More Jewish parents no longer ask their children only to which Ivy League schools will they apply, but in which elite IDF units they want to serve.
An upscale hotel on a Santa Monica, California, beach is an odd place to be singled out from a crowd and removed because you are Jewish.
Nowhere else can you get this kind of in-depth radio analysis of the political situation in Israel - in English! Understand the crazy Israeli government coalition forming and dissolving in the blink of an eye. How Prime Minister Netanyahu manuevers among the political land mines. Hear the ins and outs of the IDF Draft legislation […]
On Tuesday evening, three Palestinians attacked an Israeli youth who was hiking along the Meir Spring near Neve Tzuf. The youth did not require medical treatment. IDF forces arrived at the scene, as well as some Neve Tzuf residents. Concurrently, 20 Palestinians came out from their village of Neve Salach and began throwing stones at […]
A Palestinian tried to run over a female soldier at a Kalkilya checkpoint on Sunday morning. In response, the soldiers fired into the air, and then at the tires of the car. The terrorist got away into Kalkilya. No injuries were reported among the soldiers.
By Moshe Herman
Yishai is joined by Meir Eisenman and together they discuss the situation regarding the integration of Ultra-Orthodox Jews into the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces
Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak on Thursday toured the Northern Command and the Golan Heights along with commanders stationed in the region and addressed recent occurrences in Syria. He said that the targeting of top security officials of Bashar al-Assad's regime by oppositions forces in Damascus "will greatly expedite the fall of the Assad family." Barak told reporters that the IDF is preparing for the possibility that waves of refugees will escape from Syria to the Golan Heights. "If required to stop waves of refugees, we will do so," he stated.
In a briefing before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi said that the election of the Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi as President of Egypt has brought political Islam to the forefront of politics in the Arab world, but predicted that the Egyptian military would continue to serve as a strong restraint. As a result, he doubted that Egypt would be allowed to drift into Iran's orbit.
The past decade has shown that the al-Qaeda network thrives in failed states, setting down roots in areas where central governments no longer exercise a clear monopoly of arms or jurisdiction. From Pakistan to Iraq to Mali, adherents of the global jihadi movement are seeking a safe haven to set up training camps, plot terror attacks, and spread their fundamentalist ideology.
On Friday, an armed terrorist inside Gaza fired on Israeli troops at the border fence. IDF soldiers shot back, killing the terrorist. No Israeli troops were injured.
By Alisa Bodner, Tazpit News Agency
Menifa-Leverage for Life is a nonprofit organization that was founded in Israel in 2004. The mission of the organization is to prevent at-risk youth from dropping out of high school and to reintegrate detached youth into normative frameworks. Since its establishment, Menifa has operated 130 such programs around Israel.
By Alex Abel
Photographers will join the combat fighters in the Golani Brigade for a full eight month course. The purpose is to prepare them to document major operational events and improve the IDF’s challenge with public relations. Captain Micah Ohana explained anyone can have a camera and distort an image that then becomes shown to the public. […]
Legislation is being used to force a situation onto a significantly large minority sector that disagrees with the decision. Will it once again end in disaster for everyone?
Soldiers from the Home Front Command Search and Rescue Unit practice saving civilians trapped under a collapsed building in Zikim, the Home Front Command's training base. The Israeli Home Front Command (Hebrew: Pikud Ha'Oref) is an IDF regional command, created in February 1992 following the Gulf War, in which civilian population centers faced significant enemy […]
The photo of homosexual soldiers on the IDF’s official website should have set off many alarm bells for many public figures. But they were all afraid. The heavy-handed politically correct code paralyzes our representatives. They prefer to remain silent and let somebody else fend off the arrows that are sure to come. MK Uri Ariel (National Union) deserves our appreciation and admiration, as he was the only MK to courageously state the simple truth by calling on the IDF to conduct itself on this issue as it has in the past.
The system, dubbed “Strong Number”, has been developed under the aegis of the IDF Ground Forces Technology Division, and has been successfully tested by the IDF near the Gaza border over the last few months. The technology would allow Israel to counter the smuggling operations on the narrow strip of land situated along the border between Gaza Strip and Egypt. Dr. Aaron Lerner: "This means a dramatic shift in the equation."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Israelis on Sunday that Israel’s armed forces would protect residents of the south, as a tentative quiet followed a weekend of rockets lobbed on the region from Gaza. Despite fear, residents move on with life on Sunday.
