arrived in San Francisco earlier this week to take part in Casual Connect, a leading gaming expo, according to an Economy Ministry statement on Thursday. The delegation arrived Tuesday to take part in the three-day expo, which features over 300 of the world’s biggest gaming companies showing off their…

After doubling the budget of a gay youth organization, Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) has come out with a new initiative, this time launching a program to have Arab students learn Hebrew as a required subject starting in kindergarten all the way through high school. Bennett’s program is estimated to cost 30 million shekels ($7.9…

Amid rumors that Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas is preparing to step down, Kadura Fars, head of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club, suggested Wednesday night that arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti “become the next chairman of the PA.” Fars made the comments during an interview for a series of articles called “Security Prisoners,” Channel 10 reported.  Barghouti, 56, was sentenced to five life sentences in 2002…

The Israeli Embassy in London has filed a complaint with Amnesty International this week over Twitter messages issued by Amnesty International UK Campaigns Manager Kristyan Benedict. Among the offending tweets were accusations that “settlers” were behind “the burning of a Palestinian baby,” and that the perpetrators of the arson in Duma had been backed and…

A tent used by Bedouin shepherds for storage was found destroyed Thursday morning, and graffiti found scrawled nearby said that the attack was a “price tag” action. There were no witnesses to the burning of the tent, which was used to store equipment, but security officials are conducting a massive search for the culprits. The incident…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s recent appointment of Fiamma Nirenstein as Israel’s ambassador to Italy has raised a quiet backlash among the Italian Jewish community, Haaretz reports Thursday.   The award-winning journalist and former Italian parliamentarian is best known by Italians for her fierce support for the Jewish state. She has been a staunch defender of Israel in Italian media every time…

Hamas continues to incite young people to violence and jihad against Israel. On Tuesday, the group concluded a course entitled “Al-Quds Army for Girls”, which trains young female Hamas activists on basic combat skills and assistance to fighters. Rajaa al-Halabi, who heads the Hamas women’s movement, said at the closing ceremony of the course that…

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif boasted this week that an “Israeli plot” against Iran’s nuclear agreement with the six world powers has been defeated. According to the Iranian PressTV, Zarif made the remarks on Tuesday upon his arrival in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on the first leg of his regional tour.  He said…

Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal held closed-door talks with Turkish leaders in Ankara late on Wednesday, officials said, according to AFP. Mashaal, who often shows up at events hosted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the report said. No statement was made…

The rift between Hamas and Fatah is reaching new heights, after a senior Hamas member on Wednesday referred to members of Fatah as traitors who must be punished. Speaking to the Palestine newspaper, Khalil al-Haya referred to the security coordination between the Palestinian Authority’s security forces and Israel as “treason”. According to Al-Haya, anyone who reveals…

A UN Security Council approval of a draft statement on Syria has been delayed because of objections from Venezuela, The Associated Press (AP) reported on Wednesday. The resolution strongly backs intensive preparatory talks on key issues to restore peace to the conflict-torn country. Council diplomats had hoped to adopt the presidential statement Wednesday afternoon. But…

The controversial front-runner in the race to head the UK Labor Party recently hosted a meeting of anti-Israel extremists which included a speech by a well-known holocaust denier, it has emerged. Jeremy Corbyn hosted the event in October 2014, just months before standing as Labor leader candidate, on behalf of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), a radical…

Turkish premier Ahmet Davutoglu will meet the country’s main opposition leader on Thursday for decisive talks that will likely determineif the country forges a coalition government or heads to snap polls, AFP reported.  Turkey has been without a full time government since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost its overall majority in June 7 legislative elections for the first time since taking…

Forty three years after the event, a film on the successful IDF raid and rescue of a hijacked airplane is spurring strong emotions among former soldiers – including three former Prime Ministers – who were there.  Israelis born long after the 90 passengers and crew on Sabena flight 571 were rescued after four terrorists took…

State prosecutors have formally issued charges against a 20-year-old resident of the central Israeli city of Ramle, for attempting to leave Israel illegally and join the ISIS terrorist group. Arab-Israeli Khamis Salameh, an engineering student at the Kinneret College in northern Israel, tried to travel to Syria to join the ranks of the so-called “Islamic State.” Charges against…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday a major agreement between his government and a consortium on natural gas production in the Mediterranean Sea. A framework plan will be submitted for the government’s approval on Sunday, during its weekly Cabinet meeting.  Negotiations have long been under way with a consortium including Noble Energy and locally based Delek Group, with…

