By Barry Rubin
Perhaps if Western states studied its policies rather than endlessly criticized them they might gain from the experience.
A fundamental inequality is evident in all expressions of the Middle East peace process.
Blaming foreigners, however hostile they may be, yields only further self-delusion and suffering.
By J. E. Dyer
This is the second time reports have surfaced that Israel hit Syria's Scientific Studies and Research Center.
A fight that erupted at a meeting in the Public Security Ministry Monday sent one woman to the hospital for injuries suffered by the attacker, who has been ordered to take a two-week “cooling off” vacation. The head of the firearms department barged into a workers’ committee meeting and protested his not being invited. When […]
Israel must continue to base its policies toward both Iran and 'Palestine' upon an utterly candid and unvarnished awareness of threats to Jewish life.
Israel, because of its more limited strike capabilities, cannot wait much longer before it loses the ability to act.
Lawlessness in the Sinai is growing and the danger of terrorists taking control is huge.
The terror unit's leader is still at large in Gaza.
Once it becomes operational, the Arrow 3 will form another layer of defense over millions of Israelis.
Only if sanctions are backed by "credible military threat" will there be a chance that Iran will peacefully halt its nuclear program, Netanyahu said.
By Shalom Bear
Tasked with the job of forming the next coalition government, Netanyahu sets out his goals for this term.
According to israeli Brig. Gen. (Ret.) Amnon Sofri, the transfer of unconventional weapons to Hezbollah is a red line for Israel when it comes to Syria.
Israeli leaders be thinking about doctrinal continuity in all of the seemingly discrete Palestinian factions.
Finally, what if, say, Venezuela was developing nuclear weapons and every other day one of their officials promised to root out the ‘cancer’ that was the U.S.?
When it comes to the army, there are some thing you just don't post online.
When terrorists represent populations that enthusiastically support their attacks, responsibility for ensuing counter-terrorist harm must lie with the criminals.
By Yair Shamir
A Palestinian state would not only fail to bring peace and stability to the region, but would increase the tension and instability to the region.
By Barry Rubin
The Washington Post is suggesting that greater military success for terrorism will lead to Middle East peace.
My children go to school behind fences, with an armed guard at the gates.
Although the wider regional implications of Assad's pending collapse remain unknown, the fall of the Alawite regime will undoubtedly strike a major blow to Iran.
Peace is not at hand — maybe it will never be, but that doesn’t mean that Israel can’t continue to survive and thrive.
Watch the transformation...
"No decision by the UN can break the 4000-year-old bond between the people of Israel and the land of Israel."
Avi Luzon, president of Israel’s football association, said Wednesday that Israel’s hosting of next year’s European under-21 football championship would not pose a security problem.
A call by a far-right Hungarian parliamentarian to register Jews on lists as national security threats met international condemnation on Tuesday, as well as a protest outside the legislature, calling for his resignation.
The EU has provided a new idea for Israel to come down harder on the internationalists that block our roads.
Hamas has begun deploying unarmed policemen along the Israeli border with Gaza. The initial deployment began east of Khan Yunis, where on Friday, the IDF killed one and wounded around a dozen Gazans who tried to breach the security fence. The mission of the Hamas policemen is to keep Gazan citizens away from the border with Israel, and […]
Palestinians claim that the IDF killed and injured Gazans who approached the border fence.
In light of the present security situation in Israel, EL AL will allow customers to cancel or change their flight departure dates under the following conditions: Passengers departing from Israel and Israeli passengers returning to Israel by November 29, 2012 (inclusive) will be able to move up their flight dates with no cancelation fee or […]
The number of fatalities in demonstrations against Operation " Pillar of Defense" in Judea and Samaria has risen to two. Last night IDF forces shot dead a demonstrator near Hebron, after they said they were attacked by him. Another protester reportedly died of his injuries, after a Palestinian-reported clash with security forces. The Army does […]
The Jerusalem District Court, in a landmark decision 10 years in the making, ruled on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority can be sued in Israeli court for damages suffered by an Israeli Arab tortured and kidnapped by their security forces on suspicion of spying for Israel, according to a report by The Times of Israel.
