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The British parliament on Monday night officially voted in favor of recognizing the “state of Palestine”. The non-binding resolution was passed by 274 in favor to 12 votes against, to “recognize the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel” as part of a “contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution”, according to AFP. The motion, while non-binding, is heavy with symbolism but is unlikely to change government policy, the report noted. […] British Prime Minister David Cameron said prior to the vote that he would not take part in it. …

Arabs on Monday were caught red-handed cooking up another “tree libel” against Jewish residents of Samaria. The Arabs were seen cutting down olive trees and demolishing fences in an Arab olive grove near Har Bracha in Samaria, apparently intending to blame the damage on Jews. Two volunteers working with the Samaria Residents Council caught the vandals on film. The volunteers were on special patrol, after Council director Benny Katsover urged Jewish residents of the area to watch out for Arab provocations during the olive harvest season. Katzover called on residents to carry video-filming equipment as they traveled the roads, in...

PA Chairman says he plans to move ahead with his latest unilateral UN move and if all else fails, he will hand the keys to Netanyahu. video .....

Prominent leaders of major Jewish and Christian global organizations announced a "historic" joint initiative on Monday, calling on world leaders to take urgent, determined actions to halt the brutal persecution of Christians in the Middle East in a Jerusalem press conference. Video The joint initiative was unveiled at the Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) celebration sponsored by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, with some 4,500 Christians from 80 nations in attendance. The alarming situation for Christian minorities across the Middle East continues to worsen even while world leaders have largely ignored this on-going human rights tragedy, laments a letter recently sent...

Despite being a citizen of Israel and a member of the Israeli Knesset, radical Arab MK Ahmed Tibi (United Arab List) is in London on Monday to take part in a diplomatic push urging the British parliament to recognize “Palestine” in a non-binding vote. Tibi is talking with British MPs of the Labour Party, whose member Grahame Morris proposed the vote, and trying to convince them that voting to recognize the Palestinian Authority (PA) as a state will advance the “peace process.” In fact, the Labour Party is reportedly highly divided over the vote, with many senior members of the...

“New Family,” an organization that promotes civil unions, gay “marriage” and adoption, single-mother families, sperm donations and other halakhically (Jewish legal) problematic endeavors in the realm of family, has taken down a controversial Facebook video against women’s ritual immersion in mikveh pools, reported Channel 2. The video that provoked intensely negative reactions showed a woman being drowned in the mikveh by the female mikveh attendant, or balanit.The video begins with a bride-to-be waiting for the balanit and speaking on the phone, saying “I hope the water is clean, at least. You never know who was here before.” …

According to a senior diplomatic source in Jerusalem, the chances of a deal being reached on Iran’s nuclear program between it and world powers before the November 24 deadline are slim—but US President Barack Obama is liable to flex on several points, including the deadline. “When there’s a will on the part of both leaders everything is possible, but Israel needs to stand guard so that a bad deal won’t be made,” the source told Walla!, warning against a deal that will leave the Islamic regime with thousands of centrifuges and breakout capability to quickly create a nuclear bomb. The...

What a happy Eid al-Adha season it has been for Hamas. Not only did Israel ease restrictions on travel from Gaza and the Palestinian Authority to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, so Muslims could pray at Al-Aqsa mosque during their three-day festivities last week; but Rami Hamdallah, the prime minister of the recently formed unity government between Hamas and the Fatah-led PA, paid a historic visit to Gaza on Thursday to convene the government’s first meeting. The timing of the meeting, in the aftermath of the important Islamic holiday, was not accidental. In September (following the final cease-fire at the...

Barak 8 missile was successful in intercepting a missile that imitated the Yakhont anti-ship cruise missile. The Israel Navy has conducted a successful secret test of the Barak 8 missile, which is designed to defend ships from the much-vaunted Yakhont anti-ship cruise missiles, reports Channel 2. The Yakhont missiles are one of the greatest threats to the Navy's vessels, mostly because of their potential use by Syria and Hezbollah. The missile flies at a very high speed – almost the speed of sound – from the moment it is launched. The test was carried out with the cooperation of an...

LONDON – The British Parliament will in all probability vote in favor of recognition of a Palestinian state without a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians being finalized, following a controversial decision by the official opposition Labor Party to support a backbench parliamentary motion on the issue of statehood. The House of Commons is to debate the issue on Monday. Labor’s unexpected move effectively scuppers an attempt by pro-Israel MPs who tabled an amendment on an all-party basis that would make granting any recognition conditional on an agreed solution between Israel and the Palestinians. Monday night’s 10 p.m. (midnight,...