Israel’s High Court rejected on Thursday the Movement for Quality Government’s final appeal against Shas chairman Aryeh Deri’s appointment as Economy Minister in Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s fourth government.  Chances of the petition being accepted were slim to none, after the court’s judges refused to issue an injunction against his appointment in April when the government…

Jerusalem District Court indicted Thursday a 19-year-old Arab resident of Jerusalem for attempting to travel to Syria to join ISIS. According to the indictment, Faris Sharitah planned to join ISIS by traveling via Turkey – the most common route for foreign jihadists into Syria.  His plan was foiled, however, when he was denied entry into…

US President Obama has made many headlines with the strident style he has taken in his efforts to promote the Iran deal. Some critics say he is flirting with anti-Semitic innuendos, others cite his personal attacks against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and others say he has falsely accused opponents of the deal of having no concrete objections…

CAMERA (The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America), Tablet and other media orgs have weighed in on whether pro Iran-deal  spokespersons are taking an anti-Semitic tone. Some say: “Not to worry, there’s no anti- Semitism – but it will get worse.” CAMERA quotes US President Barack Obama as having said he will promote the…

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Wednesday, and called on regional countries to “fight terrorism and extremism.”  “I say to the other (regional) players and to our neighbors that now is the time to care about the truth, answer the aspirations of the Syrian people and work to fight terrorism, extremism,…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is making plans to take legal action against an online agitator posting images and videos of Israeli leaders and judicial officials dressed in SS Nazi uniforms.  In private conversations on the topic held Wednesday, Netanyahu said he will consider taking legal measures against the person(s) disseminating the incendiary images and clips.  So…

Turkey is ready to begin operations against Islamic State (IS) jihadists together with its NATO ally the United States after a brief “pause” for coordination purposes, a Turkish foreign ministry official said on Wednesday. Ankara launched its first air strikes against ISIS targets in late July but then put them on hold, instead concentrating its firepower on Kurdish militants.  But…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon made a round of visits to terror victims and their families on Wednesday, following terror attacks last week near Shiloh and Jerusalem.  First, Ya’alon visited IDF soldiers Yuval Appel and Yarin Ashkenazi, who were wounded in a vehicular terror attack on Thursday at the Sinjil junction in Samaria (near Shiloh). Both are…

Internal Security Minister MK Gilad Erdan (Likud) defended on Wednesday the recent legalization of force-feeding hunger-striking security prisoners, before attacking the Israel Medical Association for its opposition.  “As part of the uncompromising struggle against terrorism, the state of Israel exercises administrative detention designed to prevent attacks on Israeli territory,” Erdan wrote on Facebook.  “Israel is not the only country…

Justice Minister MK Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) remains undeterred by the High Court for Justice’s amendment of the Infiltrator Law – and is reportedly seeking to implement it to full force.  The version of the Infiltrator Law that was discussed by the court was approved on the last day of the 19th Knesset’s term. Approved…

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas wants to retire, according to a report released Wednesday, due to his advanced age and fatigue.  Palestinian Arab sources close to the PA government told the SAFA news agency that Abbas is ready to step down, citing the breakdown in negotiations with Israel and the deterioration of relations with ‘unity government’…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed there would be “no concessions” in Turkey’s relentless offensive against Kurdish militants, AFP reported. The statement came a day after the Turkish president vowed that his country would press on with its relentless campaign against the Kurds “until not one terrorist” was left. Meanwhile, violence raged on…

Former United States President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday announced he has been diagnosed with cancer. “Recent liver surgery revealed that I have cancer that now is in other parts of my body,” Carter said in a statement released by the Carter Center and quoted by The Associated Press (AP). “I will be rearranging my schedule…

Switzerland will on Thursday officially lift sanctions against Iran that had been suspended since January 2014, the government announced on Wednesday, according to Reuters. “The Federal Council (government) wishes today’s steps to be seen as a sign of its support for the implementation of the nuclear agreement and its interest in deepening bilateral relations with…

It is impossible to forge a good deal with an adversary you do not understand. Bernard Lewis, an expert on Middle East culture, and Yaakov Amidror, an expert on Middle East strategic considerations, explain why the nuclear deal with Iran is a disaster for the world. Click here to download the podcast 