7:35 AM NYC closed the area around the Israeli Consulate in light of the protests and for security reasons. Security has also been increased around other Israeli sites in the city. The Federation announced they are donating 5 million dollars to Israelis in the South. A Suspicious Object was found near the Jerusalem light rail […]
By Aryeh Savir, Tazpit News Agency
Arabs from Isawiya in east Jerusalem rioted near the Har Hatsofim Hospital, on Mt. Scopus. The rioters threw stones at security forces, blocked the road and shot fireworks at the hospital compound. Spokesperson for the Border Police stated that the Border Police on site kept the rioters away, opened the blocked road and responded with […]
Residents of southern Israel who need information on the availability of their regular daycare services, employee rights and responsibilities associated with the security situation, and essential worker schedules are encouraged to call a hotline established by the Ministry of Employment. Dial 1-800-201-180.
IDF Radio confirms that Israeli Embassy staff in Egypt are returning home due to security concerns. It's not known if Israel's ambassador will be returning in the near future.
However bad many Americans think that the Obama administration is on security matters, at least one thing can be said in their favor: they are not Europeans.
As Israel’s border with Gaza heats up, Israeli officials from the highest echelons have declared that the State will defend Israeli citizens.
By Anav Silverman, Tazpit News Agency
It was a daunting, dismal weekend for Israel’s south, particularly for Israelis living in communities bordering the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Along with the rain, more than 100 Gaza rockets struck the south, wounding four Israelis and sending countless others into shock and trauma, while damaging homes, businesses and vehicles.
10:44PM: The two suspected terrorists who were seen crossing near the security fence, near Be'eri, have been captured. They have been taken in for interrogation. 10:40 PM: Two suspected terrorists were seen crossing into Israel from Gaza between Be'eri and Re'im near the Gaza border. The army has closed down Road 232 as it searches for them.
A construction worker building the security fence along the Gaza border was lightly injured in an attack Thursday evening. The man was injured from a nearby explosion. It was originally thought that it was from a mortar that had exploded nearby, but Palestinians have been talking about an IED they placed alongside the fence, and […]
Three mortar shells landed in Israel’s Golan Heights on Thursday morning, in what security officials are saying is an accidental firing as part of the bloody battle between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and a growing militant opposition.
The ritual of rockets that periodically pummel Israel’s southern communities includes numerous media interviews with the important people. The journalists attempt to extract from anybody who thinks he is somebody some piece of a resolution for this crazy situation that is unparalleled anywhere in the world.
America has spoken. Obama has been given and has claimed his victory. America will get the government and the leaders it elected and cannot now cry over the results that will come in the next four years. Some of us can and do regret the results, but we will live with them, no weaker than we were yesterday, no less aware of what this so-called victory will mean for Israel and for the US.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu congratulated re-elected President Barack Obama.
The Israeli city of Modi'in is slammed from an unlikely direction - Israel's civil right's organization, the Association for Civil rights in Israel (ACRI). Granted ACRI doesn't have the most objective agenda, and their voice was loudly missing when it came the Disengagement in 2005, but they are to be praised for doing the right thing when it comes to Modi'in.
The IAF dropped warning brochures onto Gaza, because apparently the locals didn't know there were terrorists acting among them.
By Adam Levick
The Observer (sister publication of the Guardian) published a review, by film critic Philip French, of the film '5 Broken Cameras,' a documentary produced by a Palestinian about his “resistance” to Israel’s security fence in Bil’in. In in addition to the story’s predictable Palestinian narrative, French writes that "Inevitably, seeing this barrier going up in Israel we think of the wall surrounding the Warsaw ghetto, the one that appeared overnight in Berlin…."
The Central Elections Commission approved a budget for the upcoming elections on Sunday.
While it is still unclear whether the clear victory by Mitt Romney in the first presidential debate two weeks ago will amount to a more than a mere bump in terms of his popularity, or whether Vice President Joe Biden’s aggressiveness in last week’s vice presidential debate stanched the bleeding, we certainly have been witness to some troubling developments over the past couple of weeks.
By Barry Rubin
While foreign policy did not figure large in the second presidential debate, the Middle East again emerged as the overwhelmingly main international issue. In the beginning of the debate, President Barack Obama claimed that he put a high priority on energy independence, an assertion well refuted by Governor Mitt Romney. A president who wanted energy independence, from the unreliability of Middle East supplies, could easily expand oil drilling on federal land; the use of new technology to produce oil and gas; a major pipeline from Canada; and the continued production and use of coal for generating power. To do none of these things and put his effort into restricting traditional energy sources and push hard for untested, long-term, and failed “green energy” schemes subverts energy independence. But the main emphasis in the debate was on the Benghazi assassinations.
