Category: News

French President Francois Hollande said on Friday that a “solution to the conflict” between the Israelis and Palestinian Arabs will be put to the United Nations (UN) Security Council. Hollande made the comments after meeting Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Paris, reported AFP. “We will have a resolution, to be presented to the…

The Al-Qaeda-inspired Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis group in Egypt beheaded a man in the Sinai Peninsula for allegedly conspiring with Israel, security officials said Friday, according to The Associated Press (AP). The terrorists dumped the beheaded body on the road in the town of Sheikh Zuweyid, and continue to hold several other men for the same…

Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond, said on Friday he will stand down as first minister and Scottish National party (SNP) leader after failing to secure a majority for independence in Thursday’s referendum. According to the Guardian, Salmond told a press conference in his official residence of Bute House that he would stand down as first…

The U.S. Senate unanimously adopted the United States-Israel Strategic Partnership Act on Thursday evening, reports JNS. The bipartisan bill, which declares Israel to be a “major strategic partner,” was authored by Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) and had 81 co-sponsors. “America’s long-standing relationship and strong cooperation with Israel dates back to the…

South African president Jacob Zuma has emphasized that his government is committed to combating anti-Semitism, reports The Jewish Daily Forward. Zuma made the comments in a meeting with the leadership of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) on Thursday night. The meeting was held to address anti-Semitism in South Africa in the wake…

Two different residents of Judea and Samaria this week breached a distancing order issued by General of Central Command Brig. Gen. Nitzan Alon. The one, an Arab woman from Ramallah, had her order cancelled – the other, a Jewish teen from Gush Etzion, was arrested. The 17-year-old Jewish resident of Bat Ayin in Judea’s Gush Etzion region…

Two young Iranians in their early twenties were arrested a few days ago in Nairobi, Kenya, Yediot Aharonot reports Friday, carrying forged Israeli passports with the Jewish names “Adi” and “Avshalom.”  The two men were caught after attempting to board a Brussels Airlines flight from Nairobi to Brussels, authorities said, with the intention to travel from…

Diplomatic sources are trying to calm residents of Judea’s Gush Etzion region Friday morning, following the sudden announcement yesterday that the Knesset will vote Sunday on building a security barrier separating the region from sovereign Israel. “In any future peace agreement Gush Etzion will remain part of the state,” the diplomatic sources in Jerusalem released in a…

A crumbling unity pact between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas may not be reconciled, PA unity government “Prime Minister” Rami Hamdallah stated Thursday, amid rising tensions between the various Palestinian Arab factions. According to Hamdallah – whose remarks were recorded by Palestinian Arab Ma’an News Agency – no plans have been instituted to ensure the implementation of…

The Philippines has pulled its UN peacekeepers from the Golan Heights a month ahead of schedule amid worsening security, a military spokesman said Friday. A total of 244 of the 344 Filipino soldiers and staff will arrive back in Manila later Friday, with the rest flying in the next week or so, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel…

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Ron Prosor on Thursday night spoke at a UN Security Council emergency session initiated by America, the current Security Council chair, in which he promised Israeli aid in combating the global ebola epidemic. “Israel is ready for the new challenge standing before the world, and has started providing…

The current coalition may be at risk, according Coalition Chairman MK Yariv Levin (Likud), after Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar (Likud) announced his resignation from politics and in light of a rift with Yesh Atid. “From day one, our partners in the coalition have, rather than pursue the interests of their offices and act on behalf…

Scotland’s bid for independence in a national referendum has ended with a resounding “No” vote on Friday, with 30 of the country’s 32 council areas counted and an insurmountable lead given to opponents of independence from the UK. BBC reports that 1,852,828 votes were needed by either side to win; the “No” campaign already reached 1,877,252…

An “alternative” to the Palestinian “unity” government may be in the works, Hamas “political leader” Mahmoud Zahar stated late Thursday night, claiming that the Hamas-Fatah unity pact was only a “temporary arrangement.” According to Zahar, the unity pact signed in April, was “only meant to last six months, and after that, there are choices for…

What was a Hamas terrorist doing in a Gaza tunnel that caused him to die now, weeks after the August 26 ceasefire? That question is on the minds of many following the Friday admission by Hamas’s “military wing,” the Al-Qassam Brigades, that one of its members has died in a Gaza tunnel. The terrorist, identified…

An Iranian court earlier this week sentenced a blogger to death for insulting the Muslim prophet Mohammed. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said 30-year-old Soheil Arabi was found guilty of sabb al-nabi – “insulting the prophet” – on August 30. He was arrested along with his wife in November of last year, after Revolutionary Guard…

“The Met Opera is clearly trying to sell tickets off of an evil Palestinian terrorist who is in the process of murdering a crippled Jew in the back in cold-blood” said Mark Langfan, President of Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI). The group, headed by Langfan and Helen Freedman, is spearheading an unprecedented coalition of…

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat addressed Jerusalem’s “silent intifada” on Thursday night, urging that he will take a hard line against Arab rioters, who have been throwing Molotov cocktails and fireworks at police and civilians.  “I want to clarify this decisively: a heavy and uncompromising hand should be taken against anyone who does violence of any…

Islamic State (ISIS) jihadists not only threaten the current Middle East – according to antiquities officials in Iraq and Syria, the terror group threatens to erase 5,000 years of history and relics in upper Mesopotamia, including one of the earliest Jewish synagogues. Much of northern Iraq and eastern Syria, which is rich in the archaeological…

The brutal Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group has been conquering massive swathes of Syria and Iraq, and recently extended a foothold in Lebanon – now the push of the group’s over 30,000 jihadsts has brought them to the very gates of Turkey in Syria’s north. Fierce fighting between ISIS and Kurdish forces Thursday night ended with the…

Hiva Mohammed Ali Zadeh, a 30-year-old Ottawa resident who headed a terror cell that was nabbed in 2010, was sentenced to 24 years in prison on Friday after agreeing to a plea bargain on charges of possessing explosives and planning a terror attack.  Ali Zadeh was in contact with Kurdish rebels associated with the Taliban Islamist…

The war of words between Hamas and Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction continued to heat up on Friday, after Hamas lashed out at unity government Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri gave Hamdallah a tongue lashing on his official Facebook page Friday, accusing the prime minister of “still being…

International airlines have suspended flights to the Yemeni capital of Sanaa for a 24-hour period Friday amid a worsening security situation, the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced. “Arab and foreign airlines have decided to suspend their flights to Sanaa for 24 hours because of developments in the capital,” the CAA said in a statement issued…

The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office filed charges against seven Arab rioters on Thursday, for offenses committed during disturbances that took place in the Abu Tor neighborhood in August. The four young adults and three teenagers, residents of the Abu Tor and Sur Baher neighborhoods in the capital, participated in the spout of unrest which emerged…

A human smuggling ship reportedly was intentionally capsized by traffickers last week off the coast of Malta, killing all but four of the 100 Gaza residents on board who were part of “thousands” of Gazans fleeing the Hamas stronghold in recent months. Osama, who lives in the United Arab Emirates and whose 23-year-old brother Yasser…

The world’s oldest known siddur (Jewish prayer book), an exquisite relic of Jewish history from 1,200 years ago, will be on display to the general public for the first time ever on Thursday afternoon at 5:30 p.m. at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem. The 50-page siddur, which hails from the Middle East, is still in its original binding…

One thousand Orthodox Jews crowded into a Crown Heights, Brooklyn, NY hall Monday evening for a noble purpose: to raise awareness of, and educate themselves about, child sexual abuse – an issue all too often avoided as taboo within some circles. The highly charged event served as an opportunity to show support to victims of…

The Islamic State (IS) group poses a smaller global threat than Al Qaeda despite its recent beheadings of three Westerners, although battle-hardened fighters returning home remain a concern, analysts said on Thursday.   US President Barack Obama is gathering an international coalition to fight the jihadist group based across Syria and Iraq following the release…

An officer in the IDF’s Central Command was brought in for investigation Thursday morning, over suspicion that he issued entry permits for Arab residents of Judea and Samaria in return for bribes. According to the suspicions, which first arose around two months ago setting in motion a military police investigation, the officer did not issue…

 Pope Francis has warned that Christians in Iraq and Syria face persecution just as Jews have in the past, a prominent American Jewish leader said Thursday. “You have suffered, now it’s our turn,” World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder said the pope told him in a private audience. Francis also repeated his recent warning that…

Yet another Nefesh B’Nefesh flight arrived in Israel this week, just in time for the new year. The flight from North America landed Wednesday at Ben Gurion Airport, bringing some 70 new immigrants to their new homes in Israel. Among them was Jacob Steinberg, a 25 year old immigrant from Lakewood, New Jersey. Steinberg is…

The brutal Islamic State (ISIS), which has committee numerous atrocities and beheaded two American journalists in recent weeks as it conquers Iraq and Syria, has released a new video of a British journalist asking for negotiations. In the video released Thursday John Cantlie, who lists his former employees as the Sunday Times, the Sun and Sunday Telegraph, can…

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper vowed to support Israel “through fire and water” on Monday, during a speech at the Ottowa Convention Center.  “Friends, in this fight, we also stand with the democratic State of Israel,” Harper said, “as we have again this year, as Israelis have once more come under attack from the terrorist group Hamas.” “I know there…

The Jerusalem Municipality’s Planning Committee approved a building project giving 2,200 new housing units to Arab residents of the Al-Sawahira Al-Gharbiyya neighborhood, located near the East Talpiyot, in a decision critics warn will have a disastrous effect on the capital. This marks the first time that an Arab building project of this scale has been approved…

There is no evidence that Arab Bank executives supported terrorism, a defense lawyer told a US jury Thursday at the end of a month-long trial. The Jordan-based multinational bank went on trial in New York on August 14, and is accused of aiding terror by transferring support funds to the families of Palestinian Arabs who died while attacking Israel. In more than three…

Two Hevron precinct police officers are refusing to uphold the decision of the Jerusalem Magistrates Court, which ordered them to apologize to David Viscot, a resident of Kiryat Arba in Judea. Viscot is a 58-year-old independently employed translator. His daughter and son-in-law lived in Givah 18 adjacent to Kiryat Arba – until police demolished their home…

In advance of the UN Human Rights Council investigation of Israeli “war crimes” in Gaza this summer, the Lawfare Project has compiled a detailed list of “Hamas’s Violations of International Law.” The UNHRC has appointed a three-member committee to investigate “all violations of international humanitarian law” during the recent war in Gaza. It explained its one-sided intentions by “condemn[ing]…

