Category: News

The Palestinian Authority (PA) will ask the United Nations (UN) Security Council to set a deadline of November 2016 for Israel to “end the occupation”, according to the draft resolution obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press (AP). The circulation of the draft resolution to council members follows PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s announcement to the UN…

The Coordinator of Government Activities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza (COGAT) on Wednesday evening announced that Gazans will be allowed to travel to Jerusalem for the upcoming Eid al Adha holiday, part of a series of measures decided upon by Israel for the benefit of Palestinian Arabs during the holiday. As part of the announced…

Twin car bomb explosions in the central Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday killed at least 18 people, mostly children, and wounded 40 others, AFP reported, citing the state news agency SANA. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the same toll in the double bombing in the Akrameh neighborhood of Homs. The group…

Transport for London (TfL) said on Wednesday it will take “appropriate action” against a driver who failed to respond when a commuter on his bus shouted anti-Semitic abuse at young children and passengers, the Jewish Chronicle (JC) reports. Paul Edwards, correspondence manager for buses at TfL, said, according to the report, “I can assure you…

“I cannot tell a Jew that he is not allowed to purchase a home in Jerusalem,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told reporters on Wednesday night, hours after his meeting at the White House with U.S. President Barack Obama. Netanyahu briefed the reporters on his meeting with Obama, which Israeli officials described earlier as good. “We…

An anti-Islam group filed a civil rights lawsuit against New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on Wednesday for refusing to run a “Hamas Killing Jews” advertisement on city busses, the group’s attorney said, according to Reuters. The American Freedom Defense Initiative claims the state agency violated its constitutional rights by turning down advertisements that…

The U.S. State Department used unusually harsh language on Wednesday when criticizing Israel’s approval of planned construction of 2,610 homes in Jerusalem. The housing units, which have been slated for construction since 2012 in the neighborhood of Givat Hamatos, were given final approval last week. Reacting to the move, the State Department warned it would call into question…

Julia Pierson, the first female director of the Secret Service, resigned her post Wednesday after an incident in which a fence jumper gained access to the White House on September 19, CNN reports. Homeland Security Director Jeh Johnson announced the resignation in a statement. He also announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would…

Why are Muslims obsessed with Jews visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem? That’s a question the Temple Institute is asking in a new video illustrating the shocking harassment, intimidation and violence faced by Jewish pilgrims to the holiest site in Judaism at the hands of Muslim extremists. The video is a montage of several clips…

Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz strongly condemned the extreme left-wing organization Peace Now, following its attempt “to sabotage” the meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama Wednesday by engineering an outcry over the approval of 2,610 new building tenders in Jerusalem.  “The building in Givat Hamatos will strengthen Jerusalem from the South…

The United States on Wednesday authorized a $1.75 billion arms deal for Saudi Arabia. The deal will allow the Saudis to upgrade their stock of Patriot air defense missiles, replacing them with PAC-3 missiles. The missiles will be supplied by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, the State Department said. Congress has 30 days to block the…

Was Hamas arch-terrorist Mohammed Deif killed during Operation Protective Edge? Not necessarily, said IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. In what may be one of the last interviews he gives as CoS – he is set to step down in several months – Gantz discussed with Makor Rishon his feelings on the success and failures…

Following the abduction and murder of Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaer, and Eyal Yifrah three and a half months ago, the Ministry of Education has begun preventive measures to ensure thousands of students from 22 yeshivas and high schools scattered in Judea and Samaria refrain from hitchhiking.    According to a report this morning in Israel Today,…

Three of four Israelis do not trust US President Barack Obama to manage American policy in the Middle East, a new poll shows; in a Knesset Channel / Panels poll published Thursday, a full 74% of respondents said they do not trust Obama’s policy. The poll also asked about election preferences, finding that Likud would…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been on a whirlwind American tour, speaking before the UN General Assembly, meeting US President Barack Obama, and starting Wednesday night speaking to several international media networks. That point has raised eyebrows given the fact he hasn’t given Israeli media an interview for many long years. Two issues have caused…

The security situation in Jerusalem continues to be unbearable for many Jewish residents, as every day brings another story of Arab violence against Jews. At around 2:00 p.m. Thursday, a young married woman in her 20s and three girls aged 16-17, all residents of Maaleh Zeitim, were surrounded by a rock-throwing mob in A-Tur. The woman…

Two terrorists in their 20s were prevented from conducting a terror attack on Thursday at Tapuach Junction in Samaria, located just east of Ariel.  Upon arriving the two raised the suspicions of IDF Border Patrol officers stationed at the scene. Upon investigating the two they were found to be in possession of three explosives, an…

In parallel to the so-called “silent intifada” of rock and firebomb terror plaguing Jerusalem, incidents of gunfire in Judea and Samaria have been sharply increasing in recent months, following Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction’s declared “return to terror.” That announcement, which was made by Fatah’s “military wing,” the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, has…

House prices in Israel continue to spike, and it is ranked in the top five countries in the world on a scale of price per meter. The demand for apartments in Israel spans Jewish communities all over the world, in part because of rising anti-Semitism, which has galvanized thousands who can afford it to realize…

Adding his voice to the chorus of Israeli officials slamming the State Department for its comments on Israel’s building plans in Jerusalem, Knesset chairman MK Yuli Edelstein (Yisrael Beytenu) said that the US had other, more important things to worry about right now. “It’s a shame that as the Islamic State (IS) is rising and…

Arutz Sheva has learned that the White House demanded that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declare, before his meeting Wednesday with President Barack Obama, that he is still committed to the two-state solution. The White House was reportedly dissatisfied with the contents of Netanyahu’s speech at the UN earlier this week as the speech did not…

French Jews are facing shocking anti-Semitism, and many feel insecure remaining in France, as the sharp rise in French aliyah figures for the past year show. Tens of thousands of Jews still remain in France, however, but an indication of their future plans can be gleaned from the transfer of Jewish assets out of Europe.…

A group of fourteen diverse organizations have banded together to deliver a letter to more than 2,500 US colleges and universities urging such institutions to protect Jewish students on campus in lieu of rising anti-Semitism across the globe.  The organizations include: Alpha Epsilon Pi, AMCHA Initiative, American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, Americans for Peace and…

First-degree murder charges were filed against Moore, OK beheading suspect Alton Alexander Nolen on Wednesday – and prosecutors say that it is likely he’ll face the death penalty.  “I have a murder charge, that we will vigorously prosecute, and two other charges that carry up to life in prison,” District Attorney George Mashburn told a…

Shuvu Bonim leader and fugitive rabbi Rabbi Eliezer Berland has been released on bail for Yom Kippur, a Netherlands court announced Wednesday.  Three weeks ago, Berland was arrested at the airport in Amsterdam. The State of Israel immediately put in for an extradition request and asked that bail be revoked. The High Court heard the…

The parents of soldiers who fought in Operation Protective Edge are seeking to strengthen the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), against the backdrop of criticism following reports of soldiers in need of mental health care following the operation.  In particular, it was reported that three soldiers from the Givati ​​Brigade who fought in Gaza during Operation…

The Israeli branch of the Simon Wiesenthal Center on Wednesday urged Germany to prosecute alleged members of Nazi death squads during World War II, giving it a list of 80 suspects, according to AFP.  The Jewish rights group said the 76 men and four women whose names it provided to Germany’s justice and interior ministries belonged to “mobile killing squads.”  All…

Hundreds of people protested in the central city of Bat Yam on Wednesday night, demonstrating over the alleged cover-up of the nationalistic motivations behind the death – presumed murder – of construction worker Netanel Arami.  The protest began from Arami’s family’s home and proceeded toward the central police station.  “We demonstrate against the outspoken and…

Israel is to press ahead with the planned construction of 2,610 homes in Jerusalem, extreme leftist group Peace Now complained Wednesday to AFP. The housing units, which have been slated for construction since 2012 in the neighborhood of Givat Hamatos, were given final approval last week, Peace Now said in a statement. Peace Now spokeswoman Hagit Ofran told…

Police stated that in the past two days there have been dramatic developments in the investigation of the death of Netanel Arami hy”d, the Jewish construction worker who fell 11 stories to his death two weeks ago while rapelling from a Petah Tikva building project. The details of the dramatic developments remain under wraps in…

The protests in Hong Kong against China’s steps to undermine local democracy are expected to strengthen on Wednesday for China’s National Day, in which hundreds of thousands in the metropolis of seven million will continue their occupation of the business district. Hong Kong’s outrage follows a controversial decision by Beijing only to allow candidates for…

A man who traveled on a commercial flight from Liberia to Dallas on September 20 was diagnosed on Tuesday as being infected with the Ebola virus, becoming the first such case in the US and the first case outside of western Africa in the recent global outbreak. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention…

A senior Palestinian Authority (PA) source revealed to Yedioth Aharonoth that a secret channel of communication exists between Israel and the PA in parallel to the Cairo truce talks, through which Israel is negotiating with the PA, Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives. The source exposed that a senior Israeli diplomat who was left unnamed met on…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will meet in Washington Wednesday with US President Barack Obama – in their first meeting in seven months. Netanyahu will talk to Obama about the current tensions between Israel the Palestinian Authority, and is also expected to ask Obama not to cooperate with Iran as part of the campaign against the Islamic…

Police are investigating a prior incident after revealing Tuesday they suspect that Netanel Arami hy”d, a Jewish construction worker who fell 11 stories to his death on a Petah Tikva building project two weeks ago, was murdered by an Arab co-worker,  Another nearly fatal incident occurred also two weeks ago not long before the time of…

The IDF Civil Administration ordered the expropriation on Tuesday of land between the Samaria communities of Hizmeh and Adam, both of which are located just north of Jerusalem, so as to widen the local road there to have two lanes and ease traffic congestion. However, Arutz Sheva has learned that just hours after the order was given, the…

Hesamoddin Hatami and Zahra Kolabian, two Iranian citizens arrested in mid-September for attempting to leave Kenya with forged Israeli documents, were sentenced today. A Kenyan court ordered them to serve two years in jail or pay a substantial fine after they pled guilty to being in the possession of and using fake Israeli passports. Nairobi Resident Magistrate Hannah…

Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino convened an emergency meeting of senior staff Wednesday, in yet another measure to address political turmoil among his ranks.  Danino stated that the situation is not simple. “These are difficult times for the police, and when the eyes of the public look to us for guidance, it is our responsibility to…

