Category: News

The U.S. State Department has decided to keep the office of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in Washington open for another six months, despite anti-terrorism legislation deeming it illegal, according to regulatory documents filed Tuesday. Administrations of both parties have waived the provisions of the 1987 Anti-Terrorism Act since President Clinton started doing so in…

The group behind last year’s controversial anti-Jihadist advertisements that appeared throughout the New York subway system is planning what is expected to be its largest campaign to date. The American Freedom Defense Initiative purchased space next to 228 clocks in 39 New York subway stations for ads with an image of the burning World Trade…

President Shimon Peres is at it again, criticizing government policy on the peace process, and demanding faster and more wide-ranging action in order to prevent what he claims will be a terrible uprising by PA Arabs against Israel, supported by the entire world. “The silence that Israel has been enjoying over the last few years…

The pap smear — a routine test women undergo to screen for cervical cancer — could help screen for other types of cancer as well, a study said this week. A new test takes the same fluid swab from the cervix and tests it for the presence of certain cancer-specific mutations, AFP reported. The scientists…

Itzik Shadmi, Chairman of the Binyamin Residents’ Council, rejected on Wednesday accusations by Danny Dayan, the outgoing head of the Yesha Council, that “the nationalist camp could lead to a second Oslo.” Earlier on Wednesday, Dayan, who announced his resignation so he could publicly support Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, claimed in an interview with Arutz…

A car exploded Thursday afternoon near Defense Ministry headquarters in Tel Aviv. Nine people were injured in what police said was an attempt on the life of crime boss Nissim Alperon. It was the eighth attempt on his life, police said. All those hurt in the bombing sustained light injuries, and were treated at a…

The Jerusalem District Attorney filed an indictment Wednesday against Nadal Tubasi, a 35-year-old Arab resident of Jerusalem, who is charged with kidnapping with the intent to murder or blackmail and extort. According to the indictment, filed by prosecutor Aviad Dwek, the accused participated in the kidnapping of Sudanese and Eritreans in Sinai by marauding Bedouins. The hostages were…

IDF soldiers braving the sudden cold weather received a welcome and much needed arrival today – new winter equipment. As the cold season approaches and with snow blanketing select regions in the central and northern parts of the country, the IDF began distributing winter gear to bases in the colder areas. The Technology and Logistics…

High winds, heavy rain and the prospect of snow were no obstacle to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement’s annual gathering of Jewish outreach workers. Five hundred Chabad emissaries (shlichim) met in Nir Etzion hotel on Tuesday despite the “Frankenstorm” lashing the country. Those at the meeting are usually spread from Metula to Eilat in Israel’s 294 Chabad…

Security forces have arrested five young Palestinian Authority Arab men responsible for multiple terrorist attacks, including an attack on a female driver that left a 60-year-old woman fighting for her life. The arrests were carried out in November, but were revealed only Wednesday with the removal of a gag order. One of those arrested, 22-year-old…

The Aaron Klein Investigative Radio broadcast, a show broadcast from Israel, has hit a new ratings milestone in New York. Aaron Klein was ranked the most listened-to radio personality on weekend mornings among men age 35 and over, beating out even sports channels and the competitive all-news stations. Klein broadcasts his show from Israel. The…

Most Israelis believe that it will be impossible to achieve peace with the Palestinian Authority in the foreseeable future – no matter who wins the election on January 22. According to the latest poll by the Peace Index, some 67% of Israeli Jews agree with the assertion that no matter which parties prevail in the…

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi will meet Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal in Cairo on Wednesday, Morsi’s office said. Abbas and Mashaal will first “meet Egypt’s intelligence chief before holding a three-way meeting with President Morsi,” presidential spokesman Yasser Ali told AFP. Azzam al-Ahmad, who is in charge of reconciliation…

An Egyptian magazine has claimed that six American Islamist activists who work with the Obama administration are Muslim Brotherhood operatives who enjoy strong influence over U.S. policy. The December 22 story was published in Egypt’s Rose El-Youssef magazine and was translated into English for the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT). The story suggests the six…

Polish prosecutors have launched an investigation into a Swedish artist’s claims that he used the ashes of Holocaust victims in his artwork, an official said Tuesday. The artist, Carl Michael von Hausswolff, claims he stole ashes from a crematorium at Nazi Germany’s Majdanek concentration camp in Poland in 1989 then used them in one of…

An IDF soldier who has suffered from leukemia since he was a child recently won the right to be assigned to a combat unit, after the soldier sued. The army had been willing to draft the soldier, but assigned him to a support unit only, turning down his request to be assigned to a combat…

The head of manuscripts at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Najeh Bkeirat, has accused Israel of trying to “Judaize” the Temple Mount by building a new Holy Temple. Speaking on January 4 to the Palestine journal, which is affiliated with the Hamas terrorist group, Bkeirat claimed that “the construction of the false Temple is closer than ever…

The Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp memorial and museum in southern Poland registered 1.43 million visitors in 2012, a record number in its 65-year history, officials said Friday. For several years now, the grounds of the former Nazi death camp have registered record numbers of visitors. In 2011, there were 1.4 million visitors from across the world,…

Iran’s nuclear ambitions and Syria’s chemical weapons are the real threats facing the Middle East and the stability of the entire international community, not the so-called “Israeli settlement” expansion, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu affirmed during a visit to Ariel University on Tuesday. After a lengthy process and much heated debate, Ariel University, located in Samaria (Shomron), recently…

Palestinian leaders, who court international sympathy by portraying their people as displaced victims of Israel, are refusing to help tens of thousands of their brethren who have been displaced from homes and refugee camps as a result of the civil war plaguing the neighboring country of Syria. Leaders of both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority…

A leading Jewish group welcomed on Monday the resignation of a close adviser to Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi who last week called for Jews of Egyptian descent to return to Egypt and “leave Israel.” The official, Essam al-Erian, who is the deputy head of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party, reportedly referred to Israel…

Israeli surveillance that spotted Syria preparing chemical bombs to load them on airplanes spurred President Barack Obama into action to win rare support from Russia to stop the plan, The New York Times reported Tuesday. The report follows bits of information published over the past several weeks, according to which Syrian soldiers were spotted mixing…

As talks of the nomination of former US Republican senator Chuck Hagel begin to heat up and his fellow lawmakers get ready to pour over his record of anti-Israel legislation, another Republican senator and possible 2016 presidential hopeful has expressed a shocking statement on a recent trip to Israel that the US should cut its…

Israel is concerned over the nomination of Chuck Hagel as the next U.S. Secretary of Defense, Knesset Speaker MK Reuven Rivlin said on Monday. “Because of his statements in the past, and his stance toward Israel, we are worried,” Rivlin told The Associated Press. He added, however, that the strategic partnership between the U.S. and…

Chuck Hagel, who was nominated on Monday by President Barack Obama as Secretary of Defense, dismissed allegations that he is against Israel. The former Nebraska senator said in an interview that an accurate assessment of his record will demonstrate “unequivocal, total support for Israel” and endorsement of tough international economic sanctions against Iran. Critics have…

Egypt announced Monday that it had foiled an attack at a Coptic church in the Rafiah area of northern Sinai. A report on the BBC’s Arabic news site said that the attack had been planned for the weekend, celebrated as a holiday in the Coptic church. According to Egyptian authorities, police discovered a car bomb…

Thousands of Taglit-Birthright Israel participants from the United States, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Russia and Uruguay came together on Monday to celebrate Taglit’s Mega Event Bar/Bat Mitzvah celebration. For the past 13 years, Taglit-Birthright Israel has offered the gift of a free, ten-day educational trip to Israel for young Jewish adults between the ages of…

The leader of Vienna’s Jewish community has warned that the number of anti-Semitic incidents in the country has nearly doubled over the past year, adding that Jews living in other countries throughout the EU remain under threat as well. In an interview with the Kurier newspaper, Oskar Deutsch said that the Jewish community had recorded…

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) issued a statement on Monday saying it is confident that Chuck Hagel, the former Republican senator from Nebraska who is expected to be nominated as Secretary of Defense to replace Leon Panetta,  “will follow the president’s lead of providing unrivaled support for Israel.” “President Barack Obama’s unprecedented pro-Israel credentials…

In a report, the Shabak said that the number of “populist attacks” against Israelis by Arabs in Judea and Samaria was higher in December 2012 than during the month before. The figures take into consideration the period immediately after Operation Pillar of Defense, and the Shabak said that PA Arabs seem to have become emboldened…

Mohammed Megaryef, president of Libya’s national assembly, has escaped an attack on his hotel in the southern oasis of Sabha, AFP reported. Megaryef’s spokesman on Sunday called the incident an assassination attempt. “The hotel he was staying in was attacked for three hours. There was sniper fire. It seems to have been an assassination attempt,”…

Residents of a small Hungarian town have failed to stop a park from taking on the name of the country’s Nazi-allied wartime leader, after too few voters turned out for a Sunday referendum, AFP reports. The park in Gyomro, on the outskirts of Budapest, was named after Miklos Horthy last year following a motion by…

The deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey is designed to protect Israel from Iranian threats, Iran charged on Sunday, according to the Turkish daily Hurriyet. Speaking to Lebanon’s Al-Manar TV station, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as having said the missiles were “placed by NATO and the West to protect Israel” against…

A new archeological find at ancient Shilo fits in with the Biblical narrative regarding the war at Even Ha’ezer, and could confirm scholars’ conjectures as to how Shilo was destroyed. The First Book of Samuel does not say when and how Shilo, which served as the Israelite capital for 369 years, was destroyed. The latest…

Arabs severely beat a 69-year-old taxi driver Monday, stole his cab and left him bleeding at the side of the road. The Tatzpit news agency reported that the attack took place near Neveh Tzuf, in the Binyamin region north of Jerusalem. Police found the man on the roadside. He told them that three Arabs got…

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is taking another step in his bid to officially name the areas he controls “the State of Palestine”. After he ordered all of the PA’s institutions to stop using the term “Palestinian National Authority” on official documents, Abbas published new guidelines on Sunday, which order the PA government to…