In the latest shocking example of rising global anti-Semitism, anonymous criminals on Wednesday detonated an explosive in the Jewish cemetery of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Residents living adjacent to the site reported to the police of hearing a strong explosion from the Jewish graveyard. After arriving on the scene, local police discovered the remains of an explosive.…

France’s lower house National Assembly on Thursday approved an “anti-terrorism” bill which will usher in a travel ban on anyone suspected of planning to wage jihad, in light of the growing number of Islamic State (ISIS) recruits from the West. The bill comes as authorities are increasingly wary about the number of French citizens travelling to fight in Iraq…

Knesset ministers are to hold a vote on Sunday to set the path of the security barrier in the Gush Etzion region of Judea, located just south of Jerusalem, according to reports on Galei Tzahal (IDF Radio) on Thursday. The barrier’s path was approved in 2006, and after petitions to the Supreme Court it was altered so…

The first four areas to declare results in the Scottish independence referendum have rejected leaving the UK, the BBC reports. Counting continues across the country. Clackmannanshire was the earliest to declare, with “No” winning 19,036 votes and “Yes” on 16,350 on an 89% turnout, according to the report. Voters in the Western Isles, Orkney and…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday there is evidence that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is using chlorine gas, “in violation” of a global chemical weapons treaty. “We believe there is evidence of Assad’s use of chlorine,” Kerry testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, according to The Hill. Chlorine gas is not on…

Knesset Speaker MK Yuli Edelstein spoke on Thursday as the world’s oldest known siddur (Jewish prayer book) was displayed to the general public at the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem. The 50-page siddur, which hails from the Middle East, is still in its original binding and was placed by carbon dating to be from the…

The U.S. Senate approved on Thursday President Barack Obama’s plan to train and arm Syrian rebel groups to fight “Islamic State” (IS) fighters, the BBC reported. The vote came a day after the House easily passed the president’s plan by 273 votes to 156, with both Democrats and Republicans voting yes. The Senate voted 78-22,…

A candidate for the U.S. Senate in the state of Kentucky has generated some controversy with anti-Semitic signs. According to WLWT television, the candidate, Robert Ransdell, is using signs reading “With Jews We Lose.” Several signs were placed at US 25 and Mount Zion Road in Florence, with about 20 other signs around northern Kentucky.…

Dr. Kamal Al-Labwani, an exiled leader of the Syrian opposition who is currently visiting Israel, on Thursday visited the Ziv Hospital in Tzfat, where many Syrians who were wounded in the civil war are hospitalized. Al-Labwani praised the humanitarian aid that has been given to wounded Syrians and thanked the staff at the Ziv Hospital…

Israel believes Syria has retained caches of combat-ready chemical weapons after giving up raw materials used to produce such munitions, a senior Israeli official told Reuters on Thursday. The official said Israel believe the Syrians have kept some missile warheads, air-dropped bombs and rocket-propelled grenades primed with toxins like sarin. “There is, to my mind,…

Hamas deputy leader Mousa Abu Marzouq said Thursday the group does not want another war with Israel, but warned more fighting is inevitable unless the blockade on Gaza is lifted. The comments were made in an interview Abu Marzouq gave to The Associated Press (AP). In the interview, Abu Marzouq insisted that Hamas won the…

Gazan terrorists appear to have broken the ceasefire with Israel once again, firing rockets at communities in the Gaza Belt region. At around 11:45 a.m. rocket alert sirens were reported in several communities in southern Israel, including the Hof Ashkelon and Gaza belt regions. Police in Lachish, southern Israel, are currently conducting a search for the…

With Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar announcing Wednesday that he had decided that he needed a break from politics – and would resign his post – speculation mounted Thursday as to whom Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would nominate for the important post. According to reports, that candidate is likely to be Communications Minister Gilad Erdan, for…

Excavators carrying out an archaeological survey on the foothills south of Beit Shemesh recently stumbled upon an impressive finding which sheds light on a previously unknown, prosperous settlement in the region some 1,000 years ago. The Israeli Antiquities Authority (IAA) said it “uncovered a large and impressive compound dating to the Byzantine period in Ramat Bet…

Just in time for the last big weekend before Rosh Hashana, when tens of thousands of tourists and Israelis will be passing through Ben Gurion Airport on their way in or out of the country, Airports Authority workers have decided that the time is right for work actions – with the first a wildcat strike…

An Australian Islamist terror cell planned to behead a random member of the public, as part of an unprecedented campaign of terror in the country. Prime Minister Tony Abbot said that credible intelligence which led to the arrest of scores of terror suspects Thursday morning indicated that the beheading was one of a number of…

A 29 year old Bethlehem resident was arrested Thursday by the Border Police when he approached officers stationed at the checkpoint next to the tunnels on the Jerusalem-Gush Etzion road. The suspicious-looking character was found to be carrying an axe. Officials said that the man’s suspicious behavior led them to thoroughly check his belongings. The…

Using the term “shylocks” to describe unscrupulous bankers who prey on servicemen and servicewomen deployed overseas was a bad idea, US Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday. Biden made the apology a day after Jewish groups blasted him for using the Shakespearean character to draw an analogy with bankers who set up soldiers with loans…

The Supreme Court has ruled that hareidi high schools need not teach core secular subjects. By a 7-2 margin, the justices voted not to strike down a law exempting the hareidi schools from the requirement to teach the subjects. The court thus rejected a suit filed by former Education Minister Amnon Rubenstein of the far-left Meretz party,…

Israel is ready, willing, and able to help the US in the fight against ISIS, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman told US Secretary of State John Kerry. In a meeting late Wednesday in Washington with Kerry, Liberman said that Israel realized the sensitivity of the situation, and that Israel would take on whatever role it could…

Former Minister of Tourism, Stas Misezhnikov, is being investigated over charges of bribery, it was revealed Thursday. Misezhnikov, a Yisrael Beteinu minister who served in the last government, is accused of accepting gifts in order to throw contracts to tour operators and other service providers. Misezhnikov is said to have accepted millions of shekels in…

15 people have been detained and one person charged with terrorism offences, following pre-dawn raids across Sydney and Brisbane, reports the Australian Associated Press (AAP). Authorities confirmed at least one person had been charged and would face court in Sydney later in the day following the largest counter-terrorism in the nation’s history. More than 800…

Opposition leader MK Yitzhak Herzog responded on Wednesday night to the declaration by Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar to retire from politics, saying the decision was proof that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu must be replaced. “The announcement accelerates the disintegration of the Likud. Those closest to Binyamin Netanyahu, those who know him well, [former minister Moshe]…

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Wednesday accused the United States of being “obsessed” with sanctions against his country, AFP reported. “We are committed to resolving this issue,” Zarif told a Washington think-tank, but he argued the U.S. was “infatuated” with sanctions and Congress was objecting to any deal “because they would have to…

Suspected hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim people are up following unrest overseas, the New York City police department said on Wednesday, according to CBS New York. Deputy Chief Michael Osgood said there has especially been an increase since July 1, when reports about unrest in Gaza and the Islamic State group became front-page news.…

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday denounced the “Islamic State” (IS) for its savagery but also branded the U.S.-led coalition against the terror group as “ridiculous.” Rouhani’s comments were made in an interview with NBC News from the presidential palace in Tehran ahead of his visit to the United Nations. “Are Americans afraid of giving…

Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzouq on Wednesday told the Palestinian Authority-based Ma’an news agency that indirect ceasefire negotiations between Palestinians and Israel will restart within the next week. Abu Marzouq said that while the exact date had not yet been set, “it would definitely be before the 24th of the current month.” The Hamas leader…

The House on Wednesday approved President Barack Obama’s request to arm and train Syrian rebels in the fight against the “Islamic State” (IS) group, CNN reports. With significant opposition to the proposal in both parties, the vote was 273-156, according to the report. Many Republicans argue the strategy isn’t tough enough to defeat IS; many…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke on Wednesday evening with Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar, hours after Sa’ar unexpectedly announced his upcoming resignation from politics.  “I respect your decision to take a break from public life,” Netanyahu told Sa’ar, adding, “I thank you for your many years of public service in the government, the Knesset and the Likud…

Anat Heifetz, a member of Kibbutz Nirim in the Gaza Belt, told Arutz Sheva on Wednesday night that the region’s residents have been left with a “bad feeling” about the current negotiations in Cairo.  “We hope that it is a one-time feeling, but there’s a feeling that maybe things are starting to deteriorate prior to the expiration…

Shock has rippled through the political scene Wednesday, after Interior Minister and longtime Likud MK Gidon Sa’ar announced his upcoming resignation from politics.  Coalition Chairman MK Yariv Levin (Likud), said that he “regretted” Sa’ar’s decision. “I have great respect for Gidon’s work and his contribution to the Likud party and to the State of Israel,”…

Terror attacks in Jerusalem are becoming too common, angry Jerusalem residents protested Wednesday afternoon – and Interior Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch (Yisrael Beytenu) has neglected to deescalate the situation.  “There is an enemy here. We are protesting here, in front of the police station [. . .] because we believe that the time has come…

Interior Minister Gidon Sa’ar (Likud) will be leaving politics, he announced Wednesday, and will hand his resignation in after the holidays later this month.  First, however, he reflected somewhat on his political career.  “I’m going to address unusual speech,” Sa’ar stated, at the traditional ‘toast for the New Year’ at his Ramat Gan home. “I…

Former US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden has accused the US National Security Agency of routinely passing private, unedited communications of Americans to Israel, an expert on the intelligence agency said Wednesday. James Bamford, writing in the New York Times, said Snowden told him the intercepts included communications of Arab- and Palestinian-Americans whose relatives live in Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA)…

A crowdfunding initiative to rebuild the Third Temple in Jerusalem has gained steam, the Temple Institute stated Wednesday, and is close to reaching its $100,000 goal.  The indiegogo campaign has reached close to $71,000 in fifty days, according to the Institute, and is expected to surpass the target before the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) next…

Tomorrow evening Scotland will decide whether or not to break away from the United Kingdom and become an independent state. The looming referendum has been fiercely contested, with Scottish nationalist leaders advocating for independence facing off with politicians in London appealing to Scots to preserve “the union.” Adding to the drama, current polls have been…

A 30 year-old Yemenite man was charged in a US court Wednesday on conspiracy of attempting to help the Islamic State terror group, becoming the second US citizen in one week to make media headlines for his terror connections. Mufid A. Elfgeeh was named in the seven-count federal indictment, which also included separate charges of attempted…