Many Jewish leaders expressed concern about the results of the 2013 Pew Research Center Survey, which found high rates of intermarriage and assimilation among American Jews.  But amid the doom and gloom some more positive trends went largely unnoticed. For instance, nearly a quarter of Jews from the millennial generation (born after 1980) are keeping…

The Ministry of Education has cancelled a school trip to Joseph’s Tomb in Shechem (Nablus) at the last moment, frustrated parents revealed Wednesday afternoon – ostensibly for political reasons.  No fewer than five hundred yeshiva (Torah academy) high school students were scheduled to make an emotional trip Thursday night – or Yom Kippur Eve –…

The Housing Ministry on Wednesday published figures showing that the price of apartments in Israel rose in the second quarter of 2014 by another 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year, as the ongoing housing crisis only continues to grow more serious. The jump in prices during the period, which stretched from April to…

In spite of the summer’s conflict with Gaza terrorist groups and the knock to tourism during that period, Israel had maintained its sterling A1 credit rating, according to the Moody’s international credit rating agency. The report based its findings on Israel’s resilient growth model and effective government. Unsurprisingly for the so-called “Start Up Nation”, the key…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that if the United States vetoes the resolution that he will bring before the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), he will “re-examine” the PA’s security cooperation with Israel, reported Voice of Israel public radio. Abbas has called on the UNSC to support a resolution setting a clear…

MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) sharply condemned Interior Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich (Yisrael Beytenu) on Wednesday, accusing him of covering up the terrorist murder of Jewish construction worker Netanel Arami hy”d. “There’s a long chain of events here, in which the system, the police, and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) are trying to cover up…

When Iranian nuclear physicist Ardeshir Hosseinpour was murdered in 2007, Israel was the main suspect. Now, his sister claims he was murdered by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) because he would not cooperate with its efforts to divert nuclear work from peaceful purposes to building an atomic bomb, reports the Canadian National Post’s Media Line.…

At a weekly Palestinian Authority (PA) unity government meeting on Tuesday, it was announced that Israel had agreed to allow Arab residents of Gaza to travel to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. The move comes as part of a general increase in the number of Gaza residents allowed to travel into Judea and…

Yeshiva University announced that it will introduce a new Master of Science degree program in Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) in Fall 2015. Students enrolled in the new program will have the opportunity to learn from the experienced clinicians and faculty of the Montefiore Health System and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and will have access…

Hamas terrorists Marwan Kawasmeh and Amar Abu Eisha, who abducted and murdered Israeli teens Naftali Frenkel, Eyal Yifrah, and Gilad Sha’ar on June 12, were lauded with the highest status in Islam – martyrdom – by official Palestinian Authority (PA) press and leaders. The official PA news agency WAFA praised the two as martyrs last Tuesday after the…

Britain conducted its first airstrikes against the Islamic State terrorist group (IS) in Iraq Tuesday, as part of international efforts to support local Kurdish, Shia and Iraqi government forces push back against the jihadi advance. The British parliament had voted to join the US-led air campaign against IS on Friday, but Royal Air Force (RAF)…

Arutz Sheva was at the scene as hundreds of concerned Jews gathered on Tuesday in the Samaria town of Givat Assaf, located north of Jerusalem near Beit El, to join in a prayer rally to save the community from destruction. The far-left group Peace Now seven years ago petitioned for the town’s destruction claiming it was built on…

Iran on Tuesday rejected as baseless accusations levelled by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that it poses a greater threat to the world than the Islamic State jihadist group. Speaking on Monday at the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu said that “to defeat ISIS and leave Iran as a threshold nuclear state power is to win…

A former psychologist has been executed for heresy in Iran after eight years in detention, human rights groups said Monday, according to Reuters. The execution is the latest example of what activists say is a worrying rise in the use of death penalty by the Islamic Republic. The man, Mohsen Amir Aslani, was hanged in…

An Egyptian court sentenced 68 Muslim Brotherhood supporters to jail terms on Tuesday, judicial sources said, according to Reuters. They were convicted in a case related to deadly violence a year ago after the army’s ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. All were found guilty of killing 30 people and intending to kill others in…

The “Islamic State” (IS or ISIS) group on Tuesday freed more than 70 Kurdish school children its fighters kidnapped in northern Syria in May, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, according to AFP. The Britain-based group said parents had reported the release of the children, who are believed to be aged between 13 and…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday told United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that Hamas commits a double war crime by using civilians as human shields and firing rockets at Israel. Netanyahu’s comments were made in a meeting with Ban at the UN headquarters in New York. Also attending the meeting was Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.…

The Algerian government has identified the suspects in the beheading of Frenchman Hervé Gourdel, Algerian Justice Minister Tayeb Louh said Tuesday, according to the International Business Times. Soldiers of the Caliphate, or Jund al-Khilafa, claimed responsibility for the beheading, which was recorded and distributed last week. Gourdel was kidnapped while hiking southeast of Algiers on…

Two weeks after Jewish construction worker Netanel Arami died after falling 11 stories, Arutz Sheva has learned that police suspect he was murdered, thus confirming what Arami’s family and nationalist politicians have been saying from day one. Police investigators think an Arab co-worker at the site cut the rope that Arami was connected to as…

The world’s largest PR firm, Burston-Marsteller, made the headlines last week when it was discovered that the firm had rejected Israel as a client. Although the PR firm attempted to rebut the story, it had to backtrack and Ronn Torossian, a frequent contributor to Arutz Sheva who exposed the company’s rejection of the Jewish State,…

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat and the parents of the three abducted and murdered youths have announced a new prestigious and generous annual prize highlighting efforts for national unity. The parents of Gil’ad Sha’ar, Naftali Frenkel and Eyal Yifrach, together with Barkat, announced yesterday [Monday] the launching of an annual prize to be granted for work…

The terrorist to civilian ratio of Palestinian deaths in Operation Protective Edge is an unprecedented 1:1, a news study released last week reveals – supporting earlier findings regarding the so-called “civilian casualties” Hamas touts to international media.  According to the highly respected Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (ITIC), 49% of the “martyrs” listed on…

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said Tuesday that Israel needs to “sober up” and learn a lesson from the recent war with Gaza – namely, that a similar situation must not be allowed to arise in Judea and Samaria. “Once the area turns into Hamastan, it won’t just be Hamas,” he warned, at the Institute for…

Hamas and Israel may be on the verge of a terrorist swap deal, sources said Tuesday – trading convicted murderers for the bodies of fallen soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, hy”d. According to Israel Hayom, Hamas official Mushir al-Masri stated that such a deal is close to being concretized with Israeli officials.  Goldin and…

A sting operation by an undercover prison guard at the Ramon Prison in the Negev has resulted in the arrest of an Israeli Arab on suspicion of helping terrorist prisoners smuggle SIM cards into the jail. The cards were to be used by the terrorist prisoners for communicating with the outside world. In the course…

Top officials in a new German party are rushing to expel one of its members, the Bild reports Tuesday, after he posted an anti-Semitic cartoon on his Facebook page. The Alternative for Germany, or AfD, recently won several seats in regional legislative bodies. However, at least one member will not be participating, the party’s branch in…

The Pentagon said on Monday there was no evidence of any civilian casualties from airstrikes targeting Islamist terrorists in Syria, The Hill reported. The clarification came after human rights groups claimed that civilians were killed in airstrikes in Syria’s Idlib province last week. In addition, the groups said the airstrikes were also costly to civilians’…

Just over a week since the High Court controversially shot down the so-called “Infiltrator Law”, which sought to tackle the problem of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa residing in Israel, the Interior Ministry appears to be pushing back by announcing plans to initiate new legislation in its place. The High Court’s decision was widely…

Ahmad Shurbaji (23) last Tuesday became the first Israeli citizen to be convicted of joining and fighting for the brutal Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization in Syria; in a follow up trial this Tuesday at the Haifa Magistrates Court he claimed he “made a mistake.” Shurbaji, a resident of the northern Israeli Arab city of Umm…

Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonvitch (Yisrael Beytenu) vowed to bring a “different spirit to the police force” on Tuesday, following the sudden retirement announcement of Jerusalem District Police Commander Yossi Pariente. “These are difficult times for the Israel police, but I have complete and total confidence that we will move past this crisis,” Aharonovitch stated.…

Minister of Foreign Affiars Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) met with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Al-Hussein of Jordan on Monday, at the United Nations headquarters in New York. FM Liberman and Prince Zeid discussed the working relationship between Israel and the Commission, the MFA stated, with Liberman reportedly stressing a “fundamental…

All police officers will be required to take polygraph tests before joining the police force, Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino announced Tuesday, as part of a proactive program to ensure extra integrity among police staff. An office specifically dedicated for administering the tests will be created as well, Danino added.  Before now, the Israel Security Agency…

The Jerusalem Police have instructed Citipass, the company that runs the capital’s Light Rail system, not to inform the media and the public of rock attacks on its railway lines, unless it receives police approval to do so. According to Voice of Israel public radio, the Commander of the Zion Precinct, Brigadier General Amnon Alkalai,…

With the world concentrating on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s hard-hitting remarks at the UN General Assembly on Monday, the Zionist Organization of America turns attention to President Barack Obama’s address to the UN – and what it calls his “baseless and offensive claim” that “the violence engulfing the region today has made too many Israelis…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday, in a bid to refute the smear campaign launched by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas claiming Israel is guilty of “genocide.”  “Distinguished delegates, I come here from Jerusalem to speak on behalf of my people, the people of Israel,” Netanyahu…

Airstrikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have totaled $780 million dollars, a think tank influential with the Pentagon reports Monday – and that is the low end of the estimate.  According to the Center on Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), the US’s resurged “war on terror” has already cost between between $780-$930 million…

Speaking to the UN General Assembly Monday a bit before Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took the stage, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem appealed to the world to fight back against the Islamic State (ISIS). Muallem said that his country supported all efforts to fight terror. “The Syrian Republic stresses that it stands by the side…

The average senior citizen 75 years or older in Israel spends about NIS 7,400 per month, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday – and about half of them asked for assistance from authorities last year. The CBS released the data prior to United Nations’ International Day of Older Persons, set to take place on…

Israeli courts of law will strike Tuesday, the Histadrut announced, in a continuation of several ‘solidarity strikes’ with the Postal Workers’ Union.  Administrative staff, secretaries, court transcriptionists, and Criminal Law staff in courts across Israel, the notice said – along with separate strikes at the postal service itself. The move will see a temporary halt…