The United States was not impressed with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s speech on Sunday. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, according to AFP, that Assad’s speech “is yet another attempt by the regime to cling to power and does nothing to advance the Syrian people’s goal of a political transition. His initiative is detached from…

Chuck Hagel as the United States’ Secretary of Defense would be “the most antagonistic Secretary of Defense toward the state of Israel” in U.S. history, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) charged on Sunday. Speaking during CNN’s “State of the Union” program, Graham called the former Republican Nebraska Senator an “in-your-face” nomination” and someone who is “out…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel would erect a new security fence along its armistice line with Syria in order to protect the Jewish state from “infiltration and terrorism.” Speaking at the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu noted that the fence built along the Egyptian border has “completely stopped the entry of infiltrators into…

Amnon Lord, a leading political commentator at Makor Rishon and Maariv newspapers, opined Sunday that if President Barack Obama succeeds in appointing Chuck Hagel Secretary of Defense, Israel will have to face Iran on its own. And yet, said Lord, “if AIPAC goes into turbo front wheel drive in order to prevent the appointment, this would…

Heavy rain and thunderstorms hit northern and central Israel Saturday and Sunday. The rain shut down multiple train stations on Sunday morning, the time of week when trains are most heavily used as many thousands of IDF soldiers return from their weekend leave. Major roads were temporarily shut down in Herzliya, Rehovot and Bat Yam.…

MK Rabbi Chaim Amsallem, head of the new Am Shalem party, revealed more of his platform Sunday in an interview with Army Radio. Amsallem, who split from Shas, has promoted his agenda on hareidi army service, the economy and on improving religious-secular relations, but has largely remained silent on diplomacy until now. When pushed by…

Syrian President Bashar Assad gave a rare public speech Sunday as violence continues to rage across his country. Contrary to expectations that Assad would reveal a compromise aimed at solving the conflict, the embattled ruler called instead for a “full national mobilization” to fight his enemies. Assad did term his initiative a peace plan, saying…

The United States is becoming increasingly worried about Syria’s use of ballistic missiles supplied by Iran, according to U.S. media reports cited by Al Arabiya. The Wall Street Journal has quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying that the Syrian regime recently fired four short-range Iranian-made ballistic missiles at sites of opposition fighters, raising concern that…

The U.S. deployment of Patriot missiles in Turkey began Saturday to help the country defend against any possible threats from neighboring Syria in the throes of a civil war, AFP reported. “The deployment started early this morning into Incirlik” in southeastern Turkey, Peter Woodmansee, missile defense chief of the US European Command, told AFP on…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s “brilliant” move to merge with Israel Beyteinu looks worse every day. The merged party is dropping in the polls, and now Israel Beyteinu’s leader says he wants to disband the merge the day after the elections, two weeks and two days away. Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, speaking through a spokesman,…

Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad is to make a rare speech Sunday as violence rages in a civil war the UN says has killed more than 60,000 people, AFP reported. “President Bashar al-Assad will deliver a speech on Sunday morning on the latest developments in Syria and the region,” the report quoted Syria’s official SANA…

U.S. President Barack Obama is set to nominate former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, according to various reports. The move signals that the Administration intends to continue the Middle East policy that could be described as “speak softly and carry an even softer stick” vis-à-vis the resurgent Islamist threat. “Key Democrats working…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu says that he is not ruling out any party joining his future coalition. “I am a ready for a broad coalition, but some parties are rejecting me in advance,” Netanyahu said in an interview that will air on Channel 2 on Monday and of which excerpts were released Saturday night. He…

The US Congress has finally approved emergency disaster aid for victims of Hurricane Sandy, but only after a delay that sparked East Coast Republican outrage against their own party leadership. The House voted 354-67 to provide the Federal Emergency Management Agency with $9.7 billion to pay the flood insurance claims of thousands of victims of…

Yesh Atid (Future) chairman Yair Lapid shot down on Saturday the idea of forming an anti-Likud bloc with Labor and Tzipi Livni’s party. The idea was floated Friday night by Livni in a live Channel 2 television appearance, then seconded by MK Shelly Yechimovich, who heads Labor. Yechimovich and Livni agreed to meet soon to…

About 250 Arabs rioted Saturday afternoon near Esh Kodesh, close to Shilo in the Binyamin region, injuring 11 Jews. According to the Tatzpit news agency, the rioters tore down the fences surrounding the Jewish residents’ vineyards, causing them serious damage. About 30 Jewish residents from the Shilo area rushed to the location and at first had to use rocks…

A key decision on how many US troops will stay on in Afghanistan after 2014 could be made next week at talks between President Barack Obama and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai in Washington, officials say. With NATO’s combat mission due to end next year, the number of US troops left behind is seen as crucial…

A major 7.5-magnitude earthquake shook an area in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the US state of Alaska early Saturday, triggering a potentially destructive local tsunami, the US government said. The epicenter of the quake, which occurred at 0858 GMT, was located 102 kilometers (63 miles) west of Craig, Alaska, at a depth…

Tzipi Livni, who heads the Hatnua party, called on Friday for unity in the center-left bloc. Speaking to Channel 2 News, Livni, who previously rejected offers to join either the Labor party led by Shelly Yechimovich or Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party because she refused to be their number two, said she would be willing…

On Sunday, dozens of hareidi men will enlist in civilian national service for the first time since the Tal Law was overturned. A total of roughly 1,300 hareidi men may join civilian service until August. Civilian service is a non-mandatory alternative to military service for those exempt from the army, or ineligible to join. Many…

Egyptian security forces have seized U.S.-made anti-tank and surface-to-air missiles destined for Gaza, security officials said on Friday. According to AFP, the officials said six missiles were found hidden in the Sinai, which borders both Gaza and Israel, after security forces were tipped off to the hiding place. Sinai, a scarcely populated peninsula home to…

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator on Friday welcomed the return of leading world powers to talks over the country’s disputed atomic program, but urged them “not to repeat their past mistakes,” AFP reports. Talks stalled in June when Iran rejected a proposal to suspend part of its nuclear program, asking for more substantial relief from sanctions.…

Yair Shamir, who is running for the Knesset in the number four spot on the Likud Beytenu list, angered members of his party on Friday after he publicly criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Shamir, the son of former Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir, criticized Netanyahu for saying he supports a Palestinian state during the Bar Ilan…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has stopped progress on plans to build in the E1 area of Maaleh Adumim, the Hebrew-language daily Yediot Aharonot reports. Netanyahu faced international criticism after the government approved new construction in the area. However, the government stuck to its plans, inviting tenders for new homes. The project won approval from Defense…

The Likud Beytenu party regained its losses this week, ending with enough support to win 36 Knesset seats, according to a new poll released Friday by Maariv/nrg. The Labor party regained losses as well, moving up to a solid second place with 18 seats. Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) remained in third place with 13, and…

Iran’s nuclear weapons program remains the number one threat over Israel, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Thursday. Speaking to Israeli ambassadors and consuls at the conclusion of their annual gathering in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, “The number one threat has been and remains Iran, our commitment has been and remains to prevent Iran from acquiring…

A cache of 1,000-year-old documents written by the Jewish community in Afghanistan and unveiled in Jerusalem on Thursday provides unprecedented insight into medieval Jewish community in central Asia. “This is the first time we have a large collection of documents representing the culture of the Jews who lived there” at the beginning of the 11th…

Long before he was elected as Egypt’s president, Mohammed Morsi rejected negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and referred to Jews as “apes and pigs”. The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has translated and uploaded comments by Morsi, a member of Hamas’s parent movement the Muslim Brotherhood, which he made in 2010 and…

An Israeli accused of spying for Israel has been imprisoned for the last several weeks in Yemen, the country’s media reported Wednesday. The man who goes by two names– Abdullah Muhsan al-Himi al-Siari and Abraham al-Deri– was reportedly arrested in the southern province of Ta’izz several weeks ago, after bring accused of working for the Israeli…

Schools, universities and government offices in the Iranian capital will be closed on Saturday for the second time in a month due to high air pollution, Tehran governor Morteza Tamadon said Thursday, according to AFP.  Emergency services also advised residents to avoid unnecessary travel in the city, the ISNA news agency reported. Tamadon said a…

The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) has highlighted a recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People the Press that illustrates the “large gap” in support for Israel between Republicans and Democrats. The poll, taken in mid-December, asked, “In the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, which side do you sympathize with more, Israel…

Hizbullah head Hassan Nasrallah warned Thursday against “schemes of division and partition along sectarian and ethnic lines” in-war torn Syria and the entire region. A key ally of the embattled Syrian regime, Nasrallah made a televised appearance via video link and proclaimed: “We hereby underscore our rejection of any plan for partitioning or dividing any…

A senior officer in the Judea and Samaria Brigade said Thursday afternoon that contrary to reports in the press, no IDF or Border Police force retreated from any activity earlier in the day. The officer explained that the activity took place in daylight in order to arrest a wanted suspect. In the course of the activity,…

President Shimon Peres, who in a speech on Sunday claimed that a large majority of Israelis supported setting up a Palestinian Authority state in land liberated by Israel in the 1967 Six Day War, is apparently behind the times. A poll released Thursday shows that, for the first time, a plurality of Israelis now oppose…

Arab satellite broadcaster is set to purchase American news network Current TV from its current owner, former Vice President Al Gore. With the purchase, Al Jazeera will have the opportunity to significantly expand its reach in the U.S., with a potential audience of as many as 40 million households. Al Jazeera announced Thursday that it…

Sofia has identified and issued an arrest warrant for one of several foreigners believed to have assisted a man who killed six people plus himself in a bomb attack on Israeli tourists in the resort of Burgas in Bulgaria last July, a senior investigator was quoted as saying Thursday. “The investigation has evidence for the…

More than 60,000 people have been killed in the Syrian conflict, the UN said on Wednesday, as dozens more died or were wounded when an air strike hit a service station near Damascus. AFP reported that UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in Geneva that 59,648 people had died through the end…

