Category: Jerusalem, Israel

Delay in one of Trump’s signature committments

At his press conference on January 23, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer declined to commit the Trump administration to quickly moving the embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the capital of the Israeli state. While President Donald Trump said during his campaign that he would move the embassy, the administration is now expressing some caution.

The Latest: Israel delays vote on settlement annexation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says his Security Cabinet has unanimously agreed to postpone a vote on a proposal to annex a major West Bank settlement. The pro-settler Jewish Home Party has been pushing the government to annex the Maaleh Adumim settlement, near Jerusalem.

Israel pushes ahead with settlements as Trump takes office

The municipality of Jerusalem granted final approval Sunday for the construction of hundreds of new homes in east Jerusalem, while a hard-line Cabinet minister pushed the government to annex a major West Bank settlement as emboldened Israeli nationalists welcomed the presidency of Donald Trump. After eight years of testy ties with President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is looking forward to a new era of close relations with the U.S. under Trump.

Arab world reacts to Trump inauguration

The Arab world is still trying to acclimate to the fact that Donald Trump has taken the oath of office to become the 45th President of the United States, especially after President Trump promised to “wipe out Islamic terror” in his inaugural address. Although there have been many letters of support and congratulations sent to the new president, not everyone in the Arab world is so pleased.

The Latest: Envoys urge Israel, Palestinians to back peace

More than 70 countries have called on Israel and the Palestinians to restate their commitment to a peace settlement and to refrain from unilateral actions. The closing statement at a Mideast peace conference in Paris on Sunday was meant to send a powerful message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration to keep hopes alive for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

More talk on Mideast peace

Sending a forceful message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration, more than 70 world diplomats gathered in Paris on Sunday to say they want peace in the Mideast – and that establishing a Palestinian state is the only way to achieve it. French President Francois Hollande said he was sounding an “alert” that peace talks should be revived for “the security of Israel, security of all the region” before violent extremists and Israeli settlements destroy any hope of a two-state solution.

World diplomats in Paris to urge renewed Mideast peace talks

Fearing a new eruption of violence in the Middle East, more than 70 world diplomats gathered in Paris on Sunday to push for renewed peace talks that would lead to a Palestinian state. The conference is meant to be a forceful message to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that much of the world wants peace and sees a two-state solution as the best way to achieve it in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

At Paris meeting, major powers to warn Trump over Middle East peace

Major powers will send a message to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday that a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians is the only way forward, and warn that his plan to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem could derail peace efforts. Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, are due in Paris for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as “futile” and “rigged”.

In long-shot Mideast peace bid, France sees nothing to lose

In this March 17, 2003 file photo, an Israeli border policemen guards the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv as Israelis line up for U.S. visas. The Palestinians are ringing alarm bells over Donald Trump’s stated intention to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel to contested Jerusalem, fearing quick action once he takes office as U.S. president next week.

Netanyahu’s top advisor: World will not boycott tech products for Palestinians

The international community’s desire for Israeli technology trumps its concern over the stalling peace process, the director-general of the Prime Minister’s Office said this week, arguing that the recent UN Security Council resolution condemning the settlements was merely a “blip” on the radar. “Countries are going to have to decide what’s in their best interest: to be with Israel, or without Israel,” Eli Groner told The Times of Israel in his Jerusalem office.

Abbas to meet Pope Francis in advance of Paris parley

Pope Francis talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a private audience at the Vatican City, May 16, 2015.. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, just one day before France is scheduled to host an international peace conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

72 countries set to attend Paris peace confab

French President Francois Hollande, left, greets US Secretary of State John Kerry upon his arrival for their talks at the Elysee palace in Paris on November 17, 2015. French authorities are expecting 72 countries to attend Sunday’s Middle East peace conference in Paris – but not Israel or the Palestinians.

The Failure of Jewish Universalism

The never-ending push by numerous Jews to universalize all aspects and rituals of Judaism is shortchanging and endangering the Jewish people. Hermann Cohen was an influential German Jewish philosopher who felt there was no distinction between being Jewish and a citizen of the world because the purpose of the Jew was to sacrifice his “parochial” Jewish interests in causes for humanity that, for him, were greater than immediate Jewish needs.

