Category: News

The Syrian army has been using starvation as a “weapon of war” in its siege of the Yarmouk camp for “Palestinian refugees” outside Damascus, Amnesty International said on Monday, according to AFP. In a report on the plight of Palestinian and Syrian civilians in Yarmouk, the group said nearly 200 people have died since an…

Three people were killed in an Israeli Air Force (IAF) strike in southern Gaza, according to medics quoted by AFP Tuesday. Al Arabiya said that the strike took place in southern Gaza.  “Three martyrs have died in a Zionist (Israeli) strike east of Rafah,” Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra told AFP. The IDF Spokesman’s Unit…

The IDF insisted Tuesday that Raed Zeiter, a Jordanian citizen who was shot dead Monday morning at the Allenby crossing into Israel, had attacked soldiers and tried to grab a weapon before he was shot dead. Arab MK Ahmed Tibi called on Israel to release security camera footage of the incident, but it appears the…

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer told the Israeli American Council (IAC) last night that Israel will never allow a nuclear Iran and will take any necessary measures to defend itself. Iran “is the single most important issue facing Israel,” Dermer said. “We need to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapons capability…

The interim agreement between Iran and Western powers last November is a “farce,” according to Lieutenant General (ret.) William G. “Jerry” Boykin. The former senior military official warned that the US has only one option left — to take out Iran’s nuclear program militarily. Boykin ended his successful 36 year career in the US military,…

Palestinian Authority (PA) security forces spread a false story on Tuesday, claiming to AFP that IDF forces had opened fire on a car driven by Arab residents near the western Samaria town of Tulkarem, killing one. The death turned out to have simply been a traffic accident. The initial report claimed IDF bullets or a car crash resulting…

Hareidi army enlistment will be good for hareidi society and for the yeshiva system, MK Ayelet Shaked (Jewish Home) declared Tuesday. Those who oppose the bill either do not understand it, or are actively holding the hareidi community back, she accused. Shaked addressed the Knesset as debate began over a bill on hareidi army recruitment…

As the search for the 239 missing passengers of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 continues, the names of the Iranians involved in the plane’s disappearance have been revealed on Tuesday.  CNN reports that Interpol revealed the names of the two men who boarded the flight last week using stolen passports – one Austrian, one Italian. The two…

The U.S. Defense Department announced it was providing $429 million to Israel for further development of its aerial defenses, specifically the Iron Dome system. In a statement, the Defense Department said that the funding would provide increased security for Israel, as well as “significant co-production opportunities” for Israeli and American companies. The system, designed in…

Israel is displaying the weapons cache from the Iranian shipment to Gaza on Monday, in a bid to show the international community the ‘true face’ behind the Islamic Republic.  The IDF spokesperson’s office announced Sunday that the Klos C ship, which docked in Eilat over the weekend, has been unloaded and all the contents examined.…

The mystery of the disappearing Malaysian Airlines plane deepened on Monday, as authorities announced that very little debris had been found.  “The fact that we are unable to find any debris so far appears to indicate that the aircraft is likely to have disintegrated at around 35,000 feet,” a source, who is involved in the…

If new statistics released today are anything to go by, 2014 looks set to be another record-breaking year for the Israeli tourism industry. 2013 was a record year, with a 3% increase in both international and domestic tourism alike compared to 2012.  According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the upward trend looks set to…

The White House on Monday condemned Iran over the weapons ship it sent to Gaza and which was intercepted by Israel in the Red Sea. “We were very clear about our views on the ship that was interdicted and the fact that we condemn in the strongest terms Iran’s efforts to supply terrorist organizations operating…

The Revolutionary Council of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party on Monday unanimously endorsed his rejection of demands to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, officials at the meeting told AFP. “President Abbas has reaffirmed his refusal to recognize the Jewishness of the State of Israel and council members stood up to hail this…

Shots were fired on Monday evening towards a home in the Binyamin region town of Beit El. No one was hurt but damage was caused to one of the home’s windows. The shots were likely fired by Arabs from the nearby Palestinian Authority village of Jilazun. IDF soldiers are searching for the perpetrators. Earlier on…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party is not ruling out a violent struggle against Israel, a senior member of the party recently said. “None of us, especially in Fatah, has ruled out the military options,” declared Fatah Central Committee member Abbas Zaki in an interview which aired on February 26 on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television.…

A group of nuns who were kidnapped by rebels in the Syrian town of Maalula in December were released on Sunday night, thanks to Lebanese-Qatari mediation and handed to the Syrian authorities, AFP reported. A monitoring group said the release was secured in exchange for some 150 women prisoners who were being held in Syria’s…

A Saudi court on Sunday jailed an Islamist for eight years on charges of inciting protests, mocking the monarch and criticizing the security services on Twitter, AFP reported citing the official Saudi Arabian news agency SPA. The defendant, who was not identified, had been convicted of inciting “families of those arrested for security reasons to…

The Arab League on Sunday backed Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, Al-Arabiya reports. The head of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, reportedly urged Arab countries to take a “firm stand” against Israel’s demand for the PA to recognize it as a Jewish state. Speaking at the…

The Tel Aviv District Court sentenced terrorist Muhammad Faraj to 25 years’ imprisonment Monday, for his involvement in a 2012 Tel Aviv bus bombing.  Faraj, a 19 year-old Taibe resident and Hamas terrorist, personally placed a suitcase loaded with a bomb on the number 142 bus line on November 21, 2012. The attack injured 26 people.  “It is…

An Arab terrorist was shot to death Monday morning at the Allenby Bridge crossing to Jordan, after he attacked an IDF soldier. The bridge, which is not open to Israeli Jews, was closed due to the incident as an investigation was carried out. The confrontation apparently started when the terrorist attempted to wrestle the soldier’s gun away from him, leading the soldier…

Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika took part Sunday in a memorial for the five murdered members of the Fogel family Hy”d, at the Itamar Yeshiva. At the event, Mesika called on the Israeli government to legislate the death penalty for terrorists accused of murder. “Today, moments before an additional release of terrorists, it wouldn’t…

If it works in Belgium and the Netherlands, could it also work in the Middle East? Channel 2 News reported on Sunday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is looking into the option of applying a Dutch-Belgian enclave model to the peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). According to the report, Netanyahu has…

More than 1,000 Jews and Israelis from across the Tri-State area jammed the Nefesh B’Nefesh Aliyah Mega event in Times Square on Sunday, part of a week of Aliyah Fairs in seven major cities across North America. Organizing the events in conjunction with Nefesh B’Nefesh are Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Immigrant Absorption, The Jewish…

In his first comments on interviews given by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over the weekend, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett said that despite what Netanyahu said, all Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria would remain under Israeli sovereignty. In the interviews, Netanyahu said that no Jews would have to leave their homes in the context of…

Former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin suggested on Saturday that the United States should stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with nukes, AFP reported. Palin, who spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), offered unsolicited advice to President Barack Obama on containing Russian aggression, saying that “the only thing that stops a bad guy…

The United States believes there is no need for the Palestinian Authority (PA) to recognize Israel as a Jewish state as part of a peace agreement, State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Saturday. Psaki, who spoke to the PA-based Arabic-language Al-Quds newspaper, said, “The American position is clear, Israel is a Jewish state. However, we…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reiterated Sunday that he is opposed to imposing a construction freeze on Judea and Samaria as part of the ongoing talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. “We imposed one in the past and it brought no results,” Netanyahu noted, in an interview with IDF Radio. ​He added that a framework agreement from the…

Jewish and Muslim clerics continue to fight against the push to ban ritual slaughter (shechita for kosher meat and Zabiha for halal) by John Blackwell, incoming president of the British Veterinary Association (BVA).  Last week, Blackwell threatened government action if calls for the Jewish and Muslim communities to abandon their religious practices were left unheeded, citing concerns for “animal…

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas clarified his positions regarding the issues of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and the so-called “right of return” of Palestinian “refugees” in an appearance broadcast by PA TV, translated by MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute). It is worth watching, for anyone who harbors any doubts regarding what…

The Summit was co-sponsored by Breitbart News and EMPact America, an NGO established to raise public awareness of the threat posed by electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons to America’s domestic energy infrastructure. Serving as moderator was Frank Gaffney, founder and president of conservative think tank the Center for Security Policy. Held just days after this year’s…

The Ministerial Law Committee on Sunday approved for Knesset legislation a bill that would require employers to pay workers who are put on “hold,” required to set aside work hours without actually working or getting paid for their time. The law, proposed by MK Yoni Chetboun (Jewish Home), seeks to put an end to a…

Internal Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich on Sunday announced that the government would set up an external committee to investigate the recent security breach at Rimonim Prison, in which Samuel Sheinbein, an American-Israeli convicted murderer serving his sentence in Israel, was able to obtain a gun and shoot three security guards, wounding one seriously. The committee…

The Knesset State Control Committee visited the building site for the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem express train Sunday, where Israeli Railways CEO Boaz Tzafrir announced that the line will be up and running by March 2018.   Project Manager Dror Supro explained that the new line will feature trains with a top speed of 160 kilometers per hour (99.4…

While Kiev and its environs have been relatively peaceful since the bloody clashes of February 18 and 19, hundreds of people are still suffering from wounds they incurred in the confrontation with forces loyal to then-president, Victor Yanukovych. But according to JTA news, the efforts of volunteers in both Kiev and Israel made it possible…

The motivation of draftees to serve in combat units appears to have stabilized at 74.7%, after hitting a record high of almost 80% in 2011, and then dipping to 72% in 2012. The number measures the proportion of fresh draftees who want to serve in combat units, out of all the draftees who are eligible…

An explosion Saturday in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least one terrorist and wounded nine more, medical sources said. “The explosion occurred during a training session in bomb-making,” said a statement from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamist Hamas movement that controls Gaza. Source have identified the dead man as…

An explosion Saturday at Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip killed at least one suspected terrorist and wounded six more, medical sources said. It was not yet known what caused the blast in a house in the town that straddles the border with Egypt, the sources said. Witnesses claimed, without elaborating, that most of the…

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 reportedly crashed into the sea off Vietnam with 239 people on board on Saturday. It took off from Kuala Lumpur and was bound for Beijing. Terrorism is being investigated as a possible cause in the mysterious disappearance, after it was discovered that two passengers had apparently been traveling on stolen…

