Category: News

 The Jewish mayor of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Gennady Kernes, has been shot in the back by unidentified gunmen, the city council’s press service reports. RT reported that at about 11:30 am local time, Kernes was taken to the local hospital. The City Hall’s website says that doctors are fighting to save his…

A group of Arabs in the coastal city of Lod chose to mock Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day Sunday evening, by launching fireworks at Jewish homes just before the somber nationwide ceremonies began. However, the provocation met a determined personal response by the city’s mayor, Yair Revivo. Revivo and Municipality Director Aharon Atias were…

A court in Minya, Egypt, has passed death sentences on 683 supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi, including leading members of the Muslim Brotherhood. The charges are related to violent riots in the central Egyptian city of Minya in August, including the murder of a police officer. In the second case relating to 529 Muslim…

The Union of Israel Postal Service Employees has decided not to distribute mail in Tel Aviv and central Israel from Monday, as part of a protest against a streamlining plan that would see employees fired. The Postal Service management recently began implementation of the streamlining plan, which is designed to cut 113 million shekels from…

The Jewish Home party has scheduled an urgent meeting for Monday morning to discuss Arab nationalist violence in the Galilee region. The meeting will also deal with the planned Arab provocation on the upcoming Independence Day (Tuesday, 6.6) at the Lavie Forest next to Golani Junction, where Highways 65 and 77 meet. The head of…

Menachem Sandovsky, a survivor from the Lodz Ghetto, discussed with Arutz Sheva on Monday the importance of survivors traveling with IDF officers who toured the concentration and death camps in Poland. “When I come here with soldiers who proudly protect the homeland and each and every Jew, my pride is so great.” Sandovsky is one…

Hamas called on all Palestinian Arab organizations on Monday to cease any activities bound to disrupt the reconciliation efforts between the terror organization and Fatah so that a unity government may be formed in five weeks – under Hamas’s leadership.  Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, criticized all Palestinian Arab organizations or parties calling for…

On a lobbying trip to Washington DC, Dani Dayan, Chief Foreign Envoy of the Council of Judea and Samaria, slammed US Secretary of State John Kerry for remarks he made about how Israel would turn into an “apartheid state” if it stopped making concessions to the Palestinians. “John Kerry has outdone himself this time, demonstrating…

As they stood contemplating the meaning of Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Memorial Day at 10 AM local time Monday, as sirens sounded around the country, thousands of Israelis were jarred by a text message that appeared on their phones – at that very moment. The message, from Israel Railways, was a reminder to monthly pass…

The United States will impose further sanctions on Russia on Monday over the crisis in Ukraine and they will include high-tech exports to Russia’s defense industry, a White House official said on Sunday, according to Reuters. White House deputy national security adviser Tony Blinken said the sanctions are designed to punish Russia for not living…

Hungary’s annual “March of Life” commemorating the Holocaust drew a record 25,000 people on Sunday as part of events marking 70 years since the start of mass deportations of Hungarian Jews in World War II, AFP reported. According to the news agency, there was an open-air concert in front of the House of Terror museum…

The Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) central council on Sunday adopted a plan to pursue attempts to join 60 United Nations bodies and international agreements. The council, under the auspices of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, “affirms the need for the Palestinian leadership to continue membership of UN agencies and international conventions, under the Palestinian…

Arutz Sheva discussed Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Memorial Day with Carol Nuriel, a senior researcher at the Anti-Defamation League, and asked her for her opinion on recent increases in the levels of anti-Semitism around the world. Nuriel said that there had never really been a fall in the level of anti-Semitism. “It’s always there in…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu compared the existential danger posed by Iran to Israel with the Nazi war machine, and vowed that a Holocaust will not take place again. This is the text of his speech at the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day ceremony at Yad Vashem on Sunday: “The last time I visited Yad…

Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day will be officially inaugurated at 8 PM Sunday night, in a ceremony at Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem.  In the official ceremony at Yad Vashem, six torches will be lit by six Holocaust survivors, followed by the reciting of the “Kel Maleh Rachamim” prayer, which is recited for the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met one-on-one on Sunday with two survivors of the Holocaust, ahead of Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day. Pella Raviv, 82, of Lodz, Poland, was seven when the war broke out. Her family moved to Krakow, and then to the Radom ghetto. She used to slip out of the ghetto and…

The United States and Germany received top marks for their efforts to track down Nazi war criminals, in a report published today by the Israeli branch of the the Simon Wiesenthal Centre – one day ahead of Israel’s official Holocaust Memorial Day.     It placed both countries in its Category A, of states which “have…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) applied to over fifteen international agencies earlier this month, in a unilateral move which torpedoed peace talks with Israel.  But on Sunday, according to Ma’ariv, PA officials announced that they had finished the application process for a different agency entirely: the International Criminal Police Organization, or INTERPOL. If accepted, the PA police force would…

The government approved Finance Minister Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid)’s financial plan to assist Holocaust survivors in Israel on Sunday, to the tune of some one billion shekel ($287,894,000) per year, according to Walla! News.  The aid package, which is designed to support the 200,000 Holocaust survivors estimated to be living in Israel in 2014, will be…

MK Yoni Chetboun (Jewish Home), who serves as the Chair of the Knesset Caucus for French Immigration, left for France on Sunday to represent Israel as part of the Jewish Agency’s Holocaust Memorial Day presentation there. Before his departure, the MK emphasized the importance of fighting French anti-Semitism in light of the horrors of the Holocaust. Chetboun…

China should act to ensure religious freedoms, a top US opposition lawmaker said at the close of an Asia trip held as President Barack Obama also visits the region. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the number-two Republican in the lower chamber of the US Congress, was speaking in China as a bipartisan congressional delegation he was leading concluded. “Religion…

The President of the State of Israel, Shimon Peres, spoke at the official commemoration ceremony for the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem. President Peres spoke about the horrors of the massacre of Hungarian Jewry which took place 70 years today and of the destruction of the community in his home town…

A molotov cocktail was hurled at an Israeli car on Friday afternoon, right before the start of Shabbat, just outside of Yitzhar, the Samaria community that has recently witnessed clashes between residents and the IDF. The molotov cocktail exploded on the car, setting it on fire but fortunately not leaving any major damage. The owners…

Syrian President Bashar Assad dismissed concerns over the upcoming presidential race in Syria on Saturday, claiming that the race will be democratic amidst a chorus of foreign criticism.  “The Syrian presidency… maintains an equal distance from all candidates in order that Syrians can choose their… president freely and transparently,” Assad maintained, in a statement translated…

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud) denounced on Saturday night the speech by Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas before the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Central Council. Danon particularly took issue with Abbas’s claim in the speech that a unity government with Hamas is not a terrorist government. “Abbas is on his way to becoming…

Two people were killed in clashes on Friday between protesters and police in the Egyptian city of Fayoum, AFP reported, citing local security officials. Supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi have pressed a protest campaign since his overthrow last July, despite an extensive crackdown that has killed more than 1,400 people and imprisoned thousands.…

The United States denied on Friday that Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to secure a peace treaty between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have failed. Rather, claimed State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, the talks are in a “moment of transition” and Kerry’s team is adopting a “holding period” as the sides decide their…

Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, head of the Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center, expressed satisfaction on Friday over a New York court ruling which allowed the U.S. administration to seize ownership of a Manhattan building linked to Iran. The ruling, handed down last week, said that the Iranian companies that own 650 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan must forfeit…

Pope John XXIII, who will be canonized on Sunday, was “the best pope in history for the Jewish people,” says one of the founders of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation.     John XXIII, who will be made a saint along with John Paul II at the Vatican, is credited with saving thousands of Jews…

Iran welcomed Saturday a reconciliation deal between the the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Hamas, which it said amounted to a coalition against the “Zionist regime,” a reference to Israel.   “The Islamic Republic of Iran salutes the reconciliation of the Palestinian groups against the Zionist regime… and against the excessive demands and aggressions of the…

Israeli officials slammed Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s speech before the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Central Council on Saturday, criticizing him for reiterating one-sided ultimatums and dealing a death blow to the peace talks. The officials told AFP that Abbas “administered the coup de grace to the peace process today. (He) recycled the same conditions, after he…

Over 2,000 students of New York University (NYU) reportedly woke up on Thursday to mock eviction notices under their doors, in another anti-Semitic “dorm storm” initiated by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).  “Dorm storming,” as defined by Legal Insurrection, is the now-growing practice of pro-Palestinian groups sliding “eviction notices” under students’ doors overnight, allegedly to…

Egypt’s former defense minister and presidential candidate, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is Jewish, according to Egyptian journalist Saber Mashhour. Mashhour’s comments were posted to the internet on April 20 and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). He claimed that Al-Sisi grew up next to Israel’s former Chief of Staff and Defense Minister, Moshe…

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Thursday said it supported Israel’s decision to suspend peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA). In a statement, the ADL said that the suspension was fully justified in light of the unity pact between the PA and Hamas. “With its embrace of Hamas, a terrorist organization which unabashedly continues to…

Several weeks ago, a vigilante by the name of “Buddhax” made waves when he exposed the true faces – and names and passwords – of several anti-Israel hackers who participated in the #OpIsrael project to launch a cyber-attack against Israel.  Now, nearly one month later, Channel 2 revealed Friday the existence of another party responsible for keeping…

US President Barack Obama on Friday summarized Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s unity deal with the terrorist organization, sealed Wednesday, as being “unhelpful.” “The fact that recently President Abbas took the unhelpful step of rejoining talks with Hamas is just one of a series of choices that both Israel and the Palestinians have made which are…

A Virgin Blue Airlines passenger jet has been hijacked on its way from Bali to Brisbane Friday morning, and forced to make an emergency landing at Bali’s Denpasar airport.  According to Indonesian officials, a passenger attempted to enter the cockpit in a hijacking attack. Virgin officials have now announced that the passenger, who was allegedly…

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah offered to step down on Friday in a move which may pave the way for a unity government agreed between PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas, Al Jazeera reports. “I present my resignation, and the government is in your excellency’s hands whenever you wish,” the PA-based WAFA…

Armed separatists in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk on Friday seized a bus carrying international observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the interior ministry said, according to Reuters. The group, which included 7 OSCE representatives and five members of the Ukrainian armed forces, was being held in the building…

