One of the three teenage yeshiva students who went missing and were feared kidnapped in the West Bank Thursday overnight is a dual Israeli-American citizen, according to Israeli media. US Ambassador in Israel, Dan Shapiro, was briefed on the situation.
Israel this week advanced plans for 1,083 settler homes in the West Bank as part of its response to the newly formed Palestinian government that is jointly sponsored by Fatah and Hamas.
The office of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas condemned Israel and accused it of escalating the violence in the region for its airstrike on Gaza Wednesday that killed a Palestinian militant.
Al Sabirin, a pro-Shi’ite militia in the Gaza Strip, backed by Iran and Hezbollah launched its first operation May 25 against Israel. The organization is under the command of Hisham Salem, a former senior official of Islamic Jihad, who was arrested by Hamas in 2013.
Tensions surrounded when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met with Israel’s President-elect Reuven Rivlin at his official residence in Jerusalem to congratulate him on being elected to office.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz told a small gathering of pro-Israel American leaders Tuesday that an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities “could happen in a matter of months.”
The head of Israel’s most powerful intelligence agency depicted Wednesday a changing battlefield in which offensive cyber capabilities will, in the near future, represent the greatest shift in combat doctrine in over 1,000 years. For now, though, he said, the 170,000 rockets and missiles pointed by enemy states at Israel represented the most pressing threat, a danger he placed even above Iran’s rogue nuclear program.
Despite the breakdown of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, Iran remains the number one threat to Israel, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Tuesday.
International hopes that a Palestinian unity government would strengthen the position of the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip; however Hamas is taking control of Judea and Samaria, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Sunday.
The ministerial team tasked by the government with devising countermoves to the newly formed Hamas-Fatah unity government is scheduled to hold its first meeting Sunday, as Israel’s relations with the United States have become strained once more over the latter’s decision to recognize the new Palestinian government.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu left Knesset members in shock this past Monday by suggesting that Israel would have to “separate” from the Palestinians, according to a report which appears in Friday editions of the nationalist-religious newspaper Makor Rishon.
An unusual survey of Iranian public opinion indicates that 40 percent of Iranians would be willing to give up any ability to produce nuclear weapons in the future in return for the full removal of sanctions.
Israeli Minister of Defense Moshe Ya’alon called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to disarm Hamas and take control of the Gaza Strip after creating a unity government with Hamas.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he is “deeply troubled” by the US decision to maintain relations with the new Palestinian unity government, urging Washington to tell the Palestinian president that his alliance with the Hamas militant group is unacceptable.
The land of milk and honey is still living up to its name, according to data the Central Bureau of Statistics released Monday ahead of the Shavuot holiday. In 2013, total milk production in Israel stood at 1,435 million liters, a 2 percent increase over 2012.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, as it became clear that Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee, he granted an interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in an attempt to establish pro-Israel bona fides. A Hamas official had recently endorsed Obama’s presidential candidacy and when Goldberg asked him about it, Obama responded emphatically: My position on Hamas is indistinguishable from the position of Hillary Clinton or John McCain. I said they are a terrorist organization and I’ve repeatedly condemned them. I’ve repeatedly said, and I mean what I say: since they are a terrorist organization, we should not be dealing with them until they recognize Israel, renounce terrorism, and abide by previous agreements.
Israel is to deploy three submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles in the Persian Gulf, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday.
An Israeli attack against Iran’s nuclear facilities is not a relevant option as long as Tehran continues negotiating with world powers over its atom program, Israeli nuclear experts said Thursday.
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts has introduced legislation calling for the government to investigate “hate speech” on broadcast, cable, and Internet outlets – a bill that is raising concerns from First Amendment advocates and constitutional experts.
“Jerusalem is the heart of the nation. It will never be divided,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said. He spoke on Tuesday night, at Yeshivat Mercaz HaRav Kook, to mark the anniversary of the capital’s reunification, 47-years ago. From 1948 and until the Six-Day War in 1967, the city was split between Israel and Jordan.