Saudi Arabia on Friday blacklisted the Muslim Brotherhood and two Syrian jihadist groups as terrorist organizations, ordering citizens fighting abroad to return home within 15 days or face imprisonment, AFP reports. The move represents a major escalation against the Brotherhood of deposed Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi and indicates rising concern in Riyadh over the potential…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says that not all the communities in Judea and Samaria will be part of Israel in a peace agreement, but will do his utmost to ensure that as many as possible do remain under Israeli control. In an interview with Channel 2 News, which will air in full on Saturday night…

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday congratulated Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon for the successful operation to capture the Klos C ship, which Israel intercepted in the Red Sea and which was caught with a weapons shipment from Iran to Gaza. According to a statement from the Defense Department, Hagel and received a briefing…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas stood his ground on Friday and reiterated that he will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Speaking to youth activists of his Fatah party and quoted by The Associated Press (AP), Abbas unequivocally declared that there is “no way” he will recognize Israel as a Jewish state and…

Egypt on Friday deported dozens of women activists who had flown in to Cairo but been barred from entering the country in their bid to reach neighboring Gaza, an airport official told AFP. About 100 women, most of them from Europe and the United States, had hoped to enter the Palestinian enclave through Egypt’s Rafiah…

US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Jordan on Friday for talks with King Abdullah II on the ongoing talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), a US spokeswoman travelling with him announced. AFP notes that the trip to Aqaba, where he was to meet with King Abdullah II, had not been previously announced. “We are arriving in Aqaba, Jordan,…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ended his three-day trip to California on Thursday, with a message for Iran and its proxy terrorist groups: “We will expose, and we shall fight them. And I’ll tell you the other thing: We shall beat them.” Jared Sichel of the Jewish Journal reported that Netanyahu gave an eight-minute speech at…

A group of 100 European and American activist women were stopped by Egypt on Thursday, as they attempted to cross Sinai to spend International Women’s Day on Saturday in Gaza. Egyptian authorities stopped the women at the Cairo airport. Among the group, Northern Irish Nobel Laureate and anti-Israel activist Mairead Maguire was already deported on Wednesday; the…

Turkey’s embattled prime minister warned on Thursday that his government could ban websites such as YouTube and Facebook after a raft of online leaks added momentum to a spiraling corruption scandal, reported AFP. “There are new steps we will take in that sphere after March 30… including a ban (on YouTube, Facebook),” Prime Minister Recep…

A month after she blasted Israel for criticizing Secretary of State John Kerry, the White House announced Wednesday that U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice will travel to Israel in May. AFP reported that Rice will head an American delegation for wide-ranging bilateral talks. The announcement came two days after President Barack Obama met with…

In yet another setback to the operation to destroy Damascus’ chemical weapons arsenal, sources at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said on Thursday that Syria will miss a major deadline next week. Reuters reported that Syria has until March 15 to destroy 12 declared production facilities. “That will definitely be missed,”…

Interpol said on Thursday it was studying a request by Ukrainian authorities to issue an international wanted persons alert for the arrest of President Viktor Yanukovych for abuse of power and murder. In a statement quoted by The Associated Press (AP), the international police organization said it received a request a day earlier from Ukrainian…

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) was deployed Friday afternoon after Syrian warplanes approached the Israel-Syrian border, according to Channel 2.  The Syrian warplanes were within just a few hundred kilometers to Israel Friday, according to the daily, as it struck rebel outposts near Al Quneitra.  The two air forces did not come into contact with one…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hinted on Friday that a building freeze may not be on the agenda for Judea and Samaria.  “We have already had a building freeze and seen that it does not give us [positive] results,” Netanyahu stated, in an interview with Channel 10. “We froze [construction] for a year, ten months. Did anything come…

Even as the Palestinian Authority (PA) remains in the ongoing peace talks with Israel, the entity has continued to glorify terrorist murderers. This glorification recently was speared by PA Ministry of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake, who recently honored terrorists in Israeli jails for their “heroic sacrifice.” Karake visited the family of Ahmad Sa’adat last December…

NYPD police officer Mark Schwartz recently brought cookies to his precinct to celebrate a great achievement. No, he hadn’t caught a famous criminal or stopped a large crime — the 27-year-old finally realized his dream by having a bar mitzvah. Schwartz, who grew up in and patrols the borough of Queens, noted he had felt…

U.S. President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are at odds over Israel, NRG/Maariv reported on Wednesday. According to the report, the reason for the tension is Obama’s remarks in the interview this week with Jeffrey Goldberg, which Kerry saw as being too critical of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. In the interview, which…

Both Iran and the terrorist groups which operate in Gaza denied on Wednesday that they had any connection to the Klos C, the ship that the IDF intercepted and which was carrying weapons for Gaza. “We completely deny this report which is totally without foundation,” AFP quoted an unnamed Iranian military official as having told…

Last month’s gas explosion at an Akko apartment building that killed five people – including an eight year old – was deliberately caused by criminals, police announced Thursday. Police announced that they had “definitive evidence” that the explosion was caused by criminal elements. The investigation, opened immediately after the explosion at the 3-story Akko apartment…

Echoing comments made by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu earlier in the week, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Thursday that it was the Palestinian Authority that was preventing progress on talks to formulate the negotiation framework being developed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. In an interview on Israel Radio Thursday, Liberman said that “the…

Jonathan Pollard, who has served nearly three decades in an American prison for passing classified information to Israel, was hospitalized Wednesday night. Pollard has suffered from multiple health problems for some time. His condition recently worsened, leading to the hospitalization outside the prison. Top activists in the campaign to release Pollard confirmed that his health…

Residents of the Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv are struggling to come to terms with an apparent attempted attack this week. Gas lines were cut in what appears to have been a deliberate attempt by terrorists to cause an explosion. The gas line sabotage followed fatal explosions involving cooking gas balloons in Jerusalem and in…

Egyptian newspaper Alyoum Alsaba has reported that Egyptian security forces intend to take away the citizen status of 13,757 Palestinians because of their support for Hamas. The report is quoted by Israeli daily Maariv. The Palestinians affected by the move received citizenship during the year in which Islamist Mohammed Morsi was in power. It comes…

The Beit Hillel rabbinic organization has printed its fifth pamphlet on halakhic (Jewish legal) issues, 60,000 copies of which will be in synagogues this week. In the latest edition, the rabbis of Beit Hillel tackled the issue of taxes, and the controversial subject of gender separation in the religious Jewish community. Not only are Jews…

The United States intelligence services and military worked with Israel to track the Iranian ship carrying missiles to Gaza, which was apprehended Wednesday, according to AFP.  White House spokesman Jay Carney said Washington started to work with Israel through intelligence and military channels and at the national security advisor level as soon as it knew the shipment was on…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu denounced Iran’s “charm offensive” on Wednesday, in light of the news that the IDF had intercepted an Iranian weapons ship carrying missiles to Gaza. “Israel captured a ship on the high seas, stocked with weapons destined for terrorist groups,” Netanyahu stated. “These weapons were going to be used against Israel.” “This…

Gaza-based terrorists fired a rocket at the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Wednesday night. The rocket exploded in an open field, causing no physical injuries or damages. Earlier on Wednesday evening, Gaza terrorists fired a rocket at southern Israel, but that rocket exploded within Gaza. On Monday, a Gaza rocket was fired into the…

Israel has begun providing Ukrainian citizens – victims of ongoing unrest and anti-Semitism – with much-needed medical treatment, Walla! reports Wednesday.  Alexander, aged 20, landed at Ben-Gurion Wednesday morning, then rushed to Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot for wrist surgery. Six others wounded in the Ukrainian unrest – which has seen violent protests, police brutality, and anti-Semitic…

The IDF’s elite Shayetet-13 naval commando raided a ship off the shores of Sudan before dawn Wednesday. The ship, which flew a Panamanian flag, carried dozens of B-302 missiles that have a range of up to 200 kilometers. The raid took place in the Red Sea, between the waters of Sudan and Eritrea. According to…

A video has been released and titled the “official clip” of the massive hareidi protest Sunday, that blocked the entrance to Jerusalem and brought together hundreds of thousands to demonstrate against new hareidi IDF enlistment laws. Along with footage from the rally, the video features the song “We Get up Early” by Shlomo Cohen. The…

The screening took place at Hollywood’s Paramount Studios, and was attended by some 500 people. The program is a mammoth production by journalist-producer Peter Greenberg, who hosts international tourism shows on PBS. Filmed over the last two years, it features Netanyahu at tourist spots from Rosh Hanikra in the north, through Jerusalem and Tel Aviv,…

IDF forces clashed with terrorists on Tuesday night in the northern Golan Heights. Soldiers opened fire on terrorists who placed an explosive on the border fence with Syria. “Earlier today, two Hezbollah-affiliated terrorists were identified attempting to plant an explosive device near the Israel-Syria border in the northern Golan Heights. IDF forces… fired towards the suspects (and) hits…

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann Bachmann has accused American Jews of having “sold out Israel” by voting for President Obama in 2008 and 2012. “The Jewish community gave him their votes, their support, their financial support,” Bachmann told Tony Perkins on the Family Research Center’s radio channel, “and as recently as last week, 48 Jewish donors…

U.S. President Barack Obama committed to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu he would push the Palestinian Authority (PA) to match any Israeli concessions as he seeks to negotiate a framework for peace talks, AFP reported on Tuesday. A senior Obama administration official told the news agency that the issue of the Israeli-PA peace talks was the…

AIPAC’s 2014 annual Policy Conference came to a close Tuesday, having seen a record 14,000 supporters of Israel travel to Washington D.C. for the two-and-a-half day mega-event. The conference was an unequivocal display of support for the alliance between the United States and the State of Israel, and the list of speakers was typically impressive.…

The Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group was blamed on Tuesday for a bombing in Bahrain a day earlier. According to NOW Lebanon, the Deputy-Chairman of Dubai Police and Public Security Dahi Khalfan Tamim, said that a Hezbollah-trained operative perpetrated the blast on Monday that killed three police officers outside Bahrain’s Manama. “The criminal who carried out…

The anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement was unfazed on Tuesday over the criticism leveled at it by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in his AIPAC speech. BDS spokeswoman Rafeef Ziadah brushed off Netanyahu’s words as a “desperate attack,” according to the AFP news agency. She further noted that governments were beginning “to take action…

Russia on Tuesday carried out a successful test-launch of an advanced intercontinental ballistic missile, AFP reported, citing state news agencies. “The purpose of the launch is to test the advanced payload of the intercontinental ballistic missile,” Russia’s three main news agencies quoted a top defense official as saying. The same defense official said the launch…

Some 20 Israelis who were making their way to India on Monday found themselves for a short time in Tehran. Channel 2 News reported that the incident occurred when a Turkish Airlines flight, which made its way from Istanbul to Mumbai, was forced to make a temporary landing in Tehran when one of the passengers…

The Israeli Air Force struck a terrorist target in northern Gaza Monday night, after a rocket was fired at the Ashkelon region, according to the IDF.  AFP reports that the target was a terror cell preparing another rocket launch into Israel.  Palestinian Arab media sources claim that at least one person has been killed and three…

Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform religious leaders put aside their differences at AIPAC’s annual policy conference Monday for a joint presentation over their shared love for Israel. The presentation included a series of touching, and sometimes humorous anecdotes illustrating what Israel means to each leader, and what experiences influenced their appreciation of the Jewish state. 

