Middle East
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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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
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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Haaretz
1 Mar 2015
Iran’s top negotiator slams Netanyahu’s ‘scaremongering’
Iran's top nuclear negotiator said Saturday that "scaremongering" by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won't stop the Islamic Republic and world powers from reaching a final nuclear deal. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the world should not allow the hard-line Israeli leader to undermine peace. He was referring to Netanyahu's planned speech at the U.S. Congress next week on the emerging nuclear deal that he considers dangerous.
Publisher: Haaretz
19 Feb 2015
The State Comptroller report tells us what we already know about Netanyahu
One of the more memorable statements made by the poetess of poverty from the prime minister s residence, Sara Netanyahu, in the viral video clip in which she mourned her bitter fate over a wreath of dried pomegranates, was, "It's related to how we try to save money." But the most outrageous of all may be how poorly-paid workers who went shopping for the wealthiest prime minister we've ever had weren't reimbursed for the money they paid out of their own pockets. And I wouldn t envy anyone who tried to get his money back from the missus (since the master is at work ).
Publisher: Haaretz
13 Feb 2015
Congress speech gives Israel a seat at P5+1 talks with Iran
Publisher: Haaretz
1 Feb 2015
Pelosi vs. Netanyahu’s Congress speech: If he wants to talk Iran, he can go on TV
Criticism in the Democratic Party over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned Congress address is refusing to die down. Despite marathon phone calls between Netanyahu and senior Democrats in an effort to convince them to tone down their objections to the speech, the underlying message relayed by the Democratic representatives in the House and the Senate is that Netanyahu ought to cancel it.
Publisher: Haaretz
13 Jan 2015
Hollande asked Netanyahu not to attend Paris memorial march
Absence sought as part of attempt to keep Israeli-Palestinian conflict out of European show of unity; After Netanyahu insisted on coming, French made it clear Abbas would be invited as well. Audibert explained that Hollande wanted the event to focus on demonstrating solidarity with France, and to avoid anything liable to divert attention to other controversial issues, like Jewish-Muslim relations or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Publisher: Haaretz
10 Jan 2015
Knesset report: BDS movement has no impact on economy
The global movement to boycott the Israeli economy is having no discernible impact even though Israel s export-dependent economy is vulnerable, the Knesset Research and Information Center said in a report released on Wednesday. The report noted that the boycott comprised several components, including the long-standing boycott by the Arab League and efforts by the European Union to dent the customs exemptions and other benefits of the free-trade agreement with Israel to the West Bank settlements.
Publisher: Haaretz
9 Jan 2015
Netanyahu responds to Ehud Barak’s Haaretz interview: He’s still an irresponsible leftist
Publisher: Hot Air
23 Jan 2015
Did Mossad really back Obama’s Iran policy
On Thursday, Israel's intelligence agency reportedly threw cold water on a plan by a bipartisan group of congressional officeholders to impose new sanctions on Iran if the regime fails to abide by agreements reached during nuclear negotiations or walks away from the process. The report was a bombshell. It would indicate that Mossad, the organization on the front lines of Israel's covert war against Iran and the terrorist organizations sponsored by the regime, is more supportive of President Barack Obama s approach to nuclear negotiations than the line favored by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Publisher: Huffington Post
Author: David Bromvich
2 Mar 2015
Netanyahu’s Takeover Bid
The speech that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, will deliver to Congress on March 3rd aims to scuttle an agreement on nuclear inspections and technology between Iran and the United States. Netanyahu has given America several final chances to dispose of this existential threat. Each time, he announced that Iran would attack Israel within months if the US did not bomb Iran first; more than once, he said that Israel would attack Iran unassisted if Americans were blind to the emergency.
Publisher: Independent
8 Feb 2015
Hundreds of rabbis from around the world call on Israel to halt demolition of Palestinian homes
Publisher: Information Clearing House
5 Oct 2015
Death-chanting Israeli Mob Rejoices As Palestinian Teen Is Executed
Israeli authorities claimed that 19-year-old Fadi Samir Alloun was killed after a stabbing attack that wounded an Israeli teenager. They presented no evidence connecting Alloun to the alleged stabbing. After police shoot him dead, an officer can be heard asking one of the mob, "Did he stab anyone?" The Israeli youth answers that Alloun did not.
Publisher: informed comment
2 Jan 2016
US Treasury Sued over Donations for Israeli Squatter Settlements in Palestine
A lawsuit has been filed in a US court seeking to stop non-profit groups from sending billions of dollars worth of tax-exempt donations to support illegal Israeli settlements and the Israeli army. A group of American citizens filed the suit on December 21 against the US Department of Treasury, claiming about 150 non-profits have sent an estimated $280bn to Israel over the past two decades.
