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Imposing deadlines for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Palestinian terms, including full Israeli withdrawal from all “occupied” territories within three years The United Nations Security Council was called into a special session on December 30, 2014 at the behest of the Palestinian Authority and its Arab Group supporters. The intent was for the Security Council to approve a resolution, submitted by the non-permanent Council member Jordan, imposing deadlines for resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on Palestinian terms, including full Israeli withdrawal from all “occupied” territories within three years. The Palestinians thought they had the necessary nine-vote majority to pass the resolution,...

The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency guides its people how to enter and exit Israel through Ben-Gurion International Airport without blowing their cover during security checks, according to a secret document revealed by WikiLeaks Sunday night. The CIA document provides further evidence that Israel serves as a target for operations by the spy agency. The document, titled "CIA Assessment on Surviving Secondary Screening at Airports While Maintaining Cover" and dated September 2011, contains a long list of guidelines for operatives using false identities. According to the document, it is based on original intelligence reports, opinions and testimonies of CIA operatives collected...

Israeli planes bombed the area near Damascus international airport and the town of Dimas, the Syrian army said in a statement carried on state television. No casualties were reported. There has been no confirmation of the air strikes from Israel.

Israeli singer Amir Benayoun released a song Sunday about a theoretical Arab Israeli youth stabbing Jews, garnering accusations of racism as Israel copes with a wave of attacks by East Jerusalem residents. “It’s true that I am just ungrateful scum,” Benayoun sings in “Ahmed loves Israel.” “It’s true, but I am not guilty, I wasn’t brought up on love. It’s true that the moment will come when you will turn your back on me, and I’ll stab you right in the back.” In the song, one version of “Ahmed” lives in Jerusalem, studies at the Hebrew University, and is well-liked....

An Israeli woman, a resident of Coral Springs, Fla., for 15 years, was recently denied service and asked not to return again to a gas station ("On the Move Texaco" owned by J&L Services of Florida Inc.) that she had frequented over the years. On her most recent visit, a Palestinian employee of the gas station told her: “You guys are killers and your money is not welcome here." While the employee was not on the corporate side of the company, this incident, nonetheless, is another call for alarm among the Jewish population. Because of my concern about the statement,...

Both Obama and Netanyahu are denying it, however, but they could be expected to do nothing else, given the circumstances. The strongest indication of the authenticity of the transcript is its absolute believability, knowing what we know about Obama and his view of Israel. The transcript is here. “US and Israel deny report of harsh Obama-Netanyahu conversation,” by Ricky Ben-David, Lazar Berman and Ilan Ben Zion, Times of Israel, July 29, 2014 (thanks to Pamela Geller): …Netanyahu rejects PMO-POTUS call transcript The Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement that the Channel 1 report is false, using precisely the same...

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said her department was “deeply troubled” by Israel’s strike on a Gaza power plant, continuing an ongoing trend of Kerry’s State Department obliquely criticizing Israel’s actions. “We’re deeply troubled by the humanitarian impact of reduced electricity in Gaza,” Psaki told reporters, “particularly for emergency services, and urge all parties to respect the civilian nature of these facilities.”

“Once again, this Council fails to address the situation in Israel and in the Palestinian territories with any semblance of balance. There is no mention of indiscriminate rocket attacks by Hamas into Israel or the tunnels used to cause mayhem.” It is good to see someone from the Obama Administration actually speaking the truth about Israel. “U.N. launches probe into alleged Israeli crimes in Gaza,” by Stephanie Nebehay and Tom Miles, Reuters, July 23, 2014 (thanks to Kenneth): GENEVA, July 23 (Reuters) – The United Nations on Wednesday launched an international inquiry into human rights violations and crimes that may...

A Los Angeles man was one of the Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza this weekend as fighting intensified. Max Steinberg was a Woodland Hills native and voluntarily joined the Israel Defense Forces, according to the Jewish Journal. According to voter records, he was 24 years old. Steinberg graduated from El Camino Real high school in 2008, studied at Pierce College, joined the Israeli army in 2012 and was a sharpshooter in the Golani Brigade, his Facebook page says. It was unclear exactly how Steinberg died, but the Israeli military announced Sunday that 13 members of the Golani Brigade were killed...

Following yesterday's failed cease-fire, an Israeli naval gunboat has reportedly struck seven children near the port in Gaza, killing at least four. One remains in critical condition. Moments earlier, the kids had been playing soccer with a reporter from NBC, who witnessed the attack firsthand. Dozens of other journalists were nearby.

