Free Republic

In the latest incident of Palestinian Authority (PA) incitement against Israel, a PA minister openly called for “Jihad” in Jerusalem. […] “Jerusalem is still waiting. Jerusalem is the direction. Jerusalem is the address,” Habbash stressed in the speech, adding that “evil hands” were “conducting a filthy game” intended to weaken the Islamic nation and “to divert the compass away from its true direction.” “We must convey a message to the people who have seized the Yarmouk refugee camp [in Syria], with slogans, pretexts, and false baseless claims. We say to them: Resistance and Jihad should not be waged in the...

Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) fired back at US pressure Wednesday, maintaining that there should have been no need for Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon to apologize for his harsh criticism of US Secretary of State John Kerry, in which Ya'alon referred to Kerry as "obsessive and messianic"... "I congratulate the Defense Minister on his courage; what he said was right." Hotovely stated, in an interview with Arutz Sheva. "The American stance is disconnected from the reality of the situation in the Middle East. They are trying to force a solution on us which is unacceptable to most members of...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent a defiant message to Israel’s leadership and U.S. mediators Saturday, telling cheering supporters that the Palestinians “won’t kneel” and won’t drop demands for a capital in east Jerusalem. Abbas’ unusually fiery speech highlighted the wide gaps between him and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the outlines of a peace deal. It also raised new doubts about the chances of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to bridge those gaps in coming weeks and come up with a framework for an agreement. Abbas adopted tough positions in the wide-ranging speech, saying that “there will be...

A report compiled by security sources in the Palestinian Authority indicates a high chance for an “intifada” terror war in 2014. The PA report was published by Kol Yisrael (Voice of Israel) radio. […] United States Secretary of State John Kerry has used threats of a “third Intifada” to pressure Israeli leaders to accept America’s proposals regarding an Israel-PA diplomatic deal. …

Michael Reagan, son of former US President Ronald Reagan, spoke in a special interview with Arutz Sheva about the ongoing negotiations between Israel and the PA, the situation with Iran, and Israel’s security needs. Reagan spoke from the Young Israel in New York, at an event dedicated to the memory of the Righteous Gentile Raoul Wallenberg, who saved thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. The event was organized by Dr. Joseph Prager, who has been tireless in his efforts to strengthen the State of Israel. “I think that the US has put Israel in a very tough situation, having to...

European taxpayers are supporting a massive fraud. The European Union (EU) has become embroiled in a financial scandal of massive proportions in relation to the financial assistance given by it to the Palestinian Authority (PA) since 1994. This appears very clear from the comprehensive European Court of Auditors Report dated 22 October 2013 which was only made public this week. The Report reveals the following: .....

The Jewish Home party responded on Saturday night to the Bedouin “Day of Rage”, during which Bedouin and leftist activists held violent protests in the Negev, Haifa, Samaria and Gaza over the “Prawer-Begin Plan” to organize Bedouin residence in the area, where many illegal Bedouin settlements have sprung up on state land. “If anyone thought the Palestinians’ aspirations end in Judea and Samaria, the Palestinian flags that were waved in Haifa, Jerusalem, the Negev and the Galilee showed the promo for the real plan,” the party said in a statement. “Weakness leads to violence,” emphasized the Jewish Home. …

J Street welcomes the agreement reached today in Geneva by the P5+1 and Iran as a significant first step in efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. The agreement will effectively freeze and begin to roll back the Iranian program in exchange for limited economic relief for six months. During this period, the P5+1 will continue to negotiate a permanent agreement, pressing the Rouhani regime to accept an enforceable comprehensive deal to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, while maintaining the essential sanctions architecture. The accord has several very important provisions that will effectively freeze Iran's program and...

Peace is not possible so long as there is even one terrorist prisoner still in an Israeli prison, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas declared on Tuesday night. According to Kol Yisrael radio, Abbas made the comments in a welcoming ceremony for 21 Palestinian Authority Arab terrorists who had been released from Israeli jails as a gesture to Abbas. Abbas added, the report said, that the PA would continue its efforts to ensure that all terrorists serving time in Israeli jails are freed. "All 104 prisoners [that Israel has agreed to release] will be released, but the real joy will only...

5,549 trucks carrying 155,312 tons of goods entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing in September, according to figures released by the IDF on Sunday. These included 1,519 truckloads of food products, 1,244 truckloads of construction materials, 64 truckloads of medical equipment, 258 truckloads of livestock and 2,464 truckloads of miscellaneous items. … Hamas, which violently took control of Gaza in 2007, constantly claims that the region is under an “Israeli siege” because of Israel’s naval blockade on the region, which is meant at stopping weapons and other materials that can used for terror attacks to enter Gaza. …

United States President Barack Obama lauded Israeli and Palestinian Authority leaders in a speech Tuesday at the United Nations. Obama spoke in support of the ongoing Israel-PA peace talks, and said he was glad to see that more young Israelis recognize that "the occupation of the West Bank" cannot continue. Young Arabs in Ramallah are "understandably cynical" regarding the talks and frustrated at "the daily indignities of occupation," he said. The "West Bank" is the term American and other international leaders use to refer to Judea and Samaria (Shomron). The territories were settled by both Jews and Arabs until 1948,...