Syria has nearly completed surrendering its chemical weapons stockpile, a joint task force in charge of the operation said Thursday, according to AFP. “Today’s operation brings the total of chemical material removed and destroyed to 92.5 percent,” the combined Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-UN task team said in a statement. Damascus had…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed on Thursday that he will not negotiate with the Palestinian Authority (PA) so long as it is part of a unity government with the Hamas terrorist group. Netanyahu gave a series of interviews to the BBC, NBC and Fox News, after his cabinet decided to suspend peace talks with the…

US Secretary of State John Kerry responded to the suspension of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) nine months ago on Thursday, calling for “compromises” from both sides. “There’s always a way forward, but the leaders have to make the compromises to do that… if they’re not willing to make the compromises necessary…

An Israeli film called “Life Sentences” has won the top award at an international documentary film festival. The film, produced and directed by Nurit Kedar and Yaron Shani, won the “Golden Lens” prize at the Millenium Documentary Festival earlier this week in Brussels. The Israeli film competed against 11 other documentaries from around the world,…

The Air Force conducted a rehearsal last week for an event in which an enemy Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) infiltrates Israeli airspace. Both jet fighter and combat helicopter squadrons took part in the rehearsal, and practiced interception of a UAV near Israel’s border, reported the Air Force website. The IAF sees the threat as a…

The United States would have to reconsider its assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA) if Fatah and Hamas form a government together, a senior U.S. administration official said on Thursday, according to Reuters. Hamas and PA-Fatah head Mahmoud Abbas announced a unity pact on Wednesday, complicating his U.S.-brokered peace talks with Israel that were already…

An explosive charge was detonated by Gaza terrorists on Thursday night, targeting IDF forces in the area. The bomb was placed on the Gaza security fence, in the northern area of Gaza. No injuries or damage was reported as a result of the attack. Earlier on Thursday, the IDF uncovered two explosives near the border…

The government plans to implement a new education program on the Holocaust in Israeli schools, changing the focus of teaching the genocide that claimed the lives of six million Jews. The new program will be implemented beginning with the coming school year, and will include content for older children, as well as for elementary school-aged…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) shot back on Thursday night that it is considering “all options” in response to the suspension of peace talks. A security cabinet meeting on Thursday decided to suspend the talks following a unity deal reached between the PA and Hamas on Wednesday. It further imposed financial sanctions on the PA, in…

Even as Israel suspended the peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Thursday after it signed a unity deal with Hamas, the European Union (EU) saw fit to praise the alliance. “The EU has consistently called for intra-Palestinian reconciliation behind” PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said EU spokesperson Michael Mann, warmly welcoming the PA and…

A three-year-old infant boy miraculously escaped death on Thursday, after falling from a third-story window in his home on Jerusalem’s Rachel Imenu Street. Despite the massive distance of the drop, the infant was left with only moderate wounds. United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom (MDA) medics who arrived on the scene gave the infant boy…

During a six-hour security cabinet meeting on Thursday, ministers decided to respond to the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) unity deal with Hamas, reached on Wednesday, by suspending the peace talks ahead of their April 29 deadline. Further, it was decided to implement various sanctions on the PA, such as financial sanctions, and the cutting of diplomatic…

A woman was lightly wounded on Wednesday evening after terrorists threw rocks at a bus near the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem. The woman received treatment from paramedics at the scene and was subsequently taken to the Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital for further treatment. Arutz Sheva has reported on many occasions about rock attacks targeting Jews in Jerusalem,…

Prime Minister Binymain Netanyahu announced Wednesday evening that he would be convening the inner diplomacy-security cabinet Thursday morning, to discuss the agreement between Fatah and Hamas and whether or not to continue contacts with the Palestinian Authority (PA), reports Maariv-NRG. Earlier Wednesday evening, Netanyahu called US Secretary of State John Kerry and presented Israel’s position…

The United States is sending Egypt 10 Apache helicopters to Egypt to help counterterrorism efforts, reports the Oman Observer. US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel called his Egyptian counterpart, Colonel General Sedki Sobhi, and informed him of the decision, according to a statement. The choppers are to help Egypt’s counterterrorism operations in the Sinai. Hagel…

Israel-based SodaStream International stocks took their biggest leap in two years after daily newspaper Globes reported Starbucks Corp. is in talks to buy a 10 percent stake in the maker of home soda machines. Shares of SodaStream soared 14 percent to $46 in New York, in a rally that cut SodaStream’s loss this year to 7.6…

Israel has canceled a planned session of ‘peace talks’ with the Palestinian Authority (PA) that was scheduled for Wednesday evening, following the announced Hamas-Fatah reconciliation deal. Initial Israeli reactions to the deal came from the nationalist side of the map. Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin (Likud-Beytenu) said that the PA “once again has exposed the true unity of…

An Israeli warplane struck the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday wounding six people, one very seriously, the territory’s Hamas rulers said. The raid came as thousands took to the streets of Gaza City to celebrate the announcement by Hamas and the PLO of an agreement to form a unity government to end seven years of…

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has confirmed reports that Turkey has sent 300 troops into neighboring Syria to guard the tomb of a leading Turkish figure believed to be under threat from radical Islamist rebels, according to Today’s Zaman. The Turkish military force, which also included several armored vehicles, is being sent to bolster a…

Hamas and Fatah have signed a landmark reconciliation pact Wednesday, having agreed upon the terms of the deal at a meeting in Gaza. The agreement addresses key issues such as presidential and parliamentary elections, the formation of a unity government, and the restructuring of the PLO and the freeing of political prisoners held by the…

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday attacked those behind recent leaks as being a “parallel state,” and in doing so revealed they hold numerous recordings of key officials in Erdogan’s government – including himself. “They have tapes to blackmail people. They have tapes about the president and also about the chief of general…

The United Nations Security Council admitted Wednesday that humanitarian aid missions to war-torn Syria have failed – and that the situation is bound to get worse. Leaders of five UN agencies responsible for humanitarian relief painted a grim view of the hunger, poverty, and oppression in Syria in a joint statement Wednesday.  “The war escalates…

The annual report from the Holocaust Survivors Fund (HSF) was released Wednesday – and revealed that a shockingly high percentage of survivors live in poverty. According to the report, 60% of survivors are “troubled” by their economic situation, and about 50,000 of Holocaust survivors in Israel today live under the poverty line.  66% of survivors…

A tragedy was narrowly averted Tuesday, after the pilots of an El-Al Boeing 737 forgot to drop their landing gear before landing at London’s Heathrow airport, according to Channel 10.  The pilots were supposed to deploy the landing gear about six miles before reaching their destination, according to the report, and conduct tests to make sure…

Hamas’ police force in the Gaza Strip chose a rather strange way of exhibiting its skills at “keeping the peace” earlier this week, as policemen in military fatigues took part in a public drill simulating the seizure and destruction of an IDF lookout tower. Tens of armed fighters wielding assault weapons took part in the…

Moshe Zar, 76, a legendary redeemer of land and Samaria pioneer, discovered Tuesday morning that the memorial to his slain son, Gilad, had been burnt and defiled. He shared his feelings with Arutz Sheva in an exclusive interview. “They murdered my son with 20 bullets and verified his death,” he recalled. “We set up the…

Reports indicate that a massive US military operation in Yemen on Saturday and Sunday killed well over 55 Al Qaeda terrorists. Among the dead reportedly is Ibrahim al-Asiri, the chief bombmaker of the terrorist organization. A 4×4 truck which the 32-year-old al-Asiri was thought to be in was ambushed by US special forces over the…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas repeated his threats to disband the PA on Tuesday if peace talks remain stuck in their current dead-end. He further demanded his price for continuing the talks: a three-month construction freeze. Speaking to Israeli journalists at his offices in Ramallah ahead of the April 29 deadline for the nine-month…

Two Jewish synagogue-goers, including a former IDF soldier, have been hailed as heroes after saving a baby and an elderly man from a car just moments before it was engulfed by flames outside a synagogue in north London. The Israeli man, identified as “Shlomo” by locals, and fellow worshipper Moses Kuperman, jumped to the aid…

The mayor of the hometown of Kansas City killer Frazier Glenn Miller resigned Monday, after voicing support for the anti-Semitic gunman and former KKK leader’s views. Dan Clevenger’s resignation as mayor of Marionville, Missouri, which was handed in late Monday night, took effect at 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. He was forced to resign over comments…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon strongly condemned Hamas’s attacks on Israel during the post-Passover mimouna celebrations on Monday night, and vowed the IDF’s continued defense of Israeli citizens. “Even today, our enemies rise up to destroy us,” he said at a mimouna celebration in Modi’in, paraphrasing the Passover haggadah, “and we see that the IDF responded immediately, to send a…

Activists of the Toronto Palestine House marked “Palestinian Political Prisoners’ Day” in series of events in front of Israeli consulates and at event halls in Toronto, Canada, over the past week, shouting slogans that incited against Israel. The events included a demonstration in front of the Israeli consulate in Toronto (April 17), a vigil dedicated to…

Israel and Ukraine are attempting to rekindle diplomatic relations, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) announced Tuesday, ahead of the embattled country’s May 25 elections.  Liberman will be meeting with Ukrainian MP Petro Poroshenko in Jerusalem Wednesday, according to Walla! News. The move will be one of Israel’s first forays into the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, which began…

The push to increase the growing number of Christian Arab IDF recruits advanced Tuesday, after the IDF made a landmark decision to send out “voluntary draft notices” to Christian Arabs of recruitment age. Jewish Israeli teens receive their draft orders at the age of sixteen and a half, and are required by law to report…

Tova Richler of New York flew to Israel to attend her father’s funeral at the Mount of Olives Friday, but an ambush by local Arabs prevented her from attending it. Richler, 59, drove to the funeral Friday afternoon in a car with her sister, her brother-in-law and her young nephew, reports Israel Hayom. Near the…

Jews who visited Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, in recent days were astonished to find that the tomb of Dov Ber Schneerson, brother of the late Lubavicher Rebbe, Rabbi Menahem Mendel Schneerson, had been vandalized. Unknown vandals spray-painted swastikas on the tomb, which was erected six years ago as a memorial to the man, who was murdered by…

The Syrian presidential elections will be held on June 3, current President Bashar Assad announced Monday, just one week after he claimed the three-year civil war was going in his favor.  Western and Gulf Arab countries that back Assad’s opponents have called plans for an election a “parody of democracy” in the wake of the…