JERUSALEM – After terror groups operating from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula launched Grad missiles into the Southern Negev’s Mitzpeh Ramon and Uvda regions last weekend and murdered an Israeli Arab construction worker from Haifa on Monday, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak took the unusual step of ordering IDF tank units to deploy along portions of Israel’s southern border with Egypt.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said that "over the past few days we have witnessed, and continue to witness, a series of attempts to harm the State of Israel. In the face of these threats stands a strong and powerful IDF, prepared to respond to any threat, at any time." Gantz spoke […]
The IDF has re-opened roads and lifted an order for residents to remain in their homes following a deadly attack killing one Israeli along the Israel-Egypt border.
Terrorist infiltrated from Egypt and opened fire with guns, explosives and an RPG against Israeli contractors working on the border fence. 1 Israeli and 2 terrorists were killed in the ensuing gunfight. Communities in the South were in lockdown for 5 hours.
A Palestinian sniper attempted to kill an Israeli farmer working in a field near Kibbutz Nir Oz on Thursday, shooting from a vantage point inside Gaza. The farmer hid behind a tractor until IDF soldiers arrived and evacuated him to safety.
By Tamar Shmaryahu, Israel Campus Beat
Dov Lerner, former ZOA president at the University of Maryland and current Lone Soldier in the IDF: “It is very different making the case for Israel on campuses than actually sitting on the border with a gun guarding the country," Lerner said. "Having done both, I know that they are both extremely necessary.”
JERUSALEM – Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak has ordered IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz to draw up plans for a possible series of preemptive strikes against various Scud missile installations and suspected WMD (weapons of mass destruction) sites across Syria, as the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad’s dictatorship appears to be entering a dangerous phase.
The former 'journalist' for The Independent, who put out a series of sensational articles about the ‘Jenin Massacre,’ found himself a perfect new home - NPR.
It’s been more than five years since I began writing about my oldest son’s journey into the army. At first, I wrote to calm myself and keep from sharing my greatest fears with him. I called the blog A Soldier’s Mother and watched him enter the army.
With Congressman Steve Rothman being accused of dual loyalties simply over a pro-Israel voting record in government, what could I, who has a daughter serving in Israel’s military, expect from these same opponents? What charges would they lodge against me? How ugly would the attacks be?
By JTA
Israel's Air Force attacked what it said were two weapons storage facilities in the Gaza Strip.
JERUSALEM – Despite the absence of an attack on Iranian military and nuclear facilities, Israel and the U.S. are engaged in a covert cyberwar campaign against a growing list of Iranian targets. The dual objective is to hamper the Iranian regime’s ability to build an atomic bomb while pressuring them to bow to Western and UN demands to downgrade their enrichment capabilities to less than 10 percent.
The IDF Operations Department has put together instructions for military operations in cyberspace against enemies of the Jewish state. The IDF will engage in consistent and continuous intelligence gathering operations online, and said it will handle cyberspace as a battlefield as important as those at sea in the air, and on the ground, executing attacks when necessary.
The terrorist approached the security fence near Kisufim at around 4:30 a.m., cut it, and snuck into Israel. A Golani unit rapidly deployed to the area, coming under fire by the terrorist. In the ensuing gunfight, a 20 year old soldier was shot, and soon after died of his wound.
Two IDF soldiers were injured as a result of terrorist gunfire while engaged in routine security activity at the Gaza Strip security fence on Wednesday. The soldiers received initial medical treatment on site and were evacuated by helicopter to the Soroka hospital in Be'er Sheva. IDF soldiers responded with gunfire. Just last week, IDF soldiers […]
The forthcoming debate over an updated Tal Law – the parameters for service by haredim in the Israel Defense Forces – is liable to become heated and nasty. Mutual accusations will be hurled, with one group asserting that mandatory military service is part of an ill-disguised war against Torah and the other side seeking an equal sharing of the defense burdens that fall on most other Israelis.
By Assaf Yair and Aryeh Savir, Tazpit News Agency
Training held on Jerusalem College of Engineering campus. ZAKA volunteers: "The objective is to create a unified work technique"
As we remember Jerusalem Day, it is important to remember that the city is united and free because diplomacy failed. Israel's greatest triumph happened only because diplomacy proved hopeless in deterring Muslim genocidal ambitions. Had Israel succumbed to international pressure and had Nasser been as subtle as Sadat, then the Six Day War would have looked like the Yom Kippur War with 1948 borders - and Israel very likely would not exist today.
Hundreds of youths who rode from Hebron to Jerusalem on Sunday, Jerusalem Day, were struck on their way by the nightmare sight of an Arab attacking an IDF officer with a knife. Luckily, the attacker was overcome and ended up stabbing himself.
IDF spokesperson: "Terrorists approach the security fence in order to place explosives, plan terror attacks, and attempt to kidnap IDF soldiers, endangering Israeli civilians and security forces stationed in the region."
