DNA Evidence Argues Ancient Biblical Villain Philistines Have European Ancestors

The Roman name for the region including Israel—which evolved into “Palestine”—may have been derived from the name of the Philistine people who once lived on the coast, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica. Yet ironically, it turns out at least some of the Philistine’s ancestors are not only not from Israeli …

Arab Village Electrician Uncovers Ancient Artifacts, Helps Israel Preserve Them

Arabs can face opposition from their own people for helping Israel, but one Arab villager recently chose to do the right thing in spite of critique and in the process helped Israel preserve history. The resident of the village of Araba in northern Israel, Ahmed Nassar Yassin, is an electrician …

Politicians Predict Impact of Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Peace Plan on Israel

The long-awaited Middle East peace plan from United States President Donald Trump is not expected to be unveiled until after Tuesday’s Israeli election, but Israeli politicians are already making bold statements about details in the as-yet-unseen plan dubbed “The Deal of the Century.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in comments …

Trump, Netanyahu Plan to Discuss US-Israel ‘Mutual Defense Treaty’

The United States and Israel could move towards arranging a mutual defense treaty linking the two countries, according to US President Donald Trump’s Twitter feed and comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Saturday, Trump tweeted in a pair of tweets, “I had a call today with Prime Minister …

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Trump, Netanyahu Plan to Discuss US-Israel ‘Mutual Defense Treaty’

September 15, 2019 News

PM Netanyahu with US President Trump. Photo courtesy of Israeli GPO

The United States and Israel could move towards arranging a mutual defense treaty linking the two countries, according to US President Donald Trump’s Twitter feed and comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On Saturday, Trump tweeted in a pair of tweets, “I had a call today with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss the possibility of moving forward with a Mutual Defense Treaty, between the United States and Israel, that would further anchor the tremendous alliance…. between our two countries. I look forward to continuing those discussions after the Israeli Elections when we meet at the United Nations later this month!”

Netanyahu thanked Trump on Twitter and then spoke further on the proposal on Sunday in comments released by his office. “We agreed to advance a historic defensive alliance between the US and Israel at our upcoming meeting at the UN General Assembly,” he declared.

“This is historic because it adds a powerful component of deterrence against our enemies, alongside maintaining the ability to act, and freedom of action, of our forces. On this we will always insist and it will always be in this defensive agreement just as it has entered into the other defensive agreements. This is a main component for coming generations to ensure our future.” … Continue Reading

Politicians Predict Impact of Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ Peace Plan on Israel

September 15, 2019 Peace and Conflict

What will the Trump peace plan look like? PM Netanyahu and US President Trump. Illustrative. Photo courtesy of Avi Ohayon (GPO)

The long-awaited Middle East peace plan from United States President Donald Trump is not expected to be unveiled until after Tuesday’s Israeli election, but Israeli politicians are already making bold statements about details in the as-yet-unseen plan dubbed “The Deal of the Century.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in comments released by his office on Sunday, reiterated his pledge to extend Israeli sovereignty to the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, known as settlements.

He then went on to imply that was part of Trump’s vision. Said Netanyahu, “These things will come up in the plan of the century; it will come very fast after the elections.”

Meanwhile, a right-wing political rival to Netanyahu warned on Sunday that that positive prediction for Israel isn’t the whole story. Former Israeli minister of education Naftali Bennet, a candidate with the Yemina party running for Israel’s parliament (Knesset), posted to Facebook that the Trump plan would ultimately create “islands” of settlements in an “ocean of “Palestine”, according to a report in “The Times of Israel”. … Continue Reading

Arab Village Electrician Uncovers Ancient Artifacts, Helps Israel Preserve Them

September 11, 2019 Human Interest, News-Drash

Some ancient artifacts are discovered by accident. Illustrative. Photo courtesy of Diego Barkan, Israel Antiquities Authority.

Arabs can face opposition from their own people for helping Israel, but one Arab villager recently chose to do the right thing in spite of critique and in the process helped Israel preserve history. The resident of the village of Araba in northern Israel, Ahmed Nassar Yassin, is an electrician that last weekend inadvertently discovered artifacts dating back thousands of years. According to a press release from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), Yassin was just leaning against a mountain ridge when it partly crumbled and exposed pottery and a copper dagger blade that are believed to be 4,500 years old.