The United States has suspended all military engagements with Russia because of the crisis in Ukraine, including military exercises and port visits, as part of Washington’s response to Moscow’s seizure of Crimea, reports Reuters. Monday’s announcement from the Pentagon came hours after President Barack Obama warned that the U.S. would look at a series of…

British Prime Minister David Cameron will speak before the Knesset next week during a visit planned for last month but postponed due to floods in England, AFP reported. “British Prime Minister David Cameron is scheduled to address the Knesset plenum next Wednesday, March 12,” the Knesset said in a statement quoted by the news agency,…

The first independent emergency evacuation center in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) opened its doors Sunday, according to Walla! News, after a historic ribbon-cutting ceremony with Home Front Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud).  The center itself, located in the Talilei Orot school building in the northern Samaria community of Tal Menashe, will only hold about 1,000 evacuees. Beyond…

An Egyptian court outlawed the terror group Hamas on Tuesday, much like it banned the Muslim Brotherhood earlier this year, and ordered all of its assets seized.  The judge explained that the decision stems from the risks Hamas poses to Egyptian security. He accused the organization of terrorist activities in cooperation with the Islamist group called…

The Judea and Samaria (Shomron) District Police, along with IDF and the Border Patrol, arrested 14 Arabs overnight (Monday/Tuesday) on suspicions of stone-throwing, illegal weapons hoarding, drug-dealing, and carjacking.  Police investigation into recent carjackings in the Shomron led the forces to arrest at least one suspect in the Arab settlement of Hawara. Another man was…

Arab terrorists hurled a firebomb Tuesday at the community of Beit El, in the Binyamin region, north of Jerusalem. No one was hurt and no damage was caused. A similar attack took place on Monday, too. Tuesday’s firebomb landed close to the community’s perimeter fence, just a few meters away from some houses. IDF forces…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered troops training near the Ukrainian border to return to their permanent bases, according to AP and Interfax. It is unclear what meaning, if any, should be ascribed to the move. The news surfaces mere hours after the Washington Post reported that Moscow had presented Kiev with an ultimatum overnight: accept Crimea’s pro-Russian government now – or…

Minister of International Relations, Intelligence and Strategic Affairs,Yuval Steinitz, who is accompanying Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu n his trip to the United States, said Tuesday that Isrtael’s positions on the Iranian nuclear weapons threat, as well as in “peace talks” with the Palestinian Authority (PA), enjoy wall-to-wall support in the US Senate. The PA’s demands…

Police have revealed the name of the Palestinian Arab terrorist who stabbed an Israeli man in Bnei Brak on Sunday evening. The terrorist has been identified as Fahdi Alrouda, 28, of the town of Bir Zeit, outside Ramallah. Alrouda attacked a 31-year-old Jewish man near a gas station at the Geha junction. The victim suffered…

Egypt’s military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has widely been expected to run for president and win the mid-April elections. Those rumors came closer to confirmation on Tuesday as Sisi declared he could not ignore the calls of the people for him to run. Sisi revealed to Egyptian state news agency Mena that “official procedures” regarding his presidential…

The United States has quietly instituted a policy of denying visa requests from members of Israel’s security services, Maariv/nrg reports. Senior security personnel who spoke to the paper said that over the past year they have seen hundreds of cases in which members of the Shin Bet and Mossad, and workers in Israel’s defense industries,…

Anonymous criminals damaged two sets of gas balloons in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv on Tuesday, apparently in an attempt to cause a lethal explosion. Dozens of residents were evacuated from the two affected buildings on the streets Shlomo Ben Yosef and Robovitch after the leaks were detected. As a result of the attack,…

The new government in Ukraine said Monday that Russia’s navy ordered two of its ships off the shores of Crimea to surrender. Ukrainian defense ministry spokesman Maksim Prauta said that four Russian navy ships were blocking Ukraine’s anti-submarine warship Ternopil and the command ship Slavutych, which are currently near the port of Sevastopol. The head of…

A rocket slammed into the Ashkelon coast Monday evening, according to 0404 News.  The ‘Color Red’ siren was sounded in several communities within the Hof Ashkelon region, forcing families into shelters.  The rocket did not strike a populated area, and no damage or injuries are reported.  Rocket fire from Gaza has increased over the past month.…

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said Monday that events in the Ukraine are directly related to President Barack Obama’s “feckless” policies. The people of the Ukraine demanded to no longer be a part of Putin’s Russia, McCain explained, and the Russian occupation of Crimea, in response to that demand, is “a blatant act” by Putin that…

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) revealed Monday that new construction in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) increased by 123.7% in 2013. The announcement surfaces several hours before Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is due to meet with US President Barack Obama to discuss a possible building freeze in the area.  The high number is due to…

Russia’s foreign ministry said Monday that warnings by United States Secretary of State John Kerry over Russian military intervention in Ukraine were “unacceptable” threats, according to AFP.  “We consider the threats against Russia made in a series of public statements by US Secretary of State John Kerry over the latest events in Ukraine and in Crimea to be unacceptable,” the Russian foreign…

The IDF’s Legal Advisory for Judea and Samaria came under fire Monday during a heated session of a Knesset committee specializing in Judea and Samaria, which is chaired by MK Moti Yogev (Jewish Home). The meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee’s Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria was held to address waves of illegal…

In the latest anti-Semitic attack in the Ukraine, vandals on Friday sprayed swastikas and graffiti reading “Death to the Jews” on a synagogue in Simferopol in the Crimea region, reported the Israel Hayom daily newspaper. “There is no doubt that it was important to anti-Semites to commit this crime,” Anatoly Gendin, head of the Association…

Two members of Libya’s interim parliament were shot and wounded by protesters who stormed the General National Congress (GNC) in downtown Tripoli on Sunday, officials and witnesses said, according to Al-Jazeera. “Two (GNC) members were hit by bullets when they tried to leave the venue in their cars,” Nuri Abu Sahmein, the parliament speaker, was…

An Egyptian court on Sunday adjourned the murder trial of deposed president Mohammed Morsi to Tuesday, after “bad weather” prevented him from being transported from prison to court, AFP reported. Morsi, who was ousted by the military in July, is accused of inciting the killings of opposition protesters outside the presidential palace in December 2012.…

Israeli opposition leader and head of the left-wing Labor Party Isaac Herzog addressed delegates at AIPAC’s annual policy conference Sunday, and took the opportunity to promote his political vision for Israel. After noting his own personal connection to AIPAC – his uncle and legendary Israeli diplomat Abba Eban helped found AIPAC during his tenure as…

While hareidi groups demonstrated in Jerusalem Sunday against the law that would require yeshiva students to serve in the army, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz visited with troops of the Nachal Hareidi, the unit designed to allow hareidi and religious soldiers to serve in the IDF while maintaining their lifestyle. Speaking to Nachal Hareidi…

South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) has officially endorsed the annual Israel Apartheid Week, which is held annually on campuses and is used to delegitimize Israel. According to the Turkish Anadolu news agency, the decision was made on Sunday. In a statement to the agency, ANC said it was “unequivocal in its support for…

Hezbollah was likely behind a rocket attack near an IDF post in Mount Hermon early Saturday morning, security and military sources told Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star on Sunday night. The officials said that the attack was Hezbollah’s retaliation for alleged Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah targets near the Lebanese-Syrian border. Two rockets were fired at…

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to a proposal from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to set up a contact group on Ukraine, the German government said Sunday, according to AFP. Merkel put the proposal to Putin in a telephone conversation late Sunday in which she also “accused the Russian president of violating international law with…

One day ahead of his meeting Monday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Barack Obama is urging the Israeli leader to make peace with the Palestinian Authority (PA). Speaking to Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg in an interview published Sunday, Obama warned that time was running out to negotiate a peace agreement. Obama further claimed that…

BBC News reports Sunday that Ukraine has called up its reservists to defend against neighboring Russia.  Secretary of the National Security and Defense of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy stated Sunday that the reservists will be trained immediately to defend the embattled country’s borders. “It is essential to train all combat forces to full readiness,” Parubiy urged. “We…

Libyan officials recently caught several members of a Muslim extremist group as they attempted to send deadly chemical weapons to Syria, Channel 2 reports. The report quoted Colonel Mansour al-Mazini as saying that the extremists had been caught with a container of mustard gas. The gas was confiscated by Libyan soldiers. The collapse of Muammar…

Female mikvah facilitators (Hebrew: balaniot) have expressed outrage over a new law that would impose a 50,000 shekel fine for unwanted questions. The balaniot are responsible for supervising Jewish women’s immersion in the mikvah (ritual bath). Some women who use the mikvah have complained that female staff asked them unwanted or what they termed prying…

Masked Palestinian Arabs broke into a IDF checkpoint near the Palestinian Authority (PA) settlement of Beit Furik, northeast of Shechem, after they cut through barbed wire fence surrounding the post.  A video surfaced on YouTube over the weekend showing masked men, who were armed with a chainsaw and hammers, sawing through checkpoint gate, smashing the…

A suspected terror stabbing took place in Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv, Sunday evening. A man aged 31 was stabbed on Jabotinsky Street, next to the Dor Alon gas station. Medics and paramedics from Magen David Adom emergency services evacuated the victim to Beilinson Hospital. He was in moderate condition, with stab wounds in the…

Hundreds of thousands of hareidi protesters gathered Sunday afternoon at the entrance to Jerusalem, for a prayer rally protesting the law that the Knesset intends to pass which would place financial and criminal sanctions on hareidi men who refuse to enlist to the IDF. The organizers estimated that 500,000 people took part in the protest.…

