Category: News

The widow of late PLO arch-terrorist Yassir Arafat plans to file a legal complaint in France asking authorities to investigate her husband’s death. The move comes after a broadcast last week by Arab satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera, which said it had conducted a nine-month investigation into Arafat’s death after his widow, Suha, provided the station…

El Al pilots grounded two flights to and from Russia Monday night as a strike looms during the peak summer tourist season. The pilots refused to show up for the flights to and from St. Petersburg, leaving 276 passengers stranded there and in Tel Aviv while El Al tried to find alternatives for them. “Regrettably,…

Whoever left a duffel bag at a Florida synagogue scared the dickens out of its rabbi. A bomb squad investigated and found the suspected bomb bag to be full of nothing other than religious books. Everyone in the Young Israel of Boca Raton synagogue was evacuated 8:30 Sunday morning after the duffel bag was discovered,…

MK Miri Regev (Likud) thinks Israel should place Jewish communities on Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron) under its sovereignty as a preliminary step before placing all of the territory – also called Yesha, in a Hebrew acronym – under its sovereignty. MK Regev said this in a recorded speech that is to be delivered…

An earthquake on the Greek island of Rhodes Monday afternoon sent unusually wide tremblors in Israel from Tiberias in the north to south of Be’er Sheva in the Negev. The Geophysics Institute in Israel said the earthquake in Greece registered 5.7 on the Richter scale and was felt in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where buildings…

Iran is copy-catting the deadly Russian Kornet anti-tank missile that Hizbullah used against Israeli soldiers in the Second Lebanon War and which Hamas used to kill a student on a school bus last year. Quoting defense sources in London and Moscow, the Gulf News website quoted a Russian defense advisor as saying that Iran may…

Two Palestinian Authority Arab teens have been remanded for eight days after confessing to torching forest land near Kibbutz Ma’ale HaHamisha. The two suspects, ages 17 and 18, are residents of the nearby PA village of Kfar Katna. They were arrested and taken into custody in a joint operation by Jerusalem District Police and Border Police.…

Egypt’s highest court said Monday that its rulings are binding for all state institutions after President Mohamed Morsi decided to convene the parliament. The Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt on June 14 invalidated the elections that led to the current Islamist-dominated parliament’s composition. The Court, which convened for an emergency session on Monday, said that…

Police shot two men to death during a demonstration in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, activists reported Monday. The demonstration, held in the city of Qatif, was held to protest the arrest of activist Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, a prominent Shi’ite cleric. In addition to the two deaths, two “slightly wounded” individuals were reportedly ‘brought…

It was an open miracle, residents said. A Palestinian Authority Arab sniper aimed at the junction to Kibbutz Yad Mordechai on Monday evening, and scored a direct hit into the back windshield of a car, pumping bullets into the back of the vehicle. At least one went dead center into the back of a baby’s…

Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has reminded the president-elect, Mohamed Mursi, of its own powerful position in the country. The military issued a statement saying it expects all state institutions to respect the constitution – a barely-disguised warning to the newly-elected Muslim Brotherhood member. The move followed a decision by Mursi to revoke…

Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists in Gaza attacked southern Israel repeatedly Monday, firing gunshots and rockets across the border. Shortly after 9:00 p.m., terrorists launched a rocket attack aimed at the Israeli coastal region. The missile exploded in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council district. No one was physically injured, although several people suffered anxiety and those…

IAF aircraft attacked a terrorist base and another terror target, both belonging to the Hamas terror group, in southern Gaza on Monday night. According to a statement released by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, precise hits at the targets were identified. All Israeli planes safely returned to their bases. The statement noted that the airstrikes are…

Bats have long been associated with witchcraft, vampires, and black magic, but according to Dr. Yossi Yovel of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Zoology, we have much to learn from these highly intelligent winged mammals. According to a report on the website of the American Friends of Tel Aviv University, Dr. Yovel is developing the…

José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, met on Monday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. The two leaders “discussed the importance of expanding cooperation between Israel and Europe in all areas, Iran’s effort to arm itself with nuclear weapons and the resumption of the peace talks with the Palestinians,” Netanyahu’s office said in…

UN special envoy Kofi Annan said he had constructive talks in Damascus on Monday with President Bashar al-Assad as violence continues unabated in Syria. “I just had a positive and constructive discussion with President Assad,” Annan said as he prepared to head to Tehran for talks with Syria’s main ally in the region. “We agreed…

Former Knesset Member Geula Cohen believes that annexing Judea and Samaria is possible, if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu wills it. Based on her experience, however, she noted that the law can be proposed by an MK and not by Netanyahu himself. Cohen, a former underground fighter who formed the Tehiya party in 1979, initiated the…

The Jammu-Kashmir area of India is one of the most popular, if not dangerous, spots for Israeli backpackers, but extremists have connected the dots to conclude they are spies. In a local version of the goose trying to kill the golden egg, the leader of the extremist and separatist Hurriyat party, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, concluded…

UN special envoy Kofi Annan is in Iran after finishing a round of talks with Syrian officials in Damascus. The trip underscores Annan’s belief that Tehran is one of the key players in finding a solution to the conflict in Syria. Annan described his talks in Damascus as ‘constructive,’ saying the sides agreed to move…

A Palestinian Authority official on Monday said Chairman Mahmoud Abbas refused an Israeli officer for a staged release of security prisoners from PA enclaves in exchange for returning to peace talks. Issa Qaraqe, the so-called PA Prisoners Minister, said that Abbas insists that all 123 prisoners held since before the 1994 Oslo agreement be freed…

The IDF has released a video documenting the way Hizbullah is collecting information along the Lebanese border, six years after the Second Lebanon War, Israel Defense reported. The video was presented during a debriefing by Brigadier General Hartzi Halevi, Commander of the 91st Division (Galilee Formation), which is responsible for the Lebanese border sector. “The…

Israel’s leftists are very upset over the report filed by an official committee that states Judea and Samaria are not “occupied territories.” The committee was headed by Supreme Court Justice (ret.) Edmund Levy, and included Judge (ret.) Tehiya Shapira and Dr. Alan Baker as members. MK Shlomo Molla (Kadima) reacted sharply to the report: “I…

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin met José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, and told him that the United Nations Human Rights Commission is “a rotten organization, both morally and politically.” He called on Barroso to side with Israel and withdraw from the UNHCR, following the appointment of its new committee for looking into…

It is difficult for Taliban terrorist brutality to shock the world, but it managed to outdo itself with a video of its shooting a woman nine times in the back for alleged adultery, while 150 men cheered. WARNING: The video below shows violence and is not recommended for viewing by children. The executed woman was…

The headline “Government destroys Arab homes on ‘government land’” normally would draw fire and brimstone from mainstream media and the United Nations if Israel were the subject, but not if the government is Hamas. The Hamas regime in Gaza began demolishing several homes on Sunday, according to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency, closely aligned with…

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) strongly condemned the Obama administration’s handling of the Syrian crisis and said that the U.S. is not doing enough to help rebels defeat President Bashar al-Assad, adding that the U.S. should be providing the rebels with weapons to hasten his defeat. “My question to the Secretary of State and the President…

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso called on Sunday for a return to talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, warning the peace process must not become “an orphan of the Arab Spring.” AFP quoted Barroso as having made the remarks during a trip to Ramallah, where he met PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and…

The supreme leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood – and of its president elect Mohammed Morsi – has called for jihad on Israel. The website Jihad Watch cited a report in last Thursday’s Egypt-based Al Wafd newspaper. The report said that, during his weekly sermon, “Muhammad Badi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Supreme Guide, confirmed the necessity for…

The elite 8200 association has chosen its winners in 2012’s Startup Competition. This year’s first place winner is Vecoy Nanomedicines, a firm that uses nanotechnology to fight deadly viruses. The company has created a totally new way of fighting viruses. Its nano-scale virus traps mimic human cells in order to lure viruses. The viruses are…

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Sunday called the Islamist-dominated parliament to reconvene, in defiance of a military decree dissolving the legislature on the basis of a ruling by the country’s highest court. The Associated Press reported that Morsi’s decree also called for new parliamentary elections to be held within 60 days of the adoption of…

U.S. real estate guru and CNN and Fox News financial expert, Robert Shemin, is in Israel as part of a world tour of the workshop “The Million Dollar Man.” Shemin, the author of the New York Times bestseller “How Come THAT idiot is rich and I’m NOT?” is holding two workshops while in Israel. The…

Iran was elected to a top post on the UN Arms Trade Treaty conference, UN Watch revealed Sunday in an exclusive report. The Islamic Republic was chosen for the conference, which is currently taking place in New York, as the international community continues to sanction the regime in an attempt to curtail its nuclear program…

The agents who carried out assassinations of top Iranian nuclear scientists were not Iranians working for the Mossad but Israelis, according to a book written by an Israeli journalist In “Spies Against Armageddon: Inside Israel’s Secret Wars,” (Levant Books), CBS News national correspondent Dan Raviv and Israeli journalist Yossi Melman wrote that the Mossad operates…

The IDF’s Civil Administration stands accused of working to assist Palestinian Authority Arabs in illegally grabbing Jewish-owned land. The head of the Bik’at HaYarden (Jordan Valley) regional authority, David Elhayani, has sent a strongly worded letter to senior official in the Civil Administration in which he blames them for expropriating Jewish land in the community…

The demonstration in Tel Aviv demanding equal service by hareidim will be followed by a march through Nazareth demanding that Arab citizens, too, pull their weight. Police have granted permission to MK Ben Ari (National Union), and nationalist super-activists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel, to hold a march in Nazareth and call for “equality in…

Women living in the town of Migron, in the Binyamin region, appealed Sunday to Binyamin Regional Council head Avi Roeh in an attempt to avoid expulsion from their homes. The women asked Roeh to appeal to the government on their behalf. They are hoping that they and their families will be allowed to remain in…

Several Sephardic yeshivas announced Sunday that they would be canceling the summer “bein hazmanim” (“between the times”) break following Rav Ovadia Yosef’s instruction to do so. Rav Ovadia, the venerated sage and former Chief Sephardic Rabbi, has called for the break to be canceled in view of the current turmoil over the demand that hareidim…

