Israel News

The IDF released its new five-year plan of operations on Thursday, with its chief of staff warning, ‘The situation is fragile in the north and south — and may deteriorate into a confrontation.’

France is poised to reopen a contested archaeological site in east Jerusalem following successful talks with Israel, Israel Hayom has learned.

The U.N. independent expert on human rights in the Palestinian territories called Wednesday for an international ban on all products made in Israeli settlements as a step to potentially end Israel’s 52-year ‘illegal occupation.’

President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday tasked Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz with trying to form a coalition government, two days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was unable to do so when his allotted 28 days came to an end.

A Byzantine-era church built in honor of an unnamed martyr has been unearthed near Jerusalem after a three-year excavation, Israeli researchers said on Wednesday.

Blue and White’s Benny Gantz and Likud’s Benjamin Netanyahu will meet in the coming days to discuss the possibility of forming a unity government, the parties said on Wednesday night, hours after the centrist leader was tasked with forming a government where the incumbent premier failed.

Archaeologists now believe that Jerusalem’s ‘Pilgrim’s Road’ was built by none other than Pontius Pilate, the infamous Roman governor of Judea.

Israel is readying for a direct cruise missile or drone strike by Tehran in response to recent attacks on Iranian regional proxies which have been attributed to the Jewish state, Army Radio reported Tuesday evening.

A small IDF drone crashed in southern Lebanon on Wednesday morning, apparently after it was shot down.

The Blue and White party and other political opponents of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejoiced over the Likud leader’s inability to form a government, and President Reuven Rivlin’s announcement he would give Benny Gantz the next crack at assembling a coalition.

In recent days, Israeli defense corporation Rafael made a dramatic announcement, stating that it delivered on time the first batch of Trophy Active Protection System to the US Army.

Hosting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday as President Donald Trump’s policy changes on Syria spark concern among Israelis, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Pompeo and Trump for their ‘consistent support for Israel’ and hailed the strength of US-Israel ties. Commenting on the US-arranged ceasefire in Turkey’s offensive in Syria against Kurdish fighters, the prime minister said mildly that he hoped it would ‘turn out for the best.’

Archaeologists and historians call the subterranean road the ‘Stepped Street.’ Those who prefer to link Jerusalem’s Jewish past to its present tend to call it the ‘Pilgrims’ Path’ or the ‘Pilgrimage Road.’ It was built starting in 20 CE by the Romans, said Levy, and completed under the governance of Pontius Pilate in about 30 CE. A recent study of coins collected at the site appears to confirm this dating.

Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman on Sunday blasted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, after the Prime Minister circulated a video on social media, entitled “Gantz, Lapid and Liberman’s Secret Plan.” In the video, the Prime Minister warned that Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz could form a narrow left-wing government that relies on external support of the Joint List.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed in Israel overnight Thursday-Friday for talks on Syria following the pullout of American soldiers and Turkey’s launching of a military offensive against Kurdish fighters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Blue and White leader Benny Gantz on Thursday and offered him a new framework on matters of religion and state and other issues that could help bring about the formation of a national-unity government.

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz is reportedly planning to invite representatives of Yisrael Beytenu and Likud to talks on forming a unity government if he is tasked with forming a coalition next week.

US President Donald Trump’s newly announced withdrawal of nearly all US troops from northern Syria has cemented Russia’s status as the predominant global military power actively engaged in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday asked members of his right-wing/religious parliamentary bloc to sign a commitment not to join a narrow coalition led by Blue and White leader Benny Gantz that would rely on the support of the Arab parties.

The US administration’s much-anticipated peace plan will not call for the uprooting of even a single settler, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said Wednesday, drawing sharp criticism from Ramallah.