Hillary told CNN that she takes “responsibility” for what happened in Benghazi, “what I want to avoid is some kind of political gotcha or blame game.”
Eilat is a different world from most of Israel - they like it that way; they want it that way. But more and more, security is coming down here. My overwhelming memory of Eilat remains that one visit, four years ago, on our 25th wedding anniversary, when Elie's unit came under terror attack in Jerusalem as they were walking to the Western Wall days before Rosh Hashana.
By Barry Rubin
The Obama Administration's Middle East errors are deepened and the lessons of experience once again rejected in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s latest defense of these wrong-headed policies in a speech given at my first employers, the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C. Her argument is that the United States should ignore violence and extremism while helping to build democracies. The problem is that most of the violence and extremism comes from forces that the Obama Administration supports or groups basically allied with those forces. The violence and extremism is the inevitable outcome, not a declining byproduct, of this process.
A coalition of religious groups is calling on the Washington DC Metro to donate proceeds from an ad campaign suggesting Muslims are savages to an organization supporting human rights.
Even before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee announced it would begin hearings on last month’s terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, it was clear to many that important questions needed to be answered.
By J. E. Dyer
Instead of sticking with our commitment to a new Libya, one in which Americans have friendship and influence – one in which we can walk free, and so can Libyans – we have closed our post in Benghazi and drawn down our embassy staff in Tripoli to “essential” personnel only. It will be of some interest to see how long it takes al Qaeda or other terrorist savages to attack us in Tripoli.
Lebanese and Syrian opposition sources describe Nasif as occupying a central role in Hezbollah, which explains his role as the organization's task force commander in Syria, responsible for coordinating Hezbollah operations in Syria with his counterparts at Syria's military and security forces. Nasif's assignment included supporting Assad's forces in their suppression of the popular uprising in the country and in fighting against the rebel army.
Despite the deteriorating security situation along the Egyptian-Israeli border, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has rejected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi’s request to reconsider the terms of the 1979 Camp David Accords. Morsi wants a substantial increase in the number of Egyptian tanks and armored divisions to patrol what has seemingly become the lawless Sinai Peninsula.
"Some reporters are anti-Israel, others are pro-Israel and most are objective," Edelstein said.
The media are still doing their best to pretend that a gaffe is a mistake, when they are actually using it to mean the telling of inconvenient truths. Obama's reign of error is a constellation of inconvenient truths, economic, security and legal, that cannot be discussed in public. The telling of these inconvenient truths has been met with cries of racism, no matter how little they have to do with race. Now they are being met with cries of "Gaffe, Gaffe," when Romney brings them up.
The head of the supreme security committee in Benghazi, Libya, quit his position on Wednesday, citing tension between the ministry of interior and the security services.
On Tuesday evening, security forces discovered that the security fence of Maaleh Shomron was cut open on the west side, which faces the (hostile) Arab village of Azun. Maaleh Shomron is just west of Ginot Shomron (see the map in the attached photo). Rapid Response Teams in Maaleh Shomron and Ginot Shomron were called up, […]
A dear friend recently shared a family story. Her grandfather had come to America before World War II to test the prospects of relocating his family in the new country.
Protesters attacked the US Embassy in Yemen on Thursday. The protesters breached the gates, took down and burnt the US flag, smashed windows, and burned down they security office at the entrance. They did not manage to enter the main office building, and security guards opened fire on the protesters.
By JTA
The “Red Hot Chili Peppers” performed in Tel Aviv on Monday night, a decade after they canceled their show due to security issues. It was the group’s first visit to Israel, and to make the most of it, the members went to the Western Wall in Jerusalem straight from the airport. The band talked about Hillel Slovak, one of their founding members, who died from a drug overdose in the early 1990s.
Lior Farchi, the 43 year-old chief of security in the Samaria region Jewish community of Shaarei Tikva who was run over by a 25 year old Arab from Kafr Qasem, will be laid to rest at 2pm on Monday in a military ceremony at the Segula Cemetery in Petach Tikva. He is survived by a pregnant wife and three young children.
