Category: News

Bombings outside Cairo University killed an Egyptian Brigadier-General, the Egyptian interior ministry has said, and also wounded seven bystanders, some of whom were members of security forces outside the institution. Al-Jazeera and other outlets also report that at least one more person was killed in the blast. Two of the bombs were planted outside the university; a…

Bereaved families, along with the Almagor Terror Victims’ Association and the ‘My Israel’ grassroots organization, are staging a march against the fourth batch of terrorist releases in Jerusalem Wednesday evening.  The families say that the concept of releasing Palestinian Arab terrorists is “intolerable” and unworthy of “being exchanged” even with “compensation” from the US or…

Local Arabs broke into an abandoned building in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ein Karem, located in the southwest of the capital. In response, residents of the neighborhood turned to Jerusalem Councilman Aryeh King, who quickly took action to seal the building from further intrusion. King, of the United Jerusalem faction, arrived Wednesday afternoon to inspect…

A senior source in the Palestinian Authority (PA) claimed on Wednesday that the organization wanted US Secretary of State to continue the peace talks, despite PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s breach of talk conditions Tuesday by requesting to join 15 international UN institutions. “We hope Kerry’s efforts will be renewed in the coming days,” Palestine Liberation Organization…

Roughly 20 extreme-left activists and Arab protesters arrived at Hevron in Judea this week, but their plans to spark a confrontation with Jewish residents of the ‘Peace House’ and IDF soldiers were upset, as local Arab residents kicked them out of the city. The activists had arrived with cameras and the flags of the Palestinian…

Apparently, Washington DC has taken to heart US President Barack Obama’s statements in January, when he claimed marijuana was no more dangerous than alcohol and acknowledged smoking the drug in his youth. A new bill in the American capital dramatically lightens repercussions for drug users. The new bill, signed by Washington DC Mayor Vincent Gray on…

A single shot from a British marksman’s rifle killed a suicide bomber in Afghanistan and five of his fellow terrorists, as they were about to launch a bloody attack, The New York Post reports, based on the British Telegraph. According to the report, the British sniper, who was firing from an amazing 930 yards (850…

The United States Congress on Tuesday easily passed an aid package for Ukraine that includes sanctions against Russia for annexing Crimea, AFP reports. The House of Representatives voted 378 to 34 to approve the bill, which the Senate green-lighted last week, meaning the bill, including $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine, now goes to…

The death toll in the three-year-old Syrian civil war has topped 150,000, a monitoring group said on Tuesday, according to AFP. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented the deaths of 150,344 people, 51,212 of them civilians, including nearly 7,985 children. The group said 37,781 members of the armed opposition had been…

British Prime Minister David Cameron has ordered an investigation into the Muslim Brotherhood over concerns the group is planning radical activities from a base in London, his Downing Street office said Tuesday, according to the AFP news agency. The intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 have been tasked to gather information on the “philosophy and activities”…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas breached the conditions of the peace talks Tuesday by signing a request to join several United Nations (UN) agencies. Abbas obligated himself to refrain from such unilateral moves for international recognition during the course of the peace talks, restarted last July by US Secretary of State John Kerry. “The…

A spokesman for Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction has admitted that the PA is “blackmailing” Israel into releasing terrorist prisoners. The revelation comes as the US is reportedly attempting to push Israel to release another 400 terrorists to continue peace talks. Spokesman Ahmad Assaf revealed on official PA TV two weeks ago,…

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) slammed political leaders in the Canadian province of Quebec on Tuesday for not condemning Louise Mailloux, a candidate for Quebec’s National Assembly, over her anti-Semitic comments. Mailloux recently gave lip service to the classic anti-Semitic trope of a “kosher tax,” a conspiracy theory alleging that money collected to certify that food…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday for the first time made matzah, the traditional unleavened bread eaten on the upcoming Jewish holiday of Pesach (Passover). The matzah-making experienced occurred during a visit to Kfar Chabad’s matzah factory located in central Israel, to the south east of Tel Aviv. There, Netanyahu received a thorough tour of…

Israel reissued a call for tenders on over 700 housing units in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo on Tuesday, according to the extreme-left group Peace Now. Gilo is over the 1949 Armistice line being discussed as possible borders in the US-led peace talks. The precise number of housing units being put up for tenders…

US officials confirmed Tuesday that the release of long-time captive Jonathan Pollard is on the negotiating table with Israel. The catch: Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) would be forced to resume peace talks, and Israel would have to make “significant concessions.”  IDF Radio reports that American media has already been briefed on the possibility of…

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, agreed on Monday to pardon or reduce the sentences of 920 people, Reuters reported, citing the official Iranian IRNA news agency. The move is a customary gesture to mark the anniversary of the Islamic Republic. It was the second large-scale pardon this year, and it comes after Khamenei pardoned…

An Idaho man who pleaded guilty to firing an assault rifle at the White House in 2011 was sentenced Monday to 25 years in prison, reports The Associated Press (AP). Prosecutors initially charged Oscar Ramiro Ortega-Hernandez, 23, with attempting to assassinate President Barack Obama but agreed to drop the charge as part of a plea…

Economics Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) spoke at the Calcalist Negev Conference 2014 at the Science and Hi-Tech park in Be’er Sheva on Tuesday, and praised efforts to boost infrastructure in the Negev.  “This park, as well as the entire Negev, is one of the greatest opportunities we have in the Middle East today,” Bennett stated. “I’m…

An Israeli official has confirmed to Arutz Sheva that a deal to secure Jonathan Pollard’s release over the next two weeks has crystallized, in a bid to exchange him with over 400 Palestinian Arab terrorists – arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti among them.  While both the US and Israel have now admitted that Pollard’s release is on…

The High Court of Justice will hold a hearing Tuesday on a petition submitted to the Immigration Policy Center by 100 Tel Aviv residents asking to deport the infiltrators raising crime in their neighborhoods.  The petition initially reached the Court in December. However, controversy regarding new laws preventing illegal immigration – including a smear campaign…

US Secretary of State John Kerry left Israel Tuesday morning without meeting personally with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, leaving analysts scrambling to figure out what it all means for the future of talks.  US Secretary of State John Kerry has scrambled to save talks in the wake of Israel’s standing firm to prevent…

Thousands of twelfth graders from across the country are marching Tuesday and Wednesday in Gush Etzion, in a demonstration honoring IDF combat soldiers and units. The march is being held in the region for the first time, after being held for years in the Golan Heights.  The Social Security branch of the Ministry of Defense…

The Turkish military fired back into Syria on Monday, in retaliation for mortar shells and a rocket from over the border that hit a mosque in the town of Yayladagi, Reuters reported. The Turkish Dogan news agency reported that three mortar rounds landed on Turkish soil. They were fired during fighting between the Islamist rebels…

President Shimon Peres warned on Monday that a nuclear armed Iran could lead to “another Hiroshima”. The comments were made during Peres’s meeting in Vienna with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano. “It’s time to put the facts on the table and realize that nuclear weapons by the Iranian leadership…

Over 3,000 schoolchildren marched in Samaria on Monday, in a demonstration organized in the memory of Rehavam Ze’evi.  Ze’evi was the head of the Moledet party, and advocated paying Arab residents of Israel to emigrate and take up residence in new countries. He was murdered while leaving a hotel in Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus. Arutz Sheva spoke to…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s meeting with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ended with no progress on Monday evening, Army Radio reported. Kerry, who is on a sudden visit to the region in attempt to save the failing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), was also scheduled to meet with PA Chairman…

Top-ranking Israeli and American defense officials met in Jerusalem to discuss regional security Monday, and held a press conference discussing the talks’ goals.  “We see very extreme organizations and radical elements fighting in this area, especially in the Northern arena,” IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz stated. “I believe that the dialogue that we are…

The Palestinian Authority on Monday gave US Secretary of State John Kerry 24 hours to get Israel to release the fourth batch of terrorists, according to AFP, after which they will resume moves to seek international recognition. “If we don’t get an answer from John Kerry on the prisoners tonight, we’ll begin to ask for membership in all UN agencies tomorrow,”…

Middle-Eastern countries have a tendency to hold a grudge against Israel, whether over Israel winning the 1967 war or daring to establish independence in 1948.  But, as of earlier this month, an Egyptian columnist has called for Israel to pay Cairo reparations – and this time, it’s Biblical.  “We want compensation for the [Ten] Plagues…

Members of families who have lost loved ones to terror attacks protested on Monday night outside the Metzudat David Hotel in Jerusalem, where US Secretary of State John Kerry is staying the night.Kerry arrived in Israel Monday on an “emergency trip,” in yet another attempt to save the failing peace talks between Israel and the…

Rabbi Yousef Hamadani Cohen, the former chief rabbi of Iran’s tiny Jewish community, died on the weekend of a prolonged illness, media reported on Monday. English-language state media Press TV said Cohen had been ill for several years and was buried on Sunday in Tehran. Semi-official Fars news agency said Cohen had been the spiritual leader of the Jewish community in Iran since…

Live fire was exchanged between North Korea and South Korea on Monday, after a North Korean maritime drill strayed into South Korean waters.  The semi-official South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the North had begun the drill just after 12:15 pm local time. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) confirmed that North Korean artillery shells landed…

Economy Minister and Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett on Sunday criticized the Israel Hayom newspaper and referred to it as “Pravda” – a reference to the press organ of the communist party in the Soviet Union, which was famous for its lies in the service of a dictatorial government. The comments were made in an…

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday night declared victory for his party in local elections, and also took the opportunity to warn his rivals that they will “pay the price.” Erdogan’s party took a strong lead in the early counting of the votes, which was enough for the embattled prime minister to declare…

President Shimon Peres began a state visit to Austria on Sunday, where he attended, along with Austrian President Heinz Fischer, a Holocaust memorial service in the Judenplatz in Vienna. The service was attended by members of the Jewish community of Vienna. “I begin my visit to this country by bowing my head before this memorial.…

J Street, an American Jewish group that claims to be pro-Israel, has been embarrassed by revelations that two of its activists wore T-shirts glorifying an infamous PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) terrorist to a screening of anti-Israel film “Five Broken Cameras” in April 2013 at Washington University. However, according to The Tower,…