A year after the passing of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a memorial service was held for him Sunday night. Attending the event were Israel’s chief rabbis, as well as leaders of the hareidi Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities. About 15,000 people attended the memorial service at the Jerusalem Pais Arena. Maran (our rabbi and mentor), as he…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Monday, in a bid to refute the smear campaign launched by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas claiming Israel is guilty of “genocide.”  “Distinguished delegates, I come here from Jerusalem to speak on behalf of my people, the people of Israel,”…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman spoke at the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday, where he responded to Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s accusations of Israel committing “genocide” and “war crimes” during its self-defense operation, Operation Defensive Edge in Gaza.  “Mr. Mahmoud Abbas has lost his way,” Liberman stated. “Because he failed with…

The Vatican has pledged 100,000 euros ($125,000) towards preserving the former Nazi death camp Auschwitz in southern Poland, the site’s museum said Monday. “Given our limited resources, the amount is small,” Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin told AFP.  “But it is an expression of our full support for the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation” that oversees the upkeep of the former camp, where…

Most Palestinian Arabs would favor resuming rocket fire at Israel if it does not lift its Gaza blockade, although support for armed confrontation is dropping off, according to a poll published Monday by AFP. “An overwhelming majority of 80% supports the launching of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israel if the siege and blockade…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, responded on Monday evening to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations, saying that the solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict should be based on the decisions of legitimate international institutions, on the Arab Peace Initiative and on the UN General Assembly resolution of…

While Knesset Members from the leftist side of the political map rejected Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly as having “missed the mark”, nationalist MKs welcomed Netanyahu’s comments on Monday. MK Ze’ev Elkin (Likud), chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said, “I congratulate the Prime Minister on…

Hamas claimed Monday night that photos that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu displayed during his UN General Assembly speech showing Hamas terrorists setting up rocket launchers and firing rockets at Israel from areas containing civilians were fabricated. Hamas, terrorist group spokesperson Sami Abu-Zuhri said, would never place rocket launchers next to children, as depicted by the…

Israel was browbeaten internationally over its recent counter-terror operation against Hamas targets embedded in the Gaza population. Now, the world seems to be largely unperturbed by a similar American campaign against terrorists in Syria and Iraq, despite the heavy cost to civilians. America has been conducting airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and since…

Driving one’s car to the Old City of Jerusalem has become increasingly less convenient over the years – but all that is now behind us. The Municipality of Jerusalem has announced a new arrangement for visiting the Old City. Motorists can park near the old train station, hop on a shuttle to the Old City,…

A prayer rally will be held on Tuesday in Givat Assaf, located near Beit El in Samaria, in a call to save the small community from destruction by the government. A letter organizing the rally was sent to residents, and warned of impending demolition despite the declarations by the government that it would work to recognize the…

Members of the Gur (Gerrer) Hassidic sect will hold a prayer and protest session in the Gerrer section of the Mount of Olives cemetery, following the desecration of dozens of graves by Arab vandals. The damage and sacrilege were discovered just after the Rosh Hashanah holiday ended, when hassidim  came to pray at the graves…

Arutz Sheva spoke with Rabbi David Stav, a prominent religious-Zionist rabbi and head of the Tzohar rabbinic institute, ahead of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), about how the Jewish state has developed in the past year. According to the rabbi, last year was a “unique” one in terms of religion and state thanks in part to…

A man fired a BB gun and shouted “Jews, Jews, Jews” at three Jewish teens leaving a synagogue in Baltimore Thursday, reports JTA. No one was reported hurt. One of the pellets struck a window of the Bais Hamedrash and Mesivta of Baltimore, an institute of religious learning. The gunman, described as being “possibly of…

Middle East experts Dr. Mordechai Kedar and Prof. Eyal Zisser recently sat down with Arutz Sheva ahead of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), and recapped the tumultuous and bloody events of the Arab world over the past year. Kedar, a senior lecturer at Bar Ilan University, began by noting the current warfare is the continuation of a trend of…

As part of a special set of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) interviews, Arutz Sheva visited Bat-Galim Sha’ar in her home in Talmon, a community in Samaria, to speak about the abduction and murder of her 16-year-old son Gilad and two other teens by Hamas terrorists in June. Speaking last week before the elimination of the two terrorists Marwan…

Leaders of the Negev Bedouin fired back immediately Sunday at Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir (Yisrael Beytenu), who called Sunday for an end to polygamy in the Bedouin sector. Shamir, who heads the Committee on Regulation of Bedouin Settlement, told a Bedouin group that he is considering reviving a plan proposed in the past to place limits…

A Jackson, Mississippi Reform rabbi says he was thrown out of a restaurant after the owner made an anti-Semitic remark and then found out he was Jewish. Ted Riter of the Beth Israel Congregation wrote on his Facebook page that he went to Wraps in Maywood Mart last Tuesday for lunch, and ordered a salad.…

Officials in Egypt are demanding an immediate and total boycott of Turkish goods, and even a breakoff of diplomatic relations between the two countries, Egyptian media reports said. The call is the latest chapter in the steady and ongoing decline in relations between the two countries, with Turkey accusing Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of…

The Defense Ministry and the IDF have decided to build a fence enclosing the Gaza Belt region, after both a survey of the long-term damage of Operation Protective Edge on the bloc and in light of two terrorist infiltrations there within a 48-hour period.  But the fence is no ordinary fence. Security sources told Walla! News Monday…

A group of Jews were subjected to a vicious assault in broad daylight after being ambushed by an Arab gang on Rosh Hashanah, in the latest of a spate of violent anti-Semitic incidents in Jerusalem. Hanan Kupietzky, a 23-year-old councilor at the Old City’s Hakotel yeshiva, was walking with his 16-year-old brother and a friend…

Reports Monday said that Islamist fighters for ISIS, the Islamic State, which has already conquered large areas of Lebanon and Iraq, are at the gates of Baghdad. Despite the aerial attacks being carried out by the US and its allies, the group’s fighters have been steadily progressing, and are said to be barely a mile…

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) is making an official visit to Austria Monday, to warn Vienna of the dangers of getting too close to Iran.  To this end, Edelstein will meet with the President of Austria, Heinz Fischer; Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz; and with the Chief of Parliament, Doris Bures.  “In an era of global…

Continuing his visit to France, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday wrote on his Facebook page that he was emotionally moved by his visit to sites where Jews experienced anti-Semitic attacks in the country. “Israel is the home and defender of the world’s Jews,” Bennett wrote. “I have been on a 24 hour trip to…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon praised the contributions of religious Zionism to the IDF on Monday, even as he criticized Givati Brigade Commander Col. Ofer Winter for religious statements he made in Operation Protective Edge. Winter was embroiled in a media storm after in a call-up message sent to members of the brigade he wrote that they…

Former MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari is leading the charge against a High Court decision last Monday that overruled key sections of the Infiltrators Law, ordering the closure of the Holot detention center and taking away powers allowing the state to hold infiltrators for a year without trial. In a video post on his Facebook page…

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that his country cannot stay out of the international coalition fighting the “Islamic State” (IS), AFP reported. Turkey has for months frustrated the West with its cautious position against IS, but there appears to have been a sea change in its policy following Erdogan’s trip last week to…

Saeb Erekat, senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive committee, on Sunday condemned statements made by the U.S. State Department against Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s speech at the UN General Assembly. In his speech, Abbas accused Israel of “genocide” and “war crimes” and State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki responded by saying that the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met on Sunday with India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in New York, marking the first meeting between an Israeli Prime Minister and the Prime Minister of India in more than a decade. During the meeting, Netanyahu and Modi spoke of the danger of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, and the threat posed…

The head of Syria’s Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front on Sunday said U.S.-led air strikes will not defeat Islamists in Syria and warned against retaliatory attacks against Western countries, Reuters reports. Abu Mohamad al-Golani, in an audio message posted on pro-Nusra jihadi forums, urged European and U.S. citizens to denounce the U.S. actions if they wanted to…

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who is known for his hawkish views in regards to terrorism, said over the weekend that the “Islamic State” (IS or ISIS) group is a direct threat to Canada and the world, and therefore Canada will take part in the coalition against the group. Harper noted that the fight against…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is promising a “razor sharp” speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Monday. Speaking to reporters who accompanied him on his flight to New York, Netanyahu said the speech would be made up of two parts: a response to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s speech and a response to the speech…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said on Sunday that Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has become irrelevant following his speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday. Liberman’s comments came in a meeting in New York with the foreign ministers of Canada, the Czech Republic, Greece, Austria and Rwanda. Abbas’s speech “has made him…

US President Barack Obama said US intelligence officials failed to appreciate the gains made by Islamic State (formerly ISIS) extremists in Syria during the last few years of that country’s civil war. “I think they underestimated what had been taking place in Syria,” Obama said in an interview with CBS‘s 60 Minutes program. “Over the…

Israeli youths educated in the secular school system are shockingly ignorant of Jewish concepts and history, said MK Menachem Eliezer Mozes, head of the UTJ (United Torah Jewry) party. Mozes made the statement after meeting Sunday with President Reuven Rivlin. The two discussed a number of issues, including the political situation, and the place of…

Travelers leaving from Ben Gurion Airport will soon be able to use small electronic devices on flights, after Israel’s Aviation Authority said Sunday it was lifting the ban on most small electronic devices during flight takeoffs and landings. Users will be able to do work on tablets and other devices, including cellphones that are set…

On a visit to France Sunday, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett urged Jews still living in the country to come to Israel. “Just this week we saw what hatred of Israel looks like,” Bennett told a crowd in Paris. “ Our enemies fire rockets at our children and we defend ourselves, and then they get on…

Israel  comes to a standstill on Yom Kippur. Just about every adult fasts, but not everyone fasts easily. For  those with type 2 diabetes, the decision to fast on Yom Kippur is not a simple one and can even be dangerous, although almost all of them wish to do so. “Some patients”, says Dr. Noa…

Once again, Israel is hoping to hold down the explosive growth of the Bedouin population of the Negev by developing a plan to limit the number of women a Bedouin man may marry. Speaking Sunday to a Bedouin group, Agricultural Minister Yair Shamir, who is also the government’s point man on Bedouin population group, said…

