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Was UFO a Russian ballistic missile? Russian Defense Ministry says it successfully test-fired intercontinental ballistic missile Thursday; earlier, unidentified flying object reported in Israel, Lebanon, other states in region and Reports from the Syrian cities of Daraa, Hama and Dir al-Zur are claiming that Assad's forces are using unknown gas shells against civilians. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4239820,00.htm

The Plesner Committee for Equality in National Service may only discuss ways of making hareidim serve in the IDF – but not Arab citizens, MK David Rotem (Yisrael Beytenu) disclosed Thursday. "The Attorney General and Legal Advisor to the Government informed the committee uner MK Yohanan Plesner that deals with enlisting everyone, that enlistment of Arabs is not within its purview," Rotem told reservist protesters in the "Suckers' Tent," which is currently visiting Efrat. The Legal Advisor's decision was communicated to the committee by his deputy, Attorney Mike Blass, who explained that the Tal Law that was struck down by...

WATERLOO, Iowa — Joe Carpenter has more questions than answers about what happened on June 8, 1967 — but no question about the valor of his shipmates. Carpenter, a 1965 West High School graduate, was a crew member of the USS Liberty. The U.S. Navy ship was attacked by Israeli forces during the 1967 Six Day War, in which Israel defeated a host of Arab nations and captured the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights and East Jerusalem. Thirty-four of Carpenter's shipmates were killed and 174 wounded — two-thirds of the crew of 294. Carpenter himself was reported...

Hardline nationalist MKs were upset with the Knesset vote Wednesday against the Regulation Law, but leftists were not happy with the prime minister's promises to build 300 more homes in Beit El. MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said angrily: "The Likud's true nature has once yet been exposed. It talks loudly about the settlement enterprise but at the same time saws at its foundations." "The Likud ministers have turned out to be cowards who prefer to run away or surrender in the face of the prime minister's threat to fire them, rather than stand behind their commitments and principles," he...

Hardline nationalist MKs were upset with the Knesset vote Wednesday against the Regulation Law, but leftists were not happy with the prime minister's promises to build 300 more homes in Beit El. MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said angrily: "The Likud's true nature has once yet been exposed. It talks loudly about the settlement enterprise but at the same time saws at its foundations." "The Likud ministers have turned out to be cowards who prefer to run away or surrender in the face of the prime minister's threat to fire them, rather than stand behind their commitments and principles," he...

The Council of American Islamic Relations [CAIR] may tout itself as an “organization that challenges stereotypes of Islam and Muslims,” and as group that was formed “to challenge anti-Muslim discrimination nationwide.” But in fighting the good fight against hate, at least one of its regional leaders demonizes Jews as the source of Muslims’ problems. “Who are those who incurred the wrath of Allah?” CAIR-Michigan Executive Director Dawud Walid asked in a May 25 sermon at the Islamic Organization of North America mosque in Warren, Mich. “They are the Jews, they are the Jews,” he answered himself in Arabic. Aside from...

Palestinian president says opportunity 'may not stay on the table for long time,' urges Israel to sign peace agreement Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Israel on Tuesday to accept a two-state solution based on 1967 borders, warning that the opportunity "may not stay on the table for a long time" given the political upheavals caused by the Arab Spring. Abbas set out the Palestinian case for statehood and full UN membership at a World Economic Forum conference in Istanbul, stressing that membership of the United Nations should not prejudice negotiations with Israel. "I would like to address our Israeli neighbours...

US President tells meeting of Orthodox Jewish leadership that his support falls with Israel when it comes to peace. WASHINGTON -- US President Barack Obama is worried that Palestinian leadership was no longer as interested in advancing toward peace, he said in a conversation with Orthodox Jewish leaders on Tuesday. During the conversation, an Orthodox Union (OU) official asked Obama what lessons he had learned about promoting Israeli-Palestinian peace, considering how his first two years in office had been marked by tensions with Israel. When it came to Israel, Obama asked the group not to doubt his "fidelity" to their...

Jerusalem has, for the last several thousand years, been the holiest city in Jerusalem. Last week, Israelis celebrated Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day – the day in 1967 when the Israel Defense Forces liberated Jerusalem from Arab rule, reuniting the city and opening its holy places to all who wish to visit them. For 45 years, Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel. And yet the position of the United States government remains that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel. That position was clarified in March 2012 by a State Department official, Victoria Nuland, who refused to say that Jerusalem...

Operation Samson Israel's Deployment of Nuclear Missiles on Subs from Germany Many have wondered for years about the exact capabilities of the submarines Germany exports to Israel. Now, experts in Germany and Israel have confirmed that nuclear-tipped missiles have been deployed on the vessels. And the German government has long known about it. By SPIEGEL The pride of the Israeli navy is rocking gently in the swells of the Mediterranean, with the silhouette of the Carmel mountain range reflected on the water's surface. To reach the Tekumah, you have to walk across a wooden jetty at the pier in the...

