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Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators turned out on the streets of London, Paris, and Oslo on Friday to call for an end to Israeli military strikes on Gaza. Several thousand people crowded the streets outside the Israeli Embassy in west London, waving placards that read "Gaza: End the Siege" and "Freedom for Palestine." The crowds blocked an entire road, and several protesters managed to climb on top of a double-decker bus stuck in traffic, but police said the protest was largely peaceful. Norwegian news website The Local reported that some 3,000 protestors gathered in front of the Norwegian parliament in Oslo...

On June 2, the Palestinians announced a new unity government, which included Hamas, an organization designated by the U.S. State Department as a terrorist group. American aid to the Palestinians since the mid-1990s, according to a Congressional Research Service report, has exceeded $5 billion. In recent years it has averaged $500 million per year. The report notes three major U.S. objectives of these funds: preventing terrorism against Israel from Hamas; fostering “stability, prosperity, and self-governance on the West Bank”; humanitarian aid. When Hamas joined the Palestinian government on June 2, the United States recognized the new government and there...

This week's discovery of the decomposing bodies of the three Israeli teenagers kidnapped and murdered by members of the Hamas terror organization last week sparked diverse reactions from key leaders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retribution. Hamas's Khalad Mashaal blessed the hands of the murderers. President Obama urged Israeli leaders to "exercise restraint and not take action that would destabilize the situation." While admitting that "from a Western perspective the murder of innocent civilians appears an inexcusable atrocity," President Obama cautioned that "this is not the only perspective worthy of consideration. As the Palestinians see it, all Jews living...

The Iron Dome rocket defense system intercepted four rockets fired from the Gaza Strip toward southern Israel on Saturday night. Three rockets were shot down over Asheklon after the rocket defense system intercepted a projectile fired at Beersheba. Another rocket fell in an open area near Ashkelon, and a second one exploded in Sha'ar Hanegev. Earlier in the evening, the Israel Air Force struck three terror sites in southern Gaza Strip in response to a continuous barrage of rockets fired at southern Israel throughout the day. "The IDF is prepared to defend Israeli citizens from any threat and will continue...

Islamist militants, who have declared an Islamic “caliphate” in an area straddling Iraq and Syria, trumpeted the declaration in several videos. One slick video, mostly in English, features a bearded fighter with an AK-47 on his back, explaining the new caliphate. “This is not the first border we will break, we will break other borders,” a jihadist from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Isis), also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, warned in the video called End of Sykes-Picot, a reference to the agreement between France and Britain that divided up the Ottoman empire...

An extremist Salafi organization known as Dawlat al-Islam has distributed pamphlets in Hebron claiming responsibility for the feared kidnapping of the three Israeli teens. Israel security services are investigating the validity of the claim. A self-described Al-Qaida offshoot, Dawlat al-Islam is linked to ISIS, the Sunni militant organization behind this week's Iraq insurgency.

The bodies of three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped in the West Bank earlier this month have been found north-west of the city of Hebron, the Israeli Defense Forces confirmed today. "Following extensive searches in order to retrieve the three abducted teens ... three bodies were discovered in the area north-west to Hebron, north of the community of Telem," the IDF said in a statement. "The bodies are currently going through forensic identification. The families of the abducted teens have been notified." An emergency cabinet meeting has been called for 2:30 p.m. ET, and an announcement could come during or...

Almost two weeks since the abduction of American citizen Naftali Frenkel, President Barack Obama has yet to publicly say a word. Utter silence. Palestinian terrorists abducted Frenkel, and two Israeli teenagers, on the evening of June 12th. While no person or organization has stepped forward to take credit, Israel claims that that they have indisputable evidence to link the hostage situation to Hamas and that they have provided this information to the State Department. Secretary of State John Kerry has gone as far as to publicly state, “Many indications point to Hamas’ involvement.” One would think that the president of...

The controversial panel included two of America’s leading Islamophobes. Could you imagine a panel on Jewish issues featuring Mel Gibson?Why has hate become a part of mainstream conservatism? We saw an example of this Monday at The Heritage Foundation, a one-time quasi-respected conservative think tank. It appears that those days are gone, as Heritage has now become a platform for people denounced by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center for their hate-filled rhetoric. So what happened Monday? You may have read Dana Milbank’s column in The Washington Post about the panel—on the “unanswered questions” around Benghazi—that turned...

They've become the bullies of the quad at college campuses around the nation, shouting down speakers, terrorizing Jewish students and intimidating those who disagree with them on the vexing issue of peace in the Middle East, according to watchdog groups. Students for Justice in Palestine, with nearly 100 chapters on campuses around the nation, has become increasing strident in promoting its agenda, staging "die-ins," handing out mock eviction notices in dormitories, and raising funds for Hamas-aligned groups, according to Jewish watchdog groups. Individual members have been accused of assaulting students, vandalizing property and hurling anti-Semitic slurs at Jewish students, all...