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: IranPressNews
25 Feb 2015
Obama vs. Netanyahu A clash of legacies over Iran
But there's a deeper reason for the current U.S.-Israeli standoff. It has to do with the significance each man ascribes to Iran. For all their personal estrangement, the two leaders aren t going to DEFCON 1 over the Palestinians. Obama didn't express his distaste for Netanyahu by supporting the latest Palestinian statehood bid at the UN or by condemning Israel's behavior in last summer s Gaza War. Bibi hasn t annexed E1. The reason Obama and Netanyahu are letting their true emotions show over Iran is because Iran matters to each in a way the Palestinians do not. That's because each believes the way he handles Iran will help define how history sees him.
Publisher: Israel Hayom
1 Jul 2016
Mother of girl murdered in her sleep by terrorist: How do you eulogize a flower?
Hallel Yaffa Ariel, 13, who was stabbed to death in her home in Kiryat Arba, is laid to rest Her mother, Rina: "Father, I'm begging that Hallel be the last victim" - Mother of Hallel's killer: My son is a hero. ... I have no pity for Jews. Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Habayit Hayehudi), a cousin of Hallel's father, Amichai, called on the government to continue building in Judea and Samaria and apply Israeli law to those areas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday, after holding a security consultation with Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, that it was decided to put the entire village of Bani Naim, where the terrorist lived, under closure, and to revoke all work permits granted to the terrorist's family. "The process of blowing up the terrorist's home has been initiated," Netanyahu added
Publisher: Israel National News
5 Dec 2015
Swedish Foreign Minister: Israel is ‘executing’ Palestinians
Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom once again lashed out at Israel on Friday, accusing the Jewish state of executing without trial Palestinian Arabs who carried out stabbing attacks in Israel. Wallstrom s comments were made during a 45-minute debate in the Swedish parliament, in which she replied to questions from parliamentarians on Sweden s foreign policy.
Publisher: Jerusalem Online
8 Dec 2015
Will Iran overpower Israeli technology?
New data revealed worrying results related to Iran in the background of the signing of the nuclear deal. The new research indicates that the gap between Iran and Israel in the scientific and technological fields is lessening, threatening the advantage held by Israel in the future. Although Israel truly maintains the quality gap in the computer field and the life sciences, Israel is no longer consider a leader in the mathematics field. This means that the gap has narrowed. Another statistic that indicates the narrowing gap was the results of the Science Olympiad in High Schools, where the recent winners were youth from Turkey and Iran.
Publisher: JPost
27 Apr 2016
Syrian army reportedly seizes Israeli-made weapons on their way to ISIS
Forces of the Syrian army in the southeastern governorate of al-Suweida seized Israeli-made weapons that were designated for ISIS, Syrian media reported on Wednesday. The vehicle was carrying Israeli-made mines with Hebrew writing on them, as well as mortars, RPG rockets and hand grenades. It was not immediately clear how the Israeli weapons got into the hands of those arming ISIS.
Publisher: JPost
17 Jan 2016
Israel at the UN: Lifting sanctions on Iran greases wheels of terrorism
"Iran is continuing to strive for nuclear weapons and the International Atomic Energy Agency s optimism must not blind the international community," Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon said on Saturday, as world powers dropped sanctions on Iran after international monitors concluded the first phase of their landmark nuclear deal complete, marking the formal commencement of the accord.Lifting the sanctions, Danon said is like "greasing the wheels of terrorism that Iran is funding around the world."
Publisher: JPost
7 Jan 2016
Will Iran win the technology war?
In an unusual closed lecture he gave on October 29 for Tel Aviv's College of Management, the usually reticent and understated general, formerly head of the elite Sayeret Matkal commando unit and tabbed as a leading candidate to become the next chief of staff, said, "If you ask me whether we'll have a war with Iran over the next 10 years, I'll give you a surprising answer. We are already at war with Iran. We're having a technological war with Iran. Our engineers are fighting Iranian engineers today and it s becoming increasingly significant."
Publisher: JPost
6 Jan 2016
After US exercises restraint on new sanctions, Iran reveals new missile silo
Iran unveiled a new underground depot for its medium-range ballistic missiles on Tuesday, less than two months after testing one of the weapons considered illegal under international law. The missile, named the Emad, is capable of delivering a nuclear payload and is uniquely designed for that task. Their construction violates a 2010 United Nations Security Council resolution, according to the US State Department.