Twenty-four (24) hours after construction worker Nathaniel Ro’i Arami, 27, fell to his death from the eleventh floor of a Petah Tikva construction site, it is still unclear what happened in his final moments.  Arami, a husband and father of two children under the age of two, was from the Achiezer Moshav in the Shefela…

The Israeli Airport Authority (IAA)’s employees have chosen to identify with postal workers threatened with dismissal on Wednesday, according to Channel 2, and have announced a general strike at Ben-Gurion International Airport Thursday from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.  IAA Workers’ Committee Chairman Pinchas Idan announced the strike Wednesday afternoon. During the strike, flights will…

The Jewish population in Judea and Samaria grew by an impressive 2% in the first half of 2014, according to statistics released by the Yesha Council. The Council, which represents Jews in the Judea-Samaria region, said that between the end of December 2013 and the end of June of this year, the Jewish population rose…

A woman in her fifties from the Golan Heights was arrested on Wednesday, after police received information that she had stolen thousands of shekels from an elderly man she cared for over the past nine years. The woman, who is suspected by police on crimes of fraud, stole a full 250,000 shekels (over $68,000) over…

Kurdish Peshmerga forces claim to have killed a senior Islamic State (IS) military commander Tuesday. According to Kurdish news outlet Rudaw, 39-year-old Yasin Ali Suleiman Shlash, also known as Abu Abdullah, was IS’s top military commander in the Mosul region.  “He was killed with a number of other terrorists during a military operation by Peshmerga forces in…

Former Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin took the side of Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) in the current flap between Bennett and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon over information that Bennett obtained from the IDF during Operation Protective Edge. Ya’alon said that the information was obtained improperly and that Bennett used it against the defense…

“I’m going to hold the holidays elsewhere with friends,” said Silvia Orshovsky of Ein Hashlosha, who owns a local market that was hit by a mortar round during the operation. “We’re worried about what might happen on Rosh Hashana. It’s a fact that the firing started yesterday. In this way trickles (of rocket fire) start. People…

Amos Shocken, the publisher of ultra-leftist newspaper Haaretz, met a few days ago with about 100 former readers of the newspaper who cancelled their subscriptions to the paper because they were fed up with its extreme content during Operation Protective Edge. The single item that caused the most outrage was an article by rabidly leftist…

Police began forcibly evicting around 20 families from the Tel Aviv suburb of Givat Amal Bet on Wednesday morning, despite the Tel Aviv Municipality’s request to wait on the action until after the upcoming Jewish High Holidays. Large police forces and Yassam police special forces arrived on scene early in the morning, where they faced…

Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal has reportedly become a persona non grata in his erstwhile home of Qatar, after the Gulf state decided to expel the terrorist group’s leader due to international pressure. However, Hamas spokesperson Ismail Radwan responded by claiming the reports were not true, and were only meant to “sow tension and confusion,” distancing…

According to several senior US analysts, the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist jihadi danger not only threatens western Europe – the presence of hundreds of Chechen fighters in the ISIS ranks puts Russia squarely under the cross-hairs as well. The New York-based Soufan Group intelligence firm said in June that roughly 200 Chechens are fighting in…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction has exposed that Hamas is running a human trafficking network, smuggling Gaza residents to Europe for $2,000 to $3,500 per person. The charges come following reports that dozens of Palestinian Arabs drowned last week after leaving Gaza for Egypt, where they boarded an ill-fated ship bound for…

Twenty-four (24) hours after construction worker Nathaniel Ro’i Armi, 27, fell to his death from the eleventh floor of a Petah Tikva construction site, it is still unclear what happened in his final moments.  Armi, a husband and father of two children under the age of two, was from the Achiezer Moshav in the Shefela…

Algeria will impose more government control on training for the country’s imams in a bid to fight Islamic extremism, its religious affairs minister said in comments published in local media on Wednesday. The former French colony in North Africa has a difficult history with religious fundamentalism, having fought hardline Islamists during a bloody civil war…

The owner of the Migdal Insurance company, Shlomo Eliyahu, donated an elaborate Torah scroll in the memory of murdered Israeli teenagers Eyal Yifrah, Naftali Frenkel, and Gilad Sha’ar (hy”d) Tuesday, in an emotional ceremony attended by both the Yifrah family and Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau.  Eliahu, as well as his son, Migdal…

Hamas this morning denied claims that its Political Bureau chief, Khaled Mashaal, was being expelled from longtime ally Qatar. The initial report came just days after seven leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood were expelled from the country, having sought refuge from an Egyptian government crackdown. That move naturally lead to speculation that Qatar might take a…

Israel’s Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz on Wednesday urged the European Union (EU) not to make a “bad deal” with Iran over its nuclear program, ahead of crucial talks. Steinitz suggested outgoing EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton may be in a rush to conclude a deal before she steps down at the end of this year. He also said the…

Interior Minister Gideon Saar has instructed the Population, Immigration and Border Authority (PIBA) to allow the registration of a new nationality – Aramaean – in the identity cards of Christian citizens who were registered as Arabs until now. In a letter to PIBA Director Amnon Ben-Ami, Saar wrote that he has “received three opinions according…

A mortar shell from Syria exploded in the Golan Heights early on Wednesday afternoon, landing on the Israeli side of the Quneitra crossing that is the only point of access between the two countries. The shell landed in open territory and according to reports did not cause damage or injury. Apparently the mortar shell was…

MK Amnon Cohen (Shas), chair of the Knesset’s State Control Committee, ordered State Comptroller Yosef Shapira on Wednesday to investigate the government and Security Cabinet’s decisions during Operation Protective Edge – with a special emphasis on readiness for Hamas’s terror tunnels. In a committee meeting with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Cohen argued that the whole government, and…

MK Orit Struk (Jewish Home) sharply criticized Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon for cracking down on suspected unauthorized leaks of IDF information to Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) on Tuesday – the same day that a mortar shell from Gaza breached the ceasefire. “Hamas fired a multi-rocket salvo in honor of the agreement to reconstruct…

US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told the Congress on Tuesday that he recommends deploying US ground forces against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq, in a direct contradiction of US President Barack Obama’s largely hands off approach. Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Dempsey backed the coalition being…

Residents of the Eshkol Regional Council reported Tuesday night that a rocket was fired from Gaza, falling outside of one of the local communities. The IDF in the last few minutes confirmed that a mortar shell fired from Gaza and landed on the Israeli side of the security fence, in the first such attack by…

Brig. Gen. (res.) Yehiam Sasson, former head of the Israeli National Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau, told Arutz Sheva that the Bureau’s issuance of a travel warning to western Europe signals an innovation that hasn’t occurred before. “The travel warning of course also includes the traditional countries like Jordan, Morocco, Egypt and to a grave degree Sinai which has turned…

Syrian rebels linked to Al Qaeda have seized UN weapons, uniforms and vehicles from peacekeepers in the Golan and set up a “safe zone” to wage attacks, the Syrian ambassador said Tuesday. The United Nations on Monday was forced to pull back hundreds of peacekeepers to the Israeli side of the Golan after Syrian rebels…

It’s being dubbed the “silent intifada” by Israelis, with many perplexed as to why authorities aren’t acting more firmly against the massive explosion of violence by Arab extremists in Jerusalem. Rock attacks, molotov cocktails, lynch-mobs, physical assaults, vandalism, firecrackers and even live gunfire have all been reported, against police and Jewish residents alike, as figures revealed an alarming, exponential…

Ya’akov Hagoel, head of the Department for Activities in Israel and Countering anti-Semitism of the World Zionist Organization (WZO), told Arutz Sheva that regardless of the claims of Belgian officials, the Brussels synagogue arson attack on Tuesday was no “criminal” act. “This is an arson incident that occurred at 5 a.m. in Brussels at the Anderlecht…

As Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas made the somewhat outlandish claim that his Fatah lost 17 times more members than Hamas in the recent Operation Protective Edge, Fatah praised one of its Gaza rocket commanders in a special video. A week ago Abbas said in a meeting in Cairo that Hamas only lost 50 terrorists,…

The United Nations has brokered an Israeli-Palestinian deal on imports of construction materials to Gaza to ensure they will not be diverted by Hamas terrorists, a UN envoy said Tuesday. The agreement on monitoring the supply of materials “must get up and running without delay,” said Robert Serry, the UN envoy for the Middle East.…

The White House insisted on Tuesday that the U.S. would not deploy ground forces against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq, despite comments otherwise by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey. Dempsey said earlier Tuesday he recommends deploying ground forces against IS in Iraq “My view at this point is…

The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari, on Tuesday claimed he is doubtful that the real objective of the United States against the “Islamic State” (IS) is to eliminate the group. According to the Iranian Shafaq News website, Jafari said in a news conference that America “feels despair” over what IS…

Al-Qaeda’s branches in Yemen and North Africa on Tuesday issued an unprecedented joint statement calling for jihadists in Iraq and Syria to unite against the common threat from a U.S.-led coalition, AFP reported. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) urged their “brothers” in Iraq and Syria to “stop…

A court in Athens, Greece, on Tuesday found a member of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party guilty of inciting racist violence, the To Vima Greek newspaper reported. The man, Alexandros Plomaritis, was given a three-year suspended sentence, according to the report. Plomaritis was accused of making racist comments in a documentary by director Konstantinos Georgousis,…

Jordan arrested a senior member of the country’s Muslim Brotherhood on Tuesday on charges of “incitement” against the authorities, AFP reported. Mohamed Said Bakr, a member of the Brotherhood’s consultative council, was detained for 15 days by prosecutors after criticizing the government at an event marking the end of the conflict in Gaza, a judicial…

International basketball’s governing body, FIBA, said on Tuesday that players will be allowed to wear religious head coverings, such as hijabs or turbans, on a trial basis in some competitions, according to The Associated Press (AP). FIBA’s central board met over the weekend at the men’s world cup and voted to allow a two-year testing…

Senior defense officials said on Tuesday night that Hamas has arrested the terrorists who were responsible for the mortar fire on the Eshkol region earlier in the evening. According to the officials, Hamas had passed a message to Israel after the shooting that it would arrest and punish those responsible for the shooting, and did…

Speaking to reporters in the UN Security Council hall, at the UN’s New York headquarters, Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari warned Tuesday that the “Israelis are playing with the fire, they are escalating the situation.” He was referring to the rebel Syrian Al-Nusra Front’s takeover of the UNDOF Bravo Line on the Syrian side of…

