Middle East
Publisher: NYTimes
4 Oct 2015
Israel’s Netanyahu Vows ‘Harsh Offensive’ in Response to Wave of Violence
Under heavy domestic pressure from critics on both the right and left, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel threatened on Sunday to wage a "harsh offensive against Palestinian Islamic terrorism" as he arrived back to a country battered by a wave of deadly violence. But returning to a country in a grim mood on the eve of a Jewish holiday that was meant to bring a festive end of the High Holy Days, Mr. Netanyahu faced a predicament. As Israelis debated whether the string of recent attacks by Palestinians, which appeared to lack any orchestrating group, amounted to a third intifada, or uprising, Israeli political analysts said that Mr. Netanyahu would have to calibrate his response so that it would be effective without leading to further escalation.
Publisher: NYTimes
3 Oct 2015
Palestinian Kills 2 Israelis in Jerusalem
A Palestinian teenager fatally stabbed two ultra-Orthodox Jewish men in Jerusalem s Old City on Saturday night as they went to pray at the Western Wall, the Israeli police said. It was the second fatal attack on an Israeli family in three days. The police shot and killed the attacker, a 19-year-old identified as Muhanad Halabi, a law student whose Facebook profile had a post Friday night saying that "the third intifada has begun." - "I do not think the people will accept humiliation," the post said, referring to the escalating clashes between Muslim worshipers and the Israeli authorities and Jewish visitors at a contested holy site in the Old City. "The people will rise up; indeed, we are rising up."
Publisher: JPost
2 Oct 2015
The best reason for Iran deal? The West will learn where to drop bombs
Though President Barack Obama and many Democrats support the agreement, the GOP candidates, and many in Congress, argue that Iran will cheat. If they truly believe this, there is one thing they can do to help military strikes succeed: support the deal. Without a deal, the allies have no way of knowing which sites are truly important. So Washington and its allies would have to consider bombing them all. The more targets Washington asks the military to destroy, the greater the chance for failure, collateral damage and escalation.
Publisher: JPost
1 Oct 2015
Russian military role in Syria has implications for Israel, West
Israel will think twice and more before it decides to initiate air force attacks inside Syria as it did at least 10 times in the past three years. The Russian logic is that the US-led coalition will attack ISIS and Russia will attack the rest of the rebel groups. Regardless of whether such a division will be in place de facto, one conclusion is emerging: the big winner of the new situation is Assad and his failed regime. There are already indications that his self-confidence is growing due to the newly formed supportive coalition of Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah and partially the Iraqi government to save his neck.
Publisher: The Guardian
30 Sep 2015
Mahmoud Abbas: Palestinians “no longer bound” by Oslo accords with Israel
Mahmoud Abbas has said Palestinians will "no longer continue to be bound" by the Oslo accords unless they receive "international protection" from Israel. Watched stony-faced by the Israeli delegation led by ambassador Ron Prosor, Abbas on Wednesday called for the international community to recognise Palestine as a state under occupation in the same way that countries were occupied in the second world war.
Publisher: Haaretz
28 Sep 2015
Jews Throw Stones Too, but Arabs Get Harsher Sentences
The verdict? "When Jews disturb the peace, 'the court doesn t find them guilty, and if it does, they don t get more than three months,' while no Jewish minors are sentenced to prison at all.". "A stone can kill, that's true," said attorney Mohammad Mahmoud, who represents many recent arrestees in East Jerusalem. "But any stone can kill, not just a stone thrown by an Arab. The penalties on minors from East Jerusalem are harsh and don't solve a problem, they only make it worse."
Publisher: Haaretz
27 Sep 2015
Syria and Iran taken hostage by Putin’s geopolitical goals
For the leaders of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran, keeping Syria on the Shi'ite axis as a link to their proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, was almost an existential need. Without Syria, Iran's regional influence and its ability to control what is happening in Lebanon - to direct, arm and maintain Hezbollah as a central force - would have been crippled. For Putin, however, leaving Assad to his fate would have, at worst, lost the Kremlin some of its prestige. The Russian president's decision to take a chance and invest resources in Syria after all was primarily driven by a desire to take advantage of the vacuum created by U.S. inaction in the Middle East.
Publisher: Haaretz
25 Sep 2015
In a moment iof euphoria, Netanyahu made a very revealing slipup
Thus spoke the Prime Minister: You know me, when I want something I get it. If he only wanted. If he only wanted "negotiations with no preconditions," he would not build settlements on top of the ruins. If he truly wanted two states," he would not be working so diligently on establishing a single apartheid state. If he wanted to get a better deal with Iran, not to argue with the watchman; to serve the interests of his state, and not the political whims of his benefactors; to apprehend the "price tag" perpetrators and their masters, and not only to bang his fist on the table. If he truly sought the welfare of Jerusalem and its inhabitants, and not the welfare of Habayit Hayehudi and its cabinet members.
Publisher: Christian Science Monitor
23 Sep 2015
Russia in Syria: Did Putin just clip Israel’s wings?