Shamir: Palestinian State? Forget It Inside Israel 6:19 AM 3/2/2014

Netanya is set to grow significantly in the coming years. The city’s planning commission on Sunday voted to authorize construction of 50,000 housing units, expand land appropriated for industrial and business purposes, and increase the number of hotel rooms along Netanya’s coast. The expansion will come gradually over the next two decades, the commission said.…

As of Sunday afternoon, a meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu set for Monday is still on. Netanyahu left Israel on Sunday for Washington, where he is to meet Obama and speak at the AIPAC Conference on Tuesday. However, Israeli officials said that they were preparing for the possibility that Netanyahu’s meeting…

Acting Ukrainian President Olexander Turchynov has placed the Ukrainian armed forces on “high alert” Saturday night after Russian forces stormed the Crimean peninsula over the weekend, Fox News reports.  Turchynov reportedly ordered increased security at nuclear power plants, airports and other strategic infrastructure, because of the threat of “potential aggression” from the Russian troops.  Arutz Sheva‘s Russian-language sources noted…

Russian parliament issued a de facto​ military takeover of Crimea, Ukraine, on Saturday, according to the Washington Post, despite the US warning Moscow on Friday not to intervene in the embattled country.  At least 6,000 Russian troops stormed Belbek airport in Crimea – a Russian area of Ukraine – on Friday, leaving the newly-elected Kiev government powerless to…

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon (Likud) is the minister with the highest approval rating in Israel, according to a poll by Millward-Brown. 58.9% of Israelis polled approve of Ya’alon’s leadership so far, Channel 2 notes Saturday night. Rounding out the top three in public approval are Education Minister Rabbi Shai Piron (Yesh Atid) at 57.2% and Communications and Home…

The amputation of a hand was live-tweeted on Friday, courtesy of the jihadist Syrian rebel group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). According to The Washington Post, the amputation took place in the remote rural town of Maskanah in the northern province of Aleppo. It was documented in a series of tweets…

Jewish players will be allowed to don kippahs (yarmulkes) at world soccer games, after FIFA officially authorized on Saturday the wearing of head covers for religious purposes during matches. “It was decided that female players can cover their heads to play,” said FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke at a meeting of the International Football Association…

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday threatened Russian President Vladimir Putin with political and economic isolation” over Russia’s military incursion in Ukraine. AFP reported that the warning came in a 90-minute phone call between the two leaders. Obama reportedly told Putin that Russia had violated international law with its incursion into Ukraine. The White House…

Two rockets landed near an IDF post in Mount Hermon early Saturday morning. No injuries or damage was reported. An IDF investigation Saturday stated that the rockets are most likely the product of accidental spillover from clashes in neighboring Syria – not a deliberate attack. However, senior security sources told Walla! News Saturday night that the rocket…

Over 200 Palestinian Arabs hurled stones at the IDF after a funeral in the Palestinian Authority Friday, resulting in five injuries, according to AFP.  The clashes came after Motazz Washaha, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine suspected of being directly involved in terrorism,  was found dead in his home in Birzeit following a Thursday morning raid…

Representatives of 22 nations pledged their support for the Palestinian Authority (PA) Saturday, but the UN urged more action for refugees “in need of aid” in an “increasingly dire” situation, according to AFP.  The Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development (CEAPAD) in Jakarta ended with Japan – one of the world’s biggest donors to the PA –…

An Israel Air Force (IAF) aircraft on Friday evening hit a rocket launcher in northern Gaza. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that the attack “was meant to remove the immediate threat of rocket firing into Israel.” Gaza rocket attacks have been on the increase in recent weeks. Two Fridays ago, the calm of Shabbat was…

Captain Ziv Shilon, who was badly wounded in a Hamas attack near Gaza in October 2012 and lost his arm, moved hundreds of people at the Friends of the IDF (FIDF) annual conference in Miami on Thursday. Shilon, who gave a speech about his injury and the long rehabilitation, surprised his girlfriend Adi at the end…

A 94-year-old man deported from the United States for lying about his Nazi past is unfit for trial on allegations that he was an accessory to thousands of murders as an SS guard at Auschwitz, a German court said Friday, according to The Associated Press (AP). The Ellwangen state court said Hans Lipschis is suffering…

Gunmen on Friday killed an Egyptian policeman who was on a security team guarding the home of a judge in the jailbreak trial of ousted president Mohammed Morsi, security officials told AFP. Attacks on Egypt’s security forces have surged since the army ousted the Islamist Morsi last July, and as the military-installed authorities press a…

The situation in Ukraine escalated on Friday, as armed men took over the military airport in the Crimea region. “Around 400 people are in the airport of Belbek now. They have occupied runway and all plane movements have been stopped,” the Interfax news agency reported, citing a local security source. The Associated Press (AP) reported…

The wanton vandalism of hundreds of copies of Anne Frank’s diaries held in Tokyo libraries is uncharacteristic of Japan, a senior Israeli diplomat said Thursday as he presented 300 replacements, according to AFP. The books, a gift from the embassy and the Jewish Community of Japan, were donated as police hunted those responsible for defacing…

U.S. President Barack Obama will meet Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on March 17, AFP reported on Thursday, stepping up Washington’s efforts to convince the PA leader to embrace a peace deal with Israel. The meeting will come two weeks after Obama’s planned encounter with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday, which will also…

Police arrested on Thursday evening a 27-year-old leader of a criminal organization on suspicion of involvement in a grenade attack in the Petah Tikva open air market earlier this week. The suspect was being questioned by the Central District of the Israel police and will be brought before a court for a remand hearing on…

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) chief negotiator on Thursday rejected U.S. moves to extend an April deadline for nine months of talks with Israel to culminate in a framework peace deal. “There is no meaning to prolonging the negotiation, even for one more additional hour, if Israel, represented by its current government, continues to disregard international…

The IDF has reportedly issued a stern warning to the Lebanese government, clarifying that the government will be held response and be a target for response should Hezbollah carry out its threats to attack Israel. Hezbollah’s menacing announcements on Wednesday were the terror group’s first recognition of an IAF air strike Monday that took out…

Yossi Ashtamkar, 21, became the second Nahal Hareidi officer to receive a prize for excellence in IDF history Thursday at an officers’ course graduation ceremony.  Ashtamkar, one of 14 children and a native of the hareidi community Tifrah in the Negev, was drafted into the Netzah unit of the Nahal Hareidi division in August 2012.…

The world’s first “smart gun” has been released in the US, going on sale in California this week. Developed by German company Armatix, the .22 caliber “iP1” seeks to revolution the weapons industry with unprecedented levels of security. Featuring a design straight out of a spy movie, the pistol comes with a special watch, without which the…

About 40,000 runners arrived at Rokah Bridge in Tel Aviv Friday morning to kick off the 2014 Tel Aviv Marathon.  Traffic will be closed from the bridge to Jerusalem Boulevard until about 1:00 pm Friday. Police advise all commuters to use public transportation and avoid traveling to the Tel Aviv area to prevent congestion.  Despite…

Jerusalem Arabs set ablaze a police station next to the Lions’ Gate in the capital’s Old City on Wednesday. Aryeh King, nationalist Jerusalem city councilman and member of the municipality’s Emergency and Security Committee, was present at the attack and managed to document it. According to King, police officers fled the scene. “Unfortunately the prime minister…

Two Palestinian Arab men robbed and stabbed an Israeli cab driver on Thursday evening near the Ariel junction in Samaria (Shomron). The two forced the driver to a stop by blocking his way forward with their vehicle. The driver suffered light wounds in the attack. The attackers managed to make off with his car. Soldiers…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is setting out for a visit to America next week. In addition to being pressed by US President Barack Obama into Israeli withdrawals as part of peace negotiations on Monday, Netanyahu plans to visit Silicon Valley, America’s hi-tech heartland. During his time in the Californian tech-paradise, Netanyahu is set to meet Jan…

More than 170 Islamist rebel fighters, including Saudis, Qataris and Chechens, were killed Wednesday in a Syrian army ambush near Damascus, AFP reported, citing the state news agency SANA. The attack, apparently the deadliest against the rebels for months, took place in Eastern Ghouta, a key rebel stronghold targeted in a chemical attack in August…

A United States appeals court on Wednesday ordered YouTube to take down an anti-Islamic movie that triggered protests in the Muslim world, after an actress alleged she had been duped into appearing in it, AFP reported. The 2012 appearance of “Innocence of Muslims” on Google’s video-sharing site provoked deadly violence, but the current legal case…

One of the two Muslims who publicly beheaded British soldier Lee Rigby in London last year was given life in prison and his accomplice was sentenced to 45 years on Wednesday, AFP reports. Michael Adebolajo, 29, and Michael Adebowale, 22, were dragged from the dock in the Old Bailey court in London after they started…

Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Thursday morning that warplanes will be put on alert on the Ukrainian border, Channel 10 reported. The announcement followed orders Wednesday for 150,000 Russian troops to go on high alert. Troops are planning to hold war games near Ukraine, in what has widely been seen as a warning gesture from Russia…

Over three thousand people of all religious backgrounds gathered at the Tomb of Joseph in Shechem Wednesday night, to celebrate the upcoming start of the month of Adar, which begins next week. Over the past five years, the Judea and Samaria Council has brought over 100,000 people to pray at Joseph’s Tomb. Security Wednesday was…

In a Facebook posting Thursday, Economics Minister Naftali Bennett questioned the wisdom of relying on technology to ensure Israel’s defense, as supporters of an Israeli withdrawal from the Jordan Valley are suggesting. With cameras, electronic alarms, and other gadgets “protecting” Israelis, asked Bennett cynically, “who needs the IDF”? Reports Thursday said that with Secretary of…

Yesh Atid MK Rina Frankel on Thursday sent an official letter to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asking him to initiate an immediate aliyah “rescue effort” for Ukrainian Jewry. Frankel sent the letter in the wake of the recent unrest in Ukraine, in which former President Viktor Yanukovych was deposed in a popular uprising. The uprising…

MKs from Shas, United Torah Jewry, Meretz, and Labor all signed on to a letter of support sent by Labor Party MK Eitan Cabel to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro. The letter expresses support for the efforts of the U.S. to negotiate a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Among the signers…

With John Kerry’s diplomatic efforts stalling and the Palestinians proving far more resistant to making concessions than the United States expected, President Barack H. Obama has decided to take a more “active role” in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, the New York Times reports. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is set to meet…

Torah Mitzion in North America held its annual Shabbaton (Shabbat retreat) last weekend, hosted by the Jewish community of Memphis, Tennessee. Around 40 shlichim (emissaries) of the organization were present at the unique event. The organization Torah Mitzion has gained recognition for its program of sending shlichim, groups of post-army yeshiva students, young singles and newly…

