Category: News

Among the victims of Wednesday’s terror attack in Paris was a Jewish member of the Charlie Hebdo staff, Georges Wolinski. The son of a Tunisian Jewish mother and a Polish Jewish father, Wolinski was a well-known caricaturist in France, and the subject of a 2012 book. Looking for an alternative to his university architectural studies,…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took an unconventional political step Wednesday when he asked the Israeli public to recommend candidates for the Likud list’s as-yet-vacant 11th and 23rd spots, which have been reserved for candidates of his choosing. In a status on Facebook and Twitter, Netanyahu wrote: “Citizens of Israel, dear friends. I am proud of…

As a major snowstorm settles in on Israel Wednesday morning, snow has already begun pouring in on the Golan Heights and the Upper Galilee, and reportedly has likewise started in some parts of Jerusalem and the surrounding hills. Police have closed Highway 443 leading into Jerusalem as they prepare to close all entrance routes to…

Addressing a mostly female audience at Rupin College in central Israel Tuesday, Labor MK Tzipi Livni had a few things to say about Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s deep voice, which she apparently sees as being part of his political appeal. “We will safeguard Israel’s security better than Netanyahu,” she stated categorically. “Yesterday, he tried to…

Temple activist Yehuda Glick will receive 7,500 shekels (over $1,800) from the state as compensation for his detainment by police five years ago, the Supreme Court decided Wednesday morning. The court enlarged the sum of compensation that a lower court had already awarded Glick, reported Kol Yisrael public radio. The incident occurred when Glick tried…

Snow is not the only deluge showering on Israel, as the endless array of surveys continue to ponder the March 17 Knesset elections – a new twist is that precisely as Moshe Kahlon’s new Kulanu party is unveiling its list, the party is shown as plummeting in the polls. A Haaretz poll published Wednesday and conducted by…

The recently merged parties Labor and Hatnua have until now carefully listed the name “the Zionist camp” in their ads and posters, that being the name Labor head Yitzhak Herzog and Hatnua head Tzipi Livni chose to represent their joint list. However, the two apparently decided the name wouldn’t sell as well in Arabic –…

Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party fired back at Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday evening, after Netanyahu in a television interview blamed Lapid, as well as former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, for the rise in housing prices. “Netanyahu is panicking, because he is a weak and failed prime minister who, during his six years in…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) will join the International Criminal Court (ICC) on April 1, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday night, according to The Associated Press. In a statement posted on the UN’s treaty website and quoted by the news agency, the secretary-general said “the statute will enter into force for the…

Chemical weapons investigators have concluded “with a high degree of confidence” that chlorine gas was used as a weapon against three opposition-controlled villages in Syria last year, according to a report obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press (AP). The chlorine gas attacks affected between 350 and 500 people and killing 13, according to the news…

The fierce winter storm battering Israel has apparently claimed its first victim. On Wednesday afternoon, a thirteen year-old boy was killed when the car he was riding in hit a bus near Tzur Hadassah, south of Jerusalem. Also injured in the accident were passengers in a third vehicle, a 52 year old man and a…

Snow has reached Jerusalem Wednesday afternoon, as well as much of Samaria.  Footage of the light snowfall in Israel’s capital – the third in two years but still a rare phenomenon – has premiered on YouTube. Meanwhile, major roads have been closed in and out of Jerusalem, including Route 1 and Route 443. Public transportation…

US President Barack Obama has released a statement on Wednesday’s deadly shooting attack on a French newspaper, after a White House spokesman condemned it in the “strongest possible terms,” AFP reports.  “I strongly condemn the horrific shooting of the offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine in Paris that has reportedly killed 12 people,” Obama said in a statement.…

The Arab League is to meet January 15 to discuss the failed Palestinian Authority (PA) draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council, an official told AFP Wednesday. On December 30, the UN Security Council rejected a draft resolution that would have forced Israel to withdraw from Jewish areas of Judea and Samaria in order to create a “Palestinian state.” …

12 people have been killed in a shooting attack at the offices of French satirical news magazine Charlie Hebdo in central Paris. Two of the dead are reportedly police and ten are journalists; some reports say two of the journalists are the paper’s cartoonists. Ten people are reported injured, five of them critically. At least two…

While the Tel Aviv area is unlikely to see snow during the current winter storm – although forecasters aren’t sure that this will be the case at all – ice is already becoming a major problem. On Wednesday afternoon, a major hail storm swept through the Tel Aviv and Sharon regions, with fierce winds and…

Israeli music fans were disappointed last year as the Hamas terror war cancelled a Neil Young concert, and the BDS movement apparently led the Beach Boys to cancel a November concert – now they are to be recompensed several times over as the American superstar pop-rock band OneRepublic on Wednesday announced a May concert date for…

Muslim slaughter of fellow-Muslims and “infidels” reached new modern heights in 2014. Though car bombings still likely have the lead in worldwide attacks, the number of suicide murderers – virtually all them Muslims, and mostly from Sunni Salafist jihadi organizations affiliated with global jihad – appears to be the next-most lethal weapon. The Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security…

Immediately after the shooting attack on the Paris offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, French Prime Minister Francois Hollande arrived on scene and defined the shooting as a terrorist attack. Hollande noted 11 people were killed by the gunmen who fled the scene after opening fire with Kalashnikov assault rifles and following a shootout with…

An investigation by the IDF GOC (General Officer Commanding) Central Command Nitzan Alon has further cleared the army of any responsibility for the death of convicted terrorist turned Palestinian Authority (PA) minister Ziad Abu Ein, who died last month of a heart attack while clashing with soldiers. Channel 10 reports that the GOC Central Command investigation has also…

Over the past few months we’ve been sharing some of the incredible stories of women empowered to reject the pressure opt for an abortion by the Efrat organization. Ruthi Tidhar, a veteran volunteer for the organization, told Arutz Sheva what it’s like to be on the other side. “Women come to us when the’re at…

As a major snowstorm projected to hit Wednesday bears down on Israel, Binyamin Regional Council deputy chair Yisrael Gantz on Tuesday said that the painful lessons have been learned from the destructive storm last winter, which left millions without power and cost millions in damage with record snows. Speaking to Arutz Sheva, the deputy head of the regional…

Israel is not alone in hunkering down to face a nervously-anticipated fierce winter storm. The severe weather front was already lashing the east coast of the Mediterranean on Tuesday morning, and forced a brief closure of Beirut airport, according to the National News Agency. At the same time, the authorities ordered schools throughout the country…

The Hamas terrorist organization on Tuesday accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) of stealing international funds allocated to rebuilding Gaza, following the destruction caused during Operation Protective Edge last summer. Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri was quoted by the Palestinian Arab Ma’an News Agency as saying the theft of funds was acknowledged by ministers in the Palestine Liberation Organization…

Islamist terrorists shot dead two Egyptian policemen guarding a Coptic church on Orthodox Christians’ Christmas Eve, bringing the number of police killed Tuesday to three. The shooting took place in the central city of Minya, a provincial capital which lies some 135 miles south of Egypt’s capital Cairo and is home to the country’s largest…

High Court judges on Tuesday ordered the state within 45 days to evacuate the last seven buildings left of the evacuated town of Migron, located in the Binyamin region of Samaria – despite the lack of land claims against the town. Migron residents were expelled in September 2012, after the High Court accepted the suit…

As heavy cold winds strike Jerusalem heralding the approaching snow storm on Tuesday night, the Jerusalem Municipality announced classes would be cancelled on Wednesday at schools, preschools and day-care centers. The Municipality explained that the decision was made so as to ensure the safety of students and residents due to predictions of heavy snowfall in…

As Qatar continues its shift away from the Muslim Brotherhood and its Gaza-offshoot Hamas in favor of stronger ties with Egypt, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal was expelled from the country on Tuesday along with Muslim Brotherhood members. Mashaal and the Muslim Brotherhood members are likely on their way to Turkey according to the report, which…

The United States military has made progress in its effort to identify moderate Syrian rebels to train for the fight against Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists and a U.S. training mission could begin this spring, the Pentagon said on Tuesday, according to Reuters. Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, welcomed statements from Ankara indicating…

The Northern District Attorney’s Office on Tuesday told lawyers representing Arab MK Hanin Zoabi, that Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is considering placing her on trial, pending a hearing, on charges of incitement to violence and insulting a public official. Weinstein’s decision comes following the recommendation of State Attorney Shai Nitzan, and after Weinstein held consultations…

A Labour councillor in the British city of Nottingham has been suspended from the party after re-tweeting an image of the train tracks in the Auschwitz camp, with the political slogan: “Let’s stay on the road to a stronger economy”, the Jewish News website reported on Tuesday. A party spokesman told the website that the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday gave an interview to Channel 2 News in which he discussed a wide range of issues, a day after he officially launched the Likud party’s election campaign. In the interview, Netanyahu said that his predecessor, Ehud Olmert, as well as former Finance Minister Yair Lapid were to blame for…

Police announced on Tuesday that they have gathered enough evidence to allow the prosecution of former Labor MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. The investigation began several months following a decision by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein. Ben-Eliezer, along with several other people, is suspected of having committed offenses involving bribery, money laundering and breach of trust. Police suspect…

The European Union (EU) and others in the international community need to stop enabling the Palestinian Arabs to make demands without making concessions, Dennis Ross, US peace talks mediator from 1993 to 2001, stated in an Op/Ed in the New York Times Sunday.  Ross, who resigned from his post as Middle East adviser in 2011, relates that…

Competition is expected to intensify between Canadian oil and Saudi oil refineries in southern US, which may keep oil and gas prices low over the next year. Citigroup’s report published this week noted that the excess supply of crude oil to refineries, caused in part due to the increase in crude oil exports from Canada,…

Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely is far from giving up on her Knesset seat, despite a relatively poor showing in last week’s Likud primaries. And she appears to have hopes that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will select her for the 11th spot – which is reserved for a female candidate of his choosing. She admitted…

Jerusalem is running out of staples, local leaders told Walla! News Tuesday, with residents stocking up on basic food items before supermarkets can restock.  “Mineral water ran out at noon and fresh meat a few hours later [Monday],” Ronen Bar-Yair, a leader of the Pisgat Ze’ev community council, told the daily. “People feel pressure not to see…

The latest election poll shows Likud down slightly at 25 seats – still one more than the Labor party with Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni. Jewish Home receives 15 MKs, according to the poll, which was conducted by Teleseker for Channel 1. Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid receives 9 and Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu gets 8 seats,…

