The official state ceremony commemorating Israel’s fallen was held on Wednesday at Mount Herzl’s Memorial Hall. The ceremony began after a two-minute siren was sounded throughout Israel. A separate ceremony commemorating the victims of terror attacks in Israel and abroad at Mount Herzl will be held at 1:00 p.m. Aside from bereaved families, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, Israeli Supreme Court President Justice Esther Hayut and Israel Police chief Roni Alsheikh attended the ceremony. “All of us, Jews, Druze, Christians, Bedouins and Circassians, are standing together against…
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Reading about current events and the renewed Gaza demonstration incited by Hamas, I’m reminded of the well-known story recounting the wisdom of King Solomon (1 Kings 3:16-28) judging to whom a baby belonged that two women each claimed as theirs. The women came to Solomon to adjudicate their dispute. One of the woman’s babies had died, and each claimed the surviving baby as hers. 25 “Cut the baby in half! That way each of you can have part of him.” 26 “Please don’t kill my son,” the baby’s mother screamed. “Your Majesty, I love him very much, but give him…
If you’ve ever been in Israel for Yom Hazikaron—the Memorial Day for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for the Jewish homeland—chances are you will never forget it. Even if you somehow miss the official ceremonies honoring the fallen, there’s no way to sleep through the siren sounding across the Jewish state at 8 p.m. and then again at 11 the next morning. At that moment, Israelis everywhere freeze in mid-air—mid-bank deposit, mid-math lesson, mid-email or mid-carpool—while traffic screeches to a halt, and folks climb out of their cars and stand completely silent. Both instances represent a long minute of…
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently spoke with US President Donald Trump, the White House reported. According to the report, the call addressed “recent developments in the Middle East” and Trump “reiterated the commitment of the United States to Israel’s security.” The two leaders also “agreed to continue their close coordination on countering Iran’s malign influence and destabilizing activities.” US President Donald Trump, who has called the 2015 Iran deal “the worst deal ever negotiated,” recently extended a waiver on nuclear sanctions that were imposed on Iran. However, he emphasized, that it would be the last time he would do so and…
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon on Wednesday signed an official exemption from planning rules to allow US State Department officials to build a new security infrastructure at the site of the new US embassy in Jerusalem and skip over the time-consuming process of applying for rezoning and construction permits. In a video clip posted on Twitter, Kahlon signed the waiver, declaring the embassy move to be a “historic moment for which we’ve waited for many years.” Kahlon said the move was “unprecedented” in terms of the short time the preparations had taken and in the complexities involved in the relocation. “As…
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said Wednesday that this week’s decision by the Palestinian Authority has made it clear that its leader, Mahmoud Abbas, has no intention of investing his efforts in peace with Israel. Danon was referring to the decision by the Palestinian Authority to directly fund payments to terrorists and their families from their official budget, revealed Wednesday approximately the same time the U.S. passed the Taylor Force Act, which cuts off nearly all U.S. aid to the Ramallah government as long as it continues its ‘pay to slay’ policies encouraging bloodshed and murder. “Mahmoud Abbas…
Americans’ favorable views of Israel are at 17-year high, according to a Gallup poll published Tuesday. The vast majority of Americans, 74%, have a favorable view of Israel, the highest score recorded since 1991, when Iraq launched Scud missiles at Israel during the Gulf War. In contrast, only 21% of Americans view the Palestinian Authority favorably. As for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 64% of respondents said their sympathies were with Israel, while just 19% said their sympathies were with the Palestinians. The percentage of Americans who said they did not support either side is the lowest to date, at 16%, indicating that more…
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told members of his cabinet this week that US President Donald Trump will likely walk away from the Iran nuclear deal this May, Channel 10 news reported Thursday. Netanyahu reportedly made the remarks during the cabinet meeting on Sunday when he relayed the details of his meeting with Trump in Washington a week earlier. According to the TV report, Netanyahu said his conversation with Trump about the 2015 nuclear deal was attended by Vice President Mike Pence, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mattis, National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, and White House Chief…
During the 2014 Gaza war, Hamas terrorists captured the remains of two Israeli soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul. In the following year, two apparently mentally ill Israeli civilians, Abera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, entered the Gaza Strip of their own volition and were taken captive by Hamas. “We have the utmost responsibility to bring back the captives and the IDF soldiers — the improvement of Gaza Strip residents’ situation is dependent upon this as well,” Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir told a conference in the southern town of Sderot. Israel has called for the civilians and slain soldiers to be…
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump said on Monday he could return to Jerusalem in May when the US opens its new embassy in the city to coincide with Israel’s 70th anniversary. Sitting across from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office, the American president was asked if he would travel to Israel to cut the ribbon on the new facility, almost a year after his first visit to Jerusalem as president. “I may. I may,” he said. “We’re looking at coming, if I can, I will.” He went on, “We’re going to have it built very quickly and very…