Free Republic

The Biden administration will soon establish a new position aimed at expanding the Abraham Accords, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday, while also promising that Washington would continue to push back against settlement building or other activities that could endanger a two-state solution with the Palestinians. The idea for a point person tasked with shepherding normalisation between Israel and its Arab neighbours has reportedly been in the works for the past several months. The announcement comes as the Biden administration has begun to prioritise brokering a diplomatic agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia. “Israel’s further integration in...

Overall, JPMorgan Chase is telling us that the “most vulnerable” banks in this country have “lost a total of about $1 trillion in deposits since last year”…

Amidst visits to Jerusalem and Riyadh, Jason Greenblatt tells me that if anyone can make it happen, he thinks it’s Netanyahu ABU DHABI – In the coming days, I’ll begin reporting on my meetings with senior government officials here in the United Arab Emirates. It’s been fascinating getting updates on how the UAE leadership views the new right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the progress that is being made in developing and deepening diplomatic and cultural ties after the signing of the Abraham Accords, the exciting growth of trade between the UAE and Israel. Today, however, I want...

Actor Kevin Sorbo is preparing for a new theatrical adventure, as he takes on the iconic role of Rayford Steele in the new movie “Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist.” The film, which tells the story of what life might look like after the biblical rapture, comes after Nicolas Cage played the role of Steele in 2014’s “Left Behind.” The film, which tells the story of what life might look like after the biblical rapture, comes after Nicolas Cage played the role of Steele in 2014’s “Left Behind.” Sorbo, who also serves as director of the new film, told CBN’s...

Israel’s new government under former Prime Minister Netanyahu is expected to be very conservative (Netanyahu won 64 seats, and his new government will include members from the far right that want to change things on the Temple Mount and the West Bank). Biblically speaking, the U.S. should eagerly support equal rights for Jews on the Temple Mount (the right to go there, pray there, etc.), Israel’s annexation of all the West Bank (at least some of the Jewish settlements), and more, but White House officials are panicking over changes on the Temple Mount. They are already criticizing people that may...

Visa, Mastercard and American Express will separately categorize sales at gun shops...The decision is a win for gun control advocates who say it will help track gun sales...Until Friday, gun store sales were considered general merchandise.

They anticipate that full implementation of this JCPOA will po sitively contribute to regional and international peace and security. Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.

President Biden travels to Israel and Saudi Arabia next week — his first trip to the Middle East since entering the White House. And while the president has been eager to criticize a range of his predecessor's policies, he is fully embracing one key pillar of Donald Trump's Middle East policy — the Abraham Accords. Those deals were brokered by the Trump White House in 2020 to normalize relations between Israel and a number of Arab countries, including Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Morocco. It was a huge rupture from recent history in which Arab nations had made it...

Israel and the United Arab Emirates reached a historic peace deal on Thursday that will lead to a full normalization of diplomatic relations between the two Middle Eastern nations in an agreement that U.S. President Donald Trump helped broker. Under the agreement, Israel has agreed to suspend applying sovereignty to areas of the West Bank that it has been discussing annexing, senior White House officials told Reuters. The peace deal was the product of lengthy discussions between Israel, the UAE and the United States that accelerated recently, White House officials said. The agreement was sealed in a phone call on...

Pastor J.D. talks about how the seriousness of everything that’s taking place in the world today cannot continue in it’s present state much longer in that, something has to give.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his housing minister to reconsider construction plans for more than 20,000 homes in the West Bank. He said the plans, announced by Housing Minister Uri Ariel earlier on Tuesday, would create unnecessary friction with the international community. The US had earlier said it was "deeply concerned" over the Israeli plans. The Palestinians had said they would appeal to the UN, warning that Israel's move would kill off peace talks. In a statement, Mr Netanyahu said he had asked Housing Minister Uri Ariel "to reconsider" plans for potential construction of new homes for Jewish settlers...