Arab MK Ibrahim Sarsour, Chairman of the Raam-Taal faction, published an announcement to the media on Tuesday, in which he reported on his meetings with jailed terrorists. Sarsour termed the terrorists “political prisoners.” The “political prisoners” Sarsour met included Dr. Mahmoud al-Rumhi and Malek Behirat, as well as Ibrahim Biadasa and Zaher Jabarin. Sarsour said the…

Defense Ministry Moshe Yaalon has come in for sharp criticism, after the State Attorney announced Tuesday to the Supreme Court that a large illegal Arab outpost that has sprung up outside Maale Adumim, to the east of Jerusalem, will not be destroyed. Attorney Betzalel Smutrich, director of Regavim, the NGO watchdog group for Jewish national property…

Hareidi leaders predict a huge turnout for a protest on Sunday in Jerusalem that they are calling “the million man protest.” The demonstration – prompted by a series of government decisions that are preceived as hurting hareidim – has led to unprecedented unity among all of the hareidi streams. Police, too, expect a very large…

Ukraine interim President Olexander Turchynov warned Russia Thursday not to carry out any “military aggression” by moving troops from its Black Sea Fleet out of their naval base in Sevastopol. The warning comes after gunmen seized Crimea’s regional parliament and the government headquarters of the region, which has a Russian majority population. The men’s identity…

Israeli troops along the border with Lebanon were on high alert Wednesday night after Hezbollah threatened action over what it said was an Israeli air raid, according to AFP and Army Radio. “The military ordered farmers to stay away from the border… and there was movement of military vehicles around border communities,” Army Radio stated. The army itself did not make any statement. Earlier Wednesday,…

The Defense Ministry announced Wednesday that Israel has successfully completed tests of a new missile defense system for commercial aircraft and plans to start fitting it to its passenger fleet, according to AFP.  It said the automatic laser-based “SkyShield” system detects shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles and also scrambles their guidance systems, renderingthem harmless. “The tests, conducted in a test range…

Extreme leftist group Peace Now was forced to delete its Facebook page campaigning against rights group Honenu Wednesday, after it falsely accused a man of being a “terrorist.”   Honenu is a legal rights group which campaigns for the legal rights of Jews from Judea and Samaria, including the right to see a lawyer and the right…

Germany rejected a fresh Nazi-era reparation claim by a Greek city’s Jewish community, according to AFP, but offered the group cooperation on future projects. “With regard to issues of reparations, there are no new developments and all these questions are answered,” a German finance ministry spokesman told a press conference. The Jewish community of Thessaloniki said Tuesday it had sued Germany at the European…

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan came under fire on Tuesday over recordings of a series of conversations allegedly between him and his son, Bilal, were made public. The two men in the recordings discuss in detail how to hide vast amounts of money, reported CNN, and were allegedly made the day after a wide-reaching…

Two American lawmakers, Senator Bill Johnson (R-OH) and Congressman David McKinley (R-WV), visited Judea and Samaria on Monday, where they declared that “Israel is the most important friend of the United States.” During the visit, the two lawmakers visited important sites in the region, such as the Ariel University and the Barkan Industrial Zone. As…

The inter-rebel war in Syria is heating up, after the leader of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated rebel group in Syria on Tuesday gave rival jihadists an ultimatum to accept arbitration by clerics or be expelled. The BBC reported that Abu Mohammed al-Golani of the Al-Nusra Front warned the rival Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS)…

Sinai-based terrorists on Tuesday night blew up a pipeline that transports gas to Jordan, security officials said, according to AFP. This is the fourth such attack this year in the restive peninsula and the latest in dozens of attacks on the pipeline since the 2011 ouster of president Hosni Mubarak. The attackers planted explosives under…

A senior official in the Palestinian Authority (PA) Ministry of Women’s Affairs has reported a rise of over 100% in the number of “honor killings” in 2013 compared to the previous year. The murder of women for tarnishing the “family honor” is still protected under PA law. The official, Nabila Rizq, was referenced in the…

Hezbollah on Wednesday finally acknowledged the air strike which reportedly took out its missile convoy from Syria on Monday. The Lebanese based group blamed Israel for the strike, saying it wreaked damage but left no casualties. The claim contradicts reports by Lebanese security officials to the local Daily Star, who said four Hezbollah terrorists were killed…

A senior member of the Palestinian Authority (PA) electricity committee on Wednesday morning denied talk of Israel cutting off power to the PA, given the PA’s 1.4 billion shekels ($400 million) in unpaid bills to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC). “The electric company hasn’t threatened to cut off the PA from electric supply,” said the senior…

A new poll released Wednesday shows that a majority of Americans support ‘gay marriage.’ The group with the largest percentage expressing support was practicing Jewish Americans, 83% of whom came out in favor, despite homosexuality being expressly forbidden by Judaism. The survey, which polled 4,500 Americans, was conducted by the non-partisan Public Religion Research Institute.…

Ukraine is on the brink of a possible civil war between those wishing to ally with the European Union (EU) and those wishing to remain a Russian proxy, but according to US Secretary of State John Kerry, the conflict is “not West versus East.” Massive protests broke out in Ukraine in November when President Viktor Yanukovych rejected…

Islamist terrorists murdered 59 middle school students in a pre-dawn attack Tuesday on a northeast Nigerian boarding school, authorities said. The terrorists, thought to be from barbaric Islamist organization Boko Haram, set a locked hostel on fire, before shooting and slitting the throats of those who tried to climb out the windows. Some were burned…

Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur warned on Wednesday that Jordan might review a 1994 peace treaty with Israel after the Knesset began a debate on allowing Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, according to AFP.  “If Israel wants to violate the peace treaty in this issue, the entire treaty, its article, details and wording will be put on the table,”…

Police Commissioner Yochanan Danino ordered that an investigation be started over incitement attempts against Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett Wednesday, after a picture began making the rounds on social media depicting the ministers as Nazis burning the Talmud.  “Further publications implying an escalation of discrimination, against the hareidi community – which allegedly stems from the…

In response to the acts of vandalism in Tokyo that left 121 copies of Anne Frank’s “Diary of a Young Girl” ripped and defaced, the Israeli embassy in Japan pledged Wednesday to donate 300 new copies of the book to Tokyo libraries. A total of 308 copies of the diary, biographies of Anne Frank, and…

Amnesty International’s new report criticizing Israel, set to be released Thursday, is blatantly biased and aims to foment political warfare against the Jewish state, according to NGO Monitor. The Jerusalem-based research organization charged the leftist human rights group with falsely accusing Israel of “callous disregard for human life” in its new report, which is entitled…

A single mother of three has come forward as the winner of last week’s lottery prize of four million shekels. The winner, who was not identified by name, is in her 30s and works as a beautician. She said her first step will be to buy a home for herself and her children. “I live…

A record number of dentists from all around the US gathered in New Jersey on Monday to take the Israeli Dentistry Licensing Exam, in preparation for their aliyah (immigration) to Israel. The 20 dentists were the largest number ever to take the test outside of Israel; their testing was held by the organization Nefesh B’Nefesh…

The ongoing battles between various crime gangs in Israel made the news again Tuesday with a grenade attack in the Petach Tikva market which injured five people. According to police sources who spoke to Walla! news, the latest attack is yet more proof of a worrying phenomenon: the ease with which Israeli gangs are getting…

Alert yeshiva students prevented a bomb attack in Samaria (Shomron) on Monday. The students noticed a bomb that had been planted outside Homesh, an Israeli community that was demolished in the 2005 Disengagement and was recently turned over to the Palestinian Authority. The bomb was hidden in a pile of rocks next to the main…

The Jerusalem District Court sentenced two Shu’afat residents Tuesday who are convicted of launching firebombs at police forces on the Temple Mount in March 2013.  The two were convicted after confessing to conspiracy to commit a crime, manufacturing weapons and aggravated assault. One was sentenced to  a conditional suspended sentence of six and a half…

A grenade was tossed in the Petah Tikva open air market (shuk) on Tuesday afternoon, hitting a currency exchange on Guttman street. The explosion wounded five people. Hatzalah and Magen David Adon (MDA) paramedics treated their injuries at the scene; all five were transported to Belinson Hospital in Petah Tivka and are in light to…

The first-ever academic conference studying Israel’s Disengagement from Gush Katif will commence Thursday. In light of the historic event, Arutz Sheva spoke to prominent political strategist Eyal Arad and Samaria (Shomron) Regional Council Chairman, Gershon Mesika.  Arad, who will be one of the main speakers at the conference, noted that the main lesson from the horrors of…

Police arrested three Arab rioters Tuesday morning on suspicion of throwing rocks and firecrackers at police on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, right after police opened the Rambam Gate entrance to the Mount. Two police officers were wounded and are being taken to Sha’arei Tzedek Hospital. According to Kikar HaShabbat, dozens of Muslims began throwing rocks and…

Norway’s intelligence agency said Monday that it fears an increased “terrorist threat” to its country due to dozens of Norwegian nationals fighting in the Syrian conflict, AFP reported. At least 40 or 50 people with links to Norway have fought, or are currently fighting, with forces opposed to the Bashar Al-Assad regime and run the…

Education departments in a number of regions in Saudi Arabia have banned female employees and visitors who do not wear a face veil from entering girls’ schools, the Saudi Gazette reported on Monday. The report cited a pamphlet sent by education departments to school principals, in which male and female school guards are instructed to…

A synagogue in eastern Ukraine was firebombed over the weekend amid the mass protests that toppled President Viktor Yanukovych, the International Business Times (IBT) reports. The Giymat Rosa Synagogue in Zaporizhia, located 250 miles southeast of Kiev, was attacked by unknown individuals, the report said, citing the Russian-language Timenews.in.ua news site. No one was injured,…

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Ramallah, declared Monday that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is not only not taking a stance on the Syrian civil war, but that he is adamant about sticking to a non-interference policy in internal affairs in the Arab world. According to Abu Rudeineh, Abbas does not…

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was under fire Monday for comments he made about the Holocaust – not by the West, but by Iranian government officials, Yisrael Hayom notes.  The daily notes that, according to Iranian state news agency IRNA, hardline Islamist MPs in the Islamic Republic have upbraided Zarif for calling the Holocaust “a horrifying tragedy” in an…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday evening welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Israel. Merkel arrived with 16 of her ministers in Jerusalem for government to government consultations with Israeli ministers. In brief remarks with Merkel, Netanyahu said he would like to focus on three issues during his meeting with the German Chancellor – security,…

