Free Republic

Recent comments by Opposition head Yitzhak Herzog (Zionist Union) and Shelly Yachimovich (Zionist Union) suggest that their party may still join the government coalition. On Saturday, both politicians said that they would reconsider joining a unity government, should there be any diplomatic initiatives. MK Herzog presented new conditions to joining. "If Netanyahu kicks the Jewish Home out of the coalition, we will meet as a party and we will consider the issue," he told Shabbatarbut in Modi'in. "Netanyahu chose to go with the extremists," he added. "It doesn't look like he is breaking up with them. I lead a strong...

Israel on Friday announced a series of gestures to relax restrictions on the movement of Palestinian Arabs during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The measures, similar to those of previous years, were announced by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the unit which manages civilian affairs in Judea and Samaria under the auspices of newly-appointed Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman. Up to 500 people from the Gaza Strip will be allowed to attend Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque over the holy month, set to begin on Sunday or Monday, according to AFP. In addition, 200 Gaza...

After UN vote, Israel to approve 3,000 new housing units in Jerusalem and West Bank Official says building is in accordance with Israel’s strategic interests map and says more construction planned in E1 area; Labor, Meretz criticize move By Ron Friedman November 30, 2012, 5:06 pm Updated: November 30, 2012, 7:47 pm 20 Email Print Share A Palestinian protester holds a placard in front of Israeli soldiers during a demonstration in the West Bank village of al-Masara near Bethlehem, marking the recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state by the United Nations. Friday Nov. 30 (photo credit: AP/Nasser Shiyoukhi) A Palestinian...

A Jewish home-owner finally took possession of his property in Jerusalem on Thursday after a 35-year wait. The process was almost made longer by Jerusalem police, who attempted to block access to the home even after Arab squatters had agreed to leave. The story began with the home’s purchase by a Jewish buyer 35 years ago. The buyer found that two Arabs had taken up residence in the property, which is located in the biblical Givat Shaul, adjacent to what is now the Beit Hanina neighborhood. He remained unable to evict them for decades. Eight years ago Jerusalem activist Aryeh...

US House Majority leader Steny Hoyer praised Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, called for the Palestinian Authority to drop any preconditions to negotiations, and said that Congress differentiated between building in east Jerusalem and in the West Bank, during an interview with The Jerusalem Post on Monday. Hoyer, currently in the country leading a delegation of 29 Democratic legislators, also said the rhetoric coming out of the Fatah General Assembly in Bethlehem was "unfortunate." The delegation, sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation, a charitable organization affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, arrived on Sunday evening and met Monday...

JERUSALEM – In a statement to WND, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office today objected to U.S. condemnation of the Israeli government for enforcing property law in Jerusalem by evicting Arabs from a Jewish housing complex they purportedly had been illegally occupying for almost a century.

JERUSALEM, Jul 23 (IPS) - Israel's newly installed ambassador in Washington says the "disagreement" with the U.S. over Israel's settlement policy will be resolved "soon". Speaking on Israel Radio, Michael Oren was giving his first interview since taking up his post. His upbeat assessment is challenged by many other Israeli officials and by most political pundits who foresee the U.S. and Israel being on collision course. With the EU and Russia following suit. Defining Israel's 'settlement policy' is the nub: Does it include also occupied East Jerusalem? A low-key U.S. demand for Israel to scrap a plan for a new...

Last summer, in the course of a campaign speech reaching out to pro-Israel groups concerned about his commitment to the Jewish state, then presidential candidate Barack Obama declared, "Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided." Those words, which he later qualified, may now be coming back to haunt the President as he seeks to restart the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process by getting Israel to freeze all construction outside its pre-1967 borders. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has drawn a line in the sand over Jerusalem, vehemently rejecting Washington's demand that he halt a construction project...

(IsraelNN.com) Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu issued a sharp response Sunday to United States pressure to stop Jews from building in parts of Jerusalem claimed by the Palestinian Authority. Israel's sovereignty in Jerusalem is “not up for debate,” Netanyahu said, and Jews are permitted to build in any part of the capital city, as are Arabs. Netanyahu implied that the U.S. request was racist, saying before the weekly Cabinet meeting, “Imagine what would happen if Jews were forbidden to live or to buy apartments in certain parts of London, New York, Paris or Rome. There would be an international outcry." "All...