Israel Security Cabinet: No Negotiation with Hamas Palestinian GovernmentBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem --- The Israel Security Cabinet has unanimously decided to continue acting in accordance with its 24 April 2014 decision and to not negotiate with a Palestinian government with any backing or relationship from Hamas, a terrorist organization which calls for the destruction of Israel. That Israel will act, including in the international arena, against the participation of terrorist organizations in elections and authorize the Prime Minister to impose additional sanctions on the Palestinian Authority. Israel will hold the Palestinian Authority responsible for all actions that harm...

Editor's Note: This column was co-authored by Jed Babbin. It’s not unusual for left-wing billionaire activist George Soros to be opposed or even protested by conservatives. But when Soros is attacked by the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement, it’s nothing other than political fratricide. The goal of the BDS movement is to stop investment in Israel and keep countries from importing products from Israel. There is more than a little irony in the announcement last Wednesday that the BDS Movement is supposedly boycotting Soros and his network of funds and foundations because of his investment in SodaStream and...

Pope Francis delivered a powerful boost of support to the Palestinians during a Holy Land pilgrimage Sunday, repeatedly backing their statehood aspirations, praying solemnly at Israel’s controversial separation barrier and calling the stalemate in peace efforts “unacceptable.” Palestinian officials hailed Francis’ decision to refer to the “state of Palestine.” In its official program, the Vatican referred to President Mahmoud Abbas as the president of the “state of Palestine,” and his Bethlehem office as the “presidential palace.” He pointedly called Abbas a “man of peace.” ... “Coming to Bethlehem and flying to Bethlehem from Jordan shows solidarity with the Palestinian people,...

JERUSALEM (AP) — Pope Francis delivered a powerful boost of support to the Palestinians during a Holy Land pilgrimage Sunday, repeatedly backing their statehood aspirations, praying solemnly at Israel's controversial separation barrier and calling the stalemate in peace efforts "unacceptable." -snip- Palestinian officials hailed Francis' decision to refer to the "state of Palestine." In its official program, the Vatican referred to President Mahmoud Abbas as the president of the "state of Palestine," and his Bethlehem office as the "presidential palace." He pointedly called Abbas a "man of peace." -snip-

Jerusalem, Israel --- Follow the Israel News Agency Pope Francis Visits Memorial To Terror Victims link to a video of Pope Francis with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel President Shimon Peres visiting a memorial to the Jewish and Christian victims of terrorism in Jerusalem, Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this afternoon (Monday, 26 May 2014), met with Pope Francis at the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center and made the following remarks: "We have hundreds of churches here in the Land of Israel, in Nazareth, Capernaum – and we maintain each one, not one stone has been moved. We...

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has extended an invitation to Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and to Israeli President, Shimon Peres, to come to the Vatican and join him in praying to God for the gift of peace. “I offer my home in the Vatican as a place for this encounter of prayer”, said the Pope. “In this, the birthplace of the Prince of Peace”, said Pope Francis,” I wish to invite you, President Mahmoud Abbas, together with President Shimon Peres, to join me in heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace. I offer my home in the Vatican as...

Israel Welcomes Pope FrancisBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem --- May 24 ... Within 24 hours, the fourth Pope to visit Israel will arrive in the Holy Land. Pope Francis is under no obligation to visit Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians. He is not running for office. He is not closing a business deal. Nor is he seeking to find a cheaper source of gas for the Vatican from the newly discovered gas and oil fields off the shores of Israel. The Catholic church was not always welcoming of Jews and of Israel. For centuries, Jews were portrayed as the...

In FrontPage today I discuss the ill winds blowing as Pope Francis prepares to visit “the state of Palestine”: “The Che Guevara of the Palestinians” is set to visit Palestinian Authority-controlled Judea and Samaria next week, beginning in Bethlehem, and the city of Jesus’s birth is already in high excitement. The bearer of that illustrious title is none other than Pope Francis. According to Israel National News, “Rabbi Sergio Bergman, a member of the Argentinian parliament and close friend of Pope Francis…said that the pope intends to define himself as the ‘Che Guevera of the Palestinians’ and support their ‘struggle...

The Vatican’s Secretary of State made a dramatic revelation ahead of Pope Francis’s visit to Israel next Sunday and Monday, declaring that the pope will talk about the “Palestinian people’s right to have a homeland, sovereign and independent.” Cardinal Pietro Parolin holds a role in the Vatican City State, located in the Italian capital of Rome, equivalent to that of a prime minister. … When asked what the pope particularly intends to talk about during the visit, Parolin revealed he would talk about “on the one hand, Israel’s right to exist in peace and security within internationally recognized boundaries.” On...

Editor's Note: This column was coauthored by Bob Morrison. "I will not allow my commitment to Israel to be questioned by anyone, particularly for partisan, political purposes, so I want to be crystal clear about what I believe and what I don't believe," Kerry said after U.S. lawmakers and pro-Israel groups criticized him, with some demanding his resignation or at least an apology…”I have been around long enough to also know the power of words to create a misimpression, even when unintentional, and if I could rewind the tape, I would have chosen a different word [than Apartheid] to describe...