Temple Mount rights activist and assassination attempt survivor Yehuda Glick attended the Likud party conference in Tel Aviv Monday night, stating that for him, “Likud is home, and the party is an embrace.”  Glick noted that many Likud MKs and officials have given him support following his brush with death. “I received many phone calls,…

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday said the Palestinian Authority had formally recognized the court’s jurisdiction to investigate crimes allegedly committed during last summer’s Gaza war, according to AFP.  The legal declaration would allow the ICC to scrutinize offenses allegedly committed since June 13, 2014, the start of Israel’s military operation, but does not mean the court would automatically launch…

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday said the Palestinian Authority had formally recognized the court’s jurisdiction to investigate crimes allegedly committed during last summer’s Gaza war, according to AFP.  The legal declaration would allow the ICC to scrutinize offenses allegedly committed since June 13, 2014, the start of Israel’s military operation, but does not mean the court would automatically launch…

The United States said Monday it was reviewing its annual $440-million aid package to the Palestinian Authority (PA) because of its effort to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) to pursue war-crimes charges against Israel, reports The Associated Press (AP). The PA formally presented a request to the United Nations on Friday to join the ICC, in a…

13 Coptic Christian workers from Egypt have been freed after being seized in Libya, an official said Monday, according to the BBC. On Saturday, eyewitnesses in the northern city of Sirte said gunmen took the Christian men in the middle of the night from a residential compound. But a tribal leader insisted on Monday that…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday invited Tunisia’s first democratically elected president to visit Washington, the White House said, according to AFP. Beji Caid Essebsi claimed victory in the country’s first free presidential election last month. Obama called Essebsi Monday to congratulate him on his victory and hailed the “spirit of peaceful compromise” that Tunisians…

Diamond exports from Israel rose slightly in 2014, despite a general slowdown in the global trade of precious stones, an Israeli official said Tuesday. Israel exported some $9.32 billion of polished and rough diamonds in 2014, up from $9.16 billion a year earlier, according to data from the economy ministry. Based on the overall Israeli export figures for 2013, which…

Echoing the US, the European Union (EU) on Tuesday condemned Israel’s decision to freeze the transfer of taxes collected for the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a penalty for joining the International Criminal Court (ICC). The EU called on both sides to avoid steps that could undermine “peace efforts,” after Israel froze around $127 million in tax revenue after the PA applied…

As Qatar continues its shift away from the Muslim Brotherhood and its Gaza-offshoot Hamas in favor of stronger ties with Egypt, Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal was expelled from the country on Tuesday along with Muslim Brotherhood members. Mashaal and the Muslim Brotherhood members are likely on their way to Turkey according to the report, which…

A roadmap plan to radically strengthen economic ties with Japan introduced by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was approved by the Cabinet on Sunday, and paves the way for a strategic array of alliances with three Asian superpowers – Japan, China and India. “The State of Israel must vary the markets in which we are active.…

The military court in Ofer Prison sentenced terrorist Hussam Hassan Kawasmeh to three life sentences on Tuesday, for facilitating the abduction and murder of Israeli teenagers Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Frankel, and Gilad Sha’ar in June. During the reading of the verdict, the judges stated that this is one of the worst cases of murder and…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a special meeting ahead of the cold front and storm expected to hit Jerusalem Tuesday and Wednesday, along with Mayor Nir Barkat, Jerusalem District Police Commander Moshe Edri, and representatives of the Israel Electric Company (IEC), the IDF, welfare institutions, and rescue agencies.  ”I am impressed by the work done…

The Jerusalem District Court convicted three Arab residents of Jerusalem of conspiring to carry out a terror attack Tuesday, after they were found to have planned an attack on a wedding hall in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood.  The three, named as Anas Awisat, Basel Abidat and Ahmed Sorour, were arrested last month following a joint operation…

The director of the Council of Cemeteries in Jerusalem, Rabbi Hillel Horowitz, has sent a letter to the Jerusalem Municipality Director Amnon Merhav, in which he asked him to make preparations for clearing the snow on the roads that lead to Har Hamenuhot (in Hebrew – “The Mountain of Rest”) cemetery in Givat Shaul. “I…

MK David Rotem has announced that he is quitting Yisrael Beytenu Tuesday, after serving in three consecutive Knessets.  Rotem, a Bnei Brak and Jerusalem native, served as a legal advisor to the Yesha Council and number of other regional councils in the nineties and early 2000s, and as a professor of constitutional law at Bar…

Temple activist Yehuda Glick, a longtime ally and associate of MK Moshe Feiglin, said Tuesday that he does not intend to heed Feiglin’s call to leave the Likud and form a new party. “Moshe Feiglin is a dear friend and in many ways, in the course of recent years, has served as my guide and…

Aryeh Deri, who resigned a few days ago as chairman of the Shas party, but is widely expected to return to it soon, says he knew for years about the videotape in which Rabbi Ovadia Yosef uses harsh words to condemn him. He learned of its precise content about a month ago, when MK Eli…

A FIFA delegation arrived in Gaza on Monday to help with a rebuilding project for football stadiums damaged during Operation Protective Edge.  The world football governing body is investing one million dollars to help rebuild stadiums in the area, many of which were damaged during the conflict between Israel and terrorist organization Hamas last July and August. “Once the 20…

Judea and Samaria Border Patrol forces setting up a barricade near their base arrested a knife-carrying terrorist Monday night who intended to stab them.  The forces called to the terrorist, a resident of Qalqilya in his late 20s, ordering him to stop in place in order to conduct a security check on him. The suspect, however,…

Amidst lingering tension over primary results, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu launched his and the Likud party’s re-election campaign for the 20th Knesset at a rally in Tel Aviv on Monday.  Netanyahu began by introducing a new bill he intends to bring before the next Knesset for approval – if he is the one to form the government. …

As usual, considering the source, this report is riddled with factual inaccuracies. Just in the first two pages: Michael Mannekin is not the CEO of Molad Amir Peretz is not on the NIF board And Avraham Burg has not been on the NIF board for several years now. As important, there is no difference between…

Two teenagers were shot late Saturday night outside a Maryland synagogue on their way to a party, the Washington Post reported. The victims, 16 and 19-year-old males, told Greenbelt police they were walking along Ridge road at about 11:40 p.m. on their way to a party at the Mishkan Torah Synagogue when a fight broke out.  The…

The United States said Monday it opposes a move by Israel to freeze the transfer of tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority in retaliation for its bid to join the International Criminal Court, AFP reports Monday.  “This step is one that raises tensions as others do,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, referring to the freeze on revenue transfers to the Palestinian Authority.…

MK Moshe Feiglin, who heads the Manhigut Yehudit faction within Likud, is leaving to form a new party, he announced Monday night.  “I’m going to say a few words that might annoy you,” Feiglin said, “but I have no anger at [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu.” He said that Netanyahu again changed the rules. “He made…

President Reuven Rivlin showed his opposition Monday evening to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s decision to freeze Israel’s tax funds payments to the Palestinian Authority.  Netanyahu made the decision, which was publicized Saturday night, in retaliation for the PA’s official request to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). A political source claimed that the decision to freeze half a…

One hundred reserve officers as well as dozens of reserve combat soldiers and noncommissioned officers have banded together to fight against the Israeli Defense Forces’ probe into Operation Protective Edge.  In a joint letter, the reservists call on IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz to halt criminal investigations into soldiers’ and officers’ conduct…

The new United States Congress, which convenes Tuesday with Republicans in control of the House and Senate, plans to challenge President Barack Obama on several issues, including the sanctions on Iran, reports The Associated Press (AP). Republicans who have accused Obama of being feckless in dealing with Syria, the Islamic State (ISIS) and Iran will…

Syria has complained to the United Nations (UN) about several officials who, it claims, entered the country without visas in violation of its sovereignty. These include Republican Senator John McCain, former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and former U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith, according to Reuters. Syria’s UN ambassador, Bashar Ja’afari, called on UN Secretary-General Ban…

Four Egyptian policemen were wounded on Monday by a bomb in the Sinai Peninsula, security sources said, according to Reuters. The explosive device was planted at the entrance to an apartment building in the provincial capital of El-Arish, the sources said. Egypt’s military has been battling an insurgency on the peninsula since it overthrew Islamist…

Leftist parties issued a response on Monday evening to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s remarks against the left in a campaign rally. In his remarks, Netanyahu criticized the left for their mistakes “time and time again” and offered a pledge not to make any territorial concessions to the Palestinians that would harm Israel’s security. Turning his…

Sammy Ghozlan, the founder of the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA) announced Monday that he plans to immigrate to Israel.  The Frenchman, a former police commissioner whose organization is one of France’s leading watchdogs on anti-Semitism, called the move “a message.”  “The departure, it’s a message,” Ghozlan said in an interview with news site…

Jerusalem District Police announced Monday that all entrances and exits to the capital will be closed when snow begins to pile up.  The decision was made as part of just one of the lessons learned from the severe snowstorm that struck the city last winter. Thousands of motorists were stranded, without food or water, on…

An exhibition of colorful maps erasing Israel and presenting it as “Palestine” was funded by a Norwegian NGO, according to Palestinian Media Watch – and its sponsors include the Norwegian government and other international donors.  Photos of the exhibit uncovered on a Palestinian Arab website show maps with “This is Palestine” across the top and noting that…

MK Rabbi Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) visited Yitzhar’s Od Yosef Hai yeshiva (Torah academy) on Monday, in a show of support for the students of the facility, which was raided by the IDF and Border Police nine months ago and has not been returned to Yitzhar residents since. Porush was impressed with the students…

A young Israeli living in Germany was attacked by a group of seven men singing anti-Semitic songs on a Berlin subway car.  That assault, which occurred on New Year’s Eve, was only made public by German press over the weekend.  According to the Sunday report in newspaper Tagesspiegel, Shahak Shapira, 26, was riding on a Berlin subway…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has turned to the Israel Security Agency (ISA) and the security establishment to examine the possibility of outlawing anti-assimilation group Lehava, he confirmed Monday.  “I have turned to legal entities in the defense establishment and the Israel Security Agency to examine whether the Lehava organization can be outlawed,” Ya’alon said. “I…

Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid on Monday termed as a “trap” his stint as Finance Minister in the current coalition – he and Hatnua head Tzipi Livni were fired by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last month for trying to hold a “putch,” leading to March elections. “We went into the finance ministry a bit power…