The Jerusalem Police stormed the Temple Mount Monday morning and locked Arab rioters inside the Al Aqsa Mosque. The police had gathered intelligence about Arab youths who had spent the night at the Temple Mount compound. The youths had collected rocks and fireworks and prepared firebombs, which they stored inside the Al Aqsa Mosque in order to use them against police and interfere with non-Muslim visits to the Mount. In addition, they created obstacles to prevent the closing of the last open door into Al Aqsa. These included shoe cabinets that were nailed onto the mosque doors, iron bars, wooden...

Israel Vs. EbolaBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem, Israel — October 12, 2014 … Part of the following was communicated by the Israel Prime Minister’s Office to the Israel News Agency. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this morning held a discussion on the spread of the Ebola virus, in continuation of a similar discussion held last Monday, 6 October. At today’s meeting in Jerusalem it was decided to emphasize the questioning of travelers arriving in Israel from Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, who are most at risk. The questioning will be implemented at air, land and sea entry points into...

International envoys pledged about $5.4 billion in aid for the Gaza Strip at a meeting in Egypt on Sunday, Norway's foreign minister said. "The participants pledged approximately $5.4 billion (4.3 billion euros)," said Boerge Brende, reading out a closing statement at the Cairo conference which Norway co-hosted. Half of the pledges will go for reconstruction and the rest as unspecified aid to the Palestinians, he said. The donors "committed themselves to start disbursing their assistance as soon as possible," Brende said. The conference aimed at financing the reconstruction of swathes of Gaza destroyed in a July-August war between Israel and...

Qatar promised $1 billion in reconstruction aid for Gaza at a donor conference in Cairo on Sunday, topping US and European pledges for the devastated Palestinian terror enclave. "Qatar announces its participation with $1 billion for the reconstruction of Gaza," said Khalid bin Mohammad Al Attiyah, the foreign minister of the gas-rich country. UN chief Ban Ki-moon told the donor conference Sunday that he would visit the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. "I will visit Gaza on Tuesday to listen directly to the people of Gaza," he said, adding he would also visit Israel "shortly." The international community insisted that Hamas's...

The same "conditions" that "provoked" Hamas into waging a war on millions of Israeli civilians still apply, spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri claimed Saturday night. "The conditions for the situation in Gaza exploding still exist," Abu Zuhri stated to Al-Jazeera. "On the contrary, they are even tougher now than they were before the Israeli aggression in Gaza." Abu Zuhri then made some veiled threats to the international community, urging them to put pressure on Israel. "If the international community wishes that the situation will not blow up again, it must step in and resolve the situation and handle it through a...

The widow of Dror Hanin, who was killed during Operation Protective Edge from a Gaza mortar as he gave out gift bags to soldiers, was a victim of a rock terror attack on Sunday. Arabs threw rocks at the widow’s car as she was making her way towards the city of Modi’in with her children and a friend. As the car passed Modi’in Illit, the car was pelted by rocks. Hanin’s eldest daughter Shaked, who sat in the front of the car, was hit by broken glass but did not require medical attention. Miraculously, no one else was seriously hurt.

Of course, we're pretending that the money will go to rebuild homes and businesses. But everyone above the age 5 knows what the money is really buying. From Reuters: Out of this conference must come not just money but a renewed commitment from everybody to work for peace that meets the aspirations of all, for Israelis, for Palestinians for all people of this region," Kerry told the conference. "And I promise you the full commitment of President Obama, myself and the United States to try to do that," he said. At the conference Kerry also announced an additional $212 million...

International donors have pledged $5.4bn (£3.4bn) to help rebuild Gaza at a conference in Cairo. The total, announced by the Norwegian Foreign Minister, Boerge Brende, exceeded the $4bn (£2.5bn) the Palestinian Authority had asked for. Qatar alone promised $1bn (£622m).

The United States is promising $212 million in immediate assistance to the Palestinians as part of an international effort to rebuild the Gaza Strip after this summer's 50-day war. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says people in Gaza "need our help desperately.

Holy Mustache, Batman! How can you tell when Thomas Friedman has given up and stopped bothering? Is there even a way to tell when a man who tried to turn global flattening into a thing has just given up?Friedman just wrote an article half of which consists of Batman quotes. The rest is his usual mix of random drivel, references to Fukuyama and staged wisdom. ItÂ’s why Orit Perlov, an Israeli expert on Arab social networks, keeps telling me that since I canÂ’t visit the Islamic State, which is known as ISIS, and interview its leaders, the next best...