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Iran has ended its large scale Great Prophet 9 exercise in the Persian Gulf, test firing a “new strategic weapon,” which it says will play an important role in the future battle against the US. The test was performed on the final day of the exercise, staged by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world's oil passes. "The new weapon will have a very decisive role in adding our naval power in confronting threats, particular by the Great Satan, the US," Admiral Ali Fadavi, Iran’s navy chief, told the Revolutionary...

The back and forth banter between Israel and the United States over Iran’s nuclear aspirations continued on Wednesday, as Secretary of State John Kerry questioned Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s judgment when it comes to Iran. The comments, according to The Huffington Post, came as Kerry was testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Committee member Rep. Albio Sires (D-N.J.) pointed to Netanyahu’s upcoming address to the Congress as evidence of the weakness of the deal being negotiated between Iran and the six world powers. “The Prime Minister was also profoundly forward-leaning and very outspoken about the importance of invading Iraq...

an has built an active front from Israel's northern Mediterranean border adjacent to Rosh Hanikra, all the way to the Golan Heights. The goal: to undermine and wage war against the "Zionist entity" with conventional, powerful military means from within Lebanon and Syria. So says Yigal Carmon, Counter-terrorism Adviser to prime ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin, and founder and president of the prestigious Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). "Iran has taken advantage of the chaos in the Middle East to form a united front from Tehran, through Baghdad, Syria and Lebanon," Carmon told Kol Yisrael public radio on...

Tzipi Livni, head of Hatnua and possible prime minister of Israel if her "Zionist camp" union with Labor wins in elections, after which there would be a rotation between her and Labor head Yitzhak Herzog, made a campaign promise on Saturday of same-sex marriage. Livni was at a "Dreck" party at the Oman 17 club in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, where she was dancing with gay couples before taking the stage and the microphone. "Good evening Dreck. There's a chance that on March 20 (after elections - ed.) we'll come to celebrate the end of the period of darkness,...

Norwegian Muslims organized a peace vigil in Oslo Saturday in a show of solidarity with Jews a week after fatal shootings in Denmark targeted a synagogue and free speech seminar. As the small mainly elderly Jewish congregation filed out of the synagogue after Shabbat prayers, a group of young Muslims, many of them teenage girls wearing headscarves, formed a symbolic ring outside the building to roaring applause from a crowd of more than 1,000 people, reports AFP. "This shows that there are many more peacemakers than war-makers," 37-year-old Zeeshan Abdullah, one of the organizers told the crowd. "There is still...

Following are excerpts from an address by Algerian cleric Chemseddine el Djazairi, which aired on Ennahar TV on February 8, 2015: Chemseddine el Djazairi: A viewer asks: What is your position about the prevalent belief that contemporary Jews are of the seed of those who were transformed into apes and pigs? This belief is not true. Contemporary Jews are of the seed of Adam, not of the apes and pigs, because the line of those transformed into apes and pigs was severed. […] A Jew who rebelled so much against God that he was thus transformed – how is this...

Nearly two dozen US House Democrats on Thursday urged the postponement of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's planned speech to Congress, claiming the controversially-timed address could "undermine" nuclear negotiations with Iran, reports AFP. Republican House Speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address a joint meeting of Congress on March 3 two weeks before his country's elections, and the speech, in which the prime minister will discuss the threat of Iran's nuclear program, has led to an outcry from the left in the US and Israel. Twenty-three lawmakers wrote Boehner urging him to postpone the invitation, which the Republican leader extended without...

Four-year-old Adelle Biton, who passed away following a rapid deterioration in her condition due to a bout with pneumonia, will be buried in her hometown of Yakir in Samaria, the family announced on Tuesday night. The Biton family said that the funeral will take place on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m., despite the difficulties imposed by the Civil Administration, which denied the request to bury Adelle in Yakir, citing the lack of a master plan for a cemetery in a 20 dunam area set aside by the Shomron Regional Council. Adelle was critically wounded in March 2013, when the family car...

Amman-based hip-hop band Torabyeh say ruling party put their lives at risk by linking them to Islamic State Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpVwW_bfEQM Members of the Amman-based alternative hip-hop group Torabyeh accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday of putting their lives at serious risk by linking them with terrorism and associating them with Islamic State fighters, following the apparently illegal use of a rap song performed by the band in a controversial campaign ad posted online by the Likud party Saturday night. “In the last propaganda video released by the Israeli Likud Party which is headed by the criminal Benjamin Netanyahu (Zionist...