Kulanu party Chairman Moshe Kahlon presented the first female candidate for the party’s 2015 elections list Monday: Yifat Sasha-Biton, a Kiryat Shmona City Council member and former deputy mayor for the northern Israel city.  “Yifat is a symbol of success,” Kahlon stated at an official press conference in Haifa Monday morning. “Yifat blossomed in the…

The prison release committee decided on Monday morning to release former Ehud Olmert aide Shula Zaken early, after she serves two-thirds of her sentence over her part in the infamous Holyland corruption scandal. Zaken will be released at the end of January from the Neve Tirza women’s prison, thereby fulfilling two-thirds of her 11-month sentence…

Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan (Jewish Home) has transferred 2 million shekels ($507,895) to synagogues in southern Israel and Gaza Belt communities on Monday, in order to shield religious buildings in the region from incoming rocket fire.  While touring the front-line communities, Ben-Dahan criticized the negligence of his predecessors in fortifying religious buildings.…

A group of British activists are looking into the possibility of suing Israeli soldiers for alleged “war crimes” committed during the 2010 flotilla to Gaza, the Independent reported Sunday. Scotland Yard has been asked to investigate whether Israeli special forces who raided the ships in the flotilla committed war crimes. Lawyers acting for British activists…

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) of not spending a “fair amount” of its budget on Gaza, despite the formation of a unity government between Hamas and Fatah. “They (the PA) take $70 million in taxes and returns from Gaza each month, and it is not true what they…

Just a week after handed in his resignation from the Knesset, Aryeh Deri is hinting at a return to the leadership of the Shas party. In an interview with journalist Ilana Dayan on Channel 2’s Uvda program, Deri did not say outright that he would return to Shas, but did say that “a person who refuses…

Saudi Arabia’s Labor Ministry is denying a report in a local newspaper that it will be employing Jews within the Kingdom, according to Middle East Eye. On Tuesday, the Saudi daily Al-Watan reported that Saudi authorities are now allowing people of all faiths, including Jews, to work in the Kingdom, saying this was proof of…

Journalist and radio host Sharon Gal announced on Sunday that he is joining politics and would run for the Knesset with Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party. Gal, 40, is a veteran journalist who for several years hosted a nightly business news show on Channel 10 and most recently hosted daily shows on Channel 20 and…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday he was discussing with Jordan plans to resubmit to the United Nations Security Council a resolution calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state that failed to win enough votes last week, Reuters reports. Jordan remains a member of the Security Council, but several other countries…

A record number of more than 1.5 million people from around the world visited the grounds of the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 2014, officials said on Sunday, according to The Associated Press (AP). The Auschwitz museum said on its website that most visitors came from within Poland, with large numbers of tourists…

The High Court said that the state could build a security fence west and north of Gush Etzion – but it would have to check with the court to see if anyone objected. Construction of the fence had been halted because of a lawsuit by Arab, leftist, and environmental groups claiming that the fence would…

The 2014 Fuel Choices Summit brought together Israeli and international start-ups, enterprises, financiers, and policy makers in the field of alternative fuels and smart transportation. Hosted by the Israeli Prime Minister, the summit’s goal was to generate a dialogue about the world’s most forward-thinking approaches to transportation technologies and future business models, and to promote…

Deputy Minister Tzipi Hotovely has officially not been placed in a realistic spot in the Likud’s Knesset list, a final recount of votes determined on Sunday. After a close race, it was determined that former minister Avi Dichter defeated Hotovely by only 55 votes. 20,892 Likud members voted for Dichter, while 20,837 voted for Hotovely.…

A large scale corruption investigation involving the Ministry of Interior is being dubbed “the Yisrael Beytenu investigation” by local media, because of the central role played in it by deputy minister Faina Kirshenbaum and other party officials. Likewise, an average of polls calculated by KnessetJeremy.com indicates Yisrael Beytenu dropping by 1.3 seats over the last…

MK Moshe Feiglin failed to secure a realistic spot on the Likud Knesset list after key Likud insiders including many of his former allies turned on him. Now, as Feiglin weighs his political future, Otzma Yehudit chairperson Dr. Michael Ben-Ari is calling on him to join his party. Writing to Feiglin on Sunday morning, ahead of a…

The heavy cold front closing in on Israel is expected to hit full force starting late Tuesday, with deep snows anticipated to settle in on various parts of the country including Jerusalem as the week proceeds. Given the record snows during the winter of 2013, many Jerusalemites are making preparations – but what to do?…

While Hamas’s terror war on Israel over the summer had a negative effect on the tourism industry, the overall number of tourists visiting the Jewish state over the entirety of 2014 remained at nearly the same figure as 2013, largely thanks to a very strong start to the year. There was a total decrease of…

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, on Sunday said that the PA will not agree to maintain the status quo and threatened that the PA will dismantle itself and “hand the keys” back to Israel. Speaking to Army Radio, Erekat referred to Israel’s decision to withhold the tax money it collects on behalf…

Fatah pulled down an offensive image showing the terror group’s flag over skulls with Jewish stars from its Facebook page Saturday, after a CNN interview exposed the photo and caused a PR snafu for the Palestinian Authority (PA). However, the group then merely replaced the image with another offensive graphic – this time, showing Prime Minister Binyamin…

High school, yeshiva, and seminary students have joined together to call on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett to disallow any type of public transportation on Shabbat (the Sabbath; Saturday).  In a letter sent to the two politicians, the students argued that public transportation on Shabbat “does not represent the true spirit…

The majority of the Israeli public has low confidence in state institutions, according to the Israel Democracy Institute’s 2014 Democracy Index published Sunday.  The index, based on a survey of a representative sample of the adult population in Israel, reveals that a significant section of the population reported difficulties with their personal finances.  One-third of…

Pri Galil factory workers have been barricading themselves inside the food plant in northern Israel since Saturday night.  The Hatzor Haglilit plant, which has been closed since Wednesday following a dispute between the owners and the Economic Ministry, will remain shuttered Sunday, the owners announced Saturday.  The Economy Ministry claims Pri Galil – in which Hatzi…

The Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group has released an eighth video of captured British journalist John Cantlie, this time reporting from the streets of Mosul in Iraq. In the eight-minute video, uploaded to the internet on January 3rd, Cantlie claims “life in Mosul is business as usual”, despite media reports of power outages, food and…

Foreign Minister and Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman spoke with Israel’s ambassadors in Europe on Sunday, and clarified in a special Arutz Sheva interview that working with the European Union (EU) is Israel’s main challenge today.  “The Oslo Accords have collapsed,” Liberman noted, referring to the series of unilateral moves the Palestinian Authority (PA) has taken…

Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, announced Saturday night that he is leaving behind his gig as a cable talk show host, to make a final decision on running for United States president in 2016.  Huckabee, 59, who also sought the Republican nomination in 2008 – but lost to John McCain, announced his plans…

Extreme leftist group Peace Now has accused the Interior Ministry of granting Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria an unprecedented amount of government funding on Sunday, stating in a report that the state granted “settlements” 3.5 times the money granted to Israeli cities and towns within 1949 Armistice Lines.  The Interior Ministry said in response…

The Anti-Defamation League sharply condemned Sunday the anti-Semitic graffiti found on a wall of the AIV del Esta Sephardic synagogue in Caracas, Venezuela.  ADl National Director, Abraham H. Foxman, particularly made clear the responsibility of Venezuela’s government in protecting its Jewish community of 7,000 individuals.  “President Nicolás Maduro and his government are responsible for the safety…

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently sent Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas a secret communication regarding Abbas’ long-time rival Mohammad Dahlan.  According to Netanyahu, the several meetings held between a senior Israeli official and Dahlan were not authorized by him and do not represent the policies of the Israeli government.  Dahlan, a former Fatah official,…

To protest the growing presence and influence of Muslims in his country, Czech opposition leader Tomio Okamura has called on his countrymen to take their pigs for a walk next to mosques. In a Facebook posting, Okamura, head of the Dawn of Direct Democracy movement, listed what he said were “specific instructions” about “how we…

The search for Gedif Yangar, a 10-year-old boy who fell into the sea south of Tel Aviv Saturday, continued on Sunday, but no sign of him has been found. “We had not been in the water for long,” one of Yangar’s friends told Walla! News. “Suddenly a wave came and swept him toward the rocks.…

To solve Israel’s housing crisis, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans to release land to developers for the construction of up to 100,000 housing units in the center of the country. The units will be built on land that the IDF is vacating as it moves many of its operations in the Tel Aviv area to…

The Liba Center, an organization that is well-known in the religious Zionist community, on Sunday published its annual review of the state of religious legislation in the Knesset – and the 19th Knesset will go down as one of the most anti-religious in Israel’s history, according to the report. Liba, which is not to be…

Fewer people died in cars that were involved in accidents in 2014 compared to the previous year, but more pedestrians died as a result of being hit by a vehicle, a roundup of last year’s road safety statistics showed. The roundup was released Sunday by Dr. Yaakov Sheinin, head of the National Road Safety Administration.…

There has been a series of confusing reports and counter-reports according to which a senior Israeli minister – apparently Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman – met on December 25 with an Arab personage in Paris. Liberman is denying the reports and there are conflicting versions regarding the identity of the person he met. Initial reports named…

Israeli security forces broke up an ISIS-linked terror cell in Hevron, it was revealed Sunday. The arrests were made in November 2014, after members of the cell had already carried out one failed attack against local IDF forces, hurling an explosive device at soldiers which caused no injuries. Members of the cell, all of whom…

After receiving the Israel Democracy Institute’s Democracy Index for 2014, President Reuven Rivlin stressed the importance of rebuilding the public’s trust in the government.  The index, published Sunday, revealed that a significant portion of the population reported difficulties with their personal finances and that over 40% believe the Israeli leadership is corrupt.  Addressing the results,…

IDF Gaza Division Commander Itai Virov is happy that Hamas remains in Gaza, he revealed in a Channel 10 interview Sunday, because, in his eyes, the alternative would be leaving a power vacuum that Islamic State (ISIS) would fill.  Virov began by noting that in his eyes, Operation Protective Edge wasn’t an “operation”; it was a war. “I…

Sunday’s Cabinet meeting featured a discussion on the Palestinian Authority’s appeal to the International Criminal Court at the Hague, as well as response measures taken – and to be taken – by the State of Israel.  PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas signed requests to join the ICC and 16 other conventions on Wednesday, a day after the United…