The IDF is plowing ahead with its gender-mixng experiment and establishing a new mixed-gender battalion called Bardelas (cheetah), according to the IDF Website. The battalion will mostly be in charge of routine security in the Central Command region, which includes Judea and Samaria. It joins the mixed-gender Karakal battalion, which has been in existence for…

The Health Ministry on Sunday placed tanning beds on a list of products and devices that “definitely” cause cancer. Individuals who lie on the beds that are equipped with ultraviolet lamps designed to enable users to quickly get a tan are much more likely to get cancer, the Ministry said. The beds were transferred to…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) will establish a police presence in Gaza, Palestinian Arab sources told Walla! News Sunday morning, after Hamas and Fatah’s renewed declaration of faith in the “unity” government was made last week.  Three thousand PA policemen will be deployed in Gaza, according to the agreement, and will guard Gaza’s border area, including crossings into…

A Haaretz reporter was ejected from a pro-Palestinian conference at Birzeit University on Saturday, reporter Amira Hass said – simply for being an Israeli Jew.  Hass attempted to attend the “Alternatives to Neo-Liberal Development in the Occupied Palestinian Territories – Critical Perspectives” conference at the university, which is located near Ramallah where she lives. But she was ejected…

A British soccer team deleted a message from its Twitter account wishing Jewish fans a happy new year after the tweet sparked a torrent of anti-Semitic abuse. Liverpool Football Club posted the message on Friday, the second day of Rosh Hashanah, which read: “Liverpool FC would like to wish all our Jewish supporters around the world…

Loading… Speaking just before takeoff on his way to New York, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated his pledge to “refute the lies” against Israel at the UN General Assembly. “In my speech to the General Assembly, I will refute the lies that are being told about us and I will tell the truth about our…

Islamic State (ISIS) executed a prominent human rights activist in Mosul, Iraq last week, the United Nations (UN) said late Saturday – over one critical Facebook post.  Samira Salih al-Nuaimi criticized IS’s destruction of monotheist and Muslim religious sites in Iraq earlier this month in Facebook comments, after reports surfaced that the terrorist group had…

Mahmoud Abbas’s accusations of Israeli ‘war crimes’ and ‘genocide’ in Gaza have finally pushed the Palestinian Arab independence bid off the international community’s agenda, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) stated Sunday.  “Abbas has proven, once again, that he is not a partner for anything; he has managed to exhaust them all,” Liberman fumed, in…

Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) activists blocked an Israeli ship from docking at an Oakland, CA port on Saturday, as part of an anti-Semitic protest campaign to “Block the Boat” across the West coast of North America.  Roughly 200 people held signs and shouted slogans at dock workers in Oakland’s Shanghai port Saturday, according to…

Al Qaeda splinter group Ansar al-Sharia claimed responsibility for an attempted rocket strike on the US embassy in Sanaa on Saturday, saying it was in retaliation for US drone strikes in northern Yemen Friday. On Saturday, the attacker fired an M72 light anti-tank missile from a passing car before speeding away, security sources told Reuters. The rocket…

One out of every six IDF soldiers drop out of their service before it is completed – not by going AWOL, but by getting themselves discharged for a variety of physical, and more commonly psychological, ailments. Among soldiers of Ethiopian background, that number is one in four. According to IDF statistics, 16.5% of male soldiers…

Visitors to the ancient Mount of Olives cemetery on Saturday night reported major damage to several parts of the cemetery, especially the area used by Gerrer Hassidim. Many headstones were toppled or broken, and brass lamps and other items of value were stolen, they said. This is not the first time this section of the…

A terrorist from Gaza, armed with a knife and spike, was caught Sunday by the Security Coordinator of Moshav Shokeda, not far from the religious agricultural community, in the Sdot Negev Regional Council. The terrorist had infiltrated near Nahal Oz and was caught about seven kilometers from the Gaza security fence. He is being interrogated…

The Muslim convert who allegedly beheaded a female colleague during a deadly rampage in Oklahoma Thursday was “screaming Islamic phrases” during the attack, eyewitnesses said Sunday – and details about events leading up to the massacre are even more troubling. Alton Alexander Nolen, 30, had been trying to convert his co-workers at Vaughan Food processing…

One of the Islamist “activists” who attacked IDF soldiers aboard the Mavi Marmara flotilla in 2010 has reportedly been killed in a US airstrike in Syria, as he was fighting alongside Islamist terrorists. 40-year-old Bulent Alniak was killed in a US airstrike in Idlib, northwestern Syria, on a target identified as belonging to the “Islamic…

In his speech at the United Nations’ General Assembly Wednesday, President Barack Obama pleaded with Iran to do a nuclear deal before he would be forced to make even more concessions to “meet” Iran’s “energy needs.” And, on Israel-Palestinian conflict, Obama seemed to say that not only the “region,” but also, the entire “world” would…

According to documents filed with the American government, WPP-owned Burson-Marsteller has recently been hired by the Tunisian Muslim Brotherhood – yet refuses to represent Israel for their public relations needs.  An op-ed by Ronn Torossian in The NY Observer cites European news reports indicating that Burson-Marsteller refuses to work with Israel, yet proudly represents Muslim Brotherhood.   As the Al…

The time is now to release longtime prisoner Jonathan Pollard, Effie Lahav of the Non-Government Organization (NGO) Task Force for the Release of Pollard said Saturday – when US-Israel relations are finally improving.  “In a short time, Jonathan will mark his thirtieth year in American prison,” Lahav noted Saturday. “His physical and mental condition is…

MKs from across the political spectrum have begun to react to Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s incitement-laced speech against Israel at the UN General Assembly Saturday, after he accused Israel of “war crimes” and “genocide” for protecting itself during Operation Protective Edge in Gaza.  “Mahmoud Abbas has again proved his only expertise is spreading…

A Canadian court sent a strong message against so-called “honor killings” and related crimes last week, after sentencing three family members over threats they made to their daughter and sister for “violating traditional Pakistani values.”  Judge Monique Metivier ordered Iqval Bibi, a 49-year-old Pakistani woman who speaks no English, to learn the language and Canadian…

The US has identified the man behind the brutal decapitations of Western journalists James Foley, Steven Sotloff, and David Cawthorne Haines, FBI Director James Comey said Thursday. Comey stated that the man, known informally as “Jihadi John” or “John of London,” had been identified – but refused to name names.  He did indicate, however, that…

A senior Al Qaeda official has urged jihadists to “rescue the ship of jihad” from Islamic State (IS or ISIS) Saturday, according to an audio message released Friday and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.  Muhammad al Bahtiyti, also known as Abu Dujana al Basha, does not mention IS by name in the speech, but…

US-led airstrikes against the Islamic State terrorist group (IS or ISIS) in Syria continue Saturday night, but are failing to slow the jihadis’ advance on the Kurdish border town of Kobane. Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Unit (YPG), backed by fighters from the Turkish Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), have been engaged in a fierce…

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s attempt to blame western states for the rise of radical Islam in his speech to the UN General Assembly nearly backfired awkwardly when he used a racist Farsi expression – but was saved by a quick-thinking translator. During the speech on Friday, Rouhani claimed that “certain Intelligence agencies have put the…

Three Frenchmen arrested in Turkey after traveling to Syria were charged Saturday with planning terrorist acts, one of their lawyers said. The men, who were the subject of a high-profile judicial bungle this week after their arrest in Turkey, were being charged with “criminal association with the aim of planning terrorist acts,” lawyer Pierre Dunac told AFP. The trio include the…

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah reached a “comprehensive” agreement Thursday for the return of their “unity government” in Gaza after two days of talks in Cairo, negotiators from both sides said. “Fatah and Hamas have reached a comprehensive agreement for the unity government to return to the Gaza Strip,” Jibril Rajoub of Fatah told AFP. Senior Hamas official…

A resolution proposed by Arab states expressing concern about Israel’s alleged nuclear arsenal was defeated on Thursday at a meeting of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The measure, brought by 18 Arab member states, was rejected by 58 votes to 45, with 27 countries abstaining at the annual general conference. Israel is widely assumed to have…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has vowed to fight back against the “lies and slander” leveled against Israel when he addresses the UN General Assembly next week. Speaking Saturday night as he prepared to depart for New York, Netanyahu said he saw it as his responsibility to stand up for the people of Israel, following a…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas accused Israel on Friday of a “genocidal crime” in Gaza, telling the United Nations negotiations had failed and the time for Palestinian independence had come, and drawing a sharp rebuke from Washington, AFP reports. Abbas vowed to seek war crimes prosecutions against Israel over what he called the 50-day “war of genocide” in Gaza…

The US believes there are about 12 Americans fighting alongside extremist groups in Syria, not more than 100, as has been cited for months. That’s not to say there is no concern about these other 88 or so Americans who officials say have been killed, arrested, traveled or attempted to travel to join the fight.…

The old trunk was locked when it was found by auction house workers clearing a long-vacant home in Alaska that was about to be listed for sale. The collection crew’s members couldn’t find the key, so they broke the lock. Inside were yellowed papers and blankets. Personal stuff, they figured. Only back at the warehouse…

Nine Japanese nationals have joined Islamic State, Japan’s former air force chief, Toshio Tamogami, quoted a senior Israeli government official as saying, but the government’s top spokesman said on Friday it had not confirmed the information. Meanwhile, a senior US military commander said that around 1,000 recruits from the vast region stretching from India to…

The UN Security Council unified behind the international attempt to fight the Islamic State group and demanded on Wednesday that all states make it a serious criminal offense for their citizens to travel abroad to fight with militant groups, or to recruit and fund others to do so. At a meeting chaired by US President…

Israel said on Wednesday that Iran has used its Parchin military base as the site for secret tests of technology that could be used only for detonating a nuclear weapon. The Jewish state has been a severe critic of six big powers’ negotiations with Iran on restraining its nuclear program, suspecting Tehran is only trying…

British Prime Minister David Cameron sought to win cooperation from Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani against jihadists in Syria on Wednesday in the first meeting between the countries’ leaders in 35 years. Later, Cameron also said he would ask Parliament to approve joining international airstrikes against the Islamic State group in Iraq, he announced the move…

ISIS allies in Algeria behead French hostage Soldiers of the Caliphate releases video swearing allegience to ISIS, beheads French mountaineer in retaliation for French airstrikes in Iraq. Algerian extremists allied with the Islamic State group have decapitated a French hostage after France carried out airstrikes in Iraq, according to a video that appeared online Wednesday.…