A 24-year-old Iranian Jew, a member of one the most well-known and wealthiest families in Iran, was murdered last week, Channel 2 News reported on Wednesday. According to the report the man, who was identified as Daniel Magrufta, was dating the daughter of a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The report added that it…

Iran’s ability to attack Israel has been compromised significantly in the past year, Israeli diplomats meeting in Jerusalem were told by Defense Ministry intelligence officials. According to the study by the officials, Iran’s attempts to prop up Bashar al-Assad and the weakness of Hizbullah has taken a great toll in manpower and treasure from the…

Former New York Mayor Ed Koch has sent a letter to British Prime Minister David Cameron, asking him why his country chose to criticize Israel for approving new construction in Judea and Samaria. Koch pointed out in the letter that the Israeli presence in Judea and Samaria is essential to ensuring Israel’s security, especially in…

  An 11-year-old Jewish girl opted out of competing in the 2012 U.S. National Table Tennis Championships because the final match fell out on Shabbat. Estee Ackerman told The New York Post that she was greatly disappointed to see that her match would be taking place on December 21, a Friday night, and therefore would not be able to compete. “[O]f…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the final section of the security fence along the Egyptian border should be completed by the end of March. Netanyahu attended a ceremony on Wednesday marking the completion of 230 kilometers (144 miles) of the barrier, with only approximately 12 kilometers (7 miles) left to be built.…

A gang of Arabs brutally attacked an American yeshiva student visiting with his family in Venice, Italy, in what local community leaders said was a rare instance of anti-Semitism. The student was knocked unconscious on Tuesday when he strolled late at night in the center of the city. A band of 15 Arab youth pounced on…

Likud Knesset Member candidate Moshe Feiglin, indicted for trying to prostate himself in prayer on the Temple Mount, wants to pay each Palestinian Authority Arab $500,000 to leave Israel. He unveiled the proposal at a “Sovereignty” conference sponsored by the Women in Green and which is discussing ideas for Israeli annexation of Judea and Samaria or part of it and for removing…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu quoted this week’s Torah reading, which states, “Now There Arose a New King Over Egypt” and warned of a Hamas takeover of Ramallah. At a meeting of the Bible Circle held by the Prime Minister in memory of his late father-in-law, he said, “Like then, like today. In Egypt, the regime has…

Information and Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein (Likud) warned on Tuesday that internal criticism over moves made by Israel’s government encourages condemnation from the world. Edelstein, who spoke at the Women in Green movement’s Conference on the Application of Israeli Sovereignty to Judea and Samaria, predicted that the government will be criticized from three directions if…

IDF soldiers and Border Guards on Tuesday night successfully completed a mission in an Arab village near Jenin, in northern Samaria (Shomron), where they arrested several terrorists associated with Islamic Jihad. The soldiers, who were operating in the village of Tammun, are all accounted for and have left the village, after putting down a fierce…

Dr. Alan Baker, an expert on international law and a member of the committee headed by Judge Edmond Levi recommending the extension of Israeli law to Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria, said at a conference discussing the matter Tuesday night that Israel would be fully in its rights to do so. “The task of…

Long journeys into deep space, including a mission to Mars, could expose astronauts to levels of cosmic radiation harmful to the brain and accelerate Alzheimer’s disease, according to a US study. The NASA-funded study involved bombarding mice with varied radiation doses, including levels comparable to what voyagers would experience during a mission to Mars, and…

Egypt’s state prosecutor ordered on Tuesday an investigation into a claim that popular satirical show host Bassem Yousef insulted President Mohamed Morsi, a judicial source said. On his show Al-Barnameg (The Program), Youssef, dubbed the Egyptian Jon Stewart, had poked fun at the ruling Islamists and Morsi’s temporary adoption of extensive powers in November and…

Rabbi Avrohom Ya’akov Friedman, the Sadigura Rebbe, passed away, Tuesday morning, at the age of 84. The rabbi was taken by Natan emergency services to Ma’ayanei Hayeshua’ Hospital in Bnei Brak after he lost consciousness. He had been suffering from pneumonia for several days and his condition deteriorated Tuesday morning. The rabbi’s funeral is scheduled…

A clash broke out Tuesday between residents of the Jewish village of Esh Kodesh in the Binyamin region, Arabs from a nearby Palestinian Authority town, and Border Police officers. The conflict began as Arabs arrived in the area to farm nearby land for the first time. The land has been farmed by Jews from Esh…

A New Year’s Eve fireworks display in the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan turned to tragedy early Tuesday. More than 60 children were crushed to death in a stampede, according to state media reports quoted in CNN. The victims ranged in age from eight to 15, the official AIP news agency said. They were mostly…

The White House and top Republicans have struck a deal to avert huge New Year tax hikes and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff” that had threatened to send the U.S. economy into recession, AFP reports. The pact would raise taxes on the richest Americans — those earning over $450,000 a year — but…

Violence ravaged Syria into 2013 on Monday, with the gruesome discovery of what activists said were dozens of tortured corpses in Damascus, AFP reported. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of medics and activists on the ground, reported the discovery of 30 tortured bodies in a flashpoint district of…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has affirmed to Channel 2 that as elections approach, he stands behind the principles he outlined in his speech at Bar Ilan University in 2009. Channel 2‘s Knesset reporter, Amit Segal, did not say Monday evening whether the information came directly from Netanyahu, but from the way in which he reported…

Hamas will spend $897 million in Gaza in 2013 under a budget approved Monday. The Gaza parliament, dominated by Hamas, voted for the spending. Gaza leaders estimate the income for the year at $243 million. The rest of the money is expected to come from international aid and donations. Despite claims of a financial crisis,…

Despite protests by privacy groups, Israel will begin amassing biometric data on its citizens beginning Tuesday. The pilot program for the biometric database will greatly enhance the ability of authorities to identify terrorists, supporters of the project say – while those opposed believe that the program will give the state unprecedented opportunity to control the…

An improvised bomb exploded outside the headquarters of the public prosecutor in the Libyan city of Benghazi causing material damage but no fatalities, a security source said. “Initial evidence suggests the device was a suitcase packed with high yield explosives (TNT),” an investigator at the scene told AFP on Monday. The overnight blast, which marked…

About 83 percent of Israelis believe that pulling back to the indefensible pre-1967 borders will not bring an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict nor bring a peace accord with the Palestinian Authority, a new poll shows. The pre-1967 borders were termed “Auschwitz borders” by Israel’s former ambassador to the United States, Abba Eban, who represented…

An Israeli from Bat Yam has been arrested, and is under detention, in Egypt. Andrei Pashnichikov, 25, has been in jail in prison since Friday, he told his mother by phone Sunday. The Foreign Ministry has confirmed that he was arrested. The charges against Pashnichikov are unclear, as are the circumstances surrounding his presence in…

Daily, there are security incidents that do not make it to the media, but that doesn’t make them less serious, according to a top security officer in the Binyamin region. Taken together, he told Arutz Sheva, these incidents could amount to the opening of a new Arab intifada uprising. According to the officer, who is…

Iranian forces have combined cyber warfare tactics and maritime war games in a drill for the first time as the Islamic republic’s naval units staged maneuvers in the Strait of Hormuz, media reports said on Monday. The navy “launched a cyber attack against the computer network of the defensive forces in order to infiltrate the…

The number of Israeli Jews passed the emotional 6 million mark in November, and the total population will pass 8 million in February, according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. The Jewish population represents 75.4 percent of the total, of which Arabs are 20.6 percent, representing a continuing trend of a higher Jewish birth rate…

The High Court Monday morning reduced by one year a jail term for Anat Kam, convicted of stealing and exposing IDF documents while she was a soldier. She turned over the material to Haaretz journalist Uri Blau, who was sentenced to four months of community service. Kam filed the appeal after Blau’s relatively light sentence. Kam stole…

Times are changing in the US, where children’s clothes “in-fashion” includes bulletproof vests and backpacks as mass murders become routine. A bulletproof clothing designer in Colombia has launched a new line of bulletproof clothes, the London Daily Mail reported. The lightweight clothes can protect children from bullets from a pistol or even a sub-machine gun…

Major media outlets’ reviews of 2012 and predictions for big news stories in 2013 indicate that Israel finally may have to spend less time defending itself as the Palestinian Authority’s demands become old hat and pale in the shadows of events in Syria and Iran. The Council of Foreign Relations, considered to be the most…

President Shimon Peres spoke with Christian leaders on the eve of the new year on the Gregorian calendar and said that peace is a Biblical commandment. Often repeating what arguably is the line most often used by Peres in his political career, he said, Peace is not just a need but it is a commandment, moreover…

Naftali Bennett, who heads the merged Jewish Home-National Union slate of Knesset candidates, reminded President Shimon Peres Monday that the Oslo Accords “brought us more than 1,600 murdered Israelis.” Responding to the President’s controversial remarks on political issues in the middle of the election campaign, Bennett stated, “Enough, already. The President of the country is…

Signs are increasing that Syria’s embattled president has little hope left for himself, The Washington Post reported over the weekend. Accounts of conditions inside the Syrian regime in recent days have shed new light on the psychological toll of the nearly two-year-old civil war on Bashar Al-Assad, depicting the Syrian leader as isolated and fearful…

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hospitalized Sunday after doctors discovered a blood clot during a follow-up exam related to a concussion she suffered this month, her spokesman said, according to CNN. She is expected to remain at New York Presbyterian Hospital for the next 48 hours so doctors can monitor her condition and…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah party’s new logo shows all of Israel as Palestine, claimed on Sunday that he seeks peace with the Jewish State. Abbas, who met with Arab MKs Mohammad Barakeh and Said Nafaa, said that the “Palestinian people” are striving for peace in accordance with the decisions of international institutions…

Former Hawaii Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz (D) was formally sworn into the United States Senate on Thursday while holding a Tanakh, or Hebrew bible. Schatz, who is Jewish, was chosen by Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) on Wednesday to fill the seat left vacant after the passing of veteran Sen. Daniel Inouye (D), who died…

Al Qaeda terrorists in Yemen offer $160,000 in gold for killing the US ambassador, three months after the US envoy to Libya was murdered. The US State Dept. presumably will take the matter more seriously than it did when senior officials ignored events leading up to the brutal killing of Christopher Stevens on September 11. The…