Avraham Burg, formerly the head of the Jewish Agency, who served as a Knesset member for Labor and as Knesset Speaker, has joined the communist party and now says he sees the Labor party and Meretz as “nationalistic.” Speaking on Galei Yisrael radio, Burg attacked the Labor and Meretz parties for presenting themselves as “the…

In a series of articles about the “Efrat” organization, Arutz Sheva presents a number of personal stories and anecdotes relating the group’s life-saving activities. This week’s article centers on Adi, whose special connection with her own mother motivated and encouraged her to take the courageous step of bringing a surprise new life into the world. Adi felt compelled…

Defense Minister Moshe “Bogie” Yaalon has reached an initial decision to declare the Jewish anti-assimilation group Lehava a terror group and an unrecognized organization, according to Channel 2 television. The report says that Yaalon has instructed the Shin Bet and legal officials in the Defense Ministry to collect legal materials that can provide an infrastructure…

A close associate of Rabbi Haim Amsallem of the “Am Shalem” movement said that the party was considering running in the March 17 elections – and was thinking of drafting Rabbi Amnon Yitzchak to the ticket. The source said that it was not clear if Yitzchak was planning to run on his own ticket in…

Jewish Home Chairman and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett lashed out Sunday against the journalists and other leftists who have been demanding that criminal investigations be launched against officers and soldiers who took part in the summer’s war in Gaza. He added that he, himself, is now being blamed for the deaths of 102 civilians during…

The votes at 29 polling stations in Likud’s primary elections last week will be recounted because of a discrepancy between the votes counted at the polling stations and the numbers that were entered into the computer for those stations. The recount may change the order in which candidates are placed in Likud’s list. This is…

Until now, anybody could issue ratings on Israeli companies trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. No longer; beginning in April, individuals and organizations that publish credit ratings will fall under the supervision of the TASE, the exchange announced Sunday. Although ratings organizations have been under supervision in the US and Europe for years, it…

The full details of Friday’s clash between residents of the Jewish village of Adei Ad in Samaria and a delegation from the US Consulate in Jerusalem – which very nearly escalated into a fully-fledged shootout between the sides – are still emerging. But those details which have emerged so far paint a worrying picture regarding…

Housing Minister Uri Ariel, along with Israel Lands Administration head Bentzi Liberman, on Sunday said that they had enabled the marketing of some 50,000 housing units in 2014, mostly in the center of the country. Ariel said at a press conference that Israelis had something to celebrate. “2014 was the biggest year ever for apartment…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has decided to join the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), an official told the Ma’an news agency on Saturday. The head of the international relations and cooperation department in the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Interior told Ma’an that the PA plans to submit a request to join the group in 2015,…

The father of the Jordanian pilot captured by the Islamic State (ISIS) group appealed Saturday to the group to treat his son well and with respect, reports The Associated Press (AP). The pilot, 1st Lt. Moaz al-Kassasbeh, was taken captive on December 24 after his F-16 fighter jet crashed near the extremists’ de facto capital…

Andrei Pashnichikov, who was arrested by Egypt in December of 2012 after he was caught taking photographs of security equipment, was released from an Egyptian jail and deported to Israel on Saturday, media reports said. Pashnichikov was sentenced in February of 2013 to two years in prison. According to Haaretz, he crossed the border into Israel on Saturday…

Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom on Saturday called on Israel to use the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) tax money it froze to pay off the PA’s enormous debt to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC). “Following the decision to freeze half a billion shekels in Palestinian tax money, I have asked that the funds will be…

MK Moshe Feiglin is considering forming a new party after failing to win a realistic spot in the Likud’s Knesset list, Channel 2 News’ political reporter Amit Segal reported on Saturday night. According to Segal, Feiglin will make a final decision on the matter by Monday, when he will hold a gathering of activists. Feiglin’s…

Terror group Hamas on Saturday condemned the fatal shooting by Egyptian border guards of what they said was a Palestinian minor on the Gaza border, AFP reports.  “We condemn the killing (Friday) of the child Zaki al-Houbi by Egyptian army gunfire on the borders, we consider what happened as a dangerous development and excessive use of force,” the Islamist organization said in…

The Jerusalem municipality and the security agencies have called on the inhabitants of Jerusalem to prepare in advance next week, ahead of temperatures approaching freezing and possibly bringing snow with it, according to a bulletin released Saturday. Municipal emergency staff have completed preparations for stormy weather and recommends residents stay safe, prepare for stormy weather…

Labor leader Yitzhak Herzog has vowed to shut down the World Zionist Organization’s Settlement Division, which functions as an operational arm of the government to build and establish communities and infrastructures in Judea and Samaria – leaving hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the region without governmental representation.  “As Prime Minister I will close the Settlement…

Former President Shimon Peres addressed the upcoming elections in March for the first time publicly on Saturday, hinting that he would like to see a replacement for current Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.  “These elections are crucial,” Peres said. “We have an opportunity to make the best out of the situation we find ourselves in. Some…

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird condemned the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s application to the International Criminal Court (ICC) Thursday, calling the decision “dangerous” and urging the PA to return to bilateral negotiations.  “The decision by the Palestinian Authority to seek to unilaterally accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, among other international bodies,…

Fifteen armed and masked gunmen in central Libya abducted 13 Coptic Christians on Saturday, according to a priest and an eyewitness, several days after seven more were abducted from the same area.  The abductors, who had a list of the full names of their victims, went from room to room in the Christians’ residence in…

Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah is suffering from pneumonia, Riyadh stated Friday, and his condition has been stabilized with the help of a breathing tube.  Late Thursday night, the monarch – who is in his nineties – was admitted to a military hospital for medical checks and was diagnosed with the condition.  The statement added that…

A senior Al Qaeda terrorist has died just days before his trial in New York over the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. 50-year-old Libyan national Nazih Abdul-Hamed al-Ruqai – more famously known as Abu Anas al-Liby – died in hospital on Friday after a battle with liver cancer, according to doctors and family…

MK Ahmed Tibi raised the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terror group’s flag on the Temple Mount Saturday, after he arrived there along with Muslim leaders to celebrate the birth of the Muslim prophet, Mohammed.  “Al-Quds (Jerusalem) is the capital of Arab Palestine and Al-Aqsa mosque is a place of worship for Muslims,” declared Tibi during…

Israel froze the transfer of about half a billion shekels (127 million USD) to the Palestinian Authority (PA), a political source told Arutz Sheva Saturday night, in retaliation for the PA’s official request to join the International Criminal Court (ICC). He said the decision was made Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s orders and constitutes the Israeli response…

A discrimination lawsuit has been filed against Revlon cosmetics CEO Lorenzo Delpani, according to the New York Post, for making bigoted remarks against African-Americans, Jews, and Americans in general.  Delpani, an Italian native who rose to the position in 2013, allegedly made a number of the comments during business meetings according to the plaintiff, former Revlon scientist…

US forces have carried out heavy airstrikes on Raqqa, multiple news sources report Friday, as part of a military operation to save a Jordanian pilot captured last week by Islamist terrorists during a mission in Syria.  Fighter jets early Friday morning heavily bombed the area surrounding the house where the pilot, Moaz Safi Yousef al-Kassasbeh, is allegedly being held…

A group of Hollywood TV celebs and supermodels including Kendall Jenner, singer Selena Gomez and model Gigi Hadid spent the civil new year in Dubai, where they took some revealing photos and posted them to Instagram – the revelations include an interest in Muslim attire. Jenner, the 19-year-old who made her break in the TV…

The IDF released a list Friday of 14 new changes instituted in 2014 on its website – ranging from a focus on healthier food to upgrades in defense.  Overall, meals became healthier and more “green,” it said, with two new programs upgrading ready-to-eat meals for combat soldiers and offering vegan options for all recruits. Combat…

Likud MK Moshe Feiglin was given an unrealistic spot to get into the next Knesset in Likud primaries tallied on Thursday, but according to reports on Friday that wasn’t mere chance – he was the target of an orchestrated “political assassination” from within the party. According to Yedioth Aharonoth, the main hand behind Feiglin’s primaries failure…

The topic of women and leadership is central to the Orthodox Jewish community today, National Security Agency (NSA) First Chief Risk Officer Anne Neuberger stated to Arutz Sheva this week – and women can offer much to help solve common issues in the Jewish community.  “The goals very much are ensuring that women in the Orthodox community…

Jewish Home MKs Ayelet Shaked and Orit Struk arrived at Amona in Samaria on Thursday, where they met with residents and promised to take action against the High Court ruling last Thursday ordering the destruction of the entire town within two years. In the meeting the legal circumstances were discussed – there is no evidence behind…

In a recent interview with Russian news network RT, Fatah central committee member Abbas Zaki threatened the US following the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) failed UN bid demanding recognition and Israeli withdrawals. “The whole world should understand that the US is an enemy, pushing Israeli extremists to carry on with their actions, depriving us of our…

Egyptian soldiers firing from across the border shot dead a Palestinian Arab man in the Gaza frontier town of Rafah on Friday, medics said, although the motive was not immediately known. The border troops shot the 23-year-old man “in the back and the bullet settled in the heart. He died on the spot,” emergency services…

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) envoy to the United Nations on Friday formally requested membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC), which would allow war crimes complaints to be filed against Israel, reports AFP. “This is a very significant step,” envoy Riyad Mansour told reporters. “We are seeking justice for all the victims that have been…

Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirschenbaum (Yisrael Beytenu) decided not to run in the upcoming elections due to suspicions of corruption against her, but changed her mind upon request from the chairman of her party, Avigdor Liberman, Channel 2 News reported on Friday. According to the report, Kirschenbaum informed Liberman of her intention to quit politics…

MK Tzipi Hotovely, who is likely headed out of the Knesset after failing to secure a realistic spot on the Likud’s election list, on Friday thanked her supporters and clarified, “This isn’t the end”. “The most important thing for me after receiving the results of the elections is to say thank you. Thank you for…

Security guards from the United States Consulate on Friday afternoon clashed with Jewish residents near the community of Adei Ad, located in the Binyamin region. Arutz Sheva learned that two vehicles belonging to the consulate arrived at the community without coordination with residents. Locals then tried to make sense of the actions of the American…