US Secretary of State John Kerry will be making another visit to Israel on Monday, in yet another attempt to save the failing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). The sudden visit was revealed to AFP by State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki. Kerry was reportedly considering the visit while in Paris on Sunday, and later…

Gilad Shalit, the IDF soldier who was kidnapped and held by the terrorist group Hamas for five years, wrote to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a heartfelt request to demand Jonathan Pollard’s release in the framework of the peace talks. “I turn to you in this my third Holiday of Freedom (another name for Passover)…

The Antiquities Authority and police cooperated last Friday to arrest suspects who allegedly stole ornate stone ossuary burial chests, which were used by Jews in Israel during the Second Temple period roughly 2,000 years ago. The suspects were caught while in possession of eleven ossuaries, some of them still containing skeletal remains. The suspected grave…

Senior lawmakers in the United States said on Sunday that investigators had found no evidence thus far pointing to terrorism in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 three weeks ago, according to Reuters. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, speaking on Sunday talk shows, said they had…

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to have scored a victory in Sunday’s local elections, as his party took a strong lead in the polls, AFP reports. If the national trend holds up, it would considerably brighten the outlook for Erdogan, who had gone on a weeks-long campaign marathon ahead of the vote widely…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is considering yet another visit to the Middle East in order to save the failing Israel-Palestinian Authority (PA) peace process. American officials who spoke to The Associated Press (AP) on Sunday said that Kerry, who is currently in Paris, was weighing a return to the region to find a…

Saudi princesses Sahar, 42, and Jawaher, 38, plead for their freedom over Skype on Friday, confirming to Britain’s Channel 4 News that they are being held against their will in a royal compound in Jeddah. “This is a risk we’re taking, we’re happy to do it, we understand full well the repercussions, but we don’t know what’s going to happen,”…

A court in Egypt on Saturday sentenced to death two supporters of deposed president Mohammed Morsi, who were convicted of throwing youths off an apartment block roof, AFP reported. One of the young men thrown from the building in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria was killed. The court submitted its verdict to the mufti,…

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has come under fire from various quarters for ignoring and even whitewashing human rights abuses in authoritarian states while focusing almost all of its efforts on criticizing Israel. On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu attacked what he described as a “procession of hypocrisy” after the UNHRC passed a…

Thousands of Jews in France attended a special Aliyah fair that took place in the heart of Paris Sunday. The fair was sponsored by the Immigration and Absorption Ministry and the World Zionist Organization. Dozens of representatives of Israeli housing projects, businesses and corporations, government agencies, and schools were on hand to answer questions about…

The first-ever archaeological excavations at the Nazi death camp Treblinka in Poland have revealed new mass graves, as well as the first physical evidence that this camp held gas chambers. The camp had been bulldozed in 1943. To cover their tracks, the Nazis went so far as to plant crops and build a farmhouse on…

Antwerp, Belgium, a center of the world diamond business, has a substantial hareidi community, and has the reputation of being a “quiet” city when it comes to anti-Semitism. But that quiet was broken Sunday, when members of the community found anti-Semitic graffiti scrawled on a building containing a Jewish school. The school, operated by the…

Israeli-made products – including those made by Jews living in Judea and Samaria – are back on the shelves of Dutch stores, just in time for Passover. A boycott declared by chains in Holland has backfired, as Christian Zionist groups demanded that they halt their boycott of products from Judea and Samaria – or face…

Iran has named as its next ambassador to the United Nations, a member of the militant group that held 52 Americans hostage in Tehran 34 years ago. Bloomberg news reported Sunday that the Iranian government has applied for a US visa for Hamid Aboutalebi, Iran’s former ambassador to Belgium and Italy, who was a member of the…

A suicide bomber killed three Lebanese soldiers and wounded several others Saturday, in an attack on a Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) checkpoint in the flashpoint town of Arsal, on the border with Syria. According to Lebanese media the bomber drove up to the recently-erected checkpoint in the Baalbek region before detonating the explosives, killing the…

Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said the Iranian-backed Lebanese terrorist group was not looking to start a war with Israel, despite recent clashes along Israel’s northern border. In a televised speech marking the official opening of a Culture and Literature club in the southern town of Ainata, Nasrallah said that Hezbollah – whose military strength is…

The chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff is heading to Israel for talks on mutual strategic interests after Israel’s defense minister upset Washington with remarks criticizing US foreign policy.   “General Martin Dempsey will be departing this weekend for a visit to Israel,” an Israeli military statement said.   The focus of discussions…

Israeli police used force on Saturday to break up a riot by Arab extremists in Jerusalem, injuring several people including two journalists, news photographers said.     Several rioters and four journalists – among them a photographer from Agence France-Presse and another from Reuters – were slightly injured by projectiles fired by police during the…

Minister of Intelligence, International Relations and Strategic Affairs, Yuval Steinitz, says that it depends on Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas – aka Abu Mazen – whether or not the fourth and final tranche of the release of Palestinian Arab terrorists takes place. Steinitz pointed at statements by Abbas’ senior negotiator, according to which he is…

A senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official said a release by Israel of imprisoned Arab terrorists would not go ahead on Saturday as envisaged but he hoped there would only be short delay.     “Today the prisoners will not be released… maybe in the coming days,” Issa Qaraqae, the minister of prisoner affairs, told AFP.…

Four people, including an Egyptian woman journalist, were killed in Cairo Friday as police clashed with Islamists protesting against ex-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s presidency bid, a security official told AFP. The violence erupted in a deeply polarized Egypt as supporters of deposed president Mohammed Morsi took to the streets of Cairo, Alexandria and other…

U.S. President Barack Obama reportedly promised Saudi King Abdullah that the United States would not accept a “bad deal” with Iran, an American official said Friday. According to Reuters, the official said that Obama and the King discussed “tactical differences” in their approach to some issues during a meeting in Riyadh on Friday, but agreed…

IDF soldiers were able to prevent two terrorists from infiltrating into Israel in the Golan Heights, near the border with Syria, on Friday night. According to the IDF, the soldiers identified two suspects tampering with the security fence along the border. It is believed they also tried to place an explosive device. The troops open…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) said Friday that Israel would regret its decision not to go through with the release of the fourth batch of terrorists it undertook to release as a “gesture” to the PA. Fatah official Hazem Abu Shanab told the PA-based Ma’an news agency that the release of the final group of terrorists…

The Obama administration is considering allowing shipments of new air defense systems to Syrian rebels, a U.S. official said Friday, according to The Associated Press (AP). President Barack Obama’s possible shift would likely be welcomed by Saudi Arabia, which has been pressing the White House to allow the man-portable air-defense systems, known as “manpads,” into…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) really likes Israeli-made products and even prefers them over those of other countries, according to newly released statistics. In fact, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reported Friday, the PA has seen an increase in both importing from Israel and exporting to Israel. According to the statistics, in January, the PA’s…

An Indian Air Force transport plane crashed Friday, killing all five crew members, in the latest of a string of accidents at the country’s armed forces. The C-130J Super Hercules plane, which was on a training mission, crashed in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, said an air force spokesman. This was the first crash of…

The United States on Friday denied that the peace effort it has led between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) had failed, despite earlier reports that Israel had announced it would not go through with the fourth and final batch of terrorist releases, which was scheduled for Saturday night. “Any reports that suggest the talks…

A court in the Canadian province of Newfoundland this week ordered the expulsion of a Saudi Arabian citizen who was convicted of assaulting his daughter and threatening to kill her, Shalom Toronto reports. According to the report, the incident began at a restaurant and then continued at the family home. The 30-year-old daughter asked her…

Although the Chief Rabbinate has ruled against religious girls signing up for the IDF, figures show that many religious girls continue enlisting. Sharon Brick, who heads the “Serving in Faith” program of the Aluma Association which has worked to help religious women adjust to Army life for over ten years, noted that 1,616 religious women have enlisted…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Thursday that it is granting a $14-18 billion bailout for the embattled country of Ukraine, to help it stabilize and recover from debt, and unlock financial credits worth up to $27 billion.  “The mission has reached a staff-level agreement with the authorities of Ukraine on an economic reform…

Arab states are continuing to pressure the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) regarding the replacement for Richard Falk as the “human rights expert” who probes Israel’s conduct towards Palestinian Arabs. A day after it exposed that Arab countries were seeking to appoint Indonesia’s former UN ambassador, Makarim Wibisono, to the position, the Geneva-based UN…

Egypt’s new armed forces chief and defense minister was sworn in on Thursday, a day after Abdel Fattah el-Sisi resigned so he could stand for the presidency. The BBC reported that Egypt’s interim president Adly Mansour confirmed General Sedki Sobhi’s appointment at the weekly cabinet meeting in Cairo. General Mahmoud Hegazi was named the army’s…

Days after the Hamas-affiliated Al-Quds University in Jerusalem held a rally supporting the Gaza-based terror group, the president of the university has announced his resignation. According to JTA, Sari Nusseibeh will step down at the end of the academic year. However, the announcement on the university’s website said that the resignation was simply a retirement.…

Ukraine’s deposed president, Viktor Yanukovich, called for each of the country’s regions to hold a referendum on its status “within Ukraine” on Friday, following the successful move for Russia to annex the Crimean peninsula. “As a president who is with you with all my thoughts and soul, I urge every sensible citizen of Ukraine: Don’t…

A senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official announced Friday that Israel has told the PA it will not go through on the fourth and final batch of terrorist releases, which was set for Saturday night. “The Israeli government has informed us through the American mediator that it will not abide with its commitment to release the fourth…

Speaker of the Knesset, MK Yuli Edelstein, officially launched on Thursday the Limmud FSU conference in the United States, the largest annual gathering of young Russian Jews in North America. Edelstein joined a special kickoff event in New York City with Limmud FSU leaders and participants. Limmud FSU US will take place March 28-30 in…

Turkish authorities have banned YouTube, in the latest blow to free speech in the country and just one day after Turkey’s Supreme Court overturned a ban on the social media site Twitter. Turkey’s Telecommunications Directorate has blocked access to the popular video sharing platform hours after users leaked an audio recording of a private conversation…

Police announced Thursday that a 16-year-old girl from the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva had embarked on a campaign of violence – issuing death threats, engaging in threatening behavior, and slashing car tires – all over 200 shekels (under $60) that another girl her age allegedly owed her. The girl reportedly claimed that the…