The last person injured in the course of Operation Protective Edge has been released from hospital. Gadi Yarkoni, 47, of Kibbutz Nirim, left Soroka Hospital Monday and is beginning a protracted period of rehabilitation at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer. Yarkoni, a father of three, was very seriously wounded when a mortar shell fired by…

In arrests carried out Monday and early Tuesday morning, Jerusalem Police and Border Police officers have arrested 22 Arabs, many of them minors, on suspicion of rioting and attacking Jews over the last few days. Those arrested include six children aged around 12 who are suspected of throwing firebombs at the homes of Jewish families…

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has released a video of an imam in Gaza who was filmed during a Friday sermon while brandishing a gun and saying that weapons were the Palestinian Arabs’ only means to establish a caliphate. MEMRI noted that the cleric, Sheik Iyad Abu Funun, was released to the Palestinian…

Despite the high-profile and shocking nature of the so-called “Islamic State” and its push through Iraq and Syria, the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad is still responsible for the majority of war crimes being committed in that country, according to the author of a special UN report into the Syrian civil war. With no end…

Research conducted by over 800 rabbis of the Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE) and European Council of Jewish Communities (ECJC) has revealed that assimilation in the European continent has reached a shocking rate of 80%. RCE clarified that the appalling figures were clarified through an analysis of the amount of Jewish weddings compared to the…

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon has instructed IDF Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, to initiate an inquiry against a senior reservist officer who is suspected of leaking unauthorized information to Minister Naftali Bennett during Operation Protective Edge. The senior officer has already been dismissed from his position because of passing on the information, in…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon on Tuesday morning spoke about the replacement for IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, who will step down from his post next February 15, and clarified he does not intend to appoint Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yoav Galant who almost had the post in 2011. Speaking at a Jewish New Year (Rosh…

A fire broke out in a synagogue in the Belgian capitals of Brussels Tuesday, in what appears to be a “criminal” act, according to reports. Belgian daily La Dernière Heure said that several people broke into synagogue, which is located in the predominantly Muslim neighborhood of Anderlecht, and ignited several fires on the fourth floor of the…

MK Pnina Tamano-Shata (Yesh Atid) reacted Tuesday to the violent assault on two Ethiopian Jewish men in Petah Tikva at week’s end. “I am ashamed and shocked by this hate crime,” said MK Tamano-Shata, who was born in Ethiopia. There is no need to try and prettify the ugly truth. The violent attack was only…

The Islamic State terrorist group downed a Syrian air force jet for the first time today, in signs the terror group also known as ISIS is improving its military capabilities. “IS fighters fired on a military aircraft which crashed,” said the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “It is the first aircraft shot down since…

Shevah Stern, Chairman of the Likud’s ‘Mate Leumi’ faction, said Tuesday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s absence from Monday’s Central Committee convention is a result of poor planning – and does not indicate major tension within the party. Netanyahu, he said, could have reached common ground with MK Danny Danon, the Convention Chairman, but both…

Philanthropist Kenneth S. Abramowitz has issued a call to “save western civilization from itself” by shutting down the United Nations, among other measures. As part of a general effort to fight the false narratives and terminology propagated by the left wing, Abramowitz says that the UN should no longer be portrayed as an important advance…

The United States launched airstrikes in Iraq on Monday in what defense officials said is the start of an expanded action against Islamic State extremists, USA Today reports. Central Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, said both fighter and attack aircraft conducted separate airstrikes Sunday and Monday in support of Iraqi forces…

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Monday said his country had rejected a U.S. request for cooperation against the “Islamic State” (IS) because Washington has “dirty hands”. “Right from the start, the United States asked through its ambassador in Iraq whether we could cooperate against [IS],” Khamenei said in a statement on his official…

Deputy Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) warned on Monday that a “two-state solution” will endanger the security of Israeli residents and will bring rockets and missiles to the heart of the country. Akunis’s comments came in a meeting with Likud members in the Sharon region city of Kfar Saba. “This year, we learned what we had…

Mohammed Badie, top leader of Egypt’s outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, was sentenced to life in jail along with 14 others Monday on charges of murder and inciting violence during clashes near Cairo last year, Reuters reported. The session had been summoned for witness statements but the judge surprised journalists and others present by issuing a verdict,…

House Republicans want to keep the Obama administration on a short leash when it comes to arming and training Syrian rebels, Politico reported on Monday. The legislation that the GOP is drafting to give the White House authority to provide military support to the Free Syria Army will require the Obama administration to send a…

A senior official with Hezbollah declared on Monday that the group will not leave Syria, citing the threat of the “Islamic State” (IS) and other radical groups, reports the Lebanese-based Daily Star. Speaking at a ceremony in the southern village of Aita Shaab, Nabil Qaouk, the deputy head of Hezbollah’s executive council, said, “There could…

Hamas has executed a Palestinian Arab officer for spying for Israel, the Turkish Anadolu agency reported on Monday, citing a security website close to Hamas. “The 59-year-old officer, who is working for the Palestinian Authority’s security apparatus, has been executed by the security agencies belonging to the resistance factions,” the Hamas website said. According to…

The Palestinian Authority on Monday condemned the “Islamic State” (IS) group over its terrorism, but also took advantage of the situation to take a jab at Israel. A statement from the PA’s foreign ministry quoted by the Ma’an news agency hinted that Israel’s actions should also be treated as terrorism. According to the statement, the…

For the first time Likud head Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has publicly referred to MK Moshe Feiglin, leader of the Manhigut Yehudit faction of the Likud. Feiglin has been a formidable force in the party over the past several years, but until now Netanyahu has chosen to ignore his membership in the Likud, and in…

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on the Ebola crisis Thursday to find ways to scale up the global response to the epidemic that started in March, the US ambassador announced. “It is crucial that council members discuss the status of the epidemic, confer on a coordinated international response and begin the…

During Operation Protective Edge, many of the social issues plaguing Israel were put on the back burner – but with the war over, unresolved issues have resurfaced, seeking a solution. Among those issues remains the preponderance of illegal African migrants in many parts of Israel, especially in south Tel Aviv, where tens of thousands are…

A proposed sale of Israeli weapons including drones to Ukraine has been blocked for fear of antagonizing Russia, according to Israeli news reports on Monday. A Ukrainian delegation had visited Israel with a view to acquiring military hardware including drones to use against pro-Russian separatists, said the report on Channel Two television. It was not reported when the visit took…

In a move that is likely to further jeopardize his coalition, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday suspended further discussion of the “zero VAT law” of Finance Minister Yair Lapid. The news was unlikely to ease the already troubled relations between the two – quite the opposite, observers said. The bill would allow first-time homebuyers…

Hundreds of Likud members took part in a meeting of the party’s Central Committee in Ashkelon on Monday, where they passed a party proposal obligating the toppling the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza in the next counter-terror operation. “We must rehabilitate our deterrence, and in the next round destroy Hamas – there must be a…

Oskar Groening, a 93-year-old former guard at the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz, was charged by German prosecutors with 300,000 counts of accessory to murder over his role in the genocidal Nazi war machine. Groening has acknowledged that he witnessed atrocities in his role as a death camp guard, but claims he didn’t actively commit…

Police on Monday arrested five Arab children aged 12 to 13 from the mixed Jewish and Arab neighborhood of Abu Tor in eastern Jerusalem, after they threw molotov cocktails at Jewish homes in the neighborhood. The five perpetrators admitted under investigation to hurling the firebombs at the homes of Jewish families on several different occasions…

Among its other effects, Operation Protective Edge apparently has put a dent in Israel’s economy. As a result of the losses of work hours and productivity during the war, Israel’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth has been revised downwards. Instead of the 2.9% expected at the beginning of the summer, growth will be only 2.4%,…

US Secretary of State John Kerry has waffled on his position from last Friday, when he ruled out Iran’s participation in a global coalition against Islamic State (ISIS) – on Monday, he said in an interview that he would be open to military cooperation with Iran. Asked in a Yahoo interview whether the US would cooperate militarily…

Mark Langfan, Chairman of Americans for a Safe Israel and Arutz Sheva strategy analyst, delivered the keynote lecture to a packed-house crowd of over 500 attendees at the UN last week at the historic counter-anti-Semitism conference there. Langfan’s presentation demonstrated graphically how Israel is protecting Cyprus, “the Achilles Heel of Europe,” and how Islamic terrorists will…

‘Color Red’ sirens sounded in Hof Ashkelon region in southern Israel Monday morning. There were no reports of explosions, however, causing speculation that the sirens were the result of a false alarm. Security forces later confirmed that the sirens were indeed a false alarm. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect on August…

Researchers from Ben Gurion University, Barzilai Hospital and the Gertner Institute have found different birth patterns in Sderot, the city most often targeted by Hamas terror rockets, than elsewhere. The differences include more premature births, more underweight births – and more female births than male births, reported Israel Hayom Monday. The researchers compared births in Sderot…

Kutiman, an Israeli artist who samples music videos and pastes them together ingeniously, has another viral hit. Musician, composer, producer and animator Kutiman, or Ophir Kutiel, 32, is best known for creating the online music video project, ThruYOU, and a self-titled album. The newest hit is “Give it Up,” from the Thru You Too project. In its…

According to Bethlehem-based news agency Ma’an, Palestinian Authority (PA) chief Mahmoud Abbas will ask French president Francois Hollande to recognize the “state of Palestine” when Abbas meets Hollande in France Friday. According to the report, Abbas will then ask additional European countries to recognize “Palestine” even before he heads for the annual United Nations General…

Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars and considered the leading decisor on Sunni Muslim religious law, opposes an American military operation against the Islamic State (IS). Qaradawi tweeted: “I oppose ISIS (the Islamic State) in its ideological path and its methods of action, but I will never agree that the…

“Global Zionism” is apparently behind the jihadist terrorist organizations – at least according to a senior Egyptian cleric. Sheikh Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, the Grand Imam of al-Azhar and president of al-Azhar University, which is considered a prestigious Sunni Islam title, made the comments in a statement that aired on Egypt’s Channel 1 on September 8. The…

In a recent speech, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) condemned Hamas and noted that it was no better than the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) group. Reid’s speech to the Senate was made last Thursday but excerpts were published Sunday by JNS. According to the report, Reid affirmed U.S. support for Israel, calling the…

A special event was held on Sunday marking ten years since the murder of Gush Katif residents Tali Hatuel and her four daughters, and nine years since the founding of the Tali B’Yad Rama Organization established in their memory. At the event Tali’s husband David spoke to Arutz Sheva about the organization he founded to help families with fertility…

