ISSUES

June 1 Keizer, OR Spanish Stand With Israel

Liberman thanks US for giving Israel ‘room to maneuver’ against enemies

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman met Monday with US President Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser John Bolton in Jerusalem, and praised the Trump administration for giving Israel “significant maneuvering room” to operate against its enemies.

The two met in Jerusalem following Bolton’s meeting earlier in the day with Prime Minister Benjamin...

Palestinian Suspected of Trying to Stab Jerusalem Policeman Shot to Death

A Palestinian man who was suspected of trying to stab a Jerusalem policeman was shot to death in Jerusalem's Muslim Quarter on Friday afternoon, Israeli police said.
According to police, forces were dispatched to the Old City on Friday afternoon following an initial report on a suspected stabbing attack.
A statement released by the police said...

Israeli Hospitals Drill the Transition from ‘Routine to War’

Under the expert guidance of IDF Home Front Command, Israeli hospitals across the country are shoring up their ability to shift into war mode should a sudden conflict erupt without prior warning. In such a scenario, hospitals could, like the rest of the country, find themselves under heavy fire, yet must still be able to provide life-saving care...

Netanyahu: Israel Will Restore Quiet to Gaza Border Region ‘in Full’

Israel will restore total quiet its southern region near the border with the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, following a week that saw an outburst of Hamas violence that nearly provoked an all-out war, Netanyahu said, “We are in the midst of a campaign against terror in...

Israel said to confiscate tens of thousands of balloons en route to Gaza

In the past several weeks, Israel has prevented tens of thousands of balloons from being shipped to Gaza, out of concern they would be used to launch incendiary devices into Israel, according to a television report on Sunday.

Three shipping containers destined for the coastal enclave and carrying tens of thousands of balloons were stopped at the...

Preparing for fight against Hezbollah, army tries out combat reshuffle

The military has field-tested a new fighting method combining infantry, tanks and combat engineering into one unified force, as part of a major military reform meant to streamline the Israel Defense Forces, the army said Sunday.

The method was tested during a drill simulating war in the north against the Hezbollah terrorist group, during which...

US Firefighters Join Israelis to Battle Terror Arson Blazes from Gaza

For months, Israeli firefighters have battled arson fires caused by some 1,200 terror attacks. The fires have burned more than 7,500 acres of farmland and nature. Now American volunteers are fighting the flames with them.

Palestinian terrorists are using balloons and kites combined with a summer wind to carry their fire from Gaza to Israel.

In a...

Foreign Ministry Slams BBC ‘MISLEADING’ REPORTING ON GAZA ROCKETS

The Foreign Ministry formally complained to the BBC about its reporting on the violence in the South on Thursday.

A BBC headline stated “Gaza air strikes ‘kill woman and child’ after rockets hit Israel,” quoting the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. The article’s subheadline said “Militants... fired dozens of rockets,” when the count had gone up to...

Israel and Gaza: How did we get here?

For months, there has been an escalation of violence along the security fence between Gaza and Israel, including violent riots and the most serious incident since Operation Protective Edge in 2014. In addition to the riots, Hamas operatives began carrying out a new kind of attack, using arson kites and incendiary balloons to set Israeli land...

What The New York Times Isn’t Telling You About Gaza

Sometimes a single sentence in a New York Times article about Israel tells a whole story.

Take, for example, this gem from a dispatch from Jerusalem by Isabel Kershner that appeared in the August 9 New York Times: “A high-level delegation of Hamas officials, including some living in exile, convened in Gaza to discuss Egyptian and United Nations...

Residents of Gaza Border Communities Fatigued By Endless Cycle of Violence

She was packing her belongings from her rocket-ravaged home, preparing to decamp from Kibbutz Yad Mordechai to stay with relatives in the center of the country, when we knocked on her door Thursday afternoon. Still she invited us in and offered us a cold drink.

The kibbutznik whose house suffered a direct hit by a Qassam in the middle of the...

Nanodrug tames leishmaniasis and other parasitic diseases

Before a sandfly bites, she doesn’t buzz like a mosquito. The beige insect swoops in silently, and only when the itching begins do you know you’ve been her victim. Usually the bite is just an uncomfortable annoyance.

However, more than 90 sandfly species are known to transmit trypanosome parasites called Leishmania. A small fraction of people...

Between Ceasefire and War: Gaza on a Knife’s Edge

It is perhaps unique to this context that both sides of the current flare-up—the Israeli army and Hamas, the terrorist group that controls the Gaza Strip—can simultaneously escalate their attacks on each other while negotiating a delicate ceasefire.

Such has been the case in recent days, leaving many on both sides wondering if the heavier blows...

Security cabinet huddles over Gaza Strip violence, ceasefire with Hamas

The top-level security cabinet met on Sunday to discuss the ongoing Gaza Strip violence and the military options available, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear that Israel wants a full ceasefire and nothing less.

Netanyahu met with his senior ministers at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv. The meeting came as the...

Patient Receives New Knee Made From Coral, Thanks to Israeli Startup Company

Israel has just completed its first successful knee surgery using a coral-based implant invented by an Israeli startup.

Earlier this month, a 30-year-old patient who had undergone several unsuccessful knee surgeries in the past received an Agili-C implant at Hadassah University Medical Center on Jerusalem’s Mount Scopus campus, created by the...

New ‘Jerusalem’ neighborhood of Guatemala rises from ashes

Thousands of Guatemalans lost their homes to the Volcán de Fuego (“Volcano of Fire”) in early June. One hundred new houses for refugees are now being built thanks to a charitable initiative spearheaded by the Central American country’s rabbi in his capacity as head of the Guatemalan branch of Israeli search-and-rescue and victim identification...

New laser solution could slow spread of forest fires

Aggressive wildfires are rampaging through many countries this summer, bringing death and destruction in their wake. In California alone, firefighters are scrambling to control 18 separate blazes.

Texas, Oregon, Florida, New Jersey, as well as Canada, Greece, India, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK are among other areas battling massive...

Swedish Christian Zionists to Sail to Israel on Solidarity Mission

Following Swedish pro-Palestinian activists’ failed attempt to reach Gaza by sea, a Christian supporter of Israel from Sweden announced he would take dozens of pro-Zionists to Israel on his yacht.

Stefan Abrahamsson announced Thursday on Facebook that his yacht, Elida, will set sail from Sweden on Aug. 25 to Israel to show solidarity with the...

Huge incendiary kite from Gaza lands on kibbutz power lines

A large incendiary kite launched from Gaza landed on power lines near Kibbutz Sufa, sparking a quick operation by employees from the Israeli Electric Corporation to remove the device before a fire was started.

The 4-meter (about 13-foot) kite, which landed on Friday, caused a power outage at the kibbutz and in the surrounding area.

It...