The IDF Northern Command on Thursday announced that it was changing its orders regarding opening fire in areas along the Golan border fence. Anyone from the Syrian side who comes near the fence should expect to be shot, the IDF said. The new orders were issued in response to a terror attack attempts that took…

Turkey has already blocked Twitter and YouTube, and more could be on the way. According to the Reuters news agency, government sources in Ankara said on Thurday the country could block access to other social media platforms if users publish recordings or documents which “threaten national security.” Earlier, Turkish telecoms regulators moved to block YouTube…

Assuming Pope Francis makes it to Israel on his planned trip in May and is not delayed by the ongoing strike by Foreign Ministry workers, his stay will include visits to the Church of the Nativity, a Catholic site, as well as to the Temple Mount, where he will visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the…

A senior member of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction spoke at a televised ceremony in support of Abbas last Monday, where he declared Fatah is on the brink of leaving peace talks and returning to armed combat. Tawfiq Tirawi, a Fatah Central Committee member, said at the Jericho ceremony “we in this…

Cornelius Gurlitt, the art collector who hoarded works looted by the Nazis, has instructed his court-appointed adviser to hand back items looted from Jewish owners, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. “If there are works under justified suspicion of being stolen art, then please give them back to their Jewish owners,” Gurlitt instructed lawyer Christoph Edel, according…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday promised to increase Russia’s isolation, as the United States and the European Union agreed to work together to prepare possible tougher economic sanctions in response to Russia’s behavior in Ukraine. Speaking after a summit with top EU officials and quoted by Reuters, Obama declared that Russian President Vladimir Putin…

While fans of the legendary rock band the Rolling Stones rejoiced over the official announcement of their upcoming Israeli performance, religious fans received a harsh disappointment over the concert’s timing. June 4, the day of the concert, is also the major Jewish holiday of Shavuot, commemorating the day the Jewish people received the Torah at…

Jerusalem Councilman Moshe Lion, who ran for the post of Jerusalem mayor last October and lost to incumbent Nir Barkat, had stones thrown at him by Arab residents on Wednesday while touring in eastern Jerusalem. On the tour, Lion and his group were shown through Kfar Hateimanim and Beit Yonatan in the City of David, located…

Three young Arab terrorists carried out a stabbing attacking Thursday morning, targeting a soldier in Jerusalem’s northern neighborhood of Pisgat Ze’ev. The soldier was left with light stab wounds in his leg, after being attacked on Nativ Hamazalot Street in the capital city. Magen David Adom (MDA) crews treated the soldier, and evacuated him to…

On Thursday night Israel switches onto summer time; at 2 a.m. local time, the clocks will move forward to 3 a.m. Israelis are reminded to set their clocks accordingly. Cell phones and computers should be set to update automatically as long as the time zone region is set to “Jerusalem, Israel.” During the switch to…

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un has enacted a new order: all North Korean men must have Kim’s “Dear Leader” haircut. Bizarre as it may seem, the Korea Times on Tuesday reported that the new edict went into effect in the capital of Pyongyang two weeks ago, and is now being enforced nation wide. However, not all North…

At the conclusion of the two-day Arab League summit in Kuwait on Wednesday, Arab leaders announced their rejection of Israel’s request for recognition as the Jewish state. The final statement of the summit declared its “total rejection of the call to consider Israel a Jewish state,” reports AFP. The summit further stated “we hold Israel entirely responsible…

Gaza’s Islamist rulers Hamas announced Wednesday that the blockaded territory’s border with Egypt would open after a 50-day closure, and told Palestinian Arabs wishing to travel to present their passports.     Egypt has severely restricted access through the crossing in the border city of Rafah since July, when the army deposed Hamas’s ally,  president…

Haifa-based Elbit Systems announced on Wednesday that it was awarded a contracted by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) to supply its Hermes 900 Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), a highly advanced drone. The drone carries a new and advanced intelligence gathering system, and will be used in security and safety missions in the 2014 FIFA World…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Wednesday, in a bid to save the peace talks, AFP reported. Flying in to Jordan from an interrupted visit to Rome, he first held talks with King Abdullah II as he pressed his bid to “continue to narrow the gaps” between…

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, 48, former Al Qaeda spokesman and Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law, was found guilty Wednesday in a New York City courtroom of conspiring to kill Americans, conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and providing support to terrorists. The jury returned its unanimous verdict after about five hours of deliberation. In the months…

Egyptian army chief Field Marshal Abdel Fattah el-Sisi resigned on Wednesday as defense minister and announced his plan to run for president, following a high-level meeting with the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). In a televised statement, Sisi said it would be the last time he wears his military uniform. “I give up…

Far-left Israeli NGO “Peace Now” has come under fire for taking part in a conference organized by some of the world’s worst human rights abusers, including the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Peace Now’s campaigns manager Yaniv Shacham delivered a speech in Ecuador as part of a two-day anti-Israel symposium sponsored by a wide range…

Vadim Rabinovich, president of the All-Ukrainian Jewish Congress and founder of the European Jewish Parliament, announced on Tuesday that he will run for the presidency of Ukraine, reports the Jewish Daily Forward. According to the report, Rabinovich told the Russian Interfax news agency that he was running to “destroy the myth about anti-Semitism in Ukraine.”…

The United States on Tuesday slammed Saudi Arabia for refusing a visa to a an American journalist working for Israeli media who planned to cover President Barack Obama’s visit to the kingdom, AFP reported. The Jerusalem Post’s Washington bureau chief, U.S. citizen Michael Wilner, was the only journalist to be denied a visa to Saudi…

Israeli officials on Tuesday evening played down reports that Israel and Turkey will soon sign a compensation deal over the infamous “Mavi Marmara” incident. Reacting to remarks made earlier by Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister, Bulent Arinc, officials in Jerusalem told Channel 2 News that no agreement on a deal has yet been reached. Arinc had…

The United States warned Egypt on Tuesday that executing supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood may affect the aid that Washington provides to Cairo. Speaking one day after an Egyptian court sentenced 529 supporters of the movement to death, Deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf called the sentencing “shocking.” “The imposition of the death penalty for 529…

Hamas is taking another step towards the full implementation of strict Islamic Sharia law in Gaza, and is planning to introduce a penalty of lashes for certain criminal offenses. Nafez Al-Madhoun, the secretary of Hamas’s parliament in Gaza, said on Tuesday that the government is working on passing a new law pertaining to lashes. Speaking…

Ukraine fired its Defense Minister late Tuesday night, after the parliament deemed him responsible for losing Crimea to Russia.  Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh has tendered his resignation over the crisis.  “Knowing that someone does not like what I did as acting defense minister, as well as due to disagreements in the issues that were offered…

Two Palestinian Arabs were wounded on Wednesday when Israeli navy vessels destroyed two Gaza-bound boats “smuggling cigarettes” from Egypt, Palestinian Arab media told AFP.  Palestinian Arab witnesses and medical sources said the navy opened fire at the vessels as they were heading towards Rafah, moderately wounding two people, while the rest of the crew managed to escape. An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the…

Juan Carlos I, King of Spain, welcomed last week to Zarzuela Palace in Madrid Dr. Abraham Haim, the head of the Sephardic Community Committee in Jerusalem. Dr. Haim briefed the King on the history of the Sephardic Jewish community in Jerusalem, which is one of the longest-standing communities in the Holy City and has been…

The White House reacted Wednesday to reports that it has offered Israel a deal, in which Jonathan Pollard would go free in exchange for the release of terrorist murderers in the fourth tranche of the releases being carried out by Israel as a “gesture” toward the Palestinian Authority (PA). The reports say that the US…

US officials knew about the potential danger of Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, according to a soon-to-be-released Congressional report – but a spelling error led them to miss his frequent flights out to Dagestan for terror training.  Russian officials warned the US that Tsarnaev was armed and dangerous as much as a year and a…

The latest impasse in the talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) is enough to cause U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to interrupt a visit to Italy to meet with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan. Kerry’s surprise trip to Amman, which will take place on Wednesday, aims “to continue to narrow the…

A Ukrainian ultra-nationalist leader was shot dead on Tuesday, in what officials describe as a special forces operation. Oleksandr Muzychko, better known as Sashko Bily, died in a shoot-out with police in a cafe in Rivne in western Ukraine, the interior ministry said, according to the BBC. He was a leader of Right Sector, a…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas launched a tirade against Israel on Tuesday, accusing the Jewish state of being responsible for the peace talks not progressing. Speaking at the Arab League summit in Kuwait, Abbas also accused the Israeli government of trying to get out of releasing the fourth batch of terrorists that it agreed…

The Rolling Stones, the iconic British rock band from the 1960s, announced plans on Tuesday to perform in Israel in June, confirming reports on the planned show from February. The announcement has sent opponents of Israel fuming. As part of its upcoming European tour, the band will appear in Tel Aviv’s Hayarkon Park on June…

This week at Yeshiva University, a special ceremony was held in which hundreds of new rabbis were ordained at New York’s Yeshiva University. Watch the full video:

IDF forces discovered two explosives planted against the security fence on the border with Gaza on Tuesday, during routine activities in the area. The explosives were neutralized without causing any damage or injuries. Terror sources continue using the area adjacent to the security fence to plan attacks against Israeli citizens and security forces, noted the IDF…

Yariv Oppenheimer, director of the far-left group Peace Now, is in hot water for his Twitter comments on the IDF’s fatal shooting of an Arab terrorist last Wednesday. The terrorist, identified by Ma’an News Agency as 19-year-old Yousef Shawamrah, but reported in other sources as 15-years-old, was shot while sabotaging Israel’s security fence near Hevron with two accomplices. Shawamrah…

At the same time that it is demanding a fourth and final release of terrorists and a Jewish construction freeze as “gestures” to extend the peace talks, the Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to escalate its praise of terror against Israel. Israel transferred five bodies of terrorists to the PA on March 11, to which official…

Syria’s opposition called for “sophisticated” arms at an Arab summit in Kuwait Tuesday while Saudi Arabia stressed the need for a change in military balance to “end the impasse”.   UN peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, however, insisted on the need for a “political solution” to the three-year conflict, urging an “end to the supply of…

Death threats and anti-Semitic epithets were reportedly issued by pro-Palestinian activists at the University of Michigan against students who oppose a resolution to divest from Israel. The Washington Free Beacon reported that University of Michigan police were first contacted last week after two anti-Israel activists shouted “threats of violence” at a student who refused to…