All the pleasantries Monday couldn t hide the awkwardness of the new wrinkle in Russian-Israeli relations. Moscow s decision to boost its military presence in northern Syria in support of President Bashar al-Assad has posed a potential challenge to Mr. Netanyahu, who for years has had a relatively free hand to carry out strikes against arms shipments that Israel says goes from Iran, through Syria, to the Shiite militia Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Publisher: Haaretz
22 Sep 2015
Barak Says U.S. Should Give Israel Iran Strike Capability
Former Defense Minister Ehud Barak said he would expect the United States to equip Israel with the arms that would enable it to attack Iran s nuclear facilities if needed. Barak made the statement last Thursday at an event at Harvard University, in response to a question about what measures that should be taken to prevent the continued development of Iran s nuclear program now that Tehran has signed a nuclear deal with the major world powers.
Publisher: Times of Israel
21 Sep 2015
Boosted by nuke deal, Iran ups funding to Hezbollah, Hamas
Since the deal was signed, Iran has significantly increased its financial support for two of the largest terror groups in the region that have become political players, Hamas and Hezbollah. In the years before the deal was signed, the crippling sanctions limited this support, which had significantly diminished along with Iran s economy. But Tehran s belief that tens, or hundreds, of billions of dollars will flow into the country in the coming years as a result of sanctions relief has led to a decision to boost the cash flow to these terror organizations.
Publisher: Haaretz
21 Sep 2015
With Moscow Visit, Netanyahu Signals Era of post-American Middle East
The United States was fully informed on the Netanyahu-Putin summit that took place in Moscow on Monday. At least that s what Benjamin Netanyahu said afterwards. "Our ties with the U.S. are of foremost importance, strong, steadfast and stable. We are entirely coordinated on this matter," he said. And yet, one of the most significant geopolitical moments in recent years, Israel s acknowledgement of Russia s return as a major player in the region, took place without American participation.
Publisher: Aljazeera
13 Sep 2015
Clashes as Israeli soldiers storm Al-Aqsa compound
Publisher: Washington Post
7 Sep 2015
4-year-old Palestinian is sole survivor of arson attack after mother dies
More than a month after Palestinian toddler Ali Saad Dawabsha was killed in an arson attack on his home in the West Bank village of Duma, his mother, Riham, succumbed to her wounds overnight Sunday. The July 31 attack, allegedly carried out by Jewish extremists, also killed Ali's father, Saad. Only his brother, 4-year-old Ahmed, survived. He remains in an Israeli hospital with burns on more than 60 percent of his body. Israel has not caught those responsible for the attack, which drew international condemnation.
Publisher: Aljazeera
7 Sep 2015
Report reveals scale of Israel’s home demolitions
Israeli authorities have issued more than 14,000 demolition orders against Palestinian-owned structures, including homes, in Area C of the occupied West Bank between 1988 and 2014, according to a new report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Around 77 percent of these structures are located on land recognised even by Israeli authorities as privately owned Palestinian land, the report notes. The remaining 23 percent are built on what Israel designates as public or "state" land.
Publisher: The Guardian
3 Sep 2015
Does Obama’s Iran deal victory mark a turning point in US-Israeli relations?
Iran deal victory proves a setback for Aipac lobbying group as American Jewish community remains divided in public debate. "There was a substantial effort from the moment this deal was announced to kill it in Congress," says J-Street political director Dylan Williams. "Tens of millions of dollars - some people have estimated upwards of a hundred million dollars - were used to fund ads and lobbying." Both lobby groups describe themselves equally as pro-Israel, but the flurry of previously hawkish Democratic senators who switched sides away from Aipac in recent days has led to growing speculation that the days of reliable bipartisan support for the Israeli government - as distinct from Israel as a whole - on Capitol Hill may be over.
Publisher: Aljazeera
3 Sep 2015
Palestinian teachers, students strike in Israel over school budget cuts
More than 30,000 Palestinian students missed the start of a new school year this week after 47 Christian schools in Israel launched a strike to protest state policies that staff and community members say are cutting off financial support to their institutions. Christian schools, which fall under the Ministry of Education's "unofficially recognized" category, teach Israel's core curriculum, supplemented with lessons about religion and Palestinian history. In the past, Israel covered 60 to 75 percent of the schools operating budgets. Over the past five years, however, the Ministry of Education decreased its funding to just 29 percent, according to Haaretz.
Publisher: Haaretz
2 Sep 2015
Israeli Government Erases $76m in Debts Owed by Settlements
The Israeli government has erased 65 percent of the debts of 36 Jewish communities in the West Bank and Golan Heights that are owed to the World Zionist Organization s settlement division, forgoing 300 million shekels ($76.5 million) of the 360 million shekels these communities owe. Dozens of other settlements still owe money on loans granted as far back as 1978 .
Publisher: The Guardian
2 Sep 2015
Netanyahu hints at easing rules on firing at Palestinian stone-throwers
Israel s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has ordered his security officials to examine changing the rules governing when soldiers can shoot young Palestinian stone-throwers. A statement issued by his office on Wednesday revealed Netanyahu was considering giving security forces a freer hand to open fire with live ammunition after meeting with his cabinet to discuss a recent increase in the number of incidents involving firebombs and stone-throwing in Jerusalem and on the West Bank.
Publisher: Aljazeera
1 Sep 2015
UN: Gaza could become ‘uninhabitable’ by 2020
The Gaza Strip, ravaged by successive wars and nearly a decade of Israeli blockade, could become uninhabitable for residents within just five years, the United Nations development agency said Tuesday. "The social, health and security-related ramifications of the high population density and overcrowding are among the factors that may render Gaza unliveable by 2020," the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) wrote in its annual report.