In 2012, 278 Israelis were killed in traffic accidents – the lowest number in the past 50 years, and significantly below the important psychological barrier of 300 killed. Transportation experts attributed the reduction to increased enforcement of traffic laws and the completion of a number of important road improvement projects. The number represent a 25% decline in…

A small U.S. commercial plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Iran earlier this month, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported Sunday. Head of the state-owned Iran Airports Company, Mahmoud Rasoulinejad, announced that the plane landed approximately three weeks ago in an airport located in the southern city of Ahvaz due to technical…

The left and right political wings traded jabs Sunday over remarks by President Shimon Peres in favor of negotiations with Mahmoud Abbas. Kadima Chairman Shaul Mofaz explained that Peres – who is also from Kadima – “said what the nations wants – two states for two peoples.” “The Likud mounted an attack on the President…

A rare amateur video shows a small Russian aircraft crashing on a highway and killing four people after overshooting the runway. Four people, all of them crew members, were killed. The video footage shows luggage and debris flying after the crash and hitting vehicles. The Red Wings Airlines plane was returning from a flight to…

The Fatah party, headed by Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, has made official what it has been saying quietly and has adopted a new logo showing all of Israel as Palestine. The logo marks the 48th anniversary of the founding of Fatah by Yasser Arafat and includes a map with the PA flag and a map of…

A rock-throwing Arab teenager nearly killed a baby Sunday morning when the huge rock he hurled at the car crashed a few inches from the infant. “We were saved by a miracle,” “Roie,” a resident of Samaria, told Arutz Sheva. “I do not even want to think what would have happened if the rock had hit the baby.”…

Israel has launched an offshore platform for natural gas, a step towards energy self-sufficiency for the first time in history. The platform, taller than Israel’s highest building, is located 24 miles west of the southern port city of Ashkelon and is scheduled to receive gas in April. “With faith, perseverance, and vision, we have achieved Israeli…

Arab terrorists threw a firebomb at an IDF force that was on routine patrol south of Shechem on Saturday evening, Channel 2 News reported. Nobody was hurt in the attack. Soldiers from the IDF’s Nahal Brigade later arrested two suspects in the attack. The suspects were found to be carrying an improvised gun, two knives,…

A 31-year-old woman has been charged with murder as a hate crime after shoving a New York man to his death in front of an oncoming subway train, authorities said Saturday, AFP reports. Erika Menendez of the Bronx borough was motivated by hatred of Muslims and Hindus, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office. “I…

Egypt will pursue a relationship with the Hizbullah terror group as a “real political and military force” on the ground in Lebanon, the Egyptian ambassador to Lebanon told the Lebanese newspaper Daily Star on Saturday. Speaking after Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood-backed new constitution was signed in to law, Ambassador Ashraf Hamdy said Egypt would keep contacts…

Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi on Saturday called on US President Barack Obama to be “proactive” in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his forthcoming term, according to AFP. “We hope that the new American administration adopts a policy of conflict resolution rather than conflict management,” Arabi said during a visit with Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed…

At least 150 charred corpses were found Saturday in Deir Baalba in Homs, Syria, according to a report by the Shaam Network that was quoted in Al Arabiya. Earlier Saturday, Syrian regime forces killed 20 people in a town near Aleppo. Eighty other people were killed nationwide, according to opposition Coordination Committees. Sana Revolution reported…

Security forces in large numbers arrived at the Shomron (Samaria) outpost of Oz Tzion on Saturday night, in order to finish the demolition that was started on Friday afternoon. The Tazpit news agency reported that ten police and IDF jeeps, along with a bulldozer belonging to the Civil Administration, arrived at the outpost overnight. The…

With the clock ticking toward a New Year’s time bomb of huge tax increases and spending cuts, US lawmakers worked feverishly Saturday to keep America from tumbling off that so-called fiscal cliff. The stakes in the game of holiday-interrupting brinkmanship are huge. Economists agree the $500 billion in fiscal pain due to kick in as…

Police in New York City on Friday were hunting for a woman in her 20s suspected of pushing a man to his death under an oncoming subway train, the second such incident in less than a month. The incident happened Thursday evening at about 8:00 pm (0100 GMT Friday) at a station on the number…

 Tzipi Livni, who is running for Knesset at the head of an independent party, blamed Bayit Yehudi leader Naftali Bennett for the violence at the Oz Tzion outpost near Beit El Friday. “Bennett and the extremist rabbis led people to that hilltop on purpose, in order to create friction with IDF soldiers and a situation…

Dozens of youths who stayed at the Oz Tzion outpost near Beit El over the Sabbath, left the community after the Saturday evening havdala prayer. The youths spent the Sabbath at the outpost along with Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Rabbi of Tzfat, and Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba. The two rabbis had driven to…

An advisor to Egypt’s Islamist president has caused an uproar by saying Jews should return to Egypt, Channel 10 News reports. Essam el-Erian, a senior official in the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party and a close associate of President Mohammed Morsi, was quoted as having said during an interview with the local Dream TV…

Russia, the only world power with close ties to the Syrian regime, urged President Bashar al-Assad on Friday to talk to the opposition, AFP reported. Meanwhile Moscow itself put out feelers that received a cold reception from the rebels, the report said. The new pressure on Assad came as Moscow revved up its bid to…

The Syrian regime this week fired at least two Iranian-made, short-range ballistic missiles in what appears to be an effort to more precisely target Syrian rebels, two U.S. military officials told CNN on Friday. According to the officials, the regime used Fateh A-110 missiles which are more accurate than the older Scud variants that Syrian…

The IDF was forced to stop an eviction from a Shomron outpost on Friday afternoon when locals resisted eviction. The soldiers had to retreat but the IDF has announced that the eviction will resume on Saturday night, after Shabbat. Large forces arrived at the outpost of Oz Tzion, located near Beit El in the Binyamin…

The Gaza branch of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party said on Friday it will mark its anniversary in the Hamas-ruled enclave after an accord between the two factions, AFP reported. “We have agreed with (Hamas) prime minister Ismail Haniyeh that Fatah will celebrate its 48th anniversary on January 1 at the site of…

Norman Schwarzkopf, the US general who drove Saddam Hussein’s forces from Kuwait in 1991 as commander of the lightning campaign known as Operation Desert Storm, died Thursday at the age of 78, the AFP news agency reports. Schwarzkopf, an American hero known popularly as “Stormin’ Norman,” died in Tampa, where he retired after his last posting…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas threatened on Thursday that he will disband the PA unless there is Israeli movement toward renewing peace talks after Israel’s elections on January 22, AFP reported. Abbas said that if such a situation arises he will hand full responsibility for Judea and Samaria to the Israeli government. “If there is…

Arab MK Ibrahim Sarsour (Ra’am), known for his support of terrorism, has met with several terrorists who are currently serving time in Israeli prisons. In a statement he released, Sarsour said he made time in his busy schedule to meet with the three prisoners: Karim Younis, Abbas Al-Sayed and Lina Jerbouni. His statement, however, did…

The 165th course of the Israel Air Force Flight Academy graduated on Thursday, and graduates received their pilot’s wings in a special ceremony. The ceremony took place at the at Hatzerim Air Base near the city of Be’er Sheva and was attended by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Chief of the General…

Iran has ordered domestic airlines to take off half an hour after pre-dawn Muslim prayers, the website of country’s civil aviation organization quoted its chief as saying on Wednesday. “According to a directive we issued to the domestic airlines, from now on the airlines will be authorized to take off at least 30 minutes after…

Britain has condemned Israel’s decision to officially recognize the Ariel University Center as a full-fledged university. “We are deeply disappointed by the decision to upgrade Ariel’s university center. Ariel is beyond the Green Line in a settlement that is illegal according to international law,” Alistair Burt, Britain’s minister for the Middle East, said in a…

Dozens of senior citizens who live in low-rent apartments inside or next to the Chen Hotel in Bayit Vegan, Jerusalem, were evacuated when a fire broke out in the building Thursday evening. No one was hurt. The fire also forced the evacuation of participants in a wedding that took place in the hotel’s events hall.…

Speaking at Ben-Gurion University Wednesday night, British Ambassador to Israel Matthew Gould denounced those who boycott Israel. “Everything we do is an expression of our values, and it is through our actions that we give voice to those values.” Among those values, he said, is “our rejection of academic boycotts, because we believe that boycotts…

Roger Waters, composer, lyricist, singer and bassist for rock mega-group Pink Floyd, has also become a “hero to genocidal terrorists” in his later life, notes watchdog group Eye on the UN. The group has created a video (below) that shows Waters in testimony before the UN, comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and lying about Hamas’s policy toward the Jewish…

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D) announced Wednesday that Jewish Lieutenant Gov. Brian Schatz (D) will fill the seat in the U.S. Senate left vacant after the passing of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii). Abercrombie was widely expected to appoint Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii) to succeed the late senator, as hours prior to his death, Inouye had…

A report on Israel Radio Thursday expanded on reports Wednesday night on a recent visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Amman recently. According to the report, the two discussed violence in Syria and that country’s chemical weapons stock. The report said that Israeli and Jordanian officials had confirmed the…

For the first time since before World War II, the small Jewish community in the Ukranian town of Netishin held prayer services this past Shabbat – and celebrated the Bar-Mitzvah of the grandson of the community’s last rabbi, 70 years after it had been scheduled to take place. The religious revival in the town is…

In an interview with Israel Radio, government minister Moshe Yaalon said that the U.S. was preparing to intervene in Syria. A final decision on intervention will come if and when the Syrian army begins using chemical weapons against its own citizens, Yaalon said. Despite appearances, Yaalon said, the U.S. was aware of everything going on…

Arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti is warning Israel against a third Arab intifada (uprising) – but not an armed one. Speaking to Channel 10 News from his Israeli jail cell, where he is serving five life sentences for his role in planning suicide terror attacks, Barghouti said, “If the occupation continues, then a third intifada – an…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu tried on Wednesday to limit the damage from news reports that he was planning to set up a coalition with Tzippy Livni as a chief partner. A report in Haaretz said that Netanyahu had made clear to several of his senior staff that no talks were taking place with Livni or…

