Free Republic

For Jews in America and around the world, Israel represents a thriving land of survival and opportunity, and not only for my people. Nowhere else in the Middle East are those of all races, religions, sexes and sexual orientations welcome to live in peace and prosperity. Now the dream is dying — thwarted by people who’d like nothing better than to see Israel wiped from the map. It’s a sad day across the United States and abroad as whiny, privileged college students and thrill-seeking provocateurs, egged on by leftist professors, the “mainstream” news media and numbskull politicians, foment pro-terrorist, anti-Jewish...

Between Jan. 1 and May 15 this year, Israel welcomed 11,631 new immigrants, with approximately 8,000 – nearly 70% – originating from Russia, according to an interim report by the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration. This new data was presented during Monday's meeting of the Knesset Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs. Immigration from North America and Western Europe is expected to number 15,500 people, more than 2.5 times the number that arrived in 2023, attributed mostly to the steep rise in antisemitism since the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre. So far this year, a mere 700 new immigrants arrived...

Antisemitic demonstrations have been erupting all over the world since October 7, 2023, but nothing like what has been taking place on US university campuses. Columbia University seems to be leading the pack in what are some of the most violent antisemitic protests. These are very reminiscent of the BLM and Antifa protests, and that is because they are probably the same kids marching and chanting, but it went from BLM to PLM (P for Palestine.) It really doesn’t take long to see that these protests are not spontaneous or founded on any truth. Many of the campuses are occupied...

When Benjamin Netanyahu first became prime minister in 1996, he won with a simple slogan coined by some of his Chabad supporters: “Netanyahu: Good for the Jews” (נתניהו: טוב ליהודים). The morning after Netanyahu’s surprising victory, Shimon Peres, the outgoing prime minister, summarized his defeat with one terse statement: “The Jews defeated the Israelis.” Peres understood that the Oslo Accords and the wave of Arab suicide bombings, the hot-button issues of the time, were disguising the true battle for power in Israeli society. As Yair Lapid would later write about the Gaza disengagement, “It was not despite the settlers but...

Christian population in Israel is growing, making the Jewish state the only place in the Middle East in which this is happening. Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics released a report on Christmas eve 2022 documenting the status and condition of Christians in Israel. The total number of Christians living in Israel was approximately 183,000, representing 1.9% of Israel’s population. The report went into detail, stating that 75.8% (138,800) of Christians in Israel are Arab, representing 6.9% of the total Arab population in Israel. The majority of Arab Christians live in the Northern District and Haifa District (70.2% and 13.6%, respectively)....

Hebrew-language media reported Thursday that Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu has walked back a recent promise he had made not to alter the Law of Return, as part of a coalition agreement with the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism and Shas parties. The proposition to change the law has roiled Israeli politicians, including those within Netanyahu’s Likud party. Prominent Netanyahu ally Yuli Edelstein spoke out against any proposed changes, saying that adjusting the law was a slippery slope that could lead to the policy’s demise. On the other hand, former Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana of the National Unity party, who clashed...

The Russian Jewish community is hurriedly leaving amid threat of military draft and protests; Cabinet to discuss steps in preparation; ticket prices from Moscow to Israel jump to NIS 23,000 while one-way cost to other destinations in the thousands of dollars The government will on Thursday, discuss steps that must be taken to prepare for a possible influx of Jews from Russia after President Vladimir Putin announced a draft to bolster troops fighting in Ukraine. (snip) Protests against the act across the country by civilians resulted in the arrest of over 1,000 Russians on Wednesday, with the number expected to...

This past week, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made headlines in the Jewish world with a sincere expression of his awareness of the “hardship” that’s been faced by Jewish communities throughout the diaspora. Countless Jews are frustrated by the on-again, off-again closure of Israel’s borders to non-Israelis. Israel has faced criticism from Jews and Jewish communities due to the prohibition of most being able to come visit, tour, and see relatives. In fact, the reality of many diaspora Jews being left out, literally, and prevented from coming to visit their relatives in Israel has been the source of some of...

For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land. And they have cast lots for my people; and have given a boy for an harlot, and sold a girl for wine, that they might drink. ( Joel 3:1-3)Joel saw the Day of the LORD, in it’s final manifestation,...

Jewish people make up the lowest share of Europe's population for a thousand years a new study has found, as France sees a surge in emigration due to anti-Semitism. The study, published on Wednesday, found 1.3 million people living in continental Europe, the United Kingdom and Turkey who describe themselves as Jewish - 60 percent lower than in 1970 when there were 3.2 million in the same area. Undertaken by the London-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research, the release of the study comes the week after a teacher was beheaded in a Paris suburb allegedly by a suspected Islamist last...

