Free Republic

Turkey announced this morning its intention to raise tariffs on several products imported from the United States, including cars, alcohol and tobacco. .....

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman addressed Gaza residents via the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Major General Kamil Abu Rokun's Facebook page via the Al Monaseq website. "I distinguish between Hamas leadership and the ordinary residents of Gaza," Liberman wrote. "Therefore, I decided to open the Kerem Shalom crossing and extend the fishing area back to 9 miles, as a clear message to Gaza's residents: Quiet pays off and violence doesn't pay off. The residents of Gaza have something to gain when Israeli citizens enjoy quiet and security, and something to lose when the peace is disturbed. "The people...

Ilhan Omar, who once called Israel an “apartheid regime,” but who more recently came out against the boycott Israel movement, handily won the Democratic nomination in a Minneapolis-area congressional District. Omar, a Somali-born community activist and representative in the State House, is favored to win in November in the 5th District now held by Keith Ellison, who won the DFL primary for state attorney general. DFL is the state’s Democratic Party. There were primaries Tuesday in four states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Vermont. Omar’s tweets about Israel have earned her notoriety in the pro-Israel community. In 2012, she said...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday said that Turkey would boycott electronic products from the United States. "We will boycott America's electronic products. If they have the iPhone, there is also Samsung on the other side. We also have our own Venus Vestel. We will adopt these measures," Hurriyet Daily News quoted Erdogan as saying. He added, "We can do two things; one in economy, the other in politics. We have taken measures that economy needs and we will keep doing it. "What is more important, I think, is keeping our political stance strong." The rift between the US...

Lt. Col. (res.) Avi Farhan, who was evicted from Yamit and Gush Katif, on Thursday called on the government to provide the appropriate Zionist response to terrorism and to reestablish the communities of Dugit, Elei Sinai and Nisanit on the northern tip of Gaza. The three communities were evicted in 2005 as part of the “Disengagement” from Gaza. In a conversation with Arutz Sheva, Farhan pointed out that Gazan Arabs do not live on the ruins of these three communities. "There are only ruins there, and they serve as a nest for terrorism. These communities should be rebuilt just as...

Workers have seized partial control of the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian Arab refugees and their descendants in Hamas-run Gaza, its head said Wednesday, accusing their union of "mutiny" over job cuts. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) announced last month more than 250 staff in Gaza and Judea and Samaria would lose their jobs, after a $300 million cut in annual funding from the United States. The redundancies have prompted daily protests by the agency's labour union in the enclave, which UNRWA's Gaza head said have led to security concerns. "They have taken over the...

A senior Hamas official said in an interview with the Turkish news agency Anadol that an agreement would be reached between Israel and Hamas by the end of the month. The official said that the agreement would be for five years and would include, inter alia, the halting of arson attacks, the return of dead bodies and the establishment of a port and an airport in the Sinai Peninsula. The official's statement comes after London's Asharq Al-Awsat claimed on Monday that Hamas had agreed to a "gradual ceasefire" in exchange for Israel reopening the Kerem Shalom crossing. Last week, Maariv...

Dr. Thamar Eilam Gindin, and expert on ancient Persia and modern Iran, spoke today (Tuesday) with Anat Davidov on Radio 103FM and referred to the sanctions imposed by US President Donald Trump on Iran yesterday. "I found a heartbreaking site, in which there are dozens of people with phone numbers offering to sell their kidney," said Dr. Elam Gindin. Iran's economy was teetering even before the sanctions were re-imposed. Last week, the Iranian rial plunged to a record low of less than 1,000 to the American dollar. "What is going to happen today are restrictions on foreign currency trading. It...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Turkey's Star that CIA and Mossad agents are planning to rescue a pastor Andrew Brunson. According to the report, agents are already in Brunson's neighborhood. Brunson has been held in Turkey for nearly two years. He is currently under house arrest and must wear an electronic tracking device at all times. Last week, Israel released a Turkish woman who transferred money to the Hamas terror group, in a gesture intended to aid Brunson's release. However, Turkey refused to release Brunson, leading US President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on the country. Turkey responded to...

Video @JeremyCorbyn British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn acknowledged on Sunday that anti-Semitism has surfaced in the party and apologized for “the hurt that has been caused to many Jewish people.” His statement came in a three-minute video posted on social media on Sunday. “Anyone who denies this has surfaced in our party is clearly actually wrong and contributing to the problem. I acknowledge there is a real problem of anti-Semitism that Labour is working to overcome,” he said. Corbyn acknowledged that “we have been too slow in processing disciplinary cases of, mostly online, anti-Semitic abuse by party members. We’re acting...