A Polish-Jewish activist came before a Warsaw court on Tuesday to face charges he incurred for leading a pro-Israel demonstration last summer during Operation Protective Edge. At the height of the war, in July, a group of pro-Palestinians demonstrated outside of the Israeli embassy in the Polish capital. Tadeusz Markiewicz organized a counter-demonstration for the same day…

A mob of Arabs threw rocks at Border Police officers stationed at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives on Wednesday night, wounding one of them lightly in the head. The soldier was treated on-site by a police doctor.  Border police were forced to disperse the crowd using riot dispersal measures.  Minutes earlier, Arabs threw…

Eyewitnesses report a large explosion in a gas storage station in the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin Wednesday night. Chinese news reports that a blast wave reached several kilometers and that at least 50 people were injured. According to official state channel China Central Television, a shipment of explosives blew up around 11:30 pm…

Hamas continues to boast of its military prowess, asserting Wednesday it has taken control of an IDF drone that fell inside the Beit Lahia area in northern Gaza.  In a video clip, Channel 2 reports, the so-called Israeli drone is shown as Hamas’ military wing proclaims it “successfully obtained a ‘Skylark’ Israeli drone that fell on July 22.”  Upon examination…

Iranian and Russian warships took part in joint “war games” training exercises on Tuesday in Iranian waters, giving clear expression to the military cooperation between the two states. Commander of Iran’s fleet in the Northern Gilan province Admiral Ahmad Reza Baqeri told Fars News Agency ahead of the war games that the Iranian destroyer Damavand and missile…

The Hill reports that support for the Iran nuclear agreement is building among Democrats, with 18 Democratic senators now publicly supporting the deal. Congress has until September 17 to vote on the deal, which places temporary limits on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions. A formal resolution of disapproval is expected to come up…

Syria’s government is committing war crimes against besieged residents of Eastern Ghouta outside Damascus, with heavy aerial bombardment compounding the misery created by a regime blockade, Amnesty International said Wednesday. In a new report, the rights group said some 163,000 people in the region were engaged in an “agonizing struggle to survive.” Amnesty highlighted not only regime abuses, but also violations…

Three dozen retired generals and admirals released an open letter Tuesday supporting the Iran nuclear deal and urging Congress to do the same, reports The Washington Post. Calling the agreement “the most effective means currently available to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons,” the letter said that gaining international support for military action against Iran,…

If the United States walks away from the nuclear deal with Iran, it would threaten ties with other world powers and could affect the dollar’s position as the world’s reserve currency, Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Tuesday, according to Reuters. “If we turn around and nix the deal and then tell them, ‘You’re…

President Barack Obama’s administration on Tuesday vowed to press ahead with a half-billion-dollar mission to train Syrian opposition fighters, despite fears that its initial failures have dented U.S. credibility. After the routing of a 54-strong force by Al-Qaeda-allied rebels, Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Elissa Smith told AFP there was no plan to pause or scale back…

Senator Chuck Schumer on Tuesday said that even if the United States backs away from the deal with Iran and other countries lift their sanctions, Iran still will feel meaningful pressure from the U.S. penalties, reported The Associated Press (AP). Schumer also said that sanctions aimed at companies that do business with Iran could force…

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Syria on Wednesday and discuss a “new plan” by the Islamic Republic to help resolve the conflict there, his spokeswoman said Tuesday, according to AFP. Iran is President Bashar Al-Assad’s main regional ally, providing him with both financial and military support. In fact, former Iranian President Mahmoud…

Synagogues are commonly known as Jewish houses of prayer – and of course that is their primary purpose. Yet the common Hebrew term for a synagogue (or shul in Yiddish) is not “beit tefillah” (house of prayer) but “beit knesset,” translated literally as “house/place of meeting.” Indeed, particularly in the Jewish diaspora, synagogues traditionally doubled as…

The Sinai branch of Islamic State (ISIS), Sinai Province, announced on Wednesday that it has executed Croatian citizen Tomislav Salopek, who it captured on July 22 in Cairo. This marks the first execution of a Western hostage by Sinai Province, with the ruthless murder taking place in the Sinai Peninsula. Sinai Province last Wednesday published a video…

Air France on Wednesday responded to popular backlash and put Israel back on its in-flight maps, after shocked passengers documented how the maps wiped Israel out even while listing “West Bank” and “Gaza Strip” – areas that don’t even have flight service. Panasonic France, the company responsible for Air France’s in-flight electronic maps, said Wednesday it has…