Unlike Iraq, Libya is a back-burner issue, even if the oil-rich country is beginning to look a lot like Iraq. In defending U.S. military force there, President Barack Obama said that "To brush aside America's responsibility as a leader and -– more profoundly -– our responsibilities to our fellow human beings under such circumstances would have been a betrayal of who we are." But with armed militias, car bombs going off, destruction of religious shrines, and Salafi violence, what does the current state of Libya say about who we are?
Spray painted symbols of swastikas were found on road signs in the Monmouth Heights neighborhood.
Over the past few weeks, the Israeli counter terrorism command approached national security forces in Cyprus, Greece, Bulgaria, and Thailand, requesting that they increase both the overt overt security for Israeli tourists who will be traveling to these countries during the Tishrei holiday period (Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah) when hundreds of thousands of Israelis are expected to visit abroad.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled the second meeting of the security cabinet due to leaks from the meeting held yesterday about discussions onIran’s nuclear program.
Aryeh Eldad wrote on his Facebook page that from what he knows, the settlement of Migron will be forcibly evacuated by security forces on Sunday morning. He calls on Migron supporters to make their way to Migron to try to prevent the expulsion, and not to use violence against the security forces. Eldad adds that after Migron, […]
A suspected terrorist snuck over the Jordan border late Wednesday night and into a Jordan Valley settlement. Residents have been told to stay indoors while security forces search for him. Update: The infiltrator was caught at 2:00AM on Thursday.
By Ben Sales
As the frequency of suicide bombings increased in the 1990s, Israelis began to realize that their conflicts had shifted from the conventional battlefield to their streets, buses and cafes.
By Amos Harel
Israel had previously ignored, or sometimes secretly approved, Egyptian violations of the treaty. These always concerned deploying more battalions than agreed, but only for a short period of time, in order to fight the terrorist groups. This time, Cairo is aiming for a more serious goal.
About half of recruitment-age Israeli youths do not enlist, said Head of IDF Human Resources, Major General Orna Barbibay on Wednesday. But despite this reluctance to serve, she argued that "the IDF is the only melting pot I know," adding, "and even if the connection is partial, the Army still introduces different segments of the populations to each other, enabling them to perform the essential task of national security."
More than any other reason, “social justice” killed Moshe Silman. Here’s why: Who confiscated his truck and for what purpose? Social security. After all, what is social security, if not the mechanism established by the state to ensure so-called social justice? It is an institution authorized to take from the “haves” and give to the “have-nots.” And from whom will the Institute for Social Justice take if not from the owner of a moving company? And to whom will it give the value of the truck? To the tycoons? Of course not. It will give the truck’s value to the have-nots, or to those who know how to hide what they have.
From time immemorial, the Jewish People has faced powerful adversities in asserting its sovereignty over the Land of Israel, and by undertaking unilateral national security actions. Conviction-driven defiance of adversity has earned the Jewish People deep respect.
A Pro-Palestinian website exposed the identities of 100 Israeli Air Force pilots. The list included their names, addresses, and photos. In Israel, one isn't allowed to publicize personal details of pilots for their security and safety.
The Islamic movement to which newly-elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi belongs, released a statement on Monday claiming the Sinai border attack that left 16 Egyptian security officers dead “could be attributed to the Mossad," according to Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Let’s explain what is usually considered a major paradox: the US provides billions in military aid to Israel, enabling it to keep its enemies at bay. But at the same time its diplomats claim that they don’t know what the capital is, and the major thrust of US policy since 1973 has been to force Israel to withdraw to indefensible boundaries, despite the obvious damage to its security.
I have come to the conclusion that where it matters the most to me – the security of the State of Israel and the overall welfare of the Jewish people, there is virtually no difference between them. Both President Barack Obama and former Governor Mitt Romney would be “good for the Jews.”
By JTA
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews has given $1 million each to the Jewish Agency and Chabad to help them guard against anti-Semitic and terrorist attacks. The money will go to fund infrastructure upgrades and security measures for Jewish communities around the world that are unable to fund security expenses on their own. "There […]
For weeks now, I've been posting and writing about the International Olympic Committee's pathetic, disgusting and disturbing decision not to grant one moment, sixty seconds, of silence in memory of the Israeli athletes murdered in Munich - not once...in forty years. And today, I read an article about the heightened security concerns.