Reuters reported Monday night that Iran has signed a deal to sell Iraq arms and ammunition worth $195 million, according to documents seen by a correspondent. If true, the move breaks a UN embargo on weapons sales by the Islamic Republic. Iraqi President Nouri Al-Maliki signed the weapons deal with Tehran in November, the documents say, just…

Aircraft belonging to the Israeli Air Force (IAF) launched two air raids against a Hezbollah post on the border between Lebanon and Syria on Monday evening, a security source told the Lebanese Daily Star. The source said Israeli planes launched four rockets on the Janta area in the mountains separating the Lebanese village of Nabi…

Dr. Yunis Al-Astal , a member of the Council of Scholars of Palestine and an MP in the Hamas “parliament,” sharply criticized Sunday the phenomenon of honor killings in Palestinian Arab society. In his statement, Astal argued that honor killings is a more serious crime than the reason behind the honor killings itself, as punishment…

Speaking at a meeting of the Likud-Beiteinu Knesset faction Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu discussed the upcoming visit of German Chancellor Andrea Merkel, along with 16 of her government’s ministers. Merkel is set to arrive Monday night, and Netanyahu himself is set to leave for a visit to the United States next week, he told…

Israel is facing the driest winter since 1927, Ma’ariv reports Monday, leaving experts concerned.  The Kinneret (Sea of Galilee)’s water level has dropped by four centimeters since the rainy season began, compared to a 1.97 meter rise over the same five-month period in 2013.  Israel has seen slight rain this month, but apparently it has not been…

The Israeli Police and Israel Security Agency (ISA or Shin Bet) released for publication Monday that both forces recently uncovered a terror cell of Palestinian Arabs planning to hurl stones and Molotov cocktails at drivers on Route 443.  At least 15 Palestinian Arabs were arrested in the Palestinian Authority (PA) settlement of Beit Ur-Tahta over…

IDF soldiers with the Netzach Yehuda Brigade on Sunday night discovered two Arab extremists who were planning to carry out a terror attack. They were caught next to the town of Enav in northern Samaria. Several of the platoon’s soldiers were on patrol near the town, observing the area from a guard tower. Other members…

Economics Minister Naftali Bennett on Monday led a round-table discussion on the employment situation in the hareidi community. Participating in the event were 80 officials from various government offices, along with business owners, corporate executives, academics, and representatives of the hareidi community. Among those participating were representatives of companies like Intel, Amdocs, Osem, and Teva,…

In a sudden move, Egypt’s interim government has stepped down. Prime Minister Hazem Beblawi announced the resignation in a televised statement on Monday, without giving any reason for the dissolution of the government, reports BBC. “Today the cabinet took a decision to offer its resignation to the president of the republic,” said Beblawi in the TV…

US State Department figures from 2013 reveal a sharp 80% rise over the course of the year in Israeli visa requests that were rejected, continuing a trend of Israeli visa rejections over several years. The figures, which were published Monday morning in Yediot Aharonot, show that last year about 125,000 Israelis requested tourist visas to the…

Ukraine has issued an arrest warrant for ousted president Viktor Yanukovych as the country’s new rulers launched a probe over the government’s “mass murder” of protesters in Kiev. “An official case for the mass murder of peaceful citizens has been opened. Yanukovich and other people responsible for this have been declared wanted,” acting interior minister Arsen…

The Education Ministry held a nation-wide defense drill on Monday, meant to sharpen procedures in case of an emergency for students from elementary through high school, as well as at kindergartens. As part of the drill, a siren was sounded throughout the country at 10:05 a.m. The drill is set to end at 12:00 noon,…

Susan Rice, President Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor, said on Sunday she has no regrets about characterizing the September 11, 2012, attack in Benghazi, Libya, as a “spontaneous response” to an anti-Islam video. “What I said to you that morning, and what I did every day since, was to share the best information that we…

Lawmakers from Hamas on Sunday warned Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas against recognizing Israel as part of the ongoing peace process. The lawmakers said that recognition of Israel as a Jewish state would be a “death sentence” against the PA. Ibrahim Dahbour, one of Hamas’s representative in the Palestinian Legislative Council, warned Abbas against…

Prosecutors in Egypt on Sunday accused deposed president Mohammed Morsi of leaking state secrets to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as part of a plot to destabilize Egypt, AFP reported. The accusations came at the second hearing of the former Islamist president’s trial for espionage. The trial, one of three that are under way against Morsi, is…

A woman believed to be the oldest survivor of the Holocaust died in London at the age of 110, her family said on Sunday, according to Reuters. Alice Herz-Sommer, who is said to have counted writer Franz Kafka among her family friends and is the subject of an Oscar-nominated documentary, was a Jewish pianist and…

A Syrian rebel commander who fought alongside Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and was close to its current chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, was killed by a suicide attack on Sunday, Reuters reports. The Observatory for Human Rights in Syria said Abu Khaled al-Soury, also known as Abu Omair al-Shamy, a commander of the Salafi group Ahrar…

Jordan’s King Abdullah II rejected on Sunday the notion that his country was an “alternative homeland” for Palestinian Arabs, the state news agency Petra reports. “Jordan is Jordan and Palestine is Palestine and nothing but that, not the in the past or the future,” King Abdullah was quoted as having said in a meeting with…

“The word peace is foreign to the Palestinians,” Deputy Minister Ofir Akunis (Likud) said on Sunday. Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Akunis pointed out that senior officials in the Palestinian Authority (PA) have rejected U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposed framework for peace. Akunis noted that he, as do his colleagues in the Likud, are…

Russia said on Sunday it was calling its ambassador to Ukraine back to Moscow for “consultations”, AFP reported. The Russian foreign ministry’s announcement came after tumult in Kiev led to pro-Russian leader Viktor Yanukovych being toppled and replaced with a pro-EU leadership from the opposition. “Due to the escalation of the situation in Ukraine and…

Alert IDF soldiers foiled a terror attack on Sunday, when they caught six pipe bombs in the possession of two Palestinian Arabs. The incident took place next to the Arab village of Huwara in the Shomron (Samaria). The head of the 931 Infantry Battalion of the Nahal Brigade, Guy Shadmi, told Arutz Sheva that soldiers…

The Legal Grounds group, which campaigns for Israel’s rights to Judea and Samaria, presented its case at the Knesset Sunday. The session was held to explore ways for Israel to respond to international delegitimization and boycotts. Dr. Harel Arnon, world-renowned lawyer and co-author of Land Laws and International Law in Judea and Samaria, spoke on…

Knesset Members and public figures took part Sunday in a protest to free Jonathan Pollard outside the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. Over 1,000 people participated in the rally. Esther Pollard, Jonathan’s wife, said: “This is our first official Pollard demonstration in front of the US Embassy and G-d willing, this will be our last.…

“The government is to give the private sector the opportunity to handle the technical management of crossing points from the Gaza Strip,” Hamas deputy prime minister Ziad al-Zaza told AFP on Saturday and said that a commission of seven businessmen would be dedicated to the project. “Supervision of all terminals will be under government control,”…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu opened his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday by addressing two important topics: the ongoing internal conflict Israel faces as a result of the hareidi draft law, and Western powers’ talks with Iran.  “Two years ago, I declared that the government would enact a law which would increase the equal burden of service,…

A national defense drill will be carried out in schools across Israel Monday, for children and teenagers from preschool until high school.  The “code red” siren will sound tomorrow at 10:05 am, signaling the beginning of the intensive drill, which will end at 12:00 pm.  The exercise, which is mandated by the Ministry of Education,…

Authorities were astounded to discover Sunday that the name of a top-secret IDF unit, as well as the commander who heads the unit, had been leaked online for over a year and a half. IDF Radio reported Sunday that the name – which has not been released for publication – was revealed in the text of…

Speaking to reporters on the Golan Heights Sunday, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said that while the Golan was relatively quiet, as were other fronts in Israel, the fronts could heat up at any moment – particularly because Iran was involved in all of them. “There is no front that Iran does not meddle…

Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein has been named this year’s winner of the Israel Prize in Jewish Religious Literature. Rabbi Lichtenstein, dean of the Har Etzion Yeshiva in Gush Etzion, is the author of numerous works on Jewish philosophy and Talmud. Several of his major works have been translated into English, most notably Leaves of Faith. The…

CleanTech 2014, the 18th annual international event for Clean Technologies, took place last week at Air Port City, and focused on environmental quality, infrastructures and green building, renewable energy and water technologies. The 18th International Summit and Exhibition for Renewable Energy and water Technologies, Recycling and Environmental Quality, Infrastructure and Green Building.   CleanTech has…

Hezbollah-controlled Al-Manar television last week broadcast its latest “discovery” – that the Jews control Hollywood, and are using it to mind-control hapless Americans. According to a series of reports broadcast on the station last week, American Jews invented Hollywood and the motion picture business because they felt persecuted in America. The purpose of the movie…

The Syrian opposition thanked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu over the weekend for his visit this past week to an IDF field hospital where wounded Syrians are being treated. Leaders of the opposition who spoke to Kol Yisrael radio said that Netanyahu’s public support for wounded Syrians sends an important message to the Syrian people, particularly…

The Lebanon branch of the Nusra Front, a Syrian jihadist group, has claimed responsibility for a suicide car bombing in the northeastern town of Hermel, reported The Daily Star. On its Twitter feed, the Al-Qaeda-linked group said the bombing was part of a “series of vengeful attacks.” A car bomb near a Lebanese Army outpost…

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko was received on Saturday night by thousands of opposition supporters in central Kiev after being freed from detention, the BBC reports. She has suffered from a back injury and addressed them from her wheelchair. “You are heroes,” she told the crowd on Independence Square, the focus of protests against…

A Kurdish group captured a town in Syria from Islamists on Saturday, in a battle in which at least 28 fighters were killed, most of them Islamists, Reuters reported, citing a monitoring group. If the Kurds can keep hold of Tal Brak, on a highway between the cities of Hassaka and Qamishli, it would mark…

Channel 2 reports Saturday night that the US Congress House Appropriations Committee is debating cutting off aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) unless its ongoing incitement against Israel stops or is significantly curtailed.  Under the new law, aid to the PA will be frozen until a reliable report is released proving that it has begun cutting…