Israeli naval commandos fought Hamas gunmen in a dramatic beach front firefight on Sunday after Israel attempted the first boots-on-the ground operation of its ongoing offensive in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, later warned that the military operation, that has so far killed 166 Palestinians, could gone on for a "long time". The early morning clash broke out after Hamas militants – alerted by a lookout stationed in a nearby mosque – intercepted Israeli special forces trying wade ashore at Sudaniya in northern Gaza. The two sides engaged each other in the sea, according to one witness account,...

I was busy washing dishes yesterday evening when all of a sudden I heard a wailing sound and doors slamming in my building. An air raid siren; the first in Tel Aviv since Operation Pillar of Defense back in November of 2012.

US Middle East peace envoy Martin Indyk has resigned following the collapse of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. A US official who spoke on condition of anonymity did not provide a reason for Indyk's departure, which had been widely expected after the two sides failed to meet their goal of reaching a comprehensive peace agreement this spring. Indyk will return to the Washington-based Brookings Institution think tank, the official said. US Secretary of State John Kerry confirmed on Friday that Indyk was leaving his post as top US envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Kerry praised Indyk and thanked him for his...

n IDF Navy force opened fire Monday at a Palestinian Arab boats that strayed from the permitted zone in the waters off of southern Gaza. The boats were lightly damaged and two of the people aboard them were taken to questioning. Voice of Israel public radio adds that Gaza Arab media reported that two Palestinian fishermen suffered moderate injuries from shots fired at them by the Egyptian Navy, off of Rafah. It is not clear if the two reports refer to the same incident, or to two different ones. Gaza, which is controlled by a genocidal Islamist Hamas regime, shares...

Israeli officials denounced on Tuesday evening a report in Newsweek which said that American intelligence officials have linked the U.S. visa crisis to Israeli espionage. The report cited these American officials as saying in closed conversations that "Israel crosses the line for espionage in the United States." In response, Israeli officials told Kol Yisrael radio’s diplomatic affairs correspondent Chico Menashe that the report “smelled of anti-Semitism.” "The allegations of espionage in the U.S. are false. Israel is not spying there. The report in Newsweek smells of anti-Semitism, we are portrayed as an enemy country,” one official told Kol Yisrael. Another...

WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that Israel’s announcement of 700 new apartments for Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem precipitated the bitter impasse in peace negotiations last week between Israel and the Palestinians. While Mr. Kerry said both sides bore responsibility for “unhelpful” actions, he noted that the publication of tenders for housing units came four days after a deadline passed for Israel to release Palestinian prisoners and complicated Israel’s own deliberations over whether to extend the talks. “Poof, that was sort of the moment,” Mr. Kerry said in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Still,...

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya´alon is apologizing for the second time in two months about critical statements he made against the U.S. government. In the wake of tremendous anger in Washington, a telephone call between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a personal talk with the prime minister, Ya´alon told his American counterpart, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, that there was no defiance, criticism or intention to hurt the United States or Israel´s relations with its ally with his words. Ya´alon said he sees utmost importance in the strategic relations between the countries, as...

The White House appeared to double down on its policy of engagement with Iran following Wednesday's dramatic pre-dawn high seas capture of an Iranian missile cache destined for Hamas by Israeli naval commandos. Senior administration officials worked quickly to prevent the raid from undermining public confidence in President Obama's continued belief that Iran is a trustworthy and reliable negotiating partner, even going so far as to claim credit for the raid themselves. Several dozen advanced medium range missiles were found hidden under false bottoms of phony shipping containers on board the Panamanian flagged "Klos-C" frigate seized in a dramatic pre...

Received by email: B'nai Brith Canada has learned from Canadian Jewish tourists aboard a Norwegian Jade cruise ship that Israeli tourists have been denied the right to disembark when the ship dropped anchor at the Port of Tunis, Tunisia. As passengers began preparations to visit the country, Israelis on board were quietly told that they were not welcomed by the Tunisian Government and would have to remain onboard. According to some Jewish passengers no prior notice was issued, either in writing or by public announcement. The cruise line also failed to advise passengers in advance that Israeli tourists would...

BREAKING: Israeli Navy Captures Iranian Boat Loaded With Syrian Missiles Destined for Gaza (VIDEO) MARCH 5, 2014 8:53 AM 9 COMMENTS Benny Gantz Ram Rothberg Israeli Navy KLOSCIran Gaza KLOSC Shayetet 13Israeli navy commandos KLOSC arms shipM-302 missile Iran Gaza StripM-302 missile Second Lebanon WarMoti Almoz Israeli Navy KLOSC Iran Israeli Naval commandos on Wednesday intercepted an Iranian ship in the Red Sea weighed down with missiles that was en route to the Gaza Strip, the IDF said in a statement. The boat, named KLOSC, was stopped by the elite naval commando unit Shayetet 13 as it was heading to...