As the US government pushes for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), a recently-released poll by the Pew Research Center suggests that the Obama administration’s apparent optimism over the prospects for peace may be somewhat misplaced. In a survey held across 11 different nationalities with large Muslim populations, Muslim respondents were asked about their views on “Islamic extremism.” The results showed uniform opposition to such ideologies, as well as widespread rejection of suicide bombings—in all but one set of respondents. … A sizable majority (62%) of respondents from the “Palestinian Territories” (referring to Palestinian Authority-controlled Judea and...

Police forces were dispatched on Wednesday to break up Muslim stone throwers who were targeting Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount (Har Habayit). As soon as stones were thrown and riots broke out, police forces stepped in to make arrests. Security forces were prepared for a riot as this incident follows renewed incitement by Islamic Movement leader Sheikh Raed Salah, who called for Muslims to physically prevent Jews from visiting the Temple Mount last week. …

Large crowds of Israelis have lined up at gas-mask distribution centers across the country in anticipation of a possible Syrian attack on Israel. … Maya Avishai of the Israeli postal service, which oversees gas mask distribution, says demand has tripled in recent days. …

Arabs continued to riot Monday afternoon after three rioters were shot in the Kalandiya refugee camp north of Jerusalem. Rioting had broken out Monday morning, when Border Police were attacked with firebombs, rocks, and bottles. The officers warned off the attackers, but were ignored, and in an effort to defend themselves, opened fire as the crowd descended on them. On Monday afternoon, riots spread to Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem, including near the Damascus Gate. The IDF said Monday that the incident took place during nighttime activity by security forces for the arrest of a wanted man in Kalandiya. In the...

As western leaders push for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, urging Israeli concessions—including the release of convicted terrorists—the PA leadership is continuing in its longstanding tradition of honoring terrorists who murdered Israeli civilians, report Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik of Palestinian Media Watch. PMW points to a picture that appeared on an official Fatah Facebook page, glorifying five of the suicide bombings for which Marwan Barghouti prepared explosives, which killed 61 “Zionists.” The graphic was posted by the administrator of the official Facebook page of the Enlistment and Organization Commission of Fatah. Terrorist Barghouti was honored as...

Hundreds of Jews came to the Temple Mount Monday in honor of Tisha B’Av, the anniversary of the destruction of the two Jewish Temples by the Babylonian and Roman empires respectively. But their visit was cut short as Muslim worshipers physically blocked them and appeared to be preparing a riot. … The Temple Mount is Judaism’s holiest site, where the two holy Temples once stood before being destroyed by the Babylonian and Roman empires respectively. This Tuesday marks the anniversary of the destruction of both temples (which occurred on the same day in the Hebrew calendar—the 9th of Av). Despite...

Jewish worshipers who arrived at the Cave of Patriarchs in Hevron after Muslim prayers on Friday were horrified to find that the site had been vandalized. The Cave (known as Me’arat HaMakhpela in Hebrew) is usually split between Jewish and Muslim worshipers, but this past Friday it was open exclusively to Muslim worshipers in honor of Ramadan. But when the Jewish section of the site was reopened, worshipers were horrified to find widespread desecration. Two mezuzot—cases containing Jewish holy scriptures affixed to the doorpost—had been torn off and stolen, and a third was damaged. Muslim worshipers had also thrown mud...

Dozens of Palestinian Authority Arabs on Tuesday created a hole through the security barrier that runs between the Arab village of Abu Dis and Jerusalem. The Arabs said that IDF forces who were stationed nearby dispersed them using tear gas and stun grenades. A similar incident took place two months ago, when dozens of Arab men held a protest against the security barrier, taking large hammers and creating a gaping hole in the wall. Several men used the hole to enter Jerusalem without going through a security checkpoint. That protest was part of the “Nakba Day” events in which Arabs...

Hamas’ Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Tuesday that Palestinian Authority Arabs would never recognize Israel. “We had two wars in which hundreds of people died, and thousands of acres of land were destroyed, but Palestinians did not and will not recognize Israel,” the Gaza premier said as he welcomed international activists to the enclave, reported the Ma’an news agency. Haniyeh said Israel’s “blockade” on Gaza aimed to limit the influence of the Islamic model outside Gaza and to isolate “Palestine” in an attempt to force PA Arabs to recognize Israel and accept the conditions of the Mideast Quartet. …