Syrian President Bashar Assad accused the United States in a television interview on Sunday of fueling a violent uprising against his government, The Associated Press reported. Assad, who spoke to German public broadcaster ARD was quoted as saying that America is partnering with those “terrorists … with weapons, money or public and political support at…

United States President Barack Hussein Obama has invited his Egyptian counterpart Mohammed Morsi to conduct an official visit to the U.S. in September. Deputy Secretary of State William Perez said he delivered the invitation to Cairo during his meetings with the president on Sunday. This would be the first visit ever to the U.S. by…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will call on Swiss experts who probed Yasser Arafat’s death to take samples from his body for further tests, AFP reported on Sunday. The invitation comes after a report last week on Al-Jazeera which said that elevated levels of the radioactive substance polonium were found on some of Arafat’s belongings,…

French television released on Sunday a recording of Mohammed Merah, the terrorist who murdered seven people, including a rabbi and three young children, in the French city of Toulouse several months ago. The recording reveals what Merah told French police officers in a standoff in his apartment after he refused to give himself up. Merah…

Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya’alon and MK Yohanan Plesner (Kadima), who were appointed to head a team to formulate a new draft law, held a first meeting in Jerusalem on Sunday evening. Sources close to the two told Army Radio that the meeting was positive and that it dealt mainly with an introduction and an…

An appeal has been filed with the High Court for the immediate suspension of Muslim work on the Foundation Stone, the holiest place on the Temple Mount, the holiest Jewish site in the world. The Makor Rishon newspaper revealed last week that the Muslim Waqf, which has been given authority over the Temple Mount by…

The day after Libyans streamed to the polls, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised the North African nation for holding its first national election in decades. “After more than four decades of authoritarian rule, men and women from every corner of Libya are determining their own future,” said Clinton. Speaking with reporters Sunday in…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said in Jordan Sunday he is accepting an invitation by Iran  to visit the Islamic Republic for the Non-Aligned Summit in August. Iran is to suceed Egypt as the rotating president of the Non-Alligned Movement. Egypt’s newly-elected Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi also is expected to attend as Cairo renew…

Thirty-six years after the world’s most famous rescue mission, an Operation Entebbe pilot reveals his plane was so heavily loaded, it barely got off the ground. Reservist Brig. Gen. Joshua Shani, the lead pilot of the four-plane Operation Entebbe, flew his C-130 Hercules cargo plane with the entire rescue force on board. In an interview…

The media-led campaign to blow up the coalition ran out of gas Sunday with the Likud’s adopting “in principle” a Kadima draft law proposal – with changes. The current Tal Law, which provides for army service as well as exemptions of young men learning Torah, expires at the end of the month after having been…

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Saturday that Afghanistan has been officially designated a “major non-NATO ally,” a status that allows for streamlined defense cooperation, including expedited purchasing ability of American equipment and easier export control regulations. “We see this as a powerful symbol of our commitment to Afghanistan’s future,” Clinton said at a…

One of the largest gold treasures ever to be discovered in Israel was uncovered last week at an archaeological dig near Herzliya. The treasure, more than 100 gold pieces and weighing approximately 400 grams (nearly one pound), is estimated at a worth of more than $100,000. The coins were found hidden in a partly broken…

The Attorney General and Legal Advisor to the Government has decided to end the investigation that was opened against Rav Shmuel Eliyahu, Rabbi of Tzfat, eight months ago, on suspicion that he incited to racism. The Justice Ministry issued a statement Sunday in which it explained that the decision was made “because it cannot be…

Thousands of people attended a demonstration Saturday evening outside the Tel Aviv Museum, demanding that all sectors of the Israeli populace share in the burden of military and national service. Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz, who heads Kadima, and journalist-turned-politician Yair Lapid, mingled with the demonstrators. The demonstration is meant to pressure Mofaz and his…

The IAF held a competition this week testing the skill levels of its various unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) squadrons, the IAF Website reported. The participating UAV units were assessed on their success in spotting various targets, navigating within the country’s borders, and locating missile launching targets. First Lt. Matan, a participant in the competition, described…

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday she had held “productive” talks in Paris with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. AFP reported that during the “candid and productive meeting,” Clinton said the two “discussed how to build on his exchange of letters” with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. “I underscored that the United…

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the UN Security Council on Friday to reduce the number of unarmed military observers in Syria and put more stress on political efforts to end the conflict, AFP reported. Ban recommended in a report that the mission in Syria with a “reduced military observer component” be redeployed to the capital Damascus,…

Iran’s spy chief accused French and German intelligence services on Friday of cooperating with the CIA to kill Iranian nuclear scientists. The Associated Press quoted Heidar Moslehi as having said that other intelligence services, including that of Israel, also took part in the alleged campaign targeting the scientists. “The recently dismantled networks of assassination and…

Egypt’s new president appointed a fact-finding committee to investigate the killing of protesters since the outbreak of last year’s popular uprising that toppled his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak. According to The Associated Press, the decree issued late Thursday by Mohammed Morsi orders a review of the investigations and trials related to the killing of nearly 1,000…

Hamas’ de facto Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, accused the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas of negligence in dealing with the investigation of the death of former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat. Speaking on Thursday during a graduation ceremony of officers at the Gaza Interior Ministry, Haniyeh said, “Our claim is that the operation…

Despite earlier hopes that the Israeli athletes who were brutally murdered at the Munich 1972 Games will be remembered in a moment of silence during the opening ceremony of this summer’s games in London, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) dismissed that possibility on Friday. Earlier reports indicated that the chairman of the London Organizing Committee…

Three days before the expiration of the ultimatum set by Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to accept the conclusions presented in the Plesner Committee’s report, the crisis in the coalition continued on Friday. Netanyahu said on Thursday evening that he would be willing to impose personal sanctions on hareidim who evade…

This week Cyprus took over the rotating presidency of the European Union. As the main problem on the European agenda continues to be the European debt crisis, the Cypriot presidency is the equivalent of having the local bartender running Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. Cyprus has just announced that it must seek a bailout due to its…

A heated television debate between a Jordanian member of parliament and a local activist this week led to the parliamentarian pulling a gun on the activist in front of the cameras. The MP, Mohammed Shawabka, was debating a political activist named Mansour Sayf al-Din Murad, a former MP who openly supports the regime in Syria.…

The defection of a top general from the Syrian regime is “significant” and signals cracks in President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle, the Pentagon said Friday. “We welcome this defection and we believe it is significant,” Pentagon spokesman Captain John Kirby was quoted by AFP as having told reporters. “He’s a senior official in the Syrian…

The United Nations’ Human Rights Council (UNHRC) appointed on Friday three officials to conduct a fact-finding mission on how the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron) affect the lives of Palestinian Authority Arabs. According to a CBS News report the Council president, Uruguay Ambassador Laura Dupuy Lasserre, named three women to the…

Chairman of the London Organizing Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games, Lord Coe, said that he will hold a “personal” moment for the Israeli athletes brutally murdered at the Munich 1972 Games during this year’s opening ceremony, The Jewish Chronicle (JC) reported. While he said that he would mark the anniversary during a “personal moment,”…

French president Francois Hollande on Friday called for stiffer sanctions against his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad, and increased support for rebels seeking Assad’s ouster, at a meeting of Western and Arab powers. More than 16,500 people are estimated to have been killed in the uprising against Assad’s regime. Key Syria allies Russia and China are…

In October 2004, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat was holed up in his Ramallah compound, the Mukata. IDF intelligence got reports that his health was deteriorating. Initially, it was assumed that Arafat was suffering complications from the flu virus. The IDF planned to follow its usual protocol: allow food and other vital supplies to reach…

Some of the newest members of the religious-Zionist Jewish Home party have yet to enter the Knesset, but are already taking the lead. Former CEO of the Council for Judea and Samaria Naftali Bennet, former IDF Chief Rabbi Avichai Ronsky and former head of Bnai Akiva Motti Regev have been working hard in recent days to…

A recently released letter indicates Adolf Hitler made the dramatic intervention to protect a Jew, Ernst Hess, a judge during the interwar years. Hess was Hitlet’s company commander from the Flanders trenches of the First World War. In a letter dated August 27, 1941 to the Dusseldorf Gestapo from Heinrich Himmler instructed the secret police…

A British Muslim convert, who appeared in a BBC documentary, was reportedly one of six people arrested over a suspected terror plot, just over a mile away from the site of the Olympic Games. Richard Dart, 29, who changed his name to Salahuddin al-Britani, was among those detained in Ealing, west London, on Thursday morning.…

A group of Coptic activists in Egypt announced the establishment of the Christian Brotherhood to counter the growing influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, Al-Arabiya news reported. The idea was first initiated in 2005 by lawyer Mamdouh Nakhla, head of al-Kalema Center for Human Rights, and political analyst Michel Fahmi. It was then adopted by Amir…

An Arab security prisoner from the Palestinian Authority claims he was recruited by Israel’s security services to poison late PLO arch-terrorist Yassir Arafat. Lebanon’s Al-Miadin television broadcast a copy of a video tape, which they claim was made in Israel’s Ketziot prison in 2006. In the tape, and Arab prisoner says Israeli intelligence recruited him…

Swastikas and anti-Semitic epithets were found scrawled on a building used by the Jewish Agency in St. Petersburg in Russia. Among the epithets was one that read “All Jews should go to Buchenwald,” naming the death camp in Poland where hundreds of thousands of Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. The scrawlings were discovered Sunday,…

A Syrian general who was a leading member of President Bashar al-Assad’s inner circle has defected to Turkey, a Damascus-based website with close links to the regime reported on Thursday. The British Guardian reported that the general, Manaf Tlass, is a member of the most powerful Sunni family in Syria, and the son of a…

The archaeological excavation site on Mount Gerizim, near Shechem, was officially inaugurated in a special ceremony on Thursday. The ceremony was attended by Environment Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud), Shomon Regional Council head Gershon Mesika, the head of the Nature and Parks Authority Shaul Goldstein, and the Head of the Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria,…

Libya’s outgoing National Transitional Council said on Thursday that Islamic law sharia should be the “main” source of legislation and that this should not be subject to a referendum. “The Libyan people are attached to Islam, as a religion and legislation,” NTC spokesman Saleh Darhoub said, according to a report on AFP. “As such the…

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Israel and Egypt as part of an eight-nation tour which began Thursday, the State Department announced. “Clinton will travel to France, Japan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Egypt and Israel departing Washington, DC on July 5,” AFP quoted a statement from State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland as having…

