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Passengers on board two Delta flights at Kennedy Airport were taken off each of the aircrafts Monday night as authorities investigated a bomb threat that turned out to be unfounded, officials say. An anonymous phone call was placed to Delta headquarters just after 6 p.m. suggesting a pipe bomb was on Delta Flight 468, according to Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo. There are two Delta flights with the number 468: one has a Boeing 757 plane landing at JFK from San Francisco at 8 p.m., with 171 passengers on board, according to Delta Airlines. The other flight has a Boeing...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed US Secretary of State John Kerry’s upcoming talks in Rome on Sunday, during opening remarks for his weekly Cabinet meeting. “Tomorrow I will leave for Rome to meet with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and US Secretary of State John Kerry,” he said. “I will tell them that Israel, to a large degree, stands as a solitary island against the waves of Islamic extremism that are washing over the entire Middle East.” “Until now, we have successfully withstood and repelled these attacks and now we also stand against the possibility of a diplomatic assault, i.e....

Eleven crew members and two passengers fell ill on a US Airways flight from Tel Aviv to Philadelphia on Saturday, causing it to make an emergency landing in Rome, AFP reported, quoting Italian media. According to the report, the crew members and passengers were suffering from red eyes and vomiting. A malfunction in the ventilation system of the plane could be to blame but no further information was available.

A Tel Aviv synagogue was vandalized Sunday with graffiti reading, “In a place where the Jewish State Bill will be legislated, books will be burned.” The vandals left a pile of burned books next to the wall that bore the graffiti. The books are not sacred texts. The attack took place at the The Tel Aviv International Synagogue where Ariel Konstantyn of the Orthodox Zionist Tzohar Rabbis organization, originally of New York, serves as rabbi. Rabbi Konstantyn says the incident has been referred to the police but he views it as a “clear act of anti-Semitism.” According to the rabbi,...

Almog Shiloni, the 20-year-old IDF soldier who was critically wounded in a terrorist stabbing attack at the entrance to Tel Aviv's Hahagana train station on Monday, has died of his wounds. Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics tried to resuscitate the victim at the site before sending him to Tel-Hashomer Hospital where he was brought to the surgery room. Shiloni was reportedly stabbed numerous times, including in the upper body and waist, as he tried to fight off his attacker. The attacker proceeded to try and escape from the scene towards Levanda Street as he was pursued by security forces and...

A soldier was stabbed Monday afternooon at the Haganah Train Station in Tel Aviv. He was evacuated in critical condition to Sheva Hospital in Tel HaShomer. Police suspect possible terror attack. Police forces and Magen David Adom emergency teams were deployed to the scene. Eyewitness accounts said the young man was stabbed in his stomach and sustained massive blood loss. The suspect fled, but police officers arrested him a few streets from the scene. The suspect is an 18-year-old resident of Nablus, illegally staying in Israel.

Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Eli Ben-Dahan (Jewish Home) on the first day of classes Monday visited the “Reishit” school in Tel Aviv, a rapidly growing religious school in the traditionally secular city. At the school, located in southern Tel Aviv, Ben-Dahan spoke before hundreds of students. Reishit boasts some 400 students, the highest number in its history. If the students "work hard they can get to anywhere they want. Any one of you can be an IDF general, a rabbi, minister, or director of a large company," remarked Ben-Dahan at the school. "We need faith in religious and state...

Thrash metal band Megadeth and hip hop star CeeLo Green joined a growing list of entertainers on Tuesday whose scheduled concerts in Israel have been cancelled amid the Gaza crisis. Los Angeles-based Megadeth was due to play in Tel Aviv on Wednesday, but on its website the group said it wasn’t able to secure a guarantee that it could make it. “The band was looking forward to this concert and is disappointed they will not be able to put on the show for their fans, but expects to return to Tel Aviv on their next international tour,” it said.

The US embassy in Tel Aviv has cancelled tourist visa applications for Israelis, according to a statement on its official website, in a move it claims is a matter of staffing and security. "Due to the current security situation in Tel Aviv, U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv remains open but is operating at reduced staffing until further notice, and has canceled routine visa application processing and American Citizen services," the statement says. "Emergencies involving an American citizen and visa applications will be considered on a case by case basis." The statement surfaces in the midst of both souring US-Israel relations and...

My ways are not your ways , do not the planets hang in their places and move at my very command and will ?! So is your life that revolves around me, so do not fight my will for you for this friction will wear you to dust . "Release" your soul, spirit and life completely into my life and leave ALL your whys to me . I AM your ( (( constant )) ) and eternal and my path for you is irrevocable by the enemy if you remain in My will that is your "True Path" . Fast...