Yehuda Ben Moyal, 26, who was stabbed at a gas station northwest of Jerusalem on Sunday, was released from Shaare Tzedek Hospital Wednesday. His condition improved steadily since the attack and is now defined as good. Ben Moyal was stabbed repeatedly in the back and shoulder by a terrorist at the Dor Alon gas station on…

A huge interfaith campaign is uniting the efforts of millions of Christians throughout the US to press Congress to defeat the Iran nuclear deal, warning that the leading state sponsor of terror intends to destroy the US and Israel. Behind the campaign is the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), which is the world’s largest…

Jewish Home Chairman, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, criticized the High Court Wednesday for the verdict that amended the Infiltrators Law. The court was wrong to interfere – for the third time – in the Knesset’s legislation on the matter, and to shorten the period for which infiltrators can be held in open detainment from 20…

Even as Megyn Kelly wrestles with Donald Trump about his supposed “war on women,” Canadian Jewish businessman Steve Maman is helping save lives in the real war on women being waged in the Middle East by ISIS. Taking a personal example from Oskar Schindler, who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, Maman told the…

The IDF has changed its open-fire instructions for warriors serving in Judea and Samaria, making it even more difficult for them to fire at terrorists. The new instructions determine that only in cases of real danger to life may the soldier fire at the terrorist’s lower limbs. This is a radical change in the longstanding open-fire…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he is “pleased with the fact that the state’s basic position – that illegal infiltration of labor immigrants into Israel cannot be tolerated – was accepted by the High Court, and that the court has allowed the incarceration of immigrants for achieving the required deterrence.” However, he added,…

Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) says he has more than doubled the budget for IGY, an organization catering to homosexual and lesbian youth, following the murder of Shira Banki by a crazed zealot in the recent “Gay Pride” parade in Jerusalem. In an interview with Saloona Tuesday, Bennett said that the budget is being…

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat explained Tuesday to Arutz Sheva that the decision by a group of leading rabbis to establish independent conversion courts is “completely within Halacha” and should not be seen as a rebellion against the Chief Rabbinate. He elucidated why there was a need for the courts, in the face of the strict…

Former Prisoner of Zion, Rabbi Yosef Mendelevitch, told Arutz Sheva Tuesday about how he staged a hunger strike to pressure Soviet authorities to give him his Torah and prayer books while he was held in prison. He also gave his surprising opinion on the current controversy regarding force-feeding of Arab terror prisoners. Rabbi Mendelevitch was…

The High Court partially rejected the motion filed by leftist human rights organizations against the so-called Infiltrator Law. It determined, however, that leaving infiltrators in an open detention facility for 20 months was too harsh of a measure. Instead, it set the maximum time for open detention at 12 months.  The version of the Infiltrator Law that…

A Hamas terrorist responsible for terror tunnel digging was arrested via a joint operation of the Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) and the Israel Police in early July, it was cleared for publication Tuesday.  During interrogation, 21 year-old Rafah native Ibrahim Adel Shehadeh Shaer revealed a considerable amount of information to the ISA about Hamas’s activities in Rafah, particularly…

Islamist groups and pro-regime forces agreed late Tuesday on a 48-hour ceasefire in flashpoint towns in northwest Syria and along the border with Lebanon, a monitoring group said, according to the AFP news agency. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the brief ceasefire in Zabadani, the last rebel bastion on the Syrian-Lebanese border, will…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday vowed that his country would press on with its relentless campaign against Kurdish militants “until not one terrorist” was left, as Ankara launched new air strikes against the rebels, reports AFP. Turkey is currently pressing a two-pronged “anti-terror” offensive against Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists in Syria and PKK…

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked did not appear very happy with High Court’s ruling Tuesday regarding illegal entrants – but she maintained her composure. “The Supreme Court has just ruled on a fateful issue,” she wrote on Facebook. “After more than two years and three hearings on the Law for Prevention of Infiltration, it was decided…

“We, the undersigned, wish to strengthen the hands of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate, the sole source of halakhic decisions that affect the State of Israel on a national level and the central authority on matters of conversion to Judaism,” wrote the rabbis. “We are the generation that merited the establishment of a Jewish State. The…

Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan said that he is “deeply saddened” by the High Court verdict on the Infiltrators’ Law, “which delivers a serious blow to the state’s attempt to prevent illegal infiltrators from settling into Israel’s cities.” “The 20-month detainment period at Holot was set after an in-depth thinking process with the Attorney General…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he is “pleased with the fact that the state’s basic position – that illegal infiltration of labor immigrants into Israel cannot be tolerated – was accepted by the High Court, and that the court has allowed the incarceration of immigrants for achieving the required deterrence.” However, he added,…

The Deputy Minister of Regional Cooperation MK Ayoub Kara (Likud) called for participants in the deadly lynching of an ambulance carrying Syrian refugees to repent and be willing to accept punishment for their actions. On Monday, a 22-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman from Majdal Shams in northern Israel were indicted for murdering a wounded Syrian and critically injuring another in late…

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to pay a visit to Iran within the coming two months, a senior PA official told the Xinhua news agency on Monday. Ahmed Majdalani, an official in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and aide to Abbas who is currently visiting Tehran, told Xinhua that he discussed arrangements…

Senator Chuck Schumer on Monday told a local audience in New York his decision to oppose the Iran nuclear deal was one of the most difficult decisions he’s ever had to make as a senator, the Buffalo News reported. In the end, however, Schumer told the Wyoming County crowd, he believes his decision boiled down…

Jason Rezaian, the Iranian-American reporter for the Washington Post detained in Tehran for more than a year, could receive his verdict as early as next week, his lawyer said on Monday, according to The Associated Press (AP). The statement came after Rezaian, who faces a series of charges including espionage, spoke in his own defense…

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, Fatah’s so-called “military wing”, on Monday threatened to carry out terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria in response to the arson in the Palestinian Arab village of Duma. Abu Yazan, the official spokesman for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, told the Al-Damir news agency that the burning of the toddler Ali Dawabshe…

Republicans who oppose the nuclear deal with Iran are doing so for political reasons more than anything else, President Barack Obama claimed on Monday. “Unfortunately, a large portion of the Republican Party, if not a near unanimous portion of Republican representatives, are going to be opposed to anything that I do, and I have not…

A former New Jersey resident has been arrested and charged with allegedly conspiring and attempting to provide support to the Islamic State (ISIS), the Department of Justice said Monday, according to Fox News. Nader Saadeh, 20, a former Rutherford, NJ, resident, appeared in court near New York on Monday afternoon. The charges against Saadeh stem…

A French court will rule this week on the decision by a right-wing mayor to ban non-pork meals in schools for Muslims and Jews, his lawyer said Tuesday. Mayor Gilles Platret announced in March that pupils in his town of Chalon-sur-Saone near Dijon in eastern France would no longer be guaranteed a non-pork option at lunchtime from the start of…

The Obama administration has asked a judge Monday to “carefully consider” the size of the bond demanded from the Palestinian Authority (PA) for its role orchestrating years of terror attacks against Israelis and Jews – directly interfering in a US court case. In February, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) – the terror group behind the PA…

A Hamas terrorist responsible for terror tunnel digging was arrested via a joint operation of the Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) and the Israel Police in early July, it was cleared for publication Tuesday.  During interrogation, 21 year-old Rafah native Ibrahim Adel Shehadeh Saer revealed a considerable amount of information to the ISA about Hamas’s activities in Rafah, particularly…

Rabbi David Stav, head of the Tzohar organization, defended the move to establish an independent conversion court on Tuesday, in a special interview with Arutz Sheva.  Rabbi Stav noted that “tens of rabbis” from prominent yeshivas [Torah academies – ed.] formed the initiative, which is designed “to confront the assimilation” rampant throughout Israeli society.  “We have…

13 year-old Adam Yanklovitch might live in Australia, but he felt close enough to donate his Bar Mitzvah earnings to soldiers injured in Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, Channel 2 reports Tuesday.  Yanklovitch stated that he was inspired by the story of Ron Ben Itiah, an officer who was wounded while fighting in the Nahal Brigade.  “I was very…

Members of an activist group which helps residents of impoverished south Tel Aviv were violently attacked Sunday by an illegal immigrant, who hit them with boards, footage reveals.  The activists had arrived Sunday morning with municipal inspectors to assist the residents of the Neve Sha’anan neighborhood to clear large piles of waste which had accumulated since…