Secular residents of Ashdod were up in arms Monday night because of a “men’s only” Mimouna celebration taking place in the city. The event was being attended by Chief Sephardic Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, along with top officials in the Shas party. Mimouna, the post-Passover spring festival associated with Moroccan Jewry, has been adopted by many…

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Ukraine of breaking the Geneva Accords Monday, in the latest set of hostile barbs between Moscow and Kiev.  Lavrov accused the new government, which was established last month after a coup by pro-European protestors, of not weeding out extremists during the recent revolution.  “Extremists are calling the tune,” he…

MK Yoni Chetboun (Jewish Home) attended the traditional Mimouna celebration in the southern Israeli city of Sderot Monday night. Residents of Sderot, like in many other communities in southern Israel, were on alert throughout the day Monday, as rocket attacks by Gaza Arab terrorists rocked the region. Many residents of the city spent much of…

Over the Passover holiday, over 2 million Israelis visited national parks, nature reserves, and outdoor sites around Israel. According to the Jewish National Fund, the top sites were the Hula Reserve in northern Galilee, the “interactive forest” in the Ilanot Forest, and the water reservoirs in the Besor region in southern Israel. Also very popular…

The Israel Air Force struck three terror targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday afternoon, in response to rocket fire at southern Israel earlier Monday. The IDF Spokesman’s Office said in a statement that “IAF aircraft attacked two terror targets in the south of the Gaza Strip and an additional target in the center of…

The Palestinian Authority’s Minister of Religious Trusts, Mahmoud al-Habash, cancelled a planned visit to Tulkarm Sunday for the dedication of a new mosque, after many dozens of residents demonstrated against him. The protesters were angry at him for an interview in which he denounced the terror attack in which an Israeli police officer was murdered and said…

A freak spring wind storm downed trees in Israel’s southern resort city of Eilat as tens of thousands of Israelis were enjoying the last days of the Passover holiday. Dozens of cars were damaged by downed trees. Police and municipality crews were dispatched to help evaluate and clean up the damage. The wind storm began…

Frazier Glenn Cross, who has been indicted in the shootout at a Kansas Jewish community center last weekend in which three people were killed, threatened Jewish leaders in Ukraine last month, said Rabbi Dov Bleich, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine. Speaking to haredi newspaper Hamevaser, Rabbi Bleich said that Cross made the threat through a…

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro addressed the US visa crisis for the first time late Saturday night, stressing that the White House is working diligently to increase the number of visa applications accepted for young Israeli tourists.  “In a letter to members of Congress this week, the State Department announced the decision of the…

Authorities are still searching for nine Hezbollah-linked suspects in Thailand on Sunday, just days after two suspects in a planned terror attack against Israelis were arrested in Bangkok.  While Thailand’s Jewish leaders reassured the public not to panic following the arrests, and stressed that threats are ‘business as usual’ in Bangkok, Israeli authorities are taking…

Ukraine’s prime minister voiced outrage at reports that masked men in east Ukraine’s main city handed out leaflets demanding Jews register or be expelled, NBC News reported Saturday. Members of the Jewish community in the pro-Russian protest hub of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine said Friday that they were left shaken by the distribution of tracts demanding the registration of Jews. Prime Minister…

Is there a secret deal between the Vatican and Israel to transfer control over King David’s Tomb to the Catholic church? An investigative report in Makor Rishon cites La Stampa Vatican Insider journalist Andrea Tornielli as saying that the deal has been nearly completed, and that Deputy Foreign Minister Ze’ev Elkin is in charge of…

President Shimon Peres on Sunday made his traditional Pesach visit to the Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzchak Yoseph. During his visit, Peres stressed the importance of maintaining unity among the Jewish people. “We are not a big people, and we have known much suffering and destruction,” Peres said. “We cannot let the differences…

Rabbi Meir Soloveichik’s tour of the Temple Mount was cut short this morning when violent rioting broke out at the holy site. It was the first time that the Temple Mount had been open to Jews since the beginning of the observance of Passover this year. The riots forced Rabbi Meir Soloveichik and his family,…

At least five people have reportedly been killed in Slaviansk Sunday morning, after Ukrainian soldiers and pro-Russian demonstrators clashed in another skirmish overnight. Russian Times places the death toll at six thus far.  Slaviansk, a town in eastern Ukraine which has been seized by armed pro-Russian protestors, has been a flashpoint for clashes over the past week. …

Director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, said Saturday that a dispute with world powers over the Arak heavy water reactor has been “almost resolved,” the Al-Alam Arabic-language television reported. “Iran has made a proposal to the P5+1 (group of world powers) to make certain changes in Arak and they have accepted.…

Islamist terror organization Hamas has attacked the latest statements by Palestinian Authority (PA) head Mahmoud Abbas, regarding possible reconciliation between the Fatah and Hamas. It noted that by speaking in threatening terms, Abbas was not creating a positive atmosphere. Hamas stressed that the PLO Central Committee does not represent the Palestinian people and that it…

American film producer and screenwriter Boaz Yakin is best known for successful movies like Remember the Titans, Fresh, and 2013’s Now You See Me. But his latest release isn’t a movie, but a graphic novel based on his own family’s experiences. The trials and tribulations of the pre-1948 Jewish resistance groups Irgun (also known by its Hebrew…

Iran is continuing its process of military armament, which is largely based on domestically-manufactured weapons including satellites, fighter planes, helicopters, missiles, radar systems and more. Iranian Navy Commander Habib Allah Siari announced Saturday that Ghader-type cruise missiles would be placed on Iran’s destroyers. The Ghader was unveiled in 2011, and can be launched from ships…

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met separately Friday with US peace envoy Martin Indyk, a Palestinian Authority (PA) source said, a day after five hours of three-way talks failed to bring agreement. Indyk first met chief PA negotiator Saeb Erakat in the city of Jericho, but no details of their talks were given. Israeli officials did…

US President Barack Obama made clear his “disgust” at anti-Jewish leaflets handed out in east Ukraine’s main city, his top national security aide said Friday.     The pamphlets telling Jews to register or be expelled were distributed in the city of Donetsk and sparked global outrage and fears of a Nazi-style pogrom.    …

Thousands of Christian pilgrims thronged the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem’s Old City Saturday amid tight security to celebrate the Holy Fire ceremony on the eve of Easter.     Christians believe that a divine fire from heaven ignites a flame in the church, built on the site where they say Jesus was…

Egypt has foiled an attempt to smuggle out of the country Jewish antiquities used during religious ceremonies, the antiquities ministry said on Friday.     The artefacts were discovered in the Mediterranean city of Damietta as they were about to be shipped to Belgium, a ministry statement said.   Among them are 11 wooden cases…

Israel has responded angrily to a statement by the EU’s leading foreign diplomat in which she exclusively blamed Israel for the collapse of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. On Firday, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton called on Israel to halt construction projects in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria in order to revive…

Arab terrorists tried to set an IDF pillbox-type guard position on fire Saturday, at Rachel’s Tomb, near Bethlehem. No soldiers were reported hurt. An IDF outlook unit identified smoke coming from the pillbox post and alerted ground forces to approach the position. The soldiers identified about ten suspects who had set fire to the post.…

Local Christian Arabs and pilgrims from around the world made their way down the cobbled Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem Friday, where Jesus is believed to have walked to his crucifixion, according to AFP.  Thousands of worshippers, some bearing wooden crosses, walked through the walled Old City to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site where they believe Jesus was…

Many Israelis have long maintained that conditions for Arab terrorists in jail are far too comfortable and do not provide enough of a deterrent, citing numerous incidents of Palestinian Arabs who have carried out attacks purely in order to receive the perks that Israeli jails afford them, including free higher education. A recent interview with…

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton called on Israel to reverse recent announcements regarding construction in Judea and Samaria in order to advance peace talks.   Ashton said she viewed with “great concern” an Israeli decision to declare an area near the Gush Etzion Bloc south of Jerusalem as state land and the recognition of…

Following intelligence information received by Jerusalem police on plans by Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount to disrupt the public order at the end of their prayers, entrance to the holy site was limited to Muslim visitors. The decision to only allow Muslim men over the age of 50, and women of any age, to…

Two suspects, thought to be linked to the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, were arrested in Thailand last week. In investigation one of them has admitted a planned bombing attack on Israelis during Passover. The two suspects, French-Lebanese Daoud Farhat and Lebanese-Filipino national Youssef Ayad, were exposed by a counter-terror website “Stop910” as being part of…

US Secretary of State John Kerry will be investigating the sudden rise in the number of US visas rejected for young Israelis, after an initial report saw that the visa rejection rate has doubled since 2009.   Kerry announced the move in a letter Thursday, published by Al-Monitor, to House Representative Nita Lowey (D – NY). The…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s office wasted no time on Wednesday in denying reports that he condemned the terrorist attack the occurred near Hevron on Monday. The attack left Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrahi dead and two others, including his pregnant wife, wounded. Leftist MKs who met with Abbas on Wednesday as Mizrahi was being buried…

The Syrian Army reportedly killed a number of foreign nationals fighting in Syria earlier this month, in a special operation conducted in the southern rural area of Idlib. The operation, which was first reported in the blog Alternative Angle, saw six foreign nationals killed in the villages of Kafr S’jina and Al-Hamdiya.  Killed in action,…

Efforts to extend the collapsing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) past their April 29 deadline have failed, according to a PA source. The latest meeting, which was held in a Jerusalem hotel late Thursday with US envoy Martin Indyk, included five hours of “very difficult discussions,” the source told AFP. “The gap (between…

Armed pro-Russian separatists declared their intent to stay at their posts Friday, in defiance of an international deal which they claim does not apply to them.  A landmark deal reached Thursday night between Russia, the US and the European Union (EU) called for the separatists, who have been seizing government buildings in eastern Ukraine for…

Syrian fighter jets struck villages and sites associated with the opposition forces late Friday morning, in the Quneitra region of the Golan Heights. The attacks on Quneitra, the only crossing along the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights, raised concerns in Israel, reports Channel 10. In response, the IDF stepped up preparations along the border, and…

The Haifa-based defense company Rafael is planning several enhancements to its Iron Dome missile defense system. A company official identified only as Gil S told IHS Jane’s in early April that the enhancements would include various improvements, but that details and timelines are largely classified at the moment. “There is something in the pipeline, both in terms…

