US Congressmen Witnesses Temple Mount Bias

May 21, 2014 Last week, American legislators visiting Jerusalem saw firsthand the bias against Jews on the Temple Mount, on which the First and Second Temples once stood. The Mount is Judaism's holiest site. The Temple Institute's director, Rabbi Chaim Richman, organized a visit for Congressmen Andrew P. Harris and Ron DeSantis with a group of Jewish worshipers to the Mount. The congressmen personally witnessed how "outwardly looking Jewish groups are singled out and accompanied by both Jordan Islamic Waqf guards and Israeli police officers that scrutinize their behavior for signs of prayer or non-Muslim worship," reported a Temple Institute statement.

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Israeli Prime Minister Proposes Basic Law to Define Jewish State

May 12, 2014 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants the Knesset (Israeli parliament) to pass a law that officially defines Israel as the Jewish state. Speaking from Tel Aviv’s Independence Hall, the same room where David Ben Gurion proclaimed the Jewish state in 1948, Netanyahu said, “One of my main missions as prime minister of Israel is to bolster the status of the State of Israel as the nation-state of our people.” The proposed bill, entitled Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People, defines Israel as the “historic homeland of the Jewish People and the place where the State of Israel is founded.”

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Palestinians Planned to Foil Peace Process

May 12, 2014 The Palestinians were planning to torpedo the peace process long before its breakdown, according to a letter sent by Israel’s national security advisor Joseph Cohen to ambassadors to Israel from countries with diplomatic relations. Well before the official deterioration of the peace talks, Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat sent a letter to PA President Mahmoud Abbas proposing the PA acquire independent state status through international organizations, rather than negotiations.

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Hamas Children’s Program: Shoot All the Jews

May 12, 2014 Hamas media continue to brainwash children and incite violence against the Jewish People. The weekly Hamas children’s program Tomorrow's Pioneers is promoting killing Jews, according to Palwatch. In a recent show, an adult in a bee costume told children to take stones and “smash” Jewish neighbors. As well, the child host directed a young girl, who expressed a desire to be a police officer when she grows up, to see such a job as an opportunity to shoot all the Jews.

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Orthodox Children Heckled and Mobbed on Temple Mount

May 7, 2014 Recently, a group of Orthodox parents and their children were harassed by Muslim worshipers when they visited Jerusalem’s Temple Mount (where the First and Second Temples once stood) during the visiting hours allotted to non-Muslim visitors, which includes Jews. Although the group consisted of about 30 adults and 20 children, many of them infants, apparently the security forces had advised that the children be allowed inside the compound first, accompanied by four adults. The pursuing mob shouted angrily and heckled the group while the border police prevented the mob from seriously harming them. The intensity of the attack forced the security forces to escort the group off the compound.

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Hamas: The Real Winner in New Unity Deal

May 7, 2014 Just when it seemed that the future of Hamas, the officially designated terrorist group and offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, was uncertain due to pressures from Egypt, the Palestinian Authority has given it new hope. Hamas has been struggling with a severe economic crisis ever since Egypt embarked on a campaign to destroy hundreds of smuggling tunnels between the Gaza Strip and the Sinai. The recent shift on the part of the Palestinian Authority toward a unity deal with Hamas rather than a peace deal with Israel has given Hamas renewed legitimacy and strengthened its control over the Strip.

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Knesset Considers Jewish Prayer on Temple Mount

April 9, 2014 For the first time ever, a special Knesset subcommittee convened for an in-depth examination of the Jewish right to pray on the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, which while under Israeli control has been administered by the Muslim Waqf. Although no Israeli law bans Jewish prayer, the Jordanian Waqf prohibits Jewish lips from moving in prayer on the Mount, maintaining strict enforcement. The Waqf's administrative role is aided by the presence of Islam's eagle-eyed faithful and the security role of Israeli police, who seemingly aim to diffuse explosive situations on Har haBeit (the Temple Mount) before there is a chance that they develop.

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Palestinians Make Outrageous Demands in Bid for Continued Peace Talks

April 9, 2014 Last Wednesday, as Israel and the Palestinians were on the verge of a deal for the final prisoner release, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas formally applied to gain some of the benefits of statehood outside the peace process, which officially ends April 29. The move was made despite Palestinian promises to stay at the table and not unilaterally seek recognition as a nation at the United Nations during the talks. It is also a violation of the Oslo Accords. Although the PA has indicated its willingness to continue negotiations, it has set new, outrageous conditions for agreeing to extend the peace talks. They include the release of 1,200 more Palestinian prisoners and Israeli recognition of the pre-1967 lines as the future borders of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital.

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Concrete Gaza-Israel Terrorist Tunnel Discovered

April 2, 2014 An Israeli farmer recently spotted the latest and longest-yet concrete tunnel from Hamas territory into Israel, after heavy rains washed away the topsoil that concealed the concrete structure, which reaches almost half a mile into Israel. The Ezzeddeen Al-Qassam Brigades Information Office, said that the find was not a major loss since "this tunnel is old and it was partially collapsed.… We emphasize… pride for the resistance men stationed underground and one the ground who prepared to defend their people and their cause until Palestinians get the victory.”

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Israel Marks the 35th Anniversary of the Peace Treaty with Egypt

April 2, 2014 On the 35th anniversary of the Israel-Egypt peace treaty, the Israel State Archives declassified and published online 67 documents, 18 of them in English, including telegrams and letters, records of conversations and government meetings. They tell the tale of Israel's first set of negotiations with Egypt, perhaps, since the Exodus and a peace treaty signed on the White House lawn by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat on March 26, 1979.

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