Middle East
Publisher: Haaretz
12 Aug 2016
After being shot, this Israeli photographer refused to turn a blind eye to victims
Publisher: The Intercept
28 Jul 2016
Critics Fear Crackdown on Palestinian Free Speech as Israel Takes Aim at Facebook
Israeli officials have been railing against Facebook since October 2015, when cases emerged of Palestinians stabbing Israelis as part of what some call the "knife intifada.". Shaked, the justice minister, has met with Facebook officials to pressure them to take action against incitement. In 2015, Facebook took down 431 pieces of content that it said violated harassment laws or denied the Holocaust, which is against the law in Israel. Some of those requests pertain to Palestinians swept up in Israel s dragnet targeting social media users who post messages against Israeli wars and occupation
Publisher: Al Araby
20 Jul 2016
Israel passes new bill targeting Palestinian lawmakers
Israel has passed a controversial new law, which critics say targets Palestinian members of parliament. The new bill allows for MPs to be expelled if they are deemed to be inciting against the Israeli state. Israel's Knesset passed the bill early on Wednesday, and means if three quarters of Israel's 120 MPs agree, then a lawmaker can be expelled for inciting racism or supporting violence against the state.
Publisher: The Guardian
18 Jul 2016
Ambassadors protest at Israel’s confiscation of West Bank shelters
Eight ambassadors to Israel have written to the Israeli military accusing it of breaking international humanitarian law by confiscating shelters for Bedouins in the occupied West Bank that were paid for by European governments. The first incident took place on 16 May when the Israeli civil administration dismantled and confiscated "materials for 10 residential caravans in the community of Jabal al Baba, displacing 49 people" from what the letter describes as a "vulnerable" Bedouin community.
Publisher: Aljazeera
17 Jul 2016
Israel seeks to ‘publicly shame’ human rights groups
The Israeli government stands accused of waging a campaign of incitement against human rights groups as it tries to hamper efforts by the international community to monitor abuses of Palestinians under occupation. A so-called Transparency Law, passed by the Israeli parliament last week, compels some two dozen Israeli rights organisations to declare publicly that they receive a majority of their funding from foreign governments.
Publisher: Haaretz
16 Jul 2016
Suspected Turkey Coup Leader Served as Military Attache to Israel
Six senior army commanders were arrested in connection with the failed coup that began Friday night, including General Akin zt rk, who in the 1990s was the Turkish military attach to Israel, a Turkish official told reporters. A Turkish official said Saturday that those behind the attempted coup had been preparing for some time to overthrow the Turkish government. They had planned, for example, which military officers would take over as governors and as the heads of government agencies, the official said, but moved their plans forward due to an upcoming meeting of the Supreme Military Council, which convenes every August to consider military appointments and retirements. Those behind the coup were concerned that they would be removed from their positions at next month's meeting, the official said.
Publisher: +972
16 Jul 2016
Using stolen water to irrigate stolen land
Settlers are trying to spin water shortages as a problem that affects both Palestinians and Jews in the same manner. That couldn t be further from the truth. Anyone who has had the opportunity to see how the settlers work the media will not be surprised that the issue made headlines. By exaggerating the water shortage, the settlers hope to achieve two complementary goals: neutralizing criticism of outright discrimination by the the state in everything having to do with the quantity of water sold to Palestinians (which makes up only a small percentage of water in the West Bank, the rest goes to West Bank settlements and Israel), while using the cynical and empty claim that the water shortage affects "both Arabs and Jews."
Publisher: +972
9 Jul 2016
One year on: The Iran deal has fulfilled its promise
Despite what Israel s prime minister may have you believe, the Iran nuclear deal has succeeded in doing exactly what it set out to do: significantly decreasing the threat of a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic. The annual Herzliya Conference made headlines a few weeks back simply due to the fact that former Defense Minister Moshe Ya alon and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak pulled out a no holds barred attack on Benjamin Netanyahu. It was interesting to hear that Ya lon told the crowd that at this point in time and in the near future, Israel does not face any existential threats. Ya alon tied his remarks to the Iran nuclear deal, and in doing so fell in line with IDF assessments, which were laid out by IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot in January 2016 during the INSS Conference. In the IDF s view, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) actually precipitated the decline of the Iranian threat.
Publisher: +972
3 Jul 2016
Nobody is coming to end the occupation
Israel s response to the Quartet s 'recommendation' that it halt settlement expansion makes one thing perfectly clear: Netanyahu has fully internalized that nobody is coming to end the occupation. The Quartet report did not say anything new. It simply repeated the same condemnations we ve heard for over a decade - condemnations of settlements and settlement construction, violence, incitement to violence, and the need for both sides to take steps to "advance[e] the two-state solution on the ground."
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: Alaraby
24 Jun 2016
Mahmoud Abbas: Global terror will stop once occupation ends
Global terror will end once Israel's presence in the West Bank ends, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the European Union on Thursday. In his address to members of the European Parliament, Abbas also affirmed Ramallah's support for a two-state solution as outlined in the current Paris peace plan and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.
Publisher: Aljazeera
24 Jun 2016
Netanyahu will fly to Rome to head off criticism
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to fly to Rome for three days of intense diplomacy as the the Middle East Quartet is expected to use strong language against his settlements policy in a forthcoming report. Netanyahu will fly to the capital of Italy on Sunday to meet with US Secretary of State John Kerry and the European Union's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini.
Publisher: Alaraby
24 Jun 2016
Palestinians bury 15-year-old ‘mistakenly’ killed by Israeli soldiers
Thousands of Palestinians gathered for the funeral Thursday of a 15-year-old boy shot dead by Israeli troops who claim they mistook him for a stone-thrower, while new details of the incident emerged. "It was not a mistake," Amal Badran said. "They have to be held accountable. Justice must be carried out." Her son, Mahmoud Rafat Badran, was returning from a visit to a water park early Tuesday when police opened fire on the car in which he was travelling, killing him and wounding four of his teenage cousins.
Publisher: Haaretz
22 Jun 2016
Israel Admits Cutting West Bank Water Supply, but Blames Palestinian Authority
The Oslo Accords, which were meant to remain in effect until 1999, preserved Israeli control over the West Bank s water sources and discriminates in how the water is divided. Under the agreements, Israel gets 80 percent of the water from the West Bank mountain aquifer, while the rest goes to the Palestinians. The agreement also sets no limit on the amount of water Israel can take, but limits the Palestinians to 118 million cubic meters from the wells that existed prior to the accords, and another 70 million to 80 million cubic meters from new drilling.
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: Haaretz
19 Jun 2016
Israel Plans to Destroy Only Water Source of Shepherds in West Bank Village
Israel intends to destroy a water-holding tank that serves 20 families of Palestinian shepherds and their flocks in the northern Jordan Valley. The shepherds, who live in a community called Umm al-Jimal, own 700 sheep and goats, as well as 300 cows and some horses. Last year, a flood destroyed another holding tank that served the families, also blocking the spring s exit. The families are concerned that destroying the current holding tank will once more block the spring, which is their only close water source.
Publisher: Aljazeera
5 Jun 2016
Israelis mark annexation of East Jerusalem
Israeli police deployed in large numbers in Jerusalem to secure an annual march marking Israel's 1967 invasion and subsequent occupation of the Palestinian-dominated eastern half of the city, which Arabs call the "Naksa" (setback). The Israeli march for "Jerusalem Day" on Sunday also plans to pass through the Muslim quarter of the Old City before arriving at the Western Wall, which is directly below the al-Aqsa compound, leading to fears of tensions.
Publisher: Aljazeera
3 Jun 2016
Hollande: No Israel-Palestine deal aids ‘terrorists’
French President Francois Hollande has said there is an "urgent" need to find a peaceful solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, warning that the absence of a deal would only benefit "extremists". Foreign ministers and diplomats from the Middle East Quartet, the UN, Arab League and more than 20 countries attended Friday's meeting in Paris aimed at reviving the peace process - but neither Palestinian nor Israeli representatives were present.
Publisher: Alaraby
2 Jun 2016
Netanyahu praises 14-year-old Saudi peace plan
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has praised parts of a 14-year-old Saudi plan to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict, just days before a Middle East peace conference in Paris. The Saudi-formulated plan was forwarded in 2002 and proposes that relations between Israel, Palestine and 56 Arab and Muslim countries can be normalised in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from territories captured in the 1967 war. The sudden mention of the comatose initiative by the Israeli PM has been seen by some as a means of distracting attention from the row surrounding Netanyahu's controversial ministerial appointments.
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: Aljazeera
23 May 2016
Former Mossad director, Efraim Halevy, reveals that Israel’s top generals want Hamas to run Gaza
In an interview with Al Jazeera English's current affairs show, "UpFront", Efraim Halevy, the former head of Mossad, says the appointment of Avigdor Lieberman as Israel's defense minister could mark the beginning of the end for Prime Minister Netanyahu's government. Asked if there was a connection between Israel s ongoing occupation of the West Bank and the recent spate of Palestinian attacks on Israelis, Halevy replied: "Unfortunately, yes I think one has to admit that since we are in control of the West Bank and since there is no political movement to move the situation one should expect unfortunately that there will be people who think that they have to rise up and have to fight against it."
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: +972
10 May 2016
Israel puts ‘travel ban’ on BDS campaigner Omar Barghouti
Israeli authorities have put a de facto travel ban on Palestinian boycott campaigner and BDS Movement co-founder Omar Barghouti and are considering revoking his residency status in the country. Barghouti, a Qatari-born Palestinian who is married to a Palestinian citizen of Israel and resides in the northern city of Acre, has permanent residency status in the country and travels regularly to promote the BDS campaign, of which he is the most prominent spokesperson.
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: Aljazeera
3 May 2016
Life term for Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khdeir’s murder
An Israeli court has handed down a life sentence to the ringleader of a Jewish gang who kidnapped, attacked and burned alive a Palestinian teenager in 2014. Yosef Haim Ben-David, 31, was handed a life sentence for killing 16-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir and was given a separate 20-year sentence for other crimes. Prosecutors said that he organised the killing of Khdeir. The court also ordered him to pay 150,000 shekels ($39,000) to Abu Khdeir's family.
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: The Guardian
19 Apr 2016
US feels ‘overwhelming frustration’ with Israeli government, says Biden
The US vice-president, Joe Biden, has delivered an unusually sharp critique of the government of Binyamin Netanyahu, saying the Israeli prime minister is leading Israel in the wrong direction through his policies, including settlement building. Biden described the Obama administration's "overwhelming frustration" with Israel, adding that "profound questions" existed about how the country could remain both Jewish and democratic.
Publisher: Big Story
17 Apr 2016
Netanyahu says Israel will never withdraw from Golan Heights
Publisher: Haaretz
16 Apr 2016
Sanders’ Non-conformist Israel Message Casts Him as Boy in Emperor’s New Clothes
University of Wisconsin Professors Vernon Allen and John Levine conducted a series of experiments in the late 1960s to examine psychologist Solomon Asch s theories about conformity and the influence of social forces on individual opinions. They found that even one dissenter from supposedly unanimous views enables others to express their opinions more freely. Liberals and leftists hope Bernie Sanders statements at Thursday s Democratic debate will have a similar effect and will pave the way for greater dissent from America's "automatic support" for Israel.
Publisher: Aljazeera
14 Apr 2016
Palestinians: Israel settlement expansion a ‘war crime’
Palestinian officials have slammed the latest Israeli authorisation to build more than 200 new settler houses in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as a "war crime" that serves to "destroy the prospects of two independent states living side by side in peace and security". Chief Palestinian negotiator Sa'eb Erekat said: "The latest approval of settlement construction, and the significant increase in Israeli settlement activity during 2016, should serve as a reminder to the international community of its responsibility to put an end to such crimes."
Publisher: Alaraby
1 Apr 2016
Silence over Israel’s demolition frenzy
Bulldozers have been kept busy across the West Bank this year, and so have the Palestinian communities, clearing up and rebuilding after their homes have been razed in Israel s staggering increase in demolitions of Palestinian structures in 2016. This is made worse still by a deafening silence from the international community.
Publisher: Alaraby
30 Mar 2016
Palestinians strike to mark 40th Land Day anniversary
Palestinians held wide-ranging strikes on Wednesday to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Palestine's Land Day, when six protesters were shot dead by Israeli fire for demonstrating against the occupation's illegal land seizures in 1976. The general strike was called by the Palestinian Higher Monitoring Committee, which includes Palestinian members of the Knesset and local council heads.
Publisher: The Intercept
28 Mar 2016
Most Israelis Say Army Medic Who Killed Wounded Suspect Is Not a Murderer
WHILE HUMAN RIGHTS activists and defense officials in Israel were quick to condemn an army medic caught on video last week shooting a wounded Palestinian suspect in the head, the soldier was defended over the weekend, and even celebrated, by many on the far-right of the country s political spectrum.
Publisher: +972
25 Mar 2016
When medical personnel stand by and watch a murder
The video clip released Thursday of an Israeli soldier shooting in the head an incapacitated Palestinian man, who had stabbed and wounded a separate soldier, doesn t leave much room for speculation. Maybe it s because I m a doctor, but when I watched the video I couldn t take my eyes off the Magen David Adom (MDA) medical team at the scene treating the wounded soldier, completely ignoring the man lying wounded on the street, evacuating the soldier in an ambulance, and then boom. A murder.
Publisher: +972
24 Mar 2016
Israeli soldier executes unarmed, wounded Palestinian attacker
An IDF soldier was filmed shooting a Palestinian in the head at close range in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of occupied Hebron Thursday, after he and another Palestinian reportedly stabbed a different soldier, lightly wounding him. Maybe even worse than the murder itself is the fact that no one in the vicinity seems at all moved by it.
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: Times of Israel
26 Feb 2016
Netanyahu: World must condemn Iran for paying terrorists’ families
Iran s ambassador to Lebanon, Mohammad Fateh Ali, said Wednesday that Tehran would give $7,000 to the families of each Palestinian terrorist killed while attacking Israelis. Iran will also give $30,000 to Palestinian families whose homes have been destroyed by Israel because a family member carried out a terror attack, he told a news conference in Beirut.
Publisher: Aljazeera
20 Feb 2016
Israeli forces shoot dead three Palestinians after alleged attacks
Israeli soldiers shot dead three Palestinians in separate incidents in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem on Friday, Israeli police and the military said, as a wave of heightened violence persisted into its fifth month. In Jerusalem, a Palestinian man allegedly stabbed two Israeli police officers outside the walled Old City before they opened fire and killed him, police said. An Al Jazeera video of the incident shows Israeli forces repeatedly shooting the man after he was already down.
Publisher: Spiegel
31 Jan 2016
Israeli Justice Minister Shaked: ‘We Will Not Commit Suicide’
Ayelet Shaked, 39 is a member of his cabinet as his justice minister. She achieved that ascent by taking over the reins together with Naftali Bennett of the national religious party Jewish Home, which has become the third-strongest party in Israel, attracting the votes of young Tel Aviv residents as well as radical settlers. She's smart, secular and radical and doesn't shy away from making razor-sharp -- some would even say racist -- comments.
Publisher: +972
30 Jan 2016
The end of normalcy for Israeli settlements?
Stricter trade guidelines, harsher rhetoric and corporate responsibility campaigns all send a clear message: Israel s closest allies are no longer willing to passively accept the occupation, and the only consensus on settlements is that they are illegal. United States Customs officials published a notice last week clarifying that U.S. law does not permit goods manufactured in the West Bank, including in Israeli settlements, to be labeled as "made in Israel."
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: 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: Haaretz
6 Jan 2016
Iran’s Rohani: Saudi Arabia Cannot Hide ‘Crime’ of Shi’ite Cleric’s Execution by Cutting Ties
Iranian President Hassan Rohani said on Tuesday Saudi Arabia could not hide its "crime" of executing a Shi'ite cleric by cutting ties with Tehran, but Iranian authorities disowned an attack on the Saudi embassy in Iran. "We believe diplomacy and negotiations are the best way to solve problems between countries," he added. "Regional countries can save the region from terrorism dangers through unity." Iran's Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi was quoted by Iranian media as saying "the latest action against the Saudi embassy could be planned and supported by infiltrated agents."
Publisher: Haaretz
2 Jan 2016
Two Killed, Seven Wounded in Shooting at Tel Aviv Pub
Two people were killed and seven were wounded in an apparent shooting attack in a central Tel Aviv pub on Friday afternoon. A massive manhunt is underway for the assailant. The police have identified an Israeli Arab resident of a village in the northern area of Wadi Ara as the suspect. The suspect, 29, stole the gun from his father, who works in security. The father recognized the suspect from media reports, and after learning his weapon was gone, contacted the authorities.
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: The Guardian
29 Dec 2015
Israel warns Brazil faces diplomatic downgrade unless it accepts settler as ambassador
Brazil s reluctance to accept an Israeli ambassador who is a West Bank settler has led to a standoff with Israel now warning it could downgrade diplomatic relations. The appointment four months ago of Dani Dayan, a former head of the Jewish settlement movement, did not go down well with Brazil s left-leaning government, which has supported Palestinian statehood in recent years.
Publisher: Aljazeera
25 Dec 2015
Four Palestinians killed in West Bank attacks, clashes
Israeli forces and security guards killed four Palestinians Thursday, among them three who Israel said were carrying out attacks on soldiers in the West Bank, the latest in a three month-long wave of unrelenting Israeli-Palestinian violence. The four separate incidents came as revelers were gathering in the West Bank city of Bethlehem for Christmas celebrations, festivities that have been overshadowed for years by Israel s occupation and periodic outbursts of violence.
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
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: Haaretz
22 Dec 2015
Iran Blames ‘Zionist Lobby’ for U.S. Visa Waiver Changes
Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that Israeli lobbying was behind a new measure passed by the U.S. Congress that will prevent visa-free travel to the United States for people who have visited Iran or hold Iranian nationality. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Friday said it was "absurd" that Iran should be included on the list. "Existing sanctions not yet lifted, additional sanctions imposed," ran the front-page headline of the hardline daily Kayhan on Monday.
Publisher: Washington Post
22 Dec 2015
Why is the U.S. subsidizing Israeli settlements?
An investigation into tax-exempt donations helping to finance West Bank settlements found that almost 50 nonprofit organizations raise money in the United States for the settlements. Within five years, from 2009 to 2013, more than $220?million was sent across the ocean and into schools, synagogues and playgrounds dotting the hills of Judea and Samaria. Millions of tax-subsidized dollars have gone to Jewish settlements in Hebron, helping to sustain a grim reality in the segregated part of the city, where Palestinian movement is sharply restricted and their economic life has been suffocated.
Publisher: Aljazeera
20 Dec 2015
Israeli forces kill 3 Palestinians, injure at least 78 others in clashes
Israeli forces on Friday shot and killed three Palestinians and wounded at least 78 others in clashes that raged across the occupied Palestinian territories for a second straight day, according to officials and local reports. Clashes on Friday between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters occurred in a number of villages and cities across the West Bank, including Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus and Bethlehem.
Publisher: Aljazeera
17 Dec 2015
Israel army kills two Palestinians in refugee camp raid
Two Palestinians have been killed and four wounded during an overnight Israeli army raid on the Qalandiya refugee camp in the central occupied West Bank. Ahmed Jahajha, 21, and Hikmet Hamdan, 29, were both shot dead by Israeli forces before dawn on Wednesday morning. While inside the camp, Israeli troops raided a local medical centre and clashed with youth, according to locals. Mona Sabella, legal research and advocacy coordinator for the Al-Haq human rights organisation, said that Israel's raids on refugee camps in the West Bank "put at risk the Palestinian civilian population".
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: YNet News
11 Dec 2015
We are being deceived on Iran
Following the signing of the nuclear deal in July, the sanctions against Iran will be lifted within the next seven days, on December 15. But Iran is not meeting its obligations to dismantle its nuclear capability as per its agreement with six world powers. According to the agreement, the Iranians have until December 15 to dismantle two-thirds of its active centrifuges, so that they will not have more than 6,000 old-generation centrifuges in their possession. None of these clauses have been fulfilled.
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: Aljazeera
7 Dec 2015
Netanyahu rejects Kerry’s warning of Israel becoming binational state
Israel's prime minister insists his country is not heading toward becoming a binational state, rejecting a warning to that effect by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. At his weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, Benjamin Netanyahu said, "Israel will not be a binational state, but in order to have peace, the other side needs to decide that it wants peace as well." Kerry warned Israel on Saturday about the dangers of the possible collapse of the Palestinian Authority, saying it would lead to a situation that would threaten the security of Israel and the Palestinian people.
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: +972 Magazine
4 Dec 2015
The farce of catching Jewish terrorists
When it comes to Jewish terrorism the Shin Bet is either ill-equipped or totally uninterested in preventing attacks against Palestinian civilians. Case in point: according to Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din, there have been 18 cases of arson attacks on Palestinian homes in the West Bank since 2008. This number refers solely to the number of incidents recorded by the organization.
Publisher: The Guardian
30 Nov 2015
Israel suspends contact with EU bodies over labelling of West Bank produce
Israel has said it is suspending contacts with European Union bodies involved in peace efforts with the Palestinians after the bloc started requiring exports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be labelled. After the EU announcement, Netanyahu called it "hypocritical and a double standard", saying the EU was not taking similar steps in hundreds of territorial conflicts elsewhere in the world.
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: Your News Wire
29 Nov 2015
Israel Caught Receiving Stolen Oil From ISIS Militants
Several sources have confirmed rumours that Israel have purchased most of its oil supplies from ISIS militants who stole it from Syria via tanker truck convoys. In a carefully detailed article, Al-Araby lays out the entire process from start to finish, showing how ISIS supposedly steals the oil from Conoco oil fields in Syria and then transports them down to Iraqi Kurdistan where the oil is purchased illegally and refined to some small degree so they can get around import regulations in Turkey. The oil is put in tanker trucks labeled as legitimate oil from the Iraqi Kurdistan region and sold to black market buyers in Turkey. The article explains how one of the biggest buyers of that stolen oil just happens to be an Israeli-Greek duel citizen named Uncle Farid.
Publisher: The Guardian
27 Nov 2015
Israel tests new Barak 8 missile to defend offshore gas rigs
Israel's military says it has successfully tested an advanced surface-to-air missile that analysts believe could play a key role in securing the country's offshore gas fields. Russian TV stations broadcast secret nuclear torpedo plans Read more A military official said that the Barak 8 was tested from a ship for the first time and intercepted a small drone simulating an enemy craft. The system, being developed with India, extended the range of Israel s aerial defence and should be operational in about two years.
Publisher: +972 Magazine
27 Nov 2015
Israeli journalists slam Netanyahu over closure of Arabic media outlets
The government shut down two Arabic-language outlets last week, leaving nearly 30 journalists jobless. The Union of Israeli Journalists: "Shutting down media outlets is nearly unheard of in democratic regimes." As reported on the media watchdog site The Seventh Eye, police and Shin Bet agents raided and shut down the newsroom of veteran newspaper, Sawt al-Haq wa Al-Hurriya, as well as the news website PLS48, while confiscating computers and other equipment.
Publisher: AlJazeera
18 Nov 2015
Israel approves 454 new settlement homes in East Jerusalem
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved the marketing of land for the construction of 454 homes in two settlements in occupied East Jerusalem, a government official said on Tuesday. The announcement, seen as a provocation by Palestinians, comes amid weeks of escalating violence between Palestinians and Israeli forces, which began in early October over increasing visits by Jews to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem.
Publisher: Russia Today
12 Nov 2015
Netanyahu urges Obama to ‘think different’ on Golan Heights annexation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly seeking US recognition of Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights due to the Syrian conflict. Netanyahu allegedly wanted a "different thinking" regarding the issue during talks with Barack Obama. Trends Syria unrest The possibility of the Israel's annexation of the Golan Heights in 1981 being recognized was raised during Netanyahu's meeting with US President Obama, according to Haaretz sources close to the discussions.
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: Haaretz
10 Nov 2015
When the White House Starts Talking About One State, Netanyahu Should Worry
The briefings by senior American administration officials to the media over the weekend, ahead of the meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, show a very disturbing paradigm shift with regard to the United States' relationship to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For the first time, the White House and the State Department in Washington have begun to state publicly that the reality in the West Bank is becoming that of one state for two peoples.
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: 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: Aljazeera
27 Oct 2015
Three Palestinians shot dead amid clashes in the West Bank
Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinians suspected of carrying out stabbing attacks on Tuesday, as clashes between protesters and Israeli forces in the West Bank left 143 Palestinians injured. A Palestinian man was killed late Tuesday at a military checkpoint near Hebron after allegedly attempting to stab an Israeli soldier, reported Palestinian-run Ma an News Agency. Earlier in the day, two Palestinians were shot and killed in the Gush Etzion settlement near Bethlehem after allegedly stabbing an Israeli soldier. The suspects were identified as Shabaan Abu Shkeidem, 17, and Shadi Nabil Abd al-Muti Dweik, 22, reported Ma an.
Publisher: Haaretz
22 Oct 2015
Israel’s Nuclear Advisory Panel Endorses Iran Deal
In defense establishment discussions of the Iranian nuclear agreement, Israel s Atomic Energy Commission, which advises the government on nuclear issues, has endorsed the pact, a source familiar with the commission s stance told Haaretz Thursday. The panel s position runs directly counter to that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, cabinet ministers and most of the political opposition.
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: Haaretz
19 Oct 2015
U.S. Dragged Back Kicking and Cursing Into the Netanyahu-Abbas Abyss
After initial reports of the outbreak of violence and terror, the U.S. buried its head in the sand and prayed that things would blow over without the need for it to get involved. Then Secretary of State John Kerry and his spokesman John Kirby issued a series of hasty statements somewhat divorced from reality that they had to retract within hours; finally, Obama was cornered at a press conference on Friday and his response to was to insinuate that Netanyahu and Abbas had equally failed in containing incitement. The usually keen Kerry will meet with Netanyahu on Wednesday in Berlin with what seems to be a distinct lack of enthusiasm. Some officials are worried that Netanyahu's assault on Abbas is anything but innocent: in their opinion, the Israeli prime minister may actually be encouraging the Palestinian president's downfall and his replacement by more extreme leadership, from Hamas on up. In one fell swoop, diplomatic pressure on Israel would evaporate, the international boycott movement could collapse and Israel might even exploit a moment of crisis in order annex parts of the West Bank in which few Palestinians live while turning Palestinian cities into autonomic Bantustans. The IDF, which is loathe to carry the military and financial burden of such ambitions, is trying to preempt them instead.
Publisher: Aljazeera
18 Oct 2015
How does Israel stop Palestinians from protesting?
Rights groups say that dozens of Palestinians are being detained in what they describe as a wave of "preventive arrests" that reflect Israel's attempts to quell Palestinian resistance against its excessive use of force against protesters and the extrajudicial killings of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem and the West BankAccording to Adalah, the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, the detainees have been subject to preventive arrests before they attended demonstrations. Like Tartour, most of those detained have no criminal record.
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: 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: The Guardian
9 Oct 2015
Hamas leader in Gaza declares intifada as deadly attacks continue
Hamas s leader in Gaza has declared the current unrest in Jerusalem and the West Bank an intifada, as six Palestinians were shot dead protesting at the border fence, further raising the stakes after a week of escalating violence. The comments by Ismail Haniyeh contradicted recent remarks by Fatah s leadership, including the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas. There has been increasingly widespread use of the hashtag #intifada on Palestinian social media.
Publisher: Haaretz
9 Oct 2015
Leading Shas Rabbi: Jewish ‘Provocation’ on Temple Mount Behind Latest Violence
A Sephardic Jewish spiritual leader said Thursday that Jewish presence on the Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem was part of the reasons for the current deterioration in the security situation. "Of course this [Jews visiting the Temple Mount] sparked all the current tumult," Rabbi Shimon Ba adani said. The Council of Torah Sages for the ultra-Orthodox Shas party recently shelved a letter in which it calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to issue a sweeping prohibition against the entry of Jews onto the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, based on the view that halakha, Jewish religious law, bars Jews from treading on the site of the two ancient temples that once stood on the site. The prime minister has since barred any lawmakers from visiting the site.
Publisher: Washington Post
8 Oct 2015
New Israeli-Palestinian violence poses dilemma for Netanyahu
Seeking to tamp down Palestinian anger over perceived Israeli moves to expand Jewish influence at one of Islam s holiest sites, Netanyahu on Thursday barred cabinet ministers and lawmakers from visiting the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem. But hard-liners within his governing coalition have been pressuring him to crack down on the Palestinians and step up settlement activity in response to the unrest.
Publisher: Times of Israel
5 Oct 2015
5-man Hamas cell that killed Naama and Eitam Henkin arrested
Israeli security forces have arrested the Palestinian terror cell that carried out the murders of Naama and Eitam Henkin in the West Bank on Thursday, the Shin Bet security service said Monday evening. The Israeli couple, both in their 30s, were driving in their car with their four children when they came under attack from Palestinian gunmen. The two were shot dead in front of their children; the children were unharmed.
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: Daily Star
5 Oct 2015
Israeli soldier shoots dead Palestinian teen; clashes erupt
New clashes erupted Monday in the West Bank and east Jerusalem while Israel's military shot dead a 13-year-old Palestinian after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged a crackdown following attacks that killed four Israelis. The spike in violence has led to international calls for calm, with concerns the unrest could spin out of control and memories of previous Palestinian uprisings still fresh.
Publisher: Washington Post
5 Oct 2015
Two Palestinian youths killed as violence in West Bank spikes
Two Palestinians youths were killed by Israeli soldiers in the last 24 hours in the tense West Bank, one day after security forces barred Palestinians from entering Jerusalem s Old City as violent protests and harsh countermeasures spiked sharply. Four Israeli civilians have been killed over the past few days in an escalation of violence that prompted the Israeli government to effectively shut the Old City to Palestinians for two days during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which ends Monday night.