Israel Police prevented the entry of Arab teenagers via the Gate of the Tribes to the Temple Mount on Tuesday morning, for fear of disrupting police patrols and interfering with visits to Judaism’s holiest site.  The teens rioted in response, throwing objects and bottles at police and Border Patrol officers and chanting Allahu Akhbar (Arabic: G-d is Great…

Syrian rebels fired around 1,000 rockets, mortar shells and homemade projectiles at two besieged Shiite towns in Idlib province, a monitor said Monday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were reports of dead and injured in the heavy fire on Fuaa and Kafraya that started on Sunday night, but it had no confirmed toll.…

Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to punish a cousin who is accused of killing a military officer, the family of the victim told the Syrian daily Al-Watan on Monday. Suleiman al-Assad, a first cousin once removed of the president, is accused of shooting dead Colonel Hassan al-Sheikh in an apparent road rage incident on…

Two people were killed and three people were seriously injured Monday afternoon during a stabbing attack at an IKEA store in the Swedish city of Vesteras, state media reported. While an IKEA spokeswoman confirmed an attack had taken place, and that the Erikslund shopping center had been closed, she did not add details.  “We found a man and…

After doctors at Soroka Hospital in Beersheva said they would not participate in force-feeding efforts, security officials have moved terrorist Mohammed Allaan to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon – where hospital director Hazi Levi said that his institution would comply with the law and force-feed the hunger-striking terrorist. Allaan has been on a hunger strike for…

Hamas spokesman Moussa Abu Marzuk gave an exclusive interview to the terror group’s official website on Monday, where he accused Egypt of leaving behind ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel and revealed new information about Israeli captives.  “Egypt has not invited the negotiating delegation to Cairo in order to continue talks on cease fire, for…

The Defense Ministry was able to thwart cyber attacks in recent weeks on its computers, Channel 2 reports Monday night.  An infected email was sent to the Ministry of Defense, and appeared with a subject heading still currently under gag order. The email contained “malicious files” that might allow remote monitoring of another part of the open networked office…

A group of rabbis from the Religious Zionist movement have set up a “competing” independent of Jewish Court of Law (Beit Din) which will exclusively handle conversions. The group’ is led by Rabbi David Stav, head of the Tzohar organization, and Rabbi Nachum Rabinovich, head of the Birkat Moshe Yeshiva in Maale Adumim. Others involved…

A 17 year-old Palestinian Arab woman from Bethlehem was caught on Monday night with a knife in her bag at the Yatir security checkpoint.  The young woman claimed to investigators that she had forgotten that she had placed her vegetable knife in her purse from earlier that day.  The woman was transferred to Hevron for…

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will visit Moscow next week, Reuters reported on Monday, citing the Russian Tass news agency. “The visit, genuinely, is expected next week,” Tass quoted an embassy official as saying. “The exact date will be announced in the coming days.” An Iranian official said on Friday the head of Iran’s…

Senator Brian Schatz (D-HI) said on Monday he backs the nuclear deal with Iran, becoming the 16th senator to do so and moving President Barack Obama one vote closer to locking in enough Senate votes to make the deal fly, Reuters reported. A liberal, Jewish-born lawmaker from Hawaii, Schatz had been expected to come down…

Syrian authorities have arrested Suleiman Al-Assad, a cousin of President Bashar Al-Assad accused of killing a military officer in a road rage incident, official news agency SANA said Monday. “Suleiman Hilal Al-Assad has been arrested and transferred to the appropriate authorities,” SANA reported, without adding details. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group, citing…

Gay Pride parade stabber Yishai Shlissel has been admitted to a psychiatric ward in order to assess whether he is fit to stand trial, Channel 10 reports Monday. Shlissel stabbed six people, fatally killing 16 year-old Shira Banki, during the Jerusalem Gay Pride parade several weeks ago. He had just been released from prison after serving a…

Fiamma Nirenstein, the fiercely pro-Israel former member of the Italian parliament, has been named Israel’s ambassador to Italy. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he was sure that Nirenstein will “deepen ties between our two countries.” Born in Florence, Nirenstein was a leading columnist for the Italian daily “Il Giornale,” and for 15 years was the…

Improving relations between Turkey and Israel could lead to security cooperation between them regarding Syria – from which both countries can benefit, the most senior Israeli official stationed in Turkey stated Sunday.  Israeli-Turkish relations are undergoing a normalization process, which has been sparked – at least in part – by changes in the Foreign Ministry, Israeli Charge…