The Senate passed a resolution Friday calling on European countries to designate Hizbullah as a terrorist organization. Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) sponsored Res. 613, urging the European Union to designate Hizbullah as a terrorist organization, impose sanctions and tell President Obama to provide information about the group to the European allies of the United States.…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently made a secret trip to Amman, where he met with Jordan’s King Abdullah, the British-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi Arabic newspaper reported on Wednesday. According to the report, Netanyahu and King Abdullah discussed their mutual concern over use of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. On Wednesday evening, senior Israeli officials…

The Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a travel advisory last week for Denmark in wake of warnings by Israel’s ambassador advising Jews and Israelis to refrain from wearing kippot, religious symbols, and speaking Hebrew on the streets of Copenhagen. “It is intolerable that any Jew should have to hide his or her identity on the streets…

The United Arab Emirates announced Wednesday that it has nabbed a cell of Saudi and Emirati members plotting terror attacks in the two countries and other states. The suspects “imported material and equipment with the aim of committing terror acts,” according to an official statement on the WAM state news agency. The arrests came after…

An Iranian lawmaker has griped that female Russian technicians working at the Bushehr nuclear power plant are not respecting the country’s dress code despite being paid to wear the Islamic headscarf, known as the hijab. Seyyed Mehdi Mousavi Nejad, a member of parliament from Dashtestan in the southern Bushehr Province, said that while female Russian…

In the latest blow to the Syrian government, the head of Syria’s military police has defected and has now declared allegiance to the rebel uprising seeking to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.  Major General Abdelaziz Jassim al-Shalal appeared in a video broadcast on al-Arabiya Telvision late Tueday, and announced he was joining “the people’s revolution”. “I am…

Israel’s enemies probably will not wage war in  2013, and the Palestinian Authority will not make concessions, former IDF intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told a seminar at the University of Haifa. “If I had to stand before the Cabinet today and estimate the probability of war in 2013, I would say there probably will be none,”…

The discovery, like many others, was made during road excavation, this time at a new section of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway, known as Highway 1. The archaeological site is known as Tel Motza, at the Motza turnoff less than five miles west of Jerusalem. A ritual building and a cache of sacred vessels date back…

A new Constitution drafted by an Islamist-majority committee has been signed into law by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi. With less than one one-third of voters turning out to decide the fate of the draft over the past week, those who did approved the document by 63.8 %. However, many Egyptian citizens appear to be losing…

The memory of Prisoner Number 77 still brings hope to the heart of Auschwitz survivor Tadeusz Sobolewicz as he remembers how his friend boxed for bread in the notorious Nazi German camp. The story of fellow inmate and boxer Tadeusz Pietrzykowski has been all but forgotten nearly seven decades after the end of World War…

The Syrian government’s former spokesman, Jihad Makdissi, is co-operating with U.S. intelligence officials who helped him flee to Washington almost one month ago, the British Guardian reports. Makdissi became one of the most prominent regime defectors in late November when he left Beirut after first crossing from Syria. The Guardian reported at the time that…

A suicide car bombing at a US military base near a flashpoint city in eastern Afghanistan killed at least three Afghans and and wounded seven others on Wednesday, officials said. The blast, powerful enough to rattle windows four kilometres (two miles) away, took place at the entrance to Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost. It…

The Israeli Air Force has cut manpower while advancing technologically towards 2013, it says its mission is a quick victory. In a meeting with senior commanders of the IAF, the head of the Research Department of the Intelligence Division said that regime changes in the Middle East and technological developments in hostile countries probably will…

A poll taken on behalf of the Labor Party, released Tuesday, indicates that Israelis are much more concerned with economic and social issues in the current elections than they are with security issues. If the poll is correct, it would be the first national election campaign in decades that did not focus on security issues…

The weekend media storm over Naftali Bennett’s position on how IDF soldiers should deal with orders to throw Jews out of their homes does not seem to have hurt the Bayit Yehudi chairman – and in fact, the party is doing better than ever. Several polls showed that Bayit Yehudi has pulled ahead of Shas,…

Egypt’s electoral commission confirmed on Tuesday that a controversial, Islamist-backed constitution was passed by 64 percent of voters, AFP reported. The commission also rejected opposition allegations of polling fraud. Samir Abul Maati, president of the national electoral commission, told a Cairo news conference that a total of 63.8 percent of valid ballots supported the new…

The Hamas government in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday forbade local journalists from working with “hostile” Israeli media, the AFP news agency reports. The terrorist group decided in its weekly cabinet meeting “to ban work with all Zionist media and journalists,” and to declare Israeli media “hostile.” The statement mentioned Israeli media and television stations…

Palestinian Authority Chairman promised in 2011 that he would change laws that let murderers off with a light sentence if they claimed to have been motivated by the need to defend their “family honor” from the victim’s inappropriate behavior. However, in reality there are no plans to change the law, PA officials told Ma’an news.…

Iran on Tuesday launched naval maneuvers in the Gulf, and announced plans for another exercise in the strategic Strait of Hormuz later this week, AFP reported. Revolutionary Guards naval units began a four-day exercise inside Iranian waters at South Pars, a joint gas field between Iran and Qatar, a Guards spokesman was quoted as saying…

A MiG-21 combat aircraft flown by a Syrian pilot who defected to Jordan in June was found to have been upgraded back in Syria to carry chemical weapons and to fly without a pilot, the Yisrael Hayom daily reported on Tuesday. According to the report, U.S. experts who examined the plane believe Russian engineers helped…

An action committee composed of donors and organizers has been established in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn to assist six hareidi families who lost their homes in a large fire last Saturday evening. By the grace of G-d, no one was hurt in the fire, but the six apartments were completely burned. Fire crew took…

Doctors say that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s forces probably are using “Agent 15,” which causes paralysis, but the even worse news is that he has more deadly chemical weapons. The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) interviewed witnesses and victims of the recent gas bomb attack, Business Insider reported. The doctors said that Agent 15 was…

Major General Nitzan Alon, the Head of the IDF’s Central Command, has signed a document Tuesday that grants formal approval to Ariel University – formerly known as Ariel University Center – as a full-fledged university. Defense Minister Ehud Barak instructed Nitzan Monday to approve the recommendation of the Council for Higher Education / Judea and…

At a time of great financial strain on a Chabad-Lubavitch yeshiva in Australia, an influential community member and longtime supporter was able to avert financial crisis that threatened the closure of its Sydney headquarters.   Harry Triguboff, a venerable benefactor of the organization, purchased two Chabad buildings in Bondi for $6 million, enabling it to…

Armed Forces personnel in North Sinai, in cooperation with local Bedouins, foiled an attempt on Monday to smuggle 17 rockets to Gaza, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported. A military source told the agency that the rockets are a French-made TDI model, caliber 68 mm, range three kilometers ​​and can be used air to…

In a response to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report which accused Hamas of war crimes against Israelis, the terror group has claimed it did not mean to harm innocent civilians. HRW issued a rare condemnation of Gaza terrorists on Monday for war crimes, saying that “Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that…

Jack Klugman, a son of poor Russian Jewish immigrants who rose to fame as an actor on “The Odd Couple,” has died at the age of 90. He portrayed a slovenly sportswriter on “The Odd Couple” television show and a tough medical examiner on “Quincy, ME.” Klugman’s attorney Larry Larson told AFP the actor died…

The Hamas terrorist organization is denying reports of its intent to take over Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria. Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri was quoted in a report posted on the terror group’s Al Qassam website as telling the Quds Press the reports were nothing more than “Israeli incitement” aimed at dividing PA factions. Abu…

Three more people have been wounded in a fresh round of road terror attacks near the Palestinian Authority Arab village of Beit Ummar. An Israeli bus came under a hail of rocks Monday night as it was driving past the village on Highway 60 in Judea. Paramedic teams from Magen David Adom ‘s emergency medical service…

American media has just discovered its government is helping Israel build a “secret” underground bunker. “Site 911” will be equipped with aluminum-encased mezuzot. The tender for the construction project – a “Request for Proposals” in U.S. parlance – is worth about $100 million, according to the article written by venerated, Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post journalist Walter…

Jerusalem’s Gilo neighborhood will expand by 1,200 housing units due to approval by a Jerusalem district zoning committee. Approval of the next step in the process came Monday after the committee reviewed public objections to the plan, the Interior Ministry announced. The Gilo neighborhood is located close to the southern outskirts of Jerusalem, and across from…

No one wanted to be president less than Mitt Romney, his son said in an interview which came out Sunday that raises new questions about the candidacy of the losing Republican nominee. In an interview with the Boston Globe examining what went wrong with the Romney campaign, his eldest son Tagg explains that his father…

Militant Islam is wiping out Christianity in the Muslim Middle East, according to a new study by the British think tank Civitas. “Christianity is in serious danger of being wiped out in its biblical heartlands because of Islamic oppression,” wrote the report’s author, journalist Rupert Shortt.  Israel, the only country in the region where Jews, Muslim…

Iran has issued a travel warning to its citizens against visiting arch-foe the United States, an official said, after the death of an Iranian national reportedly following a grilling by U.S. customs officials, AFP reported. “Iranian citizens are advised to avoid non-essential travels to the US and, in case of visit, to exercise maximum caution,”…

Israel “targeted” Gaza civilians with humanitarian aid during the counterterrorist Pillar of Defense operation, at the same time Gaza terrorists committed war crimes by firing missiles on Israelis, as cited by Human Rights Watch on Monday. The IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said that throughout the eight-day missile war last month,…

A majority of the House of Representatives want to punish the Palestinian Authority’s parent body, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), by having its Washington office closed down through legislation. The move is being questioned, however, as possibly being no more than ineffective cheerleading for Israel. An attempt to force the issue through legislation is not likely…