Talks between Jeremy Corbyn and the Jewish Museum in London on a speech by the leader of the British Labour Party have broken down. The party, beset by allegations of anti-Semitism, approached the Jewish Museum with a plan to host a speech on the issue, the London-based Jewish Chronicle first reported on Thursday. Corbyn also has been fighting accusations of harboring anti-Semitic sentiments. But on Friday the Chronicle reported the speech was off following a disagreement over who would be invited to attend. Last month, the party’s ruling body and leadership endorsed a code of conduct that is based on...

Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' office claimed that White House Adviser Jared Kushner's reported efforts to limit UNRWA activities are "a continuation of the subversive plots to eliminate the Palestinian problem." A statement from Abbas' office emphasized the need to "oppose" and "foil" the US plan. It is believed that US President Donald Trump's proposed peace plan will remove the question of PA "refugees" from the negotiating table. The peace plan, the contents of which have not yet been revealed, was by the PA as "aiming to eliminate the Palestinian problem and negate all of the Palestinian nation's legitimate...

The timing of the exercise is unusual, as it appears to be similar in scale and nature to a drill that ordinarily happens later in the autumn. It comes just days before the U.S. reimposes sanctions on Tehran after its withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said several dozen boats were out training early Thursday morning. The vessels are mostly small attack boats, and there have been no interactions with U.S. ships in the area, the official added, according to AFP. In a statement, Captain Bill Urban, the military's Central Command spokesman, said...

Zehut party chairman and former MK Moshe Feiglin gave full backing to his son Avi, a soldier in the Kfir Brigade who uploaded a Facebook post calling to refuse orders that place soldiers’ lives in danger so as to minimize harm to Arab rioters. Following the post, Avi was tried and dismissed from his combat position. "My son Avi received 10 days conditional imprisonment and was removed from combat duties, but I want to tell you that he is doing the greatest fighting that is required today," Feiglin said in a response. "What he did in the last 24 or...

A man who assaulted two police officers at the Free Tommy Robinson protest has been charged. Three officers who were policing the #FreeTommy march and a counter protest in Cambridge on Saturday, July 21 were exposed to red dye. The officers were doused with water after the unknown substance was sprayed on them. Police arrested a 28-year-old man, Alan Phillips, at the scene and he will appear at Cambridge Magistrates' Court on August 21. A Cambridgeshire police spokesman said: "Alan Phillips, 28, of Chesterton Road in Cambridge, has been charged with two counts of assaulting a constable in the execution...

A court in Egypt sentenced 75 members of the Muslim Brotherhood to death for their involvement in a protest against the military coup in 2013. The sentencing of 660 other members of the Muslim Brotherhood will be announced...

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday Turkey will stand its ground after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to slap sanctions on Ankara if it does not free an American pastor. The United States would be losing a strong and sincere partner if it does not change this attitude, Erdogan said, according to Reuters. In a tweet on Thursday, Trump threatened to impose economic sanctions on Turkey over its refusal to release American pastor Andrew Brunson who has been detained in the country for more than year. “The United States will impose large sanctions on Turkey for their long...

Member of Knesset, Zouheir Bahloul (Zionist Union) who announced that he would be resigning from the Knesset in in protest of the "nationality law" that passed, has also attacked his faction's leader, Avi Gabbay. "The weakest response was from the head of my party, who prayed for this moment, and I gave it to him on a gold platter," Bahloul told Israel Army Radio. "Gabbay was at least supposed to express regret...

Jewish American comedian Roseanne Barr has apologized for her recent “ill-worded” Twitter post about Valerie Jarrett, a former adviser to President Barack Obama, and insisted she isn’t a bigot. Barr made the comments in an hour-long interview on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show on Thursday, two months after ABC cancelled her sitcom due to that specific tweet and several others deemed to be racist. “It cost me everything,” Barr said in the interview, as quoted by The Associated Press. “I wish I worded it better.” Hannity repeatedly urged Barr to apologize to Jarrett on air. The comedian eventually did, saying...

The UN special envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov on Tuesday urged U.S. President Donald Trump to resume funding he had cut to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN agency which assists “Palestinian refugees”. Addressing a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East and quoted by Haaretz, Mladenov said that "UNRWA’s financial crisis remains a very serious concern. At present, UNRWA needs some $217 million to sustain its work in 2018. I urge the swift mobilization of support to enable the continuity of assistance and a maintenance of stability on the ground in the region."...