Bennett to Blinken: US must immediately halt Iran talks over ‘nuclear blackmail’
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called on the United States on Thursday to immediately halt the ongoing negotiations in Vienna over Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
Israel
After outcry, government scraps Shin Bet phone tracking of Omicron carriers
The government will not move to extend a controversial surveillance program tracking the phones of people who contracted the Omicron coronavirus variant, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz announced Thursday.
Gantz: There may come a time when we will have no choice but to act on Iran
Israel has to do “everything it can” in order to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, if not “there may be a point when we will have no choice but to act,” Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Thursday.
IDF Spokesperson: ‘When I Say We’re Accelerating Plans Against Iran, I Mean It’
The Israeli military has accelerated its readiness plans aimed at preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear threshold state and to stop its entrenchment in the northern arena, Israel Defense Forces’ spokesman Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav told the Israeli Reshet Bet radio network on Tuesday.
EU chief: It’s time to ‘think about’ mandatory COVID vaccination
It is time for the European Union to “think about mandatory vaccination” against COVID-19, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday, while stressing member state governments would decide.
Israel’s coronavirus czar: We need to consider making vaccines mandatory
Coronavirus czar Salman Zarka said Wednesday that Israel should weigh introducing a national vaccine mandate compelling all citizens to get themselves inoculated against the coronavirus, a notion that mirrors legislation under consideration in several European countries.
Uncovered Ancient Town In Israel A ‘Voice Of Fall Temple’
Israel’s authority regulating excavation has called a discovered ancient town “a direct voice” from the fall of Jerusalem’s Temple.
US envoy to Security Council: Settlement building has ‘reached a critical juncture’
United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the Security Council Tuesday that Israel’s settlement building in the West Bank “has reached a critical juncture” while also admonishing the top UN body for its “overwhelming focus” on the Jewish state.
Hamas terrorist infrastructure growing increasingly dangerous
The large-scale Hamas terror plot uncovered by the Shin Bet intelligence agency and broken up in recent weeks is “the most dangerous tactical-operational infrastructure I recall in recent years,” a senior former defense official told JNS.
Iran gearing up to enrich uranium to weapons-grade soon, Israel reportedly warns US
Israel has been sharing intelligence with the United States showing that Iran is “taking technical steps to prepare to enrich uranium” to weapons-grade 90 percent purity, according to a report Monday.
‘In Syria, Hezbollah learned how to go on the offensive,’ says IDF intelligence officer
The Israel Defense Forces are developing upgraded intelligence and firepower strike capabilities, and is drilling these new abilities on a regular basis. At the same time, Israeli intelligence sources acknowledge that Hezbollah has morphed from a guerilla-terror organization into an organized terror army.
UK, Israel to work together to stop Iran gaining nuclear weapons
Britain and Israel will “work night and day” in preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power, the foreign ministers of the two countries wrote in a joint article.
Iran nuclear deal: Arms race in Middle East potentially at stake as talks resume
What could be the last chance of preventing Iran going nuclear gets under way this week. Nuclear talks resume. Potentially at stake is a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, or regional escalation and conflict.
Iranian Brig.-Gen. urges destruction of Israel prior to nuke talks
The spokesman for the Islamic Republic of Iran’s armed forces, Brig.-Gen. Abolfazl Shekarchi, on Saturday urged the total elimination of the Jewish state during an interview with an Iranian regime-controlled media outlet.
Israel barring tourists, renewing travel quarantine rules to contain Omicron variant
The high-level coronavirus cabinet on Saturday night approved fresh restrictions to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, with ministers voting to ban non-citizens from entering the country for two weeks.
WHO Calls New Coronavirus Strain ‘Variant of Concern’ And Names It Omicron
The United Nations health body said Friday the new coronavirus variant is “a variant of concern” and named it Omicron.
‘US won’t launch a single military operation against Iran,’ former official says
As world powers prepare to reconvene in Vienna for renewed nuclear talks with Iran, former National Security Advisor Yaakov Amidror said that “without a military threat and pressure on Iran, nothing will result from a deal.”
Israel launches diplomatic blitz ahead of renewed Iran nuclear talks
Israel will make its position heard ahead of the return to nuclear talks with Iran by world powers on Monday, with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid scheduled to visit London and Paris next week.
8 killed in bombing in Somalian capital claimed by Al-Shabaab
Eight people were killed in a car bombing near a school in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Thursday, police said, the latest attack claimed by Al-Shabaab jihadists in the troubled country.
US says it’ll amp up pressure on Iran if it does not start cooperating with IAEA
The US warned Thursday it could raise the stakes in international pressure on Iran if the Islamic Republic continues to hinder efforts by the UN nuclear watchdog to monitor its nuclear program.