The Jewish Agency has pledged emergency humanitarian relief to Ukraine’s Jewish community Saturday night, in light of both general unrest and reports of an upswing in anti-Semitism.  Aid will include securing Jewish community buildings and organizations in the embattled country. “The Jewish community of Ukraine, which counts some 200,000 members, is one of most vibrant…

Ukraine’s political situation is dissolving into controlled chaos Saturday night, as thousands of protestors storm the Presidential palace, according to the Washington Post.  Meanwhile, local reports note that government offices across Ukraine had shut down and that workers at the public prosecutor’s office were destroying documents. Protestors across Ukraine have also taken down statues of Vladimir…

The UN Security Council adopted a unanimous resolution Saturday calling for rebel groups and regime forces alike to allow humanitarian aid convoys access across Syria, according to Al-Jazeera.  Resolution 2139 (2014) gave some analysts new hope for the humanitarian situation in Syria, which has seen over 130,000 people killed and millions displaced since 2011. Russia and China, which…

A car bomb near a Lebanese Army outpost in the northeastern city of Hermel Saturday has killed three soldiers and wounded six others, including four soldiers, according to the Daily Star.  A suicide bomber driving a Grand Cherokee detonated the bomb after soldiers grew suspicious of him at a checkpoint on the city’s outskirts, a security…

An economy facing default, a splintered opposition and regions with separatist tendencies: Ukraine’s new government will face an uphill struggle to stabilise the country, according to AFP, as the fall of President Viktor Yanukovych looms. Under intense pressure from the international community and protesters reeling from violence in Kiev, Yanukovych signed a peace deal Friday after clashes between anti-government activists and security…

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Saturday she will fully support efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry to relaunch the Middle East peace process during her upcoming visit to Israel, according to AFP. “We need, as soon as possible, a stable two-country solution, with a Jewish state of Israel and at the same time a state for the Palestinians,”…

Hope and uncertainty reign in Kiev Saturday, after the downfall of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. Opposition leaders, declaring that “the dictatorship has fallen,” have prepared the populace for the possibility of a batter future.  But one thing is clear: that while protests may be beneficial for Ukraine as a whole, they have only led to…

In the wake of the recent unrest in Ukraine, Jewish residents of Kiev have received threats by anti-Semites in recent days. Arutz Sheva’s Russian-language website reported on Friday that Jewish Ukrainians were threatened by local extremists that they would be harmed. Local authorities have been made aware of these threats, the report said. In recent…

Ukraine’s leader and opposition have signed a deal to end the splintered country’s worst crisis since independence after three days of carnage left nearly 100 protesters dead, AFP reported on Friday. President Viktor Yanukovych’s dramatic decision to hold early elections and form a new unity government was met with caution by the tens of thousands…

Channel 2 News on Thursday provided an inside look at the team which is tasked with preventing a scenario in which a flight is hijacked and forced to crash in the heart of Tel Aviv. The team operates out of an airport security operations center in central Israel. Each passenger plane approaching Israel’s airspace must…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that U.S. attempts to forge an agreement on a framework for peace talks with Israel had so far failed but that the efforts are “extremely serious,” AFP reported. Speaking in Paris after talks this week with Secretary of State John Kerry, Abbas told journalists, “So far the Americans…

Syria has submitted a new 100-day plan for the removal of its chemical weapons after failing to meet a February 5 deadline, Reuters reported on Friday. However, the international mission overseeing the operation believes it can be done in a shorter time frame, according to diplomats quoted by the news agency. The Organization for the…

Germany is to offer Israeli citizens consular assistance in states such as Indonesia or Malaysia where Israel has no official diplomatic representation, Reuters reported on Friday. The new deal is expected to be signed by Chancellor Angela Merkel when she visits Jerusalem next week. Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Yakov Hadas-Handelsman, said the offer was “a…

The UK has formally resumed ties with Iran, AFP reported Thursday, after three years of diplomatic silence.  “The UK has agreed with Iran that from today bilateral relations will be conducted directly through non-resident charge d’affaires and officials,” a Foreign Office spokesman told AFP. “We will no longer have formal protecting power arrangements in place. This is the…

Scores of copies of Anne Frank’s “Diary of a Young Girl” kept in public libraries across Tokyo have been vandalized, officials said Friday, sparking alarm amid a rightward shift in Japan’s politics, AFP reports.  Pages in at least 250 copies of the diary or publications containing biographies on Anne Frank, Nazi persecution of Jews and related materials havebeen torn, the council of…

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro declared Friday that the Palestinian Authority (PA) will be obligated to recognize Israel as a Jewish state under the US framework agreement – despite the PA’s ongoing defiance over the issue.  “[The PA] recognizing Israel as Jewish state is a key sign that the conflict is ending,” Shapiro stated…

Jordan is turning to Israel for its natural gas supplies, according to Al-Ahram, after Egyptian pipelines have become unreliable.  Noble Energy, the United States based company that runs the Tamar natural gas field off the coast of Israel, signed a $771 million deal with Jordanian gas suppliers on Wednesday. The Arab Potash company and the Jordan Bromine…

Jibril Rajoub, one of the top officials in the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ruling Fatah party, openly supports Hamas’s efforts to kidnap Israeli soldiers, Palestinian Media Watch reported Thursday.  “If Hamas wants to kidnap Israeli soldiers, they should go ahead and kidnap Israeli soldiers,” Rajoub stated earlier this month in a live PA television broadcast. “They should kidnap…

The ongoing political talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have been stalling, recent reports indicate. But despite their differences, Israel and the PA have been able to unite successfully over a noble cause: helping the environment.  The staff of the Ministry for Environmental Protection met with their PA counterparts Thursday in Tel Aviv,…

Anti-Israel activist Judith Butler’s scheduled speaking event at the New York Jewish Museum has been cancelled, according to the Forward. Butler, a literary professor and sociolinguistics expert, is a high-profile supporter of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. While the scheduled event was due to be about Franz Kafka – not the Jewish state…

Confusion reigned in Ukraine Friday as President Viktor Yanukovych declared that a peace agreement is imminent, but declined to make a formal announcement after all-night negotiations with the Opposition. The negotiations were mediated by foreign ministers from Germany, Poland, and France.  Meanwhile, diplomats stated Friday morning that a compromise drafted overnight involved appointing a transitional…

Islamist rebels in eastern Syria have ordered women to put on the Islamic veil, warning that anyone not doing so would be held to account, Reuters reports. According to the report, an organization calling itself the Islamic Law Council of Deir al-Zor said in a statement released Wednesday that women have until Saturday to don…

A third suspect has been identified in the bombing of a bus that killed five Israeli tourists in the Bulgarian city of Burgas in 2012, Reuters reported on Thursday. The tourists arrived on a charter flight from Israel and were in the bus in the airport car park when the blast tore through the vehicle,…

Three men aged 88, 92 and 94 have been detained by German authorities on suspicion of being guards at the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, the BBC reported on Thursday. The homes of a number of men were raided in three German states, months after prosecutors investigating Nazi-era war crimes announced they were recommending charges…

President Shimon Peres on Thursday hailed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s peace efforts. Speaking to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Peres reiterated that the goal of the talks with the Palestinian Authority (PA) should be to keep Israel a Jewish state, something which he had also told Arutz Sheva a…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry held “constructive” talks in Paris with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, an American official said Thursday, according to AFP. The two met twice in less than 24 hours as they seek to hammer out a peace deal between the PA and Israel. Abbas and Kerry met “to continue…

Former Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited Kazakhstan Thursday, according to Walla!, to strengthen Israel’s economic ties with the Sunni Muslim-majority nation. Barak met with President Nursultan Nazarbiib in the presidential palace in Astana, according to the daily. They reportedly sat for about an hour and discussed the possibility of further cooperation in regard to agriculture, health services, and industrial…

Next Tuesday, President Shimon Peres is scheduled to award German Chancellor Angela Merkel Israel’s Presidential Medal of Distinction, Israel’s highest civilian honor. Spokespeople from the Presidential Residence disclosed that the German Chancellor is receiving the award for her “unwavering commitment to Israel’s security, her promotion of educating the public against anti-Semitism and racism, and for…

US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Paris on Thursday, for their second round of talks in two days. The men met for two hours with their teams in an upscale Parisian hotel, where Abbas hosted Kerry for dinner and late night talks on Wednesday, US officials said. The top US diplomat has…

A delegation of 14 leaders from the Presbyterian clergy, a church that in the past supported boycotting Israeli products manufactured in Judea and Samaria (Shomron), arrived last week to visit Israel. The visit was organized by the America-Israel Friendship League (AIFL); the delegates’ goal was to discover Israel personally and to better understand the Israeli-Palestinian…

A law proposed by MK Adi Kol (Yesh Atid) would allow children as young as 10 to apply for a name change in court, Israel Hayom reports. Children could seek to change their first name even against their parents’ wishes. The bill would also prohibit parents from changing a child’s name without his or her…

Muslim clerics have issued a religious ruling (“fatwa”) forbidding any Muslim from traveling to Mars. The ruling, published in the UAE’s Khaleej Times, says that space travel in general, and to Mars specifically, is too dangerous. “Such a one-way journey poses a real risk to life, and that can never be justified in Islam,” the…

A senior PLO official was quoted as saying that Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas was prepared to recognize Israel – this time, for real. A story in Maariv Thursday quoted Nabil Amaro as saying on PA television that Abbas would agree to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, as part of the negotiations being conducted…

At least 70 people have reportedly been killed after police fired live rounds at anti-government protesters near Independence Square in Ukraine’s capital Kiev. The claim was made by doctors working with the activists, and cited by news agencies. Hundreds more demonstrators have been injured. Meanwhile, protesters have taken 67 police officers hostage, according to the…

Instead of a projected decline, Aliyah (immigration) from North America to Israel actually showed signs of a slight upswing in 2013, according to a new release from the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption.  The statement corrects an error in the Ministry’s statistics for global immigration into the Jewish state, which mistakenly stated in December that Aliyah…

The Hungarian government said Wednesday it had postponed the inauguration of a controversial monument which Jewish critics say glosses over Budapest’s active role in the Holocaust, according to AFP.  The monument, to be unveiled as Hungary marks the 70th anniversary of the start of mass deportations of Jews when the Nazis took power in 1944, willalso be renamed, according to a…

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who is trying to push Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to sign a peace agreement, is hinting that Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria may not be evicted from their homes when an agreement is signed. In an interview with journalist Ilana Dayan on Channel 2, Kerry was…