One Israeli was injured and at least five vehicles were damaged Monday in rock attacks near Beit Ummar in Judea. Israeli motorists traveling on Highway 60 past the Judean Arab village of Beit Ummar came under attack Monday in a spate of road terror that has struck the same area numerous times over the past…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has begun sending out messages in Arabic on social media Twitter, in a bid to strengthen dialogue with the Arab world. According to Al Arabiya, Netanyahu’s new account, launched earlier this month, has attracted new followers mainly from Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon, and his first posts have set out to relay…

Syrian President Bashar Assad has dropped bombs containing toxic gases, killing six people and blinding others in Homs, Al Jazeera reported Monday. Opposition forces released a video showing a victim struggling to breathe after the attack. At least 181 people were killed on Sunday in attacks by loyalists to Assad, who may be have dealt…

President Shimon Peres phoned Senator John Kerry on Sunday and congratulated him over his impending appointment as U.S. Secretary of State. “Israel is satisfied with your appointment. I’m sure you will be able to deal with the challenges in the Middle East,” Peres told Kerry. Kerry thanked President Peres and said, “I hope that the…

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) welcomed the Hungarian government’s approval of an amendment laying the groundwork to hold members of parliament accountable for hateful remarks.                         The approval by Hungary’s parliament came in the wake of anti-Semitic statements made by Marton Gyongyosi of the neo-Nazi Jobbik…

Egyptian activist Maikel Nabil Sanad, who spent ten months in military jails following Egypt’s revolution in early 2011, is in a controversial visit to Israel and Ramallah to call for peace, Al Arabiya reported. Sanad’s visit includes an appearance at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, The World Union of Jewish Students and Tel Aviv University.…

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a rare condemnation of Gaza terrorists on Monday for war crimes – without the usual “balancing act” of blaming Israel. HRW did not go so far as to describe “Palestinian armed groups” as terrorists, but the categorical censure of rocket launchers marks a drastic change in the attitude towards…

IDF soldiers patrolling along the border fence with Gaza fired into the air on Sunday night, to deter several Palestinian Authority Arabs who approached the fence. An IDF statement said that the soldiers had called on the Arabs to back away and return to Gaza. When the Arabs refused to heed the calls, the soldiers…

62 soldiers, fighters and officers stood up on Sunday for the chairman of the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home), Naftali Bennett, who has been under attack by members of the Likud. Bennett, who served in the elite IDF unit Sayeret Matkal, said during a television interview last Thursday that if he ever receives an order to…

The Central Bureau of Statistics on Sunday released statistics on the 158,000-strong Christian community in Israel. The statistics showed that Christians living in Israel are well-educated and prosperous – but there were fears that Muslim intimidation in cities in northern Israel, where many of them live, are causing large numbers to consider emigrating to the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited IDF Central Command on Sunday, where he was briefed by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz and GOC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Nitzan Alon on recent events in the Central Command area. During the visit Netanyahu said, “We are here, first of all, to receive an…

When Warren Buffet and Bill and Melinda Gates initiated the Giving Pledge, a coordinated effort to get billionaires to give up more than half of their wealth to philanthropies during or even after they die, it was a tough sell. But since its inception in 2010, 92 of the world’s richest people have made commitments,…

Gaza Arab terrorists fired a rocket at Israel on Sunday evening, the first one since the end of Operation Pillar of Defense in November. The rocket apparently fell short of Israeli territory and exploded within Gaza. The Red Alert warning system did not sound. The last time Gaza Arab terrorists fired rockets at Israel was…

Dozens of people were reported to have been killed or wounded in an air strike Sunday by the Syrian government in the central Syrian province of Hama. The incident took place in the town of Halfaya, opposition activists said. Activists said there were “piles of bodies” on the ground where people had been standing in…

A New York Times article on Sunday pitches a campaign by “Women of Wall” to act like men at the Kotel and unintentionally reveals the real issue — Who decides Jewish law?  Under the headline “At a Sacred Site, a Fight Over Women and Prayer,” the newspaper’s new and already controversial Jerusalem bureau chief Judi…

The US has toned down previous warnings of travel to Israel and assures tourists and businessmen, “The Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority make considerable efforts to protect US citizens.” While noting that “the security environment remains complex in Israel,”  the advisory replaces a previous August warning, and in an unusual encouraging tone of…

Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), has agreed to lift its veto on non-military cooperation between the alliance and Israel which it imposed following the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident in 2010, a diplomat said Sunday, according to AFP. Ankara cut ties with the Jewish state in May of 2010, when Israeli naval…

Hamas is preparing to duplicate its 2007 civil war in Gaza and has instructed terror cells in Judea and Samaria to get ready for a military coup to oust Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, according to a London Sunday Times based on Israeli intelligence sources. The orders reportedly came from Hamas’ supreme leader Khaled…

Jerusalem police shot and wounded a Jerusalem Arab taxi driver-turned terrorist Sunday morning after he ran into a Border Police officer, wounding him in his leg. The driver, approximately age 21, approached a police station in Jabel Mukaber, in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood near Talpiot. After the taxi cab hit a supply truck at the…

Egypt’s ruling Islamists claimed early Sunday that preliminary referendum results showed strong backing for a divisive constitution rejected by the secular opposition, hours after polls closed and tallying began. AFP reported that the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party said in a statement that 73.7 percent had voted for the constitution, with votes tallied from…

Heavily-armed Islamists, many linked with Al Qaeda, have deepened their presence in the Syrian uprising and threaten Christians with death if they don’t work against Assad. They warned two Christian towns on Saturday they will be attacked if they do not evict regime forces, as the new Greek Orthodox patriarch said Syria’s often-fearful Christians will…

Acting CIA director Michael Morell said on Saturday that “Zero Dark Thirty,” the Hollywood take on the hunt for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, exaggerates the importance of information obtained by harsh interrogations, AFP reports. The movie by Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow tells the story of the decade-long search after September 11, 2001 that…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu congratulated Senator John Kerry on Saturday on his being selected for the position of U.S. Secretary of State. “The highly experienced Kerry is a well-known supporter of Israel’s security,” Netanyahu said in a statement. “John Kerry and I have been friends for many years and I appreciated the fact that six…

Egyptian Vice President Mahmud Mekki announced his resignation on Saturday, the day of a referendum on a new constitution that leaves unclear whether his position would be maintained. In a statement obtained by AFP, Mekki said he was stepping down because “political work does not suit my professional character as a judge.” He said he…

The Kinneret, or Sea of Galilee, rose by a whopping 18 centimeters (7 inches) in the course of Saturday, and is now only 3.21 meters short of the maximum level, at which authorities allow its water to flow southward, into the Jordan River and Dead Sea. Since Thursday, the Kinneret’s level has risen by 24…

The Foreign Ministry has launched a probe into the posting of a Facebook message by the Israel embassy in Ireland that said if Jesus and Mary were alive today in Bethlehem, they would probably be lynched by local Arabs.   Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said, “We all agree that it was improper, inappropriate.” He said Tuesday…

Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett denied Saturday evening that he had called on soldiers to refuse orders to evict Jews from their homes in a television interview last week. He accused Likud of playing a dangerous game in turning the interview into a major election issue. “This evening, I turn to tens of thousands of…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu hinted on Friday that he would not include Bayit Yehudi Chairman Naftali Bennett in his coalition because of Bennett’s remarks, that if he were ordered to expel Jews from their homes, he would ask his commander to release him from duty. “I’m not prepared to have anyone who reveres refusal of…

Four people died on Friday and several police officers were wounded in a shooting spree in rural Pennsylvania, officials said. The shootings, exactly a week after a massacre of 20 children and six adults at a school in Connecticut, “happened over a large area” near Geeseytown, in a remote part of the eastern U.S. state,…

Canada added Iran’s Quds Force to a list of terrorist groups on Thursday, saying the elite special operations unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had been arming the Taliban, Hamas and others. AFP reported that Canada’s Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the Quds Force was responsible for “exporting the Iranian Revolution through activities such…

It’s official: U.S. President Barack Obama will nominate Senator John Kerry as secretary of state on Friday, as he begins to remake his national security team ahead of his second term, a U.S. official told AFP. Kerry would succeed Hillary Clinton, who is stepping down after four years as the top U.S. diplomat. His appointment…

The IDF is continuing to investigate the attack which occurred at a base north of Jerusalem early Friday morning. Two Arab terrorists attacked an IDF soldier, stole his weapon and ran off. An initial investigation found that the two Arabs were able to penetrate the base’s perimeter fence and reached the soldier’s position without attracting…

The Syrian regime has fired Scud-style missiles at rebels, NATO said on Friday, according to an AFP report. North Atlantic Treaty Organization chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen was quoted as having said the Syrian army’s use of Scud-type missiles against rebels was an act of desperation. “I can confirm that we have detected the launch of…

Senior officials in the legal system have confirmed long-standing public suspicion by stating that it is official policy not to ticket illegally parked police cars, regardless of whether or not officers are responding to an emergency. “City workers in Tel Aviv-Yafo do not write parking tickets for police vans. This is in line with legal…

A new report from NGO Monitor reveals that several Christian organizations that support the Palestinian Authority are using Christmas to attack Israel. Holiday propaganda ranged from half-truths aimed at portraying Israel as oppressive to “crude anti-Semitism” based on historic Christian accusations of Jews being prophet-killers, the group said. The report, titled, “O Boycott All ye…

The Palestinian Authority is threatening to take action against Israel if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wins the elections in January. A senior official in the PA said Thursday that if Netanyahu wins another term in office, the entity would take a series of measure in order to isolate. The official, Hussam Zumlot, told The Associated…

Speaking at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) conference at the Inbal hotel in Jerusalem, Ambassador Dennis Ross sought to explain United States priorities in the Middle East during President Barack Obama’s second term in the White House. Ross projected that the Obama administration will have many priorities in the region that will strategically…

Iran has hanged seven men, six of them for drug trafficking and another for rape, in prison in the central province of Isfahan, Kayhan newspaper reported on Thursday, according to AFP. The seven, aged 25 to 45, were executed on Wednesday, the province’s public prosecutor, Mohammad Reza Habibi, said in the report. “One of the…