Dozens of Arab youth rioted in Jerusalem on Friday, as they tried to break through police barriers by the Shalem police station near the Damascus Gate, located on the eastern end of the Old City’s northern wall. Police used riot dispersal means to push them back; no injuries were reported on either side. Hundreds of…

Iran is complying with the terms of its temporary nuclear agreement with six world powers, a monthly update from the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) showed on Thursday. The secret report was obtained by Reuters and the Associated Press. Under the January 20 deal, Iran curbed some parts of its nuclear program in exchange…

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday condemned notices which were sent to Jews in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, asking them to identify themselves as Jews. Kerry called the move “grotesque.” “In the year 2014, after all of the miles traveled and all of the journey of history, this is not just intolerable,…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took his wife, Sarah, and sons, Yair and Avner, on a Pesach holiday trip to the Galilee.  The photos place them at the Manara Cliffs near the Lebanese border and overlooking the Hula Valley. Loading… Photos: Haim Tzah, GPO

Hundreds of thousands of Israeli visitors have inundated Judea and Samaria during Chol Hamoed, the intermediary days of Passover, reports the tour group Mishkefet (‘Binoculars’). “The demand for visits to Judea and Samaria rose beyond our expectations,” noted Mishkefet, adding that it had broken a record by holding over 100 tours in the region so…

A technical malfunction caused a carousel ride in Tel Aviv’s Luna Park amusement park to stop suddenly Thursday, lightly injuring 21 children. Medics and paramedics from Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency services gave the children medical treatment on the spot and then evacuated them to hospitals. An MDA paramedic told IDF Radio that the children…

While thousands of Arab residents of Hevron marched through the city on Thursday afternoon to mark “Prisoners’ Day,” dozens of them rioted, throwing rocks at IDF soldiers and border patrol officers.  Security forces responded by using riot control gear, lightly wounding one of the rioters in the process. On Prisoners Day, Arab residents of Judea, Samaria…

Nearly 100 members of the ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, attended a first-of-its-kind traditional Passover Seder Monday. The Seder, was sponsored by the Jerusalem-based Shavei Israel organization, which sent Kaifeng all of the traditional Passover items including: Kosher Matzah packages from Israel, Kosher for Passover wine, Passover Haggadahs (traditional book used on Passover that explains the…

Poll: Many Americans Consider Obama a ‘Liar’ Global Agenda 7:53 AM 4/17/2014

Crime boss Charlie Abutbul was found dead, shot in the head, in his Netanya home on Thursday. He was in house arrest pending a 16-month jail term, after being convicted of abduction. Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics who were called to the scene evacuated Abutbul to Laniado Hospital in Netanya, where doctors were forced to…

Russia, the US and the European Union said Thursday that they have agreed to steps to “de-escalate” the crisis in Ukraine. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that a deal has been reached with Ukraine, the US and the EU to ‘de-escalate’ dangerously high tensions in the former Soviet republic. Lavrov, US Secretary of State…

Over 1,000 Jews are expected to gather in Moscow between April 24 and 27 for the “Limmud FSU Moscow” conference, one of the largest gatherings of Jews in the former Soviet Union (FSU). The conference is organized by local volunteers and held by Limmud FSU, a nonprofit founded eight years ago to serve Russian-speaking Jews worldwide.…

Speaking Thursday on a tour of Druze and Circassian villages in northern Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said that the terror attack on Monday night, in which police officer Baruch Mizrahi was murdered by an Arab terrorist, “reminds us, for those who may have forgotten, that Israel is faced with a large group of neighbors…

Twelve Israeli tourists were injured late Wednesday when a bus overturned in Argentina. The Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires is in touch with the victims and has contacted their families in Israel. All 12 are said to be suffering from light injuries. The Israelis have been taken to a local hospital for treatment. According to…

A modern “exodus” story took place in recent months, as one of the last Jews in Sudan managed to make her way to Israel – more than 30 years after she had planned to make i Takla’s story (her real name is a secret, for her safety’s sake) begins in 1980, when as an 18…

If, eventually, the “fourth round” of terrorist prisoner releases takes place, the list of those to be released is set to include ten arch-terrorists whose families live in Judea and Samaria – and they are deemed to be too dangerous to be allowed to return to their homes by Shabak security agency chief Yoram Cohen.…

For the second time, Israelis of all religious stripes – secular, haredi, and National Religious – will march on Thursday from secular Ramat Gan to haredi Bnei Brak, in an annual “march of unity” designed to reduce tensions and disagreements between the groups, and to provide an example of a better way to conduct relations.…

Thousands of police and IDF troops will be on duty Thursday, as tens of thousands of Jews arrive at the Kotel (Western Wall) for the Birkat Cohanim (Blessing of the Cohanim) ceremony, a special feature of the Jewish festivals. Troops will be on special alert following the unrest on the Temple Mount Wednesday. Police will…

A Jewish merchant was stabbed by a Muslim man on the Tunisian island of Djerba on Monday, hours before the Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover) and just one month before the annual pilgrimage to the island’s El Ghriba synagogue. 38-year-old Lasaad Tounsi caused minor injuries to Morris Bachiri, a Jewish merchant from El Hara El Kabira,…

Hungary began 70th anniversary commemorations of the Holocaust on Wednesday, amid boycotts and protests by Jewish groups which accuse the government of whitewashing the country’s role in the mass deportations of Jews in 1944. Marking the day when Hungarian Jews were first placed in ghettoes in 1944, ceremonies were held around the country as part of “Holocaust 2014”, a program of events…

Among those wounded in the terror shooting near Hevron Friday was a nine-year-old boy, Almog Mizrahi of Beit Shemesh. While sharing the same last name with Baruch Mizrahi of Modiin, the police officer who was killed, Almog was in a separate car with his mother and his sister, Lotam. He was released from hospital Wednesday…

Prosecutors filed a death penalty murder charge Tuesday against a white supremacist accused of fatally shooting three people at Jewish sites in Kansas over the weekend, judicial sources said. Frazier Glenn Cross, 73, also known as F. Glenn Miller, was charged with one count of capital murder for the deaths of a 69-year-old physician and…

Traffic ground to a halt on Highway 1 – the main road to and from Jerusalem from the coastal plain – Wednesday morning. The road was blocked in both directions for hours near Neveh Ilan, because of a bus that caught fire. Traffic has since resumed moving but is still doing so slowly near Ein…

A meeting between Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators scheduled for Wednesday has been postponed, an official said, after the fatal shooting of an Israeli father near Hevron. “The meeting that was planned for tonight between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams will not be taking place. It’s being postponed,” the Israeli official told AFP on condition…

Birkat Hakohanim, the traditional priestly blessing ceremony, is expected to bring tens of thousands of Jews to the Western Wall (Kotel) Plaza Thursday, but the Temple Mount itself has been closed off to Jews and will likely remain that way on Thursday, too. The Western Wall is a remainder of the outer perimeter wall that…

Chief Superintendent Baruch Mizrahi Hy”d, a husband and father of five, is the man who was murdered near Hevron on Monday by terrorists right before Passover began. Mizrahi was driving to Kiryat Arba for a seder meal with his pregnant wife and three of his children when a terrorist opened fire on the family car,…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday responded to the murder of a police officer near Hevron on Monday, just before Passover began. The man was shot to death by terrorists while driving with his family to a seder meal in Kiryat Arba. “This reprehensible murder of a man who was traveling with his family to a…

Terrorists opened fire on a family car near Hevron in Judea, murdering the family’s father as he was driving, mere minutes before the Passover holiday began on Monday afternoon. The man, a police officer in his 40s from the center of the country, was killed instantly by the gunfire. He was from Modi’in, security sources…

“Stop910,” a website that collects information on terror cells in eastern Asia, reported on Tuesday that the cell was discovered in Thailand, and displayed pictures of three members who had been spying on Israeli sites. The three terrorists include Youssef Ayad, a Shi’ite Muslim from the Philippines working under Hezbollah’s international arm, along with two…

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has spoken separately with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to encourage them to keep alive the faltering peace process.     Ban spoke to the pair individually by telephone on Sunday, amid fears the US-backed peace talks are close to collapse.     The United Nations…

Prosecutors filed a death penalty murder charge Tuesday against a white supremacist accused of fatally shooting three people at Jewish sites over the weekend, judicial sources said.   Frazier Glenn Cross, 73, was charged with one count of capital murder for the deaths of a 69-year-old physician and his teenage grandson outside the Jewish Community…

Police officers from Ariel in Samaria foiled a stabbing attack Tuesday night while patrolling nearby Tapuach Junction, located near Kfar Tapuach. The police noticed an Arab man acting in a suspicious manner. Upon investigation, the officers found a knife in his pocket. An initial investigation revealed that the man intended to stab an IDF soldier…

Terrorists opened fire on a family car near Hevron in Judea, murdering the family’s father as he was driving, mere minutes before the Passover holiday began on Monday afternoon. The man, a police officer in his 40s from the center of the country, was killed instantly by the gunfire. His pregnant wife was wounded, and…

A man was shot and murdered by a terrorist in the Hevron area on Monday afternoon. A father was driving in his car with three young children and his wife when a terrorist shot them. The father was immediately killed while his wife and three  children were wounded and taken to the hospital.  The IDF…

President Barack Obama warned Monday that religious violence had no place in US society after a gunman with alleged anti-Semitic ties killed three people at a Jewish center and retirement home. “Nobody should have to worry about their security when gathering with their fellow believers. No one should have to fear for their safety when they go to prayer,” Obama…

Seventy-one people were killed and 124 injured after an explosion erupted at a Nigeria bus station, official media announced Monday.  The explosion, which occurred at the Nyanyan Motor Park on the outskirts of Abuja, erupted at about 6:45 am Monday, said Manzo Ezekiel, spokesman of the country’s National Emergency Management Agency.  “We’re still treating people with…

Kansas police have published the identity of the 73-year-old suspect in Sunday’s shootings at two local Jewish institutions that left three dead. The suspect, Fraiser Glenn Cross Jr., is the former Grand Dragon of the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The name Cross is an alias for Fraiser Glenn Miller, former leader of…

Iran’s nuclear chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, said on Sunday that his country will need 30,000 of its new generation centrifuges to meet domestic fuel demands, far more than the current number, AFP reports. Salehi’s comments came just days after the latest round of international talks in Vienna aimed at securing a long-term deal over Iran’s…

