Israel

President Donald Trump has scored a major foreign policy success in recent weeks, as Iran has reportedly begun pulling its forces out of Syria slowly. The likely reason: economic pressure caused by U.S. sanctions makes it impossible for Iran to continue.

TEL AVIV – Over one thousand Israeli websites were reportedly targeted Thursday morning in a cyberattack in which homepages were replaced with an anti-Israel video and message in broken Hebrew and English: “The countdown of Israel destruction has begun since a long time ago.”

TEL AVIV – The U.S. has called on Israel to sever ties with China in areas with security risks, The Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday citing a U.S. official with intimate knowledge on the matter.

TEL AVIV – Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday said the PA was “absolved” of all agreements with Israel and the United States, including security arrangements, over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to annex Jewish West Bank settlements.

The secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization (P.L.O.) contacted the Vatican Wednesday to “inform” of their concerns over possible Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank.

The University of Florida’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine posted several antisemitic messages on Instagram this week. The group previously came under fire after they were accused of hurling antisemitic remarks at a campus guest lecturer from the Israeli Defense Force.

Rallies next week across Iran to mark the annual Quds Day mass protest against Israel and its allies will involve protesters driving in packed motor vehicles while shouting “Death to Israel! Death to America!” through the windows at startled pedestrians rather than taking to the streets on foot.

China’s Ambassador to Israel, Du Wei, was found dead in his Tel Aviv apartment on Sunday, various reports emanating from Israel indicated.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Breitbart News that the United States considers efforts by the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing to build influence around the world and here in the United States to be a “risk” to the nation’s national security.

TEL AVIV –  The International Criminal Court (ICC) is “unfairly targeting Israel” and engaging in “dangerous politicization” in its bid to investigate Jerusalem and Washington over unsubstantiated war crimes claimed by the Palestinians, a letter signed by 69 senators and 262 House representatives and sent on Wednesday to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. 

Jerusalem — Comments last week from an unnamed Israeli defence official that Iran was reducing its presence in Syria sparked fierce debate about Tehran’s next moves and how the Jewish state should respond.

TEL AVIV  – Three Arab Gulf states have reached out to Israel for help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, a representative from Israel’s leading hospital said Sunday.

Joe Biden’s call to fund the Palestinian Authority (PA) with U.S. taxpayer dollars, including the organization’s subsidies for Islamic terrorist murderers and their families, is “morally repugnant,” said Rabbi Yaakov Menken, managing director of the Coalition for Jewish Values and founder of the Jewish outreach organization Project Genesis.

The New York Times came under fire Friday for an article and an accompanying tweet in which it claimed that Israel’s defense ministry “is best known for pioneering cutting-edge ways to kill people and blow things up.”

TEL AVIV – The city of Tel Aviv is considering allowing restaurants and cafes to reopen as early as next weekend, provided they adhere to certain restrictions including single-use menus, hand sanitizers on every table and thorough disinfection procedures.

The head of Germany’s military counterintelligence agency has apologized for publishing a report containing a map that failed to show the state of Israel.

TEL AVIV – April saw a 50 percent increase in the number of application requests from the U.S. for immigration to Israel compared with the same month last year, and that number is expected to grow, a report in the Hebrew-language Makor Rishon newspaper said.

TEL AVIV – Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah blasted Germany for outlawing his terror group, saying the European country surrendered to U.S. pressure and aimed to please Israel.

TEL AVIV – Iran is withdrawing from Syria and shuttering military bases there, Israeli defense officials said Tuesday following a spike in Israeli-attributed strikes on Iranian targets in the country.

JERUSALEM — Former Soviet dissident Natan Sharansky, winner of the 2020 Genesis Prize, announced Monday that he will donate the $1 million award to organizations fighting the coronavirus pandemic and assisting people most affected by the outbreak.

TEL AVIV – In some good news that coincided with Israel’s 72nd Independence Day, the number of people in Israel who have recovered from the coronavirus has for the first time outnumbered those who are sick.

TEL AVIV – Two new Saudi TV shows sparked outrage among Arab nations and others, including the Hamas terror group, for featuring characters speaking Hebrew and calling for better ties between the Gulf kingdom and Israel.

TEL AVIV – A 62-year-old woman was stabbed in a suspected terror attack Tuesday, only minutes before a state ceremony honoring Israel’s fallen soldiers and those killed in terrorist attacks. 

TEL AVIV – The U.S. on Monday said it was ready to recognize Israel’s annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, but asked Israel’s newly formed unity government to also negotiate with the Palestinians.

TEL AVIV – Israel’s Defense Minister Naftali Bennett on Tuesday said the military had progressed from blocking Iran’s presence in Syria to moving it out entirely.  

TEL AVIV – Israel’s Defense Minister Naftali Bennett’s recent interview on live TV was interrupted by a gatecrasher in the form of his 8-year-old son. The perennially cool defense minister continues to answer the news anchor’s questions with aplomb, stopping only to kiss or caress the young interloper.

TEL AVIV – Syria accused Israel of an airstrike near Damascus in the early hours of Monday, killing four members of a pro-Iran militia and three civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

CAIRO — Israel’s Foreign Ministry on Sunday condemned a new Egyptian TV drama set in the year 2120 that predicts Israel’s destruction as well as the breakup of the United States.

TEL AVIV – Israel coronavirus pandemic will likely spark a massive wave of immigration to Israel, with some 100,000 expats and new arrivals expected to move to the country once the crisis is over, according to Ministry of Absorption statistics.

TEL AVIV — In a strange twist, the coronavirus pandemic has breathed new life into Gaza’s long-abeyant factories which are now working furiously to produce PPE including masks, gloves and protective gowns for Israel.