View of the Old City of Jerusalem (Photo: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90) A new message, begging Jews who live in the diaspora to get to Israel, has been released from an unusual source. Daniel, a Jewish man living in Israel, is known by his first name alone. Daniel was born with autism and does not have the ability to communicate verbally. As a result of his autism, he and others like him are able to tap into a higher level of spiritual truth than most. He explains his situation like this: “I am autistic and I see the world much differently...

Unlike immigration to other countries, olim to Israel are welcomed as long-lost brothers, educated and housed at great public expense. A combination of coronavirus and anti-Semitism is creating conditions expected to bring millions of Jews home. But the Israeli government, already stretched to the limit, is concerned they may not be able to fulfill the prophecy in the proper manner. The Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs Committee met last Wednesday to discuss a major dilemma: Jewish immigration is expected to double nest year but budgetary constraints will make it difficult, if not impossible to absorb them into Israeli society....

And there is hope for your future —declares Hashem: Your children shall return to their country. Jeremiah 31:13 (The Israel Bible™) The latest forecast from Jerusalem says that Israel is expecting 90,000 Jews from the diaspora to emigrate to Israel by the end of 2021. The process of Jewish people worldwide naturalizing in Israel is called ‘Aliyah’. Aliyah Integration Minister Pnina Tamano-Shata said on Wednesday that the latest estimates reveal that 90,000 Jews worldwide (Olim) will move to Israel from around the world in the next 18 months reports the JPost. Meanwhile, Nefesh b’ Nefesh, a non-profit organization that facilitates...

“O you who dwell in the shelter of the Most High and abide in the protection of Shaddai” Psalms 91:1 (The Israel Bible™) Many Christians acknowledge that extensive preparations have been made in their churches and communities to shelter Jews in the event of an uptick in anti-Semitism, but very few are willing to speak openly about them. Mindful of the fact that Christians who hid Jewish families during the Holocaust endangered their own lives and the lives of their family members, out of concern for the safety of those Christians involved, details are hard to pin down. Breaking Israel...

It seems we need reminders that no matter how sweet exile, galut, seems, it is not our home. BLM provided them. Don't wait, come now. Op-ed. Shalom and greetings from Israel, The video I saw on Arutz Sheva expressing your concern for American Jews on the eve of what you called a Kristallnacht reminiscent of 1938, was very disturbing for many reasons. The "Night of the broken glass" was a terrifying and defining moment for European Jewry. Today's violent protests, breaking out store windows, thievery and savage physical attacks we are witnessing around America, arouse dread, not only for the...

Rabbi Shalom Shmueli, head of the Nahar Shalom Yeshiva in Jerusalem, is known for his powerful mystic messages. Last week, he participated in a special meeting with other rabbis. Rabbi Shmueli gave over a message he had received from his father, Rabbi It should be noted that Rabbi Shmueli does not make public appearances and his message was made public by Rabbi Yekutiel Fish at his urging. “This announcement must be spread to the entire world,” Rabbi Fish told Breaking Israel news. “This is an imminent emergency. All Jews in exile around the world must come to Israel immediately. They...

A growing number of Russians are reportedly requesting asylum in Israel, where officials say they are gaming the system to obtain work permits. Russia provided the biggest number of immigrants last year under Israel’s repatriation program. “We have noticed a new phenomenon of Russians, who arrive mainly for economic reasons, seeking asylum that worries us and sets off warning lights,” the Israeli Population and Immigration Authority’s Yossi Edelstein was quoted as saying Tuesday. “The wage gaps are enormous and motivate people to come work in Israel,” the authority’s head of enforcement said. The number of Russian citizens who have been...

EIT SHEMESH, Israel — When Daniel Oritz moved to Israel from Venezuela , his first meal was a bowl of chicken soup. He took one spoonful and began to cry. For him, the soup signified an escape from the poverty and deprivation he has experienced for more than two years. “We were very hungry,” said Oritz, who moved in November. “There was no meat, no sugar, no pasta.” Venezuela’s economic crisis is so severe that citizens must wait in lines for hours at grocery stores to buy basic staples, or pay exorbitant prices on the black market. Some have even...

Jewish immigration to Israel from western Europe has reached an all-time high as a result of a rise in anti-Semitic attacks, a leading nonprofit group said Thursday. The Jewish Agency, which works closely with the Israeli government and acts as a link for Jews around the world, reported that 9,880 western European Jews immigrated to Israel in 2015 -- the highest annual number ever. The vast majority, close to 8,000, came from France where a rise in anti-Semitic attacks has shattered the sense of security of the world's third-largest Jewish population. ...

It was recently revealed that Israeli special forces carried out a daring operation to rescue the last Jewish family in the Syrian city of Aleppo. The Jewish Chronicle reports that preparation for the mission began months in advance. First an Israeli-American businessman named Moti Kahana sent a message to the family, whose name has not been released, that he wanted to get them out of the war-torn country. The family was aware of how dangerous Syria was, but they were too afraid to even take the chance on escaping. Kahana, who has a number of connections with rebel forces, soon...