On the issue of ultra-Orthodox military service, 41% of those surveyed said they would be moderately or very interested in joining the Haredi IDF program, while 59% said they had either little or no interest. Still, the percentage of interest is substantially higher than the current annual rate of Haredi enlistment in the IDF.
Sar-EL, the National Project for Volunteers for Israel, stations volunteers on IDF bases across the country. We work in army uniforms and perform non-combat support duties, working alongside regular soldiers, helping Israel shoulder its defensive burdens.
A course instructor of the Snapir ("Fin") combat unit, practicing with inflatable rubber boats in the Haifa Bay. Women serve across the range of different units in the IDF, on the ground, on sea, or in the air, taking an equal part in protecting Israel.
The Knesset factions are pursuing legislation that will institute an equal draft into the IDF – but something is fishy. The New Israel Fund’s propaganda has made inroads, and it looks like the upcoming elections will focus on haredi-bashing.
By Jewish Press Staff Reporter
The regional instability has changed Israel's security outlook in a number of ways, said Chief Intelligence Officer Brigadier General Ariel Karo, most notably in recent months in the Sinai Peninsula. Moreover, he said, the nature of the IDF's enemies is not always entirely clear, with the lines between military and terrorist groups blurred.
Cpl. May Karen serves as a shooting instructor in the IDF Ground Forces. "I knew I wanted to become an infantry instructor even before enlisting," she says. IDF female shooting instructors go through an extensive course where they learn how to use different weapons and specialize in shooting techniques. They then teach combat infantry soldiers who will use it in battle.
The INS Tanin cost approximately $500 million, one-third of which was funded by the German Government, and is slated to arrive in Israel next year.
I have long felt the holiest Jews are members of the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces. At countless rallies I’ve called out from the heart, “Blessed is the nation that has as its army the Israel Defense Forces.”
Jenin District Governor Kadura Musa died Tuesday night of a heart attack after attackers opened fire on his home, according to a report by Haaretz. A hail of bullets rained down on Musa’s home Tuesday night by a number of attackers positioned outside his home. Guards returned fire, and Musa himself came out and shot […]
According to an IDF spokesperson, a Palestinian man was detained by the Israeli army at a Shechem checkpoint on Saturday while carrying explosives. The man was in possession of two explosive devices and taken into custody.
We would never presume to second-guess the IDF’s judgment concerning the actions of one of its officers while on duty. But several observations need to be made about the worldwide reaction to that video of IDF Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner’s striking a demonstrator with a rifle butt.
By Tibbi Singer
Last Sunday night, a Palestinian woman arrived with her 12-day-old baby girl at an IDF post in the Benjamin region of Judea and Samaria. The infant was having trouble breathing and needed immediate first aid. Commanders from the Benjamin Regional Brigade explained that Palestinians in the region know that if they have a life-threatening emergency, they can come to the IDF post for assistance.
By Yoel Meltzer
For anyone who is sick of the lies and hypocrisy - be it in Israel or the world - and really wants to work for change, it's not enough to simply stand on the street corner and shout the truth. How something is said or how someone looks while performing an act frequently has more impact than anything else in the eyes and ears of the viewer.
In a letter to IDF soldiers and commanders, the Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Gantz wrote, "Another year passed, another year of standing guard, of relentless, exuberant, hard work ensuring the security of Israeli citizens. A year passed and again we stand at Memorial Day ceremonies, by graves of fallen brothers, facing monuments with a endless and unfathomable rows of names of the fallen."
There exists a new type of Israeli, who sees a moral equivalence between Israel's fallen, and those of the enemy.
Jerusalem’s Ammunition Hill museum and memorial were vandalized Sunday night with anti-Zionist slogans, two days before Israel’s Memorial Day.
Aryeh Avner, Chairman of the Ometz (Citizens for Proper Administration and Social and Judicial Justice) movement has complained to Israel's Defense Minister Ehud barak that "According to information reaching the Ometz movement, there has been an increase in the phenomenon where IDF soldiers are forced to listen to talks by rabbis on religious matters."
By dvora
The donated scrolls are brought to Israel from synagogues throughout the world. They are in a worn or damaged state and donors are found to repair them and rededicate them in honor or in memory of loved ones or on special occasions. Upon their arrival in Israel, the scrolls are placed in different army, navy, and air force bases according to the needs of the IDF.
By Jewish Press Staff Reporter
A delegation of some 60 IDF commanders arrived in Poland on Monday, April 16, as part of the Witnesses in Uniform program. Guided by educators from the Yad VaShem Holocaust Memorial Museum, the officers started a four day study of pre-war Poland, the Holocaust, and contemporary Jewish Polish life.
