Free Republic

Officials tell the Associated Press that the new US Embassy in Jerusalem will open much earlier than some had predicted. They're working to make the move by May 2018 in celebration of Israel's 70th anniversary.

In a long, rambling February 20, 2018, speech before the UN Security Council, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas fed fables to his audience — and continued to attack Israel’s legitimacy. The speech marked the third time in two months that Abbas has publicly distorted history, and shifted blame for the lack of a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And once again, Abbas had a key ally: An uncritical press, seemingly determined to present the Palestinian leader in the best possible light. In his opening remarks before the Security Council, Abbas claimed that Palestinians “are the descendants of the Canaanites...

In a Nov. 25, 2017 article marking the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, published in the London-based daily Al-Hayat, Lebanese journalist Karam Al-Hilu compared the meager accomplishments of the Arab world in the past century with those of the rest of the countries, particularly Israel. He noted that Israel’s supremacy in the areas of science, economy, society and politics is the source of its strength, as well as the source of Arab failure in confronting it. The following are excerpts from his article:[1] “A century after the Balfour Declaration . . . the Arabs have not managed to build...

The French weekly financial newspaper La Tribune reported on Friday that a deal between Cairo and France over the sale of 12 Rafale jet fighters to Egypt has been blocked because the US is refusing to export a component of a cruise missile that is part of the plane. French sources quoted in the report asserted that the delay in the deal is due to the shortage of the American component of the scalp missiles and not a funding issue as in the past. La Tribune noted that Dassault Aviation and MBDA declined to confirm reports about the Scalp cruise...

ublic Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) warned that Iran is poised to supplant ISIS across Syria following the Islamic State’s military defeats over the past year, and urged the US to intervene to prevent Tehran from cementing its foothold in the war-torn state. Speaking at the Conference of Presidents’ 42nd annual Leadership Mission to Israel in Jerusalem on Monday, Erdan warned that while ISIS had been weakened militarily, Iran is positioning itself to reap the benefits. “Iran will replace ISIS,” said Erdan. “There’s a need for greater American involvement in making sure that Iran does not turn Syria into a...

Jason Greenblatt, President Donald Trump's Special Representative for International Negotiations, on Sunday evening condemned Gaza’s Hamas leaders in the wake of the recent attacks on Israel. “HAMAS hides improvised explosive device to attack Israeli soldiers & is shooting rockets at Israel again! Such cowardly acts will only escalate violence, not build the prosperous society the people of Gaza deserve!” he tweeted. .....

Iran’s president has strongly criticized the Trump administration’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and urged Muslims to support the Palestinian cause. Hassan Rouhani also lashed out at the United States for imposing a ban on travelers from six largely Muslim countries. He was addressing a congregation after Friday prayers at Mecca Masjid in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad during his three-day visit to India. Rouhani called for unity between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam. …

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Photo: Wikicommons. The US administration’s work on a new Middle East peace plan is “fairly well advanced” and President Donald Trump will decide when to announce it, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday during a visit to Jordan. Tillerson also signed a five-year aid package that extends US support to Jordan, a key regional ally, despite Trump’s threat to withhold support from states opposed to his decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Commenting on the peace plan, Tillerson said: “I have seen the plan. … It’s been under development...

A Palestinian refugee camp has been under siege for more than 1,660 days. Hundreds of the camp residents have been killed, while tens of thousands have been forced to flee from their homes. Those who have remained in the camp -- mostly the elderly, women and children -- live in unspeakable sanitary conditions and drink polluted water. More than 200 Palestinians from the camp, which has been under siege since 2103, have died as a result of lack of food or medicine. The conditions in the refugee camp, by any standard, are horrific. Why have most of us not heard...

Iran unveiled a series of new homemade nuclear-capable ballistic missiles during military parades held over the weekend, a move that experts view as a bid to bolster the hardline ruling regime as dissidents continue efforts to stir protest. On the heels of an encounter between an Iranian drone and Israeli forces, Iranian leaders showcased their ballistic missile capabilities, which includes a nuclear-capable medium-range missile that appears to share similarities with North Korean technology, according to experts. The nuclear-capable missile can strike Israel even when fired from Iranian territory, raising concerns about an impending conflict between Tehran and the Jewish state that...

On December 8, 2017, the leader of Iraq’s Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq Qais al-Khazali paid a visit to the Lebanese-Israeli border to inspect Lebanese “Hezbollah” resistance positions and to issue a threat to the southern neighbor. In a leaked video, he was shown as saying: “We are here with ‘Hezbollah’ and we announce our complete readiness to stand side by side with the Lebanese people and Palestinian cause against the Israeli occupation.” Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, or Khazali Network, is affiliated with Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF). -excerpt- His statement however demonstrated the common interests of pro-Iran regional militias to allow Tehran...