A poll conducted for Channel 10 News on Thursday found that 46 percent of Israelis believe that the Kadima party should quit the coalition if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not adopt the Plesner Committee’s report. The poll, which was conducted by the Midgam Institute headed by Prof. Camille Fuchs, found that 25 percent of…

Russia dismissed rumors on Thursday that it would offer political asylum to embattled Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as a “joke.” “It is either an attempt to mislead serious people dealing with foreign policy or a lack of understanding of Russia’s position,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said of the rumors. Lavrov said the issue of political…

The IDF is preparing thoroughly for another war while implementing many lessons from the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, Galilee Division Commander Brig. Gen. Hertzi Halevi said Thursday. He spoke on the sixth anniversary of the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War. “The challenges facing us are numerous and we will…

A former senior Syria Army officer estimates in a report that the Syrian Army has lost 6% of its armored vehicles in the ongoing civil war. The former staff officer, Hosni Kurdi, 61, retired from military service in 1994 and has since served as a political consultant in the Gulf states. He has issued a…

Russia has unveiled a new and advanced variation of a cruise missile that can be launched from a standard naval container, which Israel is concerned will find its way into the hands of terror organizations. IsraelDefense revealed the development of the system last year, but has recently become more vigilant due to the development of…

The United States and Pakistan temporarily patched up the crisis in their relations whose immediate cause was mistaken attack by US helicopters on Pakistani border positions on November 26. The American position was that, in the worst case, it was a misunderstanding, but in reality the Pakistanis brought the attack on themselves by firing on…

WikiLeaks on Thursday began publishing more than two million emails from Syrian political figures, ministries and companies that have done business with the country. The so-called ‘Syria Files’ show how the West and western countries “say one thing and do another” when it comes to dealing with the Assad regime, the self-appointed whistleblower site says.…

Leader of the extreme right Hungarian political party challenged Slomo Koves, the Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi of the Unified Hungarian Congregation, to a public debate on anti-Semitism, Politics.hu reported. Jobbik party leader Gabor Vona Koves spoke about the need to launch a consultation between Hungarian society and Jewish organizations on ways to combat anti-Semitism. “Jobbik has never…

The officer commanding United Nations monitors in Syria said Thursday his unarmed observers could not resume their mission due to violence in the country reaching “unprecedented levels.” Maj. Gen. Robert Mood of Norway told reporters in Damascus, “the escalation of violence, allow me to say to an unprecedented level, obstructed our ability to observe, verify,…

An IDF source on Thursday said Israel will resume construction of its incomplete security barrier in Judea and Samaria (Shomron) in the coming weeks. Restarting construction of the barrier – slammed by Jewish and Arab leaders in the region alike – comes after a five-year delay due to “budget problems.” A series of lawsuits over…

Swiss scientists this week reported that they found high concentrations of polonium in body fluids on items used by late PLO arch-terrorist Yassir Arafat before his death in 2004. The announcement rekindled accusations that Arafat may have been poisoned. Many have named Israel as suspect one. But what is polonium? Polonium, also known as Radium…

Deputy Prime Minister and Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz strongly rejected on Wednesday evening Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s welcoming of the Draft Law committee’s recommendations. “The chairman of Kadima received the Prime Minister’s statement with disappointed,” Mofaz said, according to a report on Army Radio. “This is a time for actions, not words, for decisions and…

An Al-Qaeda-inspired group has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks across Syria, The Associated Press reported Wednesday. The report cited the SITE monitoring group, which tracks jihadist chatter on the Internet and which said the Al-Nusra Front released statements on extremist websites in late June claiming the attacks were to avenge the killings of Syrians…

Rabbi Moshe Shapir, editor of the Shas party’s journal, fiercely criticized Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz in an article on Wednesday. The article was published after the Draft Law committee headed by Kadima MK Yohanan Plesner announced its recommendations. Plesner said he wants to heavily fine hareidi religious youth who refuse to enlist in the IDF, but…

Rabbi Asher Idan, the director of the Jerusalem-based Kol HaNa’ar, was attacked and robbed on Tuesday while traveling on the subway in Paris. The incident occurred as Rabbi Idan, who is currently in France engaged in Jewish activities, made ​​his way, along with a student, on the subway to give lessons to local Jewish youth.…

A Syrian general and a number of soldiers defected and crossed into Turkey on Wednesday, a Turkish diplomat told AFP. The general is the 15th such high-ranking officer to flee Syria, the report said. The diplomat, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that a total of 66 people fled into Turkey from…

Egypt’s newly elected Muslim Brotherhood president, Mohammed Morsi, received a phone call from his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on Wednesday. According to a report in Egypt’s state news agency, Ahmadinejad congratulated Morsi on his recent win in Egypt’s presidential election. He also invited Morsi to attend a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement which will be…

MK Yariv Levin (Likud) welcomed on Wednesday the conclusions of a panel, headed by retired Supreme Court judge Edmund Levy, that there is no “occupation” and international law allows Jews to live in Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron). Speaking to Arutz Sheva, Levin, who chairs the Knesset’s House Committee, said, “All the attempts to…

Arutz Sheva visited CleanTech 2012, the largest exhibition of water technology, infrastructure and environment in Israel. The international exhibition took place in Tel Aviv on Tuesday and Wednesday for the 16th consecutive year. It is the most important professional meeting in these areas in Israel. Among the attendees of the exhibition were experts from Japan…

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas will meet with US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and the French President Francois Hollande this week. Erekat said Abbas will stress the importance of releasing PA jailed in Israel when he meets with the leaders, according to a statement from his office. He added that Abbas will also meet…

President Shimon Peres met Wednesday afternoon with MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) in order to try and hammer out a replacement for the Tal Law that regulated the enlistment of hareidim to the IDF. Shas Chairman Eli Yishai said earlier in the day that “the establishment of the Plesner Committee was for the sake…

The giant eBay website is strengthening its operations in Israel, and its CEO will make his first-ever business visit to the Jewish state in September, when he will deliver a keynote address at a conference. John Donahue, head of eBay, will address the HTIA 2012 conference of Israel Advanced Technology Industries in Jerusalem, Globes reported.…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday welcomed the Draft Law committee’s report with its recommendations, saying they are “moving us in the right direction.” In his remarks, Netanyahu concurred with the committee’s most contentions recommendation: sanctions for hareidim and Arabs who refuse to serve in the IDF. “One who shirks” his obligation to do military…

A group of nine Canadian senators warned the United Church of Canada on Wednesday that a boycott of Israeli goods from Judea and Samaria could spark a rift with the Jewish state. The senators, from both the Conservative and Liberal parties, are all members of the United Church. A panel established by the church has…

Iran on Wednesday claimed it has the capability to destroy US bases “within minutes.” US “bases are all in range of our missiles, and the occupied lands [Israel] are also good targets for us,” Revolutionary Guard commander Amir Ali Haji Zadehthe Fars news agency. The three-day Great Prophet 7 training exercise – which simulated rapidly…

Egypt’s newly elected Muslim Brotherhood president Mohammed Morsi denied media reports claiming he plans to visit Iran and expand the “axis of evil.” Less than a week after denying that he spoke with Iran’s Fars News Agency and would “reconsider” the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, Morsi rejected a report in a Lebanese newspaper, quoted…

A particle consistent with the Higgs boson has been discovered and may help explain the origins of mass in the universe. Physicists at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, known as CERN and located near Geneva, announced Wednesday morning they discovered a new particle. The particle was successfully created inside the Large Hadron Collider atom…

Internet search giant Google has reached a deal with French anti-racism groups who filed a lawsuit over the “Jew” suggestion in the auto-complete feature of the search engine. The initial lawsuit, filed in May, stated that “numerous users of the first search engine of France and the world are confronted daily with the association, unsolicited and…

Officials in Ramallah said Wednesday they will allow the exhumation of late PLO arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat’s remains for an autopsy. The former PA leader died at a military hospital outside Paris in November 2004 of what French doctors called a massive brain hemorrhage, just weeks after he fell violently ill at his headquarters in Ramallah.…

Yigal Amir, serving a life sentence in prison for murdering Prime Minister Rabin, has won for the first time freedom from solitary confinement. Prison officials, after the latest twice-annual review, approved Amir’s being transferred to a section where other prisoners are jailed. Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) officials previously have recommended that Amir be kept…

Kadima chairman Shaul Mofaz issued a clear ultimatum to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday afternoon to adopt new draft law proposals if he wants to keep Kadima in the coalition. Mofaz’s ultimatum puts the Prime Minister on the spot to choose between Kadima and hareidi religious parties, which are fiercely opposed to the proposed change…

Turkey’s military said Wednesday it has found the bodies of the two pilots of a jet shot down by Syria last month. Military officials in Ankara said personnel were working on retrieving the bodies from the Mediterranean seabed. The military had been searching for the pilots since their jet was shot down by Syria on…

Austrian officials have removed the name of a notoriously anti-Semitic former mayor from a street, formally renaming a section of Vienna’s posh ring road Universitaetsring, The Associated Press reported. City Councilor Andreas Mailath Pokorny switched the first street sign Wednesday. What was called Dr. Karl-Lueger-Ring has now been renamed after the city’s main university. Lueger,…

Syria’s embattled Bashar al-Assad said Wednesday that Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is meddling in Damascus’ affairs to protect Israel. Why didn’t Erdogan “do anything after the Marmara ship incident except shouting? Why did he challenge Israel, and then suddenly agreed to deploy the missile shield in Turkey?” Assad asked during an interview with…

Russian officials say a Turkish jet recently shot down by Damascus entered Syrian airspace twice to test the country’s anti-aircraft defenses. The Interfax news agency cited an unnamed senior member of Russia’s military who said the Turkish F4 Phantom’s June 22 mission had been to gauge the combat readiness of Syrian air defenses. “It was…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu released on Tuesday a special message to President Barack Obama and to the citizens of the United States, in honor of the Fourth of July holiday. His speech was taped and sent to the annual July 4 celebration at the home of the United States Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Shapiro. “As…

Documents seen exclusively by British website The Commentator and exposed on Tuesday have revealed disturbing attitudes towards Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu by the British Government. The documents, which the site said were marked “RESTRICTED” by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have placed fresh doubts over whether Britain is as firm an ally of Israel’s as…