Ukraine’s ousted president on Sunday accused the CIA of being behind the new Ukrainian government’s decision to deploy armed forces to quash an increasingly brazen pro-Russian insurgency, reported The Associated Press (AP). Speaking late Sunday on Russian state television, Viktor Yanukovych claimed that CIA director John Brennan had met with Ukraine’s new leadership and “in…

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said on Sunday that the war that has torn Syria apart for three years and cost more than 150,000 lives is turning in the government’s favor, AFP reported citing the state news agency SANA. “This is a turning point in the crisis, both militarily in terms of the army’s achievements in…

President Barack Obama offered his condolences on Sunday night to the families of those killed in the shootings outside a Jewish community center and a retirement village in Kansas. According to The Associated Press, Obama said he has asked his White House team to make sure law enforcement authorities have “the necessary resources to support…

Hundreds of Jewish travelers gathered in Kathmandu Monday to attend what organizers claim is the world’s biggest Passover celebration as food supplies, delayed for weeks due to a diplomats’ strike, arrived hours before the feast. Chabad House Nepal, which organizes the celebration every year, usually relies on the Israeli embassy to help import supplies for the feast in the impoverished Himalayan nation.…

Jews in eastern Russia – in Siberia, and along the border with Japan – are preparing for Passover. The area is home to thousands of Jews, and rabbis affiliated with Chabad and other groups are conducting Passover Seders for them. Siberia is about ten time zones east of Israel, so Jews there were already well…

Police apprehended a suspected gunman from a shooting at two Jewish institutions in Kansas which left three people dead earlier Sunday. Local news outlets reported that the man was heard yelling “Heil Hitler” as police took him into custody. The 70-year-old suspected gunman was not from Kansas, and local police had not encountered him before.  It’s…

Sunday evening, Gaza terrorists fired several mortar shells at an IDF force operating near the Gaza border. No injuries or damage were reported. The attack occurred in the Northwestern region of the Negev, near the Kissufim border crossing. This was the second reported mortar attack on IDF soldiers in the Negev in the past 24…

Two shootings have been reported at the Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas City, and at Village Shalom, a retirement home in Leawood. At least three people are reported dead.  According to KSHB in Kansas City, Overland Park Police confirmed that multiple shots were fired at the community center, which is located at 5801…

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday accused Twitter of tax evasion and pledged to launch a probe against it, reported the Anadolu news agency. Speaking during the inauguration of a biological treatment facility in Istanbul, Erdogan said, “Twitter, YouTube and Facebook are companies established to make profit; these companies are making money.” “Like…

 An Islamic terrorist serving multiple life sentences in an Israeli prison has declared an open-ended hunger strike in protest at his solitary confinement, a Palestinian Arab “support group” told AFP Sunday – hours before the strike ended.  The Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said that about 200 other Palestinian Arabs spread across several Israeli jails would fast in solidarity with former Hamas…

A Ukrainian security officer was killed and five more were injured Sunday in clashes that broke out between government forces and pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk.  Acting Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov stated that there were “casualties on both sides” from the clashes, including many more injured from the separatist side. According to Avakov, about 1,000…

Israeli and Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiators met on Sunday in a fresh bid to save their teetering US-brokered peace talks, a PA official said. Chief PA negotiator Saeb Erakat was meeting in Jerusalem with his Israeli opposite number, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s special envoy Yitzhak Molcho, he told AFP. There…

After years of research and a number of High Court cases, the Civil Adminstration on Sunday declared a parcel of 980 dunams (242 acres) of land in Gush Etzion as state-owned land. The declaration of the parcel as state-owned land is the first step in developing plans for eventual home construction. This is the largest…

Little progress has been made in the official investigation over Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpiur to Beijing on March 8. But an unofficial probe by local newspaper the New Straits Times revealed Saturday that the co-pilot of the jetliner attempted to make a call with his cellpgone shortly after the…

Syrian government and opposition forces have traded blame over an alleged chemical attack in the village of Kafr Zita, Hama province on Friday. “Regime planes bombed Kafr Zita with explosive barrels that produced thick smoke and odours and led to cases of suffocation and poisoning,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the London-based Syrian Observatory for…

U.S. contractor Alan Gross ended an eight-day hunger strike Friday to press for his release from prison in Cuba, AFP reported. Gross moved to end his protest after a telephone conversation with his mother, who will turn 92 years old on Tuesday, according to defense attorney Scott Gilbert. “My protest fast is suspended as of…

The United States on Friday said it was against the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) turning to international organizations, but also expressed its displeasure with Israel’s sanctions on the PA. “Unilateral moves by both sides will not accelerate the peace process, but will rather do the opposite,” said White House spokesman Jay Carney, according to Channel 10…

Iran said on Friday that it “regretted” the United States’ decision not to issue a visa to Tehran’s choice as its next UN ambassador, but noted that the decision would not affect the nuclear talks currently underway between Iran and six world powers. The U.S. decision to not issue a visa to Hamid Aboutalebi is…

The Egyptian government has stepped up a campaign to curb Muslim Brotherhood influence over mosques, Reuters reported on Thursday. The government said it has licensed more than 17,000 state-approved clerics to give Friday sermons to stop places of worship from falling “into the hands of extremists,” according to the report. The military-backed authorities have been…

The Obama administration has officially informed Iran and the United Nations that the U.S. will deny a visa to Tehran’s choice as its next UN ambassador because of his ties to the 1979 hostage crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. Iran’s government had chosen Hamid Aboutalebi, who served as a translator for radical…

Ukraine’s interim government has accused Russia of orchestrating unrest in the country, after gunmen seized several further government buildings in eastern Ukraine. It comes just days after government buildings in Donetsk were seized by protesters in the majority Russian-speaking east of the country, who are demanding a union with Russia. On Saturday, pro-Russian militiamen stormed…

Vienna’s Philharmonic Orchestra said Saturday it was returning a painting that was stolen by the Nazis to the descendants of its rightful owners, in the latest high-profile restitution case in Austria. The Philharmonic, famed for its annual New Year’s concert, sent a letter to the descendants of the painting’s former French owner Marcel Koch on Thursday to inform them of the move,…

President Shimon Peres eulogized Ron Pundak on Friday, after the 1993 Oslo Accords architect passed away at the age of 59 earlier in the day, following a long bout with cancer. Pundak was a “peace fighter to his last breath,” according to Peres, who “devoted his entire adult life in efforts to achieve peace between us…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has signed up formally to the Geneva Conventions, which set down the rules of warfare and humanitarian operations in conflict zones, the treaties’ guardian Switzerland confirmed Friday. Swiss foreign ministry spokesman Pierre-Alain Eltschinger told AFP that the PA had declared itself party to the conventions on April 2. The PA was registered formally by Switzerland on Thursday, he…

Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir warned that the IDF’s seizing of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in Samaria’s Yitzhar on Friday morning will not cut down on “price tag” vandalism. According to Ben-Gvir, the move will only encourage more attacks. “Law enforcement authorities would never dare mention seizing Bir Zeit University or any other hornet’s nest,” remarked Ben-Gvir,…

Ron Pundak, one of the architects of the Oslo Accords, died Friday after a long battle with cancer. He was 59 years old.  Pundak’s Oslo Accords allowed the PLO terrorist organization to establish an armed presence in Judea, Samaria and Gaza and form the Palestinian Authority (PA). Intifada terror wars following the accords costs thousands of Israeli…

The IDF caused new fury in the Samaria town of Yitzhar by stationing a border police unit in Yitzhar’s Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva (Torah academy) building. “Due to the violent events towards security forces that occurred in recent days, and in order to give a response to security needs, it was decided by the IDF to…

Bereaved families have filed complaints against the mayor of the Arab city of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, located in northern Israel near Hadera, after discovering signs around the city which show the terrorists who murdered soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984. The signs read, “Today you, tomorrow all the prisoners” and “You returned as heroes.” Moshe’s brother Oren…

A Border Police officer was lightly wounded on Friday evening from a rock thrown by Palestinian Arabs who were rioting near the border fence in Beitunia, north of Jerusalem. The officer was taken to hospital for treatment. Soldiers dispersed the rioters, who were throwing rocks and firebombs towards them. Arutz Sheva has reported on many occasions about…

The Canadian government is considering blacklisting the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group, Shalom Toronto reports Friday, after a petition submitted by conservative MPs in Ontario province’s Mississauga and Streetsville reached the House of Commons earlier this month.  Egypt began an intense crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood in July, after the ouster of former leader Mohammed Morsi.…

The IDF released a statement on Friday, announcing that it has placed a border police unit in the Samaria town of Yitzhar due to recent clashes there between residents and the IDF. The unit has been stationed in the Yitzhar Yeshiva (Torah academy) building. “Due to the violent events towards security forces that occurred in recent…

The widow of Egypt’s former president recently blasted the United States’ policy towards Egypt, saying she was “sick and tired” of it. Jehan Sadat, the widow of Anwar Sadat, said in a TV interview that the U.S. was trying to fragment Egypt, just like it fragmented Iraq and Syria. The interview aired on the Saudi-owned…

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) launched an attack on Thursday against its Al-Qaeda rival, the Al-Nusra Front, and its local Syria allies, AFP reported. The attack, in a town on the Iraqi border, killed dozens of fighters, according to activists who spoke to the news agency. The clashes centered on Al-Bukamal,…

Gaza terrorists fired mortar shells at an IDF force that was patrolling near the security fence early Thursday afternoon. No one was hurt and no damage was caused. The force returned fire in the direction that the mortars were fired from. The IDF Spokesman said that the incident was the third time in two days…

Leaders of Yitzhar, the Samaria community where youths destroyed an IDF outpost and set off a firestorm of criticism, issued a letter Thursday appealing to residents to oppose violence against the IDF. The letter acknowledges the frustration of residents, saying that there was no justification Tuesday for the demolition of homes by the Civil Administration,…

Most people know that Steven Demetre Georgiou – also known as Cat Stevens – converted to Shia Islam at the height of his musical career in 1977, when he was a well-known international rock star, taking on the name Yussuf Islam. Stevens was introduced to Islam by his brother David – who, according to sources,…

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas says he may be willing to extend talks with Israel beyond their current April 29 deadline, throwing a lifeline to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s floundering diplomatic efforts between the sides. Speaking to pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, Abbas denied that his decision to unilaterally apply for membership to 15…

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on Thursday congratulated the Israel Space Agency for its successful launch of the Ofek 10 satellite Wednesday night. “The launch is further testimony to Israel’s phenomenal capabilities in technology,” Yaalon said. “The Ofek 10 satellite will greatly enhance Israel’s intelligence capabilities and help us to better defend the country from threats…