More than a quarter of Israeli teens see a future for themselves in the high-tech sector. A poll taken by the Geocartographia polling group – appropriately enough, on the Internet – shows that 27% of Israeli teens plan to train and look for a job in high-tech. With that, high-tech is much more popular among…

A summer vacation is one of the events we very much look forward to throughout the year. The entire family stops its daily routine, and gets together for a shared holiday, quality time, and new experiences – all of which strengthen the family connection. We create sweet memories, which will accompany us and our children for many years to come. Everybody thinks…

Israeli badminton player Misha Zilberman was cleared to enter Indonesia on Monday to participate in the World Badminton Championships in Jakarta, following reports that the Indonesian authorities were unwilling to grant him a visa. “We are glad that this matter has been resolved and that Misha Zilberman can now compete in the World Badminton Championships in Jakarta,” World Jewish…

The Turkish government on Monday blamed a radical Marxist group for a gun attack on the US consulate in Istanbul, an official told AFP. “The attack on the consulate is linked with the DHKP-C,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, referring to the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front (DHKP-C) which claimed a 2013 suicide…

Loading… Congregants at the Ayelet Hashahar synagogue in Givat Ze’ev north of Jerusalem held a ceremony Monday in which they removed the Torah scrolls from the Ark in the synagogue, following a decision to empty the synagogue after the High Court gave orders to raze it.  Civil Administration forces on Sunday night began to take…

A new NBC News poll conducted Friday and Saturday finds Donald Trump holding his lead with 23 percent support among Republican primary voters, following the Republican debates on Fox News. Texas Senator Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) came in second in the poll, with support from 13 percent of Republican voters. Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon and…

A 22-year-old man and a 48-year-old woman from Majdal Shams in northern Israel have been indicted for murdering a wounded Syrian and critically injuring another in late June. A gag order on the developments in the case was lifted Monday. The two are Amal Abu Salah and Bashira Muhammad, who were documented on video among…

Another morning, another attack on Jews in the Land of Israel – and this time, Europeans are involved. A married couple from the community of Avigayil, in the southern Mount Hevron area, was attacked Monday morning by a large group of Arabs and European anarchists. They luckily emerged without serious injuries. “We went on a…

Five illegal immigrants from Eritrea were charged Friday in the Central District Court with the abduction and rape of a young woman they encountered at a club in Rishon Letzion six weeks ago. Israel’s normally ubiquitously vocal feminist leaders have said nothing about the case – and this is causing a backlash among women. According to…

The Hamas terrorist organization on Monday morning conducted a rocket test in northern Gaza, firing a missile into the Mediterranean Sea as part of its domestic development of lethal projectiles. Monday’s rocket test comes a day after an Arab terrorist stabbed an Israeli at a gas station on Highway 443 northwest of Jerusalem, lightly wounding his victim…

A firefighting crew was attacked twice by rioters throwing bricks, rocks and other projectiles as they tried to put out fires set to garbage dumpsters in northern Jerusalem on Sunday night. The crew was working to put out a fire lit in a dumpster in Kikar HaShabbat, a central square in the haredi Meah Shearim neighborhood. While working…

Former Minister Gideon Sa’ar intends to return to politics, Channel 10 News reported on Sunday. According to the report, Sa’ar recently hinted of his plans at a gathering of Likud activists, saying, “In basketball a timeout takes one minute, in political life it takes about a year.” In September, Sa’ar unexpectedly announced he was leaving politics,…

The United States for the first time on Sunday deployed half a dozen F-16 warplanes to Turkey to help operations against the Islamic State (ISIS) group, officials said, according to AFP. The deployment marks the first time since an international coalition began bombing ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria a year ago that American jets…

Civil Administration forces on Sunday night began to evacuate the synagogue Ayelet HaShahar synagogue in the town of Givat Ze’ev. The Supreme Court earlier on Sunday postponed the demolition of the synagogue until August 17, following the intervention of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. While the demolition will be held off until that date, all the…

Reports that MK Shai Piron (Yesh Atid) will be resigning the Knesset are premature, a spokesperson for the former education minister said Sunday night. A report on Channel One said Piron would be leaving the Knesset for personal reasons, and that his seat would be taken by Elazar Stern, next on the Yesh Atid list. According to…