...Abd Al-Bari Atwan: In my view, Jihad must be directed, first and foremost, against the Israeli enemy. This is the enemy about which there is a consensus. Arabs who do not think that Israel is an enemy are neither Arabs nor Muslims. Our compass must point toward that enemy. All our guns must be turned toward that enemy, regardless of our differences, because this is the only thing that unites us....

Senior officials in both the State Department and White House denied on Sunday evening reports in the Israeli media that the Obama administration is “punishing” Israel for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress and has stopped sharing information with Israel about the nuclear talks with Iran. The report on Channel 2 News stated that Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, who is in charge of the nuclear talks with Iran, has announced that she is no longer briefing Israel about the talks, because the Israeli government is using the information in a manipulative and political way. Susan Rice, Obama's national...

The United States added German former rapper Denis Cuspert to its list of "terrorists" over his role as a fighter with the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq, the State Department said Monday. The 39-year-old, who used to rap in Berlin under the name "Deso Dogg" and now goes by the name Abu Talha al-Almani, is one of the most famous Western fighters for ISIS. He is already listed as an Al-Qaeda supporter by the United Nations. The US listing as a "global terrorist" freezes all of Cuspert's assets under US control and prohibits transactions with him. Cuspert joined...

A group of Democrats in the House of Representatives are circulating a petition asking Republican Speaker John Boehner to postpone the March 3 speech by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to a joint meeting of Congress, Bloomberg reported on Monday. “As members of Congress who support Israel, we share concern that it appears that you are using a foreign leader as a political tool against the president,” states the letter, which is being circulated among lawmakers by Representatives Keith Ellison, Steve Cohen and Maxine Waters. The three started sending the petition to fellow lawmakers last week, said Mike Casca, a spokesman...

Amnesty International has condemned Jordan for executing Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists in "revenge" for the group burning Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh alive on camera. “The Jordanian authorities are rightly horrified by this utterly reprehensible killing but the response should never be to resort to the death penalty, which itself is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment," Philip Luther, director of AI's Middle East and North Africa Program, stated Wednesday. "The death penalty should also not be used as a tool for revenge. The ISIS’s gruesome tactics must not be allowed to fuel a bloody cycle of reprisal executions.” .....

North Korea on Wednesday appeared to rule out any resumption of dialogue with the United States, threatening to react to any US "war of aggression" with nuclear strikes and cyber warfare. The statement from the country's top military body, the National Defence Commission (NDC), came after reported moves by Washington and Pyongyang to revive long-stalled six-nation talks on denuclearisation. The NDC said recent comments from President Barack Obama had revealed that the United States' goal was to "bring down" North Korea. The statement was an apparent reaction to an interview Obama gave on January 22 in which he spoke of...

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Tuesday voiced concern over reports of mass book-burning in Iraq, saying it would be one of the most "devastating" such actions in history if confirmed. Referring to reports that thousands of books on philosophy, law, science and poetry have been torched in recent weeks, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said it was part of a campaign of "cultural cleansing," reports AFP. "If confirmed, this would be one of the most devastating acts of destruction of library collections in human history," UNESCO said. "Such destruction is a cruel reminder that the nations...

Jordan’s King Abdullah on Tuesday described the Islamic State (ISIS) as a “cowardly” organization, and added that its killing of pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh will only strengthen Jordanians. “We have received with all sorrow, grief and anger, the news of the martyrdom of the brave pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh, may Allah bless his soul, at the hand of the terrorist and cowardly Daesh organization, this criminal, stray gang that has nothing to do with our true religion,” the King said in a statement quoted by the Jordan Times and in which he used an Arabic acronym for ISIS. “At this difficult time,...

Canadian law professor William Schabas, who was appointed to head the UN committee tasked with probing Israel’s alleged “war crimes” during last summer’s Operation Protective Edge in Gaza, announced on Monday evening he was stepping down. According to the Reuters news agency, Schabas cited Israeli allegations of bias due to consultancy work he did for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the reason for his resignation. In a letter to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) which appointed him to head the inquiry, a copy of which was seen by Reuters, Schabas said he would step down immediately to...

The Likud party intends to hold a press conference in Tel Aviv Sunday in which it will expose details about “V15 – Victory in 2015,” a campaign it says is using foreign money, and lots of it, to boost Labor and Meretz in the elections. Likud has filed a motion to the Elections Committee, according to which V15 is carrying out an illegal indirect campaign with a connection to Labor and Meretz. V15 is “making criminal use of foreign sources of funding,” adding that the sums involved were “very high” and their sources unknown. Likud's press conference will include MK...