Israel and Turkey will soon sign a compensation deal over the infamous “Mavi Marmara” incident according to Turkish officials. Nine Turkish Islamists were killed after violently attacking IDF soldiers during an attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza four years ago. The May 2010 incident triggered a severe diplomatic crisis between the two countries.…

Despite a European ban on Hezbollah’s “military wing”, the Hungarian ambassador to Lebanon recently paid a visit to a southern Lebanon “monument to jihad” belonging to the group. Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV reported about the visit, and said that the ambassador “expressed his admiration at Hezbollah’s great achievement for Lebanon, at liberating the land and the…

The Palestinian Arabs are apparently on board with their leader’s demands that peace talks be extended in exchange for Israel releasing more terrorists, AFP reported on Monday. The report is based on a new poll which found that a majority of Palestinian Arabs would support extending peace talks with Israel beyond the April deadline, on…

Hundreds of rabbis from across Europe gathered on Monday in Budapest, Hungary, for a memorial ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the murder of the Hungarian Jews by the Nazis. The ceremony, organized by the Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE) as part of its annual conference, took place on the banks of the Danube River…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to extend peace talks with Israel, but only if certain conditions are met, a PA official told the Ma’an news agency on Monday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that during a recent meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama, Abbas agreed to extend peace negotiations…

Two more cousins of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad have been killed in a town near Turkey, sources told Al Arabiya on Monday. The two cousins were identified as Ali and Kifah Al-Assad. Their deaths come one day after Hilal Al-Assad, another cousin of the Syrian President, was killed along with seven of his fighters during…

The G8 group of leading industrialized nations became the G7 on Monday, as leaders decided to end Russia’s role in the group, CNN reports. The move to suspend Russia’s membership in the G8 is the latest direct response from major countries allied against Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the White House said in a statement quoted…

Arab leaders meeting Tuesday in Kuwait are expected to back a Palestinian Authority (PA) refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, according to AFP.  The summit stresses a “categorical rejection” of the demand for recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, according to a draft statement endorsed by foreign ministers. The statement also rejects “all pressures exerted on the Palestinian leadership” to…

The Syrian conflict takes center stage at an Arab summit starting Tuesday in Kuwait, where a regional rift over Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood has been kept off the agenda because it is too hot to handle. The dispute which broke out in the runup to the summit pits Qatar against Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) continues to financially support terrorism, and families of terrorists were set to receive a great deal of that financial support, as PA official Rami Hamdallah pledged another $74 million from the PA budget to the families of ‘martyrs’ for the Palestinian Arab nationalist cause.  On Sunday, Hamdallah said that his government…

White City Shabbat, a non-profit organization dedicated to building Jewish life in Tel Aviv, has announced Monday that it will attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the World’s Largest Shabbat Dinner. The dinner, which is scheduled for June 13, 2014, will be held at the Tel Aviv Port. The organization aims to host 1,000 people at…

An Al Qaeda linked group has called to assassinate French president Francois Hollande, according to terrorism monitoring group SITE, as revenge for France’s interventions in Africa.  The al-Minbar Jihadi Media Network, an Islamist terrorist web site, has called for Muslims worldwide to stage attacks in France and on French institutions and interests in support of the Muslim…

The majority of the Israeli public does not want to see Judea and Samaria relinquished to the Palestinian Authority (PA) as result of peace talks, according to a survey by the Madgem institute.  The survey, which was featured on the Knesset Channel this week, noted that only 39% of respondents believed that Israel must withdraw in order…

  Bastiaan Belder, a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament, said Monday that anti-Israel sentiment is “mostly on the Left.” Belder is a Dutch politician and Member of the European Parliament with the SGP, part of the Europe of Freedom and Democracy Group. He spoke to Arutz Sheva about anti-Semitism in his country.…

The US is “deeply concerned” about the death sentences Egypt handed down to 529 Muslim Brotherhood Islamists on Monday, according to AFP. “While appeals are possible, it simply does not seem possible that a fair review of evidence and testimony consistent with international standards could be accomplished with over 529 defendants after a two-day trial,” a…

Dancing down Amsterdam Avenue along with their esteemed Roshei Yeshiva, mentors, family and friends, more than 230 new musmakhim [ordained rabbis] celebrated their ordination from Yeshiva University-affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) at its March 23rd Chag HaSemikhah. Representing the largest cohort in RIETS history, the graduates of the 2011-2014 classes joined more than…

A lawmaker from Hamas recently called for a “massacre” of Jews, explaining that Koran indicates that this must be done. In a televised address the lawmaker, Yunis Al-Astal, also said that Jews must be forced to pay the “jizya” tax, which under the strict Islamic Sharia doctrine, non-Muslims living under Muslim sovereignty must pay in…

Two Jewish organizations on Sunday condemned the statements of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has once again denied that the Holocaust took place. In a speech on Friday honoring the Iranian New Year, Nowruz, Khamenei said, “In European countries, no one dares to talk about the Holocaust, and we do not know if…

Turkey’s Prime Minister confirmed on Sunday that he was the one who gave the orders to shut down Twitter in the country, reports The Associated Press (AP). Speaking at a campaign event in Istanbul ahead of March 30 municipal elections, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had given the order because Twitter was not…

IDF forces patrolling the border with Egypt were targeted by fire from the Egyptian side on Monday. No injuries were reported in the incident, and further details are currently being investigated. The soldiers were just north-west of Be’er Milka, located right on the border with Egypt to the south of Gaza, when they were shot at.…

Ukraine’s interim President Olexander Turchynov ordered a withdrawal of all the country’s troops from the Crimean Peninsula, following Russia’s armed occupation of the formerly Ukrainian-held territory. “The National Security and Defense Council has reached a decision, under instructions from the defense ministry, to conduct a redeployment of military units stationed in the Autonomous Republic of…

The Jerusalem Municipality on Sunday authorized an initiative of United Jerusalem councilman Aryeh King, and altered the number 43 Egged bus line to expand transportation for Jewish residents in eastern Jerusalem. The bus line currently travels from Armon Hanatziv in the eastern part of the capital, to the Jewish community of Maaleh Hazeitim on the…

The Netivei Yisrael company has announced that a joint Israeli-German offer has defeated an offer by a French-Spanish-Israeli group for laying the rails. DB BahnBau, in a joint offer with Israeli firms Shikun Uvinui and Lesico, offered a 800 million shekel project, which was accepted. The competitor was French firm TSO, which made a joint…

Several members of a terror cell in Shechem, which opened fire on Israeli cars at Jit Intersection next to the Samaria community of Kedumim, were arrested in a joint mission between the IDF and Israel Security Agency (ISA, or Shin Bet). Permission was given today (Monday) to release details about the incident, which took place…

A court in Egypt has sentenced to death 529 supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, reported the BBC. The convicts, members of the Muslim Brotherhood, are part of a group of 545 defendants on trial for the killing of a police officer, attempted killing of two others, attacking a police station and other acts…

Palestinian Arab terrorists rioted at Rachel’s Tomb on Sunday, next to Bethlehem, injuring two Border Policemen. One suffered moderate injuries and the second suffered light injuries, according to the Border Police spokesman.  Arabs from the village of Al Aida, next to the Tomb, hurled an improvised explosive device and firebombs at the policemen. The policemen…

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh threatened Israel Sunday it would pay dearly if it heeded the growing calls to retake Gaza, according to AFP.  “We tell the enemy and (Foreign Minister Avigdor) Liberman who is threatening to reoccupy Gaza that the time for your threats is over,” Haniyeh declared, at a rally in Gaza City.  “Any aggression or crime or stupidity…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appeared on Sunday on the satirical television program Matzav HaUma (State of the Union), which airs on Channel 2. While much of the interview was funny, given the nature of the program, the Prime Minister also made some comments on serious issues, among which was a warning that Iran’s nuclear program…

Hilal Al-Assad, the cousin of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, was killed on Sunday along with seven of his fighters during fighting in the border town of Kasab in Latakia province, Al Jazeera reported. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported the death. It was confirmed by Syrian state television, which described Hilal as the…

Arab League foreign ministers discussed talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) Sunday, and called on Arab states to provide$100 million in financial aid to the PA every month, according to AFP.  The League also rejected recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, a key condition for Israel in talks. The official statement confirms a report by Al-Arabiya earlier this month…

Rose Gottemoeller, the US Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security, will meet with Israeli counterparts, including several military leaders, to discuss regional security issues, arms control and nonproliferation policy, as well as missile defense cooperation and export control matters, according to Ma’ariv.  The State Department announced Sunday that Gottemoeller will head the US delegation to the 43rd…

Islamic law is to be effectively enshrined in the British legal system for the first time under guidelines for solicitors on drawing up “Sharia compliant” wills, reports the Telegraph. The “ground-breaking guidance” by The Law Society will allow solicitors able to write Islamic wills that deny women an equal share of inheritances and exclude non-Muslims…

Users of Twitter in Turkey, who had been able to get around the country’s blocking of the site, suffered a setback on Saturday, the Hurriyet daily newspaper reports. According to the report, the Turkish government blocked access to Google’s public DNS service, which many had been using in order to bypass the ban and publish…

23 U.S. senators on Saturday sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to stand firm during talks with Iran, Reuters reported. The letter from Democratic senators and one independent was identical to one sent to Obama earlier this week by the House of Representatives, asking that he insist on a final agreement in…

Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Saturday hit out at those on the Israeli right who say that a Palestinian state already exists and that it is located in Jordan, Army Radio reported, citing an interview the King gave to the Al-Hayat newspaper. The King said that anyone who thinks that Jordan is Palestine is living…

Israeli Prime Binyamin Netanyahu vowed Sunday that the IDF would use force against anybody plotting attacks against the Jewish state, after troops killed two terrorists and a rioter during a raid in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Jenin.     “Over the weekend, our forces struck at a terrorist who had organised attacks on Israelis…

US lobbying group J Street has once again thrown its weight behind the Obama administration and the Palestinian Authority, urging Israel to drop demands for the PA to recognize the country as a Jewish state. Israeli leaders have been adamant on the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state, saying that far from being a…