After a happy ending last week to 14 years of a husband’s refusal to grant a get (Jewish divorce), Attorney Batya Kahane-Dror says she welcomes the “new spirit” that Rabbi David Lau has brought to the Chief Rabbinate. The case at hand involved an Orthodox man from Jerusalem who demanded, for 14 years, that his…

Security officials on Monday interdicted two incidents of smuggling at Ben Gurion Airport, preventing passengers from surreptitiously loading drugs and weapons on a plane. According to officials, a passenger tried to check onto a flight with a bag that contained a doll which was stuffed with a bullet cartridge. The bullet-stuffed doll was found in…

Flags of the Al Qaeda terror group are flying atop the Kotel Hakatan (“Small Kotel”), a remnant of the retaining wall of the Temple Mount that is a continuation of the Western Wall, located in the Muslim Quarter. The Kotel Hakatan is adjacent to one of the entrances to the Temple Mount. Meanwhile, said Avichail…

Jerusalem Councilman Aryeh King on Sunday exposed how Mayor Nir Barkat in a two week period has given the green light on numerous Arab building projects while ignoring illegal Arab construction – a fact he warns threatens the demographics of the Israeli capital. In the past three months Barkat’s administration has not demolished a single…

With the Hebrew month of Tishrei fast approaching – and with it the gastronomic festive period of Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot – many people will already be worrying about how to avoid piling on the pounds. But if you’re thinking about skipping dessert, one rabbi says you should think again. According to Rabbi Efraim Zalmanovich…

The debate over how much Operation Protective Edge cost Israel is having a practical effect on the state budget. A report on Israel Radio Monday said that as a result of its lower estimates of the war’s costs, the Finance Ministry is unlikely to give the Defense Ministry all of the money it is demanding.…

In what may establish a groundbreaking legal precedence, the United States Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear the case of American biologist Alan Bauer, who filed suit in 2011 in the Federal court in Manhattan seeking to impound 14 vessels which were outfitted to be used in the 2010 Mavi Marmara Flotilla – which set…

An unusual briefing by a senior IDF Northern Command officer caused concern throughout northern communities Sunday. The officer described scenarios for a possible war with Hezbollah in alarming detail, and said it was possible that Hezbollah would capture some Israeli territory before being repulsed by the IDF a few hours later. He also said that…

Ali-Akbar Salehi, head of the Iranian Nuclear Energy Organization, recently claimed that the West, including “the Zionist regime” sought to sabotage Iran’s nuclear industry. The comments came in a speech that aired on August 25, on the Iranian news channel IRINN. The speech was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). “The [nuclear]…

Several Arab countries have offered to carry out airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, senior State Department officials told The New York Times on Sunday. The offer was disclosed by American officials traveling with Secretary of State John Kerry, who is approaching the end of a weeklong trip that was intended to…

An Egyptian official said on Sunday that Cairo will hunt down exiled Muslim Brotherhood leaders and seek their arrest, according to The Associated Press (AP). The declaration came a day after Qatar ordered leaders of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and allied clerics to leave country. The tiny Gulf nation’s expulsion of the Brotherhood, branded a terrorist…

The United Nations (UN) Security Council on Sunday condemned the “heinous and cowardly murder” of British aid worker David Haines by the “Islamic State” (IS). “This crime is a tragic reminder of the increasing dangers humanitarian personnel face every day in Syria,” the council emphasized in a statement, adopted unanimously by its 15 members and…

“Islamic State” (IS) terrorists publicly executed eight Sunni men in a small northern Iraqi village on the weekend for allegedly plotting against the group, an eyewitness from the village told Reuters on Sunday. The killing began on Friday night when a pair of masked IS gunmen openly murdered a police officer in Al-Jumasah village after…

Yaron Avraham, a reporter with the Knesset Channel who served in the elite intelligence Unit 8200, lashed out on Sunday at the leftist reservists who signed a letter indicating they would refuse to serve “in the occupied terrorists”. Avraham suggested that those who signed the letter should simply remove Unit 8200 from their resume. “This…

Seven jihadists were killed in a shootout in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula during a joint operation by police and the army, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said Sunday, according to AFP. The seven men were among “the most dangerous elements of Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis” and had taken part in a July attack on a border post with…

According to data recently released by the Organization for Co-operation and Development (OECD) and analyzed by content outlet 24/7 Wall St., Israel is in fourth place in the world in terms of education. In Israel, the percentage of the population with tertiary education is 46.4%. Tertiary education spending per student is at $11,553, the 18th…

The media in Israel tends to treat Rosh Hashana as a long weekend, and this year, with the New Year festival falling adjacent to Shabbat, observant Israelis who will not have turned on the radio or television for three days straight are likely to hear all about how many people had picnics in national parks…

Once riding high in the cellphone industry, Nokia is now just an afterthought – and as its fortunes have fallen, so has its income, and its resources. It turns out that Nokia can no longer afford to attach its name to centers, foundations, and sports arenas. That affects Israel directly, because one of the country’s…

Professor Rafi Israeli, an expert on Islam and the Arab world, told Arutz Sheva Sunday that while the world is appalled by Islamic State’s decapitation murders of western journalists, we must not forget that Islam kills hundreds of people daily in various hotspots throughout the globe. “We ignore this cruelty which is an everyday occurrence,”…

The Jerusalem Police have arrested four Arab youths aged 15-17, residents of the neighborhood of Issawiya in Jerusalem, on suspicion that they set parts of the French Hill gas station on fire and tried to blow up the fuel tanks there. The Magistrates’ Court in the capital extended their remand until Wednesday. The police intend…

The Israeli tourism industry was one of the biggest victims of Israel’s war-centered summer, and to prevent the collapse of many of the smaller tourist-related businesses that are unlikely to recover anytime soon, the Tourism Ministry on Sunday announced an aid package that, it is hoped, will help those businesses get back on their feet.…

The IDF estimates that in a future war, Hezbollah will be able to grab small parts of northern Israel, like the Ramim or Hasulam ridges along the border, but the IDF will take them back “within a few hours.” “At present, the understanding is that we are not headed toward war,” a senior IDF officer…

Qatar, which has been blamed for stirring up much of the violence in the Middle East and is a well-known backer of the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas, reportedly expelled some members of the Muslim Brotherhood from its territory. The Associated Press (AP) reported on Saturday that leaders of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and allied clerics said…

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told visiting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday that any global coalition against terrorism should battle not just “Islamic State” (IS, formerly ISIS) but other groups as well, Reuters reports. Egyptian security officials have said Islamic State has established contacts with Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the Sinai-based terrorist group…

The Islamic State group on Saturday released a video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines in the same grisly manner as the murder of two American journalists in recent weeks, The Washington Post reported. The video, titled “A Message to Allies of America,” appears to show Haines clad in an orange jump-suit…

Authorities in Holland released Rabbi Eliezer Berland last week, but his passport has been confiscated, pending a decision on his extradition back to Israel. He was arrested at Amsterdam Airport on September 11 at the request of Israeli authorities.  Berland, the founder and head of the Shuvu Banim community located in the Old City of Jerusalem,…

The cabinet meeting planned for today (Sunday) was cancelled by the Cabinet Secretariat. The purpose of the delay, they explained, was to allow Prime Minister Netanyahu and Finance Minister Lapid to meet to resolve the financial crisis.  Following Operation Protective Edge, Netanyahu has argued for increasing the security budget and decreasing Israel’s deficit. Lapid, who…

The IDF has vowed to respond firmly to calls for insubordination, after a group of leftist reservists in an elite intelligence unit accused their unit of spying on “innocent Palestinians” and said they would “refuse to take part in actions against Palestinians and refuse to continue serving as tools in deepening the military control over…

A Gazan man was arrested by Israeli security forces as he attempted to infiltrate into Israel Sunday morning armed with a knife. The would-be infiltrator was spotted by a security lookout post close to the community of Kibbutz Kisufim, along the border with Gaza. Guards quickly informed the military, which responded quickly and apprehended the…

Around 930 French citizens or residents, including at least 60 women, are either actively engaged in jihad in Iraq and Syria or are planning to go there, the interior minister said Sunday. In an interview with Le Journal de Dimanche weekly, Bernard Cazeneuve said: “930 French citizens or foreigners usually resident in France are today…

The backlash in Israel continues to grow at the decision by 43 leftist reservists in a unit IDF intelligence unit to call for insubordination. Political and military figures from Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon to Opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog – who is himself a reservist officer in Unit 8200 – have flocked to condemn the calls,…

In a move which will likely boost relations between the two countries considerably, Israel’s ambassador to Belarus, Yosef Shagall, has announced that the requirement of an entrance visa to Belarus for Israeli citizens is to be cancelled. The decision was reached after negotiations between the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem and the government of Belarus. The…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Jewish leaders will speak Sunday at a Berlin rally against anti-Semitism after the latest Gaza conflict sparked an upsurge in hate crimes against Jews. Under the banner “Stand Up: Jew Hatred – Never Again!” political and religious leaders and thousands of people are expected at the rally from 1300 GMT…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has blocked an attempt to push for the prosecution of Israel for war crimes in Gaza at the International Criminal Court (ICC), a senior Palestinian Arab official said over the weekend. Hasan Khreisha, the second-deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament, told the Ma’an news agency that the PA’s decision…

For nearly two weeks, there has been no mail delivery in most of Judea and Samaria – and residents of Gush Etzion have had enough, Gush Etzion Regional Council head Davidi Perl said Sunday. The lack of mail delivery is the result of an ongoing strike by postal workers in the “Doar-Na” service, which serves…

After younger Israelis got their “treat” Saturday night, with the appearance of pop star Lady Gaga before thousands in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park, it’s the older generation’s turn for some entertainment – and that will come in the form of a concert on Sunday night by crooner Tony Bennett, who will sing his heart out…

Recent studies show that more hareidi Israelis are joining the workforce – and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) is very pleased. Commenting on the phenomenon, Bennett said that the increase was exactly what he and Finance Minister Yair Lapid had intended when they pushed through legislation on requiring IDF service for all Israelis. “This…

Ex-minister Yossi Peled, 73, a former IDF general, suffered a heart attack Sunday and was taken to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, where he is under anesthesia and artificial respiration. The hospital said that he has undergone an operation and his condition is defined as serious. In the Likud primaries held in December, 2008, Peled…