The primary point of Israel's nuclear forces must be deterrence ex ante, not preemption or reprisal ex post. If, however, nuclear weapons should ever be introduced into a conflict between Israel and one or more of the several states that still wish to destroy it, some form of nuclear war fighting could ensue.
At least seven passengers were killed and 30 injured in an explosion on a tour bus carrying Israeli tourists in Bulgaria in an apparent terror attack.
By Soeren Kern
In Norway, for example, an ethnic Norwegian convert to militant Islam who has received terrorist training from al-Qaeda's offshoot in Yemen, is awaiting orders to carry out an attack on the West, officials from three European security agencies said on June 25. Although the terrorist-in-waiting is believed to still be in Yemen, even if he is found he cannot be extradited: under Norwegian law it is not a crime to attend a terrorist training camp.
By Alex Abel
About 45 minutes after she was scheduled to begin, there was still no sign of her. The anticipation and excitement were building as chatter filled the press room. A lady then took the microphone…to tell the crowd that Hillary would be another 40 minutes.
I came to know Mr. Shamir quite well when I hosted him at the University of Oxford in the mid-90’s. He seemed all but forgotten even then and told me that his dramatic drop in popularity in Israel had been due to the euphoria over the premiership of Yitzchak Rabin and his dramatic overtures for peace. He told me this with a touch of resignation. It seemed he did feel underappreciated. More importantly, he seemed to divine the coming catastrophe.
By JTA
Iranian nationals arrested in Kenya may have been planning to attack U.S. or Israeli targets, Kenyan security forces said. Security forces found 33 pounds of a powerful explosive after they arrested the Iranians in June, according to The Associated Press. The explosives were in Mombassa, a coastal city. The AP reported that several hotels on […]
Shifting regional alliances, spurred by Europe's economic adversity and the spread of radical Islam across Africa, has created a window of opportunity for Israel to reengage with a host of emerging African nations.
Gov. Mitt Romney has made some outrageous comments and taken some extreme positions in this presidential campaign. But few, if any, are more baffling than his latest statement on his plans for the U.S.-Israel relationship. Asked what he would do to strengthen America’s alliance with Israel, he said, “by and large, you can just look at the things the president has done and do the opposite.”
In the short term, the Palestinian Authority may succeed in restoring law and order to areas under its control in the West Bank. But in the long term, its current clampdown will increase bitterness and frustration among a large number of Fatah gunmen and security officers who feel betrayed by Abbas.
Israel, which is approximately the size of the state of New Jersey, is also a very densely populated country – with an average of 982 people per square mile. "The idea...has spatial, economic and security logic for us," PM Netanyahu said. "It is also of value regarding environmental protection."
By JTA
Receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama, Israeli President Shimon Peres called for a renewal of peace talks with the Palestinians. "Israel and the Palestinians are ripe today to restart" the peace talks, Peres said at the White House ceremony on Wednesday. "A firm basis already exists. A solution of two national states: […]
On its face, it might seem that Attorney General Eric Holder’s appointment of two veteran federal prosecutors to mount a criminal investigation into the recent spate of national security leaks is a step in the right direction. Indeed, those appointments seem to have quieted congressional calls for the appointment of a special independent investigative counsel and holding congressional hearings into what will doubtless come to be known as Leakgate. Yet there are some issues that come to mind.
By Barry Rubin
The Obama administration’s portrayal of the assassination of Osama bin Laden as some courageous decision shows more than anything how weak the President is. A normal U.S. government would have taken this choice for granted, and not felt the need to stress the president’s alleged machismo.
National Union MKs Michael Ben-Ari and Aryeh Eldad toured eastern Jerusalem’s A-Tur neighborhood on Sunday afternoon in an attempt to highlight the need for security in the area, famous for housing the millennia-old Mount of Olives cemetery.
Overnight, IAF aircraft targeted three weapon manufacturing facilities in the central Gaza Strip, as well as two terror tunnels in the northern and southern Gaza Strip. Direct hits were identified. This is in response to the infiltration on Friday morning, in which Staff Sergeant Netanel Moshiashvili was killed by terrorist fire adjacent to the security […]
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.