U.S. tech leaders and celebrities have joined a call for an “Internet moment of silence” on Friday to remember the victims of last week’s massacre of 26 people at a Connecticut elementary school. Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, television host Ryan Seacrest and singer Britney Spears were among the leaders of the “Stand with Sandy Hook”…

A new poll by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs shows that the vast majority of Israelis are opposed to an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria. The poll, taken in November, showed that 76% of all Israelis (83% of Israeli Jews) do not believe that a withdrawal to the 1948 armistice lines will bring…

San Francisco’s only kosher market is closing its doors, making it the only major North American city without a grocery that sells fresh kosher food. Israel’s Strictly Kosher Market, which opened its doors 65 years ago and was once a gathering place for the Russian-speaking Jewish community in San Francisco’s Richmond District, will close in…

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, sent a letter of the complaint to the Security Council on Thursday, demanding the organization enforce UN Resolution 1701, which calls for the disarming of Hizbullah and prohibits the organization from bringing weapons close to Lebanon’s border with Israel. “It is time that European countries recognize Hizbullah…

Already saddled with a restive population that appears set on repeating last year’s revolution against the regime and mass protests against his style of governing, recently installed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is apparently suffering from a brain tumor, Egyptian media reported Thursday. The Al-Wafed newspaper said that the tumor in his brain was currently small,…

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has moved some of his chemical weapons arsenal in the direction of Lebanon. If one reads between the lines of a report written by David Ignatius this week in The Washington Post, it is not hard to make the jump between that trip and the possibility of such trucks — or…

Israel’s greatest concern is of increased attempts by Hizbullah to attain accomplishments by inserting unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into Israeli territory, the Israeli Air Force said on Wednesday, according to a report on the Israel Defense website. According to the IAF, Hizbullah is encouraged by the successful entry of its UAV into Israeli territory in…

A Russian destroyer has berthed in the southern Iranian Port of Bandar Abbas, an Iranian Navy commander announced on Wednesday.    “Marshal Shaposhinkov, which is a heavy Russian destroyer, has berthed in this zone to consolidate the military ties between the two countries,” the Commander of Iran’s First Naval Zone, Admiral Hossein Azad, said, according to…

Israel’s building in its own capital is not an obstable to peace, but rather the Arabs’ demands and incitement, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said on Wednesday. Ambassador Ron Prosor was responding to the condemnation by four European members of the Security Council of Israel’s plans to build thousands of new housing units in…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has asked MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) to make clear to the religious public that he has no intention of barring the entrance of Bayit Yehudi under Naftali Bennett into his next coalition, Maariv reported Wednesday. Netanyahu reportedly said that he never told anyone that he intends to block Bennett and that…

Employees of the Palestinian Authority government across Judea and Samaria were on strike on Wednesday over unpaid salaries, with the protest expected to continue into Thursday, AFP reported. Thousands of staff at ministries, schools and health facilities failed to show up for work to protest against the non-payment of their November salaries. “This was a…

The United Nations on Wednesday called on Israel to cancel plans to build thousands of new Jewish homes in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem, warning the move could be “an almost fatal blow” to peace hopes. “The Middle East peace process is in a deep freeze. The two sides seem more polarized than ever, and a…

A joint effort by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), IDF and police has uncovered the terror cell that bombed a Tel Aviv bus in late November. The cell is based in the area around the Palestinian Authority capital of Ramallah, in the Samaria (Shomron) region. Its members are affiliated with the Gaza-based Hamas and…

EU monitors have once again been told by Hamas their services are “not required” at the border crossing between Gaza and Egypt. On Monday, the Gaza official in charge of the region’s crossings, Maher Abu Sabha, was quoted by the Palestinian Authority-based website Alresalah as saying the “’Europeans’ had started to talk about their return…

Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, 68, the IDF’s 15th Chief of Staff and a former government minister, died Wednesday after being hospitalized for cancer, which re-surfaced after a previous fight with the disease.   Lipkin-Shahak received the IDF Citation of Valor twice for courage on the field of battle. Before his appointment as Chief of Staff in 1995, Lipkin-Shahak…

More than 2,000 additional housing units have been approved for a southern Jerusalem neighborhood adjoining Talpiot, in a move sure to set off another firestorm of protest in the international community. The Interior Ministry’s planning committee gave its approval on Wednesday for a project to build 2,610 new homes in Givat Hamatos, a southern suburb of Jerusalem located…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is asking the UN to take the first step towards flooding Israel with foreign Arabs by suggesting Syrian “refugees” move to the PA. Abbas’ request to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, was reported by the official Palestinian Authority website Wednesday. His latest diplomatic ploy could place Israel again in…

In a direct and valiant attempt to confront the recent anti-Semitic events that have plagued the Hungarian parliament, State Secretary of the Development Ministry Janos Fonagy revealed to politicians: “My mother and father were Jewish, and so am I, whether you like it or not.” The minster’s remarks came in response to last month’s calls…

The Hungarian airline Wizz Air has begun operating low-cost flights from Budapest to Tel Aviv.  The airline’s first flight to Israel took off on December 6 at 15:35 from Budapest with 175 passengers on board, according to Israel’s trade portal Port2Port website. The start of the new connection brings low fares to a route previously…

Israel’s agreement to allow new construction in Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria is essentially a declaration of war, Palestinian Authority lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti said Tuesday, according to the Bethlehem-based Maan. Israel has agreed to allow the construction of thousands of homes in Maaleh Adumim, and the government is reportedly planning to issue hundreds of…

Several young Jewish women have leveled serious accusations against Border Police officers in Jerusalem. The young women say that police wrongly detained them as an Arab mob gathered, then left them to face the mob alone. The women say they managed to escape, but were hit by Arab men as they fled. The incident began…

A new independent poll in the Palestinian Authority points to a calm before a storm of terror as Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza rejected PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in favor of de facto Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh. The results of the survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research are a…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued the following statement Tuesday on the passing of US Senator (D-Hawaii) Daniel K. Inouye. “On behalf of the people of Israel, I wish to express my deepest condolences on the passing of Senator Daniel Inouye. “I was proud to call Senator Inouye a friend.  He was a humble man with…

Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, formerly Chief Rabbi of Ireland, will replace retiring Rabbi Jonathan Sacks as Britain’s Chief Rabbi. Rabbi Sacks, who also is in the House of Lords, will retire next year after 11 years in office. “The Chief Rabbinate Trust can this evening confirm that the consultative group has endorsed a recommendation by the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met on Monday with U.S. Senator-elect Ted Cruz (R-Texas). At the start of their meeting, the Prime Minister said, “I’m welcoming you to Israel on your very first visit. You’re a friend of Israel; the United States is a close ally of Israel. We have not only common values but face…

The United Nations is sending chemical weapons kits to UN troops in the Golan Heights because of growing fears over Syria’s deadly non-conventional arsenal, officials said Monday, according to AFP. UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous briefed the UN Security Council on efforts to bolster the safety of the UN force, which monitors a ceasefire zone…

The Jewish People owe the late Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye “an immense historic debt,” Israel Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren said after the pro-Israel senator died Monday at the age of 88 from respiratory complications. “The Iron Dome system that recently intercepted hundreds of terrorist rockets aimed at our homes stands as enduring…

The Palestinian Authority said Monday night it will file a complaint with the United Nations Security Council over progress in plans for a housing project in Jerusalem’s Ramat Shlomo neighborhood. PA officials denounced the decision by Israel’s Interior Ministry to tell developers they must resubmit the plan for “final approval,” reduced by 100 units. The…

The British government is planning to exclude Hebrew from its list of officially recognized languages for primary schools, in a move that could damage Jewish education in the country, the Jewish Chronicle (JC) reported. Education Minister Elizabeth Truss announced plans last month to make it compulsory to teach a foreign language to children aged seven…

The United States, as expected, condemned on Monday Israel’s plans to build new homes in Jerusalem. The condemnation came after the Interior Ministry decided to go ahead with plans to build 1,500 new homes in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo. State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland criticized the move and called on Israel to refrain…

Pope Benedict XVI received Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmud Abbas on Monday and called on all parties involved in the Middle East crisis to find the courage to work together for peace and reconciliation, AFP reported. In a statement following the meeting, the Vatican said it hoped that the PA’s recent upgraded status at the United…

A Hamas terror cell has been uncovered in northern Jerusalem, it was released for publication Monday. The Israel Security Agency (Shabak, or Shin Bet), Jerusalem police and Border Police uncovered the cell in a joint sting operation. The security agencies filed their charges Monday against the three-member cell. They were indicted in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on…

Moshe Tzarfati of the fledgling Am Shalem political party, led by MK Rabbi Haim Amsalem, reiterated in an interview with Arutz Sheva the party’s intention is to reach out to the Anglo community. “I think our views of integration are very familiar to Anglos,” Tzarfati said. “They have seen, in their communities, Hareidis that are…

El Al Airlines will begin a trial project next month ahead of transferring all flight manuals on its Boeing 777 fleet to iPads, Israel’s business daily Globes news reported. When the plan is completed, all the carrier’s pilots will be equipped with iPads, enabling them to manage flights to destinations worldwide, reportedly saving hundreds of thousands…

Developers were told this week they must reduce a long-planned housing project in Jerusalem’s Ramat Shlomo neighborhood by 100 units – and then re-submit the plan before receiving “final approval.” Interior Ministry spokesperson Efrat Orbach told AFP on Monday the ministry’s planning committee said the request to build 1,600 new housing units needed to be…

Palestinian Authority Arabs rioted against the Israel Defense Forces near Yitzhar in Samaria around noon Monday, in another test of the military, and then threw rocks at a rescue team carrying an injured soldier. The clash began when an Arab shepherd’ approached the borders of the community and refused orders to stay away. Soldiers acted…

Three residents of the northern Arab village of Tuba Zangariya were injured Sunday in a family feud involving gunfire and an intentional car collision. Seven people have been arrested and more arrests are expected. The incident began when to youths aged 16 and 17 on an all terrain vehicle (ATV) drove behind another vehicle inside…