Publisher: JPost
25 Dec 2015
Turkey’s dangerous ambitions
It is the same old Middle East story: The Shi'ites accuse Sunnis of passionately following sectarian policies; Sunnis accuse the Shi'ites of passionately following sectarian polices; and they are both right. Except that Turkey's pro-Sunni sectarian policies are taking an increasingly perilous turn as they push Turkey into new confrontations, adding newcomers to an already big list of hostile countries.
Publisher: JPost
25 Dec 2015
Iran urges China to join fight against ISIS
China should play a more active role in fighting Islamic State, a senior figure in a body that advises Iran's Supreme Leader said on Thursday, according to the country's Fars news agency. Iran is widely credited for convincing Russia to start its military intervention in Syria and join the fight against the Islamic State.
Publisher: JPost
16 Dec 2015
Netanyahu: Given Abbas’ incitement, no surprise majority of Palestinians support stabbing attacks
Polls showing that some 60% of the Palestinians support current stabbing attacks on Israelis should come as no surprise, given Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' continued incitement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday. Netanyahu, at a visit at the IDF's southern command headquarters with Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon, was referring to a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research showing that two-thirds of the Palestinians support the current violence. Another two-thirds said that a two state solution is no longer viable.
Publisher: JPost
11 Dec 2015
Abbas claims Palestinians are facing a new ‘nakba’
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday accused Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian youth and children, whom he described as the "defenders of the dream and future generation." Palestinians are facing a "nakba (catastrophe) that is aimed at uprooting them from their lands and denying their existence," Abbas said, in a statement on the occasion of Human Rights Day.
Publisher: JPost
30 Nov 2015
Israel’s next battlefield: Defeating Palestinian incitement on social media
The Foreign Ministry plans to create a new App to locate the words 'knife' and 'Jew' on social media as part of its new offensive against Palestinian incitement on the internet. Under the auspices of the Foreign Ministry s communication s department a new office of some eight to ten people, with backgrounds in Arabic and technology, will be set up to counter the wave of incitement against Israel and Jews on social media.
Publisher: JPost
10 Nov 2015
Abbas claims Hamas and Israel are meeting to annex part of Sinai to Gaza
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was quoted on Monday as claiming that Israel and Hamas have been conducting direct negotiations to expand the Gaza Strip so that it would include some 1,000 square kilometers of Sinai. In response to Abbas s allegations, Hamas leaders denied that they have been conducting negotiations with Israel. They also denied the claim that Hamas wants to annex parts of Sinai to the Gaza Strip.
Publisher: JPost
6 Nov 2015
Iranian military hackers take aim at Obama administration officials
Iran's Revolutionary Guards stepped up hacking of email and social media accounts of Obama administration officials in recent weeks in cyber attacks believed linked to the arrest of an Iranian-American businessman in Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The newspaper, citing unnamed US officials, said people working on Iran policy appeared to be the focus of the cyber attacks, with personnel in the State Department's Office of Iranian Affairs and the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs among those hacked. Other targets included journalists and academics.
Publisher: JPost
6 Nov 2015
Netanyahu’s new media adviser said Obama’s Iran policy is ‘modern anti-Semitism’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's choice to serve as the next chief media adviser in the Prime Minister's Office posted controversial statuses on his Facebook page, including one in which he refers to US President Barack Obama's response to the premier's Iran speech in Congress as "modern anti-Semitism."
Publisher: JPost
27 Oct 2015
Iranian general: Israel’s collapse may come in less than a quarter of a century
The commander of Iran's ground forces vowed that their long-range missiles would rain down on Israel if it made any move against his country. The "Zionist regime's" collapse may occur in less than 25 years, said Brig. Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan in an interview with Iran's Al Alam TV, Tasnim News Agency reported on Monday. Ayatollah Khamenei said similarly last month that "God willing there will be nothing left of the Zionist regime in 25 years." Separately, the Iranian parliament condemned Israel's "atrocities" against the Palestinians.
Publisher: JPost
22 Oct 2015
Mashaal: Hamas opposed to ideological extremism, has chosen path of moderation
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal was quoted on Thursday as saying that it was the responsibility of all to "liberate the Aksa Mosque and Palestine." Mashaal, who is currently on a visit to South Africa, said in a speech at a mosque in Pretoria, that Hamas was "opposed to ideological extremism." Hamas, he claimed, has chosen the path of "moderation" and is not hostile towards anyone because of his belief. "Hamas believes in a struggle against the oppressors," he said.