Jerusalem prosecutors on Sunday filed an indictment against Aziz Awisat, a terrorist who carried out several attacks against Israelis. Most recently he was involved in attempts to cause gas explosions in Jerusalem, which he tried to do by cutting gas lines and causing leaks that he hope would be ignited. He was charged with attempted…

At least one person has been killed and fourteen wounded in the Lebanese capital Beirut, in overnight gun battles between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The initial fighting reportedly broke out at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning between the pro-Assad Arab Movement and fighters aligned with the Future Movement, which supports the…

American officials are very concerned that the talks between Israel and Palestinian Authority could break down totally. The two sides are deadlocked, and no progress has been made for weeks, the officials were quoted as saying by Israel Radio – and the administration of President Barack Obama is feverishly trying to come up with a…

Hundreds of Israelis, including many journalists, have been threatened – allegedly by Hamas – in the past several hours via text messages.  Among other things, the messages include warnings that Hamas is going to conquer Israel, and has threatened to shoot more rockets and kidnap civilians.   The text messages are appearing from private or…

Russian forces stormed one of the last remaining Ukrainian air bases in Crimea on Saturday, taking it over after at tense standoff, according to video footage.  As of late Saturday night, one Ukrainian soldier has been killed as a result of the takeover. The live stream was taken down shortly after a Russian convoy broke…

Further details have emerged about the IDF raid in Jenin on Saturday in which two terrorists were killed, among them one of Hamas’s high-ranking officials.  The operation in Jenin on Saturday was a joint effort by the SWAT (Yamam) team, IDF forces, and the Israeli Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet). The raid led to the…

Hareidi soldiers from the Netzach Yehuda Battalion – part of the Nahal Hareidi unit – were vital to the IDF’s raid on a wanted Hamas terror cell in Jenin on Saturday night.  The unit was instrumental in surrounding the house where Hamza Abu Alheja, 20, a member of the Hamas military wing, was hiding. An Islamic Jihad terrorist and…

A Jewish teacher was savagely beaten by a group of Arab men in a brutal anti-Semitic attack in Paris, according to the Bureau for National Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism (BNVCA). The attackers – who shouted “death to the Jews” and “filthy Jew” during the assault – broke the victim’s nose and drew a swastika on his…

Three Palestinian Arabs were killed in the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Jenin in Samaria (Shomron) early on Saturday after Israeli soldiers launched an operation to arrest a terrorist, Palestinian Authority officials said.     Medical and security sources said two of those killed were terrorists and the third was a civilian. They said 14 rioters…

Economics Minister and Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett strongly condemned the ongoing media and political tirade against Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who is under fire for criticizing the US’s policy toward Israel.  “The media attack on the defense minister and top IDF official is unnecessary and mostly false, and so far there is no one…

IDF soldiers were forced to shoot two Palestinian Arab rioters near the Gaza border fence late Friday, according to AFP, after they attempted to infiltrate Israel. “Ten Palestinians rioted adjacent to the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip,” an IDF spokesperson told the news outlet. “Two instigators attempted to climb over the security fence.”  “After they…

Chairman of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mahmoud Abbas briefed officials in Ramallah on Saturday about the progress of ongoing peace talks with Israel.  Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina stated at Saturday’s briefing that Abbas had told US President Barack Obama and US Secretary of State John Kerry, whom Abbas met this week, that he would not yield the…

More members of Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders’ party abandoned his party on Saturday amid an unprecedented storm of protest after he vowed “fewer Moroccans’ in the Netherlands.     Three councilors quit his Party for Freedom (PVV) party in the northern Friesland province, after similar moves by the head of the party’s bloc in…

The head of the IDF’s Southern Command promised on Friday that the IDF would locate and destroy all of Hamas’s terror tunnels. Speaking hours after the IDF confirmed that it had uncovered a “highly advanced” tunnel leading from Gaza into Israel, Major General Sami Turgeman said, “We monitored the tunnel for a long time thanks…

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) reported that roughly half of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal has been removed from the war-torn nation. The announcement came the same day that the Syrian army maintained its belligerent stance, conquering a Crusader castle. Over the past week three consignments of “Priority 1” and less lethal…

The United States is dissatisfied with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s clarification that he had not meant to insult the U.S. “We still have remaining concerns about Ya’alon’s pattern of behavior,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday. The United States harshly criticized Ya’alon this week, over his remarks that the United States “shows…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Friday congratulated the Iranian people on the occasion of the Nowruz holiday, the Iranian new year, wishing them continued prosperity and progress. Abbas took advantage of the opportunity to express his hopes that the ties between the PA and Iran could be strengthened. According to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an…

Turkey’s banning of Twitter was met with harsh criticism by the United States on Friday, AFP reported. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the order to prevent Turks from accessing the site was “contrary to Turkey’s own expressed desire to be a model of democracy.”  “The United States supports freedom of expression in Turkey and…

Russia on Friday accepted the deployment of an international monitoring team to Ukraine that officials said will have free access to regions throughout the country, The Associated Press (AP) reported. The development followed more than a week of stonewalling by Russia of a push by all other members of the 57-nation Organization for Security and…

Some 100 Palestinian Arabs tried to disrupt the annual Jerusalem Marathon on Friday, the Israel Police told AFP. “Around 100 demonstrators holding Palestinian flags tried, at two separate parts of the course, to disrupt the race,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri told the news agency. Police arrested four of them and dispersed the rest “with ease,”…

As events in Ukraine continue to escalate, the country’s roughly 60,000-strong Jewish community has been feeling the pressure. Already suffering from high levels of anti-Semitism and, in many cases, from grinding poverty, the ongoing power vacuum and tensions with Russia have markedly increased the sense of uncertainty on the ground. Perhaps of greatest concern is…

The Ministry for Immigration and Absorption will be launching a special program in the US on Sunday – the “Return Home” Project – encouraging Israeli emigrants to return to their homeland.  Native Israelis living in the US will be encouraged to move to the Negev and the Galilee, as part of efforts to boost development…

The United States and Britain on Thursday called for a UN investigation of Israel’s interception of an Iranian shipment of rockets headed for Gaza, according to The Associated Press (AP). UN officials have said that if Israel’s claims are true, Iran would be in violation of Security Council sanctions. U.S. deputy ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo urged the…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday slapped sanctions on top Russian officials, and Russian President Vladimir Putin retaliated by hitting top U.S. officials with sanctions of his own. Fox News reported that Russia’s newest sanctions bar nine American officials from entering Russia. The list includes House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio; Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid,…

Turkey has reportedly blocked access to popular social network site Twitter, just hours after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened he would do so. Reuters reported that Twitter users in Turkey were complaining of widespread outages. According to the news agency, some users trying to open the Twitter.com website were taken to a statement apparently…

Roland Kimeli Kurgat, a 28-year-old from Kenya, has been named the winner of Friday’s Jerusalem marathon, completing the 26 miles in just two hours and 16 minutes. Kurgat’s time beats last year’s finishing time by 19 seconds, making a new record.  Over 25,000 runners competed in the marathon; 2,500 of them flew in to participate…

As events in Ukraine continue to escalate, the country’s roughly 60,000-strong Jewish community has been feeling the pressure. Already suffering from high levels of anti-Semitism and, in many cases, from grinding poverty, the ongoing power vacuum and tensions with Russia have markedly increased the sense of uncertainty on the ground. Perhaps of greatest concern is…

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, denied the Holocaust Friday in a speech honoring the Iranian New Year, Norwuz.  “In European countries, no one dares to talk about the Holocaust,” the Ayatollah claimed, “and we do not know if it’s real or not.”  According to the Ayatollah, Europe’s criminalization of denying…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has made it abundantly clear in recent months that not only does it not recognize Israel as the Jewish state — it doesn’t recognize Israel’s existence altogether. Official PA TV broadcast a cartoon in late February showing a math teacher pointing to a map of Israel, with the words “Palestine: a…

An American congressional delegation visited Israel this week after a stop in Ukraine. Arutz Sheva got a chance to speak with the senior American politicians to discuss relations between Israel and the US. US Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) and Joe Donnelly (D-IN), both members of the Armed Services Committee, and Congressman Stephen Lynch (D-MA) reinforced the strong connection between…

Eight of 11 families of Iranian Jews missing since the 90s were told Thursday evening at the Center for Intelligence Heritage that their relatives were murdered on their way to Israel. The men were among 11 Iranian Jews whose disappearances in 1994 and 1997 have been cited by the U.S. State Department as pointing to…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah, the faction of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, didn’t let the peace talks with Israel deter their annual praising of the most lethal terror attack on Israel. Both groups reveled in the March 11 anniversary of arch-terrorist Dalal Mughrabi’s horrific massacre. In 1978, Mughrabi led a group of terrorists from Lebanon to…

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas demanded in talks with US President Barack Obama that Israel free the most senior Palestinian Arab prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, a PA official said Thursday. Earlier this month, Abbas said Palestinians will not agree to extend peace talks with Israel beyond their April 29 deadline without Israel releasing more prisoners…

Officials in Australia said that they had observed debris in the Indian Ocean that could be part of the wreckage of the Malaysian airliner that disappeared 12 days ago with 239 people on board. The debris was sighted using satellite imagery in an area of the Indian Ocean, about 1,500 miles off the coast of…

The organizer of a World War II-themed party that included Nazi flags and men in SS uniforms apologized on Wednesday after a photo of the event in Minneapolis provoked outrage on the Internet, reports The Associated Press (AP). The Nazi-themed party, which was held at Gasthof zur Gemutlichkeit, a popular German restaurant and bar in…

Despite the ongoing civil war, it seems to be business as usual in Damascus. On Tuesday, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad decided to establish a “space agency” to conduct scientific research, AFP reported, citing the state news agency SANA. According to the report, the Syrian cabinet had approved a project to create the so-called Syrian Space…

Several thousand Hungarian Jews on Wednesday marked the 70th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion of Hungary with a memorial service outside the Grand Synagogue in Budapest, AFP reported. The service, organized by Mazsihisz, the country’s largest Jewish organization, was the first in a series of events marking the Holocaust, which claimed the lives of some 600,000 Hungarian…

Russia warned the West on Wednesday that it may revise its stance in the Iranian nuclear talks in an act of retaliation over the West’s sanctions on it, The Associated Press (AP) reported. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, according to the Interfax news agency, that Russia did not want to use the Iranian…