Publisher: NYTimes
28 Aug 2015
Iran Deal Opens a Vitriolic Divide Among American Jews
This August recess has not produced the kind of fiery town hall-style meetings that greeted lawmakers in 2009 before their vote on the Affordable Care Act, but in one small but influential segment of the electorate, Jewish voters, it has been brutal. Infighting among Jewish Americans may be nothing new, but the vitriol surrounding the accord between Iran and six world powers has become so intense that leaders now speak openly of long-term damage to Jewish organizations, and possibly to American-Israeli relations.
Publisher: CNN
22 Aug 2015
Leaked audio: Israeli leaders drew up plans to attack Iranian military
Israeli leaders planned to attack military targets in Iran in recent years, but they were held back due to the opinions of other government and military leaders, according to an audio recording leaked to an Israeli television broadcaster. The recording with former Defense Minister Ehud Barak was leaked to Israel's Channel 2. It detailed three strikes Barak had allegedly planned with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively.
Publisher: PBS
21 Aug 2015
Expecting Iran to cheat is why we need this deal, says former Mossad chief
Efraim Halevy, former director of Israel's intelligence and special operations agency Mossad, is breaking with his country's government and public opinion to support the Iran nuclear agreement. He says: I believe this agreement closes the roads and blocks the road to Iranian nuclear military capabilities for at least a decade. And I believe that the arrangements that have been agreed between the parties are such that give us a credible answer to the Iranian military threat, at least for a decade, if not longer.
Publisher: Aljazeera
18 Aug 2015
UNRWA staff in Gaza protest over ‘cuts to services’
Hundreds of employees with the UN body assisting Palestinian refugees have protested in the Gaza Strip over what they describe as the agency's slashing of the vital services it provides to Palestinians, especially schooling. The UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) had warned that schooling for half a million Palestinian students across the Middle East due to start at the end of August could be delayed due to a severe funding shortage.
Publisher: Aljazeera
17 Aug 2015
Palestinian shot dead by Israeli border forces
A Palestinian man who allegedly tried to stab an Israeli border policeman has been shot and killed in the occupied West Bank, near the city of Nablus, medics have said. Monday's incident occurred near an Israeli military checkpoint. The army said the man, 26-year-old Mohammad al-Atrash, approached a group of soldiers, telling them he felt unwell. As he drew near, they allege he pulled out a knife and stabbed one of them. Another soldier then shot him. The Palestinian government condemned the killing of al-Atrash. In a statement, it denounced "the far from truth flimsy excuses used by the Israeli side to justify the killing of al-Atrash".
Publisher: NYTimes
12 Aug 2015
Reporting From Iran, Jewish Paper Sees No Plot to Destroy Israel
The first journalist from an American Jewish pro-Israel publication to be given an Iranian visa since 1979 reported Wednesday that he had found little evidence to suggest that Iran wanted to destroy Israel, as widely asserted by critics of the Iranian nuclear agreement. The journalist, Larry Cohler-Esses, assistant managing editor for news at The Forward, an influential New York-based newspaper catering to American Jews, also wrote that people in Iran, including its Jews, were eager for outside interaction and willing to speak critically about their government.
Publisher: +972 Magazine
10 Aug 2015
Israeli doctors versus the state in showdown over force-feeding
A confrontation between the Israeli government and doctors treating hunger-striking prisoners is reaching a fever pitch, testing the medical community's independence against government efforts to quell a nonviolent protest by Palestinian detainees. The test case for the new law appears to be Mohammed Allan, a 33-year-old Palestinian lawyer detained since November of last year. Allan is on the 54th day of his strike. As my colleague Yael Marom at Local Call reports, he is drinking water but refusing any minerals, vitamins, and medical treatment of any sort. It emerged this weekend that authorities would seek to force-feed Allan, and the resulting showdown over his treatment has pit a growing group of doctors, armed with medical ethics, against the state and the military.
Publisher: Haaretz
9 Aug 2015
Israeli Business Sets Up Anti-boycott Hotline
Israeli business has opened a hotline to deal with issues arising from the activities of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, Israeli financial newspaper Globes reported on Sunday. The hotline, which was established by the Presidium of Israel Business Organizations, will handle queries and complaints from business owners regarding cases of boycott or concern about boycott.
Publisher: NYTimes
4 Aug 2015
Israeli Detains Meir Kahane’s Grandson, a Scion of Jewish Militancy
Meir Ettinger is a grandson and the namesake of Meir Kahane, the slain American-Israeli rabbi considered the father of far-right Jewish militancy. Amid politicians' promises to crack down on Jewish terrorism suspects after the fatal firebombing of a Palestinian home on Friday, Mr. Ettinger on Tuesday became the name and face of what critics call a scourge on Israeli society. An Israeli court ordered him held for five days; the police said he was accused of conspiracy, membership in an illegal organization and "other things," including "nationalist" crimes.
Publisher: Haaretz
30 Jul 2015
Palestinian baby burned to death after settlers set fire to home
A one-and-a-half year-old Palestinian baby was burned to death and three were seriously wounded late Thursday night after a house was set on fire in the village of Douma, near Nablus. According to Ghassan Douglas, the Palestinian Authority official in charge of monitoring settlement activity in the northern West Bank, several settlers threw firebombs into the house and spraypainted graffiti reading "revenge" and "long live the Messiah" before fleeing. Witnesses say the whole house caught fire soon after.