Publisher: JPost
21 Oct 2015
‘Netanyahu trivializing Holocaust by claiming mufti persuaded Hitler to kill Jews,’ Herzog says
Publisher: JPost
10 Oct 2015
PA calls on UN to investigate Israel for ‘crimes’ against Palestinians
The Palestinian Authority government on Saturday stepped up its attacks on Israel, holding it responsible for "crimes" against Palestinians by the IDF and settlers. A statement released in Ramallah accused the Israeli government of providing a cover and legalizing "crimes and violations against innocent Palestinians under the watching eye of the world." Saying that 17 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded since the beginning of October, the PA government called on the UN Human Rights Council to quickly dispatch a commission of inquiry to the region "to investigate all crimes perpetrated by Israel against our people."
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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: Jpost
5 Mar 2015
Abbas: Palestinians won’t accept Jewish state
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated on Wednesday his refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state but said the Palestinians are prepared to return to the negotiating table. "We won't accept a Jewish state and the Islamization of the struggle in the Middle East," Abbas said in a speech before the PLO Central Council in Ramallah. "We are moderate Muslims. We are also against the Jewish state because of the many things it would mean in the future. We are against a temporary [Palestinian] state."
Publisher: JPost
27 Feb 2015
US House speaker Benjamin Netanyahu speech to Congress not destructive to Israel relationship
US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner on Thursday strongly challenged the assertion that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming speech to Congress about nuclear negotiations with Iran would be destructive to US-Israeli relations. "The president's national security advisor says it's destructive for the prime minister of Israel to address the United States Congress. I couldn't disagree more," Boehner said at his weekly news conference.
Publisher: JPost
19 Feb 2015
Poll: Most Americans say Republican invite to Netanyahu was mistake
A solid majority of Americans say that the Republican leadership erred in inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress without informing the White House, a poll commissioned by CNN indicated on Wednesday. According to the survey, 63 percent disagreed with the move, while 33 percent believe it was proper, CNN reported.
Publisher: JPost
29 Jan 2015
B’Tselem: PM culpable for Gaza war Palestinian civilian deaths; NGO Monitor demurs
A B'Tselem report to be published early Wednesday blasts the country's civilian leadership, and specifically Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his cabinet, as culpable for hundreds of Palestinian civilians being killed in their residences during last summer's Gaza war. Neither the IDF, nor the Foreign Ministry nor the Prime Minister s Office responded, but NGO Monitor called the document part of a "chorus of false Gaza war allegations."
Publisher: JPost
14 Jan 2015
Jerusalem begins diplomatic fight against UN Commission inquiry on Gaza
Israel this week launched a campaign to thwart the UN Commission of Inquiry on Gaza, directing its diplomats to ensure that a majority of the 47 countries on the UN body that established the commission do not endorse its report. The commission, headed by William Schabas, is due to present its findings to the UN Human Rights Council on March 23, just six days after the elections. A vote on the findings will be held a few days later.
Publisher: JPost
9 Jan 2015
Hamas accuses Palestinian Authority of neglecting Gaza Strip
Publisher: Middle East Eye
23 Feb 2015
Kerry acknowledges ‘significant gaps’ in Iran nuclear talks
The Kerry-Zarif meeting takes place against the backdrop of growing tension between Israel and the United States over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s planned speech before Congress on 3 March. Kerry warned in London Saturday that "there are still significant gaps, there is still a distance to travel."
Publisher: Middle East Eye
5 Feb 2015
Jailed schoolgirl becomes Palestinian symbol
A 14-year-old schoolgirl jailed for trying to attack Israeli soldiers has become a symbol for hundreds of Palestinian children tried in Israeli military courts each year. The two-month sentence for Malak al-Khatib, who was accused of stone-throwing and possession of a knife, has unleashed a wave of solidarity and support among Palestinians.
Publisher: mondoweiss
9 May 2016
Calling Israel a ‘modern day miracle’ and ‘vibrant bloom in desert,’ Clinton says BDS is anti-Semitic
Hillary Clinton has put out another letter condemning the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) as a form of anti-semitism, on the eve of a Methodist General Conference that will consider measures to divest from three companies that do business in the occupied West Bank, Motorola, Hewlett Packard and Caterpillar.
Publisher: Mondoweiss
29 Jan 2015
Report accuses Israel of targeting Gaza’s water facilities
Publisher: Mother Jones
28 Jan 2015
Netanyahu to American Jews: Get Lost
By RSVPing to Boehner's invitation, Netanyahu is choosing sides and embracing the folks whom most American Jews oppose. He is butting into US politics and enabling the never-ending Republican campaign to undercut a president widely supported by American Jews. After all, Israel, which receives about $3 billion in US aid annually, needs the United States more than vice versa. Yet Netanyahu has decided to snub American Jews and to insult the leader they strongly back.