A visibly upset Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to "never forgive terrorists" after the Islamic State (ISIS) released a video purportedly showing the beheading of Japanese hostage Kenji Goto. "I am extremely angry about these heinous and despicable terrorist acts. We will never forgive terrorists," Abe told reporters in Tokyo on Sunday morning (local time), according to the AFP news agency. "We will cooperate with the international community to make them atone for their crimes," he declared. The ISIS claim was made in a video released online that included no mention of a Jordanian pilot also being held...

Hank Sheinkopf, former adviser to ex-US President Bill Clinton during his election campaign from 1995 to 1996, spoke with Arutz Sheva about the complicated political relations between Israeli and American leaders. Video Hank Sheinkopf, former adviser to ex-US President Bill Clinton during his election campaign from 1995 to 1996, spoke with Arutz Sheva about the complicated political relations between Israeli and American leaders. Speaking about the tense relations between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama, Sheinkopf remarked that how the world feels about Netanyahu is not important to Israelis, whereas it is very important to American Jews...

Shots were fired Saturday night outside the unoccupied home of Vice President Joe Biden in Delaware. Biden was not at home when the incident occurred, the Secret Service told reporters. Speaking to CNN, Secret Service spokesman Robert Hoback said “a vehicle drove by the vice president's residence at a high rate of speed and fired multiple gun shots. This occurred on a public road outside the established security perimeter. The shots were heard by Secret Service personnel posted at the residence and a vehicle was observed by an agent leaving the scene at a high rate of speed.” Biden and...

..... ...Today, they are all happy that the Caliphate is about to return, as if the days of the Caliphate were good. Who are you kidding? The days of the Caliphate were all dark times, from day one to the Ottoman Caliphate... .....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijDbfm28hkk

A full 185 Arab residents of Gaza were given rare permission by Israel to hold prayers last Friday on the Temple Mount, where they promptly waved banners of the Hamas terrorist organization and burned French flags, protesting satire magazine Charlie Hebdo's recent cartoon of Mohammed. The magazine's Paris headquarters were targeted in an Islamist terror attack two weeks ago, with 12 people including senior staff brutally murdered over its depictions of the founder of Islam. Defiantly the paper last week released a new edition with Mohammed on the cover, which has sold out in record time. The nearly 200 Gaza...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening released a strong statement of condemnation on the International Criminal Court (ICC) decision last Friday, in which it chose to launch a preliminary probe into charges of Israeli "war crimes." “Israel rejects the absurd decision of the ICC prosecutor," said Netanyahu. "It’s absurd for the ICC to ignore international law and agreements, under which the Palestinians don't have a state and can only get one through direct negotiations with Israel." Reportedly Netanyahu spoke with US Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday night, requesting American support in preventing the ICC action against Israel....

A Lebanese newspaper reported that Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas told Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi that the Palestinian Authority would not file a case against Israel in the International Criminal Court if negotiations between Israel and the PA resumed “in the coming weeks.” According to the report in the Al-Ahabar newspaper, Abbas made the comments to Sisi during their meeting in Cairo Wednesday. The PA several weeks ago formally requested membership in the ICC. Approval of the PA's membership is expected within two months. Last week, the PA recognized the ICC's jurisdiction to investigate what it said were Israeli war...

In a sermon excerpt posted on the Internet on January 10, 2015, Tunisian cleric Bechir Ben Hassen declared that anyone cursing the Prophet Muhammad should be punished by death. Sheikh Ben Hassen recently posted online a video message recorded opposite the International Criminal Court in the Hague, in which he praised European democracy, tolerance, and freedom of speech. Following is an excerpt: Bechir Ben Hassen: Even blind people, who lost their sight, avenged [the honor] of their Prophet. Therefore, the punishment for anyone who curses the Prophet Muhammad is to be killed. He should be punished by execution. His killing...

Poll fever continues ahead of March 17 elections, and while results have shown Likud and Labor neck and neck, the latest survey by Channel 10 gives Labor a full four mandate gap over Likud. According to the poll, conducted by the Dialog Institute under the supervision of Prof. Camil Fuchs, Labor - which erased the word "Zionism" from its Arabic ad campaign - would get 24 mandates, while Likud would only receive 20. Coming in at third Jewish Home stays at 16 seats, followed by a joint Arab list that would receive 12 mandates. Such a joint list - formed...

Meretz Chairman MK Zahava Gal-On intends to petition the Attorney General to stop plans from Minister of Construction Uri Ariel (Jewish Home) to house immigrants from France in Judea and Samaria. Ariel sent a letter asking the Yesha Council where the flow of immigrants from France could settle, as France reels from a string of anti-Semitic attacks. France led the list of countries from which Jews made aliyah to Israel in 2014, with almost 7,000 new French immigrants, more than double the 3,400 who came last year. Aliyah is only expected to increase after the latest spate of anti-Semitic attacks....