Publisher: Aljazeera
29 Jul 2015
Israel approves settlement expansion amid backlash against demolitions
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday approved the "immediate construction" of 300 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Beit El and has advanced plans for 504 new housing units in Israeli settlement areas in East Jerusalem. The announcement came amid a standoff in Beit El, where Israeli settlers clashed with Israeli forces as authorities began to demolish a settlement complex there, and pressure from pro-settler political parties.
Publisher: Aljazeera
27 Jul 2015
Palestinian teen ‘executed’ during Israeli raid, family says
Israeli forces executed a Palestinian teenager, Muhammad Abu Latifa, during a raid of a West Bank refugee camp on Monday, family members and witnesses said, disputing Israeli claims that he fell to his death. Abu Latifa, 18, of the Qalandia refugee camp near Ramallah was the fourth Palestinian to be killed by Israeli forces this month.
Publisher: Washington Post
21 Jul 2015
How the Iran deal is good for Israel, according to Israelis who know what they’re talking about
In the aftermath of the deal over Iran's nuclear program announced in Vienna last week, attention immediately centered on the reaction in one country that was never a direct party to the talks: Israel.. Prominent members of the country's security establishment have come out at various stages of the negotiations in support of the Obama administration's efforts. Some of these men have been consistently vocal in their opposition to Netanyahu's hard-line rhetoric, which included a controversial speech to the U.S. Congress earlier this year.
Publisher: Haaretz
13 Jul 2015
Nearly 60 years of efforts to contain Iran’s nuclear program
1957-2015: Iran, the United States and five other major powers are laboring to reach an agreement on curbing Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanction relief. The deal seeks to allay suspicions that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons capability, something Tehran denies, saying its program is for purely peaceful purposes.
Publisher: The Guardian
13 Jul 2015
Video appears to contradict account of Israeli officer who killed Palestinian
Video footage has emerged that appears to show the moments leading up to the fatal shooting of a teenage stone thrower by a senior Israeli army officer, seemingly contradicting the soldier s account of the killing. They suggested that 17-year-old Mohammed Kasbeh was shot in the upper body by Shomer as the youth was fleeing, not in the midst of a life-threatening attack.
Publisher: Haaretz
9 Jul 2015
Netanyahu representative threatens family of Israeli missing in Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coordinator for hostages and missing persons, Lior Lotan, met Wednesday with the family of Avera Mengistu, who is missing in the Gaza Strip, and threatened them not to criticize the way the government is handling the affair, Channel 10 News reported Thursday night.
Publisher: Aljazeera
8 Jul 2015
Gaza still in ruins, a year after the war
The people of Gaza are marking a year since the Israeli air raids that heralded the start of a war that left 2,251 Palestinians dead and thousands more wounded. The anniversary on Wednesday of last summer's war comes as the besieged territory struggles to rebuild its infrastructure, and tens of thousands of its people struggle to access basic amenities.
Publisher: Sputnik News
7 Jul 2015
Israel Not Answering When US Calls to Update on Iran Nuke Talks
Publisher: Haaretz
6 Jul 2015
Clinton ‘alarmed’ over calls for Israel boycott, urges bi-partisan action
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton expressed her alarm last week over the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanction movement, and said countering it was a priority that stretches "across party lines," vowing to always "stand up for Israel" if she becomes president. In a July 2 letter sent to Israeli-American businessman Haim Saban - a major donor and fundraiser for Clinton - she stressed the need to counter the BDS campaign "with information and advocacy" and to "fight back against further attempts to delegitimize Israel."
Publisher: Haaretz
6 Jul 2015
Foreign Ministry: Iranian threat a key reason to cinch Israeli gas deal
When the security cabinet met late last month over offshore gas policy, the Foreign Ministry presented a position paper providing reasons why the major gas fields off the Mediterranean coast should be deemed a strategic asset, which in turn would provide grounds for bypassing antitrust considerations. "Misguided and misleading" was how energy policy expert Brenda Shaffer of the University of Haifa described the argument that a compromise proposal with Noble and the Delek Group should be sealed for geopolitical reasons.
Publisher: Aljazeera
4 Jul 2015
Hamas members arrested in West Bank crackdown
Palestinian Authority forces have arrested at least 120 people, including Hamas members, in the West Bank over the past two days, raising tension between the rival movements. Adnan al-Damiri, the PA security services' spokesman, said the arrests were not related to political activities but were made for security reasons. "We will not allow that the West Bank disintegrates into carnage and wars just because Hamas wants escalation," he told Al Jazeera.
Publisher: The Nation
1 Jul 2015
On the Cusp of an Iran Deal, Israel Facilely Beats the War Drums
What was Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel s prime minister, thinking when he had his office release a video on the occasion of the original deadline that portrayed the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, morphing into Iran? And then portraying the Islamic State of Iran instead of Iran s actual name, the Islamic Republic getting nuclear weapons? The 30-second cartoon makes a mockery of the Iran nuclear negotiations, which are intended to prevent Iran from being able use its nuclear program to get those weapons. Instead of raising substantive concerns with the emerging accord, Netanyahu s opted for ham-handed war propaganda, making light of the talks. Any reasonable viewer won t be laughing with Netanyahu, they ll be laughing at him.
