Tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers will stage a mock 10-day war against the Hezbollah terrorist group in northern Israel beginning Tuesday, marking the IDF’s largest exercise in nearly 20 years, the army announced Monday, amid tensions over growing Iranian influence in Syria and Lebanon.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov went on a PR offensive this week to counter Israeli warnings that a ceasefire imposed by Moscow in Syria is enabling Iran and its terror proxy, Hezbollah, to amass fighters and weapons near the Jewish state’s northern border in preparation for a future war.
Israel’s intensive diplomatic campaign in recent weeks, which included Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, trips by senior Israeli defense officials to the United States and more, comes on the heels of updated situation assessments within the defense establishment suggesting that if nothing is done, the weapon manufacturing facilities Iran is building in Syria and Lebanon, Israel’s neighbors to the north, will become operational in the foreseeable future.
Russia has reportedly stationed its advanced S-400 anti-missile defense system near an Iranian arms factory in Syria, which allegedly manufactures long-range guided missiles for Hezbollah to use against Israel.
US officials have agreed to let Iranian-backed militias take up positions in Syria less than ten kilometers from the Israeli Golan Heights, the Arabic daily Asharq Al Awsat reported Thursday.
Forced by a Supreme Court order to reveal the dates of his phone calls with the owner and chief editor of a newspaper seen as staunchly loyal to him, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed on Thursday that from 2012-2015 he spoke with American Jewish casino mogul Sheldon Adelson almost once a week and nearly double that with then-Israel Hayom editor Amos Regev.
The Defense Ministry body responsible for authorizing construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank will reportedly be advancing plans for some 3,000 new housing units when it convenes next month.
The US and Israel are ‘of the same mind’ when it comes to opposition to any Iranian military presence in Syria, US Ambassador David Friedman told The Jerusalem Post in an exclusive interview this week.
Christian leaders from several African countries concluded meetings in Jerusalem on Wednesday with Israeli start-ups, politicians and businesses during the African Leadership Summit hosted by the Institute for Christian Leadership Development.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a seething attack on the media Wednesday, accusing the press of playing up a pair of corruption investigations against him in an effort to end his premiership.
The United Nations will reportedly expand the mandate of its peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon following complaints from Israel over the international body’s failure to address Hezbollah’s weapons buildup in the area.
Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs has reversed its opposition to allowing same-sex couples to adopt in the country.
The head of the IDF Intelligence Directorate, Maj.- Gen. Herzi Halevi, told UN head Antonio Guterres in Jerusalem this week that Hezbollah is tightening its hold on Lebanon, citing serious and prolonged violations of Security Council Resolution 1701 by the terrorist group.
A summer camp for Arab-Israeli youths organized by the Arab-Israeli Balad party held its concluding ceremony this week in the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, with campers marching alongside the camp’s children in a procession honoring the ‘martyrs.’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday vowed there would be ‘no more uprooting of settlements in the Land of Israel’ at an event marking the 50th anniversary of Jewish settlement in the West Bank.
Israeli lawmaker Yehuda Glick, shot in 2014 over his campaign for Jewish prayer an ultra-sensitive Jerusalem holy site, visited there on Tuesday during a one-day break in a government ban.
Iran is helping terrorists in Gaza prepare for war with Israel, according to a leading Hamas official.
A senior Israeli official has issued a warning to Russia that the Israeli military will bomb Syrian President Bashar Assad’s palace in Damascus if Russia allows Iran to make military advances in Syria.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told visiting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Monday that Iran is building sites to produce precision guided missiles in Syria and Lebanon.
The Israeli Defense Ministry has completed the acquisition process of 17 more F-35 stealth jets. The purchase is part of a larger deal to buy a total of 50 F-35 planes, which will enter service in the Israeli Air Force in two squadrons. The initial order of 33 F-35 jets is expected to be completely delivered by 2021.