The highly publicized IDF expulsion from Hebron’s Beit Hamachpela of Jews who purchased and were residing in it was an extraordinary event. And it does not bode well for what we can expect from the Israeli government regarding historical Jewish sites.
By Lee Kaplan
A career officer is suspended by the IDF and his career may be in ruins because the ISM manipulated a video to once again defame the IDF. But ISM activists do more than just abuse free speech to interfere with the IDF, nor are they starry-eyed pacifists. They represent a definite security risk to Israel and are documented terrorist confederates.
An officer close to the issue told the Jewish Press: "It is not that we turned away 100 soldiers - had they come to us we would have taken them anyway. But we were told to stop our Haredi outreach efforts which would have netted more recruits. The Tal Law is the big story though. If a new law does not pass we will be in a position to draft 60,000 Haredi soldiers in August."
JERUSALEM – The latest round of negotiations between the West and Iran, designed to force the latter to abandon its nuclear weapons program, has for now seemingly prevented the IDF from proceeding with what many believe to be its planned preemptive strike against key Iranian nuclear installations.
IDF Soldiers and Military Police on Wednesday arrested a Palestinian armed with seven explosives at the Beka'ot crossing in the Jordan River Valley. The terrorist appeared suspicious and while searching him the soldiers discovered three knives and bullets, as well as the explosives. The terrorist was taken for further investigation by security forces.
The IDF on Thursday, ahead of the Passover holiday, issued a closure order affecting Palestinians crossings into and out of Judea and samaria. "In accordance with the directives of the Minister of Defense and as part of the situation assessments in the IDF, a general closure will be implemented in the Judea and Samaria region," […]
By Tibbi Singer
As of Thursday, the Military Rabbinate will render all IDF bases kosher for the Jewish holiday of Passover. After weeks of heavy-duty spring cleaning, soldiers across the IDF will be joined in the field by military rabbis who will certify the bases and assist if need be. By the end of the day, with the mission accomplished, the IDF will be declared Kosher for Passover.
This should serve as a cautionary note to Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) service, which so eagerly cooperates with the Palestinian Red Crescent, to the point of transferring to the latter the medical authority in the district of Samaria. The folks you're in bed with might just shoot you. JTA reports that the goalie of […]
UPDATE: Hebron house resident to Jewish Press: "Baruch Hashem, we will live in this house for a long time to come." Eviction order states that the families must evacuate the premises by 3:00 PM on Tuesday, on the grounds that their presence disrupts public order.
At the Kalandia checkpoint, where Palestinian youths have been taunting Israeli security forces all day, activity fizzled down after TV cameras had left. Jordan mass sit-in remained 6 miles from the border. Lebanon's army restrained Iranian and Palestinian busloads of demonstrators. In this region things can change rapidly, but we're off to the mikvah, to prepare for Shabbat. Here's hoping for a peaceful evening.
Every Friday night at the Shabbat table, Jewish men display their hakarat hatov for their particular "woman of valor", by singing an ode to her that describes in great detail her many meritorious attributes and activities.
It is impossible to rely on defense alone, because Israel simply isn’t big enough to absorb the damage when the defensive systems are not 100% effective. More importantly, a strictly defensive posture has zero deterrent ability. Why not fire rockets at Israel if the worst that can happen is that they will get shot down?
By Tibbi Singer
This week the 124th class of IDF Naval Officers, including three women, completed their training and were stationed on deck Israeli Navy vessels. While most IDF women serve only two years, these three officers have already served through the 36-month naval officers' course, as graduates will be required to sign up for at least an extra 16 months.
Israel and Germany signed a contract purchasing the Israeli Navy's sixth submarine Wednesday. It is an SSK Dolphin Class submarine. Last year the newspaper The Welt am Sonntag reported that German chancellor Angela Merkel conditioned the sale of the Dolphin on Israeli concessions to the Palestinians, which Netanyahu obliged.
Catherine Ashton was castigated for her remarks by officials from across Israel's political spectrum. PM Binyamin Netanyahu lambasted her, saying that it was absurd to compare the "intentional massacre of children and an execution-style killing of an 8-year-old with the IDF's defensive and surgical actions meant to harm terrorists who use children as human shields."
Watch compilation of rocket attack filmed by civilians. The cease fire which was supposedly declared last Tuesday morning remains more wishful thinking than an actual cessation of violence. Or perhaps, as some experts have said, this is the Islamic Jihad's new style of hurting Israel, delivering the cuts of a thousand knives in groups of only three a day, to make any serious IDF reaction appear "disproportionate."