Feb 11 is normally a day for rallies all over the country in Iran. It is the anniversary of the Islamic revolution. All over the country, people boycotted the rallies. The regime did their best to scare people in participating, threatening punishment & threatening people's jobs for not participating. School children & their teachers were forced to participate. Many of those who were forced were reluctant to join in, as videos showed only a small group answering to the calls for chants on loudspeakers. As usual, the regime sent buses to transport people to rallies in other cities to try...

Israel is counting on Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep confrontations with Iran and Syria from spiraling into war as the Trump administration mostly watches from the sidelines, a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “The American part of the equation is to back us up,” but the U.S. currently “has almost no leverage on the ground,” Michael Oren, Netanyahu’s deputy minister for public diplomacy and a former ambassador to Washington, said in a phone interview Sunday. “America did not ante up in Syria. It’s not in the game.”

The US publicly told its partners on the Security Council that it would consider each draft resolution on its merit, but says that it never indicated how it would vote– up until the vote itself. WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration insists it was disciplined in its silence over how it would ultimately vote on resolutions related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that ultimately reached the UN Security Council, where it holds veto power. Hours before such a vote was set to take place– on a resolution condemning Israel's settlement activity– one senior administration official told The Jerusalem Post that the president's...

An Israeli F-16 fighter jet has crashed after being hit by Syrian air defences during an offensive in Syria, the Israeli military says. The two pilots parachuted to safety before the crash in northern Israel. It is believed to be the first time Israel has lost a jet in the Syrian conflict. The plane was hit during air strikes in response to an Iranian drone launch into Israeli territory, Israel says. The drone was shot down. Israel later launched further strikes in Syria. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say they hit aerial defence batteries and Iranian military sites in the...

One pilot in serious condition * Israel attacks Syrian, Iranian targets in fresh strike * Rocket sirens sound throughout northern Israel An Israeli F-16 was downed Saturday morning after Israel intercepted an Iranian drone launched from Syria into Israeli territory. According to the Israeli army, Syrian anti-aircraft missiles targeted the jet after Israel responded to the infiltration of the drone with a strike in Syria. The two F-16 pilots ejected as the plane went down in northern Israel. The pilots were taken to the hospital in stable condition. One of the pilots is in serious condition. Following the downing of...

Qatar’s diplomat in Moscow has said his country was in serious talks to purchase an advanced Russian anti-aircraft missile system also sought by a number of other regional powers, some of which were at odds with one another. Qatari envoy Fahad bin Mohammed al-Attiyah told Russia state media Thursday that the tiny oil-rich monarchy was “already in advanced negotiations” over “air-defense systems and capabilities for our land forces as well.” The S-400 Triumf has been considered one of the most effective surface-to-air missile systems in the world, and Qatar’s interest in it signaled only the latest attempt by a Middle...

The New York Times is reporting that there is a "secret alliance" between Egypt and Israel to combat ISIS along the Sinai border between the two countries.The report claims that Israel has flown more than 100 missions in the last two years, striking targets in the terrorists' stronghold in Egypt with the full knowledge and cooperation of Cairo's government. Egypt appeared unable to stop them, so Israel, alarmed at the threat just over the border, took action. For more than two years, unmarked Israeli drones, helicopters and jets have carried out a covert air campaign, conducting more than 100...

American Jewish billionaire George Soros denied accusations by Prime Minister Netanyahu blaming him for financing protests against Israel's planned deportation of African migrants. On Sunday, Netanyahu alleged that Soros was behind the series of anti-deportation protests at a cabinet meeting. "George Soros is also funding the protests,” Netanyahu said, telling ministers that former US President Obama "deported two million infiltrators and they didn’t say anything". Netanyahu then shared a link to an article by the conservative Hebrew-language website Mida on his Facebook page which claimed that a Soros-linked organization has raised more than NIS 600,000 to stop the deportations. "This...

RUSH: So Trump is over in Davos, and it isn’t going the way Drive-Bys dreamed it would go. Trump is being embraced. Trump is being celebrated. Trump is being lauded. The Drive-Bys expected Trump to be protested! They expected Trump to be shunned. They hoped for all of this, and what this presents us today is a great opportunity. You know, our all-time favorite audio sound bites — and it’s tough; I mean, it may not be the all-time favorite, but it ranks right there. It’s our old buddy Nic Robertson of CNN in Cairo (laughing) during the Arab Spring...