Middle East

Construction of an underground security wall along Israel”s border with Gaza has prompted an outcry in the Strip, with calls for intervention by international human rights organizations and the United Nations to block the Israeli plan. The wall, which will run tens of yards into the ground and is intended to block Hamas terror tunnels, […]

Tehran (dpa) – Iran has foiled several terrorist attacks planned by Islamic State sympathizers across the country, the head of the Iranian National Security Council was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency Monday. Police had arrested a terrorist group planning to carry out several suicide attacks in Tehran, Ali Shamkhani told ISNA. According

Israel is building an underground wall meters below ground level that aims to prevent Hamas’ smuggling and attack tunnels weaving into Israeli territory, according to local media reports. Israel’s top-selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, reported Thursday that military leaders had approved the expensive defense project that would protect the entire 60 kilometer length of the Israel-Gaza

The political landscape of Israel shifted last week. For the first time in quite some time, there was a sense that there is a real opposition to the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Friday, at the Herzliya Conference, former defense minister and Army chief of staff Moshe “Bougie” Yaalon announced he is going

  Israel incentivizes Arab municipalities to fight illegal construction (JNS.org) The Israeli cabinet on Sunday approved the appropriation of about $3.6 billion for Israeli-Arab communities, but made the funds contingent on Arab municipalities fighting illegal construction. The cabinet decided that the newly allotted funds would go to municipalities that agreed to increase efforts to battle

Reconciliation talks between longtime rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah continue to stall, and a new planned round of meeting has been put on hold, the Ma”an news agency reports. The sides began a third round of talks last Wednesday in the Qatari capital of Doha, but they took a negative turn Saturday when Hamas

Opposition leader and Zionist Union chief Isaac Herzog agreed to far reaching concessions on the eve of the 2015 election, a report by Channel 10 on Sunday revealed. Herzog, who prior to the election was seen as a viable candidate for Prime Minister, signed a secret letter of understanding with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas,

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has vowed to increase benefits for the families of terrorists killed while carrying out deadly attacks against Israelis. Speaking at an iftar meal to break the Ramadan fast on Friday in Ramallah, Hamdallah said the PA and its institutions would continue providing a wide range of benefits – including

During the cabinet meeting on Sunday, the government authorized an additional 80 million shekels in funding for haredi yeshivas, as per a coalition agreement signed between the Likud and United Torah Judaism (UTJ) parties following last year’s election. With the additional funds, government spending on yeshivas will be restored to the level it was at

Following a petition filed by the Movement for Freedom of Information, invoices revealed that the Prime Minister”s Residence cost Israeli taxpayers a total of 1,965,373 shekels (508,199 UDS) in 2014. The figures, pertaining to Netanyahu’s official residence and two private houses in Jerusalem and Caesarea, mark a decline of about half a million shekels from