Iraq has received “credible” intelligence that Islamic State militants plan to launch attacks on subway systems in Paris and the United States, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Thursday. “Today, while I am here, I am receiving accurate reports from Baghdad where there was (the) arrest of (a) few elements and there are networks…

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement on Thursday by which the unity government run by President Mahmoud Abbas would take “immediate control” of the Gaza Strip, negotiators in Egypt-mediated reconciliation talks told reporters. “Fatah and Hamas have reached a comprehensive agreement for the return of the unity government to the Gaza Strip,”…

The Syrian army has taken full control of a formerly insurgent-held area northeast of Damascus, Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV said on Thursday, as battles rage across war torn nation. Meanwhile, as France and the UK mull their roll in a US-led military campaign against the Islamic State group in Syria, scores of the group’s members were…

British Prime Minister David Cameron held talks with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday at the United Nations, the first meeting between the countries’ leaders since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, AFP reported. The meeting took place at the British mission office at the United Nations as the General Assembly got underway, according to the report.…

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said on Wednesday that Iran had conducted experiments with nuclear weapons at the Parchin military base, where the West believes suspicious nuclear activities have taken place based on satellite evidence. According to a statement from Steinitz, quoted by the Reuters news agency, Iran used the Parchin military base as the…

88 senators are urging the Obama administration to act to take Gaza away from its Hamas terrorist rulers and hand it over to the Palestinian Authority (PA), The Daily Beast reports. In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry obtained by the website, the 88 senators write, “We must support efforts to enable the…

French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday confirmed the execution of Frenchman Herve Gourdel, who was held hostage by Algerian terrorists linked to the “Islamic State” (IS). “Our compatriot has been murdered cruelly and in a cowardly way by a terrorist group,” Hollande told reporters ahead of his speech to the UN General Assembly in New…

Talks in Cairo between rival Palestinian Arab factions Hamas and Fatah on reviving their unity government were taking place in a “positive atmosphere” on Wednesday, officials said, according to AFP. The two-day talks, which began early Wednesday, come after a joint Palestinian Arab delegation and Israel agreed to hold separate indirect talks in late October…

Algerian extremists allied with the “Islamic State” (IS) group have decapitated a French hostage after France ignored their demand to stop airstrikes in Iraq, The Associated Press (AP) reported Wednesday. A group calling itself Jund al-Khilafah, or the Soldiers of the Caliphate, said after abducting Herve Gourdel on Sunday that he would be killed within…

The head of the Al-Qaeda splinter group Khorasan has been killed by an airstrike in Syria, a U.S. official said Wednesday, according to Sky News. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States suspects Musin al-Fadhli was killed during one of its strikes. “We believe he is dead,” the official told Reuters.…

“Too many Israelis are ready to abandon peace”, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday, as he addressed the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. “The situation in Iraq, Syria and Libya should cure anyone of the illusion that this conflict is the main source of problems in the region; for far too long, it has…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid agreed on Wednesday afternoon on a compromise regarding the state budget for 2015. According to the compromise, the defense system will receive another 6 billion shekels as an addition to the 2015 budget (the defense budget in 2015 will be 57 billion shekels) and another 7-8…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said Tuesday he has asked for $3.8 billion in urgent aid to help rebuild Gaza following the fighting this past summer. Hamdallah told The Associated Press (AP) that Saudi Arabia has pledged $500 million and other nations have indicated they would join in. He spoke at the end…

British Prime Minister David Cameron told NBC News on Tuesday that he is certain that the “Islamic State” (IS or ISIS) is plotting attacks in Europe. “These people want to kill us,” Cameron said. “They’ve got us in their sights and we have to put together this coalition … to make sure that we ultimately…

Jordan’s central bank said Tuesday it still supports the Jordan-based Arab Bank, which was found liable in a U.S. court of supporting Hamas a day earlier. AFP reported that the Jordanian bank said Arab Bank had been unable to defend itself adequately. A New York jury found the multinational lender liable on Monday on 24…

Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, said on Tuesday that airstrikes by the U.S. and a group of allies against Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria are illegal, The Wall Street Journal reported. Rouhani said military action could only be justified if authorized by the United Nations Security Council or if the measures were conducted with the…

Nigeria’s military on Tuesday said that some of the schoolgirls abducted in April by the Islamist Boko Haram group had been freed, but later retracted its statement, according to the BBC. Army spokesman Major General Chris Olukolade earlier told the BBC there was an ongoing exercise to release the schoolgirls taken from the city Chibok…

Hezbollah leader Hassan Narsallah declared on Tuesday that the group is against the intervention of the United States in Syria, the Lebanese-based Daily Star newspaper reported. Nasrallah’s comments in a televised speech came hours after the Pentagon confirmed that the U.S. had begun airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) targets in Syria. “Everyone knows that Hezbollah…

The family of British hostage Alan Henning on Tuesday said they have received an audio file of him pleading for his life, the BBC reported. In a “further message for Islamic State (IS)”, Henning’s wife Barbara said IS “continue to ignore our pleas to open dialogue.” “I and people representing me continue to reach out…

Captain Ziv Shilon, who was badly wounded in a Hamas attack near Gaza in October 2012 and lost his arm, on Tuesday married his fiancée, Adi, in the city of Ofakim. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recorded a video greeting for the newlyweds which was shown during the wedding ceremony. “I am very excited. I remember visiting you,…

The European Union (EU) counter-terrorism chief on Tuesday revealed that since declaring itself an Islamic caliphate in June, the Islamic State (ISIS) terror group has seen a surge of European jihadists whose numbers jumped from 2,000 to 3,000. EU counter-terror head Gilles de Kerchove told AFP that the boost in numbers comes following the declaration of Islamic statehood…

India on Wednesday became the first nation to successfully put a satellite in Mars’ orbit, in the process becoming the first nation to succeed in its first attempt and the first Asian country to reach the planet. The Indian Mars Orbiter Mission, known as the Mangalyaan, managed to complete the complicated maneuvers to enter orbit…

A group of Danish Muslim extremists sympathetic to the “Islamic State” terrorist group (IS) planned to murder an entire family and film it as a “warning” to Western states intervening against IS in Iraq and Syria. According to Norway’s NRK TV channel the group of Islamists intended to break into a random home, slit the…

Over a thousand protesters demonstrated Monday against the Metropolitan Opera’s anti-Semitic “The Death of Klinghoffer” production, including the father of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl who was murdered by Al Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. The words of Judea Pearl were delivered to the crowd in front of the Opera by Dr. Paul Brody, a leading member of the…

Dozens of Arab rioters began shooting fireworks at police on the Temple Mount on Wednesday morning, just hours before the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) began, and as soon as the holiest site in Judaism was opened to Jewish visitors. The rioters fired at police at the Mughrabi Gate, which is the only point of…

Ya’akov Argantero, a resident of Kfar Aza located in the Gaza Belt just outside northern Gaza, told Arutz Sheva he intends to stay at his home for the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) starting Wednesday evening despite great unease. “The feelings are really difficult, there’s still a lack of certainty and an insecurity, a fear of what…

A senior member of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction said that Abbas will “drop a bomb” against Israel at the UN General Assembly on Friday. The senior official, Jibril Rajoub, said in an interview on Palestinian Arab media that the move would be an integration of the international community into “the strategy…

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem recently said that his country would welcome foreign airstrikes against the “Islamic State” (IS, or ISIS) or the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front. The comments were made in an interview which aired Monday on Russia Today TV and was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “We are the people…

A police search has been launched Wednesday for a man who spewed anti-Semitic comments on a London bus full of Jewish schoolchildren, the Evening Standard reports – but only after the incident was published in a Jewish paper. Rosa Doherty, 27, a journalist for the Jewish Chronicle, was traveling on the 102 bus last week in…

In another strong sign of the warming of ties between Israel and the Republic of Cyprus, Nicos Anastasiades, President of the Republic of Cyprus, inaugurated a photo and video exhibition at Park East Synagogue in New York City this week entitled “Jewish Refugees in Cyprus en Route to Israel.” In President Anastasiades’ warm keynote speech,…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon continued to levy criticism about the conduct of the security cabinet during Operation Protective Edge on Wednesday, noting that the Cabinet’s infighting likely prolonged the war. “After two weeks they understood and internalized that there was a ceasefire,” Ya’alon, referring to Hamas, stated in an interview with Galei Yisrael radio.  “But someone…

Terrorist and hate preacher Abu Qatada was acquitted – and released – by a Jordanian court on Wednesday, on charges of plotting the 2000 “millennium plot” on American and Israeli tourists. This is the second acquittal for Abu Qatada. The terrorist, who was deported from Britain in July 2013 after a 10-year legal battle, was acquitted last month…

Likud Central Committee Chairman MK Danny Danon spoke to Arutz Sheva on Wednesday ahead of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana), slamming the leadership of his party – primarily Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – for stifling criticism. Netanyahu fired Danon from his role as Deputy Defense Minister in July during Operation Protective Edge, after Danon criticized Netanyahu’s decision to…

Western Africa is currently suffering a lethal Ebola epidemic, but according to a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report released Tuesday, the spread of the virus is liable to leap to frightening proportions by as soon as next January. The report forecast that unless serious action is taken to stem the tide…

Rival Palestinian Arab factions Hamas and Fatah began talks in Cairo on Wednesday aimed at resolving internal disputes and reviving their unity government.   The two-day talks will focus on “the return (of the unity government) in the Gaza Strip and the implementation of its authority without obstacles,” said the head of Fatah’s delegation, Azzam…

A new opinion poll released by Globes shows the right-wing and religious Knesset bloc growing significantly in the next elections – but also illustrates a slight comeback for Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s secularist Yesh Atid party. According to the survey, conducted by pollster Rafi Smith, if elections were held today the results would be as follows (current…

The Filipino terrorist organization Abu Sayyaf, which recently pledged loyalty to the Islamic State (ISIS), is holding two German citizens captive and demanding 250 million Philippine Pesos (over $5.6 million) from Germany within 15 days – or they will kill the hostages. The two Germans, aged 55 and 71, were abducted in April from their sailing…

Israel continues its push for allies in the Far East in a landmark visit next week by Vietnamese Minister of Science and Technology Nguyen Quan, in the first visit by a Vietnamese high-ranking official since the two countries established diplomatic ties 20 years ago. Quan will lead a large delegation of senior Vietnamese government officials…