Nationalists in the coalition caved in and abstained from the Knesset vote Wednesday afternoon that rejected a bill to legalize five homes in the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El, forcing the expulsion of 30 families. The vote as 22 for the bill and 69 against. Absent from the vote were all of the ministers and deputy ministers who vowed to test Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ultimatum to vote against the bill or be fired. Among those who left the Knesset before the vote were Jewish Home leader Daniel Hershkowitz and Likud ministers Yuli Edelstein and Ayoub Kara. Prime Minister Binyamin...

Protesters showed their support of the Regulation Law in a demonstration near the Supreme Court shortly before a vote on the bill. Dozens of youths and young adults blocked the road near the court house in Jerusalem before the Knesset plenum was scheduled to decide on the measure, which would retroactively legalize Beit El's Ulpana neighborhood. The so-called Regulation Bill requires anyone claiming ownership of land upon which homes are being built to file a challenge and prove ownership within four years of the start of construction upon the property. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who arranged for the five apartment...

U.S. President Barack Obama told a delegation of the U.S. Orthodox Jewish community at the White House on Tuesday that his administration is decidedly more attentive to Israel than it is to the Palestinians. Obama was speaking at a meeting between White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew and leaders of the Orthodox Jewish community, including Dr. Simcha Katz, Rabbi Steven Burg and Nathan Diament of the Orthodox Union. Meeting participants who wished to remain nameless told Haaretz that the delegation asked Obama what lessons he has learned from events related to the Israel-Palestine peace process, and that the U.S....

Amid a surge of bombings in Iraq, Iran appears to be getting concerned about growing efforts to unseat Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom Tehran helped to power.Even fellow Shiites are saying Maliki, who controls all Iraq's military, security and intelligence forces, should go. At the same time, Tehran is seeking to ensure that Iraq's Shiites don't upstage Iran's long-held spiritual domination of the Shiite sect, a position that the Iranian clergy seized during Saddam Hussein's rule when he ruthlessly suppressed Iraq's Shiite majority. The political and religious friction is being intensified by the campaign of bombings and assassinations carried out...

(CNN) -- Woroud Sawalha knows she won't win a medal at the London Olympics. She isn't likely to get beyond the first round of the 800 meters. But for the 20-year-old and her three teammates, just competing under the Palestinian flag is a source of pride. The appearance itself is controversial: the U.N. does not recognize a Palestinian state but athletes have been allowed to compete under a Palestinian flag by the International Olympic Committee and soccer's ruling body FIFA since 1996 and 1998 respectively. "It means a lot for me that I am female and representing Palestine," she told...

The State of Palestine should require all of its citizens to study the state, its history, language, culture, etc., alongside of the particularistic subjects and content of the national minority. Photo: Nir Elias/Reuters There are three possible solutions for dealing with the issue of settlers in a genuine peace agreement with the Palestinians. Option 1: settlers wishing to do so can be repatriated to the State of Israel proper – within the “green line” borders. Option 2: settlers wishing to remain in Judea or Samaria rather than returning to the borders inside of the “green line” can remain or resettle...

Election poster for candidate Rep. Bill Parcell calls voters to support a "true Arab." Photo Credit: Campaign image It began after the state of New Jersey after the Garden State lost one congressional seat and its redistricting commission put Democratic Congressman Steve Rothman’s hometown of Fair Lawn into the same district as Republican Congressman Scott Garrett. Rothman decided to avoid a costly war against Garrett, and opted instead to challenge fellow Democrat Bill Pascrell from Paterson in the Blue District 9, where much of Rothman’s former district was relocated (57 percent of the new district is from Rothman’s former district,...

The Prime Minister's Bureau has contacted all ministers and deputy ministers and made clear that the government opposes the proposed Regulation Law that will come up for a vote Wednesday. The law would make it possible to compensate land owners who were wronged in construction of communities in Judea and Samaria, without having to hand over the land or tear down homes built upon it. Channel 2 News reported that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's men made clear to the ministers and deputies that if any of them vote in favor of the Regulation Law, they will be fired from the...

Cutting Iran's link to the Mediterranean Sea is a strategic prize worth the riskWe're not done with the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran. Given that the current round of negotiations with the world's major powers will not fundamentally change Iran's nuclear program, the question of an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities is likely to return to center stage later this year. In addition to hard-headed diplomacy and economic sanctions, there is an important step the United States can take to change Israel's calculations -- helping the people of Syria in their battle against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

06/05/2012 04:36 Legislation would force State Department to differentiate between Palestinian refugees and descendants of refugees. WASHINGTON – Palestinian advocates are warning that a new US Senate amendment dictating a reporting requirement on the issue of Palestinian refugees could set back efforts to reach a peace deal. The amendment to a bill, recently approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, mandates that the secretary of state must report how many of the Palestinians serviced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency fled or left homes in Israel during the War of Independence and how many are only their descendants. Related:...