The IDF Spokesperson's Office reports that IDF soldiers patrolling along the Israel-Egypt border Thursday night identified a group of suspects who had infiltrated into Israel. The soldiers called on the suspects to stop, and when they failed to comply, the soldiers acted in accordance with the Army's rules of engagement. Simultaneously, shots were fired from […]
JERUSALEM – Life in south-central Israel began returning to normal as the fragile cease-fire, brokered by the Egyptian military junta, appeared to take hold.
Anti-Semitic slogans scrawled in Calgary and an Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents conducted by B’nai Brith Canada showing a steady rise in anti-Jewish incidents has prompted a former Israeli counter-terrorism expert to establish a Jewish guard troop for relevant sites throughout Canada.
The latest of Iran's provocations against Israel came last week, when it became clear that the Iranian-sponsored terrorist group PRC had planned to carry out another terrorist attack on Israel’s southern border. This time however, the IDF decided not to rely on Egyptian security forces in Sinai in order to prevent this attack.
Israel TV Channel 2 reports that seven people are being charged with trading in weapons that had been stolen from an IDF munitions base in the south. Indictments against them were submitted to the Beer Sheva District Court. Three of the suspects, who live in the Bedouin diaspora, are suspected of stealing at least 3,000 […]
By Rafi Harkham
The 9th president of the Supreme Court of Israel, Beinisch presided over an active term, in which she wrote landmark decisions like the 2005 ruling against the IDF’s use of “human shields,” the 2007 ruling that Israel's separation fence route must be modified, and the 2009 ruling declaring private prisons unconstitutional. But the most memorable ruling of her legacy may be her penultimate one – the High Court's revocation of the Tal Law.
IDF Radio reported that Jerusalem District Police has put out a red alert Sunday morning, in anticipation of a possible renewal of disturbances on Temple Mount and East Jerusalem. One Palestinian who attacked a small IDF unit was killed on Shabbat and 14 were wounded during a violent demonstration. Initial investigation into the event concluded […]
By Rafi Harkham
The Knesset has quickly assumed a proactive role in filling the void left by the the Israeli High Court's decision to annul the Tal Law. Two bills pertaining to mandatory service were already debated and voted upon today, Opposition chairwoman Tzipi Livni continued to blast the low enlistment rate of the Haredi population, and FM Avigdor Lieberman pledged to propose more legislation on the matter in the future.
The IDF and Israel Police uncovered a powerful explosive device overnight while on an anti-smuggling operation. According to the IDF Spokesperson, "Israeli forces that were trying to stop smugglers saw a man throw a suspicious bag and flee the scene. After an examination...it was determined that the bag contained a powerful explosive device. The device […]
The IDF currently has three batteries of the rocket defense system and is scheduled to receive a fourth in the near future. The IDF work plan originally called for an array of nine Iron Dome batteries.
By Jenna Citron
The Florida Loves Israel conference fulfills the dream of young, passionate Jews in Florida to create a unified voice in support of Israel.
Rockets recently fired from the Gaza Strip at Israeli southern communities injure a woman and threaten the lives of thousands, IAF targets terror facilities in response
36 year-old Ieman Sharuna, released as part of the Shalit deal, was re-arrested last week on suspicion of renewing his Hamas activity.
Ayman Sharouna was arrested for rejoining Hamas, in "blatant violation of the terms of his release."
Eshel, head of strategic planning for the IDF, succeeds Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan.
A photograph that has made the rounds on the internet, supposedly depicting an IDF soldier stomping on a Palestinian girl, is exposed as a complete fabrication.
Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi: "When Khamenei gives the order to produce the first nuclear weapon – it will be done, we believe, within one year."
The violence reportedly broke out as the IDF was arresting a resident for hurling rocks at IDF soldiers.
Mamun Ismyail Salame Stut was originally sentenced to 38 years in prison for attempted murder, assembling explosives, and membership in a terror organization.
The three Arab men planned to attack IDF soldiers at a security checkpoint.
Gabi Ashkenazi says that Israel must 'keep a viable military option on the table.'
Many Palestinians in Judea and Samaria turn to the IDF and to Israeli medical emergency services to receive medical attention. Whether ill or wounded, local Arabs receive immediate life-saving medical treatment regardless of existing security tensions, and with no pre-requisites.
Two Palestinian teenagers caught on tape firing on Israeli vehicle last Saturday.
Shas MK: Torah protected Jews before there was a state, the IDF, and Shin Bet.
Head of Har Bracha yeshiva supports IDF service for religious men.
Graffiti was sprayed on IDF building in Tel Aviv.
Terrorist squad in southern Gaza targeted after launching rockets.
Palestinian man wielding an axe attacks border guards.