A huge explosion, apparently at a Hizbullah weapons depot, rocked Lebanon near the border Monday morning, the country’s state news agency reported. Hizbullah immediately accused Israel of carrying to an aerial bombing. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) is responsible for maintaining security in the area, and it is investigating the blast, but…

The Finance Ministry on Sunday released an optimistic forecast for economic growth in Israel for 2013. The forecast shows the economy growing 3.5%, half a percent more than senior economists quoted in the media recently had been predicting. And the forecast for 2014 – with 3.9% growth is even better. The Ministry’s growth prediction is…

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro thanked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres for their expressions of condolences after the massacre at a school in Newtown, Connecticut on Friday. Shapiro wrote on his Facebook page that “at this time of tragedy, it helps to know that our friends are mourning with us.” Twenty…

An Arabic-speaking man shot at a female guard in Bnei Brak, adjacent to Tel Aviv, early Monday morning in what police say apparently was not terrorist attack. The guard was working at the offices of a company when the attacker arrived at the entrance and shot at her. She was not wounded by the shots…

Neither side in the conflict in Syria can win using military methods, the country’s vice president has admitted. In an interview with the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, which will be published Monday and of which excerpts were released on Sunday, Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa said that “with every passing day, the military and political solutions…

Islamists backing a new constitution for Egypt claimed victory on Sunday in the first leg of a referendum, AFP reported. Meanwhile, the opposition alleged polling violations and called for nationwide protests ahead of next weekend’s second leg. The two sides’ positions drew out the deep uncertainty and division seen in Egypt over the past three…

A mosque in the Palestinian neighborhood of Yarmouk in southern Damascus that was sheltering some 600 refugees from neighboring districts was been attacked from the air and hit by at least one rocket, and there are reports of many casualties, according to the BBC. According to Euronews, at least 25 people were killed in the…

After threatening that Ankara could set off “World War III” if it allows the U.S. to deploy Patriot missiles on its border with Syria, a report Sunday said that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would not be visiting Turkey, as had been scheduled. Turkey’s Hurriyet daily newspaper said that the cancellation of Ahmadinejad’s visit had raised Turkish-Iranian…

American Muslims are trying to mainstream the word “jihad,” which literally means struggle, and reclaim it from Muslim extremists. The campaign features Muslims describing their personal struggles — the meaning of jihad — on bus ads, Twitter, Facebook and a dedicated website: myjihad.org. AFP reported. “#MyJihad is to build friendships across the aisle,” says one ad showing…

Only 10 percent of Americans sympathize with the Palestinian Authority, according to a new Pew Center poll, which shows that the United States public is also going isolationist. In answer to the question, “In the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians, which side do you sympathize with more, Israel or the Palestinians?” 50 percent identified…

An IDF officer who is the assistant foreign liaison officer to international organizations in Gaza is none other than a young native of Arizona named Nira Lee, who moved to Israel in 2010 after she earned a degree at American University in Washington, D.C.   With the rank of Second Lieutenant, Nira serves with COGAT,…

A soldier who suffered moderate wounds in a training exercise Sunday was evacuated by the helicopter of the Chief of Staff, who had been in the area moments before. The unidentified soldier was wounded by a ricochet bullet in a paratroopers drill in the Jordan Valley approximately 15 minutes after IDF Chief of Staff Benny…

President Barack Obama has decided to nominate Senator John Kerry to be the next secretary of state and could make a formal announcement as early as next week, a Democrat who spoke to Kerry told CNN on Saturday. The expected nomination comes after UN ambassador Susan Rice decided on Thursday to withdraw her name from…

A video released on Friday shows a group of Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists announcing the formation of a new military brigade, which would start a new intifada (uprising) against Israel beginning in Hevron. According to a report in the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency, the video, posted on YouTube, shows eight people covering their faces with…

The chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces warned Turkey on Saturday over its plans to deploy U.S.-made Patriot missiles, saying the move was part of a Western plot to “create a world war”. “The Patriot (missiles) are threatening. Each one of them is a black dot on the map, (setting the stage) to create…

Americans are agonizing over the murder spree by Adam Lanza, who was known by school mates as intelligent – but strange. On leafy Yogananda Street, home to Nancy Lanza and her son Adam, one woman named Megan, age 20 and who declined to divulge her last name, told AFP, “He was a weird kid as a…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also will be the Foreign Minister after Avigdor Lieberman’s resignation takes effect, and Deputy Minister Danny Ayalon will be re-appointed. The resignation of  Lieberman, who was indicted last week on once charge of breach of trust, will take effect in 48 hours. By law, Ayalon also must leave his post, but the…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu lit the eighth and final Hannukah candle at the Kotel Saturday evening. “In recent days, I have heard that the Palestinians are saying that the Western Wall is occupied territory,” Netanyahu said. “I want to tell them from the closet possible place to where the miracle of the jar of oil…

A 1987 study ordered by the CIA found that Jonathan Pollard, convicted in the U.S. of spying for Israel, never sought to obtain information about U.S. activities. Rather, he was instructed by his Israeli handlers to obtain information about Israel’s enemies. The 1987 study by the Foreign Denial and Deception Analysis Committee was ordered by…

In condolence letter to U.S. President Barack Obama following the school massacre in Connecticut, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu drew a parallel to the acts of barbaric Arab terrorism Israel has to deal with. “I was shocked and horrified by today’s savage massacre of innocent children and adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut,”…

Hungarian police briefly arrested a parliamentarian for torching an Israeli flag during an anti-Jewish protest in the capital, Budapest. Iran’s Press TV reported that the incident took place on Friday in a demonstration near the Foreign Ministry. The demonstrators were protesting what they say are Israeli “atrocities” against Arabs who live in the Land of…

Iran expressed condemnation Saturday of the Connecticut school massacre but added that there is “no difference” between it and the killing of children in various hotspots in the Middle East, including Syria and Iraq – where Iran itself is involved in killing tens of thousands of civilians, including thousands of children. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Friday afternoon, shortly after Lieberman announced he was resigning from his post because of an upcoming indictment against him. According to a Channel 2 News report, Netanyahu told Lieberman he hoped that Lieberman will soon be able to return to a senior governmental role.…

Palestinian Authority Arabs rioted throughout Judea and Samaria on Friday afternoon. Approximately 1,000 Arabs rioted in Tulkarm. In Ni’lin and Bil’in the rioters hurled rocks at security forces. About 30 PA Arabs rioted in Kfar Kadum im Samaria and rolled a burning tire towards security forces. 10 Arabs rioted in the Qalandiya crossing, throwing rocks…

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced on Friday afternoon that he would be resigning from his position, a day after the Attorney General decided to indict him on charges of fraud and breach of trust. “Although I know I have not violated any laws, out of a desire that after so many years of legal proceedings,…

At least 27 people, including 14 children, were killed Friday in a shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut, CBS News reported. The shooting incident took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, about 12 miles east of Danbury. ABC News reported that the massacre involved two gunmen, prompting the town of Newtown…

Only 28.2% of Israelis believe that Israel has a partner for peace in negotiations with the Palestinians, according to a new survey conducted by Gal Hadash for Yisrael Hayom. 62.4% say there is no partner for peace. The Arab population of Judea, Samaria and Gaza is currently politically split. Those in Gaza are ruled by…

The bid to keep MK Hanin Zoabi out of the next Knesset is likely to succeed due in part to never-seen-before proof of her involvement in an attack on IDF soldiers, MK Danny Danon (Likud) told Arutz Sheva. A video already released shows Zoabi knew in advance that Turkish men aboard the ship Mavi Marmara,…

Jews have been barred from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem until Sunday, the last day of Hannukah. The Temple Mount is the holiest site on earth according to Jewish tradition. The ban is aimed at preventing a Muslim riot at the site. Riots are thought to be particularly likely following Friday prayers. It follows riots…

The 20-year-old Border Police officer who shot an Arab attacker in Hevron this week is facing death threats. Arab-language websites have published her picture, and social media users are calling for retaliation. Hebrew media outlets have blurred the soldier’s image. The female officer fired on a young Arab man who was pointing a gun at…

The United States will send Patriot air defense missiles and 400 troops to Turkey to defend it from Syria, AP reported Friday. Pentagon press secretary George Little said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has signed a deployment order. Turkey requested assistance from NATO following multiple incidents in which violence in Syria spilled over the border. In…

The IDF and the police will be on high alert Friday, following a series of attempted terror attacks and riots in the Hevron area. According to a report on Channel 2 News, there will be an increased presence of soldiers and officers around Judea and Samaria, and especially in Hevron, at the end of Friday…

The Syrian regime has fired Scud missiles at rebel forces trying to oust Bashar al-Assad, a U.S. official has admitted, according to AFP. “Scuds landed within Syria,” the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. A report in The New York Times on Wednesday indicated that Syrian forces loyal to Assad have fired Scud missiles…

Over 100 Lone Soldier Olim from all over the world gathered in Tel Aviv on Thursday, December 13, to celebrate the 6th night of Hanukkah with 2012 Tennis Paralympics Gold Medal Winner Noam Gershoni. Together they celebrated Hanukkah, while enjoying traditional sufganiyot, latkes, drinks, music and candle lighting. Gershoni was a fighter pilot in the Israel Defense…

Members of an IDF unit stationed near Hevron shot an Arab terrorist as he prepared to throw a firebomb at them on Thursday evening. Arab reports claimed that the terrorist was seriously wounded and taken to hospital in the city. Earlier on Thursday, terrorists threw a firebomb at an IDF position in the city. There…

Iran congratulated North Korea on Wednesday for its “successful” launch of a long-range rocket, an incident that provoked global condemnation, AFP reported. Tehran “congratulates the people and the government” of North Korea on “the successful launching of the satellite-carrying rocket,” Iran’s armed forces deputy chief, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, told the Fars news agency. “Dominant…

Avigdor Lieberman responded Thursday to the recent indictment of fraud and breach of trust brought against him, saying he has been the target of suspicion and questioning for a long time now. Hinting that he has no intention of resigning, he said he hopes the matter will be settled as soon as possible.  The Attorney…