Reservists who declared that they would not serve in the IDF because they were “morally opposed” to Israel’s policies in Judea and Samaria are not the problem, Meretz MK Nitzan Horowitz said Sunday. Going on record as one of the few MKs who did not criticize 43 leftist reservists in an elite intelligence unit for…

The Socioeconomic Cabinet approved on Sunday Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel’s proposal to increase by 5,000 the quota of permits for Palestinian construction workers from Judea and Samaria allowed to work in pre-1967 Israel.  Minister Ariel said regarding the decision, “We require 5,000 Palestinian workers in the construction industry to increase the supply of housing. Contractors…

Amid all the talk of empowering “moderate” Iraqi elements in order to combat the rise of the Islamic State (or ISIS), some might argue that the finer and sometimes more inconvenient points of the reality on the ground – such as American airstrikes directly aiding Iranian-backed militias, and the rampant corruption of the Iraqi government…

A group of European jihadist fighters, disenchanted with fighting for the Islamic State and who desired to return home, were imprisoned by their commanders several days ago. According to reports, the group’s weapons were confiscated and they were marched to a punishment center in the ISIS-controlled city of Raqqa, in Syria. The group consisted of…

Not for the first time, an Egyptian commentator (this time a political scientist) has demanded that the Jews compensate Egypt for the gold they took on their way to freedom from slavery. According to tradition the slaves – who had not been paid for their back-breaking labor for the generations they were enslaved – were…

Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s Gaza government, has joined Hamas politburo head Khaled Mashaal’s call to indict Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague. In a meeting with reporters in Gaza, Haniyeh expressed opposition to direct talks with Israel, and stressed that the Palestinian terrorist groups will not disarm. He called on…

Hamas politburo head Khaled Mashaal, an undisputed war criminal of the highest degree, said in a news conference in Tunisia that Hamas would like to utilize the current period of time to consolidate what it sees as its accomplishments in the latest confrontation with Israel. Mashaal spoke of several steps that must be taken simultaneously:…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon reacted with disgust Saturday night to a letter of refusal signed by leftist reservists from an elite intelligence unit. The letter, signed by 43 reserve officers and soldiers, called for insubordination after accusing the elite intelligence Unit 8200 of being an “inseparable part of the military control of the territories,” referring to…

Opposition Chairman and Labor Party leader MK Yitzchak Herzog, a reserve officer in Military Intelligence’s 8200 Unit, sharply criticized on Saturday 43 reservist officers and soldiers from the same unit, who signed a letter of insubordination following Operation Protective Edge. “Proper disclosure, I am a major in Unit 8200 and have accompanied it for decades,”…

MK Ofer Shelah (Yesh Atid) on Saturday said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s handling of the new budget proposed by Finance Minister Yair Lapid could cause the government coalition to collapse. “Netanyahu is turning the issue of the budget into a showdown with the Finance Minister, which may lead to new elections in the near…

John Kerry on Saturday held talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, as well as meeting the head of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby. “Egypt is on the frontline of the fight against terrorism, particularly when it comes to fighting extremist groups in Sinai,” Kerry told a Cairo news conference…

A spokesperson for “moderate” Syrian rebel factions spoke to Channel 2 near the Golan Heights on Friday, saying in a rare interview that locals are preparing for “total war” against the extremist Islamic State (IS; formerly known as ISIS) organization.  “There will be total war against IS in the south,” a rebel leader, who wished to remain…

Germany announced a ban on the Islamic State on Friday, saying it aimed to prevent the group from recruiting young jihadists in Germany, Reuters reported. Coinciding with the launch of a broad U.S. campaign against the Sunni terrorists, which could include air strikes in Syria as well as Iraq, Germany introduced an immediate ban making…

Residents of the Golan Heights reported hearing sirens on Friday evening, at around 10:00 p.m. Israel time. One rocket exploded in an open region in the northern Golan, causing no physical injuries or damages. The rocket is believed to a spillover from the civil war in neighboring Syria. In recent days rebels, among them Al-Qaeda’s…

A Bedouin man threatened an IDF officer at gunpoint Friday evening, according to Walla! News, on the Tse’elim firing ranges in the south.  Two Bedouin men from the nearby village of Bir Haraj drove into the shooting range on ATVs, an officer on base reported, and refused to leave the area despite the natural threats to…

Members of the IDF’s elite 8200 unit have published a counter-letter to their colleagues, Walla! News reports Friday night, after 43 fellow reservists alleged to the press that the unit was guilty of “human rights violations.”  “We are veterans of Unit 8200, soldiers and reserve soldiers, past and present, who wish to express shock, disgust and total…

Iran on Friday called on the United Nations’ atomic agency to condemn Israel over the drone which Iran claims it recently brought down above the Natanz uranium enrichment site. According to Reuters, Iran said that Israel committed an “act of aggression” by sending the drone. Iran’s envoy to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)…

Coalition Chairman Yariv Levin (Likud) called for the immediate dismissal of 43 reservists from the IDF’s elite 8200 Unit on Friday afternoon, after they announced their refusal to serve in the IDF due to leftist beliefs and misconceptions about the IDF’s self-defense operation in Gaza, Operation Protective Edge. Levin, a former 8200 soldier himself, scathingly…

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said Friday that neo-Nazi vandalism and threats against a local newspaper in eastern Germany were “unacceptable and must be stopped.”  This week, vandals sprayed the words “Jews” and the Nazi slogan “Sieg Heil” on the office windows of the Lausitzer Rundschau, a newspaper known for its coverage of far-right groups. The week…

Frenchman Mehdi Nemmouche, suspected of killing four people at Brussels’ Jewish Museum in May, was remanded in custody for another three months on Friday, judicial officials said. Nemmouche, 29, of Algerian origin and who spent more than a year fighting with Islamic extremists in Syria, has been charged with “murder in a terrorist context” after an Israeli couple, a French…

Israel has a “responsibility” to stop Islamic State (IS; formerly known as ISIS), President Reuven Rivlin stated Friday. “Fighting evil, in the form of ISIS and those like it, is not simple,” Rivlin stated, at an event honoring fallen Druze soldiers held in the village of Muhraka.  “The West has already understood that it could…

Hamas’s exiled leader, Khaled Mashaal, declared on Friday that his group would not hold direct negotiations with Israel, AFP reported. The comments come a day after another Hamas leader, Moussa Abu Marzouk, hinted that direct negotiations with Israel might be needed. “If the situation remains as it is now… Hamas could find itself forced to…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday it would be inappropriate for Iran to attend an upcoming meeting in Paris on how to defeat the Islamic State group, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Speaking to reporters in the Turkish capital, Kerry said he has not been formally asked about whether Iran should participate…

Senior Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh on Friday urged the Palestinian Authority’s leadership to sign the Rome Statute and hold Israel accountable for its “crimes in Gaza” at the International Criminal Court. Haniyeh said in a statement quoted by the Ma’an news agency that “signing the Rome Statute is the right for every victim and stalling…

The United States on Thursday reiterated the need for a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The call was made in a statement published by the State Department following the latest round of Strategic Dialogue between Israel and the U.S. Israel’s Minister for Strategic and Intelligence Affairs Yuval Steinitz and Deputy Secretary…

A family accidentally drove into the Arab neighborhood of Wadi Joz in Jerusalem on Thursday night, and nearly paid for the wrong turn in Israel’s capital city with their lives. After entering the neighborhood, the family car was beset upon by a hail of potentially lethal rocks and massive bricks that broke the windshield, in…

In the wake of Operation Protective Edge, a new project has been launched to “turn death into life,” by planting 100,000 new fruit trees in the exact areas where over 1,000 Hamas terror missiles fell. Many of the new fruit trees will be planted in the actual holes left by the impact of the rockets,…

Kidnapped women are generally not allowed to speak with their families – except when the objective is simply to increase suffering, as is the case with Islamic State (IS, or ISIS) captor/torturers of young girls. Among the many acts of ISIS horror, it has perhaps been forgotten that an unknown number of teenaged Yazidi girls…

Nationalist activist Baruch Marzel of Hevron, a member of the Otzma Leyisrael party that barely missed out in the last elections, criticized the Jewish Home party on Thursday – a day after it passed a controversial new party constitution expanding its chairperson’s authority. Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Marzel argued the supposedly religious Zionist party had turned into…

Forty-three reserve force captains and soldiers in the prestigious Unit 8200, an elite intelligence corps responsible for collecting SIGINT (signal intelligence) and code decryption, have submitted a letter of insubordination to the Israeli media. The soldiers, who include extremist leftist activists, complained that their service to Israel’s security “harms innocents.” “There is an idea that…

MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud) visited eastern Jerusalem and the Temple Mount on Thursday with members of the Internal Affairs Committee, where he told Arutz Sheva that he is convinced the wave of terror in the capital will only increase in coming days. “The loss of control over Jerusalem, and by continuation also over Gaza, started on the…

Anti-Semitic attacks nearly doubled in France in the first seven months of 2014, the country’s main Jewish group said Thursday. A total of 529 anti-Semitic actions or threats were registered up to the end of July, against 276 for the same period last year, the Council of Jewish Institutions in France (CRIF) said, citing figures gleaned from the French…

Iran and world powers remain far apart over Tehran’s nuclear program and a “difficult road” lies ahead, a senior Iranian negotiator said on Thursday, according to Reuters. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke after a day of talks in Vienna with the three European members of the group of six major powers that is…

Britain will not participate in any airstrikes on Syria but otherwise is ruling nothing out as it considers how to support U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan to root out the Islamic State group, the British foreign secretary said Thursday, according to The Associated Press (AP). Obama on Wednesday authorized U.S. airstrikes inside Syria for the…

A South African Jewish online publication on Friday apologized to the country’s outspoken retired Anglican archbishop Desmond Tutu for publishing an article comparing him to Adolf Hitler. The weekly South African Jewish Report (SAJR) had by Friday pulled down the article it had posted on its website the previous day. “The paper apologizes unconditionally to the Archbishop,” it said, adding, “the offending piece has…

A Colorado woman plead guilty to conspiracy to support Islamic State (IS; formerly known as ISIS) on Wednesday, according to the US Department of Justice. Shannon Conley, 19, was arrested in April as she tried to board a flight to Turkey to join the Islamists.  Conley joined the US Army Explorers to gain training in armed combat,…

Rob Ford, the controversial mayor of Toronto, was hospitalized on Wednesday with stomach pains, and was discovered in examinations to have a large tumor in his abdomen. Ford was struck with the pains while having breakfast with his brother, City Council member Doug Ford, and went to a family doctor who sent him to the…

