Kushner paid secret visit to Saudi Arabia for peace push — report
US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and chief Middle East adviser, Jared Kushner, paid a secret visit to Saudi Arabia last week in his latest effort to restart Mideast peace talks.
Israel
Iran’s nuclear chief says weapons-grade uranium only 4 days away
Iran’s nuclear program chief said Sunday that his country can begin producing weapons-grade nuclear material in just four days if the nuclear deal with foreign powers falls through, and stressed that international inspectors will not be given access to closed Iranian military sites.
US ‘discouraging’ Greater Jerusalem bill, senior official says
The Trump administration is ‘discouraging’ any further action on a controversial Israeli bill regarding the status of greater Jerusalem, fearing it would harm its peace effort toward a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian settlement, a senior administration official told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Israel to green-light construction of 700 East Jerusalem homes
Jerusalem authorities will convene next week to approve the construction of 700 homes in two Jewish neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.
Minister: Israel willing to act militarily to stop Iran from getting nuclear arms
Israel is willing to resort to military action to ensure Iran never acquires nuclear weapons, Israel’s intelligence minister said on Thursday in Japan where he is drumming up support for U.S. President Donald Trump’s tougher line on Tehran.
Censorship? Youtube Shuts Down Israeli Account Exposing Palestinian Terrorism
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW), an Israeli organization that exposes incitement in the Palestinian media, says Youtube is censoring the organization by shutting down their account.
Report: Hezbollah to leave Syria to prepare for conflict with Israel
Hezbollah is planning to withdraw its forces from Syria in 2018 in order to bolster its presence along the border with Israel, Lebanese news site Lebanon 24 reported on Tuesday.
Israeli Ministers Set to Vote on Annexing West Bank Settlements to Jerusalem
Ministers will vote Sunday on annexing Israeli local authorities beyond the Green Line to Jerusalem following several long delays. The bill is expected to win the support of the panel and be sent to the Knesset floor for approval.
US House of Representatives Passes Tough New Measures Targeting Hezbollah, ‘Iran’s Leading Terrorist Proxy’
The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee declared on Wednesday that the US had sent an unmistakable message to Iran’s Lebanese Shia proxy, Hezbollah, with the passage by the House of Representatives of three new measures targeting the terrorist organization’s financing and recruitment operations.
Bridge Tying Saudi Arabia to Africa May Need Israeli Signoff
Connecting Egypt to a new $500 billion Saudi city via a bridge across the Red Sea will require cooperation from Israel, analysts say. Could it one day help integrate the Jewish state with its Arab neighbors?
Pence will visit Israel, Egypt in December
US Vice President Mike Pence will visit Israel and Egypt in December at President Donald Trump’s request, overlapping with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
Israel bans binary options industry, finally closing vast, 10-year fraud
The Knesset on Monday unanimously passed a law to ban Israel’s binary options industry, a vast, multibillion dollar scam that has defrauded millions of victims worldwide for a decade.
Iran sentences alleged agent for Israel’s Mossad to death
Iran’s judiciary says a court has sentenced an alleged agent for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency to death.
Settler leaders mount tent protest outside PM’s house, demand security funding
Settler leaders launched a tent protest outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem Tuesday, demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately allocate funds for bypass roads and other security improvements for residents of the West Bank.
Iran Rejoices Over Defeat of ‘Second Israel,’ as Netanyahu Urges Support for Kurds
The chief of staff to the Iranian regime’s ‘supreme leader’ said on Tuesday that a US-Israeli ‘plot’ to create a ‘second Israel’ in Iraqi Kurdistan had been thwarted through the seizure of Kurdish territory by Iranian-backed forces over the last week.
Russia veto puts an end to Syria chemical weapons probe
Russia vetoed Tuesday a US-drafted resolution that would have extended by a year an investigation of who is behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
Footprints of God? Archaeologists baffled by giant sandal-shaped rocks near the Jordan River
They are being dubbed the ‘footprints of God’ — large sandal-shaped formations in the earth that archaeologists think date back to the time the Israelites entered the Promised Land.
Israeli police arrest Palestinian for ‘good morning’ Facebook post
Relying on an automatic translation, Israeli police mistakenly arrested a Palestinian man last week because they thought he had published a Facebook post saying ‘Hurt them’ when what he had really written was ‘Good morning.’
Hamas ‘begging Iran’ for help, US envoy says
Hamas is ‘begging Iran’ for help in its armed resistance against Israel, a senior Trump administration official said on Monday, addressing the visit of several Hamas leaders to Tehran over the weekend.
Maryland governor signs order blocking Israel boycotts
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan signed an executive order Monday blocking the state from awarding contracts to companies that support boycotts of Israel.