A disturbing discovery was made in the Polish town of Dobrzyn Nad Wisla on Monday by Johnny Daniels, CEO of Mimaamakim (From the Depths), a group which brought MKs to visit Auschwitz in June for Holocaust Remembrance Day.  Roughly half of the residents of the small Polish town were Jewish before the horrors of the Holocaust.…

Terror group Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis announced Thursday that it will carry out revenge attacks on the United States and harm its interests in Egypt, following Washington’s decision to add the Sinai-based terror group to its list of terror groups. Voice of Israel‘s monitor of Arabic radio said that the organization vowed to strike US firms…

  Israel launched the spy satellite “Ofek 10” into space on Wednesday evening. The launch was conducted by the Ministry of Defense at the Palmachim Air Force Base in central Israel. “The successful launch of the ‘Ofek 10’ satellite is additional proof of Israel’s remarkable technological capabilities,” Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said on Thursday. “The ‘Ofek 10’ satellite will improve the State…

Who would have rejoiced the most had he been able to attend the joint Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT), Bar Ilan and Yeshiva University Annual Torah and Science Conference held at the JCT Jerusalem Campus on April 9th – Theodore Herzl, Maimonides or Israel’s first Chief Rabbi, Rav Avraham Kook? The jury is out on…

Hamas said on Thursday evening that it was against any extension of the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The group’s spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, made the remarks, following reports of a possible deal between Israel and the PA, whereby Israel would release Israeli-held Arab terrorists in exchange for the extension of…

The United States is threatening Russia with more sanctions, not only over the situation in Ukraine but also over a possible oil deal between Moscow and Tehran. Reuters reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told his Russian counterpart on Thursday that any oil-for-goods deal Moscow might strike with Iran could run afoul of U.S.…

Dr. Michael Robert Kremer, Harvard University’s Gates Professor of Developing Societies in the Department of Economics, will deliver the annual Alexander Brody Distinguished Lecture in Economics at Yeshiva University on Tuesday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m. The event, entitled “Improving Health in the Developing World,” will take place at Weissberg Commons on YU’s Wilf Campus,…

The magnificent Waldorf Astoria is finally ready to open its doors and invite the people of Jerusalem to enter a magical symphony of elegance, tradition, sophistication and up-to-date technology. The Waldorf Astoria has stayed true to its famous brand image and identity in offering everyone an unforgettable experience of personal service and value. A personal…

Iran and world powers said Wednesday that their nuclear talks were now moving up a gear, AFP reported, with Iran’s foreign minister saying both sides agreed on “50-60 percent” of issues. Speaking after the latest round of talks in Vienna, the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the next round from May 13 would…

Israel launched the spy satellite “Ofek 10” into space on Wednesday evening. The launch was conducted by the Ministry of Defense at the Palmachim Air Force Base in central Israel. Upon entering orbit, “Ofek 10” will conduct a series of tests to verify that it is up to the excepted levels of performance. “Ofek 10”…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) met with US Secretary of State John Kerry Wednesday in Washington.  The two used the hour-long meeting to address various issues, including negotiations with Iran, the situation in Syria, and the US-Israel relationship.  Kerry reiterated to Liberman at the meeting that he had not blamed Israel Tuesday for the…

A holocaust memorial monument in Odessa, Ukraine, has been vandalized, apparently by neo-Nazi groups involved in the ouster of former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Swastikas and Waffen SS signs were daubed on the memorial, and the words “Death to the Jews” and “Right Sector” were also found painted on the walls of the nearby Jewish…

Israel’s first Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules “Shimshon” airlifter arrived at Nevatim Air Base Wednesday, on the same day that an office of the aerospace company opened in Be’er Sheva.  Israel ordered its C-130Js through a Foreign Military Sale (FMS) contract with the US Government. This is the first ferry of the C-130Js currently on order for…

In an interview with Arutz Sheva, a top IDF officer said that he condemned the violence by youths at Yitzhar against IDF officers, but that he understands the “lack of faith” of residents in the IDF. Colonel Amatzia Chen (Res.) said that there was no excuse “in a civilized country to disobey the law. Without…

Israel will demand that the UN Security Council sanction Hezbollah, after top Hezbollah terrorist Hassan Nasrallah claimed responsibility for an explosion last month that was set off near an IDF patrol on Har Dov, on Israel’s border with Syria. The attack proves, Israel said, that Hezbollah was violating UN Security Council resolutions. On Monday, Nasrallah…

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared on Wednesday that Tehran will never give up its nuclear program, the BBC reported. Speaking to a gathering of nuclear scientists, Khamenei said Iran had agreed to talks with the West to “break the hostile atmosphere” with the international community and to show that it was not seeking…

German authorities said Wednesday they would hand back more than 1,000 works seized from a Nazi-era art dealer’s son as part of a wider deal to ensure restitution to rightful owners, AFP reported. Cornelius Gurlitt, 81, formally agreed with the German government and the southern state of Bavaria Monday to return long-lost paintings and sketches…

Two car bombs killed at least 25 people, including women and children, in a government-held neighborhood of Syria’s central city of Homs on Wednesday, AFP reported, citing the state news agency SANA. Another 100 people were wounded in Karam al-Luz, in attacks SANA blamed on “terrorists,” the government’s term for the rebels fighting to overthrow…

A mortar shell was launched from Gaza into Israel on Wednesday evening, and landed in Sha’ar HaNegev. No one was hurt and no injuries have been reported.  Earlier Wednesday, the “code red” siren sounded near Hof Ashkelon. A rocket had been fired at Israel, but landed on Gaza’s side of the border.  Terrorists in Gaza shot…

The US State Department announced Wednesday that it had blacklisted Ansar Bayt Al-Maqdis as a “terrorist organization,” citing the many recent attacks the Salafist group has launched on Egypt and Israel.  The Department stated that the blacklist outlawed interactions with the group entirely, including against anyone “knowingly providing, or attempting or conspiring to provide, material…

A tense standoff continues in eastern Ukraine Wednesday, where pro-Russian separatists have been demonstrating for the right to secede. Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Luhansk are at the center of the standoffs, which acting Interior Minister Arsen Avakov insisted will end in 48 hours – whether by negotiation or by force.  “There are two opposite ways for resolving this…

Arab foreign ministers met with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday to discuss floundering US-brokered peace talkswith Israel, ahead of a looming deadline. Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi accused the Israelis of dragging their feet in the talks, telling reporters: “Gaining time is a strategic objective for Israel.” After a dramatic series of negotiations, Israel officially cancelled the fourth release…

A senior official from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s Office (PMO) told the New York Times Wednesday that Israel is “deeply disappointed” at the blame game instituted by US Secretary of State John Kerry, after he accused Israel of torpedoing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) during a meeting with the Senate.  The official said that the PMO…

Life is renewed amid the remnants of tragedy, as the donated organs of a South African tourist who tragically died last Tuesday in Jerusalem from an allergic reaction to tahini, a Middle Eastern sesame paste, saved the lives of four others. Petah Tikva’s Beilinson Hospital reported on Tuesday that the organs of the tourist, who died…

While conducting anti-terror activities in Judea and Samaria on Tuesday night, IDF forces located two pipe bombs in Jenin, where soldiers were arresting a terror suspect. The charges were neutralized by the IDF in a controlled detonation, with no reported damage or injuries to the IDF, according to Walla!. In the course of the anti-terror activities,…

In a protest action Tuesday, hundreds of people in Hungary’s capital city of Budapest prevented work on a monument seen as whitewashing the country’s responsibility in the Holocaust. Roughly 300 people broke down a cordon put up by workers and seized control of the site where the monument is planned. For now, police are reportedly…

Terrorists in Gaza shot at IDF soldiers near the Israeli “kibbutz”-type community of Kissufim, close to the security fence with Gaza, Wednesday morning. No soldiers were injured from the shots. In response, soldiers fired in the air. The attack took place near the road leading from Kissufim checkpoint into Gaza, which used to lead to…

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) strongly on Tuesday criticized U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for placing the bulk of the blame on Israel for the stalled peace talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA). Kerry, who spoke before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said, “Israel didn’t release the Palestinian prisoners on the day they were…

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is not worried about the ongoing civil war in his country. In fact, Assad told a former Russian prime minister on Monday that much of the fighting in the war will be over by the end of the year, reported Reuters. “This is what he told me: ‘This year the active…

A series of car bombs hit several mostly Shiite neighbourhoods in Baghdad Wednesday, killing at least 16 people and wounding 46, according to police officials. The deadliest of the day’s attacks took place in Baghdad’s central Nidhal Street, where four civilians were killed and 11 were wounded, police officials said. In the Kazimiyah district, three…

Critics and supporters alike did not waste time responding to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s instructions on Wednesday to cut off all governmental ties with the Palestinian Authority (PA), excluding Defense Ministry links with PA security forces, and diplomatic links related to the peace talks, which are expected to stagger on until the end of April.  The…

Gaza terrorists fired a rocket at Israel on Wednesday but it apparently fell short of its mark, exploding inside the Hamas-enclave of Gaza. The ‘code red’ siren was sounded in the Ashkelon Coast Council area; however reports of explosions or damage in Israel have not been received, with indications being that the lethal projectile never…

A sapling grown from the tree that Holocaust victim Anne Frank wrote about while in hiding will be planted this month on the US Capitol grounds, congressional leaders announced Tuesday. “The Anne Frank memorial tree is an offspring of the horse chestnut tree that was featured in Anne’s diary writings,” House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader…

At a packed Americans For a Safe Israel (AFSI) meeting that was held at AFSI National Chairman Mark Langfan’s Manhattan home last Wednesday, former Ambassador Yoram Ettinger and Langfan debunked the “Arab demographic time bomb” claims used to pressure Israeli withdrawals. “There is no machete at the throat of the Jewish state, there is no…

A 3,300 year old Egyptian coffin, an important ancient artifact, was found in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel during a natural gas pipeline excavation, according to a statement published by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) on Wednesday. During the natural gas salvage excavation, a burial site from the Late Bronze Age (13th century BCE)…

It was not a booby-trapped safe that killed Jamal al-Jamal, Palestinian Authority (PA) Ambassador to the Czech Republic, on January 1. Rather, new investigations reveal the explosion was caused by a “Semtex” explosives charge hidden in two books. The new breakthrough was reported on Tuesday by the Czech daily Mlada Fronta, citing a source close…