Syria complained on Wednesday to the United Nations against Israel, after the Israeli Air Force launched airstrikes against Syrian targets on Tuesday night. The airstrikes, in which Syria claimed a soldier had been killed, targeted artillery batteries and a Syrian army training camp which had aided terrorists in the detonation of an explosive charge on the…

If Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon does not follow through with his threat and resigns, he will be fired, sources close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday evening. The comments came after Danon,  who met with bereaved mothers earlier Wednesday, said he would resign unless the fourth tranche of the release of terrorist…

The Knesset on Wednesday authorized on its second and third readings a law that codifies the criminalization of transporting illegal workers from the Palestinian Authority within Israel. The law specifies fines and jail time for such offenses under certain circumstances. The law has actually been on the books for several years, but had the status…

Two Arab rioters were arrested Thursday for attempting to attack MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud Beteinu) as he visited the Temple Mount. Hundreds of rioters threw stones at Feiglin and several individuals who accompanied him. Feiglin was forced to leave the site, and police took steps to break up the riot. As a result of the…

The Israeli Air Force held a ceremony on Thursday to reveal its latest acquisition: two advanced M-346 jet planes from Italy. Each plane costs an estimated 20 million euros (roughly $27.5 million); the IAF plans to purchase 30 of them. They are capable of speeds of mach 1.15 (roughly 875 miles per hour). The plane,…

Israel has advanced construction plans for over 2,000 new housing units in six Judea and Samaria communities, a defense official said on Thursday. The official, Guy Inbar, is a spokesman for the Civil Administration, the IDF unit tasked with approving construction in the region. Inbar told AFP that a Defense Ministry committee on February 19 pushed forward…

An EU parliamentary delegation on Thursday urged Israel to release long-term Arab terrorists, saying it was crucial to move a fragile Middle East peace process forward.   “We believe that the release of prisoners… is central to the peace process,” said Emer Costello, who headed the EU delegation on a three-day fact-finding mission on Palestinian…

The name Porsche has long made sports car enthusiasts swoon, but the Nazi past of the famous brand’s founder has left his Czech hometown sorely divided over his legacy.   In 2010, Vratislavice opened an ultra-modern, million-dollar memorial to Ferdinand Porsche, who invented the Volkswagen Beetle – among the world’s top selling cars – and…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon spoke to U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday evening and clarified that his remarks regarding the “soft” approach of the West toward the possibility of a nuclear Iran were not meant to insult the United States. A statement from Ya’alon’s office said that in a telephone conversation with Hagel, Ya’alon…

The ugly legal battle between the family of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and former housekeeper Manny Naftali continues, Channel 2 reports Wednesday, after Naftali has filed a suit in the Jerusalem Labor Court asking for one million shekel ($288,834) from the Netanyahus.  Naftali claimed in the suit that he was employed under poor work conditions, that the…

The Knesset passed a bill Wednesday extending an existing ban on citizens from enemy states using “reunification with family” as a reason to enter Israel. The bill, which passed by a landslide vote of 42 to 15, is based on an assessment by the General Security Services and recommend by Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar. In…

Malaysian Defense and Transportation Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters at a press briefing Wednesday that a new twist had been revealed in investigations over missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370: the discovery that vital files had been deleted from the pilots’ flight simulators sometime before takeoff.  “Some data has been deleted from the simulator. Forensic efforts are on…

In a rare move, Secretary of State John Kerry protested to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday over Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s strong criticism of US foreign policy, according to AFP.  Ya’alon slammed the US and the West on Tuesday for its “soft” approach toward the possibility of a nuclear Iran.  “Everyone knows Iran is lying,” Ya’alon stated.…

Rabbi Yossi Eilfort, an assistant Chabad rabbi from San Diego, California, recently made news when he fought his first amateur MMA fight, winning by TKO in the second round. Several publications covered the story, but much of coverage focused more on the oddity of a man of God stepping in to the MMA ring and…

Top-ranking government officials allotted ten billion shekel ($2.89 billion) to the IDF’s budget in preparation for an armed conflict with Iran, Ha’aretz reported Wednesday.  The report cites “senior military officials” and three unnamed Knesset MKs as stating that the huge sum – the same as in 2013 – has been relegated within the IDF treasury…

Acting Ukrainian President Arseny Yatseniuk has reportedly given officials in the Crimea three hours to free Ukraine’s navy chief, after pro-Russian militiamen detained him during a takeover of a naval base in the port city of Sevastopol. Sergey Gaiduk was seized by the group of roughly 300 armed men, in an attack which came just one…

Yair Golan, the Major General of the Northern Command, has warned the world at large that Israel’s situation with Lebanon is extremely volatile.  “The situation on the border [with Lebanon] is explosive and the smallest spark can cause a border clash – even if neither side is looking to engage in fighting,” Golan told French…

Jordan’s Prime Minister on Tuesday rejected the possibility that his country would cut ties with Israel and expel the Israeli ambassador from Amman, despite demands to do so in the wake of the killing of a Jordanian judge by Israeli soldiers. AFP reported that Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur made the comments during a discussion on…

The National Security Agency (NSA) has built a surveillance system capable of recording “100 percent” of a foreign country’s telephone calls and enabling the agency to rewind and review conversations as long as a month after they take place, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday. The report is based on sources with direct knowledge of…

Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers on Tuesday sharply criticized Egypt’s closure of the Rafiah border crossing, saying Cairo’s tightening of restrictions on Gaza was a “crime against humanity,” AFP reported. “The Egyptian authorities’ insistence on closing the Rafiah crossing and tightening the Gaza blockade… is a crime against humanity by all standards and a crime against…

The IAF airstrikes in Syria Tuesday night killed one soldier and injured seven, according to the Syrian army. Syrian President Bashar Assad’s army, which is engaged in a three-year bloody civil war, released a statement reading “these desperate attempts…endanger the security and stability of the region,” reports AFP. “This is new aggression and an attempt to divert…

Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likid-Beytenu) gave birth to a daughter Wednesday morning at Hadassah Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. The mother and daughter are both fine. Hotovely, 35, married Or Alon, a 31-year-old lawyer, last May. Alon grew up in Kochav Yair in western Samaria, and was a member of Bnei Akiva. Hotovely grew up…

IDF soldiers reportedly shot and killed a local Arab resident near Hevron on Wednesday, as he attempted to breach Israel’s security fence with two accomplices. “Earlier today three suspects sabotaged the security fence in Deir al-Asal al-Tahta, southwest of Hevron,” an IDF spokeswoman told AFP. After the three ignored soldiers’ warnings to leave, as well as…

IDF soldiers in the Yehuda Brigade are preparing for the annual concerts and events held in the holy city of Hevron for the Jewish holiday of Passover, which will occur in mid-April. As part of the preparations, a special drill was conducted successfully by the unit on Tuesday. The Brigade’s Operations Branch Captain, Major Amir Friedman,…

Germany has arrested several former Nazi war criminals this week, in an attempt to bring them to justice before they die. On of them, Gisela S, is a 90-year old charged of aiding in mass murder during her time in 1944 as a female guard at the Auschwitz death camp, when she was known by…

Israel Air Force planes opened fire on terror sites in Syria, where terrorists who are connected to the attack on an IDF jeep earlier Tuesday. Three soldiers were injured when an explosive device went off on the Golan Heights, as an IDF jeep was passing by. The incident occurred near the border with Syria, outside…

Following US State Department figures showing a steep 80% rise in US rejections of Israeli visa requests last year, Congresswoman Grace Meng (D-NY) demanded answers from US Secretary of State John Kerry. A whopping 9.7% of Israeli visa applicants were refused in 2013, a radical increase from the 5.4% of the prior year. As recently as…

A senior diplomatic source told Voice of Israel public radio Tuesday that if it turns out, in the coming days, that talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) have reached a dead end, Israel will reconsider the planned release of the fourth and last batch of terrorist murderers that it is planning to free as part…

We have all been taught at school that the Earth revolves around the sun, but, according to a senior Saudi cleric, we’ve been misled. In fact, Saleh Al-Fawzan, a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars, recently claimed in a televised interview that not only does the Earth not revolve around the sun, the…

The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Monday ended its punishment of Hamas and allowed Gaza’s lone power plant to resume operations. The Ma’an news agency reported that the Gaza power station, which had been shut off since Saturday due to a fuel shortage resumed generating electricity, a day after Israel allowed fuel deliveries into the region. Jamal Dardasawi, a public information officer…

The European Union’s (EU) foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said on Monday that Europe is opposed to boycotts against Israel. At the same time, she also reiterated the EU’s objection to Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria. ”The European Union opposes a boycott of Israeli companies and businesses. We don’t want to see Israel isolated,”…

The Ukrainian government continues to step up its defenses against a possible military invasion from Russia, the Kyiv Post reports Tuesday, after Moscow moved to annex the Crimean peninsula.  Kiev’s interim Finance Minister, Verkhovna Rada, allotted a whopping 6.88 billion Hryvianas (6.9 billion US dollars, approximately) to the defense fund Tuesday morning, after acting prime minister Artseniy Yatensyuk warned that…

Leading Russian internet company Yandex has become the latest technology giant to invest in Israel’s “Silicon Wadi”, purchasing Israeli geolocation startup KitLocate. KitLocate provides an energy-efficient alternative to other mapping and navigation software by only requesting users’ locations when absolutely necessary, as opposed to on a consistent basis, thus saving battery-power. The deal was reportedly sealed…

Two Christian women were publicly beheaded by Islamist terrorists in southeastern Somalia, as part of a campaign to “wipe out” any Christian presence in the east African country. The Morning Star reported Friday that the two women – identified as mother-of-two Sadia Ali Omar, 41, and her 35-year-old cousin Osman Mohamoud Moge – were executed by the Al…

Russian President Vladimir Putin released an official statement recognizing Crimea as a “sovereign and independent state” on Monday evening, after a controversial referendum vote in the peninsula showed overwhelming support for Moscow over Ukraine.   The Russian presidential decree was issued “considering the expression of the will of the people of Crimea at the general Crimean…

An investigation into Friday night’s skirmishes between Israel and Lebanon – during which an explosive device was detonated on the Lebanese side of the border and the IDF retaliated with shells – has revealed that Hezbollah terrorists succeeded in entering Israel.  Walla! News reported Monday night that several Hezbollah terrorists successfully trespassed over the border into…