The family of Netanel Arami hy”d gave a shocking insight into the police investigation during Deputy Religious Affairs Minister Eli Ben-Dahan’s (Jewish Home) condolence visit on Tuesday. Their son fell to his death last week from a building site in what is suspected as an act of terrorism. Police have yet to release a gag order…

A recent poll has revealed serious mistrust in the current Israeli government’s performance by the public, particularly vis-a-vis the summer’s war with Gazan terrorists, which many Israelis feel was not completed satisfactorily – as well as some interesting statistics regarding the attitude of Arab voters. The results of a Peace Index survey released Tuesday showed…

Confusion reigned Tuesday over the fate of the brother-in-law of a notorious jihadist whose 2012 killing spree shocked France, after the interior ministry said he had been arrested at a Paris airport but police and his lawyers later denied this.   The man – who is married to the sister of Mohamed Merah, an Al…

The global BDS boycott move against Israeli Jewish businesses, such as SodaStream, that operate in Judea and Samaria claims to aim to benefit local Arabs – but according to the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) official daily, it is doing just the opposite. The PA paper, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, on Sunday published an article reviewing the difference between Jewish…

An Australian man who had been put under surveillance over suspected terror links showed up at a Melbourne police station on Tuesday evening. But upon arrival he threatened to assassinate Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, before stabbing two officers and being shot to death. The 18-year-old had been identified as a “person of interest” amid…

Israel shot down a Syrian aircraft on Tuesday as it attempted to fly over the ceasefire line into the Golan Heights, according to IDF Radio. “This Syrian aircraft, apparently a MiG-21 (fighter jet), which was approaching the Israeli side of the Golan, was shot down by a surface-to-air Patriot missile,” the radio said. The wreckage of the aircraft landed…

The Israel Diamond Exchange in Ramat Gan serves as the heart of the country’s diamond trading sector, with thousands of companies offering diamonds of every imaginable variety. Foreign nationals are welcome to purchase diamonds tax-free in Israel. Since members of the public are unable to enter the Israel Diamond Exchange without an invitation from a…

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has adopted a report praising Qatar’s human rights record – despite the Gulf state’s support for ISIS and Hamas. The UNHRC adopted, on Thursday, the outcomes of the Universal Periodic Review of Qatar, praising its human rights “improvements.” Among the 78 countries supporting Qatar were Iran, China and Turkey.…

MK Ze’ev Elkin, the Chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, says Israel should hold on to the bodies of Marwan Kawasmeh and Amar Abu-Eisha, and use them as bargaining chips for obtaining the remains of IDF soldiers Lt. Hadar Goldin and Staff Sgt. Oron Shaul hy”d. Goldin and Shaul were killed in…

Islamic State (IS or ISIS) is changing the Middle East, Middle Eastern affairs expert Dr. Eldad Pardo told Arutz Sheva Tuesday – and the Arab world’s response to it will ripple into Israeli foreign relations as well.  Pardo first related to the Iranian nuclear question, noting that cooperation with the US on the diplomatic front “is inconvenient…

Minutes after a gag order was lifted, revealing that the IDF had eliminated her son’s murderers overnight, Rachel Frenkel (mother of murdered teen Naftali, hy”d) feels a sense of relief.  “Throughout the period [after the murders], there were two people going around there with two pistols and automatic weapons, who have nothing to lose,” she…

“Assad is the root cause of ISIS,” stated on Monday Hadi al-Bahra, the President of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, at a press conference at UNHQ in New York, under the auspices of the United Nations Correspondents Association (UNCA). Al-Bahra, a 55 year-old, American trained engineer, explained in fluent English the…

Marwan Kawasmeh and Amer Abu Eisha of Hevron, who abducted and murdered three yeshiva boys Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Sha’ar, Naftali Frenkel in June, were located and killed in exchange of gunfire early Tuesday morning. The operation was carried out by the Yamam, a special unit of the Border Police, and the IDF, in Hevron. An attempt…

The Arab Bank, which was found by a U.S. jury to have provided material support to Hamas will appeal the verdict, the bank’s lawyer said Monday, according to Bloomberg news. The lawyer, Shand Stephens, said the bank will appeal because the judge’s instructions were “erroneous” and mistakes were made in determining which evidence would be…

The two Hamas terrorists who murdered Israeli teens Naftali Frenkel, Eyal Yifrah and Gilad Sha’ar hy”d on June 12 and were shot dead in an exchange of fire with IDF forces in Hevron on Tuesday have been buried, in a funeral that quickly turned into a Hamas rally. The terrorists, Marwan Kawasmeh and Amar Abu-Eisha,…

As a shaky ceasefire continues to hold in Ukraine between government and pro-Russian rebel forces, many civilians caught in the middle of the conflict are still homeless refugees in their own country.  Among them are some 5,000 Jews who fled fierce battles in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, where several community members were killed…

The picture on the main page and to the right is of a Yemenite Jew blowing the shofar (circa 1935, all photographs are from the Library of Congress archives) Because It Is a Decree for Israel, a Judgment Day for the God of Jacob”  – Psalms 81 Jews around the world prepare for Rosh Hashanna this week, the…

Two young Iranians arrested in Kenya last week trying to fly to Tel Aviv on fake Israeli passports appeared in a Nairobi court on Tuesday, where they pleaded guilty to being in possession of forged documents. The accused were Hesamoddin Hatami, travelling under the false Israeli name Avshalom Tsabari, and Zahra Kolabian, travelling as Adi Larian; they claimed to the…

On Monday the High Court struck down key sections of the Infiltrators Law, ordering the closure of the Holot detention center in the Negev within 90 days and taking away powers allowing the state to hold infiltrators for a year without trial. A senior Tel Aviv police source revealed Tuesday just how destructive that ruling will be…

Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas was to meet Arab diplomats in New York Tuesday ahead of a fresh bid at the United Nations to create a new “political reality,” his spokesman said. “This visit is going to be a very important one, a crossroads,” Nabil Abu Rudeina told Voice of Palestine radio. “Settlements must stop.…

A 23-year-old resident of the northern Israeli Arab city of Umm al-Fahm on Tuesday became the first Israeli citizen to be convicted for joining the brutal Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization in Syria. The man, Ahmad Shurbaji, was charged by the Haifa Magistrates Court with illegally exiting Israel to an enemy nation and taking part…

An Algerian Islamist terrorist group linked to the “Islamic State” (also known as IS or ISIS) on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of a French citizen, and threatened to execute him if their demands are not met. The “Soldiers of the Caliphate” released a video in which they announced they would execute 55-year-old Hervé Gourdel…

American airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) targets are under way in Syria, according to a Pentagon official quoted by ABC News late Monday. “I can confirm that U.S. military and partner nation forces are undertaking military action against [IS] terrorists in Syria using a mix of fighter, bomber and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles,” Pentagon Press…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas vowed on Monday to present a new timetable for peace talks with Israel when he addresses world leaders at the United Nations later this week, according to AFP. “I say today to Prime Minister (Binyamin) Netanyahu: end the occupation, make peace,” Abbas told an audience in New York. In…

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius confirmed on Monday night that a French man has been kidnapped in Algeria by a group linked to the “Islamic State” (IS). The man, Herve Gourdel, was seized on Sunday in the unsettled north-east Kabylie area. Fabius said, according to BBC News, that an online video that showed Gourdel flanked…

Residents of southern Tel Aviv on Monday evening set up a “mourning tent” at the Habima Square in the city, in a reaction to the High Court’s decision to strike down key sections of the Infiltrators Law that made it possible to detain illegal immigrants without trial for up to one year. Residents of southern Tel Aviv…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, head of the Yisrael Beytenu party, declared on Monday that he would not agree to any changes in the make-up of the current coalition, even if that means holding elections. Liberman’s declaration, made during a Yisrael Beytenu toast in honor of Rosh Hashanah, came amid tensions between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu…

U.S. President Barack Obama will welcome Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to the White House on October 1, AFP reported on Monday. The meeting will come as a U.S. drive for a nuclear deal with Iran reaches a crucial point. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden on Monday announced the meeting, likely to highlight U.S.-Israeli divisions…

Dozens of right-wing activists demonstrated Monday night at the construction site where Netanel Arami, 27, was killed last week, protesting what they say is a police cover-up of Arami’s murder. Both the protestors and Arami’s family are convinced that one of the victim’s fellow workers deliberately cut the cable he was harnessed to at the…

Just in time for Rosh HaShanah and the Day of Atonement: Issue #3 of an anti-missionary periodical features an interview with a former top missionary who, as a result of reading Issue #1, “saw the Jewish light” and returned to the fold. The magazine, entitled “Searching,” is published by the Yad L’Achim organization, which fights…

A French man purported to have been kidnapped in Algeria on Sunday appeared in a video on Monday saying he had been kidnapped by an Algeria-based “Islamic State” splinter group, called the Caliphate Soldiers, according to Reuters. The man, who gives his name, age and date of birth, said he had arrived in Algeria on…

A U.S. jury on Monday said that the Arab Bank provided material support to Hamas, Reuters reported. The jury said that the bank must therefore compensate the victims of two dozen attacks the group allegedly carried out in Israel and Palestinian Authority-controlled territories. The judgment, which followed a closely watched six-week trial in a Brooklyn…

Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed, Rabbi of Beit El and one of the leading religious Zionist rabbis of this generation, accused Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of cheating him, when he promised to build 300 housing units in the community in exchange for the destruction of the Ulpana neighborhood. The High Court recently decided to tear down…

The White House believes some Americans who have fought for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (IS or ISIS) and other groups have returned to the US, an unnamed Obama administration official admitted for the first time Monday. Over 100 Americans are believed to have joined Islamist extremists, the official admitted, during a press briefing…

Reactions to the High Court decision Monday to annul key sections of the Infiltrators’ Law were divided along political lines. Jewish Home Chairman and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett said the decision reflected the degree of disconnection between the judges and the reality on the ground in southern Tel Aviv, where most of the infiltrators reside.…

Nick Di iorio, Republican nominee for Congress (NY-12), slammed U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s “poor record on Israel” Monday and what he said was her decision not to speak in a protest against the Metropolitan Opera’s anti-Semitic “The Death of Klinghoffer” production. Offered the chance to speak out against the anti-Semitic production, Maloney first agreed before backing…