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday hailed the unprecedented rally against terror in Paris as a strong message to the world, but added he would expect a similar reaction to attacks on Muslims and “Islamophobia”, according to AFP. Davutoglu joined dozens of other world leaders at the march in Paris to mourn the victims of the three days of terror by Islamists that began with the slaughter of 12 people at the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. “It is a message to the whole world that everyone must confront the threat of terror,” Davutoglu was quoted as having...

Three videos of Binyamin Netanyahu in Paris Sunday capture the emotions of the Jewish community there – and those of Netanyahu himself – better than a million words would. ..... Vide Text Video Text Video .....

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Saturday evening that he spoke by phone with Celine Charki, who was one of the histages held at the kosher supermarket in Paris Friday. “Celine told me about the terrorist's unfathomable cruelty and the heroism of a Jewish youth who tried to take his gun and shoot him,” he said. The heroic action was apparently taken by hostage Johan Cohen, who was killed. .....

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has led calls in Israel for French Jews to "come home to Israel" Saturday, after 17 people were killed in France during three days of Islamist attacks. "To all the Jews of France, all the Jews of Europe, I would like to say that Israel is not just the place in whose direction you pray, the state of Israel is your home," he said in a televised statement, referring to the Jewish practice of facing Jerusalem during prayer. "Unless the world comes to its senses, terror will continue to strike in other places," he added...

The Danish newspaper Berlingske has republished cartoons on Islamic themes from the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, as part of its coverage of the attack which killed 12 people in Paris on Wednesday, reports Reuters. The Thursday print edition of Berlingske, available online on Wednesday night, showed several past front pages from the French magazine. Among them was one depicting the Prophet Mohammad and another about Sharia law. Such images provoked angry reactions from some Muslims when originally published by Charlie Hebdo, and footage of the Wednesday killings at the magazine's offices showed gunmen shouting "we have avenged the Prophet...

MK Tzipi Livni (Hatnua) fired back at Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett on Wednesday, after Bennett mocked her and suggested, following the terrorist attack in France, that she “get on a plane to Paris to solve the problems there” and “offer the French to 'end the occupation'”. "On this day we stand together with the French people against terrorism and against Islamist extremism," said Livni. “Unlike Bennett, who is not ashamed to dance on the blood of innocent people to achieve political gain, thus deepening the hostility and isolation of Israel in the world, I spoke today with the French...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has isolated Israel diplomatically – but she, said Tzipi Livni, will fix that. Speaking to several hundred students in Tel Aviv Wednesday, Livni said that what she called “Israel's increasing isolation internationally” was a “plague of Netanyahu.” Netanyahu, she said, only had half the formula needed for diplomatic success. “It's not enough to speak loudly and confidently. You have to know how to get the world on your side, to accept Israel's ideas o security and defending its interests. Netanyahu does not know how to do this. “Our good relations with the United States and the...

Syria has complained to the United Nations (UN) about several officials who, it claims, entered the country without visas in violation of its sovereignty. These include Republican Senator John McCain, former French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and former U.S. diplomat Peter Galbraith, according to Reuters. Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the 15-member Security Council to pressure governments to take "the necessary measures against their nationals who enter Syrian territory illegally." "Such actions are a blatant violation of Syria's sovereignty and of the resolutions of the Security Council concerning Syria," Ja'afari wrote in a...

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, on Sunday said that the PA will not agree to maintain the status quo and threatened that the PA will dismantle itself and “hand the keys” back to Israel. Speaking to Army Radio, Erekat referred to Israel’s decision to withhold the tax money it collects on behalf of the PA, which came in response to the PA’s request to join the International Criminal Court, and called it “collective punishment” and a “war crime”. “This is our money, Palestinian money that the Israeli government collects in exchange for 3%,” he said. “This is...

Labor leader Yitzhak Herzog has vowed to shut down the World Zionist Organization's Settlement Division, which functions as an operational arm of the government to build and establish communities and infrastructures in Judea and Samaria - leaving hundreds of thousands of Israelis in the region without governmental representation. "As Prime Minister I will close the Settlement Division and open it later to serve the Negev and the Galilee," Herzog stated during an interview on "Meet the Press" Saturday night. "We see again and again the same group takes over the interests of the state and Netanyahu gave in to it."...

