Free Republic

The United States will endorse a tougher tone with Israel in an upcoming international report that takes the Jewish state to task over settlements, demolitions and property seizures on land the Palestinians claim for a future state, diplomats told The Associated Press. The U.S. and its fellow Mideast mediators also will chastise Palestinian leaders for failing to rein in anti-Israeli violence. But the diplomats involved in drafting the document said its primary focus will be a surge of construction in Jewish housing in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The U.S. approval of the harsh language marks a subtle shift....

A Jewish group has launched a lawsuit against British local authorities that called for boycotts of goods from Israeli settlements, claiming the actions are anti-Semitic. Jewish Human Rights Watch is asking the High Court to rule against three councils: Leicester in England and Swansea and Gwynedd in Wales. It claims the authorities have failed to consider “the impact of their actions on the Jewish community.” …

British Prime Minister David Cameron used particularly harsh language against Israel's presence in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria which were liberated during the 1967 Six Day War. Speaking at Parliament, Cameron branded Israel’s construction of new communities in these areas as “genuinely shocking”, The Independent reported. The Prime Minister said that though he was a strong supporter of Israel, he had been taken aback by what had seen first hands on visits to Jerusalem. “I am well-known as being a strong friend of Israel but I have to say the first time I visited Jerusalem and had a proper tour...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says staffers for U.S. Vice President Joe Biden are arriving in Israel ahead of a possible Biden visit. [...] Biden's last visit to Israel sparked a diplomatic spat with Washington in 2010, when Israel announced settlement construction plans during Biden's visit. ...

The United Nations says Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stands by every word of his criticism of Israeli settlement-building this week and rejects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's comment that the remarks justify terrorism. The U.N. chief on Tuesday told the Security Council that settlement activities are "an affront to the Palestinian people," and he called for Israel to freeze them. He also said "it is human nature to react to occupation." ...

US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro voiced a particularly sharp attack against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria on Monday, accusing Israeli authorities of holding them to different standards of law. He expressed the unusually harsh criticism during a speech at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) conference in Tel Aviv. Shapiro condemned two brutal stabbing attacks on Sunday and Monday as "barbaric acts of terrorism," before launching into a critique of Israel's policies concerning the communities in Judea-Samaria. "We are concerned and perplexed by Israel's strategy on settlements," Shapiro stated. "This government and previous Israeli governments have repeatedly...

The Two State solution (TSS) is dead but rather than bury it, the US and the EU want to embalm it, in the off chance that it can be brought to life in a decade or two. In the meantime they are doing their utmost to prevent Israel from building Jewish homes east of the armistice lines, including in Jerusalem. They do this in knowing violation of Israel’s rights. Moshe Arens, a former Israel Ambassador to the US, Israel Defense Minister and Minister of Defense, noted in Haaretz, Israel’s version of the New York Times: "These critics (of settlement construction)...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has instructed the Foreign Ministry to reassess its involvement with European Union (EU) institutions regarding the political process with the Palestinians. Until the assessment is completed, Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered the suspension of all political contact with EU institutions and representatives on the issue.

US President Barack Obama's administration on Thursday voiced its approval of the discriminatory EU decision the day before to label Jewish goods from Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The administration said the move is only a "technical guideline," and is not a boycott, reports Associated Press - despite the obvious assumption that consumers would follow the labeling when choosing what products to buy. US State Department spokesperson Mark Toner said, "we do not believe that labeling the origin of products is equivalent to a boycott. And as you know, we do not consider settlements to be part...

Archaeologists at Historic Jamestown have discovered the tenth Virginia-made pipe with a name inscribed on the stem. It’s the first new named pipe found at the site since 2009, and in contrast to most of the earlier discoveries, the name is complete: William Faldo. The stockholders of the Virginia Company were expecting to make a quick profit from their investment in the Jamestown settlement, but the struggling colonists could barely keep themselves alive, never mind send back the riches in minerals and trade goods the company had envisioned. They weren’t even self-sufficient, having clashed with the Powhatan tribes weeks after...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu denounced the European Parliament’s decision to label products from the Golan Heights, Judea and Samaria (Shomron) as “settlement products” on Thursday, stating that the move only hinders efforts for Middle East peace. “This is unjust,” he stated. “It is simply a distortion of justice and of logic and I think that it also hurts peace; it does not advance peace.” “The root of the conflict is not the territories, and the root of the conflict is not the settlements,” he warned. “We have historical memory of what happened when Europe labeled Jewish products.” …

Sixteen out of the 28 EU countries want the bloc to label products from Judea and Samaria in an economic attack on the Jewish state, diplomatic sources told AFP Thursday, confirming a Haaretz report. The plan was first mooted in 2012, but the 16 member states told EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini it was now time to press ahead as part of efforts to force Israel to divide in a “two state solution.” The 16 include Britain, France, Spain and Italy but not Germany. […] … (A) senior Israeli diplomat told the EU “labeling products from Judea and Samaria...