Arutz Sheva visited on Tuesday the Jewish National Fund’s booth at the Cleantech exhibition which opened at the Exhibition Grounds in Tel Aviv. The booth shows how the JNF’s activities in the field of water help enrich Israel’s economy by 260 million cubic meters of water. This water is collected drop by drop from floods…

President Shimon Peres congratulated the American people on Tuesday as the U.S. celebrates its 236th Independence Day. Peres spoke at a special reception in honor of the 4th of July at the residence of U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro. “I am delighted to salute, on behalf of the State of Israel, the great United…

Following its success in getting the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem recognized as a World Heritage Site, the Palestinian Authority said on Tuesday it will seek to have additional religious sites recognized by UNESCO. According to a report in The Associated Press, the PA’s Foreign Minister, Riad Malki, named the Cave of the Patriarchs…

The Committee on Middle East and Peacemaking Issues of the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly agreed to vote on divesting its portfolio from three companies whose products, it alleges, are used by Israel to enforce the “occupation of the West Bank.” The resolution, which passed by a vote of 36 to 11 with one abstention,…

After six months and $20,000, residents in Jerusalem’s Gilo neighborhood retrieved four Torah scrolls stolen by Palestinian Authority Arab thieves. Rabbi Moshe Ben Abu told Arutz Sheva, “Thieves broke into our new synagogue six months and stole four new Torah scrolls.” He explained that one of the Arab workers apparently took the key and gave…

Iran accused world powers on Tuesday of dragging their feet in negotiations over its nuclear activities, as both sides were about to hold a new, downgraded round of talks in Istanbul, AFP reported. Foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast asserted that if the powers ignored Iran’s nuclear “rights” and failed to bargain on equal terms, the…

The PLO on Tuesday called on Hamas to reverse its decision to suspend voter registration in Gaza. The Hamas terror organization which rules Gaza shut down voter registration on Monday amid a row over a crackdown by Fatah-dominated security forces in Palestinian Authority enclaves in Judea and Samaria. PLO secretary-general Yasser Abed Rabbo told the…

IDF soldiers arrested an Arab man in Hevron on Teusday after they caught him carrying a knife. Local residents told the Bethlehem-based Ma’an that Ameer Zahdeh, 21, was seized in Shuhada Street in central Hevron. The IDF spokesperson’s office said he was caught by soldiers carrying a knife during a routine inspection of the area.…

Dozens of journalists from Palestinian Authority enclaves protested outside the Interior Ministry in Ramallah on Tuesday. The journalists vented their fury over violence used by PA security forces against journalists during a demonstration against planned meeting between PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz. They also protested the arrest of six…

Massive floods over the past week have killed at least 79 people and displaced 2.2 million as torrential monsoon rains inundate India’s northeast. Officials in Assam state bordering Bhutan and Bangladesh said 26 of 27 districts had endured flash floods as heavy rains caused the massive Brahmaputra river to breach its banks. They reported that…

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) expressed deep disappointment that the UNESCO World Heritage Committee succumbed to the politicized Palestinian bid to put Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity on the list of endangered World Heritage Sites.   “With this vote, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee has forsaken its responsibility for protecting the world’s most important and sacred…

Swiss laboratory research released Tuesday suggests Yassir Arafat was poisoned with polonium in 2004. Arafat died on November 11, 2004, following several weeks of treatment for deteriorating health. He had been airlifted to France from his besieged headquarters in Ramallah. However, French officials are restricted by privacy laws and have refused to reveal the precise…

The U.S. State Dept. charged UNESCO on Monday with “hotwiring” a Palestinian Authority demand that the Church of Nativity be declared a PA heritage site. The designation is usually reserved for sites that are under the threat of destruction. The United Nations agency, which recently accepted the Palestinian Authority as a member over American objections,…

Iran claims it tested “tens” of short, medium and large-range missiles at a hypothetical enemy base,” presumably Israeli and American. Fars News Agency, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, reported Tuesday that the Guards Aerospace Force missile units “fired tens of Shahab 1, 2 and 3, Fateh, Qiyam, Persian Gulf and Zelzal missiles at a hypothetical…

Berlin’s Jewish Hospital has suspended circumcisions in the wake of a court ruling that the procedure is a crime punishable by law. Approximately 100 religious circumcisions were performed at the hospital last year, in addition to another 200 that were performed for medical reasons. The court ruling set off an uproar in the Jewish community,…

Minister Eli Yishai, who heads the Shas party, predicted Tuesday that by the next decade there will be more hareidim than secular people serving in the IDF and alternative national service. Yishai told Voice of Israel radio that thousands of hareidim are interested in joining the Nahal Hareidi or carry out national service, but the…

Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum has modified its account of Pope Pius XII’s actions toward the Jews during World War II, following a long diplomatic dispute with the Vatican. Critics have long contended that Pius, who was pope from 1939 to 1958, could have done more to prevent the systematic slaughter of Jews in…

Syrian President Bashar Assad is sorry that his forces downed a Turkish plane but added, “I might have been happy if this had been an Israeli plane.” His comment was made in an interview with the Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet Tuesday. After two weeks of silence, Assad said that the June 22 incident was a result…

Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, will visit Israel this summer to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and other leaders, a senior aide to Netanyahu told The New York Times on Monday. According to the report Romney, who has pledged to “do the opposite” of the Obama administration on matters pertaining to Israel,…

Turkey’s state-run news agency reported on Monday that nearly 300 Syrians have defected to Turkey, including 85 soldiers. According to the Anadolu agency, the defections occurred on Monday and that the 293 Syrians included a general and several other officers. The report added that this was one of the largest groups of Syrian army defectors…

The heads of the “suckers’” movement, who are calling for all Israelis to equally share in the burden, on Monday called on Minister Shaul Mofaz to quit the coalition and bring about elections in which the main issue will be equal burden. “It’s time for you to demonstrate leadership – resign from the government and…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has launched his broadest weapons crackdown in years, The Associated Press reported on Monday. The latest crackdown marks the first time that Abbas is confronting his own loyalists, including rogue security officers and gunmen linked to his Fatah movement. AP reported that the arrest raids conducted in recent weeks are…

The Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land on Monday hailed the granting by UNESCO of world heritage status to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, AFP reported. The report said the Roman Catholic Church said the UNESCO decision was a “diplomatic victory” for the Palestinian Authority, but it also called on the PA…

The UN’s rapporteur for PA human rights launched a blistering attack on the international community on Monday. According to an AFP report, Richard Falk accused the world of “conspiring in Israeli settlement policies”. He also branded the peace process a “trick.” Falk also took aim at the Middle East Quartet’s peace envoy Tony Blair over…

Noam Jacobson is known to many for his appearances on the sketches produced by the satirical website Latma. But his new musical album shows a different side of Jacobson, who graduated from the famous Israeli Rimon School of music and who holds a BA in music from the Bar-Ilan University. Jacobson describes his debut album,…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday denied a Palestinian Authority request for a $100 million bridging loan via Israel. Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad approached Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer in search of Israeli assistance with obtaining the loan earlier this year. Israeli assistance in seeking the loan – approved by Prime…

Hamas “temporarily” suspended voter registration in Gaza on Monday in a move that raises doubts about whether upcoming legislative and presidential elections will be held in Palestinian Authority enclaves. The terror group, which rules the coastal enclave, only granting the PA electoral commission permission to begin registering voters a month ago – but now cites…

Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Monday urged Syria’s opposition to remain united on the shared goal of a free and democratic country. Davtutoglu warned a “weak and disorganized” opposition would only benefit the embattled regime of President Bashar al-Assad’s as it faces mounting pressure from the rebels of the Free Syrian Army. Speaking to…

Officials in Nairobi reported on Monday that two Iranian terrorists who were arrested in Kenya last week were planning to attack Israeli, American, British and Saudi targets in the country. According to the officials, 15 kg of RDX-type explosives, designed to carry out powerful terrorist attacks, were found to be in the possession of the…

Syria’s embattled president Bashar al-Assad on Monday approved new ‘counter-terrorism’ laws as opposition leaders sought in Cairo to develop a vision for a future without him. The official Syrian news agency, SANA, reported that Assad’s government ratified three laws that impose heavy penalties to those who commit “terrorist” acts in order to change the nature…

According to Hizbullah’s al-Manar TV, Israeli warplanes fired at a target in southern Lebanon on Monday. “The enemy detonated an explosive device remotely against a telecommunication line in Zrariyeh” village, the Hizbullah television station reported. The IAF aircraft reportedly struck a site used by the Hizbullah near the town of Zira in southern Lebanon. Hizbullah,…

The World Heritage Committee of UNESCO voted Friday to list the Nahal Me’arot Nature Reserve as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Site of Human Evolution at Mount Carmel in northern Israel consists of a group of prehistoric caves where early man lived continuously for hundreds of thousands of years. Nahal Me’arot joins seven other…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday that all Israeli citizens should take part in serving the country, through the military or by other means. “I am committed to a more egalitarian division of the burden, and I have said this before,” Netanyahu told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. “I believe in this and…

The casket of Former Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir has been placed at the Knesset Plaza before his funeral to allow the public to pay its respects. Shamir, who was Israel’s seventh prime minister and a commander of the Lechi Underground in pre-state days, passed away Saturday at age 96. His funeral procession will leave the…

Rebel forces in Syria have enjoyed meaningful success in fighting against the regime of Bashar Assad in the last few weeks. Numerous videos uploaded to YouTube document dozens of Syrian army tanks and APCs that the rebels have destroyed, as well as ambushes of mobile forces and attacks on positions in which dozens of officers…

One person was killed and nine others were reported injured when a pipe carrying hydrochloric acid burst Monday at a pumping facility near a quarry in the Arava Desert.  Police said the pipe seems to have burst in the course of an attempt to dig into rock. The wounded are reportedly men in their 50s…

Russia may have helped shoot down the Turkish aircraft near Syria last week, the British newspaper The Sunday Times reported. The Israeli website Israel Defense quoted a report in the British newspaper, according to which sources in the Middle East, including some in the Israeli Air Force, believe that the downing of the Turkish aircraft…

Both President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu have sent separate letters to Egypt’s new Islamist president, congratulating him on his election victory and calling for continued peace between the neighboring countries, The Associated Press reported Sunday. Mohammed Morsi was sworn in as president of Egypt on Saturday. In a speech following the ceremony,…

