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The Biden administration is demanding that Israel take even more extraordinary measures to avoid harming “innocent civilians” as it tries to eradicate Hamas. Around the world, politicians and others express dismay at the alleged number of innocent civilians who have been killed by Israeli bombardments, even while admitting that Hamas’s casualty numbers include its own terrorists, people killed by terrorists’ awol missiles, and so on.But my complaint is more fundamental. Watching videos of Israeli captives being paraded through Gaza, and seeing “civilians” spitting on them, hitting them, joyously celebrating their capture, I have asked: where are these innocent civilians we...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, exactly a day after Gallant called for a stop to radical [sic] reforms to the judiciary that have divided the country and that the defense minister said posed security risks to Israel.The dramatic move could accelerate a crisis that Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, who has also called for a stop to the legislation, has said could culminate in a bloody civil war. It could also further fray ties with the United States, where Gallant has been steering coordination on defense cooperation with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin...In a surprise...

MK Avigdor Liberman, head of the right-wing secularist Yisrael Beytenu party, expresses concern that religion is gaining too much sway in Israel during the joint press conference with other opposition chiefs. "If we do not separate religion and state, we will not have a state", says the longtime critic of the ultra-Orthodox's influence on the state. "Today it is clear that the main engine for all this crazy legislation, the most rigid, the most extreme element that is not ready for any compromise are the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties," Liberman adds, singling out the Knesset's two ultra-Orthodox factions....

After months of attacking each other and not speaking, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nemesis, Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman, will meet on Thursday morning at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem. Netanyahu repeatedly told Likud leaders that there is no point in speaking to Liberman, because the Yisrael Beytenu leader is determined to end the prime minister's political career. But after Blue and White leader Benny Gantz canceled a meeting with Netanyahu, he called Liberman on Wednesday evening. "There is no point in wasting the country's time," Netanyahu told Liberman. "We will meet and see if it is...

The results of the Knesset election are very important to Moscow, and it hopes politicians will be elected who will maintain close ties with Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin said alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Sochi on Thursday. Netanyahu traveled to the Black Sea resort to meet the Russian leader – just five days before the election – in a move widely seen as an effort to woo elder Russian-speaking immigrants who form an important base of support for Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu party.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition announced Monday plans to dissolve the country’s parliament and hold a snap general election in April, after his government was significantly weakened more than a month ago when a key coalition partner resigned. The departure of Avigdor Liberman as defense minister on Nov. 14 left Netanyahu’s government teetering on the edge with a single-seat majority in Israel’s 120-seat parliament, the Knesset. As the government struggled to pass legislation important to each of Netanyahu’s five coalition partners, questions were also raised over the chances of a formal indictment against the longtime Israeli leader in at...

Kulanu party leader Moshe Kahlon told Prime Minister Netanyahu that he will not accept Jewish Home Chairman Naftali Bennett serving as defense minister, following the resignation of current defense minister, Avigdor Liberman. On Wednesday, Bennett issued an ultimatum to the Prime Minister, saying his Jewish Home faction will quit the coalition if he is not appointed defense minister. If Bennett's ultimatum holds, Kahlon's veto likely signals that early elections are on the way. "Bennett doesn't have it coming to get the Defense Ministry portfolio. I'm opposed to it," Kahlon told Netanyahu. Bennett told confidants in response that he will not...

Senior members of the Israeli security establishment are predicting that the month of May will be one of the most volatile periods in the current era. Maj. Gen. (Res.) Amos Yadlin, the former head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Military Intelligence Directorate, said in an interview published April 22, “I have not seen a May this dangerous since May 1967.”Of particular note, two of the five military fronts concerning Israel have rapidly escalated in recent months. In the campaign against Iran being waged in Syria, the two sides have inched closer to an unprecedented tipping point. The situation in...

President Donald Trump on Friday castigated Iran for being a destabilizing force in the Middle East, saying at a joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that wherever there is a "problem" in the region, the Islamic Republic is "right there." Trump said that he and Merkel discussed Iran during their meeting earlier at the White House. Iran was expected to be a contentious issue between the two world leaders, as Trump has lambasted the Iran nuclear deal and threatened to withdraw from it while Merkel strongly supports the accord. U.S. and European officials have been discussing a possible...