Publisher: Haaretz
25 Jun 2015
Netanyahu sends implicit threat to Iran ahead of nuclear deadline
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted Thursday that Israel may attack Iran's nuclear facilities, even if Tehran and the powers nail down a historic deal to curtail Iran's nuclear program next week. "Whatever happens, Israel will always defend itself, and the Air Force plays a major role in this," Netanyahu said at a pilots' course graduation ceremony.
Publisher: Aljazeera
25 Jun 2015
Palestine submits file to ICC over Israeli war crimes
The Palestinian Authority has handed over its first submission of evidence of Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC), in a bid to speed up an ICC inquiry into abuses committed during last year's Gaza conflict. Standing outside the ICC after meeting the court's chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on Thursday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said he had submitted dossiers on the Gaza conflict, Israeli settlements on occupied land where Palestinians seek a state, and treatment of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Publisher: Jpost
24 Jun 2015
Chaos erupts in Knesset after deputy minister says Arab MKs should hand in Israeli ID cards
Netanyahu attempts damage control after Likud's Mazuz tells Arab MKs the state is "doing them a favor" by letting them be citizens, sparking chaos in Knesset. Touma-Sliman spoke immediately after, saying that anyone who thought Netanyahu would condemn Mazuz's statements was mistaken. "The prime minister is justifying incitement against us. Shame on him," she said. "I am a native of this land. My father was born here before the establishment of the state. No one is doing me a favor by giving me an ID card."
Publisher: JPost
24 Jun 2015
Isaac Herzog aligns with Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran
"There is no difference between me and [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu in reading the threat of Iran," Herzog said in an interview with The Telegraph. "There is no daylight between us on this issue at all. I do not oppose the diplomatic process. However, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We want to know 'what is the deal?' What s the best deal possible that can be reached and would it change the region in a better direction? And here we are worried."
Publisher: Haaretz
24 Jun 2015
Turkey confirms secret reconciliation meeting with Israeli representative
Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevl t avusoglu broached for the first time on Wednesday the topic of the secret meeting held last Monday in Rome between Dore Gold, the director general of Israel's Foreign Ministry and his Turkish counterpart, Feridun Sinirlioglu. avusoglu confirmed that the meeting's aim was to try and advance reconciliation efforts between Israel and Turkey.
Publisher: NYTimes
21 Jun 2015
Netanyahu Rejects ‘International Diktat’ on Israeli-Palestinian Peace Deal
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday sharply rebuffed what he described as an international attempt to dictate the terms of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal ahead of talks with France s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, who was visiting the region to advance a French-led initiative.
Publisher: Aljazeera
19 Jun 2015
UN chief silent on Israel’s absence from List of Shame
Publisher: NYTimes
16 Jun 2015
Israel’s Ludicrous Spoof of Western Journalists
If you don't have a good story to tell, a tried and tested tactic is to lampoon the press. Israel's Foreign Ministry, which is bracing for a United Nations report on its conduct during last year's war in Gaza, gave it a shot this week. It was lame. It wasn t funny. It was offensive. The ministry released an animated video depicting a clueless, blonde, American-accented television journalist reporting idiotically from the Gaza Strip as Hamas militants lurked in the background.
Publisher: Electronic Intifada
16 Jun 2015
Why has Israel embraced al-Qaida’s branch in Syria?
During his 2014 address to the UN General Assembly, Benjamin Netanyahu declared that fighting militant Islam is indivisible. The Israeli prime minister s crude attempts to conflate ISIS with Hamas should not be allowed to conceal an important truth: Israel aids the forces of "militant Islam" when it is considered opportune to do so. The most egregious example of such aid in recent times has been Israel s support for Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaida s franchise in Syria, as witnessed by UN peacekeeping forces stationed in the occupied Golan Heights.
Publisher: Aljazeera
14 Jun 2015
Israeli soldiers run over and kill Palestinian manl
Israeli soldiers have killed a Palestinian man by running over him with their vehicle during clashes near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, authorities say. Abdallah Ghanaeim, 21, died on Sunday morning after a soldier driving a military vehicle struck him during a dawn raid in the village of Kufur Malek. The Israeli army said Ghanaeim had thrown a fire bomb and the jeep swerved to miss it, before striking him.
Publisher: The Guardian
13 Jun 2015
University of Illinois censured for pulling Steven Salaita job over anti-Israel tweets
A leading academic group voted on Saturday to censure the University of Illinois flagship campus over its decision not to hire a professor following his anti-Israel Twitter messages, a vote the university's chancellor said would have repercussions. The university rescinded Salaita s job offer after some donors complained his tweets were anti-Semitic. He has since sued the school. The censure vote came one day after a judge ordered the university to turn over thousands of pages of documents sought by Salaita.
Publisher: The New Yorker
4 Jun 2015
Benjamin Netanyahu Media Manipulator
Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved his government last November to remove two obstacles. The first, much reported beyond Israel, was opposition by centrists within his government, including Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni, to the "Jewish nation" bill, which would have constrained the Supreme Court s ability to protect Arab citizens rights. The second-less noticed but perhaps more consequential was a bill advanced in the Knesset to prohibit any major newspaper from being distributed for free. The obvious target of the legislation was Sheldon Adelson s Israel Hayom, a free tabloid that s become Israel s most widely circulated newspaper. Adelson was reported to have lost as much as three million dollars a month on it-simply, it seems, to boost Netanyahu and his Likud Party.