Jordan’s king urged his country’s Islamist opposition on Sunday to take part in upcoming elections, despite their dissatisfaction with reforms, The Associated Press reported. King Abdullah II made the appeal in a rare interview on Jordan TV, as part of his attempt to engage with the Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Muslim…

The Al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, denounced on Sunday the sentence handed down to the group’s former senior commander, Ibrahim Hamad. Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military court sentenced Hamad to 54 life terms in prison. Hamad was the Judea and Samaria head of Hamas’ terrorist operations from 2001 to 2006, and coordinated attacks in which 46…

President Shimon Peres and Chief of Staff Benny Gantz handed out on Sunday certificates of excellence to two outstanding soldiers who were injured in the collapse of the lighting bridge on Mount Herzl, which killed Lieutenant Hila Bezaleli. The accident occurred during rehearsals for the opening ceremony of Independence Day celebrations. Both soldiers, Hagar Zohar and Shai Krichli,…

IAF aircraft attacked a terrorist cell in northern Gaza on Monday morning, as it was preparing to launch rockets at southern Israel. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said in a statement that the aircraft scored a direct hit. “The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers and will continue to…

The Palestinian Authority government is facing its “worst financial crisis” since its 1994 establishment, the PA’s labor minister told AFP on Sunday. Ahmed Majdalani warned in a conversation with the French news agency that a shortfall in the delivery of aid from Arab donor nations means the PA will be unable to pay employees their…

Isramco Ltd. announced Sunday that “substantial signs of petroleum (natural gas) have been found at the Shimshon 1 exploratory well,” according to Globes. Isramco said that the well reached the target strata at 4,400 meters under sea level. The partners invested in the well have decided to go ahead with production tests, which are due…

Tension between Turkey and Syria continued Saturday, with Turkey announcing that it scrambled six F-16 fighter jets to the skies on the border with Syria. The Turkish military spokesman said that the jets were scrambled after Syrian helicopters flew close to the border on three occasions Saturday. The spokesman said the Syrians did not cross…

The town of Itamar will hold a memorial ceremony Sunday evening for Rachel, Neriyah, Tzvika and Avishai Shabo, who were murdered in their home in 2002, and for Yossi Tuito, the community guard who died trying to save them. The five were slain by a Palestinian Authority terrorist who infiltrated the Samaria (Shomron) community with…

The relationship between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism has been hotly debated in a variety of forums, including in university classrooms and internet chatrooms. Now the topic will get expert input: the Jabotinsky Institute is hosting a panel Sunday night that will discuss the issue. Among the speakers will be Dr. Roni Shtauber, who told Arutz Sheva…

Bedouin metal thieves infiltrated the IDF base at Tze’elim in the Negev Saturday night and stole crates of ammunition, which the IDF insists were empty. The Bedouins entered the base on SUVs. According to Channel 2, the IDF gave chase but the Bedouins toyed with them, stopping the SUVs once in a while to let…

The number of IDF lookouts on the border with Egypt has been doubled in recent months, according to outgoing Field Intelligence Corps, Brig. Gen. Eli Pollack. “The resources available to us, such as radar and UAVs, have been multiplied several times over,” said Brig. Gen. Pollack. “There is a lot of activity on the border,…

Senior Hamas terrorist Ibrahim Hamad was sentenced to 54 life terms in prison on Sunday. Hamad was the Judea and Samaria head of Hamas’s terrorist operations from 2001 to 2006, and coordinated attacks in which 46 people were murdered and more than 400 were wounded. Hamad, 47, was released for prison in 2001 and immediately…

Iran Central Bank Governor Mahmoud Bahmani said Saturday Iran is “easily” selling its oil despite western sanctions because some countries have received waivers from the U.S. to import Iranian oil despite the measures. Bahmani said Iran would take action against the sanctions, but did not specify what it had in mind. “We have not remained…

Preparations are underway to host more than 10,000 people in Israel alone for the worldwide Siyum HaShas; the completion of the cycle of study of Torah learning in the tractates of the Talmud, the entire set of which is known as the “Shas.” In just one month, tens of thousands of the finest male scholars…

In the late hours of Saturday night, the Chief Rabbi and other high-ranking officials from Russia visited Joseph’s Tomb in Samaria. Chief Rabbi of Russia Rabbi Berel Lazar and close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin made a special trip late Saturday night to visit the Tomb of Joseph in the Samaria city of Shechem,…

Dozens of Palestinian Authority Arabs rioted in Lebanon on Saturday, cutting off the main road leading to the city of Tyre. Security sources reported “the Palestinians blocked the road with burning tires” following the arrest of a PA Arab who hurled rocks at Internal Security Forces. Earlier in the day on Saturday, ISF officers had…

MK Danny Danon (Likud) said Sunday the university presidents who don’t want Ariel University Center to receive full university status are wrong to dabble in politics. “They seem to be confused,” Danon said. “They seem to think they are in the Knesset or in politics. I suggest that they take a lesson in civics. It…

The Supreme Court decided Sunday to approve a request for more time in the removal of homes in Beit El. The state had requested four and a half months of time in order to take the homes apart and rebuild them, rather than simply demolishing. Justices Asher Grunis, Salim Joubran, and Uzi Fogelman ruled in…

The European Jewish Congress has called on the German government to stand against a regional court decision to criminalize circumcision, known as “brit mila” in Hebrew, sealing of the Biblical Covenant with G-d in the flesh. The ritual is a practice that exists at the very bedrock of the Jewish and Muslim faiths. The court,…

Christian missionaries are apparently using Israeli government materials in their attempts to disseminate their materials both here in Israel and abroad. The city of Kfar Saba was recently surprised to discover that it was apparently helping to sponsor a missionary event being held in Australia — at least, it appeared that way according to an…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu eulogized Israel’s seventh Prime Minister, the late Yitzchak Shamir on Sunday, and commented on his famous statement, “The Arabs are the same Arabs and the sea is the same sea.” The late prime minister died on Shabbat, after having suffered in the past ten years from Alzheimer’s disease. His funeral is…

Tributes to the life of Yitzchak Shamir, former Prime Minister of Israel, poured in on Saturday night as word spread of his death. Shamir passed away on Shabbat after a long illness at the age of 96. In a statement, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that Shamir was “a member of the generation of giants…

At least 83 people were killed, mostly civilians, in violence across Syria on Saturday. AFP reported that hundreds more were trapped in Douma as regime forces stormed the town in Damascus province. In the single most serious incident, mortar fire killed 30 civilians who were attending a funeral in the town of Zamalka, six miles…

Bashar al-Assad may be able to remain as leader of Syria under a plan for a government transition approved by major powers Saturday. The U.S., Russia, and officials of other governments met in Geneva to discuss the plan authored by former UN Secretary General Koffee Annan. Under Annan’s plan, members of Assad’s current administration, as…

“Social Justice” protests took place in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Saturday night. The Tel Aviv protest, about 5,000 strong, began early Saturday night and started out peacefully, but a group of protesters later began blocking streets. That group broke off from the main protest, which consisted of demonstrators marching to the Tel Aviv Museum,…

A planned meeting between Vice Prime Minister and Kadima head Shaul Mofaz and Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas that had been set for Sunday has been postponed. The postponement was reported by the PA’s Ma’an news agency. No new date has been set for the meeting. A senior Fatah official was quoted in the report…

Islamist Mohamed Morsi was sworn in Saturday before Egypt’s highest court as the country’s first freely elected president, succeeding Hosni Mubarak who was ousted 16 months ago. Morsi promised a “new Egypt” as he was inaugurated as the Arab world’s first freely elected Islamist president, became Egypt’s fifth head of state since the overthrow of…

Austrian authorities are investigating the desecration of 43 graves in two Jewish sections of Vienna’s main cemetery, The Associated Press reported. A police statement on Friday said that tomb stones and slabs were found toppled or damaged at the Austrian capital’s Central Cemetery. The statement added the vandals did not deface the graves with graffiti.…

Egypt’s new president, Mohammed Morsi, paid tribute on Friday to Egypt’s Muslims and Christians and symbolically swore himself in as the country’s first elected civilian president before a huge crowd at Tahrir Square. AFP reported that Morsi was received with applause by the tens of thousands of people gathered in the birthplace of the revolt…

Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal and top Islamist leaders in Jordan attended on Friday the burial of a senior member of Hamas who was killed this week in Damascus. AFP reported that around 500 people took part in the funeral of Kamal Hussein Ghanaja, whose coffin was taken from a mosque in Amman’s east to a…

An Israeli was attacked by two Palestinian Authority Arab hitchhikers on Route 443, which runs between Jerusalem and Modi’in, on Friday night. Channel 10 News reported that the man picked up the two hitchhikers and, as the vehicle approached the Maccabim Junction, they struck him in the head with a glass bottle and tried to…

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle weighed in Friday on a controversial German court ruling on circumcision, saying the country protected religious freedom and traditions.   “The ruling on circumcision has provoked annoyance internationally,” Westerwelle wrote on his official Twitter account, according to a report on AFP.  “We have to be clear: religious traditions are protected…

Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister, John Baird, condemned on Thursday the racist and anti-Semitic statements made by Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi at a conference on drug trafficking in Tehran. In a statement from New York, where he addressed a UN conference on countering terrorism, Baird said, “Media reports suggest that Iran’s First Vice-President Mohammad…

Several hundreds of people staged a protest march in Pretoria, South Africa, on Thursday against South Africa’s plans to label products made in Judea and Samaria as “Made in the Palestinian Territories.” Around 300 members of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) and the Inkatha Freedom party marched peacefully and handed over a petition against…

Egyptian security forces on Friday seized a large stash of weapons, including rockets and automatic machine-guns, smuggled into the country from Libya and allegedly bound for Gaza. Egypt’s interior minister, Gen. Mohammed Ibrahim, said, according to a report in The Associated Press, that security forces acting on a tip uncovered the weapons in a car…

UNESCO’s World Heritage committee on Friday approved a Palestinian Authority bid to place the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on its list of sites of World Heritage in Danger. A report in The Associated Press quoted PA spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi as having said the vote was an affirmation of “Palestinian sovereignty” over the site…