Former President Shimon Peres addressed the upcoming elections in March for the first time publicly on Saturday, hinting that he would like to see a replacement for current Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. "These elections are crucial," Peres said. "We have an opportunity to make the best out of the situation we find ourselves in. Some things have changed for the worse and need to be fixed, but there are good things and we should take advantage of them." One issue Peres said had improved was Israel's relationship with the "moderate" Arab world. "The position of the Arab world has changed,...

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) criticized Nigeria on Wednesday over its abstention during a UN vote on Palestinian statehood on Tuesday. In a statement quoted by the Ma’an news agency, the representative Muhannad al-Akluk, said Nigeria’s move was a "big disappointment", adding that voting against “Palestine” despite being a member of the OIC was a "clear contradiction." He also claimed that Nigeria’s abstention violated numerous resolutions passed at the Islamic organization's summits. The PA’s resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria by 2017 was defeated in the Security Council when...

Saudi Arabia has reportedly begun to allow Jews to work in the kingdom, according to a local newspaper. On Tuesday, the Saudi daily Al-Watan reported that Saudi authorities are now allowing people of all faiths, including Jews, to work in the kingdom, saying this was proof of the country's openness to other religions and cultures. The report was translated from Arabic by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). The Saudi religious establishment is divided over the issue of foreign workers in the country, noted MEMRI, due to differing interpretations of a hadith of the Prophet Mohammed that states, "Remove...

The European Union’s (EU) foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said Tuesday's vote at the United Nations (UN) Security Council on Palestinian statehood underlined the need for Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to urgently resume peace negotiations. The Security Council failed to adopt an Arab-backed resolution that would have paved the way to a Palestinian state, setting a 12-month deadline for Israel to reach a final peace deal with the PA and calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria by the end of 2017. The vote "underlines once again the urgency of resuming meaningful negotiations between the...

After years of calling for Israel’s destruction, is Hamas actually prepared to talk with the Jewish state? According to a report on Monday in the British Independent, the group may be considering it. According to the report, Hamas is reviewing its strategy with the changing times. It is conducting an internal debate, with proposals which have had to be officially refuted. One such proposal was for direct negotiations with the Israelis, currently forbidden by the movement’s constitution. A statement was issued saying direct negotiations with Israel is not the movement’s policy and is not on the table for discussion. The...

Former New York Times Middle East bureau chief Chris Hedges was uninvited from speaking at a University of Pennsylvania conference following the publication of an incendiary column. That column, from December 15, closely compares Israel to the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist organization. Hedges, who now works as a columnist for Truthdig.com, was scheduled to speak April 3 at a forum on prospects for peace in the Middle East sponsored by the Philadelphia university's International Affairs Association. Zachary Michael Belnavis, a student leader of the association, complained to the lecture agency that his group felt Hedges was not a "suitable fit"...

The IDF will on Thursday pull out its security forces from Israeli communities that are not located near the security fence with Gaza, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit announced on Monday evening. The move was made after evaluating the security situation, with the understanding that the IDF provides optimal security to the communities in the Gaza Belt, in coordination with the heads of the communities, the statement said. “IDF forces are deployed in the area and are prepared for any scenario,” stressed the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit. Responding to the decision, the heads of the local communities in the Gaza Belt called...

A female aid worker from Sierra Leone has become the first person to bring Ebola to the United Kingdom, BBC News reports Monday night, and is in isolation in a Glasgow hospital. The aid worker, whose identity is being kept under wraps, had arrived in Glasgow via Casablanca and London's Heathrow airport, and arrived in Scotland Sunday night close to midnight. Less than eight hours later, she was admitted to Glasgow's Gartnavel Hospital with symptoms. She will be transferred to a high-level isolation unit in London's Royal Free Hospital as soon as possible for further treatment, officials said. 71 passengers...

Egypt’s Culture Ministry on Sunday explained for the first time why it banned Ridley Scott's biblical epic "Exodus: Gods & Kings", claiming the movie presents a "racist" image of Jews, reports The Associated Press (AP). The ban was announced several days ago, but Sunday’s statement from the Culture Ministry marks the first time that the reason for the ban was officially explained. According to AP, the statement said the film put forth a reading of Egypt's history that is at odds with the story of Moses told by the world's monotheistic religions. Censors objected to the "intentional gross historical fallacies...

Channel 10 went dark on Sunday night at about 10:30 p.m. Israel time, at the instruction of the channel’s employees union. Instead of regular programming, the channel displayed a picture of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, alongside the words, "In three days, Channel 10 will close. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who serves as Minister of Communications, refuses to find a solution. Due to this the employees union has decided to cease Channel 10’s broadcast for the night. We will resume broadcasting at 6:00 a.m." The channel has been facing financial difficulties for several years. In December of 2012, the Knesset held...