Israel Mourns the Passing of Ariel Sharon

January 13, 2014 On Saturday afternoon, Israel’s eleventh prime minister, Ariel Sharon, passed peacefully at the age of 85. He had been in a coma nearly eight years after suffering a massive stroke on January 4, 2006.

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Jerusalem Under Siege

December 11, 2013 Ever since Israel was miraculously reborn as an independent state in 1948, she has been center-stage on the world scene. That position became even more evident when Jerusalem was united in 1967 after the Six Day War. Against all odds, Israel prevailed when the Arab world once again mounted superior forces against this tiny nation.

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Pro-Israel Jews Barred from Open United Nations Meeting in New York

November 25, 2013 Pro-Israel Jews have been barred from attending an open meeting today at the UN that marks the anniversary of the 1947 resolution allowing the establishment of a Jewish state and an Arab state. That landmark 1947 resolution was accepted by Jewish leaders but the Arab world rejected it. Instead of establishing a Palestinian state, they launched a civil war. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan characterized the anniversary as “a day of mourning and a day of grief.”

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P5+1 Cuts Nuclear Deal with Iran in Geneva

November 25, 2013 Yesterday, after five days of intensive talks, an historic six-month interim deal was signed in Geneva calling for Iran to curb uranium enrichment in exchange for relief from international sanctions. Some hope that the deal will prove to be a turning point in decades of hostility between Washington and Tehran.

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Granddaughter of Hamas PM Sent to Israeli Hospital

November 25, 2013 Last week, the one-year-old granddaughter of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, who has been calling for a third Palestinian intifada (civil uprising) in Judea and Samaria, was sent to Israel to receive care at Schneider Children’s Hospital in Petah Tikva. Amal arrived at the hospital in critical condition. The young girl was suffering from a severe gastro-intestinal disorder that had impacted her nervous system, according to doctors in Gaza. (Al Ahram)

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Secret US-Iran Deal Cause for Concern

November 20, 2013 Nuclear talks designed to place restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program will resume today between Iran and the P5+1 in Geneva. It is the third round of negotiations in a month, and they are taking place nearly two weeks after an accord that would Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for the easing of sanctions was almost reached. Of the six P5+1 world powers at the last meeting—the US, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany—France alone objected when the US brought forward the deal, claiming that the terms were "too soft" on Tehran.

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PA Negotiators Quit Peace Talks

November 20, 2013 Last week, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator for the peace talks, along with his fellow negotiator, Muhammad Shtayyeh, the minister in charge of the Palestinian Economic Council for Development and Reconstruction, resigned from peace negotiations with Israel. In response, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rejected the resignations, asking them to continue the negotiations and re-asserted the PA commitment to the peace process. "The delegation to the talks handed in its resignation, which we have still not accepted," Abbas said. (Israel HaYom)

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Arab MKs Disrupt Temple Mount Committee Session

November 13, 2013 A recent debate on a bill that would guarantee Jews access to the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site, as well as equal prayer rights there, sparked an angry response from Arab-Israeli MKs (members of parliament). During the debate MK Miri Regev stressed that no attempt is being made to bar Muslims from praying at the Al Aqsa Mosque, Islam's third holiest site.

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UN Envoy Calls for Division of Jerusalem

November 6, 2013 Last week, UN envoy Robert H. Serry emphasized Israel’s capital, Jerusalem, must be divided to achieve peace. “Without resolving Jerusalem, there will be no solution,” he said. “The [UN] secretary general believes that a way has to be found for Jerusalem to emerge as a capital for two states.” (JPost) Serry currently serves as the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority.

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Irish Journalist Wears Kippah to Test Swedish Anti-Semitism

October 30, 2013 Irish journalist Patrick Reilly recently tested the waters of anti-Semitism in Sweden by publicly appearing to be Jewish for a few hours in the southern Swedish town of Malmö. In response to complaints about anti-Semitism made by the local Jewish community and Jewish tourists, Reilly put on a kippah (head covering), an identifiable symbol of Judaism, to see firsthand what those who are visibly Jewish experience. (HaAretz)

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