Canadian passengers will have more options to travel to Israel and back, according to Shalom Toronto, due to a new business deal between Porter Airlines and El Al Israel Airlines. The airlines will use their operations at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey, as the connecting point between Tel Aviv and Billy Bishop…

Pro-Palestinian and leftist Jewish groups are spearheading a campaign to prevent former Defense Minister Ehud Barak from visiting Canada, according to Shalom Toronto. Barak is currently set to visit Surrey, British Columbia, on February 27. However, the groups sent a strongly worded letter to the mayor and members of the city council asking that the visit…

US Secretary of State John Kerry met with his Jordanian counterpart Wednesday, according to AFP, for talks focusing on the Middle East peace process and the Syrian conflict. “We are at an important point in the negotiations where we are engaged with narrowing the gaps between the parties on a framework for negotiations,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.  US…

Nuclear talks towards a final agreement between Iran and six powers appeared to make modest progress on a second day Wednesday, with Washington saying the negotiations were “constructive and useful,” according to AFP. Iranian state media said both sides were close to agreeing a framework agreement on how negotiations would proceed in future rounds over…

U.S. President Barack Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday discussed the normalization of ties between Turkey and Israel. “The President and Prime Minister spoke about the importance of quickly concluding the normalization agreement with Israel,” said a White House readout of the telephone conversation between the two leaders.  The statement further…

The United States on Wednesday expressed concern over comments against Israel by the chief Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiator, Saeb Erekat. “We are of course concerned about the recent comments by Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat,” State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters, hinting that Secretary of State John Kerry would raise the issue during his…

President Shimon Peres said on Wednesday that he was against any initiative to extend his term in office. Peres “is determined to end his term according to what is stated in the existing law, at the end of July 2014,” said a statement from his office. The statement came in the wake of a report…

Facebook said Wednesday it was buying the fast-growing mobile messaging service WhatsApp for more than $16 billion in cash and stock, AFP reported. The deal bolsters the world’s biggest social network by adding the 450 million users of WhatsApp, which will be operated independently with its own board. It is Facebook’s biggest acquisition and comes…

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych threatened to crack down with full force on anti-government protesters after the bloodiest clashes in the country’s three-month standoff killed at least 25 people on Tuesday. A BBC correspondent noted that the violence was in fact the worst the country has seen in almost 70 years, since World War 2. Police…

At least four people were killed Wednesday in blasts in the southern suburbs of Beirut near an Iranian cultural center, the Red Cross and security sources said. The explosions hit about 50 meters apart in the Bir Hassan neighbourhood on Wednesday. At least 35 people were injured. A group affiliated with Al Qaeda said that…

The US team in the negotiations for peace between Israel and the “Palestinians” has demanded that Israel agree to an “informal” freeze of settlement activity outside the large settlement blocs, according to IDF Radio. The freeze will go into effect immediately after the signing of a framework agreement. Israel will have to commit not to…

MK Basel Ghattas (Balad) appealed to Pope Francis Wednesday, asking him to personally intervene to stop Christian Arabs from recruiting into the IDF, according to Ha’aretz.  Ghattas submitted the request to Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, the Vatican’s representative in Jerusalem, at the Holy See’s office on the Mount of Olives. The MK linked the timing of the request with the…

Headlines in Israel Wednesday were dominated by Yitzhak Rabin – not the assassinated Prime Minister, but a brave Arab teenager of the same name.  18-year-old Rabin – whose full name is Yitzhak Rabin Ramsy – was born in Jordan to an Arab Muslim family, two months after Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. His parents…

A joint press release by Israel’s financial establishment’s leading institutions warned Wednesday that the new currency known as Bitcoin is fertile ground for fraudulent activities, and highly volatile. This is the full text of the statement by the Bank of Israel, the Capital Market, Insurance and Savings Department, the Israel Tax Authority, the Israel Securities…

The Knesset passed Wednesday, in the preliminary reading, a bill proposed by MK Yariv Levin (Likud-Beytenu) that would cancel the eligibility of certain terrorists freed from Israeli jails to receive National Insurance payments. The terrorists affected would be those who are Israeli citizens and who were released before the end of their jail terms in…

Hungarian Jewish leaders said Tuesday they had begun talks with Russian authorities over the return of a huge collection of religious items looted by the Red Army during World War II, AFP reports. The collection, which includes 103 Torah scrolls, was found last year in a museum in Nizhny Novgorod in western Russia. Rabbi Slomo…

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, was nominated on Tuesday to chair the elections for the UN Human Rights Committee. 170 countries unanimously nominated Israel for this position, which comes a short while after the Jewish state rejoined the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Human Rights Committee (HRC) is the UN…

The strike at the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem has ended, it was announced on Tuesday night, after marathon talks between management and the striking employees resulted in an interim agreement. Nurses and non-medical staff are expected to return to work on Wednesday morning. Doctors, however, remain on strike and Hadassah is hoping to meet with…

Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission (EC), said on Tuesday that Europe would not tolerate any harm to fundamental religious Jewish rights. Barroso’s comments were made during a meeting with a delegation of leading European Rabbis, headed by Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, the President of the Conference of European Rabbis (CER). Rabbi…

Christian leaders reportedly pressured Israel to turn over control of Mount Zion in Jerusalem during a clandestine meeting of senior city officials. The meeting took place Tuesday in the office of Attorney Amnon Merhav, the director-general of the Jerusalem municipality. It was attended by officials from the Prime Minister’s Office, President’s Office, Tourism Ministry, Police,…

Egyptian prosecutors have charged two Egyptian men with spying for Israel. In addition, they are charging two alleged Israeli Mossad agents in absentia, Channel 10 reports. The prosecution named “Shmuel Ben-Zev” and “David Weisman” as Mossad agents who had spied against Egypt. The Egyptian accused have been identified as Ramsi Mohammed and Sahar Ibrahim. Ramsi…

Riot police in the Ukraine advanced onto a central Kiev square occupied by protesters, after at least 14 people died in the worst day of violence since demonstrations erupted against President Viktor Yanukovich 12 weeks ago, Reuters reports. Protesters on Independence Square responded with petrol bombs, fireworks and stones, as police moved slowly forward, hours…

The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mohammed Ali Jafari, has warned that an attack could be imminent. Jafari warned that “the enemy” is weighing an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. The attack would be carried out via an aerial attack, with missiles pointed at sensitive nuclear installations, he said. The Iranian army is aware of…

Deutsche Bank, Germany’s largest bank, has flatly denied reports that it offered investors a portfolio that excluded Israel’s Bank Hapoalim. In fact, a spokesperson for the bank told Arutz Sheva that far from boycotting the Israeli bank, Deutsche Bank has a number of actively managed funds which invest in Bank Hapoalim. Earlier Tuesday it was reported that…

The remnants of a rural settlement that was occupied for approximately two centuries during the Second Temple Period were uncovered in this season’s archeological digs near the ‘Burma Road’ that leads to Jerusalem. The find was made during an Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) archaeological salvage excavation, before the start of work on a natural gas…

Over 5,000 people attended the Monday funeral of the families killed in Sunday’s gas explosion in the northern Israeli city of Akko, according to Walla!.  The procession began outside the Al-Jazzar mosque in the city’s Old City neighborhood, where the local Mufti gave a eulogy. Former MK Abbas Zakour (United Arab List) was also present at…

With billions of dollars at stake, Israel and Western energy majors are closely watching renewed Cyprus peace talks that could clear the way for major gas projects with a role for Turkey.     Export plans for the eastern Mediterranean have been taking shape over the past five years since US firm Noble discovered the…

Almost 30 years after the Jonathan Pollard affair was uncovered, and 20 years since her own release from a five-year prison stint for her part in the case, Jonathan Pollard’s ex-wife, Ann, has asked for official recognition by the State of Israel as an operative who was working in the State’s interests. In a conversation…

Two rockets fired from war-torn Syria struck the Golan Heights in northern Israel Tuesday, shortly after a secret visit to the area by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the army said.     “Two rockets fire from Syria struck the central Golan without causing injuries or damage,” a spokeswoman told AFP.     The incident…

Israel accepts medical patients from Gaza for treatment on a regular basis, often as many as 70 patients per day.  But even the most seasoned Israeli doctors were surprised earlier this month when two separate, rare high-risk pregnancy cases were admitted to the same hospital, just days apart.  H., 35, was the first to arrive.…

The Canadian government issued a new passport and identity to a Mossad agent now living there, according to Shalom Toronto. The alleged agent is accused of participating in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior official of Hamas’s military wing who was killed during his stay at a Dubai hotel in 2010.  The claim, which remains…

Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, the Al-Qaeda linked terror group behind the terror attack on a bus carrying Korean tourists in Taba, threatened on Monday that it would carry out more attacks. According to Reuters, the group confirmed that the bus bombing was a suicide attack carried out by one of its men. “Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis has successfully…

The Labor party on Monday officially endorsed MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer as the party’s candidate for Israel’s President. All of Labor’s MKs voted in favor of the endorsement, Channel 2 News reported, with the exception of MK Shelly Yechimovich who abstained. Ben-Eliezer served as an IDF Commander in the 1967 Six Day War and in the…

The European Union signed over 12 million euros to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Monday, to help pay for the dismantling of Syria’s chemical weapons program, AFP reports. The funds had been pledged to the OPCW in December by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to help cover the 25-million…

President Shimon Peres on Monday hailed remarks by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on the issue of the “Palestinian refugees”, AFP reported. Peres, who said Abbas’s comments showed his “seriousness about reaching peace”, was referring to what Abbas said during a meeting Sunday with more than 300 Israeli university students at his Ramallah headquarters. At the…

Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said on Monday that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement is “the 21st century form of 20th century anti-Semitism.” “It is the same manifestation, except [it is] attacking the collective Jew – Israel – rather than the individual Jew…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu lashed out on Monday at those in Europe who are encouraging a boycott of Israel, calling their actions “an outrage.” “In the past, anti-Semites boycotted Jewish businesses, and today they call for the boycott of the Jewish state,” he told a gathering of the Conference of Presidents. “The boycotters must be…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu kept up the rhetorical pressure Monday on the six world powers – known as the P5+1 – that are about to resume talks with Iran over its nuclear weapons program, demanding as he has countless times that tougher measures be taken against the rogue Islamist theocracy. In an address to the Conference…

Atrocities committed by North Korea against its own people are “strikingly similar” to those perpetrated by the Nazis during World War II, the head of a United Nations panel said Monday after publishing an unprecedented report. The investigators addressed a letter to Pyongyang’s leader, Kim Jong Un, in which they informed him that they were…