UNITED NATIONS – China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam are among the nations running unopposed for seats on the Human Rights Council, the U.N.'s highest rights watchdog body, a prospect that has upset independent human rights groups. The General Assembly on Tuesday will elect 14 new members to the 47-seat, Geneva-based council, which can shine a spotlight of publicity and censure on rights abuses by adopting resolutions — when it chooses to do so. It also has dozens of special monitors watching problem countries and major issues ranging from executions to drone strikes. New York-based Human Rights Watch pointed out...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed the Palestinians for the apparent stalemate in their peace talks, accusing them of creating "artificial crises" and incitement. He spoke after talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is attempting to revive the peace process. The direct negotiations launched in July have shown little sign of progress and are due to end next April. Mr Kerry will later meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. The secretary of state has denied media speculation that he may propose a new interim peace deal. Kerry confident Mr Netanyahu said Israel stood by the terms...

Rome (AsiaNews) - With the ninth World Islamic Economic Forum, held in London between 29 and 31 October, Islamic finance has come into its own and gone mainstream. Until a few years ago, Islamic finance was unknown to most people. Some even equated it to the financing of Islamic terrorism. In fact, in the years right after 9/11, anything about Islam was viewed with concern. Now things are different. British Prime Minister David Cameron, who spoke at the forum, said that London is no longer happy to be the main Islamic financial centre outside Muslim countries; it now wants to...

One thing that makes the energy sector so intriguing is the constant overlap between markets and politics. In many ways, energy security is synonymous with national security, and the supply and demand needs of the oil market can make the most unlikely bedfellows. One country that has been at the center of energy and politics for decades has been Israel. For years the country has been dependent upon foreign energy sources, but a major discovery by Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL ) and its partners has turned this situation on its head. Let's look how this massive natural gas find could...

British parliamentarians have concluded their three-day visit to the Holy See. Eleven members of the All Party Parliament Group, accompanied by the chaplain to Parliament Canon Pat Browne, met with the Pope on Wednesday, after the General Audience. MP Edward Leigh declared after the three day visit that “The Holy See is an enormous soft power, it represent a religion of 1.2 billion people and so the British government and the British parliament is very interested in what the Vatican says.” The Group, made up of representatives of both House of Parliament and all the major political parties, has encountered...

The Israeli government has approved the release of another 26 Palestinian prisoners as part of a US-brokered deal for the resumption of peace talks. They will be the second round of prisoners to be freed since August. A statement from the Israeli prime minister's office said the inmates had all been jailed for violence committed before the 1993 Oslo accords. Israeli and Palestinian representatives began direct talks in Jerusalem in August after a three-year hiatus. As part of the process, Israel has agreed to release 104 long-serving Palestinian prisoners. Behind bars The names of the latest group of detainees set...

The Navy wants four missile corvettes to defend Israel's exclusive economic zone. The Israel Navy is preparing a plan to procure four missile corvettes to protect the gas rigs in Israel's exclusive economic zone in the Mediterranean. The ships cost an estimated $400 million and systems that will be installed on them cost an additional $200 million. A senior Navy officer says that the plan is due to be presented to the government for approval in a few weeks. The corvettes were priced after a long process in which the Navy obtained quotes from several foreign shipyards, including in Germany,...

There are believed to be as many as 1,000 armed opposition groups in Syria, commanding an estimated 100,000 fighters. Many of the groups are small and operate on a local level, but a number have emerged as powerful forces with affiliates across the country or formed alliances with other groups that share a similar agenda. The BBC News website looks at the most prominent. Big snip

Pope Francis shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) during a private audience in the pontiff library at the Vatican, October 17, 2013. Abbas on Thursday invited Pope Francis to visit the Holy Land, matching an invitation from Israel. REUTERS/Osservatore Romano October 17, 2013. (Romereports.com) Surrounded by Swiss Guards, the president of the State of Palestine, walked inside the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. The cameras started flickering away when Mahmoud Abbas walked in. With the help of a translator, he introduced himself to Pope Francis.   MAHMOUD ABBASPresident, State of Palestine“I'm very happy to meet you for the very first time...