An Israeli startup said on Tuesday that it was working to develop a bio-organic system that can recharge a smartphone battery in just 30 seconds. Tel Aviv-based StoreDot’s prototype battery and charger is currently being tested with Samsung’s Galaxy phones, but the startup’s founder and CEO Doron Myersdorf told AFP that a product compatible with all makes of smartphone should be on…

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, threatened on Tuesday that the PA would join more international organizations, reported The Associated Press (AP). Last week, the PA  applied to 15 international organizations in breach of the conditions of the peace talks. Israel responded  by cancelling the fourth terrorist release “gesture”. Mansour told a…

Five people were injured on Tuesday evening in a fire at a coffee shop in the city of Ramle, located in central Israel, some 22 kilometers south of Tel Aviv. Eyewitnesses said that two unknown persons arrived at the cafe, poured a flammable substance and then set it on fire. Police are still investigating the…

In an attempt to recover after US Secretary of State John Kerry blamed Israel for peace talk failures on Tuesday, US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki quickly stated Kerry did not intend to point the finger at the Jewish state. “Secretary Kerry was clear when he said that both sides took unhelpful steps, and at no point…

President Shimon Peres refuses to give up hope on peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), stating in an interview Tuesday that Israel should “do everything possible” to continue negotiations. “There are still budding hopes [for talks],” Peres stated, in an interview with IDF Radio. “We should encourage [negotiations] and work hard for them…

For years, former Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Yasser Arafat would condemn terrorist attacks against Israelis, but there was a question mark regarding the authenticity of his claims. Now, Arafat’s former bodyguard has confirmed that the late PA chairman would lie when he condemned suicide bombings in Israel. The bodyguard, Muhammad Al-Daya, made the comments in…

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Monday expressed support for the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) move to seek membership in international organizations, reports the Ma’an news agency. “The decision by the Palestinians to exercise their right to join international organizations should not be seen as a blow to the peace talks,” Carter said in a…

Nine people registered as “Palestinian refugees” were killed Monday in clashes between two armed groups in the Mieh Mieh refugee camp in southern Lebanon, local sources told AFP. A source in the camp said the groups involved in the clashes were not officially affiliated with any major faction. He named them as the Ansar Allah…

Egyptian police have arrested a senior Islamist close to Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, security officials said on Monday, according to the AFP news agency. Thirwat Salah Shehata was arrested in a Cairo suburb, the sources said, adding he had been sentenced to death in absentia in the 1990s for an attempted assassination of a minister.…

Two U.S. senators, who led a push for more sanctions on Iran during negotiations over its nuclear program, on Monday called on President Barack Obama to impose more restrictions if Tehran pursues an energy barter agreement with Russia, Reuters reported. Last week it was reported that Tehran and Moscow had made progress toward an oil-for-goods…

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) said on Monday that the success of the openly anti-Semitic Jobbik party in the elections in Hungary was “a source of grave concern for Europe.” “The gains made by Jobbik, an unashamedly neo-Nazi political party, should serve as a wake-up call for the whole of Europe,” said EJC President Moshe…

Clashes between the IDF and Yitzhar residents Tuesday morning ended with four homes demolished, but also an IDF outpost destroyed. Arutz Sheva spoke to a commander from the Judea and Samaria division, who was at the scene, about the details and causes behind the incident.  “We have already been deployed here for three weeks,” the officer explained.…

German authorities banned a group Tuesday accused of raising money for the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah and staged raids across the country on homes and offices used by the organization, AFP reports.  Around 150 police officers searched premises across six states and confiscated cash, computers and around 40 boxes of files. Two bank accounts with a total of around 60,000 euros ($82,572)…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) emphasized the need for order on Tuesday, in light of dramatic demolitions and rioting in Yitzhar.   “Unlike the rest of the settlements, there are violent elements in [Yitzhar],” Ya’alon stated. He was quick to clarify, however, that “not all residents of Yitzhar are violent” and that the statement was…

Attorney Itamar Ben-Gvir weighed in on the dramatic demolitions and rioting in Yitzhar on Tuesday, and noted that there is no legal precedent for the State to destroy homes in the small Samaria community.  “IDF forces have no legal precedent to exact its own ‘price tag’ on Yitzhar residents,” Ben-Gvir stated, “but more than that,…

Speaking to members of the Jewish community in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn – which has a preponderance of Russian immigrants – Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said that he foresees a day when Israel will have a Russian-speaking Prime Minister. A report in Ha’aretz had Liberman praising the immigrants from Russia to Israel, many of whom have…

The heir of a Nazi-era art dealer said Monday he had struck an accord with the German government setting a one-year deadline on provenance research for his vast hoard of paintings. The agreement more than two years after their shock discovery in a customs probe means that Cornelius Gurlitt, 81, will likely get back many of thehundreds of artworks…

Nearly 100 members of the ancient Jewish community of Kaifeng, China, are expected to attend a first-of-its-kind traditional Pesach (Passover) Seder that will take place next Monday, April 14, at the start of the holiday in Kaifeng. The Seder, which is being sponsored by the Jerusalem-based Shavei Israel organization, will be conducted for the first time by 28-year-old Tzuri (Heng)…

A 75-year-old Jesuit priest was beaten and shot dead by armed men in Homs, Syria on Monday, after he had insisted on staying in the war-torn country to help the poor and feed the hundreds starving in the beleaguered city.  Father Frans van der Lugt, a Dutch national who had worked in Syria since 1966,…

Hassan Nasrallah, leader of the Lebanese-based terrorist group Hezbollah, took responsibility on Monday for the explosive detonated on the Lebanese-Israeli border in mid-March. The explosive was set off as an IDF jeep passed by, sending three soldiers to the hospital to be examined for shock from the blast. In acknowledging Hezbollah was behind the attack,…

Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri’s brother is to stand trial with 67 others for forming a “terrorist group” and plotting attacks after Islamist president Mohammed Morsi’s ouster, AFP reported Sunday, citing Egyptian state media. Mohammed al-Zawahiri was arrested last August, a month after Morsi’s ouster by the army, and has been called to go on trial…

In what is very similar to a Gaza style “work accident”, at least 29 rebels died in a blast on Sunday in the central Syrian city of Homs as they primed a car bomb for an attack. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group told AFP that at least 29 people were killed, most…

Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban won a clear victory in elections on Sunday, and the openly anti-Semitic Jobbik party increased its share of the vote. “We can say with absolute certainty that we won,” Orban told cheering supporters in Budapest, according to AFP. “These elections were free. Organized in a free country.” With 89 percent…

Israeli and Palestinian Authority negotiators were to meet again on Monday in a fresh effort to salvage the teetering US-brokered peace talks, US and PA officials said.   The meeting came as US Secretary of State John Kerry scrambled to rescue negotiations he kick-started in July, and less than a week after PA leader Mahmoud…

Residents of the French Hill neighborhood in Israel’s capital are increasingly threatened by their Arab neighbors in the neighborhood of Issawiya, and have experienced a slew of firebomb attacks – the most recent of which occurred Saturday night. Although initial reports said that the firebombs targeted a nightclub or dance hall, it now turns out…

Police say they have made an arrest in connection with yesterday’s incident in which unknown assailants slashed the tires of a jeep belonging to the IDF’s Samaria Brigade Commander in the town of Yitzhar in Samaria (Shomron). The suspect is currently a student at a yeshiva in Jerusalem’s Old City, but is believed to originally…

The leader of the Hezbollah terror group said Sunday that the government of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad is no longer in danger of falling, reported The Associated Press (AP). Hassan Nasrallah was quoted as having said in an interview with Lebanon’s daily As-Safir newspaper that the danger of the Syrian government’s “fall has ended.” “The…

Colel Chabad in Jerusalem will host on Monday a mega bar mitzvah celebration for 113 orphaned boys and their families. The youngsters come from throughout Israel and will gather at the Western Wall (Kotel), where they will receive their own set of tefillin and be called up to recite the blessing on the Torah as…

Speaking Sunday, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Robert Menendez said that it was unacceptable for Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas to continue refusing to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. “Notwithstanding any hopes we may harbor, one thing is certain, set in stone: President Abbas must recognize the Jewish state as a Jewish state…

Terrorists threw a firebomb at a Border Police jeep Sunday evening, as it traveled near Hawara, in Samaria. No one was reported hurt. The firebomb struck the vehicle and began to catch fire. The Border Policemen immediately began a manhunt for the firebomb throwers. In the course of search, one of the fighters identified a…

Tel Aviv University cancelled on Sunday the planned speech by convicted Hezbollah terrorist Mohammed Canaana, who was to address stuents in the course of Land Day activities Monday. Land Day is an occasion in which extremist Arabs protest the Jewish victories in the wars the Arabs have started, since 1948, and the expropriation of some…

In his latest column, the New York Times‘ Thomas Friedman depicts billionaire Sheldon Adelson in much the same way that anti-Semites have depicted Jews for centuries – a “swaggering oligarch” using huge sums of money to control the US, or more specifically – the Republican party. Adelson — “the foolhardy Las Vegas casino magnate and…

Former Knesset Member for Balad, Saeed Nafaa, has been convicted of visiting an enemy country and meeting a foreign agent, when he met a top official from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) while on a visit to Syria in 2007. The MK – who promotes a combined Arab-Druze anti-Israeli identity among…

Bereaved families are clinging to new hopes that missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 may be found Sunday, after search teams reported that a series of “pings ” were heard in the Indian Ocean – and may be from the crucial black boxes holding the key to the flight’s fate.  Ships hunting for the Boeing 777,…

US lawmakers have called on Congress to increase funding for Israeli missile defense projects. Last Thursday, Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam (R-IL) and Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, urged a key House of Representatives panel to increase funding for Israel’s Iron Dome, Arrow, Arrow…

Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) called for the official and immediate end to all negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Sunday, until the PA’s Palestinian unilateral statehood bid to over fifteen international organizations was stopped.  “The Americans think that [PA Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas bluntly violated the agreements for talks,” Ariel stated,…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Sunday that the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s torpedoing peace talks will not go unnoticed by Israel – and clarified that it is PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, not Israel, who is responsible for jettisoning talks.  “Throughout these negotiations, we’ve made tough measures and demonstrated a willingness to continue the difficult moves in…