After the final families were evicted Thursday from their homes in Beit El, workers came to seal off the buildings to make sure nobody can reenter. The work was done by Palestinian Authority residents employed by a company hired by the Defense Ministry. The ministry took pains to hire Israeli workers to perform other tasks…

Senior Hamas terrorist Kamal Ghanaja, second-in-command to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, was killed in Damascus this week. Arab media outlets said Ghanaja was shot in his apartment, which was then burned. Syrian rebels have pointed at Syrian President Bashar Assad as the culprit. Rebel commander Mohammed Hifawi told Al-Hayyat that Ghanaja was killed using methods typical of…

Peace Now head Yariv Oppenheimer publicly criticized Didi Dickstein on Thursday. Dickstein, whose parents and brother were murdered in a terrorist attack in 2002, was evicted this week from his home in the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El. He carried a picture of his slain family with him as he was taken out of his…

MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Unioni) has called for an Arab Israeli affirmative action initiative to be put on hold over Arabs’ refusal to perform military or national service. Ben-Ari sent a letter to Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin asking him to shut down the Committee on the Integration of Arab Employees in the Public Sector. The committee…

The ‘Palestinian’ delegation to a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) meeting on Friday in St. Petersburg is attempting to gain recognition for the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem as an endangered world heritage site. The proposal comes following the admission of the ‘Palestinian’ delegation to UNESCO last year and is widely viewed…

Hamas said on Thursday that it is concerned over the possibility that Israel would unilaterally withdraw from Judea and Samaria (Yehuda and Shomron), as it did in Gaza in 2005. Speaking to the Egyptian-based Al-Ahram newspaper, deputy Hamas leader Moussa Abu Marzouk called on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to abandon negotiations with Israel, and…

During his election campaign, Egyptian president-elect Mohammed Morsi reiterated his commitment to jihad and to the Islamic sharia law. Morsi made the remarks in a speech broadcast on May 13 on the Egyptian Misr 25 television network. His remarks in Arabic were uploaded to YouTube, and were later translated to English by the Middle East…

The Hamas movement which rules in Gaza presented on Thursday a video documentary, in which alleged collaborators with Israel confess to having aided the killings of senior Hamas and Fatah members. AFP reported that the 20-minute film was broadcast on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa television station. It was also shown on the website of the interior ministry…

A hareidi-religious young man from London will be among those carrying the Olympic Torch in Britain this summer. Efraim Goldstein, 22, was chosen due to his long history of volunteerism. Goldstein had established seven volunteer organizations by the age of 16. The groups he set up now have a total of several hundred volunteers. Efraim…

The Syrian army has gathered roughly 170 tanks near the Turkish border, Syrian rebels said Friday. Rebels told international media that forces are gathering north of Aleppo. “The tanks are now at the Infantry School. They’re either preparing to move to the border to counter the Turkish deployment or attack the rebellious (Syrian) towns and…

European Union Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton condemned the racist and anti-Semitic statements made by Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi at a conference on drug trafficking in Tehran. “The High Representative is deeply disturbed by racist and anti-Semitic statements made by Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi at the UN International Day against Drug…

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has urged Latvia to resolve the restitution of pre-World War II Jewish property “quickly and fairly.” Calling the issue a “piece of unfinished historical business,” Clinton spoke to reporters Thursday at a joint news conference held together in Riga with Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics (Reform Party). “The United States…

The European Jewish Parliament (EJP) expressed its outrage on Thursday over a ruling of the German District Court of Cologne, which states that the circumcision of a child for religious reasons should be considered a physical assault.  On Tuesday, the court ruled that non-medical circumcision, practiced by most Jews and Muslims, causes bodily harm and…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke Thursday evening with Arab MKs Ahmed Tibi and Mohammed Barakeh about the Plesner Committee, in an apparent effort to make it possible to recruit young Arabs to national service. Netanyahu told them that despite the Plesner Committee’s recommendation not to take action against Arab draft dodgers, he still believes in…

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Thursday that Israel played a major role in influencing Russia to cancel its planned sale of the S-300 surface-to-air missile system to Syria. The decision to cancel the sale was likely an outcome of President’s Vladimir Putin’s visit to Israel on Monday, during which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and…

South Sudan filed a formal protest with Israel on Thursday, over the Jewish State’s treatment of the issue of the illegal South Sudanese infiltrators. In a diplomatic message South Sudan sent to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, it asked Israel not to harm the dignity of the infiltrators, not to film them as they leave Israel…

A large explosion rocked the Syrian capital on Thursday afternoon as bloody fighting in and around Damascus continues. Syrian TV said the explosion was in the parking lot of the Palace of Justice, a compound that houses several courts. The headline of Syria’s official news agency SANA was “A Terrorist Explosion inside the parking of…

Turkey confirmed reports Wednesday that it is deploying troops, including fighter jets and anti-aircraft guns, along its border with Syria. “I can confirm there are troops being deployed along the border in Hatay province. Turkey is taking precautions after its jet was shot down,” an official told reporters on condition of anonymity. The troop deployments…

Each of the buildings being moved from the Ulpana Neighborhood in Beit El will be “sawed” into 108 parts, which will be stored in a special storage site. They will then be reassembled at a new location inside Beit El. The details were reported by IDF Radio. Yesh Din, a far-leftist organization that represents the…

A leader of Hungary’s extreme-right Jobbik party, known for its anti-Roma and anti-Semitic rhetoric, has admitted having Jewish origins, prompting mockery in several online forums Wednesday, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported. “I learnt not long ago that I had parents of Jewish origins, that’s the big news,” Csanad Szegedi, a member of the European parliament and…

A Texas court has convicted a Saudi Arabian national of plotting to build and use a bomb in an attack against America’s south. The 22-year-old terrorist, Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari entered the United States in October 2008 from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia legally on a student visa to study chemical engineering at Texas Tech University in Lubbock. His…

Palestinian Authority water chief Shadad al-Ateli said Wednesday that discussions with the Israel to increase quantities of drinking water without raising prices are underway. Israel has sought to increase the price of one cubic liter of water from NIS 2.60 to NIS 3.70 in accordance with market rates currently paid by Israeli citizens living in…

MK Miri Regev (Likud) accused the social protesters on Wednesday of anarchism and of working against the State of Israel, Channel 10 News reported. Regev spoke during a Knesset discussion which convened following violent protests in Tel Aviv over the weekend. Regev said that protest leader Daphni Leef and her friends “do not want change,…

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman blasted the Iranian regime, saying it is composed of “anti-Semitic fanatics”, following the hateful remarks of Vice President Mohammad Reza, who claimed that the teachings of the Talmud incite global drug trade. Addressing a ceremony for the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking held in Tehran on Tuesday, Rahimi alleged that…

Jewish and Muslim leaders in Germany were united on Wednesday in their condemnation of a German court’s decision to, in effect, outlaw the circumcision of boys. The British Guardian reported that representatives of the two religious communities called the ruling insensitive and discriminatory, saying it was an attack on centuries of religious tradition. On Tuesday,…

A U.S. group promoting peace in the Middle East said on Tuesday it had rescinded an invitation to Syria’s top Muslim cleric, after learning that he threatened suicide bombings in the West. The Washington-based Foundation for Middle East Peace said that it had not properly researched the background of Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, whom…

Russia’s main weapons producer has allegedly suspended its contract with Syria to supply S-300 long-range missile systems, the Russian daily Vedomosti reported Wednesday. The report cited unnamed sources within the military-industrial complex. Russian television network RT noted that the very fact of the contract’s existence was not known until it was revealed in an annual…

Islamist rebel separatists have seized northern Mali, killing 20 as they clashed with a second rebel force. Fighters from the MUJAO faction – the “Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa” — opened the clash by parking a car packed with weaponry close to the Gao headquarters of secular rival, the National Movement for…

Egypt’s president-elect Mohammed Mursi plans to take legal action against the Iranian Fars news agency for fabricating an interview with him. Fars quoted Mursi saying the two countries should improve ties. Such a move would go against Western efforts to isolate Tehran over its controversial nuclear program. The official news agency Mena quoted Mursi’s spokesman,…

A Syrian minister on Wednesday was quoted as saying his country’s forces may have mistaken the Turkish plane they shot down for an Israeli one. Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoebi told the Turkish news channel A Haber in a telephone interview that Damascus did “not want a crisis between Turkey and Syria.” Al-Zoebi said Turkish…

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it had told Israel that it would not be “appropriate” for Israeli pilgrims to make an annual visit to the tomb of a 19th-century Jewish holy man in the Nile Delta. Egypt notified Israel two months ago that it would be “impossible to hold the annual ceremony because of the…

An Israeli military court ruled on Wednesday that Ibrahim Hamad, the former commander of Hamas’ military wing in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of Judea and Samaria, is guilty of the murder of 46 Israelis. According to a report on Channel 2 News, Hamad was convicted of involvement in a series of suicide terror attacks. These…

The director of the Welfare Department in Beit El, Hedva Ariel, said on Wednesday that the children who were evicted from their homes in the Ulpana neighborhood are suffering from trauma. She said that the trauma has created many problems within the families who were evicted. “These are families who have been under a threat…

Hamas was quick to blame the Israeli Mossad spy agency for the death of its member in Syria, AFP reported. A senior member of Hamas told AFP that Kamal Hussein Ranaja was killed Wednesday in a suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus, adding that the group suspected Israel’s spy agency of being behind the attack.…

Egypt’s ailing former President Hosni Mubarak is slipping in and out of a coma and his morale has plunged after news of Mohammed Morsi’s victory in the presidential polls, officials told AFP on Wednesday. “The former president has been greatly affected by the news of Morsi’s presidential victory,” one of the officials at a Cairo…

A senior member of Hamas was murdered in Damascus on Wednesday, Hamas politburo member Izzat al-Rishq announced. In a message posted to his Facebook page, al-Rishq said that the murdered member of Hamas is Kamal Ranaja, also known as Nizzar Abu-Mujhad. Al-Rishq said that Hamas will investigate the circumstances that led to Ranaja’s murder. The Arabic…

Knesset Member Danny Danon confronted the French ambassador to Israel Wednesday, telling him that France is responsible for the growing anti-Semitism in the country. MK Danon, speaking at a meeting of the Knesset Aliyah Committee that he chairs, revealed that violent anti-Semitic incidents in France soared by 53 percent in the period of January to…