Luxembourg will hold a referendum in 2015 on plans to modernize the small but wealthy EU nation, including whether foreigners should get voting rights, the prime minister said Monday. Premier Xavier Bettel, who ended Jean-Claude Juncker’s 18 years in power at the end of 2013, said there would be four questions in the vote to be held in May or…

Australian warplanes are being deployed to the Middle East to join the US-led campaign of air strikes on jihadist targets in northern Iraq, Defense Minister David Johnston said on Monday. “We will provide a number of military platforms, up to eight Super Hornet aircraft to participate in a US-led coalition in delivering air strikes,” he told reporters in Baghdad after…

Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) is looking into the possibility of leaving the government and becoming Head of the Opposition, political sources told Arutz Sheva Monday. The sources revealed that several members of Yesh Atid spoke with members of the Arab parties and Meretz and asked if they would agree to make Lapid Opposition Head. …

The High Court struck down key sections of the Infiltrators Law that made it possible to detain illegal immigrants without trial for up to one year. About 2,000 illegal infiltrators from Eritrea and Sudan currently being held at the Holot detention facility in the Negev must be set free in three months’ time. The decision…

The final 140 immigrants of the year 5774 arrived in Israel on Monday from Russia and Ukraine, and were greeted at Ben-Gurion International Airport by Minister of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption Sofa Landver, and Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky. Data compiled by The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption…

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel, together with rabbis of the Derech Emuna organization rabbis of Jerusalem’s Old City, have launched a campaign against a new mass Christian prayer initiative at the southern wall of the Temple Mount. For the first time since the liberation of the Old City in the 1967 Six Day War, the…

Unemployment was up in August during Operation Protective Edge, the Central Bureau of Statistics said Monday – the unemployment rate was 6.4% in August, up from 6.2% in July. However, there was some good news: the number of Israeli men participating in the workforce hit an all-time high in August. Among men 25-64 years old,…

Mike Harari, one of the most distinguished leaders of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, passed away on Sunday at the ripe age of 87 at his home in the Tel Aviv neighborhood Afeka, leaving behind a wife and two children. Harari achieved near-mythological status for his role as the commander of the Mossad special ops espionage…

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, the most popular names for newborn boys in Israel this past year was Yosef, followed by Daniel, Uri, and Itai, while girls were most popularly named Tamar, Noa, Shira, and Adelle. But in a story on Monday, Israeli daily Haaretz disputed the accuracy of that data – because…

Tragedy occurred in an agricultural field adjacent to the southern coastal moshav of Lachish Monday morning, as a 35-year-old resident of the south died after suffering intense allergic reactions due to being stung by a swarm of bees. The man was stung on all parts of his body, with the first report of the incident…

The World Council of Churches (WCC) is holding its annual “World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel” (WWPPI) this week, calling on Israel to release jailed terrorists – despite the severity of their crimes and the abundance of terrorists immediately returning to terror. NGO Monitor notes that WCC is a collective of “347 churches, denominations…

Miriam Schwab, a resident of the Maale Zeitim neighborhood that overlooks the Temple Mount from the Mount of Olives, is rethinking the neighborhood’s strategy with regard to the terror it faces on a daily basis. Her daughters, aged 10 and 7, were on the school bus that was attacked with paint and rocks Sunday morning.…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, after meeting French President Francois Hollande last Friday, claimed a peace agreement between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas would help the “struggle against terror.” Following the meeting, in which Abbas convinced Hollande to turn to the UN to pressure Israel, the PA chairman neglected to explain how exactly a long-term truce…

Mohammed Abu Sankara (16) died two weeks ago on Sunday, a week after being wounded while participating in a violent riot in Jerusalem – and evidently nothing could have made his mother any happier. Police say Sankara, whose name is sometimes spelled “Sunuqrut”, was shot in the leg with a sponge round, then fell and…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Monday visited soldiers wounded during Operation Protective Edge. Ya’alon visited soldiers who are hospitalized Levinstein Rehabilitation Hospital and wished them a good New Year. The hospital, located in Ra’anana, is one of the IDF’s premier rehabilitation facilities. During his defense minister toured the different departments. Defense Minister was accompanied by…

A prestigious medical journal is under fire on Monday, after its editor-in-chief refused to issue an apology for using the publication to promote anti-Semitic propaganda.  The offending article, entitled “An Open Letter for the People of Gaza,” drew ire from watchdog groups and medical experts alike for calling Israel’s self-defense operation in Gaza “a massacre”…

It’s official: The economic effect of Operation Protective Edge on Israel’s economy was “minor,” according to international ratings agency Standard Poors. In a report Monday, the agency reiterated its high regard for Israel’s economy, affirming its ‘A+/A-1’ rating for the country’s sovereign debt, meaning that investors in Israeli bond issues and government debt are almost…

Jerusalem Councilman Arieh King spoke to Arutz Sheva on Sunday, revealing the governmental policies from the highest echelons down to the grittiest building and population figures that lead him to reach one shocking conclusion: by 2030, Jerusalem will be an Arab capital. King began by discussing the Sunday morning rock attack on a bus filled with 65…

Children at a school in southern Gaza are reportedly being terrorized by the sounds of Hamas detainees being tortured at an adjacent police compound. Arabic-language Al Hayat Al-Jadida says parents of children attending the school in central Khan Younis have complained to authorities on numerous occasions about the phenomenon, which includes the chilling sounds of…

The most dangerous street in Israel is Herzl Street in Rehovot, the Or Yarok road safety organization said Monday. The organization cited fata from the Central Bureau of Statistics that showed that 131 of the 309 people killed in road accidents in 2013, or 42%, were killed in Israel’s cities. That’s 11% higher than in…

Israeli prosecutors are pushing to extradite a Russian priest linked to top football club Zenit St Petersburg who is wanted back home on charges of sexually assaulting two young girls. The justice ministry said police had arrested Gleb Grozovsky, 35, on Sunday as a first step towards extraditing him after Russia issued an international arrest warrant over an alleged sexual…

The Mossad, Israel’s secret intelligence agency, launched a new website on Monday to recruit men and women interested in covertly defending the Jewish state from its myriad of enemies. The new site can be viewed in English here, and also can be browsed in Hebrew, French, Russian, Arabic and Farsi. A statement released announcing the new…

Some 1.4 million travelers are expected to pass through Ben Gurion Airport into and out of Israel during the High Holiday and Sukkot period. Sunday will be one of the biggest days ever at Ben Gurion, with about 70,000 travelers passing through the airport, officials said. The airport will take on a decidedly Hassidic character…

The Palestinian Authority’s ambassador to Iran, Salah Al-Zawawi, recently said that all Israelis, other than “Palestinian Jews” should return to their homelands. Al-Zawawi made the comments in an interview which aired on Kawthar TV on September 16, and was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). In the interview, the ambassador thanked Iran…

An Egyptian television host recently said she “understood” Muslims carrying out suicide bombings in Israel, since Israel is “the enemy”, but rejected Muslims doing the same to Christians and fellow Muslims. The host, Rola Kharsa, made the comments on a program which aired on Egypt’s Sada Al-Balad TV on August 30. The remarks were translated…

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said on Sunday that he has been told security threats on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights are not expected to ease soon, dimming hopes that UN peacekeepers can be deployed back to the region in the near future, according The Associated Press (AP). A group of 244 Philippine…

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday that the U.S.-led military campaign plan to retake Iraqi territory held by the Islamic State (IS) calls for attacking the extremists from several directions simultaneously, and its success depends on getting more Arab help. “We want them to wake up every day…

Iran’s judiciary has given the government one month to block WhatsApp and other popular instant messaging services, Reuters reported on Sunday. Chief prosecutor Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei accused the country’s Communications Minister Mahmoud Vaezi of failing to unplug social networking sites and apps “with immoral and criminal content.” “Despite a three month grace period to allow you…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday warned the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad that it would be held to account for using chlorine gas against civilians. According to AFP, Kerry pointed to a report by the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) that concluded with “a high degree of confidence”…

Around 150 people gathered outside London’s Qatar embassy on Sunday to protest Qatar’s funding of terrorist organizations, especially as the Gulf state has been chosen to host the 2022 World Cup. The rally was organized by the Sussex Friends of Israel (SFI) together with the Israeli Forum Task Force (IFTF), which also staged a flash…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met on Sunday with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, The Associated Press (AP) reported. The talks were expected to focus on the prospects of reaching an agreement on reducing Tehran’s atomic activities in exchange for an end to nuclear-related sanctions on Tehran. The meeting Sunday comes on the…

The European Commission said Sunday it has not been told of any specific threat against it, after reports suggested its Brussels headquarters was a possible target for jihadist fighters returning from Syria. Belgian authorities confirmed to AFP Saturday they had made several arrests as they sought to prevent jihadist fighters or sympathizers with the Islamic State terrorist organization from carrying out attacks. There was no…

Arab terrorists threw rocks at a bus carrying Jewish schoolchildren in the neighborhood surrounding the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem Sunday morning, in the latest terror-related incident in the capital. No injuries were reported, but the bus’s windshield was damaged. Police are currently sweeping the area for suspects.  Jerusalem City Council member Aryeh King, who…

Ethiopian Aliyah may be at risk, according to IDF Radio, due to the upcoming and sudden resignation of Interior Minister Gidon Sa’ar (Likud).  4,500 people living in camps in the African heartland were still waiting for Sa’ar’s decision regarding their arrival when he suddenly stepped down last week, and some have been waiting for years.…

An outspoken Moroccan poet has angered many of her countrymen by accusing the Arab world of imperialism and defending the Jewish people’s right to a homeland in Israel. In an interview with Med Radio last week Malika Mezzane, who is an ethnic Amazigh (or Berber), challenged the official line in the Arab world, where tiny Israel is…

Two new Supreme Court justices will be selected on Sunday, after nine members of the Judicial Selection Committee meet with the office of Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (HaTnua).  The new justices will replace retiring Justice Edna Arbel and Chief Justice Asher Gronis. The committee will also, in practice, appoint new President and Vice President of…

An improvement in Israeli-South African relations may be on the horizon, MK Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid) stated Sunday, after he made a landmark visit to the South African Parliament after a five-year hiatus. Lipman, who is Chairman of the Parliamentary Friendship Association in Israel, was invited by Israel’s ambassador to South Africa, Arthur Link, who accompanied…