Senator John McCain is a “crazy senator who lives in a dream” of molding others according to the American model, according to a former Egyptian foreign minister. The comments by Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit were made in an interview which aired on December 4 on the Egyptian Al-Hayat TV channel and was translated by the Middle…

MK Yoni Chetboun, who recently left the Jewish Home party and joined Eli Yishai’s Ha’am Itanu party, welcomed on Thursday evening the results of the primaries in the Likud. “Congratulations to our friends in the Likud, together we will work towards a bigger and stronger nationalist camp that will lead Israel,” he said. “In two…

One German in eight would join an anti-Muslim march if a rapidly-growing protest movement organized one in their home towns, an opinion poll published on Thursday and cited by Reuters found. The survey highlighted growing support in Germany, as in other European Union countries including Britain and Sweden, for parties and movements tapping into voter…

Egypt’s top court on Thursday ordered a retrial of three Al-Jazeera reporters whose imprisonment on charges of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood triggered global outrage, but kept them in custody pending a new hearing, reported AFP. Australian Peter Greste, Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy and Egyptian Baher Mohamed of the broadcaster’s English service were detained in December 2013…

Two women identifying themselves as Italian aid workers kidnapped in Syria have appeared in a video urging their government to seek their release, AFP reported on Thursday. The video, filmed in mid-December, appeared online Wednesday night and purportedly shows Vanessa Marzullo and Greta Ramelli, who were abducted by gunmen in northern Aleppo province in August.…

Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid on Thursday launched a scathing attack against parties in the outgoing coalition, accusing them of corruption and demanding they “give us back our country”. Speaking at a Yesh Atid convention in Tel Aviv, Lapid said that the corruption to which he was referring went far beyond the corruption scandal involving…

MK Shelly Yechimovich (Labor) on Thursday called on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to reserve another realistic spot on the Likud’s Knesset list for a woman, saying it was a “disgrace” that only two women were placed in the party’s top 20. Yechimovich said that failing to place more women in realistic spots takes the Likud…

For the third time in a week, a mosque in Sweden was torched on Thursday, causing Swedish police to launch a manhunt for the culprit. “People saw a man throwing something burning at the building,” police in Uppsala, where the latest arson took place, said in a statement quoted by AFP. They added that the…

Ahmed Bahar, acting speaker of the Palestinian parliament, on Thursday poured cold water on Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s application to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) and several other international conventions and treaties. In a statement, Bahar said that Abbas bears responsibility for the applications which, he claimed, do not serve the interests…

The Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria is “irreversible,” Former Yesha Council Chairman Dani Dayan who is running in the Jewish Home primaries in two weeks stated Friday. Dayan commented on figures presented by the Interior Ministry, which noted Thursday that almost 400,000 Israeli Jews now live in the region.  “Interior Ministry figures, showing that…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has already instructed its representative in the International Criminal Court (ICC) to file charges against Israel for “war crimes,” Arab media reports Friday. According to the Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, the PA is readying the charges, which will focus on complaints Palestinian Arabs have alleged against the IDF and against Jewish residents of…

IDF forces on Thursday night conducted an arrest in Ramallah of an Arab terrorist who lives in eastern Jerusalem, and is suspected of having stabbed two Border Patrol officers in the Old City of Jerusalem last Friday. During the arrest IDF forces were attacked by young Arab residents of the city in Samaria that serves…

Israel decided last month to cut its purchases of America’s $400 billion F-35 stealth jet from 31 to 14 – the decision for caution to find out more about the plane makes a whole lot more sense after it was revealed Wednesday the F-35 won’t be able to fire its gun until 2019. An in-depth…

A united party of hareidim would win 20 seats in the next election, according to a poll conducted by the Maagor Mohot Institute for the Makor Rishon newspaper. The poll, which will be published in full in Friday’s edition of Makor Rishon, found that the Labor party headed by Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni would…

With over 40% percent of the votes cast in the Likud primaries counted, a clearer picture of the Likud’s likely new Knesset list is starting to emerge.  At the top of the list is current Chairman and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who easily defeated sole opponent Danny Danon for the position of chairman.  Netanyahu is…

A Jewish community in north London was attacked with anti-Semitic vandalism Sunday night.  Swastikas were scrawled on approximately 27 cars in the Osbaldeston Road area of Stoke Newington as well as nearby building, The Daily Mail reported.  The neighborhood is home to around 20,000 hareidi Orthodox Jews. “There is a large Jewish community that lives here with Holocaust…

The Palestinian Authority’s application for membership in the International Criminal Court (ICC) and threats to press charges against Israel there is its diplomatic equivalent of “an atom bomb” against the Jewish state, a legal expert has said – but the move could seriously backfire as well. Since the United Nations granted “Palestine” the status of…

It was revealed Thursday that IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz had no idea the army was planning to remove soldiers and military patrols from communities along the Gaza border. The army announced Tuesday their intentions to remove forces from communities that are not located near the security fence with Gaza, in an effort to…

Dr. Nissim Leon, the Director of the MA Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Bar-Ilan University, spoke with Arutz Sheva on Thursday about the real crisis Shas faces. According to Leon, the author of Soft Ultra-Orthodoxy: Religious Renewal in Mizrahi Jews, the real crisis is not the dispute between Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri and former Shas Chairman and…

Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid slammed the Likud Thursday morning over its primary process. Speaking to Army Radio, Lapid said that primaries in general – and especially in the Likud – were “corrupt. Even Menachem Begin would not make the cut in these kind of elections. He would not be part of a primary process…

Thirty-five people were killed during a stampede at a New Year’s Eve celebration in downtown Shanghai.  The stampede occurred in Chenyi Square, a popular area in Shanghai’s historic Bund district, overlooking the Huangpu River. It is often jammed with spectators for major events, as it was Wednesday night to usher in 2015.  The Shanghai City government said…

Already lower than it has been in nearly a decade, the price of oil is likely to drop even further. The United States, now officially the world’s largest oil producer, will, for the first time since 1975, allow the export of “made in USA” oil. Oil producers will be able to export light crude condensate…

Magen David Adom teams provided medical care over Wednesday night-Thursday morning to about 500 sick and/or injured people throughout Israel.  Of those 500 treated, 137 required medical attention as a result of New Year’s Eve celebrations and parties. 25 were injured in car accidents – five in moderate condition and 20 suffering only minor injuries. …

With about a quarter of the votes counted in the Likud primaries as of Thursday morning, some trends are already apparent – and one of them will see Manhigut Yehudit faction leader, Moshe Feiglin, falling to an “unrealistic” position on the Likud list. Current polls predict Likud of achieving no more than 25 seats in…

Ayala Shapira, the 11-year-old girl who was badly burned in a firebomb attack in Samaria last Thursday, is awake. She has recognized her relatives and spoken to them. Ayala continues to be hospitalized at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer in serious but stable condition; the public is asked to continue praying for the…

An Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist from New Zealand has suspended his Twitter account after mistakenly tweeting his location from Syria, reports The Independent. Mark John Taylor, who now goes by the name of Mohammad Daniel or Abu Abdul Rahman, failed to turn off the location service on his Twitter account, thereby identifying his whereabouts every time…

Palestinian Authority (PA) chief negotiator Saeb Erekat announced on Thursday to James Rawley, the UN’s Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, which international conventions the PA signed onto the day before in breach of the Oslo Accords. Erekat announced that PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas in a Wednesday meeting not only signed onto the Rome…

An armed attacker was arrested on Thursday in front of the prime minister’s office housed in Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul, after he threw a grenade at police that failed to detonate. The Turkish Hurriyet Daily News notes that the officers were conducting “the watch of respect” in honor of modern Turkey’s founder, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, when they came across…

As of Thursday, submissions are being welcomed online for the new Jerusalem Unity Prize in Memory of Eyal Yifrah (19), Gilad Sha’ar (16) and Naftali Frenkel (16) hy”d. Following the June kidnapping and murder of the three by Hamas terrorists, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat – together with the families of the three boys and Jerusalem-based…

The World Forum of Orthodox Judaism held it’s annual conference on Wednesday in Jerusalem, honoring leading rabbis, professors and other figures for their contributions to Judaism and the Jewish nation worldwide. The Forum, which unites synagogues and Jewish communities around the world, meets annually to discuss pressing issues for the leadership of Orthodox Judaism. On…

Two of Likud’s leading advocates for increased Jewish presence on the Temple Mount – Moshe Feiglin and Tzipi Hotovely – appear to be on their way out of the Knesset, with 99% of the votes in the party primaries counted. Since the results of the count began to be known, Deputy Minister Hotovely had been…

A Jordanian Muslim cleric has been arrested for advocating Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount, just a week after he issued a public statement retracting the comments following a hail of criticism. In a video statement posted online on December 18, Salafi cleric Sheikh Yassin Al-Ajlouni said a place of worship for Jews should…

One of the world’s leading publishing houses has been forced to apologize for distributing atlases which literally erased Israel from the map. HarperCollins had been distributing the atlases via its subsidiary Collins Bartholomew, which specializes in maps, throughout Arab countries in the Middle East, depicting Jordan and Syria extending all the way to the Mediterranean Sea.  Collins Bartholomew claimed the…

More than 76,000 people were killed in Syria’s civil war in 2014, reports AFP, making it the bloodiest year yet in the war according to a monitor of the situation. The conflict has lasted for nearly four years already, and already surpassed 200,000 dead. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, recorded…

Shas chairperson Aryeh Deri handed in his resignation to the Knesset on Tuesday after recordings revealed Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt”l strongly condemned and opposed him – it now appears he will return to Shas as early as next week. Channel 10 reports it has received information that Deri plans next week to announce…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon will ask the Ministerial Committee for Symbols and Ceremonies on Sunday to approve his decision to award veterans of Operation Protective Edge with a campaign decoration. The decision is a de facto recognition of the 50-day campaign as a fully fledged war. So far in Israel’s history, campaign decorations have been…

The head of the Samaria Regional Council Gershon Mesika was released to house arrest Thursday, eight days after his arrest last week in the large-scale police investigation of corruption centering on Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirshenbaum (Yisrael Beytenu). He was released to ten-days’ house arrest in his home in Elon Moreh. In addition, he is…

Likud MK Miri Regev, who made it to the fifth spot in the party’s primaries Thursday, told IDF Radio that she expects to be named a minister in the next government. Asked what portfolio she would like, she said: “First of all, we have to win the coming elections.” She then added that she finds…