A five-year-old resident of the Pisgat Ze’ev neighborhood of north-eastern Jerusalem was wounded Friday by gunshots fired from a neighboring Arab area. The gunshots were apparently strays fired during a wedding celebration in the Shuafat neighborhood. Two constant features of Arab weddings in Judea and Samaria and the eastern reaches of Jerusalem are fireworks and live gunfire, with…

Details of the Iranian nuclear deal show that sanctions relief will primarily benefit Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), which is involved in terrorist activity around the world. That relief will see about 90 current and former IRGC officials, entities including the IRGC, and firms doing business for the IRGC taken off of sanctions lists according to Reuters. Dozens…

Two gunmen opened fire on the US Consulate in Istanbul in Turkey on Monday, according to initial reports. The attackers fled when police shot back, broadcaster CNN Turk said, adding that there were no casualties. The attack followed a bombing at a police station in Istanbul earlier on Monday, which left at least five officers injured.…

Suheil al-Hindi, Chairman of the Hamas-affiliated Arab Teachers Union of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that serves “Palestinian refugees,” has threatened a rebellion as UNRWA warns it will have to close schools due to a more than $100 million deficit. Al-Hindi outlined three possible scenarios if UNRWA does indeed cut its services, in an interview…

The Hamas paper Al-Risalah conducted an investigation into the subject of Jewish agricultural land in Gaza that was evacuated in the 2005 Disengagement plan, and found that despite Arab claims that Israel has caused a water crisis in Gaza, local residents are in fact to blame. In its investigation, which relied on figures from the Hamas agricultural ministry,…

President Barack Obama “doesn’t intend to lose” the battle with Congress over the Iran deal, he told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria on Sunday. Those who are opposed to the deal, he said, “can’t just say we want a better deal. They can’t just say we’re going to be tougher.” “This is serious. And it requires us…

A major shortage of aid funding for Iraq threatens food assistance relied on by more than two million people, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for the country said on Sunday, according to AFP. The Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist group overran around a third of Iraq last year, sparking a conflict that has displaced millions of people,…

A bomb attack at a police station in Istanbul wounded five police officers and two civilians on Sunday night, The Associated Press (AP) reported, citing Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency. The attack targeted the police station in Istanbul’s Sultanbeyli neighborhood and caused a fire that collapsed part of the three-story building, the agency reported. The…

Some 180 Palestinian Arab security prisoners decided on Sunday to temporarily halt the hunger strike they announced the previous day in protest of the conditions of their incarceration, i24news reported. It is understood the prisoners, most of whom are incarcerated in Nafha and Rimon facilities on so-called “administrative detention”, scrapped the strike after the Israel…

Police have recently released a number of the youths arrested Sunday morning during a raid on Givat HaBladim near Kohav HaShahar. The rest of the detainees will be freed later today.  A total of nine people were arrested for unknown reasons on Sunday in raids on Givat HaBladim as well as Adei Ad near Shilo.  Attorney…

An artificial beach named “Tel Aviv on the Seine” will open in the French capital for a one day celebration on Thursday.  Dreamt up by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and her Tel Aviv counterpart Ron Huldai during the former’s visit to Israel’s second largest city in May, the “beach” party will feature paddle ball games and backgammon, falafel…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday warned against what he called unfounded claims that Syria has chemicalweapons, as the United Nations Security Council investigates deadly chlorine gas attacks. His comments came after Russia on Friday backed the setting up of a UN Security Council panel to identify who is behind the chlorine attacks, which…

A fire broke out on the northern slopes of the Yitzhar community in Samaria on Sunday afternoon. Fire crews have been called to the scene working to extinguish the fire. A fire department official told Arutz Sheva that there are suspicions the fire was intentional. Last week, a forest fire burned over 1,500 dunams (370.7 acres)…

Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett announced his support on Sunday for the use of administrative detentions, house demolitions and the death penalty for Jews convicted of nationalist crimes.  In an interview with Kalman Liebskind on Galei Israel, Bennett said: “I support the balance between individual rights and freedoms and the protection of Israeli’s security and the prevention…

The final hearing in the trial of Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian is expected to be held Monday, the Post stated Sunday, after the journalist was accused of espionage while working in Iran. It is not known how long Rezaian will be held until a final verdict is reached. Rezaian and his wife, fellow journalist…

Opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog (Zionist Union), spoke at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem on Sunday morning, at a conference of Democratic representatives from US Congress. Herzog attacked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s conduct, saying that “as head of the largest party in the opposition it is important to know that Israel seeks a political alternative…