The Muslim Brotherhood’s most senior leader in the UK has threatened that a ban on the Islamist group in the UK could trigger terrorist attacks. Ibrahim Mounir claimed that a British government probe into the Brotherhood’s activities in the country was the result of pressure from Saudi Arabia – which has itself banned the group…

Minister of Pensioner Affairs Uri Orbach (Jewish Home) insisted Sunday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has not approached the UN for legitimacy to establish a Palestinian State – but rather for something more sinister.  “As I said on Channel Two Friday, the Palestinians are not interested at all in an independent Palestinian state,” Orbach stated…

Hackers have reiterated the call for a mass cyber-attack on Israeli websites – dubbed OpIsrael – for April 7, according to Yediot Aharonot.  “On April 7, we urge our brothers and sisters to break, to destroy and take over websites and leak data – to eliminate Israel’s cyberspace,” the hackers threatened Sunday. “We will not stop…

An attempted terrorist attack in the city of Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem, was thwarted Friday, it has been cleared for release this evening. On Friday afternoon Jerusalem police received reports that a local security patrol had stopped a suspicious-looking man, who appeared to be “drunk”, standing at the entrance to the city. Police dispatched…

Bulgaria’s Chief Prosecutor, Sotir Tsartsarov, has confirmed that the identity of the perpetrator of the 2012 Burgas bus bombing that killed five Israeli tourists has been discovered. Tsartsarov was quoted on Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) saying Friday that while he could not yet divulge the identity of the suicide bomber who targeted Israeli tourists at Burgas’s Sarafovo Airport, investigation…

South Tel Aviv residents have called on High Court of Justice judges to visit their crime-ridden neighborhoods, after a dramatic court hearing on the fate of infiltrators flooding the city convened last week.  Attorney Navon Katzav, a South Tel Aviv resident. spoke to Arutz Sheva on Sunday morning to reveal the true extent of the violence he…

Arab terrorists on Saturday night hurled four firebombs towards a nightclub in the French Hill neighborhood of Jerusalem. One of the firebombs burst just outside the nightclub. No one was hurt. Police have arrested three Arabs suspected of involvement in the attack. The attack comes just several days after Jerusalem resident Raphael Delarosa was attacked…

A senior official in the Palestinian Authority (PA) declared on Friday that terrorists in Israeli prisons will begin protesting next week against Israel’s decision to cancel the release of the fourth batch of terrorists, Kol Yisrael radio reported. According to the report, Ziad Abu Ein, the PA’s deputy minister of prisoner affairs, said that the…

Human Rights Watch has called on the United States not to resume military assistance to Egypt until its military-backed government ends human rights abuses and holds violators accountable, reported Reuters. In October, the United States announced it would cut hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to Egypt over its displeasure with the military’s pace of restoring…

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will be questioned next week over suspicions of obstruction of justice, Channel 2 News reported Friday. The new suspicions are based on recordings provided to the police by Olmert’s former bureau chief and close associate, Shula Zaken. Last week, it was reported that Olmert was suspected of obstruction of justice…

Ankara’s provincial election body on Friday rejected the main opposition’s appeal against the results of the March 30 local election, reports the Turkish Anadolu agency.  Zeki Alcin, the chairman of the opposition Republican People’s Party in Ankara, said the board did not offer any justification for rejecting the appeal. The party is expected to appeal…

The White House on Friday defended the “tireless” efforts of Secretary of State John Kerry to secure peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), according to AFP. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that Kerry’s Middle East peace bid had not been a waste of time because the stakes were so high. The administration…

A U.S. official said on Friday that world powers and Iran will start drafting a comprehensive nuclear agreement next month, according to The Associated Press (AP). According to the report, the official said the sides are making progress in talks. The official was not authorized to speak for attribution and demanded anonymity. Under a six-month…

Syrian opposition activists have once again accused President Bashar Al-Assad’s forces of using chemical weapons, Reuters reported Friday. The alleged attack took place in the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus on Thursday. The opposition showed footage of an apparently unconscious man lying on a bed and being treated by medics. The footage could not be independently…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) tried to do some damage control on Friday, after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he would “evaluate” his next steps regarding the peace talks. Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath said Friday evening, according to Channel 2 News, that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas “did not mean to upset Kerry” when…

In the Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, to the east of Moscow, an historical synagogue re-dedication and Torah scroll inauguration ceremony was held by the local Jewish community, marking 130 years to the community’s ancient synagogue. The ceremony was attended by hundreds of the city’s Jews, as well as honored guests including Rabbi Berel Lazar,…

Abraham Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), met with the Ruderman Fellows Knesset Mission on Thursday.  During the meeting, Foxman – as well as several MKs – attempted to campaign for the release of longtime captive, Jonathan Pollard. Foxman maintained that the US’s motives in not releasing Pollard are suspect. “The only explanation…

A hareidi IDF soldier and two Nahal Hareidi foundation rabbis were miraculously saved from an Arab terrorist shooting at them last Tuesday at Adam Junction, located north of Jerusalem in Samaria. The terrorist tried to shoot at the three, but somehow his weapon jammed; after realizing he was powerless to harm the soldier and rabbis,…

29 Republican senators wrote to President Barack Obama on Thursday, urging him to deny a visa to a former hostage-taker who is Iran’s choice for ambassador to the United Nations. According to The Associated Press (AP), the senators said that the United States should not allow entry to an individual who participated in an act…

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud Beytenu) on Thursday said that Israel should re-arrest all the terrorists it freed in three previous “gestures” to the Palestinian Authority (PA). Katz spoke as Israel officially cancelled the fourth planned release of terrorists, after the PA violated the conditions of the peace talks by unilaterally turning to the United…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) said on Thursday that a “radical change” was required in the approach to the talks with Israel, in the wake of Israel’s decision to cancel the fourth release of terrorists. “Israel has a habit of evading agreements and conventions it has signed,” Yasser Abed Rabbo, general secretary of the Palestine Liberation…

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday that it was time for a “reality check,” reporting that he would “evaluate” his next steps regarding the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), which he began last July. Kerry said he would be speaking with US President Barack Obama about the future…

A new tourism center was approved on Thursday night for the City of David National Park, located just 20 meters (65 feet) south of Jerusalem’s Old City walls, a short walk from the Western Wall. After hearing objections, the Jerusalem Regional Planning and Building Committee gave the green light to plans for the new Kedem…

Sirens were sounded in the Ashkelon region Friday. According to Channel 2, only one rocket has been fired and no one was reportedly hurt in the attack. The sirens sounded less than 24 hours after skirmishes broke out between the IAF and Hamas. Four Kassam rockets were fired into southern Israel on Thursday night; there were…

Yeshiva University (YU) continues to prove that Jewish observance and secular academic excellence can go hand in hand. A student at YU-affiliated Stern College for Women has won the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. Kayla Applebaum, now in her junior year, was awarded the scholarship that provides tuition, fees as well as room and board…

Arab snipers in Gaza shot at IDF civilian workers working near the security fence on Thursday. None were injured in the attack, although engineering equipment was damaged by the gunfire. The shooting comes just three weeks after terrorists in Gaza unleashed a barrage of rockets on Israel, raining down at least 100 missiles in three days.…

An IDF soldier was killed, and another soldier wounded lightly, as the military vehicle they were driving in crashed and flipped over on Thursday. The soldier’s name has been released by the IDF: Corporal Sheetrit Elhai z”l, a 19-year-old from Ashkelon. He will be buried tomorrow (Friday) at 12 p.m. in the Ashkelon military cemetery.…

Israel on Thursday informed the Palestinian Authority (PA) of a series of punitive measures against it, following the PA’s request to join 15 international conventions. According to Kol Yisrael radio, these measures include a suspension of high-level contacts between ministers and CEOs, and any contacts with the PA will now be led by the Coordinator…

A salvo of kassam missiles was fired from the Hamas-enclave of Gaza on Thursday night towards Sderot and the surrounding communities. As of now, three rockets have been identified as having fallen in open fields, with no damage or injuries reported. The ‘Code Red’ warning siren was sounded in Sderot and the Sha’ar Hanegev Regional…

American legislators have expressed disappointment with Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas’s latest gambit – applying for membership in United Nations organizations as the “state of Palestine.” Both Republican and Democratic leaders said that the U.S. should seriously consider cutting aid to the PA if Abbas continues with the process. Rep. Kay Granger, (R-Texas), the chairwoman…

The Obama administration said on Wednesday that Iran’s nomination of a former hostage-taker as its ambassador to the United Nations is “extremely troubling”, the BBC reported. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said at Wednesday’s daily briefing, “I will say that we think this nomination would be extremely troubling.” She added, “We’re taking a close look…

The UN’s special envoy on Mideast peace, Robert Serry, confirmed on Wednesday that he has received requests from Palestinian Authority (PA) officials to join 13 international conventions and treaties, according to AFP. The treaties include the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, the convention on the rights of the child, the convention against torture, and the…

Four people, including the shooter, have been killed and 14 injured after a gunman opened fire Wednesday afternoon (local time) at Fort Hood, the large military post in Texas, reports the New York Daily News. Earlier reports said there were two shooters involved, but now authorities are saying that there was one shooter involved, and…

US Secretary of State John Kerry has admitted there is little he can do to salvage disintegrating talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, challenging Israeli and PA leaders and saying that now was the time when they had to choose whether to make peace.     “You can facilitate, you can push, you can…

Finance Minister Yair Lapid is setting out to fix one of the biggest problems faced by small businesses in Israel – the long delay that most face before getting paid. To rectify the situation, Lapid is making an example of the government, which, he promised Wednesday, would from now on make sure to pay bills…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is still trying to save the faltering peace talks, on Wednesday phoned Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, the PA-based Ma’an news agency reported. According to the report, the two agreed to continue speaking in the coming days, and Abbas emphasized that the PA was “committed to international…

The new road connecting the neighborhoods of Pisgat Ze’ev and Neve Ya’akov Highway 443 was dedicated a few months ago by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Transportation, hoping that the road would help both Jews and Arabs in the area. Instead, as it turns out, the road is also becoming a hotbed of…

An IDF soldier has been lightly injured by gunfire from suspected smugglers along Israel’s southern border with Egypt. The IDF’s spokesperson’s office would only confirm that the soldier was injured whilst travelling in a jeep near the Sinai Desert, but refused to say in what circumstances. However, several sources have claimed the soldier was hit…