After the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) decided last June to name Jerusalem as the “capital of Islamic tourism” for 2016, the OIC on Thursday said its secretary general will visit eastern Jerusalem next Monday and stop at the Temple Mount. The secretary general, Iyad Madani of Saudi Arabia, is to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu convened an emergency discussion of the latest diplomatic developments vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority (PA) Thursday, but did not invite Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, according to Voice of Israel public radio. The discussion followed PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s signing of the Rome Statute Wednesday, paving the way for the PA to file…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held an emergency meeting at the prime minister’s office in Tel Aviv on Thursday to discuss the Palestinian Authority (PA) attempt to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), so as to sue Israel for “war crimes.” PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas launched the ICC move by signing the Rome Convention on Wednesday…

Hamas has praised Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s application to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a “step in the right direction.”  “This step needs to be part of a general policy and a joint national program,” Hamas said in a statement, according to the Gaza-based Daily Sabah. Hamas also called for the various…

There were 20% fewer drunk drivers on Israel’s roads in 2014 compared with recent years, but drunk driving is still a significant problem, the Or Yarok road safety organization said Wednesday. According to Israeli police, there were 8,378 citations written to drivers for driving while over the alcohol limit, 20% fewer than the 10,235 written…

In a series of articles about the “Efrat” organization, Arutz Sheva presents a number of personal stories and anecdotes relating the group’s life-saving activities. This week’s article centers on Inbal, a former model who found spirituality and religion in the unlikely source of a pregnancy. Inbal told Arutz Sheva about her work as a model immediately upon her…

The United States said Wednesday it “strongly opposes” a request from the Palestinian Authority to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), fearing this will further delay peace talks with Israel. “It would be counterproductive and would do nothing to further the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a sovereign and independent state,” the State Department said. “It will badly damage the atmosphere with…

If the resignation of Aryeh Deri as head of Shas was undertaken to show how badly the party needs him, it isn’t working, at least as far as MK Nissim Ze’ev is concerned. Ze’ev, a charter member of Shas, said that the party existed and functioned before Deri, and it would continue to do so…

Labor is the current front-runner for the 2015 elections, according to a Channel 10 poll released Wednesday night.  Labor would remain in the top spot with 23 seats, followed by Likud with 21 and Jewish Home with 17.  The Arab parties, if running on a joint list, will gain eleven seats, followed by the Center parties.  Moshe…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman harshly criticized Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday, noting that any “deaf, blind, and dumb” judge in a criminal court would find the PA – not Israel – guilty of war crimes.  “Abbas can sign any treaty that he wants – the only ones who commit war crimes in the…

Israel has little to fear from the Palestinian Authority (PA) signing the Rome Statute to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu stated Wednesday night – and the PA has everything to lose.  “The one who should fear the International Criminal Court at the Hague is the Palestinian Authority, which is in…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday signed a Palestinian request to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), seeking a new avenue for action against Israel after a failed UN resolution calling for Israel to withdraw to 1949 Armistice lines, AFP reports. Abbas signed the request along with applications to join 20 other international conventions during a meeting broadcast live on PA television. The…

Two young members of France’s far right National Front have been expelled from the party for spiking the drink of its second-in-command with a laxative, reports AFP. The incident took place while the party’s vice-president Louis Aliot, who is also the boyfriend of party leader Marine Le Pen, was visiting the party’s Bordeaux offices several…

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) criticized Nigeria on Wednesday over its abstention during a UN vote on Palestinian statehood on Tuesday. In a statement quoted by the Ma’an news agency, the representative Muhannad al-Akluk, said Nigeria’s move was a “big disappointment”, adding that voting against “Palestine” despite being…

Almost 400 people have been hospitalized with heart and respiratory problems caused by heavy air pollution in Tehran, with nearly 1,500 others requiring treatment, AFP reports. Year round, more than four million cars spew exhaust fumes into the atmosphere of the Iranian capital. The situation worsens in winter, when cold air leads to a carcinogenic…

MKs Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni, who head the joint Labor-Hatnua list for the March elections, on Wednesday evening joined a slew of politicians who condemned the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) decision to turn to the International Criminal Court (ICC) after its defeat in the United Nations. Herzog and Livni’s headquarters said that joining the ICC…

French President Francois Hollande said on Wednesday that the fight against racism and anti-Semitism will be his national cause for 2015, according to The Associated Press (AP). In a speech in honor of the 2015 year, Hollande pointed out “the rising, worrying threats” of terrorism and fundamentalism and urged the French not to succumb to…

Professor Manuel Trajtenberg, who headed a special committee appointed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to examine complaints by protesters during the social protests of summer 2011, on Wednesday officially joined the Labor-Hatnua list for the March 17 elections. In a special news conference in which they introduced Trajtenberg, MKs Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni declared that Trajtenberg…

Too little, too late? The Housing Ministry on Wednesday announced a new plan in which the state would be the guarantor for construction of apartments for young couples and middle class families in peripheral areas that would be sold for the cost of construction. Under the plan, announced Wednesday by Housing Ministry Director-General Shlomo ben-Eliyahu,…

Border Police officers on Wednesday evening arrested a suspected terrorist who came to the Cave of the Patriarchs, near Hevron, carrying a large knife. The suspect, a 40-year-old Arab resident of Hevron, arrived at a checkpoint and aroused the suspicions of the officers, who searched his body and found inside the pocket of his coat…

MK Danny Danon (Likud) a short time ago (Wednesday) conceded defeat to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in the vote on the leadership for the Likud party. “From the emerging results, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu won the election,” Danon said in a statement. He added, “I congratulate the Prime Minister and wish him well. We will…

Saudi Arabia has reportedly begun to allow Jews to work in the kingdom, according to a local newspaper. On Tuesday, the Saudi daily Al-Watan reported that Saudi authorities are now allowing people of all faiths, including Jews, to work in the kingdom, saying this was proof of the country’s openness to other religions and cultures.…

The European Union’s (EU) foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said Tuesday’s vote at the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Palestinian statehood underlined the need for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to urgently resume peace negotiations. The Security Council failed to adopt an Arab-backed resolution that would have paved the way to a Palestinian…

MK Eli Yishai, formerly the chairman of Shas and now the head of the Ha’am Itanu party, clarified on Tuesday that he was not behind the leaking of recordings showing former Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef calling current Shas chairman Aryeh Deri a “wicked” thief and a bribe-taker. Speaking at a gathering of activists in…

Dieudonné, the anti-Semitic French comedian who made headlines last year over his “reverse Nazi salute” is making headlines again, this time as his own friends turn against him over his connections with racist groups. The British Independent newspaper reported on Tuesday that several black supporters of Dieudonné, including former bodyguards, have turned against him, complaining…

MK Adi Koll (Yesh Atid) announced on Tuesday that she would be quitting politics and returning to work in the field of education. In a letter sent to members of her party, Koll wrote that she had reached the conclusion that parliamentary life is not suitable for her at this time, and she prefers to…

The Middle East Adviser for the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations (UN), Israel Nitzan, told the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Tuesday night that statehood cannot be achieved using provocations. Nitzan made a statement to the Security Council shortly after it rejected the PA’s resolution which would have set a deadline for Israel…

Cash-strapped Channel 10 has received a six-month reprieve from Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein. The Second Authority for Television and Radio, which oversees Channel 10, announced Tuesday night that Weinstein stated that the decision regarding the channel will be postponed by six months, until after the March elections and the establishment of a new government. During…

The United Nations (UN) Security Council failed on Tuesday night to adopt a resolution on Palestinian statehood, AFP reports. Only eight countries voted in favor of the resolution, two voted against, and there were five abstentions. The resolution needed nine votes in its favor to have passed. France, China and Russia were among the countries…

In response to the incessant Hamas rocket barrage during Operation Protective Edge that led international airlines to impose a temporary flight ban on Ben-Gurion International Airport in mid-July, Israel concluded a drill on Tuesday to have an alternate airport in the southern Negev for just such instances. Ben-Gurion decided to hold a drill of closing the…

Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas is to apply immediately to join the International Criminal Court, senior officials said Wednesday, after the UN Security Council rejected a resolution to recognize the PA as a “Palestinian state”. Abbas will sign the Rome Statute later Wednesday, adhering to the founding treaty of the ICC, where the Palestinians could…

Arab farmers in the Shiloh Bloc of Samaria, where Arab assailants have in the past caused massive damage to Jewish agriculture, prepared to arrive Wednesday to plow adjacent to the Jewish communities of Esh Kodesh and the Yeshuv Hada’at Farms, under the permission of the IDF. The plowing was given permission by the IDF’s Civil…

Think of Judea and Samaria (Shomron), the Biblical regions of the West Bank, and most likely the first thing that springs to mind is political strife and negative news headlines. However, there is another entirely different story taking place in this region which is rarely seen. In a quiet corner of Western Shomron, you will…

Israeli diplomats forcefully responded to the UN Security Council vote Tuesday night that saw the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) unilateral bid for recognition as a state and demand for Israeli withdrawals by 2017 defeated. Nine votes were needed to pass the resolution, which would then have likely been shot down by an American veto. Instead the…

Russia expressed regret at the failure of the Palestinian Authority (PA) resolution at the UN Security Council on Tuesday, describing it as a “strategic error.” “Russia regrets that the UN Security Council did not manage to adopt the draft resolution,” Russia’s envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin said after the vote late on Tuesday. “We consider this a strategic…

Chinese state media on Tuesday reported that the Asian economic superpower, which holds the world’s second largest GDP, will begin negotiations for a free trade agreement (FTA) with Israel next year. China likewise will look to advance free trade talks with Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates next year, reports China…

US President Barack Obama had already played six games of golf during his Christmas vacation in Hawaii, but on Sunday his seventh round nearly landed him in the PR sandbox as it forced two US Army captains to move their wedding from the site. The soldiers, Natalie Heimel and Edward Mallue Jr., had planned to hold…

Israel needs a strong Likud – and a strong Binyamin Netanyahu leading it, said MK Miri Regev. Speaking Wednesday, after she cast her vote in the Likud primaries taking place throughout the day, Regev said that party members had the opportunity to fashion a winning ticket that would appeal to a wide range of Israelis…

Anti-Semitism in France is, unfortunately for the country’s Jewish residents, a growing industry – and French Jewish community activist Avraham Azulai, who is running for a spot on Jewish Home’s Knesset list, is seeking to enter politics in order to pave the way for the many French Jews he expects to emigrate to Israel in…

