Middle East

Pentagon prepares to give White House stepped-up battle plan against Islamic State

WASHINGTON — Pentagon strategists are putting final touches on a stepped-up battle plan against Islamic State and are due to offer President Donald Trump options as early as Monday to accelerate the war against the militants in Iraq and Syria, officials said. The monthlong strategic review, which Trump requested Jan. 28, is expected to include […]

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Middle East, USA

Rep. Peters asks Trump to pick another envoy to Israel

SAN DIEGO (Press Release) – U.S. Congressman Scott Peters (CA-52) urged President Trump on Friday to reconsider his nomination of David Friedman to be the U.S. Ambassador to Israel after CNN reported on a video of Friedman bragging about undermining support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine peace process and criticizing the Anti-Defamation League. Rep.

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Middle East, USA

Palestinian Rage over Netanyahu’s Autonomy Remarks

Ramallah, Tel Aviv- The Palestinian authority rejected statements made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Australia on Thursday on granting autonomy to the Palestinians. “Neither autonomy nor canton. Those two options are a bygone—without a Palestinian state with Jerusalem for a capital and stretching across national territory, there will be no peace,” Palestine Liberation

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International, Middle East

Israeli leader: ‘I’ve never encountered right-wing anti-Semitism’

WASHINGTON – Don’t blame Donald Trump or the right for surging anti-Semitism in America, says Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Instead, he told the Times of Israel, look left and to growing Jew hatred on America’s college campuses. “Obviously there is problem with anti-Semitism and…

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Middle East, USA

Israel to deny visas to anti-Israel NGO ‘Human Rights Watch’

Israel will stop issuing work visas to Human Rights Watch staff, the NGO said Friday, with the Jewish State accusing the group of being “fundamentally biased” against it. The New York-based organization, which has written critical reports accusing Israel of “severe and discriminatory restrictions on Palestinians” human rights,” applied months ago for a visa for

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Middle East, USA

Adelson: Trump Will Be Best-Ever President for Israel

Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson told a private crowd of Republican donors Thursday evening that President Donald Trump will be the “best president for Israel ever,” in a significant show of backing from one of the most influential Republican contributors. Adelson made the comments at the event, held at Adelson’s Venetian Hotel in Las

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Middle East, USA

Australia PM Slams U.N. Resolution on Settlement, Netanyahu Hails his Stance

London, Sydney- Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull attacked on Wednesday the United Nations resolution that denounced Israeli settlement on occupied Palestinian territories, as he welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu on his first official visit to the country. The two countries share solid relations since 1949 but no Israeli prime minister ever carried out visits to Australia before.

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International, Middle East

CIA Cables Detail Its New Deputy Director’s Role in Torture

In August of 2002, interrogators at a secret CIA-run prison in Thailand set out to break a Palestinian man they believed was one of al-Qaida’s top leaders. As the CIA’s video cameras rolled, security guards shackled Abu Zubaydah to a gurney and interrogators poured water over his mouth and nose until he began to suffocate.

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International, Middle East, USA

Hollande: France insists on ‘two-state solution’

French President Francois Hollande reiterated on Wednesday night that his country is committed to a “two-state solution” for the Middle East conflict. The French leader, addressing an event hosted by the CRIF umbrella grouping of Jewish organizations, said a two-state solution was the only guarantee for Israel to remain a “pluralist and democratic society”, reported

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International, Middle East, USA

The letter Sara Netanyahu received

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, together with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy, today (Thursday, 23 February 2017), visited the Moriah College Jewish school in Sydney. They were welcomed with cheers by the pupils, who played musical instruments and sang “Jerusalem of Gold” as well as the Australian and

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International, Jewish History, Middle East

Iran Bans Teenage Chess Master Siblings From Competing

Iranian chess authorities have punished siblings after the brother played a match against an Israeli national and the sister did not wear a hijab in a tournament. Dorsa Derakhshani, an 18-year-old student based in Spain, did not wear the traditional headscarf in a tournament in Gibraltar earlier this month. In Iran, women are legally required

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International, Middle East, Sports & Competitions

Cyprus President calls Israel a ‘natural partner’

NICOSIA, Cyprus (Press Release) — The President of Cyrus, Nicos Anastasiades, on Wednesday delivered a forceful address to an almost 100-member delegation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations visiting the country as part of the Conference’s 43rd Annual Leadership Mission to Israel. Describing the relationship between Cyprus and Israel, the President declared,

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International, Middle East, USA

‘What kind of Palestinian state do you want exactly?’

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slammed the demand by two former Australian Prime Ministers that their nation recognize the Palestinian Authority as a sovereign state. Former Labor premiers Kevin Rudd and Bob Hawke issued statements ahead of Netanyahu”s state visit to Australia, calling for the recognition of Palestinian statehood. Speaking at a press conference in Sydney

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International, Middle East