Israel's Top Court Orders West Bank Settlement Demolished Protester By BATSHEVA SOBELMAN Amona, the largest of unauthorized outposts in the West Bank, is ordered demolished by Israel's top court Israel’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to demolish the West Bank settlement of Amona within two years and relocate its 300 Jewish residents, moving to end a years-long legal battle. In the ruling late Thursday, Supreme Court President Asher Grunis acknowledged that demolishing the community would be “difficult and painful” for its residents. However, he wrote, “this difficulty cannot enable illegal construction on private land” or justify failure to comply...

The Obama administration is refusing to discuss reports that emerged early Thursday claiming that the White House is considering imposing sanctions on Israel for continuing construction on Jewish homes in Jerusalem. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf dodged several questions on Thursday when confronted with reports that the administration had held secret internal meetings to discuss taking action against Israel for its ongoing building in East Jerusalem. The classified meetings were reportedly held several weeks ago and included officials from both the State Department and White House, according to the Israeli daily Ha’aretz, which first reported on the meetings. The possibility...

[Editor's Update: We thought it was obvious, but apparently not... this blog post is SATIRE.] Washington, October 8 – Aides to US President Barack Obama expressed displeasure today over not being informed of plans to assemble tens of thousands of makeshift residential structures over the last week in Jewish communities in areas both Israel and the Palestinians claim. The huts mostly consist of wood panels, or of metal frames holding up canvas walls, with reeds or palm leaves as roofing. Satellite images and eyewitness reports alerted the Obama administration of the flurry of new construction activity, all of which appears...

European officials are looking at new ways to press Israel to halt its building of settlements on land the Palestinians want for a state, as frustration over the construction program reaches a new high, European diplomats say. The discussions are at an early stage, but officials say the European Union may look at stopping Jewish settlers convicted of crimes from visiting the EU and could examine the fine print of a free-trade agreement, although there is no talk of sanctions. A series of steps by Israel in recent weeks, including the seizure of 1,000 acres of land near the Palestinian...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has reached settlements with three whistleblowers who helped expose wrongdoing at the Phoenix VA hospital, where details of a nationwide record-keeping scandal emerged this year. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, a small federal agency that investigates whistleblower complaints, announced the settlements on Monday. At least two of the agreements involve promotions, signaling that the agency wants to reward employees who report bad practices. Each of the employees said they were retaliated against for their efforts to report problems. Special Counsel Carolyn Lerner said in a statement on

I read a news item that claimed that “settlers” were criticizing the government? […]Israeli settlers from some of the settlements around the Gaza Strip harshly criticized the Israeli government during a meeting with the country’s internal security minister, Yitzhak Aharonovich, according to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.The newspaper reported that Aharonovich met on Sunday with settlers from the Kfar Aza settlement, who proceeded to harshly criticize him for the continued fire of Palestinian rockets. The criticism comes after the Israeli government had promised settlers that it was “safe to return home”. […]But Kfar Aza is one of the kibbutzim and other...

The bodies of three murdered Israeli teenagers, 16-year-old Naftali who liked to play basketball, 16-year-old Gilad who had just finished a scuba diving course and 19-year-old Eyal with his guitar, will be met by the same ghastly parade of pallbearers who accompany every victim of terrorism.

Dan Shapiro criticizes Israel’s decision to push ahead 1,500 units in West Bank and East Jerusalem as response to Palestinian unity government he US ambassador to Israel condemned on Thursday a plan to build 1,500 housing units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, announced as a retaliatory measure to the formation of a Palestinian unity government earlier this week. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories Free Sign up! “We oppose settlement construction in the West Bank as well as announcements regarding such construction,” Dan Shapiro told Army Radio. “We would...