The Palestinian Authority (PA)’s draft resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from Judea-Samaria failed in a UN Security Council vote Tuesday night – and an Israeli businessman may have contributed to the resolution being shelved.  Businessman Hezi Bezalel has been working in the past few weeks behind the scenes to ensure that the draft resolution…

The IDF has frozen a directive to pull military patrols from communities along the Gaza border, Channel 10 reports Wednesday – at least, until Sunday.  Soldiers guarding the Jewish communities most at risk from Hamas infiltration attempts or rocket fire will remain at their posts until then, the news agency said, and Thursday – the original…

Israel in recent days signed the UN’s Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), in which the country commits not to sell weapons to terrorists and criminal groups. Israel has taken on provisional membership in the treaty, and will review the matter after a 24 month test membership period. The treaty became effective on December 24, and has…

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorist organization behind the Palestinian Authority (PA) complained loudly on Wednesday, after the unilateral PA bid demanding statehood and Israeli withdrawals was shot down in a vote at the UN Security Council. PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi said “the UN Security Council vote is outrageously shameful,” reports AFP. The unilateral PA…

One of the world’s largest publishing houses is distributing school Atlases in Middle Eastern countries which totally erase any reference to the State of Israel, it has been revealed. HarperCollins’ subsidiary Collins Bartholomew, which specializes in maps, are selling “Collins Middle East Atlases” to English-speaking schools in the Gulf states which depict Jordan and Syria extending all…

Wednesday marks the last day of 2014, and year-end figures released today by The Jewish Agency for Israel and Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption show it has been a record year for aliyah (immigration). Around 26,500 new immigrants arrived in Israel in 2014 marking a 32% increase over last year and a ten-year high…

A Palestinian house in the village of Yatta, near Hevron in the Judea region, was firebombed last night in what appears to be a “price tag” attack. Five children and two adults were in the house at the time of the attack, in which several incendiary devices were hurled into the property through a window.…

A new research study led by NASA has reversed commonly held theories about carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, finding that the emissions in fact are absorbed by tropical forests at a higher rate than they are released by them, leading to a boost in growth in the forests. The study found tropical forests absorb 1.5 billion…

The Palestinian Authority is claiming it has the necessary nine-vote majority to enable it to pass a resolution through the UN Security Council calling for recognition of a “Palestinian state” as well as an Israeli withdrawal from Judea, Samaria and “East Jerusalem”. The vote is due to take place tonight (Tuesday) at 10 p.m. GMT,…

Bentzi Gopshtain, director of the Lehava anti-assimilation organization, has recently been the subject of a police crackdown and intensive media scrutiny – but according to him, the arrests and press attention have only strengthened his organization and vindicated its legality. The 45-year-old father of eight and resident of Kiryat Arba adjacent to Hevron in Judea…

Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird has joined calls urging the United Nations Security Council to vote down a resolution drafted by the Palestinian Authority calling for an imposed solution on the Arab-Israeli conflict. The UN Security Council will vote later Tuesday on a draft resolution submitted by Jordan on behalf of the PA, demanding recognition as a…

The past several days have been filled with headlines concerning the Yachad – Ha’am Itanu party. Headed by former Shas chairman Eli Yishai – who broke away from the hareidi-Sephardic party in acrimony following a very public falling-out with its leader Aryeh Deri – it has remained in the media spotlight since its founding just…

After Israel last Thursday secretively returned for burial the bodies of Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal, the two terrorists who carried out the massacre on a Har Nof synagogue in Jerusalem last month murdering four Jews at prayer and a police officer, the Palestinian Authority (PA) lost no time praising the two “martyrs.” In the horrific attack the…

The UN Security Council will vote later Tuesday on a draft resolution from the Palestinian Authority (PA) unilaterally demanding recognition as a state and Israeli withdrawals, Jordan’s ambassador and diplomats said. “We have decided that we are going to pass to a vote at the Security Council on the resolution,” Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar told reporters, according to AFP. Diplomats said…

Controversy embroiled Shas chairperson Aryeh Deri submitted a letter of resignation Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. to Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud), after being discredited in video recordings released to the media showing Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef zt”l slamming Deri. The dramatic step comes after Deri submitted his resignation to the Shas Council of…

Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino on Tuesday visited a base in the Judea and Samaria region of the Border Patrol’s special mista’aravim unit, an elite squad of undercover forces disguising themselves as Arabs to covertly stop terror. In the course of his visit, Danino presented commanders of the unit with the Police Commissioner’s Shield of Excellence award…

As 2014 winds to an end, the very last plane of olim (immigrants) from North America making aliyah to Israel with the organization Nefesh B’Nefesh landed on Tuesday morning, closing a record year of immigration. The final plane held the last 60 olim, as Nefesh B’Nefesh records a 7% increase in immigrants from North America…

At midnight on Tuesday night, the gasoline prices for gas stations around Israel will be updated. The price for a liter of 95 octane unleaded Benzene for self-service (including VAT) will drop by 63 agurot to 6.27 shekels (roughly $1.60), constituting a 9.13% drop from last month. For the same gasoline with full service an…

Shas MK Nissim Zeev, who founded the party in 1983, spoke in a special interview with Arutz Sheva on Tuesday about the drama unfolding between Shas chairman Aryeh Deri and Ha’am Itanu leader Eli Yishai, as well as the leaked footage of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. In the recordings, Rabbi Yosef is seen in private meetings condemning Deri for…

Malaysian officials have confirmed that they have found the debris field for AirAsia Flight QZ8501, which disappeared on Sunday over the Java Sea with 162 people on board.  The debris field, which includes several bodies, a life jacket, and a cabin door, was found by Indonesian military officials Tuesday floating in the sea off Borneo island.  Indonesian…

The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday that it will not allow screening of Hollywood’s Biblical epic “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” mirroring similar bans by Egypt and Morocco, according to AFP. The National Media Council, charged with vetting films for release in the UAE, said the Ridley Scott movie about Moses’s escape from pharaonic Egypt contained “religious and historical mistakes.” “The film…

The corruption investigation into Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party and the drama surrounding Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri could see many voters move their allegiances to Jewish Home, Deputy Education Minister Avi Wortzman (Jewish Home) stated Tuesday.  Wortzman, in a special interview with Arutz Sheva, stated that his party has already begun to benefit from…

It is Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri, not spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef, zt”l, who orchestrated Shas’s lean leftward and vote for the Oslo Accords, according to footage leaked on Channel 2 Monday night.  In the footage, R’ Ovadiah Yosef, zt”l is seen conversing with a Shas confidante, noting that Deri was the one who established the policy…

The chairmen of 20 regional councils in Judea and Samaria have penned a letter to the heads of Israel’s security establishment demanding that an attack labelled as a hit-and-run be recategorized as a terror attack. On December 1, three Arabs plowed into 63 year-old Avraham Ben-Tzion with his own stolen vehicle as he was standing…

After years of calling for Israel’s destruction, is Hamas actually prepared to talk with the Jewish state? According to a report on Monday in the British Independent, the group may be considering it. According to the report, Hamas is reviewing its strategy with the changing times. It is conducting an internal debate, with proposals which…

Eight ministers and 39 employees of the Ramallah-based Palestinian unity government arrived in Gaza through the Erez crossing on Monday, in the second visit of its kind since the unity government was formed in June. Government spokesman Ihab Bseiso told the Ma’an news agency that the visit aims to foster “real cooperation between all political…

Jewish Home issued an urgent and unusual announcement on Tuesday distancing itself from statements made by a candidate for the party’s primaries, in which the candidate supported the concept of giving up parts of Israel to the Palestinian Arabs. “A Palestinian state – that’s not in our school (of thought),” read the announcement. “Jewish Home…

Jerusalem Councilman Arieh King exposed surprising tidings on Monday night, revealing that the capital’s Municipality last Monday passed out 100 Christmas trees for free at the Old City’s Yafo Gate, in a move supporting Christianity in the 3,000-year-old Jewish capital. The official announcement from the Municipality’s website which King attached in a Facebook post read…

The Rishon Letzion Magistrates Court on Tuesday extended the arrest of several senior state employees suspected of being involved in a massive corruption scandal that was revealed last week, among them prominent members of the Yisrael Beytenu party. The arrest of Israel Anti-Drug Authority (IADA) CEO Yair Geler was extended till Friday. Efraim Peles, treasurer of…

Hamas again criticized the political process of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the center of which is a draft resolution calls for Israel to “end the occupation” – that is, to withdraw from Judea and Samaria – by 2017. Mushir al-Masri, a spokesman for the Change and Reform Party in Hamas and a Hamas leader, called the resolution…

President Reuven Rivlin spoke at the International Joint (JDC) and Economics Ministry conference for hareidi employment Tuesday, where he noted that the hareidi community in Israel has ceased to be a minority.  “One of the things I learned from my teachers is to separate fact and interpretation,” Rivlin said. “The fact is that already at the…

IDF soldiers were forced to open fire after a suspected improvised explosive device was thrown at soldiers from a car driving past Beit Ummar, a spokesperson told AFP Tuesday, seriously wounding a teenaged Palestinian Arab terrorist. Family members told the news agency the incident happened as Mohammed Awwad, 17, was traveling in a car with his 19-year-old brother back to…

Former Finance Minister Yair Lapid slammed the 19th Knesset Tuesday, saying in comments about the Yisrael Beytenu corruption case that MKs were fighting internal corruption “every day” in the government over the past two years.  “These two years we had to fight every day against corruption, a culture of cronyism and ‘jobs,’ and the abuse of…

Supreme Court Justice Yoram Danziger cancelled a High Court for Justice injunction against the revised version of the Infiltration Law going into effect on Tuesday, paving the way for Israel to crack down on its illegal immigration issue.  NGO Israeli Immigration Policy Center’s director Orli Yogir welcomed the move.  “The rejection of the interim order is…

Shas’s Council of Torah Sages have rejected Chairman Aryeh Deri’s request to resign as the party’s leader Monday night, arriving specifically at Deri’s home in Har Nof, Jerusalem to deliver the news.  “We are full appreciation of how Deri has managed the party and direct him to continue serving as Chairman,” the rabbis announced, adding…

Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon (Likud) has ordered the promotion of the legislation planned by El-Matan to become part of the municipality of Ma’ale Shomron, as well as a tourist attraction.  El Matan, found in Samaria, was established in 2001 by residents of nearby towns on the Nahal Kaneh Nature reserve. It is considered an unauthorized outpost by…

