Live updates on Israel, regional security, U.S.–Israel relations, and developments affecting the Body of Christ in the Middle East.
Palestinian unity government expected this week
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2014
A negotiator said Monday he expects a Palestinian unity government to be announced later this week in what would be a first significant step toward ending the crippling rift between Hamas and Fatah.
Palestinians seize upon Pope’s ‘Palestine’ overtures
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2014
Pope Francis's reference to "the State of Palestine" in his speech Sunday morning in Bethlehem, and his unscripted pause at the security barrier, left official Israel cold, and was seized upon by Palestinian leaders as deeply symbolic in…
Pope concludes first day in Israel with visit to Jerusalem
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2014
Pope Francis arrived on Sunday evening at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, where he was scheduled to meet with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I.
Can Pope Francis Bring Peace to the Middle East?
Posted on Sunday, May 25, 2014
Pope Francis' upcoming visit to Israel and the West Bank is being met with hopes he'll help resolve problems that thus far have flummoxed kings, presidents and Nobel Prize laureates.
Israeli Arab Christians Joining Israeli Army in Greater Numbers
Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2014
A group of Israeli Arab Christians led by a Greek Orthodox priest have roiled the Israeli Arab community by distancing themselves from their Arab identity and requesting that Christian Arabs be drafted into the Israeli army to show…
Netanyahu: There is nobody to negotiate with in Ramallah
Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2014
The Palestinian leadership is unwilling to make compromises for peace, calling into the question the efficacy of diplomatic negotiations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in an interview published early Thursday.
US lawmakers vote to double funding for Iron Dome
Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2014
US lawmakers overwhelmingly backed a $601 billion defense authorization bill that would almost double funding for the Israeli Iron Dome anti-missile program Thursday.
$250 Billion and Counting is the Cost of Oslo
Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2014
The failed attempt at regional peacemaking known as the Oslo Process has cost the state of Israel over 900 billion shekels -- more than $250 billion -- since 1993, and the costs keeps rising, according to a study…
Restraining Orders on ‘Extremists’ Before Papal Visit
Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2014
The Israeli police have put several right-wing Jewish 'extremists' on house arrest during Pope Francis's upcoming visit, international media reports Wednesday, after the Vatican has expressed concerns about the pope's safety in the wake of "price tag" attacks.
1st Century Town Discovered in Israel
Posted on Monday, May 19, 2014
The construction of a resort in Galilee for Christian pilgrims may have inadvertently uncovered the hometown of the biblical Mary Magdalene.
Altar in Shiloh Found in Israel
Posted on Monday, November 25, 2013
A stone altar dating from the Iron Age was accidentally discovered near the remains of an ancient wall during a dig in Judea, according to the Unity Coalition for Israel.
Iran decries plans for synagogue in Temple Mount
Posted on Friday, October 25, 2013
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sunday decried an Israeli plan to build a synagogue near the Al-Aqsa Mosque and called on the international community to prevent any further desecration of the Temple Mount, according to the Tehran Times.
Jews arrested for praying on Temple Mount
Posted on Thursday, October 17, 2013
About a dozen Jewish men were removed by police while touring the Temple Mount after praying and singing Monday, according to The Jewish Daily Forward.
