Israel News

The incoming Israeli government has “the right and the obligation” to decide if and how it wants to apply sovereignty over the West Bank, visiting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday at the conclusion of a whirlwind visit to Jerusalem.

France wants European Union countries to consider a hard response to Israel if it proceeds with the annexation of parts of Judea and Samaria, three EU diplomats told Reuters. Under the Israeli government’s coalition agreement, the process of annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank could begin on July 1.

GOD TV has confirmed Israeli authorities want to shut down its new Hebrew-language Gospel channel, the Christian Post reports. The Shelanu (“Ours” in Hebrew) channel recently began broadcasting Christian content on Israel’s popular HOT cable network.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing mounting criticism over his proposal to “microchip” children who return to schools and kindergartens as the national coronavirus lockdown ends.

An ancient Israelite altar discovered 16 years ago is now to receive official protection, World Israel News reports. Located in the Binyamin region of Judea and Samaria, the 3,000-year-old edifice was at risk of destruction from building works nearby.

The head of Germany’s Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) has apologized “expressly” for the omission of Israel from a map of the Middle East in his department’s 2019 annual report, the Middle East Monitor reports. A MAD investigation concluded on May 7 that there had been a mistake caused by “lack of diligence and insufficient quality control rather than deliberate action or political intent.”

The US Defense Secretary Mark Esper is considering the withdrawal of US troops from the international peacekeeping force in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, World Israel News (WIN) reports. Established in 1981, the purpose of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) organization is to monitor adherence to conditions of the 1979 Israel-Egypt peace treaty.

Slightly fewer than half of Israelis back plans to annex parts of the West Bank, and even fewer people think the government will actually go through with its annexation plans, according to a survey released Sunday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is slated to visit Israel on Wednesday, the State Department officially announced on Friday.

Comments by U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman on Wednesday to Israel Hayom sparked mixed reactions even among Israel’s Right. Not surprisingly, Palestinian leaders were furious.

Israel’s U.N. ambassador said Wednesday that his government is demanding major changes in the way the U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon operates on the ground and has support from the United States.

Airstrikes presumed to be Israeli targeted Iran-linked arms warehouses east of Aleppo in northern Syria and militia bases in Deir Ezzor in the east of the country late Monday night, a Syrian war monitor said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s indictment on corruption charges does not disqualify him from forming a government, Israel’s top court ruled unanimously on Wednesday, paving the way for the veteran leader to remain in power.

S Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Israel next week and meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White party chief Benny Gantz, several Hebrew media outlets reported Wednesday.

Israel says its leading biological research laboratory has made a “significant breakthrough” toward a possible treatment for the COVID-19 pandemic.

Israeli airstrikes in eastern Syria have killed 14 Iranian and Iraqi fighters, a group monitoring the Syrian war says.

The Likud and Blue and White parties on Tuesday agreed to revise a number of clauses in their agreement to form a new government, after the High Court of Justice signaled they could be struck down.

A parliamentary panel on Tuesday authorized Shin Bet security service to continue using mobile phone data to track people infected by the coronavirus until May 26, prolonging an initiative described by critics as a threat to privacy.

The Western Wall Plaza reopened to worshipers on Tuesday morning.

The High Court of Justice reconvened Monday for the second day of hearings on petitions against allowing indicted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a government, as well as against the unprecedented rotational unity deal he inked with Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz which demands significant changes to Israel’s semi-constitutional Basic Laws.