While finding the historically valuable items was surprisingly easy, Yassin’s next step to find them a safe home was not—but he chose to do the right thing anyway. “Ahmed showed good citizenship from the start by delivering the findings to the Antiquities Authority,” Nir Distelfeld of the Antiquities Theft Prevention Unit was quoted in the press release as saying. “He told me there were some who called him a dupe and a traitor in that he handed the artifacts over to the state [of Israel], but he chose to act as a law-abiding citizen.

“Ahmed realized that this was not his private property, but a legacy belonging to the general public and must reach the professional bodies responsible for antiquities.” … Continue Reading

Israel Exposes Site Where Iran ‘Conducted Experiments for Nuclear Weapons’

September 9, 2019 News

Illustrative photo of Netanyahu discussing Iran’s “secret nuclear files”. Photo courtesy of: Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)

Israel has once again exposed Iranian nuclear secrets, this time unveiling a site Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday was where “Iran conducted experiments to develop nuclear weapons.” The publication of the previously covert site follows Israel’s uncovering of the Iranian nuclear archive that detailed efforts to develop nuclear weapons in the past, as well as a nuclear warehouse that proves Iran violated the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“Today, we reveal that yet another secret nuclear site was exposed in the archives that we brought from Tehran,” said Netanyahu in comments released by his office. “In this site, Iran conducted experiments to develop nuclear weapons. This is the site near Abadeh, south of Isfahan. When Iran realized that we uncovered the site here’s what they did: they destroyed the site. They just wiped it out.

The Israeli premier continued with a warning to Iran’s leadership. “This is what I have to say to the tyrants of Tehran: Israel knows what you’re doing, Israel knows when you’re doing it and Israel knows where you’re doing it,” said Netanyahu. “We will continue to expose your lies. What we see is a consistent pattern of Iranian lies, deception and violations.” … Continue Reading

Gaza Violence Explodes—Literally—with Rockets, Drone Attack

September 8, 2019 Peace and Conflict

Gaza rockets have resumed. Spent Palestinian rocket. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock

Just two weeks after Israel foiled an Iranian drone attack plot, Gaza terrorists launched their own drone attack and bombed an Israeli military vehicle on Saturday. In response, Israel struck multiple Hamas targets. The incident follows the firing of multiple rockets at Israel from Gaza on Friday, with a report from The Times of Israel that Egyptian mediators were in the Gaza Strip seeking to deescalate the situation.

IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus reported via Twitter on Saturday that Gaza terrorists “apparently tried to attack IDF soldiers with an IED dropped from a small drone flown over from Gaza. No injuries, slight damage to vehicle. Probably same type of drone used for photography.” In response, per posts to the IDF Twitter feed, Israel struck the terror squad “responsible for launching the drone” as well as “a number of Hamas targets, including offensive naval equipment and 2 military compounds in Gaza. We hold Hamas responsible.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in comments released by his office on Sunday, said of Israel’s counterstrikes, “We are acting vigorously against any attempt to harm our citizens and soldiers. Just like we showed again last night, we will not tolerate any attempted aggression against us and we will maintain the security of Israel.” … Continue Reading

Netanyahu Reiterates Plan to Annex Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria

September 2, 2019 News

PM Netanyahu in Elkana. Photo courtesy of Haim Zach (Israeli GPO)

With elections just weeks away in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing for Israeli sovereignty over all the Jewish communities in the Biblical heartland of Judea and Samaria. Those communities—also known as settlements—are located in the so-called West Bank, which is also claimed by the Palestinians. On Sunday, while in the settlement of Elkana, Netanyahu was quoted by a press release as saying, “This is the old, original home of the Jewish people and we will build more in Elkana. We will not uproot anyone here… and with G-d’s help we will apply Jewish sovereignty over all communities as part of the land of Israel and the State of Israel.”

Netanyahu also referred to a major community destroyed in the 2005 Gaza disengagement, in which Israel withdrew from multiple communities in the Gaza Strip in an effort to step towards peace with the Palestinians, saying, “There will be no more Gush Katif; there will be no more uprooting.”

The land-for-peace model has long claimed that Israel could surrender territory to the Palestinians in exchange for a peace accord. However, the 2005 Gaza disengagement and multiple rounds of negotiations with the Palestinians based on that premise have yet to yield peace—something Netanyahu highlighted in Sunday’s comments. … Continue Reading

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