Chairman of the Jordan Valley Regional Council David Elhayani slammed the Civil Administration Sunday, attributing an agenda to the government office for promoting Bedouin building on Jewish land in Judea and Samaria.  “The Civil Administration promotes this plan on its own initiative, and it will affect our future,” Elhayani warned, in a special interview with…

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi told The Associated Press (AP) on Saturday that Cairo would be willing to help the U.S.-led coalition against the “Islamic State” (IS) group. Asked if Egypt might provide airspace access or logistical support for airstrikes, he said, “We are completely committed to giving support. We will do whatever is required.” He…

MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) is convinced that Netanel Arami, a construction worker who fell 18 stories to his death last week, was murdered by Arab construction workers. Feiglin went to pay a visit of condolence to Arami’s parents, brothers, his pregnant widow and two orphan children Saturday evening. Feiglin elegantly skirted a gag order on…

Within two years, businesses that employ 100 people or more will be required to hire at least 3% of their workforce from among the disabled population, according to a new measure signed Sunday by Economics Minister Naftali Bennett. The measure codifies an agreement on the matter set three months ago between groups representing Israeli manufacturers…

The man who was the top Marine general from 2006 to 2010 says President Barack Obama’s strategy to defeat the Islamic State in Syria is doomed to fail, reports the Daily Caller. “I don’t think the president’s plan has a snowball’s chance in hell of succeeding,” retired Marine General James Conway, who served as the…

Unions representing government workers stepped up their work sanctions in support of Israel Post Office employees, who are protesting an efficiency plan they say is likely to get many of them fired. On Sunday, Israel’s courts were effectively closed until further notice, as court workers refused to accept petitions, complaints, and other paperwork from citizens.…

Just two years ago, Israel Railways was near bankruptcy, but as Rosh Hashana approaches, the organization finds itself in the black – nearly NIS 1.5 billion richer than it was a year ago, officials said Sunday. The turnaround is the result of a new commercial agreement Israel Railways signed with the government and private companies…

MK Orit Struk (Jewish Home) on Sunday visited the family of Netanel Arami, h”yd, who was killed in a fall from an a high-rise construction site last week. Police have kept details of the 26-year-old’s death under wraps, but many in the community believe he was killed by Arab workers. “Up until this moment, not…

Israeli cities have officially entered the 21st century. A Knesset committee on Sunday banned the use of wagons drawn by horses and donkeys in Israeli cities. The new regulation puts an end to several old Israeli traditions, most notably the visit of the “alte zachen” (“old things,” in Yiddish) wagon, whose driver buys and sells…

Tel Hai College, in the upper Galilee, has decided to reprimand a tutor, Gabbi Weinrot, who made inflammatory statements against the IDF during Operation Protective Edge. The accusations against Weinrot were based on quotes from posts that appeared on his Facebook page, such as “You are murdering children in my name, you psychopathic Nazi sons…

Pope Francis warned during a visit to Albania on Sunday that religion can never be used to justify violence, making apparent reference to the bloodshed wreaked by the Islamic State terrorist organization in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). “Let no one consider themselves to be the ‘armor’ of God while planning and carrying out acts of violence and oppression,” the pontiff…

In a landmark decision Sunday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced the establishment of a National Authority for Cyber Defense. The new authority will be headed by Dr. Eviatar Mattaniah, head of the cyber-defense staff, and will be responsible for the protection of Israeli civilians against cyber attacks.  Netanyahu’s decision takes the already extensive work and…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu scoffed Sunday at the idea that western powers should go easy on Iran’s nuclear weapons program so that it will cooperate in fighting ISIS. Speaking at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem, he said: “I know for a certainty what Menachem Begin would say about something I have been hearing…

A demonstration in London Sunday outside the Qatari Embassy demanded that the sponsors of the World Cup change the venue for the 2022 games from Qatar to another location. In Israel, Yesh Atid MK Yifat Kariv has taken a special interest in the issue, and is leading Israeli activity to demand a venue change. Speaking…

“Dedication, faith and love – that’s how the Land of Israel is built.” It sounds like a cliché, but with Rabbi Shlomo Raanan, this is not only his motto, it is just his way of life. Consider tomorrow’s Torah dedication ceremony, for instance, in a town down near Gaza that does not yet even have…

Iran’s Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, successfully used an attack drone in a strike that killed tens of Al Nusra Front members near Arsal, Syria, according to Iran’s Fars news agency. The agency said the armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was used in a combined air and ground strike on the Lebanon-Syria border. Beside the drones, Hezbollah employed…

The IDF Armored Corps has begun using the Israel Military Industries (IMI) Hatzav shell (M329 APAM-MP-T), after first deploying it operationally during Operation Protective Edge in the Gaza Strip. The projectile was developed by IMI and the IDF Ground Arm following to lessons drawn from the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead. The 120mm…

Faced with increasingly brazen and numerous daily Arab terror attacks on Jews, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat thinks the media should not talk about the problem too much. The terror wave has become so unbearable of late that even leftist media sources have begun reporting it, after years in which nationalist sources like Arutz Sheva were…

The UN’s “Palestinian refugee agency” UNRWA on Sunday urged the international community to oppose Israeli plans to relocate thousands of Palestinian Bedouin from the E1 and Maaleh Adumim areas east of Jerusalem, to the area around Jericho, next to the Dead Sea. “If such a plan were implemented this would … give rise to concerns…

Early comments in the political sphere on the appointment of former Attorney General Menachem (“Menny”) Mazuz and Judge Anat Baron to serve as High Court judges lined up as expected, with MKs on the right criticizing the appointments, while others on the left praising them. In the latter category is Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who…

The Committee for Selection of Judges has picked former Attorney General Menachem (“Menny”) Mazuz and Judge Anat Baron to serve as Supreme Court judges. They will replace Edna Arbel, who retired three months ago, and current Supreme Court President Asher Grunis, who will retire in January upon reaching age 70. Judge Miriam Naor will become…

Fatah and Hamas will hold talks in Cairo next week in an attempt to iron out issues that have prevented the full implementation of a unity deal agreed upon in April, a senior Fatah official said Saturday, according to the Ma’an news agency. The official, Azzam al-Ahmad, said in a statement that talks to finalize…

With Iran refusing U.S. demands that it gut its uranium enrichment program, the two sides are now discussing a new proposal that would leave much of Tehran’s enriching machines in place but disconnected from feeds of uranium, diplomats told The Associated Press (AP) Saturday. The talks have been stalled for months over Iran’s opposition to…

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke with Egyptian Defense Minister Colonel General Sedki Sobhy on Saturday to confirm the United States plans to deliver 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt, Reuters reported. The Pentagon said the Apaches are meant to support Cairo’s counter-terrorism efforts, the Pentagon said. Washington said in April it planned to resume some…

The family of British hostage Alan Henning made a dramatic appeal for his release on Saturday night, the Telegraph reported. The appeal follows rumors on social networking sites that the 47-year-old taxi driver from Manchester had become the latest hostage to be killed by Islamic State (IS). His wife Barbara Henning said, “Alan is a…

In a shocking let down of security, two men managed to breach into the White House in two separate incidents within a 24-hour period, causing the building to be evacuated. In the first incident on Friday night, 42-year-old Omar Gonzalez of Coperas Cove, Texas, jumped the fence just minutes after US President Barack Obama, his…

At least three Hezbollah terrorists were killed on Saturday night in eastern Lebanon by a suicide bombing, apparently carried out by either Al Qaeda or Islamic State (ISIS) linked terrorists. The attack took place in the village of Khreibeh near the Syrian border, reports the Lebanese Daily Star, and comes a day after three Lebanese army…

An extension of truce talks in Cairo between Israel and the Palestinian Arab delegation, which includes the terrorist groups Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Authority (PA), will reportedly resume on Wednesday and try to address larger issues pushed off in the August 26 ceasefire. AFP cited Egyptian and Palestinian Arab officials on Saturday as placing the…

Signs telling women which side of the street to walk on, which were put up by a hareidi group in the northern London neighborhood of Stamford Hill, have been taken down by a London council. The signs, with “women should please walk along this side of the road only” written in Hebrew and English, were…

Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s (Yesh Atid) decision to hold a press conference in his Tel Aviv home on Saturday in open violation of the Sabbath has religious and non-religious MKs alike furious, with many waiting to see if the move may spell the end of the rocky coalition government. Lapid called up journalists to his…

The Dalai Lama on Saturday condemned violence in the name of religion, claiming the Muslim concept of jihad was being misused and misinterpreted by Islamist extremists. The Nobel Peace prize winner was referring to bloodshed unleashed by the Islamic State (ISIS) group in Syria and Iraq where it has conquered large swathes of territory, leaving bloodshed and brutal torture in its…

Egyptian security forces shot a Gaza resident to death and wounded two others on Saturday, after they tried to breach into the Sinai Peninsula through a tunnel at the border town of Rafah. The men, who were spotted by a security patrol, tried to run back into the tunnel after being ordered to stop and were…

After releasing its Hollywood-style trailer last Tuesday night, the brutal Islamic State’s (ISIS) Al Hayat Media Center on Friday came out with a 55-minute feature length film entitled “Flames of War: Fighting Has Just Begun.” The film, shot in a documentary-style, warns of an imminent direct conflict against America, and is narrated by a man…

The Belgian authorities have prevented several attacks by jihadist fighters returning home from Syria and by sympathizers with the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group, a report said Saturday. The daily L’Echo cited unnamed sources as saying the planned attacks could have been similar to the one on the Jewish Museum in central Brussels in May which left four people dead.…

An Israeli drone crashed inside Lebanon on Saturday, coming down close to the demarcation line with the Jewish state, according to a military source. “The drone crashed on the Lebanese border, inside Lebanese territory. Lebanese troops are in the area,” the source told AFP. There was no immediate comment from Israel, but the incident is…

Iran is taking further action to comply with the terms of an extended interim agreement with six world powers over its disputed atomic activities, a UN nuclear watchdog report obtained by Reuters on Friday showed. The findings in a monthly update by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) may be seen as positive by the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has offered the position of Interior Minister, to be vacated by Gideon Sa’ar, to Communications Minister Gilad Erdan, Channel 2 News reported on Friday. Erdan asked Netanyahu to give him some time to consider the offer, the report said. Netanyahu was quick to offer the post to Erdan since he is…