Publisher: JPost
2 Jun 2015
Obama: World does not believe Israel serious about two-state solution
The international community does not believe that Israel is serious about a two-state solution, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has placed so many conditions to its establishment that it is unrealistic to think it could come into existence in the near future, US President Barack Obama said Tuesday.
Publisher: Aljazeera
2 Jun 2015
Tensions soar at the west bank refugee camp
Last week, Palestinian security forces raided the West Bank refugee camp of Balata, sparking one of the biggest clashes between the two sides in months. By the time it ended, one camp resident had been wounded by live fire, and another detained by the Palestinian Authority (PA). Balata, a 0.25-square-kilometre camp that was established in 1950 and now houses 23,000 residents, grapples with overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and high unemployment, according to UNRWA, the United Nations refugees agency.
Publisher: Foreign Policy
1 Jun 2015
Israel’s shield
Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, has appealed to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to remove Israel from a draft U.N. rogues list of government forces, rebel movements, and terrorist organizations accused of violating children's rights in the midst of conflict, according to officials familiar with the U.S. envoy's confidential discussions with the U.N. leader. The American effort underscores the degree to which the United States continues to defend Israel at the United Nations despite the highly public rift between Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Publisher: JPost
29 May 2015
UN report finds continued non-compliance by Iran in nuclear probe
Iran is still not complying with the International Atomic Energy Agency in its investigation of possible military dimensions to its past nuclear work, despite years of requests and despite negotiations with world powers over its program nearing a final deadline next month, the agency reported on Friday.
Publisher: BBC
27 May 2015
Amnesty International: ‘Hamas killed and tortured Palestinians’
Amnesty International has accused the Palestinian group, Hamas, of a brutal campaign of abduction, torture and killings against its own people. Amnesty documents more than 20 cases of what it says were extra-judicial executions during last year's conflict with Israel. The organisation says many victims of torture were members of the rival Palestinian movement, Fatah.
Publisher: The Guardian
22 May 2015
Israel’s new deputy foreign minister: ‘This land is ours. All of it is ours’
Publisher: The Guardian
20 May 2015
Israel scraps scheme to ban Palestinians from buses
Israel s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has cancelled a pilot scheme banning Palestinian workers from Israeli buses in the occupied territories denounced as tantamount to apartheid only hours after it was announced. The plan had been approved by Netanyahu s defence minister, Moshe Ya alon, but was cancelled amid fierce criticism from Israeli opposition figures, human rights groups and a former minister in Netanyahu s own party, who said it was a "stain on the face of Israel" that would damage its international image.
Publisher: JPost
20 May 2015
US approves munitions sale to Israel worth $1.87b
The US State Department this week approved the sale of $1.87 billion in munitions and precision guidance kits to Israel to improve the capability of existing systems and make it easier for US and Israeli military forces to work together. The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which implements and oversees foreign military sales, notified lawmakers on Tuesday about the proposed deal. It said the main contractors would include Boeing Co, Lockheed Martin Corp , General Dynamics Corp, Raytheon Co.
Publisher: JPost
17 May 2015
Abbas sets preconditions for new Benjamin Netanyahu government to return to peace talks
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday set out preconditions to restarting the peace talks with Israel. According to Israel Radio on Friday, Abbas called for the halt of all settlement construction in the West Bank and for the immediate release of Palestinians that were imprisoned before the Oslo Accords who were supposed to be released in 2014. The Palestinian leader demanded that the talks be held for a minimum of a year, during which the two sides will agree on a specific timetable for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank that is to be completed by 2017.
Publisher: Aljazeera
17 May 2015
Clashes as Israelis mark East Jerusalem occupation day
Israeli hardliners and police have clashed with Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem as crowds of ultra-nationalists marched across the city to mark the 48 years since its occupation by Israel. At least four Palestinians were arrested during the flare-up on Sunday, as Israeli police used batons and horseback units to disperse counter-demonstrators. One participating group, the anti-racism movement Tag Meir, said the annual march had become "a focus for extremist groups" and was routinely accompanied by "racist slurs and insults, destruction of property and physical violence against the Palestinian residents of Jerusalem".
Publisher: JPost
17 May 2015
Israel at center of international diplomatic storm as vatican, FIFA, EU step up pressure
The Palestinian decision to internationalize their conflict with Israel seems to be paying off as Israel is coming under diplomatic pressure on several fronts at the same time. The Vatican decision to recognize Palestine as a state, an expected French-sponsored resolution to the United Nations Security Council, and the possible expulsion of Israel from FIFA, the international soccer federation, are creating the sense that Israel is losing the diplomatic battle.
Publisher: BBC
6 May 2015
Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu agrees coalition deal
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed an 11th-hour deal to form a new coalition government. Mr Netanyahu needed backing from the right-wing Bayit Yehudi party to give him the necessary 61 seats. The leader of Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home), Naftali Bennett, had demanded the justice ministry in return for support from his eight MPs. He opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, enjoys the support of Israeli settler communities in the West Bank and has called for the annexation of parts of the occupied territory.
Publisher: Times of Israel
30 Apr 2015
Ethiopian-Israeli protest against police brutality turns violent, over a dozen hurt
Publisher: Aljazeera
27 Apr 2015
Israel invites tenders for more settlement buildings
Israeli authorities have invited tenders for the construction of 77 buildings in settlement neighbourhoods of occupied East Jerusalem. "Instead of changing direction and showing that Israel is ready for peace, Netanyahu is sticking to the line he held during his election campaign and seeking to prevent the chance of peace."