At the very end of an interview with CNBC’s Steve Liesman Thursday, President Barack Obama addressed the accusations, from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and others, that the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to ban U.S. flights from landing in Israel for 48 hours was politically motivated. Obama called the move “purely technical,” saying the United States does not make “decisions when it comes to airline safety” based on “politics” or “even our strong alliance with Israel.” He elaborated: “The initial ban that was imposed by the FAA was based on Israel needing to show us that in fact it was safe...

Press Release – FAA Statement–FAA Lifts Flight Restrictions for Ben Gurion International Airport The FAA has lifted its restrictions on U.S. airline flights into and out of Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport by cancelling a Notice to Airmen it renewed earlier today. The cancellation is effective at approximately 11:45 p.m. EDT. Before making this decision, the FAA worked with its U.S. government counterparts to assess the security situation in Israel and carefully reviewed both significant new information and measures the Government of Israel is taking to mitigate potential risks to civil aviation. The FAA’s primary mission and interest are the protection...

John Kerry Files (sic) to Tel Aviv Despite FAA Ban AP and ABC NewsTEL AVIV, Israel — Jul 23, 2014, 4:12 AM ET The top U.S. diplomat defied a Federal Aviation Administration ban and flew into Israel's main airport Wednesday in a sign of sheer will to achieve a cease-fire agreement in the warring Gaza Strip despite little evidence of progress in ongoing negotiations. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry planned to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during what appeared to be a crucial day in the...

Transportation minister orders that Uvda airport near Eilat be utilized to replace Ben-Gurion Airport beginning noon local time. Transportation Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday instructed the relevant agencies to immediately open the Uvda airport, the country's second terminus for air traffic which lies just north of Eilat, in the wake of the spate of flight cancellations announced by major foreign airlines. Katz convened a meeting of senior civilian aviation officials who recommended that the Uvda airport be utilized to replace Ben-Gurion Airport. Related: • US urges deferral of travel to Israel, increases first aid to Gaza • El Al says...

Germany’s largest airline, Lufthansa, says it is canceling all flights to Tel Aviv for at least another 24 hours because of ongoing safety concerns. […] The European Aviation Safety Agency on Tuesday strongly recommended that airlines not fly to Tel Aviv after a Hamas rocket exploded near the Ben Gurion airport. …

It’s an Obama world.The US Embassy in London recently draped gay rainbow flags over its entry. Via NY Young Republicans Club:Draped Rainbow Flags Hang from American Embassy in London The American flags were somewhere off to the side. And, it wasn’t just London… The US Embassy in Tel Aviv also flew the gay flag recently. At least they flew the gay flag beneath the US flag at the Tel Aviv embassy.

As Operation Protective Edge entered its second day on Wednesday, the Israel Air Force attacked terror sites in the Gaza Strip, while residents of greater Tel Aviv heard sirens and explosions. Sirens wailed in 20 different municipalities, including Tel Aviv, Rishon Letzion, Modi'in, Ashdod, Ashkelon, and the Eshkol regional council. Residents of Ra'anana also reported hearing sirens. The Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepted at least two of the missiles, though residents of Tel Aviv heard more explosions. The remnants of a rocket intercepted by Iron Dome fell on a road in Ness Ziona. The Hamas military wing has claimed responsibility...

No initial reports of injuries or damage after massive barrage across country; Netanyahu vows to widen Gaza operation, as cabinet okays call-up of 40,000 troops; rockets shot down over Tel Aviv; terrorists killed in firefight at Zikim army base; Gazan death toll in double digits. Israel launched a major operation against Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza in the early hours of Tuesday morning, dubbed Operation Protective Edge, following heavy Hamas rocket fire over the preceding days. The fast-escalating situation in the south comes in the shadow of spiking Jewish-Arab tensions in Israel over the brutal killings of four...

A pilot who refused to fly his scheduled United Airlines flight to Israel was arrested—with 300 passengers stuck on the plane for hours while airline officials scrambled to find another pilot. The United Airlines flight from Newark to Tel Aviv was set to leave early in the week. Usually a non-stop flight, passengers expected to get to their destinations after about 12 hours, but instead were in transit for about 30. Airline personnel refused to let them disembark for hours, passengers said, “making us feel like hostages, without food or water,” according to one witness. …

The Rolling Stones’ lead singer had done his Hebrew homework ahead of Wednesday night’s Tel Aviv concert. He could even ask his guitarist where he’d gone shoppingIt might have been his band’s first visit to Israel, but Mick Jagger had learned plenty of Hebrew for Wednesday night’s Tel Aviv show. Here is the complete list of the Rolling Stones singer’s audience-friendly Hebrew remarks: Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories FREE SIGN UP! 1. Erev Tov Tel Aviv (Good evening Tel Aviv). A modest opening foray, delivered two songs in. Quickly followed...