A female aid worker from Sierra Leone has become the first person to bring Ebola to the United Kingdom, BBC News reports Monday night, and is in isolation in a Glasgow hospital.  The aid worker, whose identity is being kept under wraps, had arrived in Glasgow via Casablanca and London’s Heathrow airport, and arrived in Scotland Sunday…

President Reuven and First Lady Nechama Rivlin held a Bar and Bat Mitzvah celebration at the President’s residence for 50 children who are the victims or related to victims of terrorist attacks.   Among the children who celebrated their Bar and Bat Mitzvah’s were three orphans whose parents were killed during the Second Intifada: Yigal…

Labor and Likud are still tied for the top spot in the 2015 elections, according to a survey published by Channel 2 Monday night.  Both parties are due to gain 24 mandates in the 20th Knesset, with Jewish Home in third place with 16 seats.  The Arab parties would form the biggest bloc, if running together, with…

The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center slammed on Monday a Mass in Zagreb to commemorate Croatia’s World War II pro-Nazileader, calling it a “badge of shame” for the Catholic Church. “It’s hard to believe that in the center of the capital of a member of the European Union, very close to Zagreb’s Jewish community, hundreds of people gathered yesterday to…

Former New York Times Middle East bureau chief Chris Hedges was uninvited from speaking at a University of Pennsylvania conference following the publication of an incendiary column.  That column, from December 15, closely compares Israel to the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization.  Hedges, who now works as a columnist for Truthdig.com, was scheduled to speak April 3…

Palestinian Authority (PA) envoys are pressing on with changes to a draft UN resolution on statehood Monday, meeting with Arab countries to decide when the text should be put to a vote at the Security Council, according to AFP. Security Council member Jordan called the meeting of the Arab Group at the United Nations to discuss the new draft that…

President Barack Obama on Monday said he was not ruling out the possibility of reopening a U.S. Embassy in Iran, reports The Associated Press (AP). Obama was asked in an NPR interview whether he could envision opening an embassy there during his final two years in office. “I never say never,” Obama said, adding that…

Indonesia has requested help from the United States to search for a missing AirAsia jetliner, officials in Washington said Monday, according to the AFP news agency. The State Department also confirmed that no Americans were on Flight QZ8501, which disappeared on Sunday over the Java Sea with 162 people on board. “Our embassy in Jakarta…

The United States reiterated on Monday that it does not support the unilateral draft resolution that the Palestinian Authority (PA) is promoting at the United Nations Security Council. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke said Washington believes the resolution, which demands an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria by 2017, would not advance the goal of…

Shas chairman MK Aryeh Deri said on Monday night that he is determined to resign from his position, despite the fact that the party’s Council of Torah Sages had earlier rejected his request to resign as the party’s leader. In a letter to party activists, Deri said his resignation, though a painful move, was required in order…

The United States military on Monday carried out an airstrike against the Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabaab in Somalia, NBC News reported, but the Pentagon did not say whether the intended target, described only as a senior leader, was killed. A U.S. official told NBC News that no ground forces were involved. “At this time, we…

The IDF will on Thursday pull out its security forces from Israeli communities that are not located near the security fence with Gaza, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced on Monday evening.  The move was made after evaluating the security situation, with the understanding that the IDF provides optimal security to the communities in the Gaza…

The Palestinian Authority’s envoys presented on Monday a more toughly-worded United Nations (UN) draft resolution on statehood that could come up for a vote at the Security Council this week, AFP reports. Arab ambassadors met at UN headquarters for about two hours to endorse the text that contains new provisions on declaring eastern Jerusalem the…

Shevah Stern, head of the Likud’s “National Headquarters” faction and a candidate in the Likud primaries running for the party’s Knesset list, has launched a public call on Prime Minister and Likud head Binyamin Netanyahu to obligate himself to arranging the legal status of Amona in Samaria and prevent the town’s destruction. Stern’s call for…

After the Parisian suburb of Valenton in October named a street after Fatah arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti, now another suburb of the French capital Aubervilliers has followed suit, raising a furor by granting Barghouti “honorary citizenship” last weekend. Responding to the Aubervilliers decision, members of the Jewish community contacted the municipality and demanded that it reconsider, noting “this…

Lod Magistrates Court has sentenced Raanana resident Michal Aloni to two consecutive life sentences for murdering her two young daughters in 2010. In October of that year, Aloni strangled six-year-old Roni and four-year-old Nathalie to death in a callous act of murder. Aloni plead temporary insanity, and her motive has not been determined, but a…

For the past 30 years, when tourists would arrive at the stately entrance to the Great Synagogue of Tel Aviv at 110 Allenby St, the doors were usually locked. But thanks to a group of community activists and young locals, that is beginning to change. After decades of inactivity and some disrepair, the synagogue is…

Engineer Fishel (Faisal) Benkhald, a Pakistani who according to his own estimation is the last Jew in the Muslim country, is struggling to preserve the Jewish cemetery in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city with a population of 20 million. Benkhald, whose father was Muslim and whose mother was an Iranian Jew, told the British The Guardian last…

A unique visit occurred on Sunday when Deputy Jerusalem Mayor Dov Kalmanovich, himself a firebomb attack victim, came to the Sheba Medical Center to visit the parents of 11-year-old Ayala Shapira, who was critically wounded last Thursday in a firebomb attack. Ayala’s father Avner was also lightly wounded in the attack that occurred as the…

In what has become a “Christmas tradition” for the Palestinian Authority (PA), PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and other senior figures of the group once again made the ahistorical claim that Jesus was “Palestinian.” Abbas last Monday told the official PA paper WAFA “we celebrate the birth of Jesus, a Palestinian messenger of love, justice and peace,” as…

Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir of Otzma Yehudit told Arutz Sheva that while there has been a call for the nationalist party to run jointly with Eli Yishai’s Ha’am Itanu, Yishai apparently is leaning away from such a joint list – but running as a technical bloc may just be the answer for the two to form an ideological…

Police forces arrived on Monday morning to the Tel Aviv suburb of Givat Amal to evict the last remaining eight families who continue to refuse to evacuate the area. MK Ilan Gilon of the radical leftist Meretz party together with the families have holed themselves up in the homes and refuse to leave. Hundreds of…

Rabbi Meir Mazuz, the rabbinical guide for former Shas chairperson Eli Yishai’s recently founded Ha’am Itanu party, denied on Sunday night that recordings damaging to Shas head Aryeh Deri which surfaced during the day were released by Yishai. In the recording, Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef z”tl is seen in private meetings condemning Deri for…

Jewish Home party chairman Naftali Bennett was in Jerusalem Monday for the annual international rabbinical conference, and noted the significance of the yearly event taking place in the ancient Jewish capital. “We’re in a special era in Israel, an era when people can stand up without apologizing and say: ‘We believe in Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael…

The Larissa Jewish cemetery was desecrated last Tuesday in the latest incident in a long string of anti-Semitic vandalism in Greece.  Larissa, a major city located in central Greece, is home to Greece’s third largest Jewish community. The graffiti found on the Jewish cemetery in the city was signed by a group called the “Larissa…

Former Minister and Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) leader Avi Dichter will be returning to politics, Walla! News reports Monday – this time, running in the Likud primaries, to be held on Wednesday.  Dichter returns to politics after leaving Kadima in 2012 to join Likud, and after briefly serving until March 2013 as Home Front…

Several of the children of Shas spiritual founder Rabbi Ovadia Yosef z”tl visited their father’s grave on Monday, as part of a campaign to support Shas head Aryeh Deri after damaging recordings were released the day before showing the rabbi criticizing Deri. In the recordings, Rabbi Yosef is seen in private meetings condemning Deri for his corruption that…

Britain is set to unveil a raft of tough new laws to tackle anti-Semitism Monday, following a shocking rise in the number of hate crimes against Jews over the summer. Writing in The Daily Express, the UK’s Communities Secretary Eric Pickles pulled no punches, warning that the “ancient evil” of anti-Semitism was rearing its head in the…

IDF forces who were deployed to prevent Arab terrorists from hurling potentially lethal rocks at Israeli cars located Arab terrorists attacking cars near the Tapuach Junction in Samaria, and in the ensuing confrontation shot one of the terrorists to death. A message from the IDF Spokesperson unit clarified that the soldiers conducted the standard procedure…

The council of Arab UN ambassadors gathered on Monday to discuss the Palestinian Authority (PA) resolution set to be proposed at the UN Security Council, unilaterally demanding recognition and Israeli withdrawals – however, the vote on the resolution set for Monday looks to be postponed yet again. Last Friday PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat announced…

A police gag order was released revealing that the Jerusalem district attorney on Monday submitted an indictment against two Arab brothers from eastern Jerusalem, who were arrested for planning a terrorist attack for Hamas in the capital. The brothers, 28-year-old Shaban bin Ahmed Hamad and 23-year-old Mohammed bin Ahmed Hamad, were accused of membership in…

A rare Sumatran tiger in the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo has killed and eaten her two five-week-old cubs in a blow to its captive breeding program, its chief vet said Monday.   The mother tiger, named Hana, had given birth to three cubs after being mated with a tiger from Germany called Avigdor, Nili Avni-Magen told…

Indonesia resumed at dawn Monday (local time) the search for an AirAsia plane that went missing in the Java Sea with 162 people on board a day earlier, a search and rescue official told AFP. “We have resumed the search for the missing AirAsia plane at 6:00 a.m. We are heading to east Belitung island,”…

The Islamic State (ISIS) group has killed 1,878 people in Syria during the past six months, the majority of them civilians, a British-based Syrian monitoring organization said on Sunday, according to Reuters. ISIS also killed 120 of its own members, most of them foreign fighters trying to return home, in the last two months, said…

Hamas on Sunday denied a Kuwaiti newspaper’s report that Qatar has informed Hamas that it would be temporarily halting its financial support, reports i24news. The Kuwaiti Al Jarida reported last week that the move was made in order to push Hamas to change its policy against Egypt, which the Gulf state has just reconciled with.…

Former Likud minister Moshe Kahlon, who is running in the March elections as head of the newly founded Kulanu party, warned Sunday against a “social disengagement” in Israel. “In Israel of 2014, the equation is simple: The weaker you are – the more you pay. This situation has to change, and this situation is going…