An Arab branch of the international hackers’ movement Anonymous is threatening to mount a large scale cyberattack on Israeli government websites on April 7. A similar attack took place last year on April 7. Israeli government web sites came under heavy attack on that day, but the hackers failed to bring down any Israeli sites, the…

US President Barack Obama on Monday told Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas that both he and Israeli leaders must make tough political decisions and take “risks” for peace. Meeting Obama at the White House, Abbas said that Israel’s release of the fourth batch of terrorists by March 29 would show how serious Prime Minister Binyamin…

A prisoner serving a life sentence claims he has information on missing IDF soldier Guy Hever, who was last seen in 1997. The State Attorney’s Office said that it has been conducting contacts with the prisoner in recent months regarding his claims, but that the talks have never “ripened” for different reasons. The prisoner, Moti…

More than one week after Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared without a trace, authorities have extended their search – and refocused investigations on the pilot and co-pilot as possible suspects.  Footage was released on Sunday evening showing the last known video of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, and Co-Pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid of Flight 370 before boarding the plane…

Ukraine’s Prime Minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, promised the Deputy President of the Rabbinical Council of Europe and the Rabbi of Ukraine, Rabbi Dov Bleich, to beef up protection of Jews in the country, where anti-Semitism has raised its head in the wake of the ouster of the former pro-Russian prime minister. “We denounce the anti-Semitic attacks…

Amid a diplomatic row between Jordan and Israel over the killing of a Jordanian judge, Israeli doctors last week saved the life of a seven-year-old Jordanian-Palestinian Arab boy. The Israel Hayom daily reported on Sunday that the boy, who had suffered critical kidney failure, underwent a successful kidney transplant at the Rambam Medical Center in…

Egyptian authorities have arrested a local resident for “loving Israel,” the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper reported on Sunday. According to the report, the 24-year-old was arrested in the Sohag governorate in southern Egypt. He was arrested for allegedly writing to Israeli nationals through Facebook and criticizing Egypt and Egyptians as well as declaring his love for…

Latvian veterans who fought on Nazi Germany’s side against the Soviets in World War II staged a march in Riga on Sunday, amid a heavy police presence and low-key protests, AFP reports. Around 1,500 people took part in the controversial parade through the capital’s Old Town, police told the news agency. Dozens of opponents, some…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday “to make the tough decisions that will be necessary” before an April 29 deadline for a peace deal with Israel, Reuters reported, citing a U.S. official. Kerry’s comments were made during a meeting with Abbas in Washington, a day before…

A suicide car bomb attack killed four people late Sunday in an area dominated by the Hezbollah terrorist group near the Syrian border, a Lebanese security source told AFP. The attack in the Bekaa Valley was claimed by the jihadist Al-Nusra Front in Lebanon, as well as by a little known extremist Sunni Muslim group…

Five children’s lives were saved at Schneider Children’s Medical Center over the weekend, in a pre-Purim transplant marathon. The transplant operations – two liver transplants, two kidney transplants and a heart transplant – were carried out one after the other at the Center’s operating room complex. The first operation took place Thursday afternoon, on a…

Residents of Jerusalem are celebrating the holiday of Purim on Monday. While most of the country celebrated Sunday, in Jerusalem the holiday is held one day later, in commemoration of the fact that Jews living in walled cities at the time of the Purim miracle fought their enemies for one extra day. Among the celebrations,…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will meet Monday with United States President Barack Obama. Analysts expect the meeting will be a tense one. According to previous reports, Abbas plans to agree to extend negotiations with Israel, but only if Israel frees terrorist leaders and agrees to freeze construction in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) – essentially…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas plans to demand that Israel release arch terrorists and freeze construction in Judea and Samaria in return for Abbas agreeing to extend peace talks, the Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Sunday. According to the report, Abbas plans to make these demands during his meeting with United States President Barack Obama…

Gaza’s lone power plant, shut off since Saturday due to a fuel shortage, will remain off until Monday according to the terror organization Hamas’s government. The responsible party for the extension appears to be the Palestinian Authority (PA), Hamas’s rival. The power station will restart on Monday at 6 a.m., Deputy Chief of the Gaza…

A research study presented recently by an Ariel University team shows a distinct generational difference in the integration into Israeli society of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. According to the study, immigrants under 30 years of age tend to have a more liberal attitude to “moral” issues that are generally considered “victimless crimes,” such…

In the wake of “conclusive” suspicions of hijacking in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished without a trace along with its 239 passengers last Saturday, Israel has decided to tighten its security measures for foreign aircraft entering Israeli airspace. Security and airport officials discussed the changing security situation in light of the…

An IDF soldier has complained that three men tried to force him into a car at the Hamra Junction in the Jordan Valley Sunday. According to the soldier, he was standing at the junction when a white car stopped near him, and the men got out of it and attacked him. The soldier said that…

The Kiev police are investigating a severe anti-Semitic incident that occurred Thursday, in which Rabbi Hillel Cohen, Chairman of the Kiev Hatzala emergency rescue organization, was stabbed. The rabbi had told Arutz Sheva three weeks earlier that he feels safe. The rabbi was assaulted by a group of men who yelled anti-Semitic insults and struck…

Further evidence that the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight 370 last week may have been a planned terror attack has surfaced on Sunday, according to the Telegraph, after a British court heard testimony from Al Qaeda terrorist Sajid Badat that islamists had been planning a “9/11 style” attack for weeks. Four to five Malaysian islamist terrorists…

Last week, already married with several children, Ovadia and Rachel Oved got married, for the second time – this time in a Jewish ceremony. Both of them are former fighters in the South Lebanese Army, who came to live in Israel when the Christian-controlled bastion in South Lebanon fell to Hezbollah after Israel withdrew from…

An Israeli couple in Ukraine’s capital city of Kiev were rescued from a near-lynching last Friday, right before Shabbat. Zalman Hetzklovich and his wife were walking in Kiev’s Independence Square in the center of the city, when eight Ukrainians wearing uniforms and holding sticks suddenly leaped out of a van at them. The Ukrainians pointed…

A passenger tragically passed away on an El Al flight from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv last week. Fellow passengers note the 60-year old man passed out several times while waiting in the terminal during a three hour delay for the flight, which took off from California last Thursday, reports Yedioth Aharonot. Medical personnel who checked…

Film star Scarlett Johansson told the Observer that she has no regrets over her decision to promote SodaStream, a company headquartered in Israel, with a factory in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. The actress stepped down from her role as Oxfam ambassador a month ago, when the international relief organization wrote to her…

Hamas cracked down on a Gaza demonstration supporting rival Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday, a day before Abbas is to meet US President Barack Obama in Washington DC. Thirteen demonstrators were arrested. Abbas’s Fatah party, which holds power in Judea and Samaria, organized the aborted demonstration in Hamas-stronghold Gaza. Fatah official Mohammed Nahal…

The front-runner in the close race for Republican presidential nominee leaves some questions for Israel, CNN reports Sunday. In a new poll, 16% of Republican Party members and independents who lean toward the GOP answered they would “be likely to support” Kentucky Senator Rand Paul for the 2016 presidential race, narrowly edging out Representative Paul Ryan…

Nearly three years since the US Navy Seals operation which killed Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden, new and gruesome details have emerged of the circumstances of his death – and suggest a new possible reason for why photos of his body were never released. The Daily Mail has revealed that US commandos involved in the raid…

An Arab motorist crashed into a border police checkpoint Saturday night at the entrance to Beit Ummar in Judea’s Gush Etzion district, north of Hevron. Four border police were manning the checkpoint at the time, and were injured by the speeding car. All four were evacuated for medical treatment for their light wounds at the…

A senior official in Iran announced Saturday that authorities identified and neutralized a sabotage attempt at Arak heavy water nuclear reactor. Details of the sabotage remain unclear.  The official, Asghar Zarean, heads security at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. “Several cases of industrial sabotage have been neutralized in the past few months before achieving the intended…

American intelligence officials are leaning toward the theory that the pilots of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 were deliberately responsible for the mysterious disappearance of the jetliner, a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the latest thinking told CNN on Saturday. The revelation followed news that Malaysian authorities searched the home of the lead pilot, a…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas left for the United States on Saturday, ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday. Abbas’s spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said that Abbas plans to speak with Obama on all issues related to the realization of a two-state solution and the establishment of a just and…

A Sinai-based terrorist group has acknowledged that one of its founders, who took part in the 2011 coordinated attack on Eilat that killed eight Israelis, died last Tuesday. The terrorist was involved in a car crash, which detonated the explosives he was transporting. The terrorist, identified as Tuwafik Mohammed Frij or “Abu Abdallah,” was part of…

IDF soldiers fired at suspected terrorists who approached the Israeli-Lebanese border on Saturday. “A certain number of suspects approached the Israel-Lebanon border. Soldiers fired in the air to warn them away, and they moved off,” reported an IDF spokeswoman, adding that no one was injured in the exchange. A local Arab resident claimed to AFP that the suspects…

An explosive device was detonated on Friday evening near an IDF patrol that was on the border with Lebanon. No one was physically hurt, but three soldiers were taken to the Ziv Hospital in Tzfat where they will be examined to ensure they did not suffer shock from the explosion. The IDF retaliated and shelled…

Residents of the Jewish community in Tatabanya, Hungary, were shocked to discover on Friday that unknown vandals had desecrated the local Jewish cemetery. The vandals spray-painted anti-Semitic graffiti on the tombstones, including swastikas and statements such as, “Smelly Jews” and, “The Holocaust didn’t happen, but it will.” “They spray-painted swastikas and the black cross which…

Jordan’s Prime Minister said on Friday that his country cannot cut its ties with Israel. According to Kol Yisrael radio, Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur explained that the peace treaty with Israel was important for Jordan’s national security. He further said, according to the report, that the two countries share interests including water issues, borders, the…

The mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared nearly a week ago, remained unsolved on Friday, as sources familiar with the probe said the investigation was now focusing more on a suspicion of foul play. Two sources told the Reuters news agency that an unidentified aircraft, that investigators suspect was missing Flight MH370,…

