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Moshe Arens, Israel’s defense minister at the time of the 1991 Gulf War, wanted to launch a ground operation against Iraqi missile launchers firing missiles at Tel Aviv, but ran into strong opposition from then-IDF Chief of Staff Dan Shomron, according to recordings from IDF archives released Thursday on the 26th anniversary of the war. After American forces invaded Iraq in January 1991, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein fired a total of 39 modified Soviet ‘Scud’ missiles at Israel in the hope the Jewish State would respond to the provocation by striking back at a Iraq. He reasoned the move would...

Four former senior US officials claimed Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu offered the Obama administration a two-state solution in which Israel annexed the settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria in exchange for land in northern Sinai, next to Gaza, Haaretz reported. According to the officials, Netanyahu told then-US President Barack Obama and then-Secretary of State John Kerry that he was sure Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi would agree to to the plan. However, when the US looked into the idea, they received a negative response. Netanyahu's office has denied this report, claiming it "is not accurate." In November 2017, Social...

Palestinian-Arabs in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) are not a very happy bunch these days, and not just because of Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Contrary to western media hype of a potential explosion of violence due to U.S. President Trump’s announcement, protests in the Palestinian territories were relatively subdued. Only a few thousand Palestinians participated in demonstrations at their peak. All considered, it was hardly the new Intifada that the terrorist group Hamas has called for. Palestinians, it seems, have much greater concerns to attend to. Mahmoud Abbas’ (Abu Mazen) less than inspiring leadership, whose...

TEL AVIV — The U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which ministers to so-called Palestinian refugees, would not comment when asked by Breitbart Jerusalem to provide the total number of Palestinian “refugees” that UNRWA services in Lebanon. This after Lebanon’s census data recently placed the number of Palestinian “refugees” living in the country at about one third of the nearly 500,000 reported by UNRWA. UNRWA runs camps and projects for so-called Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. On its website UNRWA claims “5.1 million refugees” are “covered by our protection mandate,” purportedly including about 500,000...

Israel Police estimates that, in 2017, some 80% of property crimes, such as burglaries and car thefts, were committed by Arab residents of Judea and Samaria, Israel Hayom reported Friday. Police data also shows that 80% of the property crime cases that were closed because the identity of the offender was unknown – said offender resides in Judea and Samaria. This despite the check post and the costly so-called security fence. Of the burglary cases police did solve, 47% involved PA Arabs, as well as in 40% of car theft cases. According to findings from the police Hawkeye system, which...

MK Motti Yogev (Jewish Home) on Wednesday spoke with Arutz Sheva on the issue of construction in Judea and Samaria, the debate over the Supermarket Law and MK Yair Lapid’s threats to turn to the Supreme Court to thwart Knesset legislation. “Those who travel in Judea and Samaria see that there is construction, maybe not enough construction, but we are building and will continue to build,” Yogev said, adding, “We are releasing construction plans and we will release more construction plans.” “We concluded eight years of Obama’s construction freeze, which were eight difficult years. The prime minister was required to...

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman recently asked the State Department to cease using the term 'occupation' to describe Israel's presence in Judea, Samaria, and eastern Jerusalem, according a report by Kan, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation. According to the report, the State Department objected to the request, but eventually agreed to discuss the matter. Ambassador Friedman described Judea and Samaria as being under an "alleged occupation" in an interview with the Jerusalem Post in September. Later that month, he stated that he believes Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are part of Israel. “I think the settlements are part of...

Monday, The New York Times published the Palestinian response to an alleged Saudi peace plan. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly presented it to PLO chief and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas last month. According to the Times’ report, Mohammed told Abbas he has two months to either accept the Saudi proposal or leave office to make way for a new Palestinian leader who will accept it. The Palestinians and their European supporters are up in arms about the content of Mohammed’s plan. It reportedly proposes the establishment of limited Palestinian sovereignty over small portions of Judea and Samaria....

The IDF said Thursday five battalions have been put on standby in the West Bank in light of the high tensions on the Temple Mount. After three Israeli Arabs came out of the Temple Mount complex armed and opened fire at an Israeli police force, killing two of the officers, Israel added metal detectors and security cameras at the entrance gates to the holy site to prevent the smuggling of more weapons inside. The added security was met with strong objection from the Palestinians, Israeli Arabs, other Arab nations and the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf. They claim the move constitutes a...

No amount of land in Arab or Muslim hands is enough. Any amount of land in Israeli/Jewish hands is too much. The narratives would have it: Expansionist Israel! The Jews stole Palestinian land! The Jews Will Take Over the World by Next Thursday the Latest! The next time someone raises the idea of a “Greater Israel” or that the jews are taking over the world, ask them to find Israel on the map. “When the Arabs are doing the killing and the Jews are doing the dying, all is well and good with the world. When the Jews are doing...