Opposition forces in Syria stormed a pro-government satellite news television station Wednesday, killing three. State-run Syrian media issued a response to the attack, saying “terrorists planted explosive devices in the headquarters of Al-Ikhbariya following their ransacking of the satellite channel studios, including the newsroom, which was entirely destroyed. “Three colleagues were killed as a result…

Bodyguards stepped between Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Arab MK Talab Al-Sana, who Lieberman called a terrorist during a tour of an illegal Bedouin village in the Negev on Wednesday. During a visit to the “unrecognized” Bedouin village of Al-Zarnog near Be’er Sheva, MK Al-Sana appeared and accused the Foreign Minister of acting like the head…

An Austrian fund for reparations to victims of the Nazi Holocaust is shutting down after 11 years “due to limited finances.” The Reparation Fund for the Victims of National Socialism said in a statement issued Tuesday that it has recognized claims totaling some $1.5 billion (nearly 1.2 billion euros). However, it was able to pay…

The shekel-dollar rate hit a three-year high this week and is just about touching the level where a shekel is worth only a quarter, of four for a dollar. The last time a dollar bought four shekels was in mid-2009, and Wednesday’s quoted rate was five agorot – or less than two cents away. The…

The Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nora Ephron, 71, died Tuesday of pneumonia after a long battle with leukemia. “It is with great sadness that we report that Nora Ephron has died,” reported publisher Alfred A. Knopf in a statement issued Wednesday. “She brought an awful lot of people a tremendous amount of joy. She will be sorely…

An Egyptian court has suspended the decree allowing the military to arrest civilians. The order, issued Tuesday by an administrative court, stops military police and intelligence officers from arresting activists, human rights advocates and others. In its ruling, the court stated the decree was in contradiction with the Constitutional principles that existed from 1923 until…

The sea level of the Atlantic Ocean is rising along America’s eastern seaboard faster than in other parts of the world, according to a US Geological Survey team. The scientists led by oceanographer Peter Howd and USGS oceanographer Kara Doran studied tide-level data gathered from the area along a 600-mile (1,000 kilometer) stretch from Cape…

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that Ankara has no intention of attacking Syria over its recent downing of a fighter jet. “As Turkey, the Turkish nation, we have no intention of attacking” Syria, Erdogan said  on the same day that Ankara deployed troops on its Syrian frontier. “We don’t have any hostile…

A terrorist was wounded at the entrance to Maaleh Adumim Wednesday afternoon, after he tried to snatch a gun from a security guard. According to reports from the scene of the incident, the terrorist rammed his car into a security or police vehicle, then tried to snatch a gun from the security man on the…

Turkey has deployed a large number of military vehicles to the Syrian border, the Turkish daily Milliyet reported on Tuesday. According to the report, 15 armored tanks, long-distance guns and other military vehicles were deployed near the border. A report in the daily newspaper Hurriyet said military units increased security measures on the border following…

Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Tuesday with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem. In a joint press conference the two held after their meeting, Putin declared that Russia has no problem recognizing an independent Palestinian state, saying, “We did it 25 years ago and our position has not changed.” Abbas called to convene…

Social protest activists set up about 20 tents on Tuesday in a park near the central train station in Tel Aviv. The tents were set up with the approval of the City of Tel Aviv-Yafo. Army Radio reported that the municipality has agreed to provide the protesters with toilet stalls, water supply, lighting and cleaning crews.…

Russian President Vladimir Putin had to swallow hard Tuesday when Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas surprised him by naming a road in Bethlehem in honor of his guest. In Europe, as in Israel, the honor is reserved for those who are dead. Putin, speaking in Jordan after his visits to the Palestinian Authority and Israel,…

The victory of Mohammed Morsi in the Egyptian presidential elections could enable Hamas to secure international recognition, an official in the party told the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency on Monday. Ahmad Yousef, who is regarded as a Hamas moderate, told Ma’an that the Morsi presidency could help end the West’s isolation of the movement, as…

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas will meet Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz next week, Channel 2 News reported on Tuesday. It will be Abbas’ first meeting in months with an Israeli cabinet minister. The report said that Mofaz will arrive in Ramallah on Sunday for the meeting. The meeting comes after many attempts by Mofaz…

The Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt’s powerful military on Tuesday reached some agreements over the powers of the most populous Arab nation’s first Islamist president, and the fate of a now-dissolved Islamist-led parliament. Newly elected president Mohammed Morsi briefly toured his palace on Monday. Morsi, however, had little time to savor his victory. Egypt’s first president…

A German court has ruled that circumcision is a criminal offense, and a Norwegian political party has proposed a law to outlaw the religious practice. Non-medical circumcision, practiced by most Jews and Muslims, causes bodily harm and therefore is a crime, a Cologne court ruled. The practice is a “serious and irreversible interference in the…

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Finance Minister Steinitz on Sunday decided to seek a deficit target of 3% to compensate for reduced state revenues due to the slowdown in European economies. In line with the decision, the government will be asked to set a lower deficit targets in the long run: 2% by 2016, and 1.5%…

NATO on Tuesday firmly backed Turkey saying Syria’s shooting down of a Turkish jet was “unacceptable,: NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen condemned the incident saying, “We consider this act to be unacceptable and condemn it in the strongest terms…It is another example of the Syrian authorities’ disregard for international norms, peace and security, and…

Firefighters on Tuesday succeeded in bringing several fires in Motza area of Jerusalem under control. Fire and Rescue Services Commissioner Shahar Ayalon postulated that the massive blaze could have broken out due to arson. “A fire doesn’t start itself,” he said. “This was either caused by negligence or was lit intentionally.” Police closed the Jerusalem-Tel…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday a new international prize to be awarded to Jews who win global recognition due to their achievements in the fields of science and the arts. The Genesis Prize, worth $1 million, to be financed by the Genesis Philanthropy Group, will be awarded by Prime Minister Netanyahu at a…

Iran’s Fars News Agency (FNA) reportedly fabricated an interview with Egyptian President-elect Mohammed Morsi, quoting him on a range of contentious topics, from the Camp David treaty with Israel to diplomatic relations between Egypt and Iran, Morsi’s spokesman said Monday night. Morsi claims that the FNA, a front for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),…

The International Raelian Movement defended its display of a swastika over New Jersey beaches on Saturday, arguing it was trying to bring it back as a peaceful symbol rather than promote anti-Semitism, CBS news reported. A small plane flying a banner imprinted with a swastika intertwined with the Star of David was sited above Long…

A lawyer for missing philanthropist Guma Aguiar’s mother suggested Monday that the multi-millionaire was in a dark mood when he boarded his boat and disappeared – following a request by his wife, Jamie, for a divorce. “An hour before he got on his boat, the wife told Guma she wanted a divorce,” attorney Richard Baron…

Police have arrested three anti-Zionist Jews for desecrating the Yad VaShem Holocaust memorial this month with pro-Nazi slogans. All three have confessed. One of the vandals is 18 years and old, and the others are aged 26 and 27. They are from Bnei Brak, Jerusalem and Ashdod.   The spraying of hate messages, such as…

A large fire is burning near Motza, just outside Jerusalem. Highway 1, which connects Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, was closed to traffic in both directions but reopened at about 4:45 p.m.. Eleven fire crews and several fire extinguishing planes have been battling the blaze, which the Minister of Public Security said was under control by…

The police are investigating suspicions that the “social protest” organizers improperly received heavy funding from various sources, including sources outside of Israel, in order to renew their demonstrations this summer. According to esteemed journalist Yoav Yitzchak, the police possess information that indicates money was paid to Sudanese infiltrators, in return for which the immigrants were…

President Barack Obama struck out in Boston by cracking a joke on a baseball trade that was very unfunny for the home crowd at a fundraiser Monday night, earning him a round of boos. The president, rarely flustered, was taken off stride for a second but pulled himself together to try joke away his comment…

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s soldiers are using artillery in fierce clashes against armed rebels near neighborhoods of government troops only five miles from the capital of Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Several people have been killed. The right group told foreign news agencies that the location of the fighting is significant…

Graduates of the Israel Air Force’s pilot school will finish their classes and officially be presented their “wings” in a ceremony this Thursday. Presenting them with their graduation awards will be Defense Minister Ehud Barak, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, and IAF Commander Amir Eshel. This year’s ceremony marks the 65th anniversary of the…

The ongoing heat and dry weather that typifies summer in Israel has turned into tragedy for residents of a home in Havat Gilad, in the Binyamin region of Israel. According to a report by the Tazpit news agency, Arabs allegedly set fire to a house in the neighborhood. The house was badly damaged, the report…

Syria has attempted to shoot down a second Turkish aircraft searching for missing pilots, Ankara announced Monday. Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told a news conference the Turkish plane, which was searching for the jet that was shot down last week, was not damaged in the incident. He met with reporters following a seven hour…

World ORT KadimaMada will officially open on Tuesday the Advanced Center for Science and Technology at the Sha’ar HaNegev Experimental School. The Science and Technology Center will play a central role in the opening ceremonies of the new reinforced campus of the Sha’ar HaNegev School.  Attending the festivities will be Education Minister Gideon Saar, the…

16 families from the Ulpana neighborhood of Beit El will leave their homes on Tuesday morning, in accordance with the agreement reached with the government last week. As part of the agreement the residents agreed to leave their homes and in return, the government will keep its promise to build 300 new homes in Beit…

The Egyptian presidency on Monday denied that president-elect Mohammed Morsi gave an interview to Iran’s Fars news agency in which he pledged to strengthen ties with the Islamic Republic. A report in AFP quoted a spokesman for the Egyptian presidency as having told the official news agency MENA, “Mr. Morsi did not give any interview…

President Shimon Peres held a working meeting on Monday evening with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two discussed strengthening strategic ties between the two countries, the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the Iranian nuclear issue and the events in Syria and neighboring countries in the Middle East. The Russian President was received…

Hundreds of Israelis gathered this week for prayers, dancing, and singing in what has become an annual event. “The Tza’aka” (crying out to G-d), an event where Israelis of all ages and backgrounds go out to an isolated areas and raise their voices loudly in prayer, is “communicating with G-d on a very basic level,…

Iran’s routine claims of military prowess reached a new climax Monday with the announcement its warships will patrol international waters in the high seas “to protect tankers” beyond the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea. Iran’s Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said in Tehran, as reported by government news agencies, “Today we witness that the…

A meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin Monday afternoon ran longer than expected, and in a joint press conference after the meeting, Netanyahu and Putin said that they hoped the two countries could cooperate more closely in a wide range of areas, especially high-tech, agriculture, and science. Putin was in…

Will President Barack H. Obama continue his recent pro-Israel stance after the November elections. “We’ll have to wait and see,” says Professor Robert Friedman of Johns Hopkins University. There are reasons to believe that he will not – and the possibility that he will. Friedman was in Israel participating in the 28th annual meeting of…

Russian president Vladimir Putin lands at Ben Gurion Airport Monday for a visit to Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan in an effort to improve his image, blackened by support for Syria and Iran. Russia has been engaged in a modern version of the diplomatic Cold War standoff between Washington and Moscow 60 years ago…

Egypt’s new Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi vowed to “respect all international agreements,” presumably meaning the pact with Israel, as he takes power in a regime conceived in the violence of last year’s Arab Spring rebellion and bred in the aftermath of political chaos. With the United States hoping for the best and Israel expecting…

A plane flying a banner displaying a swastika intertwined with the Hebrew Star of David and the word “Swastika,” flew over Long Beach Island and along the Jersey Shore on Saturday, the local Manasquan-Belmar Path reported. The Long Beach Township Police Department received several calls reporting the sighting, according to Bill Gee, a dispatcher with…

Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood president-elect Mohammed Morsi told Iran he will “reconsider the Camp David Accord” with Israel and that he wants closer ties with Tehran to create a “balance” in the Middle East. He made the comments in an interview with the government-controlled Fars News Agency before he was announced as ther winner of the presidential…

Hours after President Shimon Peres warned Hamas it is shooting itself in the foot by attacking Israel, the IDF ordered a halt in freight through the Kerem Shalom crossing. Southern District Commander Tal Russo ordered the halt following massive missile and mortar shell fire on Israeli communities in the south, with more than 150 missiles…

Democratic party leaders are in a panic over the chance that a Black anti-Zionist – backed by none other than a KKK leader – may win a primaries vote in Brooklyn Tuesday. A victory could be considerably problematic for President Barack Obama. City councilman Charles Barron, known for his blunt anti-Israel comments, is running against…

The United States and Israel are planning war games involving simulated attacks against Iran and Syria. Coincidence or not, the exercises will take place less than a month before elections November 6. Thousands of soldiers will participate in the war games under simultaneous and simulated missile fire from Syria and Iran, the Hebrew language Maariv…

Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to attend the unveiling of a Red Army World War II Victory Monument in Netanya Monday. The ‘Victory Monument’, an unprecedented joint-state venture between Israel and Russia, also honors the more than half a million Jews who fought with the Red Army during WWII. The design of the monument…

One Gaza Arab was killed and three others were wounded Sunday as Hamas wildly cheered Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood victory, giving it new hope to achieve its dream of annihilating Israel. Hamas gleefully welcomed the election of Mohammed Morsi with the usual gunfire, which this time was deadly, and senior Hamas official Mahmud Zahar said that…

Egypt’s new president, Mohammed Mursi, will turn the “cold peace” with Israel into a “hostile peace,” predicts Channel 2 News‘s veteran Arab affairs expert, Ehud Yaari. When Anwar Sadat was president, Mursi established “The Egyptian Society for Fighting Zionism,” Yaari writes in an article on Channel 2 News‘s website. “He devoted his whole adult life…

The maker of Hebrew National has been sued by consumers who contend that the company’s hot dogs and other meat products are not kosher. The lawsuit alleges that meat processing services provided to ConAgra by privately held AER Services fell short of the standards necessary to label Hebrew National products as kosher, yet ConAgra was…

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued an official reaction to the victory of Islamist Mohammed Mursi in Egypt’s presidential elections Sunday. “Israel appreciates the democratic process in Egypt and respects its results,” said Netanyahu. “Israel expects the continuation of the cooperation with the Egyptian regime on the basis of the peace treaty between the two countries,…

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) “got it wrong” in its reporting of the massacre of the Fogel family by Arab terrorists in the Jewish community of Itamar, the broadcaster’s outgoing director-general admitted at a parliamentary committee hearing.  The BBC’s Mark Thompson acquiesced on June 19 while being questioned by Conservative member of parliament Louise Mensch,…

An Egyptian plumber in Alexandria beat his pregnant wife to death upon learning that she had not voted for Muslim Brotherhood presidential candidate Mohammed Mursi, the Egyptian daily al-Wafd reported on Sunday. According to police reports, the initial argument between the unnamed couple escalated into a violent death, despite the please of the battered and…

The Emergency Committee for Israel (ECI), an organization committed to mounting an active defense of the US-Israel relationship, has released a new ad running on New York television documenting a series of radical, racist, and anti-Israel statements made by Democratic congressional candidate Charles Barron of New York’s Eighth District. The ad begins with Barron announcing…

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) responded to a comment by hip-hop magnate Russell Simmons, who in remarks at the Presidential Conference in Israel accused ADL National Director Abraham Foxman of having “alienated blacks” in the same way Louis Farrakhan, racist and anti-Semitic leader of the Nation of Islam, has antagonized the Jewish community. Simmons participated in…

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sought to reassure the country’s Jewish community, saying that he will ensure its safety, Anatolia news agency reported. Two American-Jewish men reportedly approached the Turkish PM while he was attending the Rio 20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to ask him “to protect” Jewish people living in…

Egypt has chosen the Muslim Brotherhood to lead the country after former President Hosni Mubarak. The electoral commission made the announcement after delaying the news for more than four days and several recounts. Tens of thousands of people burst into cheers at hearing the news. Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohamed Mursi, now President-elect, had already announced…

Turkey has called on NATO to convene a meeting in the wake of Syria downing its jet in international airspace. Turkey said the jet was shot down Friday without warning and without provocation. Thousands of Syria refugees are being sheltered in southeastern Turkey after having fled the ravages of the civil war raging in their…

Police have called off their search for wealthy industrialist and philanthropist Guma Aguiar, missing since last week off the coast of south Florida. Aguiar left his Ft. Lauderdale home, where he lives with his wife and three young children, to take his 31-foot fishing vessel out for a spin at around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday evening,…

“You hear the sounds of war everywhere,” says a Western Negev resident as Gaza’s missile war on Israel continues. Meanwhile, Home Front Minister Matan Vilnai maintains that “quiet in exchange for quiet is proving itself so far.” Terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza attacked the agricultural communities of the Eshkol Region with two more mortar shells overnight,…

Dozens of Syrian Army officers have defected to the opposition forces and taken their weapons with them. A First-Lieutenant and 39 other military officers switched sides during fierce fighting at Deir al-Zor airport over the weekend, according to one of the defectors.  On Sunday, government forces shelled the area for a second day. At least 20…

Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz has ordered officials to continue issuing disability parking permits to parents of children diagnosed with autism. The move comes in direct contradiction with an order issued last week by the government, which had decided to stop issuing the passes. Katz said he authorized the continuation after he discovered the vast…

UNESCO opens a regular session Sunday to consider 31 new sites for its World Heritage List – including the Church of the Nativity. The windswept Judean desert fortress of Masada along the shores of the Dead Sea is already a UNESCO World Heritage site. The United Nations agency, which is considering sites that are primarily…

Israel’s Pango company has parked itself in New York with a “smart garage” app to help cure the headache of parking in New York City. Pango’s first entry into the United States allows users who install the app to pull into a smart garage and press a button to summon a valet according to TechCrunch.com.…

Gaza terrorists continued to fire on Israel over the Sabbath. The Iron Dome rocket defense system successfully shot down 5 rockets, but more than 20 hit southern communities. One rocket hit a factory in the Sha’ar Hanegev region. A worker was moderately wounded. Another rocket hit a school in Sderot, causing damage to the building.…

Police in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, have released a video showing millionaire businessman Guma Aguiar boarding his boat alone. The footage shows that Aguiar was alone. Aguiar has been missing at sea for several days. “At this point, there is no evidence to suggest that anyone else was on the vessel,” said detective Travis Mandell. The…

Gaza terrorists fired five Grad missiles at the city of Ashkelon on Saturday night. The missiles were taken out by the Iron Dome defense system. A sixth projectile, a short-range “Kassam” rocket, hit the Eshkol region in the western Negev. No injuries were reported in the attack. The attacks were the latest in a long…

Israelis living in Samaria (Shomron) have reached out to those in the south of the country, who have suffered through several dozen rocket attacks from Gaza in the past week. Samaria leaders are offering free tours in the region, far out of range of Gaza terrorists’ attacks. Residents of Sderot and Ashkelon took part in…

Hamas leaders in Gaza announced Saturday that a young child had been killed in an Israeli airstrike. The child was identified as Ali Muataz al-Shawaf, 4. Pictures of the child’s bloody body were published in Palestinian Authority media outlets. However, IDF officials later revealed the story as a lie. There was no Israeli airstrike in…

IDF officials expressed discontent over the last round of fighting in the Gaza Strip, saying that despite calls for a ceasefire by Hamas, the rocket barrages have yet to stop. On Friday, more rockets were fired into Israel, probably by other Gaza organizations. The IAF in turn struck a terrorist cell launching rockets, killing one…

The head of the Syrian Olympic Committee, General Mowaffak Joumaa, has been refused a visa to travel to London for this summer’s games, the BBC reported on Friday. The reason for the refusal is links to President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, whose violent crackdown on democracy activists has been condemned worldwide. According to the BBC report,…

Egypt’s electoral body is set to announce Ahmed Shafiq as the country’s new president on Sunday, local government sources claimed on Friday. According to a report on the website of the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, Western diplomats in Cairo also said they have heard similar predictions from Cabinet members over the last three days.  A source…

A video showing more than a dozen bloodied corpses emerged in Syria on Friday, in what the government said was a “massacre” by rebels in the northern province of Aleppo. The Associated Press reported that some of the bodies in the video were seen piled on top of each other and in military uniforms. The…

The Islamic Jihad terror movement claimed on Friday that it held its fire during recent Israeli raids on Gaza because the attacks were limited in scale, the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency reported on Friday. The IAF launched a series of airstrikes in response to continuous rocket attacks on southern Israel this week. One attack targeting operatives…