Palestinian health officials reported three people killed and 611 wounded, including 138 hit by live fire in incidents along the border throughout the day. In a statement, the Israeli military said it had "thwarted" an attempted infiltration by Palestinian protesters. It said "hundreds of rioters" tried to burn the fence and enter the Israel. It said the crowd threw explosives, firebombs and rocks, and that troops opened fire "in accordance with the rules of engagement" and halted the crowd. It released a video showing a young Palestinian man placing a burning tire along the fence in an apparent attempt to...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will make a televised announcement Monday evening in what his office said would disclose "dramatic news" regarding the nuclear agreement with Iran. In a corresponding move, Netanyahu cancelled a scheduled speech at the Knesset in honor of Theodore Herzl day.

The shadow war between Israel and Iran in Syria escalated sharply on Monday after suspected Israeli strikes killed 26 Iranian and Assad regime fighters, according to monitors. One strike tore through a military base dug into a mountain near the central city of Hama on Sunday night, causing an explosion so large it registered as a 2.6 magnitude earthquake. A second strike targeted an airbase near the northern city of Aleppo. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack but suspicion immediately fell on Israel, which has carried out a number of strikes as it tries to prevent Iran...

The Syrian army said 'enemy' rocket attacks struck military bases belonging to Syrian President Bashar Assad, Syrian state TV reported. A report on a Syrian newspaper facebook page attributes the attack to the U.S. and Britain. Media outlets affiliated with the Syrian opposition claim 38 government soldiers were killed in the strike in Hama, with an additional 57 wounded.

Syrian military positions in the province of Hama and Aleppo were targeted Sunday by a series of strikes that caused an explosion reportedly strong enough to trigger an earthquake observed by neighboring countries. Citing an unnamed military source, the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported that military positions in villages of Hama and Aleppo were hit by a still unidentified rocket attack at around 10:30 p.m. local time ...

The hidden battle in Syria – the one that rarely appears on our television screens – has been raging for years between Israel and a coalition comprising the Syrian government, Iran and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Watching over the proceedings without directly intervening has been Russia, although that might be about to change. The prize is control over Syrian territory but the battlefield is Syria’s skies.

Direct conflict between Israeli and Iranian forces is increasingly likely in Syria as Tehran pursues a permanent military presence there, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis warned on Thursday. Addressing a congressional panel before hosting his Israeli counterpart, Avigdor Liberman, at the Pentagon, Mattis said it was “very likely” from his perspective, “because Iran continues to do its proxy work there through Hezbollah.” Receiving Liberman, Mattis told reporters that he saw no reason for Iran to ship advanced missiles to Hezbollah through Syria except to threaten Israel. “I can see how it might start, but I am not sure when...

Hamas Engineer 'Negotiated Arms Deals With North Korea, Assassinated by Mossad' in Malaysia Report in The New York Times cites intelligence officials saying Batsh was killed as part of Mossad attempt to stop Hamas operations overseas, reveals ties to North Korea Haaretz | 26.04.2018 09:19 Updated: 12:26 PM Fadi al-Batsh, the Hamas engineer gunned down in Malaysia last week, was reportedly involved in talks with North Korea on arms intended for Gaza, The New York Times reported Thursday. To really understand the Middle East - subscribe to Haaretz According to the report, Batsh was killed as part of an alleged operation by...

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday that Israel may strike the Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft defense systems in Syria if they are used against Israel. "One thing should be clear - if someone fires on our planes, we will destroy them," Lieberman said in an interview with the Israeli website Ynet. "What's important to us is that the weapons defense systems that the Russians transfer to Syria are not used against us. If they are used against us, we will act against them."

As we seem to be inching ever closer to World War 3, heated rhetoric and threats between nations are becoming everyday occurrences. Israel has threatened to strike Russian systems in Syria after it was threatened with “catastrophic consequences” if it does. Russia will send advanced S-300 anti-aircraft missiles to Bashar al-Assad, officials said Monday, warning Israel not to attack the new air defense systems or suffer “catastrophic consequences.” But Israel, in turn, threatened to strike those very systems anyway. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday that Israel may strike the Russian-made S-300 anti-aircraft defense systems in Syria if they are...

A top Iranian general has threatened to sink the United States Navy's ships, warning that the US would find itself in a "catastrophic situation" amid an ongoing war of words between the countries over the possibility President Donald Trump could exit a landmark nuclear deal. "The actual information that the Americans have about us is much less than what they think they have. When will they figure this out? When it is too late," the Revolutionary Guard Corps navy commander, Admiral Ali Fadavim, told Iranian television on Saturday. "They will definitely figure it out when their ships are sunk, or...