Tunisia’s tourism minister denied on Friday that Israeli tourists aboard a cruise ship who were prevented from entering the country had been discriminated against, saying there had been a procedural problem, according to an AFP report. The Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) said on Monday a “small number” of Israeli passengers on one of its…

Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau visited the beleaguered city of Sderot on Friday morning. The city, and its surrounding region, has been pummeled by roughly 100 rockets from Gaza since Wednesday, with the most recent hitting Friday morning. “The whole country is behind you and prays for your peace. We hope the Purim holiday will…

Thousands of Jews from from America’s east coast flocked to the Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliyah Mega event in Times Square this week, as part of the series of Aliyah Fairs in seven major cities across North America. Arutz Sheva spoke to participants in the event to gather their thoughts on moving to the Jewish homeland. Potential immigrants came…

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg is frustrated with the National Security Agency’s (NSA) use of his social network to spy on people. In fact, Fox News reported, Zuckerberg called President Barack Obama on Thursday to express his frustrations and concerns over the spying. “I’ve called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that the United States had yet to present a framework for a Middle East peace deal, AFP reported. “Until now, we haven’t received the framework agreement we were promised,” Abbas said at news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron in Bethlehem. “When the framework is presented…

An American official said on Thursday that a Malaysia Airlines plane sent signals to a satellite for four hours after the aircraft went missing, an indication that it was still flying for hundreds of miles or more, reports The Associated Press (AP). The comments echo ones made by United States investigators on Wednesday night. These…

Attorney Yoram Sheftel told Arutz Sheva Friday morning that the barrage of rocket fire from Gaza is a reminder of the “idiocy,” in his words, of the current government.  “This conflict illustrates the full nakedness of negotiations, which are the most foolish and freakish in history,” Sheftel fired, calling Gaza “Hamasstan.”  “Israel’s main demand in negotiations has…

Terrorists in Gaza continued the barrage of rockets Friday morning, with a lone rocket being launched at the Jewish state in the late morning. “Moments ago an additional rocket hit,” declared an IDF statement, released at 11:47 am on Friday. An army spokesperson told AFP it was the first attack in the last 12 hours. Since Wednesday,…

Israel is the best country in the Middle East for women’s rights and freedoms, the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap survey concluded this week.  The survey, which has been conducted since 2006, ranks 110 countries in terms of gender equality and inequality, using a variety of factors including demographic data, socioeconomic figures, and a…

Ministers slammed US Secretary of State John Kerry for saying Thursday that Israel’s demand for recognition as a Jewish state by the Palestinian Authority (PA) is a “mistake.” The statement, which was announced as rockets fired on Israel from Gaza rocket, has seen Kerry criticized for being disconnected from reality. Deputy Education Minister Avi Wortzman…

An arrest has been made in the Anne Frank diary vandalism case, Tokyo police announced, and the suspect is being cooperative.  “The suspect is a 36-year-old unemployed man who lives in Tokyo,” the Tokyo metropolitan police department said, in a statement translated by SBS news. “The suspect allegedly got into libraries in Suginami Ward on February 5, 2014,…

Fans gathered earlier this month at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv – not for basketball, but for the First Robotics Competition.  The regionals event, which hosted competitions both for teens and for adults passionate about robotics, drew hundreds of spectators and technology enthusiasts. Arutz Sheva interviewed the event’s organizers to see what the fuss was all…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry thinks it is a “mistake” for Israel to demand that the Palestinian Authority (PA) recognize it as a Jewish state in order to achieve peace. “I think it’s a mistake for some people to be raising it again and again as the decider of their attitude towards the possibility…

Aircraft of the Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked seven terror targets in Gaza on Thursday night, shortly after midnight. In a statement, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that three targets in northern Gaza and four targets in southern Gaza were hit. “The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers…

At least eight rockets were fired on Israel’s south Thursday night by terrorists from Gaza, a continuation of the escalated rocket barrage, in which roughly 100 rockets have been fired since Wednesday. Fortunately none of the eight  caused injuries or damage. Most of the rockets exploded in open areas, several of them being shot down by…

A one-year-old baby was killed in Jerusalem on Thursday, after a fire broke out in an apartment in the hareidi neighborhood of Geula. United Hatzalah and Magen David Adom crews arrived at the apartment on Tzefania Street, where they attempted to resuscitate the baby before sending him in a mobile care unit to Jerusalem’s Shaarei…

Sderot and its environs may have come under terrorist missile fire in the past few days, but preparations for Purim at the Hesder Yeshiva at Sderot continue unabated. Over 700 students are expected to be present at the yeshiva Saturday, to mark Shabbat Zachor – the Sabbath service that precedes Purim, in which Jews are…

Amid the chaos in Ukraine, Chabad on Wednesday announced a new donation initiative for the holiday of Purim. The money will help Ukraine’s estimated 350,000 to 500,000 Jews “survive in these terrible times,” Chabad said. The unrest which led to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s ouster in February has been accompanied by an upsurge in anti-Semitic attacks.…

US Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that the level of mistrust between Israelis and the Palestinian Authority was the highest he had ever seen. But he insisted that he was hopeful of reaching “some kind of understanding of the road forward” as he seeks to nail down a framework to guide the stuttering Middle East peace talks, according…

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday condemned the rocket attacks by Gaza-based terrorists on southern Israel, but also urged Israel to show “restraint” in its response to the attacks. “The Secretary-General strongly condemns the multiple rocket attacks today on Israel from Gaza, for which Islamic Jihad has claimed responsibility,” said a statement from Ban’s…

Russia has signed a preliminary agreement to build at least two more nuclear power plants in the Iranian port city of Bushehr, AFP reported on Wednesday, citing Iran’s official IRNA news agency. The deal was reached during a visit to Tehran on Tuesday by a senior official of Russia’s state atomic energy agency Rosatom, IRNA…

British Prime Minister David Cameron reiterated on Wednesday night that he was a staunch supporter of Israel and that he opposes any boycotts of the Jewish state. Cameron and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held a press conference ahead of their bilateral meeting, which came several hours after Cameron’s speech in the Knesset. “Prime Minister Cameron,…

The lower house of Jordan’s parliament, incensed over the shooting death of a Jordanian judge by Israeli soldiers, on Wednesday demanded that the government free a terrorist who murdered Israeli schoolgirls in 1997, AFP reported. In a non-binding resolution, all 150 members of the lower house said “we demand that the government release Jordanian soldier…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night instructed the defense establishment to do whatever necessary to restore the quiet to Israel’s south. Netanyahu held a security consultation following his meeting with visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron. Participating in the phone consultation were Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot and…

President Shimon Peres reacted Thursday to Gaza terrorists’ ongoing attacks on southern Israel. Hamas is responsible for the rocket fire, he charged, and it will get “fire for fire.” “Tonight, the IDF did what needed to be done – it attacked dozens of targets in Gaza,” Peres stated. The IDF hit 29 targets belonging to…

Gaza terrorists fired on major Israeli cities on Thursday morning, setting off the Red Alert rocket sirens in Ashdod and Ashkelon. The Iron Dome defensive system shot down at least one rocket that was on course to hit Ashkelon. Two other rockets were later found near the city. Both had hit open areas. The rockets…

As tensions continue to mount in the Gaza Region following last night’s barrage of more than 60 rockets fired by Islamic Jihad, and the IDF’s response, leaders on both sides of the Israel-Gaza border are bracing themselves for the potential of a larger-scale Israeli military operation. In anticipation, the Iranian-backed terrorist group responsible for last…

Terrorists in the Gaza Strip have battered towns and villages in southern Israel with at least 50 rockets, in the largest-scale attack since the 2012 Pillar of Defense counterrorism operation. IDF Radio is reporting that over 60 rockets have landed in Israel so far, after initial reports put the number at closer to 25. Of those, at…

The United States on Wednesday denounced as “reprehensible” a volley of rocket attacks launched by Islamic Jihad terrorists in Gaza into southern Israel and called for such “terrorist attacks” to stop immediately.     “The United States condemns in the strongest terms today’s rocket attacks into Israel by terrorists from the Gaza Strip,” State Department…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon had harsh words for Hamas on Wednesday, following the barrage of rocket fire into Israel.  “We will not ignore the barrage of rocket fire tonight,” Ya’alon stated. “We will not allow Islamic Jihad or any other entity in the Gaza Strip to disrupt the lives of Israeli citizens.” Ya’alon continued: “when…

The Jewish holiday of Purim will occur next week. One group warns that young Jewish girls face a serious danger on the day of drinking and celebrating the Jewish people’s rescue from destruction in ancient Persia. Patty Kupfer, Director of Learn and Live, a group focused on saving Jewish girls from abusive relationships, notes one…

The controversial Enlistment Law passed in the Knesset plenum Wednesday morning, in the second and third readings. The opposition boycotted the vote. MK Yoni Chetboun (Jewish Home) voted against the law. He angered his party and the Coalition with the surprise declaration Tuesday that he plans to vote against the Enlistment Bill. Chetboun explained what led him to vote against the bill on drafting hareidi…

The terrorist, Aziz Awisat of Jabal Mukabar, intended to cause deadly explosions by this method. He also admitted to an axe attack two years ago that seriously injured a Jewish man. Two sets of gas balloons in Armon Hanatziv were damaged last Tuesday. Dozens of residents were evacuated from the two affected buildings on the streets Shlomo Ben…

A home-made bomb exploded in front of the Israeli embassy in Cairo on Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing security sources and the website of the local Al-Ahram newspaper. Security sources said the explosion targeted a police car parked near the embassy, rather than the embassy itself. No one was hurt in the explosion, according to the…

The mysterious disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 on Saturday along with its 239 passengers has deepened, with new reports that families of the missing travelers have gotten ringing tones while calling their missing loved ones. While waiting at Beijing’s Metropark Lido Hotel for news on Monday, several relatives of the missing reported they were able…

Jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) executed at least 22 people, including 12 rebels, in the north of the country on Tuesday, a monitoring group told the AFP news agency. “ISIS members executed at least 22 persons with firearms or knives, after taking control of Shuyukh outside the town of…

The U.S.-based operator of a cruise ship whose Israeli passengers were prevented from entering Tunisia, announced on Tuesday that it would no longer call at Tunisian ports, AFP reports. The Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Line said Monday that a “small number” of Israeli passengers were not allowed to disembark  in Tunis “because of a last-minute decision…