Palestinians seek weekend prayers to protest US Embassy move

In this March 17, 2003 file photo, an Israeli border policemen guards the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv as other Israelis line up for U.S. visas. The Palestinians and their Arab allies have been ringing alarm bells over Donald Trump’s plans to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to contested Jerusalem, increasingly fearful he will move swiftly once he takes office.

Berlina s Brandenburg Gate lit up in solidarity with Israeli truck-ramming victims

The famous Brandenburg Gate in Berlin was lit up in the colors of Israel’s flag in solidarity with the victims of Sunday’s terror attack in Jerusalem that took the lives of four Israeli soldiers. The symbolic gesture on Monday by the Berlin Senate came about in part due to efforts by Green Party Bundestag member Volker Beck and a petition started by a member of the Jewish community.

Palestinian truck attack kills four Israelis in Jerusalem

A Palestinian rammed his truck into a group of Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem on Sunday, killing four soldiers and wounding 17 others in one of the deadliest attacks of a more than yearlong campaign of violence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the driver was a supporter of the Islamic State group, and suggested the attack was inspired by similar assaults in Europe, without providing any evidence.

Israeli police: Truck ramming kills 4 in Jerusalem

A truck rammed into a group of Israeli soldiers who were disembarking from a bus in Jerusalem on Sunday, killing four people and wounding 15 others, Israeli police and rescue services said. Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said the truck veered off course and rammed into the group in the Armon Hanatziv neighborhood.

Jordan warns of – catastrophic repercussions’ should the US move its embassy to occupied Jerusalem

Trump promised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s undivided capital if he emerged triumphant in the US presidential election. Information Minister Mohammed Momani told The Associated Press on Thursday that such a move would be a “red line” for Jordan and would ” inflame the Islamic and Arab streets .”

French grocery store labels Israeli products as ‘settlement produce’

The first French supermarket has labeled Israeli products as “Made in Israeli Settlements.” This comes after the French Government instituted a policy of labeling Israeli produce grown in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights as “settlement products” two months ago The incident is known to the Israeli Embassy in France, who then turned to French Jewish organizations to ask the chain to take down the offending signs.

The dangers of UN Security Council Resolution 2334

The December 23, 2016, resolution adopted by the UN Security Council regarding Israel’s settlement policy has been received with mixed and even extreme reactions. [ Click to read the text of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 ] The Palestinian leadership, having initiated the resolution, is celebrating its adoption as an affirmation by the international community, including the United States, of its claims against Israel.

Bodies of Hamas terrorists won’t be returned, ministers decide

The December 24, 2014 Gaza funeral of Tayseir Smeiry, a Hamas operative, who was killed by Israeli troops after gunmen from Gaza opened fire on an IDF force within Israel Israel will no longer give up the bodies of Hamas terrorists killed during attacks, but instead bury them, the high-level security cabinet decided on Sunday, launching a renewed effort to pressure the Palestinian group into returning two Israeli civilians and the remains of two soldiers. Gaza-based Hamas is currently holding the remains of IDF soldiers Staff Sgt.

Relations between Obama and Netanyahu administrations hit new low

It took eight years of backbiting and pretending they got along for relations between President Barack Obama ‘s administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ‘s government to finally hit rock bottom. Though they’ve clashed bitterly before, mostly notably over Iran, the two governments seemed further apart than ever after a speech Wednesday by Secretary of State John Kerry and last week’s United Nations resolution.

Ita s Not Over!Exclusive: Obama, Palestinians Plotting More Anti-Israel Action

The Palestinian Authority has been in contact with the Obama administration and European countries about the possibility of taking more UN action on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict before President Obama leaves office next month, a senior PA official told Breitbart Jerusalem. The official said the UN action could come in the form of declarations by UN bodies, including the General Assembly; UN sessions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; or even another United Nations Security Council resolution.

Why I Call BS On US Claims “Gang-Up On Israel” Meeting Never Took Place

The White House vehemently denied a report Wednesday morning claiming Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice discussed the controversial U.N. resolution condemning Israeli settlements with a top Palestinian official days before Friday’s Security Council vote. An Egyptian news site first published what it claimed to be details of the meeting with Palestinian official Saeb Erekat and others.