Publisher: Aljazeera
17 Apr 2015
Palestinians clash with Israeli troops on Prisoners Day
Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli troops in the northern West Bank during annual demonstrations marking Palestinian Prisoners Day. More than 100 Palestinians rallied near Israel's separation barrier in the village of Bilin on Friday, with some throwing stones before soldiers opened up with tear gas to disperse the crowd. One protester was wounded, AFP news agency reported.
Publisher: Haaretz
10 Apr 2015
U.K. Labour Party leader Ed Miliband backs Palestine recognition
The leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party said on Friday he favored recognizing Palestine as a state if such a move would help bring about a broader peace deal in the Middle East. Miliband said Labour backed a symbolic vote held last year in Britain's parliament in favour of recognizing Palestine. "What we said at the time of that vote was that it was a vote about the principle of recognition. And clearly a decision about when recognition would take place was dependent on how it would constructively help negotiations."
Publisher: NYTimes
6 Apr 2015
Israel Suggests Ways to Make Iran Nuclear Deal ‘More Reasonable’
Clearly unsatisfied with assurances from Washington, Israel on Monday listed specific requirements that it said it wanted in any final deal with Iran over that country s nuclear program. Whereas Israel's public diplomacy has so far focused on what many have said was an unrealistic demand for the complete dismantlement of Iran s potentially military nuclear infrastructure, Yuval Steinitz, Israel's minister of intelligence and strategic affairs, presented a list of desired modifications for the final agreement due to be concluded by June 30, that he said would make it "more reasonable."
Publisher: Aljazeera
6 Apr 2015
Obama: Recognising Israel not a condition of Iran deal
US President Barack Obama has poured cold water on an Israeli demand that a nuclear deal between world powers and Iran be predicated on Tehran officially recognising Israel. In an interview with NPR News, set to air on Tuesday morning in the US, Obama continued his public campaign to sell the framework nuclear understanding struck with Iran last week in Lausanne.
Publisher: Haaretz
5 Apr 2015
Iran deal? Israel sticks to its language of bombing and shelling
The so-called existential danger is needed so we can be distracted from the real danger, the continuation of the occupation.Tto Netanyahu's Israel, anything that didn't include bombing Iran isn't considered a solution, and no agreement, not even Iranian capitulation, would be considered worthy. That's the naked truth, and it's very disturbing.
Publisher: Haaretz
3 Apr 2015
President Rohani vows Iran will abide by its commitments in nuclear deal
Netanayhu said Friday that a final nuclear agreement between the six world powers and Iran must require Tehran to recognize Israel's right to exist. Netanyahu claimed that "within years, the deal will lift all the restrictions imposed on Iran's nuclear program," thus allowing it to develop greater capabilities and produce several atom bombs within months. This, despite fact that the understandings between Iran and the world powers stipulate that the agreement will be in effect for 10 to 15 years, and that the oversight of Iran's nuclear facilities is to remain in place for 20 to 25 years.
Publisher: BBC
1 Apr 2015
Palestinians formally join International Criminal Court
The Palestinians have formally joined the International Criminal Court (ICC), a key step towards being able to pursue Israelis for alleged war crimes. After a ceremony at The Hague, Foreign Minister Riad Malki said Palestinians sought "justice not vengeance". But Israel denounced the move as "political, cynical and hypocritical".
Publisher: NYTimes
30 Mar 2015
Among Palestinians, Discontent With Abbas Grows
West Bank - Residents of this cinder-block ghetto, a few miles from the headquarters of President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, recently removed his portrait from the camp's entrance. Then they sought to embarrass Mr. Abbas by roundly rejecting his son's bid to lead a local sports club. And in case the message was not clear enough, after the vote, men paraded through the streets chanting, "Tell your father that Amari camp doesn't like you!"
Publisher: NYTimes
27 Mar 2015
Benjamin Netanyahu releases Palestinian funds
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Friday that he would release the three months of tax revenue his government had kept from the Palestinian Authority. Israel withheld the funds in response to Palestinian efforts to join the International Criminal Court, a move both the U.S. and Israel have flatly condemned.
Publisher: The Guardian
27 Mar 2015
Israel killed more Palestinians in 2014 than in any other year since 1967
More than 2,300 Palestinians killed and more than 17,000 injured, according to annual report by UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs The conflict in Gaza in July and August was largely responsible for the dramatic increase in fatalities, claiming the lives of 2,220 Gazans. The number of Palestinians held in administrative detention by Israeli authorities increased by 24% in 2014, but decreased when it came to children.
Publisher: The Intercept
25 Mar 2015
Netanyahu’s Spying Denials Contradicted by Secret NSA Documents
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday vehemently denied a Wall Street Journal report, leaked by the Obama White House, that Israel spied on U.S. negotiations with Iran and then fed the intelligence to Congressional Republicans. His office's denial was categorical and absolute, extending beyond this specific story to U.S.-targeted spying generally, claiming: "The state of Israel does not conduct espionage against the United States or Israel's other allies." Israel's claim is not only incredible on its face. It is also squarely contradicted by top-secret NSA documents, which state that Israel targets the U.S. government for invasive electronic surveillance, and does so more aggressively and threateningly than almost any other country in the world.
