Why is support for ‘freedom of worship for Jews’ on the Temple Mount so controversial?

Maybe it was just the product of the ongoing civil war between the different political parties on the Israeli right. Or maybe it was just time that an Israeli prime minister said something that, in a saner world, wouldn’t be considered controversial. Read more

Visit of senior US official to PA – preparing for resumption of negotiations with Israel?

Palestinian and Arab sources have reported in recent days on accelerated diplomatic activity in preparation for the resumption of the diplomatic process between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Israeli government, mediated by Egypt and Jordan. Read more

Palestinian Authority introduces new way for terrorists, families to get cash

The Palestinian Authority has announced a new mechanism for disbursing payments to terrorists and their families by using ATMs at P.A. post offices, according to a report by MEMRI. Read more

UNRWA Gaza chief to take leave of absence amid uproar over Israeli airstrike remarks

The Gaza director of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) will be taking a “long leave of absence,” a spokesman for the agency said on Wednesday, according to Hebrew media reports. Read more

MDA vaccinates Palestinian workers

As part of the national effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in Israel, the government has decided to provide vaccinations to Palestinian workers with permits to work in Israel. Read more

Report reveals UNRWA continues anti-Semitic hate, incitement in schools

School material distributed by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) continues to glorify Islamic jihad and incite violence in 2021 despite promises by UNRWA that the hateful content would be removed by last November, revealed a report published on Wednesday. Read more

Fatah official: ‘Criminal jackass’ Trump thrown into garbage bin of history

Senior Palestinian official Jibril Rajoub said in a recent interview that U.S. President Donald Trump, whom he referred to as a “criminal jackass,” had been thrown in the garbage bin of history, and that those Arab leaders that have normalized relations with Israel will share his fate. Read more

The COVID vaccine blood libel against Israel

The headline in The Guardian showed why so many people think Israel is the sum of all evil and deserving of international opprobrium. Read more

Trump will not let UN, PLO and Biden bury his Peace Plan

The Trump-haters are circling Trump’s liferaft promising a comprehensive Middle East peace – but Trump can repel their determined efforts to sink it if he is not nominated as President when the Electoral College votes on 14 December. Read more

The true Rabin legacy could be the basis of a national consensus

Twenty-five years after Yitzhak Rabin’s murder and still, the debate about his legacy heats up every year as the date of his memorial ceremony approaches. Read more

UN envoy to Palestinians: ‘Do not lose sight of goal of free Palestinian state’

U.N. Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolai Mladenov told a mass gathering in the Palestinian Authority on Monday “never to give up” their aspirations for statehood. Read more

Biden: West Bank annexation ‘will choke off hope for peace’

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, the 2020 presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said on Tuesday that if Israel applies sovereignty to parts of the West Bank, it would “choke off any hope for peace,” according to audio obtained by JNS. Read more

Danon confronts Palestinian representative during UN Security Council

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon and his Palestinian counterpart sparred during a U.N. Security Council discussion on Thursday about Israel’s aid to the Palestinian Authority during the current coronavirus (COVID-19) worldwide outbreak. Read more

‘The woman’ … and her one-sided view of two peoples

Ilana Hammerman was not a familiar name. But the subtitle of her new book was irresistible: One Woman’s Story of Challenging Borders in Israel/Palestine. Read more

It’s not the money, honey

One would have thought by now everyone might have woken up to the fact that it is not a lack of money which prevents peace from breaking out between Israel and the PLO. Read more

Trump administration released tens of millions in aid to Palestinians

The Trump administration quietly released tens of millions of foreign aid to the Palestinian Authority recently that had been frozen as part of a review process. Read more

Palestinians call Israel’s anti-‘pay to slay’ law a ‘declaration of war’

Palestinian leaders slammed the passage of a new Israeli law that would deduct tax funds transferred to the Palestinian Authority over their policy of paying convicted terrorists and their families for carrying out attacks known as “pay to slay.” Read more

Wishful thinking isn’t enough when it comes to Mideast peace

President Trump’s peace plan for Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, his attempt at the “deal of the century,” will apparently soon be revealed to the world…writes Melanie Phillips/JNS. Read more

On the other hand…writes Michael Kuttner

Discoveries, innovations and world “firsts” combined with other positive developments kick start the post (Jewish) New Year into high gear. Read more

Israeli Mossad chief reportedly briefs Trump transition team in secret meeting

The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency and other top security officials reportedly met with members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team to brief them on important security matters. Read more

“BDS not about settlements” – Lapid

The Chairperson of Israel political party Yesh Atid Yair Lapid, has told 700 people at the  Park Avenue Synagogue in New York that the BDS situation “is getting worse”. Read more

What ordinary Palestinians are saying about the Israeli election

Near the entrance to the city of Ariel in the heart of Samaria lies an Arab strip mall of sorts, where Jews and Palestinians alike can get fruits and vegetables, a car wash, pet supplies, hummus, and falafel. Read more

Metropolitan Opera Stifles Free Exchange of Ideas About a Propaganda Opera…writes Alan Dershowitz

On Monday night I went to the Metropolitan Opera. I went for two reasons: to see and hear John Adams’ controversial opera, The Death of Klinghoffer; and to see and hear what those protesting the Met’s judgment in presenting the opera had to say. Read more

Blaming Israel for the Collapse of the Peace Negotiations…writes Isi Leibler

All signs indicate that the moribund peace process has now formally collapsed. Read more

Slezak questions Rhiannon criticism

It is telling that Alexander Ryvchin’s denunciation of Senator Lee Rhiannon (J-Wire, Dec-18)  fails to mention the grave charges that motivate such critics of Israel, even to rebut them – the egregious, serial violations of human rights, international law and UN resolutions…writes Peter Slezak. Read more

Australia’s ambassador to Israel supports peace campaign

Common Sense is not so Common…writes Michael Kuttner (and Voltaire)

The above quote by Voltaire is manifest on a daily basis especially when it concerns Israel. This week has proved no exception and therefore I would like to share with you a few of the latest examples to demonstrate as if any proof was really needed that the sky is the limit for all those who think they know it all. Read more

The Palestinian Prisoner Release and its Shades of Grey

This week, I planned to write something a little more upbeat and uplifting. It seemed overdue. But then the release of twenty-six Palestinian prisoners to Gaza and the West Bank warranted some deep reflection and analysis…writes Gabsy Debinski. Read more

En route to becoming a banana republic…writes Isi Leibler

In recent months there has been mounting indiscriminate criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s policies by government officials. Read more

Palestine – Pantomime and Paradox…writes David Singer

Any cynicism or disbelief that Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu was seriously interested in trying to reach a two-state solution with the PLO was dispelled this week with the revelation that Netanyahu last year offered to free 50 long term Palestinian security prisoners sentenced before the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993 – in a vain bid to entice Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas back to the negotiating table. Read more

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