The door is closing on Palestine. They had their chance and they blew it At a time when the leaders of Arab-controlled Ramallah continue their rejection of the Jewish State and their civil society enemy in Gaza has launched more missiles at Israel and been deprived of yet another terror cell in Hebron, they continue to refuse to sit and negotiate a permanent peace agreement. They think they can weaken and destroy Israel is stages by applying the alternative strategy of force and diplomatic pressure.

Advocates for the Land of Israel are lobbying the Likud party ahead of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's February trip to Washington DC to meet with newly inaugurated President Donald J. Trump. Activists from the Women In Green, a pro-Israel organization which supports the application of Israeli law over Judea and Samaria, canvassed among lawmakers and party leaders at this week's conference of Likud members in Eilat, dubbed the "Likudiada". Women in Green co-chair Nadia Matar spoke with Arutz Sheva at the Likudiada regarding the Prime Minister's upcoming trip to Washington, and the growing movement to apply Israeli sovereignty over Judea...

During the Hanukkah festival, hikers discovered a rare engraving of a menorah in a water cistern in the Judean Hills. The Israel Antiquities Authority reports that a rare and intriguing discovery was revealed over the Hanukkah weekend by hikers exploring a water cistern in the Judean hills: On the walls of the cistern, in chalk bedrock, were inscribed ancient engravings of a seven-branched menorah and a cross. Last weekend touring enthusiasts Mickey Barkal, Sefi Givoni, and Ido Meroz, who are members of the Israel Caving Club, went out to visit hidden caves in the Judean hills. According to hiker Ido...

A drone with a video camera which crashed in a wooded area on Mount Hevron revealed a European Union (EU) espionage operation intended to spy on and gather intelligence about Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. The footage from the drone was retrieved after it crashed in view of residents of the town of Ma'on in Judea, Channel 2 reported. The footage shows the drone flying low over residents before crashing next to a car. It was then retrieved by the residents.

Arkansas Senator slams Obama administration over treatment of Israel at UN, says Palestinian Authority to blame for conflict. Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (Rep.) doubled down on his criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the US-Israel relationship, condemning on Sunday the White House's decision to abstain on United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334 targeting Israel. Cotton, Arkansas' junior senator who strongly opposed the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, lambasted the Obama administration's tacit support for the recently passed UNSC resolution which labelled Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as illegal. Speaking on Fox News on Sunday, Cotton reiterated earlier attacks on...

Today John looks at the events of the past week related to the UN Security Council’s action against Israel and its settlements in Judea and Samaria.

University of Haifa researchers have made an important discovery underwater: a rare inscription from the period preceding the Bar Kochva revolt offers for the first time the definite identification of Gargilius Antiques as the Roman prefect of Judea at that time. The inscription was found in a University of Haifa underwater excavation at Tel Dor, on Israel’s Mediterranean coast, about 20 miles south of Haifa. “For the first time, we can state with certainty the name of the Roman prefect of Judea during the critical period leading up to the Bar Kochva revolt,” stated Prof. Assaf Yasur-Landau of the University...

The United States on Friday criticized Israeli policies in Judea and Samaria during a UN Security Council discussion on the issue. The meeting, titled "Illegal Israeli Settlements: Obstacles to Peace and the Two-State Solution," was informal and did not involve a vote. It was held at the initiative of Egypt, Venezuela, Malaysia, Senegal and Angola. The U.S. representative to the session, Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the UN David Pressman, said Washington is "deeply concerned and strongly opposes settlements which are corrosive to peace," according to Haaretz. Pressman added that Israeli activities in Judea and Samaria, primarily construction of new communities,...

Archaeologists have unearthed a city-gate and shrine dating to the First Temple Era. An Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) team headed by Sa'ar Ganor discovered the ruins in the Tel Lachish National Park. "Tel Lachish was the most important city in Judea, after Jerusalem," Ganor told Tazpit Press Service (TPS). "This is the biggest city-gate we have found in the Land of Israel." "The size of the gate is consistent our historical and archaeological data that indicates Lachish was a major city and the most important one after Jerusalem," Ganor said. The city gate is approximately 24 by 24 meters in...

Hours after his security officers lynched a detainee, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas urged Palestinian businessmen living abroad to support the Palestinian economy by investing in the Palestinian territories. The Palestinian Authority (PA), he asserted, was "working to provide security and safety to encourage investment." According to Abbas, "The Palestinian territories are living in a state of security stability, which we are working to provide for residents and investors alike by enforcing the rule of law and enhancing transparency and accountability." *snip* The Palestinian Authority is now paying the price for harboring, funding and inciting gang members and militiamen who...