Adva Biton, the mother of four-year-old rock terror victim Adelle and three other daughters, gave birth to her first son on Friday. Adelle just returned home two weeks ago after a grueling rehabilitation period, after being wounded in an attack last March by Arab terrorists who threw rocks at the family car near Ariel, causing it to…

Canadian Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau, who is favored to replace Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the 2015 elections, has sharply criticized newly proposed legislation to cancel the citizenship of terrorists. The law would give authorities the power to cancel the Canadian citizenship of dual citizens who served in a foreign army or organization…

A court has leveled unprecedented criticism against State Attorney Shai Nitzan, who has previously been accused of a strong left-wing bias, over the “scandalous” bias he showed as Deputy Attorney General. The details of the case emerged in the trial of Uri Baram, who three-and-a-half years ago published videos against Nitzan. On Wednesday the court accepted the…

The protest will be held on Monday, September 22 at 4:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Center and is being organized by Citizens Opposed to Propaganda Masquerading as Art (COPMA), JCC Watch, the Zionist Organization of America, Stand With Us, Americans for a Safe Israel (AFSI) and the Rambam Mesivta yeshiva. First produced in Brussels and…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism’s 14th International Conference on Counter-Terrorism Thursday. This is the full text of his English address. “Thank you, Professor Reichman, for that introduction. “There’s no meaningful power without responsibility. Well, you could have it but it’s worthless or worse, it could be very dangerous. So all…

Israel’s justice ministry has charged a border policeman with assaulting and injuring a 15-year-old Palestinian-American dual national in July, according to the indictment seen by AFP Thursday. The policeman, whose name remains under a gag order, was indicted at Jerusalem magistrate’s court on Wednesday for using “excessive force” that could not be justified against Tariq Abu Khder at a July 3 demonstration in the Jerusalem neighborhood…

Sirens have sounded in the Kiryat Shmona and Metula areas, near the Lebanese border, on Thursday night, according to the Home Front Command.  No injuries or damage have been reported.  The IDF Spokesperson’s Office stated shortly after the event that the siren was a false alarm.  Tensions have heightened along the Lebanese border recently, after…

A Palestinian Arab taxi driver attempted to run over IDF soldiers near Ariel in Samaria Thursday afternoon, before being apprehended by police.  The soldiers tried to arrest the taxi driver at a nearby bus stop, as the would-be passengers fled. After a chase, the soldiers managed to apprehend the driver and hand him over to…

Israel has found an opportunity to start [its] ethnic cleansing [in Gaza],because the Arabs are [currently] busy with what is going on in their countries – as in Iraq IS (Islamic State) expelled the Christians and nobody in the [entire] world objected… There is something unclear about the US position. Of course, it is [the US] that stands behind these [radical] factions…

Cuba has sent six tons of drugs and medical supplies to Gaza, official media reported Thursday. The government-run Cubadebate website said the humanitarian shipment was delivered by  officials at Cuba’s embassy in Cairo to the Hamas representative there. Cubadebate said Palestinian officials expressed their thanks for Havana’s “noble gesture” that “will alleviate the difficult situation Gaza is facing,” as hospitals continue to…

On a bright and sunny day in June, New York witnessed two solidarity rallies – one for the three Israeli teens kidnapped in Judea and Samaria, the other against terrorist group Boko Haram after it abducted 319 girls from a school in Chibok in northern Nigeria back in April. The two communities came together to…

Speaking on the 13th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 combined terror strikes on the United States, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel mourns those who were killed in the attacks, alongside the US. “On 9/11,” he reminded his audience at the annual International Institute for Counter-Terrorism conference in Herzliya, “the people in…

Over 130 police officers have been injured in Arab rioting in Jerusalem, according to police spokesman Asi Aharoni – who marked Ramadan as the “turning point” for the Holy City which saw a bloody descent into chaos in Arab neighborhoods two months ago.  “Ramadan this year was particularly tense,” Aharoni stated, in an interview with Channel…

A CIA spokesman said on Thursday that a new intelligence assessment estimates that the Islamic State (IS) group can muster between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters across Iraq and Syria, The Associated Press (AP) reported. That figure is up from a previous estimation of 10,000, noted the report. The new assessment is based on a review…

A 47-year-old woman from Syria who was seriously wounded by a mortar round that exploded close to her home was brought on Thursday to the Ziv Medical Center in the city of Tzfat. Relatives who brought the woman to the border with Israel told IDF soldiers who were stationed there that the woman was wounded…

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed on Thursday the release of 45 Fijian UN peacekeepers who were kidnapped by members of the Syrian jihadist rebel group Al-Nusra Front. “The Secretary-General welcomes the release of the 45 United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) peacekeepers who had been forcibly taken on 28 August 2014 by armed…

The United States on Thursday received the backing of 10 Arab countries for a “coordinated military campaign” against Islamic State fighters, Reuters reported. According to the report, after talks in Saudi Arabia, Secretary of State John Kerry won backing from 10 Arab countries – Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and six Gulf states including rich rivals…

A Palestinian Authority (PA) official said Thursday the results of an autopsy prove that a Palestinian Arab prisoner Israel said had committed suicide actually died of a blow to the head. “We deny it was suicide,” said Issa Qaraqe, head of the Palestinian committee for prisoners in a press conference on the fate of Raed Abdel…

Former Canadian Minister of Justice, Professor Irwin Cotler spoke to Arutz Sheva last week on the importance of hasbara, or explaining facts and myths about Israel.  “I think hasbara is part of diplomacy; every government engages in it,” Cotler began, speaking to reporters at IDC Herzilya’s 14th International Conference on Counter-Terrorism. “The question is not whether you engage…

44 Fijian UN peacekeepers have been released by Al Qaeda’s Nusra Front in Syria, according to Al Jazeera. The soldiers are scheduled to cross into Israel later today, from where they will be transported back home. The report comes not long after a video of the captives – apparently filmed two days ago – was…

Officials in Ramallah and Gaza claim that there is little or no support there for ISIS, the Islamist terror group that has conquered large parts of Iraq and Syria. A report in the Palestinian Authority-controlled daily Al-Quds al-Arabi quoted top officials as saying that despite trying, the group had been unable to make inroads among…

Leading Republican Senator and Christian supporter of Israel Ted Cruz (R-Tx) was booed off stage at a gala dinner in support of the Middle East’s embattled Christian minority, after voicing support for Israel. Cruz was the keynote speaker at the event, hosted by the recently-founded In Defense of Christians (IDC) organization. In his speech, he…

Once again, Israel is not part of an international coalition to “defend the Middle East”, even though Israel is at the heart of the Middle East – and it’s all Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s fault, said Labor Party and opposition head Yitzchak Herzog. US President Barack H. Obama is planning to build an international coalition…

Gadi Yarkoni, the last Israeli to be injured in Operation Protective Edge, was out of danger on Thursday, doctors said. Yarkoni is the administrator of Kibbutz Nirim in the Gaza border area. He was severely injured by a Hamas rocket just minutes before the cease-fire at the end of the 50-day war took effect. Yarkoni,…

A Jerusalem-based cell of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) has threatened to kill Twitter employees and target its offices if the social media site does not stop closing down ISIS accounts. Al Musra Al Maqdisia (The Supporters Of Jerusalem), which pledged allegiance to ISIS in February, was among several Islamic State-linked groups and…

As polls show strong support for Jewish Home among the electorate – and rapidly slipping support among voters for her Hatnua party – Justice Minister Tzippy Livni said Thursday that as far as she was concerned, the party headed by Nafatali Bennett had no place in the coalition. “Jewish Home is a party based on…

In an interview Thursday, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro said that the US and Israel would continue to cooperate diplomatically and militarily in the wake of US President Barack Obama’s speech Wednesday night laying out a strategy for fighting ISIS, the Islamist terror group that has conquered large parts of Iraq and Syria. Speaking…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will speak at a Berlin rally against anti-Semitism on Sunday to condemn hate speech and attacks against Jews that spiked amid the latest Gaza conflict. The event comes 75 years after the outbreak of World War II, during which Nazi Germany murdered six million Jews, a crime that remains a source…

Anti-Semitism across the globe during Israel’s fifty-day self-defense operation against Hamas, Operation Protective Edge, drew heavily on Holocaust and Adolf Hitler references, according to a report released Thursday.  The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tracked anti-Semitic activities around the globe during the operation, and cited examples from fourteen different countries, from Argentina to the UK.  Many of…

A leading Fatah party member has compared Hamas’s methods of executing and brutalizing its political opponents in Gaza to the gruesome executions carried out by the “Islamic State” terrorist group, or ISIS. In an interview with the Palestinian Authority’s official TV station, Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi expressed his anger over a string of…

Nine years after being arrested for violating the law during a rally protesting the disengagement, Kiryat Arba resident and mother of four Miriam Schlissel got a knock on the door several week ago. Turns out she had been indicted for rioting, and no one told her about it. Now, the Israeli justice system wants its…

Two soldiers who were involved in leaking a list of IDF soldiers killed in action during Operation Protective Edge were punished by their commanders in a military trial, Channel Two reported Thursday. One of the soldiers was sentenced to a week in the brig, and the second was given a “stern warning” about repeating his…

Hamas’s exiled deputy leader said on Thursday the terrorist group could be forced to negotiate directly with Israel, ahead of planned talks in Cairo to consolidate a truce. But an Israeli minister dismissed any possibility of talking directly with the Islamist movement, whose charter calls for the destruction of the Jewish state and glorifies killing…

After two years on the run from Israeli authorities suspected sex-offender Rabbi Eliezer Berland has reportedly been arrested in Amsterdam’s international airport, and will soon be extradited back to Israel. Berland, who founded and leads the Shuvu Banim hassidic sect, was accused of sexually molesting several female followers in Israel but fled the country to…

After years of ambiguity over whether or not individuals who suffered property losses due to violence associated with the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Knesset Finance Committee on Thursday authorized regulations governing compensation for such damage. The decision comes on the backdrop of a significant increase in violence and attacks by Arabs against Jews. The enactment of…

Israel’s deputy foreign minister warned Thursday that Hamas was likely to resume “violence” if it feels it has made no political gains from upcoming talks in Cairo. The remarks came just two weeks after Israel and the Islamist terrorist group that dominates Gaza agreed a truce to end a 50-day war that killed more than…

Was 9/11 a US conspiracy by George Bush to get rid of the CIA? Yes, according to this guy: Obviously it can’t be true though – he didn’t mention the Jews…

