Palestinians seize upon Pope’s ‘Palestine’ overtures

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 recognizing their national rights.

Pope concludes first day in Israel with visit to Jerusalem

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?

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

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 their support for the Jewish state.

Netanyahu: There is nobody to negotiate with in Ramallah

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.

$250 Billion and Counting is the Cost of Oslo

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 by the Likud party’s Jewish Leadership faction, which is headed by MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud-Beytenu).

Restraining Orders on ‘Extremists’ Before Papal Visit

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

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

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

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

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.

Summer Camp for Junior Jihadis?

kid-terroristTailor-made for the children of the Gaza Strip, a summer camp in Rafah tries to transform would-be warriors into tomorrow’s terrorists, according to the UK’s Mail.

“One Wall for One People”

western-wallLast year Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tasked Natan Sharansky to redesign the area of the Temple Mount so as to accommodate both traditional and liberal Jews wishing to pray at the Wailing Wall, considered by Judaism to be the last remnant of the Second Temple on Mount Moriah.

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