Publisher: IranPressNews
23 Mar 2015
IRGC commander: Today Iraq and Lebanon, tomorrow Jordan
A top commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guards said this weekend he believed Tehran had the ability to control events in Jordan, as it does in Iraq and Lebanon. Qassem Soleimani, commander of the elite Quds force - the foreign wing of the Revolutionary Guards - was addressing a youth conference in Tehran. His remarks were the first time a senior Iranian official has openly discussed Iranian ambitions in Jordan.
Publisher: NYTimes
23 Mar 2015
Netanyahu Apologizes for Comments About Israeli Arabs
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel apologized Monday for warning last week that Arab citizens were voting in "droves," comments that have been denounced by President Obama, other world leaders, American Jewish leaders and many Israelis as anti-democratic, race-baiting and fear-mongering. The apology came hours after Israel s president, Reuven Rivlin, announced that Mr. Netanyahu had secured the backing of 67 of the 120 Parliament members elected last week and officially designated him to form the next government.
Publisher: The Guardian
23 Mar 2015
White House insists Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories must end
The White House issued a passionate call for eventual Palestinian statehood on Monday as it stepped up criticism of the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, for appearing to question a two-state solution to Middle East peace. "An occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end," Barack Obama's chief of staff, Denis McDonough, told a conference of liberal activists in Washington. "Israel cannot maintain military control of another people indefinitely," he added.
Publisher: NYTimes
21 Mar 2015
Obama Says He Told Netanyahu That Talk Before Election Hurt the Peace Process
President Obama said he has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Israeli leader s remarks in the closing days of his re-election campaign had upended the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and ran counter to the very nature of Israeli democracy, an unusually forceful and public condemnation of the top official of a vital United States ally. Ignoring the prime minister's attempts in postelection interviews to walk back his comments, Mr. Obama made it clear - as have senior members of his administration in recent days - that he believes Mr. Netanyahu is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Publisher: Haaretz
19 Mar 2015
U.S. to review Israel-Palestinian policy despite Netanyahu’s backtracking
The results of the Knesset election this week have done nothing to diminish the crisis between Jerusalem and Washington. On Thursday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's clarification regarding comments he had made about a Palestinian state and Israel's Arab community during the campaign.
Publisher: NYTimes
18 Mar 2015
Obama May Find It Impossible to Mend Frayed Ties to Netanyahu
Now that Mr. Netanyahu has won after aggressively campaigning against a Palestinian state and Mr. Obama s potential nuclear deal with Iran, the question is whether the president and prime minister can ever repair their relationship - and whether Mr. Obama will even try. In strikingly strong criticism, the White House called Mr. Netanyahu's campaign rhetoric, in which he railed against Israeli Arabs because they went out to vote, an attempt to "marginalize Arab-Israeli citizens" and inconsistent with the values that bind Israel and the United States.
Publisher: NYTimes
18 Mar 2015
Palestinian Leaders See Validation of Their Statehood Effort
Under most circumstances, an Israeli leader s frank admission that he would never agree to a Palestinian state would be a disaster for the Palestinian leadership. But when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said precisely that in the heat of the recent election campaign, it seemed to have the opposite effect, validating the unilateral approach the Palestinians have decided to follow.
Publisher: NYTimes
16 Mar 2015
Netanyahu Says No to Statehood for Palestinians
Under pressure on the eve of a surprisingly close election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday doubled down on his appeal to right-wing voters, declaring definitively that if he was returned to office he would never establish a Palestinian state. The statement reversed Mr. Netanyahu s endorsement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a 2009 speech at Bar Ilan University, and fulfilled many world leaders suspicions that he was never really serious about peace negotiations.
Publisher: National Post
14 Mar 2015
Netanyahu Fatigue: Polls show Israeli voters have moved to issues beyond Likud’s mantra on security
Netanyahu's poll numbers have fallen since December, when he boldly called for elections after the collapse of his plan to formally designate Israel as the "nation-state of the Jewish people." Mr. Netanyahu's key ally in that plan, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, has seen his own electoral prospects collapse in scandal and ridicule, weakening hopes of a strong coalition between them.
Publisher: The Guardian
8 Mar 2015
Israeli mass rally calls for replacement of Binyamin Netanyahu
Tens of thousands of Israelis attended a rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on Saturday evening to call for the prime minster, Binyamin Netanyahu, to be replaced in elections later this month. Organised under the banner, "Israel wants change" and dubbed an "anti-Netanyahu" event, the rally was headlined by former Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who told the crowd Israel is facing the worst leadership crisis in its history.
Publisher: Aljazeera
7 Mar 2015
Gaza’s farmers on front lines of perpetual war
Palestinian farmers in the Gaza Strip are struggling to recover from the 51-day war between Israel and Palestinian armed groups that ended with a ceasefire in late August 2014. Twenty years ago, Jaber Abu Daqqa, 61, moved from his hometown of Khuzaa to nearby al-Faraheen, a village that touches Israel's heavily militarised border with Gaza. "I lost sheep and goats during the war," he told Al Jazeera. "I came back to this house and found it mostly destroyed. It will cost me $10,000 to repair, I think. I plan on paying for it myself," he noted, explaining that he prefers not to wait on international aid. Since the war ended nearly half a year ago, the international community has failed to make good on promises to rebuild Gaza. In many towns and villages across the coastal strip, reconstruction has yet to begin.