On the 13th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, New York mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday that such an attack could happen again. “The responsibility I have today was generated by that horrible day,” de Blasio told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. “My role now is to look out for…

Some 40 Jordanian parliamentarians have demanded that the Jordanian government prevent the national electricity company from signing an agreement to import gas from Israel, the Jordanian-based Ammon News website reported on Wednesday. In a memorandum submitted by MP Khamis Attia during a session yesterday, the group said: “We the undersigned deputies call on the government…

U.S. President Barack Obama declared on Wednesday night that Washington will form a broad coalition to combat the Islamic State (IS). In a speech to the nation regarding the threat from the terrorist group, Obama said that “the greatest threat comes from Middle East and North Africa, one of them is Islamic State.” IS is…

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that France was prepared to take part in air strikes on Islamic extremists in Iraq “if necessary,” according to AFP. “In Iraq… we support the formation of an inclusive government. We will participate if necessary in an aerial military action,” Fabius said in a speech in Paris.…

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), confirmed on Wednesday that chlorine gas was used in attacks in northern Syria this year, according to the BBC. The OPCW, which is the international body seeking to implement global laws banning chemical weapons, said it had found “compelling confirmation” of the use of chlorine, in…

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday called for the resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), claiming that doing so would help the fight against the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group. Restarting peace talks, she said, would “create a strong axis with Arab countries that terrorism is a common enemy to…

Housing Minister Uri Ariel said on Wednesday evening that the Tekuma faction of the Jewish Home, which he heads, will consider its next step following the approval of the Jewish Home’s new constitution, which Ariel opposes. “Unfortunately, our requests to pass a joint constitution after a union of the two parties went unanswered,” said Ariel,…

William Schabas, the Canadian professor who was appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council to head a commission of inquiry into Israel’s military operations in Gaza, on Wednesday insisted that he is not anti-Israel, despite the many remarks he has made in the past proving the contrary. Speaking to the Arab-language newspaper Asharq al-Awsat,…

The bottom floor of the Ichud Shivat Zion synagogue in Tel Aviv was severely damaged by a fire several days ago, in a blaze which destroyed many holy books and damaged several rooms and hallways. This week, Arutz Sheva spoke to the synagogue’s staff about the damage – and plans for reconstruction.  “I came a bit…

Gaza’s Hamas-run “Ministry of Interior and National Security” has banned Gazans from public celebrations, including weddings, according to a directive published Wednesday.  An Interior Ministry official stated that the decision was made “in the public’s best interest” and “in mutual responsibility and concern” for families of Palestinian Arabs killed and wounded during the fifty-day battle…

A beheaded corpse was found in the Sinai Peninsula Wednesday, residents said – bearing a note from a terror group linked to the Islamic State (IS) alleging the victim was an “Israeli spy.”  “This is the fate of all who prove to be traitors in their homeland,” the note said, claiming the victim “worked for…

The European Union (EU) warned Wednesday that violence could re-ignite in Gaza within “months” if Israel and Hamas fail to consolidate a fragile ceasefire through serious talks. The EU ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, and John Gatt-Rutter, envoy to the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Gaza, spoke to journalists in Jerusalem just two weeks after a bloody and destructive conflict in the…

The Jewish Home Party voted on a new constitution at Tel Aviv University Wednesday, amidst a controversy over political control that may see a split over what some claim are different values.  Tensions over the vote ran high, as a clash broke out between MK Moti Yogev and a security guard after Yogev requested that…

Hamas’s exiled deputy leader said Wednesday that indirect talks with Israel to consolidate a Gaza ceasefire are to resume in Cairo in mid-September. Fifty days of deadly fighting between Israel and Hamas terrorists ended on August 26 with an open-ended truce agreement. Under terms of the deal, the parties agreed to resume Egyptian-brokered negotiations within a month to discuss key issues, including…

Murdered American journalist Steve Sotloff was not “sold to Islamic State” by “moderate rebels,” the White House stated Tuesday night.  “As it relates to the specifics of this matter, based on the information that has been provided to me, I don’t believe that is accurate, but I do know at the same time that this…

Jerusalem District Police Yossi Pariente and Minister of Internal Security Yitzhak Aharonovitch visited the scene of a vandalized French Hill gas station on Tuesday, vowing to Arutz Sheva reporters at the scene to stop vandalism in the neighborhood. Arab thugs attacked the gas station earlier this week, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails.  “We really see this as a…

Jerusalem Councilman and former mayoral candidate Moshe Leon has demanded a repeat committee discussion on the recent approval of 2,200 new housing units for Arab residents of eastern Jerusalem. Leon said this is the first time Arab construction in the capital is being approved on such a large scale. He warned that the decision would encourage rampant illegal Arab…

A Jewish school in Australia has built a bomb-proof wall to protect it and an adjacent synagogue, in a dramatic – and expensive – response to a spate of anti-Semitic incidents which has left Australia’s Jewish community feeling shaken. The Yeshiva Center in Bondi has erected the concrete wall, and installed dozens and CCTV cameras…

Jewish Home MK Yoni Chetboun said Wednesday morning that he and the other opponents of the party constitution proposed by Chairman Naftali Benntt have gathered the required signatures to force tonight’s vote on the constitution to be a secret ballot. “There is unrest on the ground, and I am sure that religious Zionism will say…

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has revealed his intentions to establish an independent investigative committee into the IAF airstrikes on UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) schools in Gaza – despite the rampant use of such schools as terror sites. Speaking to the London-based Arab paper Al Hayyat as cited by Yedioth Aharonoth, Ban called for the…

The Jewish Home Convention will take place Wednesday evening at Tel Aviv University, with 1,180 Central Committee members set to vote on a controversial party constitution proposed by its chairman, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett. Opponents of the constitution want the vote to be carried out through secret ballots, so that members vote their conscience without…

Hollywood star couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, affectionately known as “Brangelina,” who finally tied the knot in France last month, have been learning an Israeli martial art for their new film By The Sea. According to a source quoted in the British Mirror, Pitt and Jolie have been taking Krav Maga self-defense classes with their…

An Arab rioter was shot dead early Wednesday morning as he took part in clashes attacking IDF troops in Al-Amari north of Ramallah, with Palestinian Authority (PA) sources decrying the incident, even as the IDF reports he was shot while trying to kill soldiers. The rioter, 22-year-old Taysir Qatari according to PA medics cited by AFP,…

Aside from the physical destruction wrought by Hamas’s recent terror war on Israel, the escalation of rocket and tunnel terror from Gaza since July has also taken a serious economic toll from the Jewish state by causing a sharp decline in tourism. According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, tourist entries to Israel in August…

Former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, Tzvi Mazel, tells Arutz Sheva that the reports regarding an Egyptian offer to Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas, to enlarge Gaza by adding territory to it from the Sinai Peninsula, are a hoax. “I find it hard to believe that an offer like that was made by the Egyptian president,”…

The jihadist Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) regime imposing brutal Muslim law on the large areas of Iraq and Syria it has captured now has its sights primarily set on Italy, according to senior sources in that nation. “The principal target of IS remains the West and every symbol that represents it – historically, politically, culturally,” Italian…

A senior British MP condemned the boycott movement against Israel Tuesday, branding it as a manifestation of pure anti-Semitism and comparing it to Nazi boycotts against Jews. Speaking at the Holocaust Education Trust, Former Education Secretary and current Conservative Party Chief Whip Michael Gove warned of what he termed as the “resurgent, mutating, lethal virus of…

The IDF is opening a criminal investigation into two strikes in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge, Israeli media reported Wednesday, and whether or not they targeted civilians, breaking international law.  The strikes are among the clashes during the war which faced the fiercest media backlash: an IAF strike on July 16 in which four children…

UK rabbis expressed their concern to Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi David Lau this week that if legislation proposed by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua party changing the conversion process passes, they will be unable to recognize converts from Israel. In a conference of rabbis in London, local rabbis spoke to Rabbi Lau about the ramifications the…

Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said he is “not aware” of an Egyptian offer to the Palestinian Authority to establish a Palestinian state in Sinai and Gaza. In any case, he told Arutz Sheva, no diplomatic initiative is possible at this point, until Mahmoud Abbas “proves he is able take control of the Palestinian Authority, demilitarize…

Defeating global terrorist networks requires a “counter-network” of intelligence services and other parties to take the fight to them, according to Dr Boaz Ganor, the founder and Executive Director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT). Speaking to Arutz Sheva at the 14th International Conference on Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Dr. Ganor emphasized that states and agencies combating…

The Bank of Israel on Wednesday released the first samples to the Israeli market of its new 50 shekel (just under $15) banknote that is posed to enter circulation. Training was held in Jerusalem to prepare businesses to recognize and accept the bill and to reduce confusion as the bill enters common usage. Specifications were provided…

President Barack Obama is preparing to ask Congress to pay for a multibillion-dollar plan to expand the military campaign against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) militants, an unnamed administration official told the Wall Street Journal / Live Mint website. While the proposal hasn’t been made final and the total amount is still being calculated, it will…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon landed in the Caucasus nation of Azerbaijan on Wednesday, becoming the first Israeli defense minister ever to visit the country, which is located strategically on Iran’s northern border along the Caspian Sea. Arriving in the capital city of Baku, Ya’alon is to hold a two-day historic diplomatic visit with Azerbaijani President Ilham…

Israel on Wednesday hailed US efforts to form an alliance to fight jihadists in Syria and Iraq but raised concerns of a rapprochement between Washington and Israel’s arch-foe Iran. “I praise the American initiative to take action and form a coalition against the Islamic State, and hope those efforts will succeed,” Foreign Minister Avigdor  Liberman…

Egypt will host a donors conference on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip on October 12 in Cairo, the Egyptian foreign minister said on Tuesday, according to Reuters. The announcement carried on the state news agency came after Norway’s foreign minister held talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the issue, the report noted.…

Opposition leader MK Yitzhak Herzog (Labor) was assured by officials in Washington on Tuesday that the United States will not compromise on the issue of Iran’s nuclear program. Herzog met at the White House with President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, Denis McDonough, and deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken, and told them that the…

Hassan Abboud, the leader of the Syrian Islamist rebel group Ahrar al-Sham, has been killed with other top commanders in a bomb blast at a meeting, the BBC reported on Tuesday. Activists said a suicide bomber detonated a vest in the attack in the north-western town of Ram Hamdan. Ahrar al-Sham is part of the…