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: NBC News
27 Jan 2015
Thousands of Israeli Holocaust Survivors Struggle in Poverty
Hadasa Hershkovichi fled to Israel in search of a home after the Nazis murdered her entire family. Hershkovichi is one of 190,000 Holocaust survivors residing in Israel today. She is also one of the 50,000 estimated to live below the poverty line, according to the Association for Immediate Help for Holocaust Survivors. Israel classifies a person as poor if they survive on around $600 or less a month.
Publisher: NYTimes
19 Jun 2016
Israel Approves Additional Funding for Settlements in West Bank
The Israeli government on Sunday approved about $20 million in additional financing for Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, underlining its strengthened right-wing orientation and raising the ire of political opponents and the Palestinians. The new money would add to what the settlements already receive from various parts of the government s budget. It was approved days after blistering condemnations of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by two former Israeli defense ministers and military chiefs of staff. Speaking at a prestigious security conference, they accused the prime minister and his government of pushing a divisive agenda that threatened Israel s future as a Jewish democracy and undermined its core values
Publisher: NYTimes
23 May 2016
A Window Into the West Bank’s ‘Wildest, Most Violent’ Areas
With shoulder-length hair tumbling from beneath his knit skullcap, Hanamel Dorfman, a radical young Israeli settler, explains matter-of-factly on camera how hilltop settlement outposts like his own will continue to proliferate across the West Bank. From there, he says bluntly, Israelis will cross the Jordan River and start building on the other side. Reminded that beyond the river there is another sovereign nation, Jordan, Mr. Dorfman says with an unwavering gaze, "Everything is temporary."
Publisher: NYTimes
20 May 2016
Moshe Yaalon, Israeli Defense Minister, Resigns
Israel's defense minister abruptly announced his resignation on Friday, saying he had lost faith in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and was "fearful for Israel's future" after his job had apparently been offered to a rival in a far-right party. The minister, Moshe Yaalon, is a senior leader in Mr. Netanyahu's conservative Likud Party, and quit amid the prime minister s political maneuvering to broaden his governing coalition, which has only a one-seat majority in Parliament.
Publisher: NYTimes
9 Mar 2016
Obama Seeks to Pave Way to Mideast Deal After He Leaves Office
President Obama, resigned to his failure to broker a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, is looking past his time in office and weighing a plan that would preserve at least the principle of a two-state solution for his successor to pursue. Mr. Netanyahu on Monday declined an invitation to meet with Mr. Obama on March 18 in Washington, ostensibly because he did not want to get drawn into the volatile presidential election. In fact, several officials said, Mr. Netanyahu did not want to meet with Mr. Obama without having sealed the terms of a new pact on American military aid.
Publisher: NYTimes
18 Jan 2016
Netanyahu Asserts Israel Will Be Iran’s Watchdog
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel warned on Sunday that his nation would ensure that Tehran never obtains nuclear weapons, while also taking credit for keeping Iran from already having them. He also said that the recent accord would strengthen and embolden Iran s leaders, since the lifting of most sanctions would free up money for Tehran to arm and support the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Shiite militias and Israel s enemies in the region, including Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Publisher: NYTimes
27 Oct 2015
Netanyahu Quiets Deputy Who Said She Dreamed of Israeli Flag Over Jerusalem Holy Site
Israel's deputy foreign minister could hardly have contradicted her boss more directly - or at a tenser time. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's repeated insistence that Israel had not and would not change anything at an Old City holy site was endorsed over the weekend by the United States and Jordan, which administers the contested Jerusalem complex that is at the center of this month's violent Palestinian uprising. Then the deputy minister, Tzipi Hotovely - an archconservative member of Mr. Netanyahu s Likud Party - told an Israeli interviewer on Monday, "It is my dream to see the Israeli flag" flying there.
Publisher: NYTimes
13 Oct 2015
4 Attacks by Palestinians Leave 3 Dead in Israel
Four attacks by Palestinians in Jerusalem and a city 40 miles away killed three Israeli Jews and wounded at least a dozen others in two hours on Tuesday morning, the police said, the most intense eruption so far in two weeks of escalating violence that has alarmed Israel and flummoxed its security forces.There have been more than 20 attacks, mostly stabbings, already this month, killing a total of seven Israeli Jews. At least 11 of those suspected of being assailants have been shot dead by Israeli security forces or, in one case, a victim who pulled out a pistol.
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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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.