The Pentagon is spending billions of dollars on developing two main types of ultra-fast hypersonic missiles in order to “dominate future battlefields,” the Times of Israel reports. Referring to Russia and China in an explanation for the move, President Trump told reporters on Friday: “We have no choice, we have to do it, with the adversaries we have out there.”
International opposition to Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank continued to gain momentum Wednesday as representatives of the UN, Russia, and the Vatican all expressed strong objections to the plan that could be implemented as early as July.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said he was terminating all agreements with Israel and the United States, including security cooperation with the Jewish state, over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s promise to annex parts of the West Bank.
A singular two-millennia-old subterranean system of three rooms has been uncovered near the Western Wall. The three-room complex — painstakingly chiseled by hand out of bedrock prior to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE — is the first evidence of everyday life gone underground in the ancient city.
A laboratory run by Israel’s Defense Ministry has said it may have a functioning COVID-19 vaccine in a year or less, the Times of Israel reports. The Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) reported that it completed a successful coronavirus vaccine test on rodents and will move on to trials with other animals before starting on humans.
The European Union’s head of foreign policy stated Monday that the bloc would not recognize any annexation changes Israel made to “1967 borders” unless these had been agreed by the Palestinians, the Times of Israel reports. In his statement, Josep Borrell added: “We strongly urge Israel to refrain from any unilateral decision that would lead to the annexation of any occupied Palestinian territory and would be, as such, contrary to international law.”
Iran has begun withdrawing its forces from Syria, Israel’s outgoing defense minister said on Monday, without offering any evidence to support his assertion.
Terrorist groups have established a way to siphon off European funds designated for Palestinian civil society, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Ministry (SAM) has said in a new report. The SAM publication follows a European Union announcement that it would continue to fund Palestinian “civil society organizations,” even if such groups include terrorists, Israel Hayom reports.
Iranian officials have admitted that fire broke out at an ancient shrine viewed by Iran’s Jewish community as the resting place of the Biblical Queen Esther and her cousin Mordechai. The announcement published by the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) came after activists reported an overnight arson attack at the site.
Israel’s parliament accepted a new government on Sunday, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former rival Benny Gantz. The approval ended the most extended political crisis in the Jewish state’s history.
A researcher at one of Israel’s leading universities says he has developed a test that identifies carriers of the new coronavirus COVID-19 in less than a minute.
Recent opinion polls unanimously demonstrate that around 90% of Palestinians reject President Trump’s peace plan, the Washington Institute reports. However, separate polls show different results on Palestinian support for a third intifada as a means by which to resist the plan.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday that Israel was now concentrating its attacks in Syria on missile-manufacturing sites.
Israel’s new unity government, comprised of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition partner Benny Gantz, has postponed Thursday’s swearing-in ceremony to Sunday.
US President Donald Trump further hardened his rhetoric toward China on Thursday, saying he no longer wishes to speak with Xi Jinping and warning darkly he might cut ties over the rival superpower’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Terror groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) announced Wednesday that they would boycott an upcoming Palestinian leaders meeting about Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank, the Jerusalem Post reported. Palestinian officials said Tuesday that representatives from the two groups had been invited to attend the meeting planned for Saturday in Ramallah.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu informed President Reuven Rivlin and outgoing Knesset Speaker Benny Gantz Wednesday evening that he has managed to form a government within the two weeks allocated to him.
The incoming Israeli government has “the right and the obligation” to decide if and how it wants to apply sovereignty over the West Bank, visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday at the conclusion of a whirlwind visit to Jerusalem.
France wants European Union countries to consider a hard response to Israel if it proceeds with the annexation of parts of Judea and Samaria, three EU diplomats told Reuters. Under the Israeli government’s coalition agreement, the process of annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank could begin on July 1.
Russia’s UN ambassador said Tuesday that Moscow will oppose any attempts by the United States to extend the arms embargo on Iran and reimpose UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic.