Could the continued onslaught by al-Qaida-linked jihadists force Hezbollah to withdraw its forces from the Syrian war? Probably not.
A Free Syrian Army fighter launches a rocket – Photo: REUTERS
Such a withdrawal would seemingly allow the organization to focus on defending itself in Lebanon, but the bombings targeting it and Iran are strongly connected to the sectarian struggle in Syria. Continue Reading »
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday the Palestinian Authority would not agree to share sovereignty over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in the course of a peace deal with Israel, but would allow freedom of worship for Jews in the Western Wall Plaza.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (center), in a meeting with Israeli students in Ramallah. February 16, 2014. – Photo: AFP
Addressing about 300 Israeli students at a meeting in Ramallah, organized by the Lobby for the Promotion of a Solution for the Israeli-Arab Conflict and by a Palestinian group for promoting Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, Abbas added that he sees no reason to re-divide Jerusalem, adding that a Palestinian municipality could be established in East Jerusalem, which will coordinate with an Israeli-controlled West Jerusalem via a higher body.
Iran’s Foreign Minister told German television on Monday that the Islamic Republic would not rule out recognizing Israel after an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif listening during a panel discussion at the 50th Security Conference on security policy in Munich, Germany. Feb. 2, 2014.- Photo by AP
“Once the Palestinian problem is solved the conditions for an Iranian recognition of Israel will be possible,” the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with the German TV station Phoenix, according to i24 News. Continue Reading »
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for an American-led NATO presence in a future Palestinian state, according to a New York Times interview published Sunday.
Abbas speaks at the UN General Assembly. – Photo: AFP
The NATO mission Abbas proposed in talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry would last indefinitely and include troop patrols throughout the West Bank and Gaza, at all checkpoints and within Jerusalem, according to the Times.
Abbas said Israeli military presence and settlements in the West bank could be gradually removed for up to five years after a peace agreement is signed – a departure from the three years he previously proposed. Continue Reading »
A rift has emerged between the two ministers most responsible for shaping Israel’s economy, Finance Minister Yair Lapid and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett.
A McDonald’s restaurant in Israel. – Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Though normally allies, even “brothers” on economic issues, politics pulled them apart in the past two weeks over the economic implications of peace talks with the Palestinians.
Bennett fired the first salvo. At a Bayit Yehudi faction meeting on January 20, he declared George H.W. Continue Reading »
The Palestinians have an interest in an Iranian role in the region, Jibril Rajoub, a senior Fatah official, said Thursday.
Fatah official Jibril Rajoub. – Photo: REUTERS
He announced that Fatah has not abandoned the option of “armed resistance” if the peace talks with Israel fail.
“The year 2014 is the year of decision; we either go to a state or to a confrontation,” Rajoub said. “The confrontation would be on three fronts: launching and escalating resistance; boycotting and isolating Israel and halting all forms of normalization [with Israel] on the political, academic, trade and economic levels.” Continue Reading »
The creation of a Palestinian state would destroy the Israeli economy, causing infinitely more problems than an economic boycott would, said Economy Minster Naftali Bennett on Monday, responding to the threat of sanctions if Israel fails to reach an agreement with the Palestinians.
Naftali Bennett, head of Habayit Hayehudi, speaks in Ashdod, Israel, Dec. 26, 2012. – Photo: AP
Addressing his Habayit Hayehudi Knesset faction, Bennett called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stand up to pressure to reach an agreement that would lead to a Palestinian state. Continue Reading »
U.S. President Barack Obama thinks that the chances of the ongoing U.S.-brokered Israeli-Palestinian negotiations resulting in a final peace agreement are less than 50 percent, according to an interview he gave to The New Yorker magazine.
U.S. President Barack Obama – Photo: AFP
“Obama told me that in all three of his main initiatives in the region — with Iran, with Israel and the Palestinians, with Syria — the odds of completing final treaties are less than fifty-fifty,” wrote The New Yorker editor David Remnick.
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Monday tried to give a boost to the flagging Mideast peace process, saying he believes Israel and a future Palestine could become an “island of stability” in a turbulent region and expressing hope that leaders would make the “difficult decisions” needed for compromise.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Vice President Joe Biden – Photo: Matty Stern/US Embassy Tel Aviv
Biden made his comments at a sensitive time. Continue Reading »
Finance Minister Yair Lapid said Friday that Israel will be hurt economically by growing international isolation if it fails to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians.
Finance Minister Yair Lapid. – Photo: Emil Salman
Yair Lapid said his ministry has run through various scenarios and found that “a continuation of the existing situation will hurt the pocketbook of each of us.”
Lapid spoke to the Israeli news website Ynet in response to an announcement Friday that Israel plans to build 1,400 more homes in Jewish settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories the Palestinians seek for a state. Continue Reading »
Republican Sen. John McCain says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “serious, serious concerns” about parts of the proposal Secretary of State John Kerry is using to broker peace with the Palestinians.
U.S. Senator John McCain answers reporters’ questions during a meeting on World Economy in Cernobbio, Italy, September 7, 2012. – Photo: AP
McCain spoke Friday in Jerusalem where Kerry is making his tenth visit to craft a peace accord. Continue Reading »
Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin said Thursday that “the 1967 borders are Auschwitz borders” and therefore Likud has to reject any proposal to withdraw from the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Deputy Foreign Minister Zeev Elkin. – Photo: Olivier Fitoussi
Elkin, of the Likud party himself, spoke during a morning tour of settlements in the Jordan Valley attended by parliamentarians and ministers that are members the Land of Israel lobby. Continue Reading »
Among those who met with Ya’alon last week were Yossi Vardi, a founder of Israel’s high-tech industry; Shlomi Fogel, a close friend of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the controlling owner of Ampa Capital; and Mooly Eden of Intel Israel.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon – Photo: Olivier Fitoussi
The three are members of Breaking the Impasse, which consists of some 200 Israeli and Palestinian businesspeople. The group, which defines itself as apolitical, aims to help the political leaders in Jerusalem and Ramallah agree on a peace deal and bring economic prosperity to both peoples. Continue Reading »
The Latin Patriach of Jerusalem, Archbishop Fouad Twal, is expected to use his Midnight Mass sermon to criticize Israel’s continued construction of settlements in the West bank, Sky News reported on Tuesday.
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal leads a mass as part of the International Day of Faith celebration on Mount Precipice, near the northern Israeli town of Nazareth, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2013. – Photo: AP
According to the report, the Holy Land’s top Roman Catholic cleric will likely brand settlements an obstacle to regional stability when he addresses pilgrims at Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity on Tuesday night.
Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby said on Saturday that there could be ‘not one’ Israeli soldier in the territory of a future Palestine. At a conference of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, al-Araby – alongside the Libyan foreign minister – was tasked with presenting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with the Arab stance on the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
A conference of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo, Saturday 21, 2013.-
Many ‘Lone Soldiers’, who have no family in Israel, can use some help with doing their laundry, Shabbat meals, or the occasional ‘Care Package’ for upcoming holidays.
Check out lonesoldiercenter.com to see how you can help these brave, beautiful young people who volunteer to protect Israel.
Israeli New Shekel Exchange Rate