Jerusalem is the "unified capital of Israel and the capital of the Jewish people, and sovereignty over it is indisputable," Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday, responding to an American demand to put an end to a housing project to be built in east Jerusalem. "Hundreds of apartments in the west of the city were purchased by Arabs and we didn't get involved. There is no prohibition against Arab residents buying apartments in the west of the city and there is no prohibition barring the city's Jewish residents from buying or building in the east of the city," Netanyahu added...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Israel's sovereignty over Jerusalem was not a matter up for discussion. The prime minister's comments came after the U.S. State Department told Israeli envoy Michael Oren that Israel must halt a construction project in East Jerusalem. Netanyahu told ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting that Jerusalem is the united capital of Israel and that all citizens are allowed to purchase property in any part of the city they choose:"Jerusalem is the unified capital of Israel and the capital of the Jewish people, and sovereignty over it is indisputable".

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that international "arguing" over Israel's stance on settlements was impeding progress on the Middle East peace progress. In an interview with Italy's RAI TV, Netanyahu insisted that settlement activity in East Jerusalem and the West Bank must be viewed as separate issues, as Jerusalem is an inseparable part of Israel. He also said that Israel has been forthcoming with its intentions to halt construction while still allowing for natural growth in existing communities, which he called "an equitable position which reflexes our willingness to enter immediately in peace negotiations and get on with...

Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem are included in the US demand that Israel halt "settlement" construction, including for natural growth, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told 'The Jerusalem' Post during a press briefing on Monday.

Official Palestinian Authority (PA) media incites to terrorism against Israelis on a regular basis, but that didn’t stop the PA-based Wafa news agency from publishing a report about alleged “Israeli incitement” against Palestinians in the Israeli media. The report, which covers the period from April 15 to 28, noted expressions of "incitement" in the NRG news website, the Israel Hayom newspaper, the Ma'ariv newspaper and Kikar HaShabbat news website. As proof of this alleged “incitement” and “racism” in the Israeli media, the report quoted excerpts from an article written by Rabbi Nir Ben Artzi which appeared in Kikar HaShabbat on...

Pat Leahy’s Israel Obsession The Vermont senator’s fixation with the Jewish State turns ugly. April 1, 2016 Ari Lieberman    Vermont, the state that gave us unrepentant socialist, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is home to another radical liberal breed named Patrick Leahy (D-VT). Along with Sanders, Sen. Leahy represents the left flank of the Democratic Party and often finds himself at loggerheads with its more centrist members. Not unsurprising, Leahy is also a visceral critic of Israel, the Mideast’s only democracy and stalwart U.S. ally. In 2011, citing alleged human rights violations, he proposed a bill that would have cut...

Now that his administration has reached its final months, and little can be done to him personally, Barack Obama is pushing a harder line against Israel in an upcoming report about the 'settlements.' The report, which is likely to be released in late May or early June, will focus heavily on Israeli construction in Judea, Samaria, and Jerusalem, senior diplomats told AP. The Quartet’s report will also take Israel to task for the demolition of illegal Arab buildings – many of which were built with the support of the European Union. While in the past the US worked to...

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has said Israel should continue building in Judea and Samaria, insisting the Jewish state should "keep moving forward" in response to Arab terrorism. Speaking to the UK's Daily Mail, Trump emphasized his support for the State of Israel, and appeared to veer away from previous comments in which he declared that he would stay "neutral" on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Trump referenced the "thousands of missiles being launched into Israel," by Arab terrorists prior to the 2014 Gaza war, asking rhetorically: "Who would put up with that? Who would stand for it?" He also said he...

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has said Israel should continue building in Judea and Samaria, insisting the Jewish state should "keep moving forward" in response to Arab terrorism. Speaking to the UK's Daily Mail, Trump emphasized his support for the State of Israel, and appeared to veer away from previous comments in which he declared that he would stay "neutral" on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Trump referenced the "thousands of missiles being launched into Israel," by Arab terrorists prior to the 2014 Gaza war, asking rhetorically: "Who would put up with that? Who would stand for it?" He also said he...

Leftist Jewish MK Dov Khenin of the near completely Arab Joint List party spoke with the British Sky News on Sunday, and claimed that Israel is committing an "ethnic cleansing in a very sophisticated way" in Judea and Samaria. Khenin referred to the demolition of illegal Arab construction in Area C, an array of regions classified as being under full Israeli control by the 1994 Oslo Accords, and said that the Israeli government is trying to conquer the land so Israelis can settle there in the future. .....

There has been a lot of confusion here on Free Republic about Donald Trump's use of the word "Palestine" in his AIPAC speech. Some people are very disturbed and others don't understand why it is an issue. The issue is that the Arabs have taken the name Palestine to signify a new nation for Arabs. Some Israeli leftists talk about two nations, Israel and Palestine, existing side by side. Radicals in the US and Arab nationalists in the Middle East talk about a new country called Palestine replacing Israel. When a speaker talks about peace between Israel and Palestine, there...