Daily News Surrounding Israel

News Digest — 3/2/21

The Israeli Cabinet approved on Monday (1st) an initiative to grant a campaign ribbon for IDF and South Lebanese Army soldiers who participated in an almost two-decade-long war in…

Disaster! The Aftermath

Following the horrific disaster about ten days ago of Israel’s coastline being inundated with tar, covering nearly 100 miles of beaches, the cleanup has begun…

News Digest — 3/1/21

Syrian air defenses were activated in the capital Damascus and the southern suburbs Sunday night (2/28) to repel an Israeli missile strike, state media reported. There was no…

Israel’s “Miracle Drug”

The Jerusalem Post reports the largest hospital in Greece will take part in clinical trials of an Israeli treatment for COVID-19. During the press conference…

News Digest — 2/26/21

At least 17 members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps were killed in a U.S. strike on Shiite militia targets in Syria overnight Thursday (25th), the Syrian Observatory for…

News Digest — 2/25/21

For the first time, the Jewish communities of the Gulf countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – will…

Sharing the Vaccine Wealth

The Prime Minister’s office announced that Israel intends to use its supply of COVID-19 vaccines to help other countries in need in exchange for diplomatic backing…

News Digest — 2/24/21

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Tuesday (23rd) that Israel will not permit Iran to arm itself with nuclear weapons to fulfill its oft-repeated goal of…

News Digest — 2/23/21

Israel has made the first move under the recently approved procurement program over the weekend, signing an agreement for two Boeing KC-46 aerial refueling…

Disaster!

The black tar stretches along Israel’s coastline for about 100 miles. Coming from an unknown source, the tar has created “one of the worst environmental disasters…

News Digest — 2/22/21

Israel and Egypt have agreed to build a pipeline to connect Israel’s offshore Leviathan natural gas field to liquified natural gas (LNG) terminals in northern Egypt, according to Israeli…

“It Works”

“It works,” reports the Times of Israel. Maccabi Healthcare Services has vaccinated a half a million Israelis, with both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and the stats…

News Digest — 2/19/21

Israel and the U.S. announced the joint development of the Arrow-4 on Thursday (18th). Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in a statement…

News Digest — 2/18/21

Residents of the northern Golan Heights woke up to a snowy Wednesday morning (17th) as a major cold front entered Israel. More snow fell in Israel throughout the day, including…

News Digest — 2/17/21

Israeli weather forecaster Uri Betz announced with Arutz Sheva that a significant amount of snow is expected in Jerusalem over the next few days. “The snow that will begin in…

A View from the Past

The archaeologist’s spade has often confirmed biblical accounts. In a recent discovery about 2 miles from the Old City in Jerusalem, archaeologists have…

News Digest — 2/16/21

Israel’s combined security services exposed and neutralized a money transferring mechanism between Hamas’ headquarters in Turkey and Hamas terror infrastructure in…

News Digest — 2/12/21

Jerusalem may be at least sprinkled in white next week, as forecast models indicate that a cold wave and stormy weather is headed for the Holy Land starting on…

News Digest — 2/11/21

Iranians staged a socially-distanced commemoration of their 1979 Islamic Revolution on Wednesday (10th), parading in vehicles to avoid infection rather than on foot while…

News Digest — 2/10/21

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi admitted Monday (8th) that Israel’s military has been operating “almost every week” in enemy territory. “In the last year, almost every week, we have…

Here We Go Again!

On Friday, February 5, the International Criminal Court voted 2-1 for the Hague to allow a criminal investigation “against Israel and the Hamas terrorist group…

News Digest — 2/9/21

The Golan Heights will always be part of Israel, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Tuesday (9th) after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken walked back the Trump administration’s…

News Digest — 2/8/21

As Israel begins lifting the restrictions put in place during the most recent lockdown, which included a ban on mass public prayers on the Temple Mount, a new campaign is urging…

News Digest — 2/5/21

The terrorist killer of Esther Horgan, a mother of six, was indicted by IDF prosecutors in a military court on Thursday (4th). Muhammad Cabha, 40, from an Arab town near…

News Digest — 2/4/21

The Israeli Air Force conducted several airstrikes against targets in Damascus and in the south of Syria on Wednesday night (3rd), the country’s state media reported. The Syrian army claimed…

Flying the Unfriendly Skies

Anti-aircraft missile fire targeted an IDF surveillance drone over southern Lebanon today. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit claimed the drone…

News Digest — 2/3/21

A senior Iranian official said Tuesday (2nd) that additional centrifuges have been installed, enriching even more uranium than is allowed and effectively increasing Iran’s violation of…

News Digest — 2/2/21

Kosovo and Israel established diplomatic ties on Monday (1st) in a ceremony held digitally due to the pandemic lockdown. Kosovo Foreign Minister Meliza…

Doing the Impossible!

Addressing the United Nations Human Rights Council, UN Watch Director Hillel Neuer said that due to “Iran’s escalating aggression, sponsorship of terror…

News Digest — 2/1/21

Unidentified aircraft targeted sites belonging to pro-Iranian militias near Al-Bukamal in the Deir Ezzor region of eastern Syria on Saturday night (1/30), according to local…

News Digest — 1/29/21

The Commander of CENTCOM, General Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr, began a two-day visit to Israel Thursday (28th).  At the center of the visit will be a strategic situational…

News Digest — 1/28/21

International Holocaust Remembrance Day, in commemoration of the 6 million Jews murdered in the Holocaust, was marked Wednesday (27th) by online events with the…

News Digest — 1/27/21

“Israel’s mission is to ensure the Jewish people will never be defenseless against those who seek to destroy them,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in honor of…

News Digest — 1/26/21

The Commander of United States Central Command (CENTCOM), Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, will visit Israel on Thursday (28th) for the first time under the new…

Truth for Lies

Israel has to constantly counter international coverage with truth. One recent example is the Associated Press presenting Israel as an Apartheid state…

News Digest — 1/25/21

U.S President Joe Biden has appointed Palestinian-American Maher Bitar to the role of senior director for intelligence programs at the National Security Council, according to…

Will Abbas Hold Palestinian Elections?

Palestinians recently marked the 16th anniversary of their second presidential election. General elections have not been held since 2005 when Mahmoud Abbas won…

News Digest — 1/22/21

Syrian state media reported Israeli airstrikes near the western city of Hama in the pre-dawn hours of Friday morning (22nd). Syrian official news agency SANA said Syria’s air defenses…

News Digest — 1/21/21

David Friedman completed his tenure Wednesday evening (20th) with a visit to the Western  Wall at Jerusalem’s Old City. He was greeted by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, rabbi of the…

News Digest — 1/20/21

A rocket launched from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday evening (19th), landed in southern Israel without a siren ringing off to alert the locals of an incoming fire, the military confirmed. The IDF…

The Blind Will See!

In a first for Israeli startup Corneat Vision, Professor Irit Bahar, director of the Ophthalmology Department at Rabin Medical Center in Israel, implanted an artificial cornea…

News Digest — 1/19/21

As Israel powers through its campaign to vaccinate the entire population against coronavirus, concerns remain high about the rapidly developing variants of the virus, which…

News Digest — 1/18/21

Gaza terrorists fired two rockets from the Strip towards the Israeli coast near the city of Ashdod Sunday night (17th).  In response, on Monday (18th), IDF fighter jets struck…

News Digest — 1/15/21

Friday January 15 marks what is surely the most popular day of the year – National Bagel Day! Yes, those beloved, ringed bread products have their own national holiday, and it gives us…

News Digest — 1/14/21

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi has instructed the military to outline a new plan to counter the Iranian threat.  The move was prompted by recent action by…

Vaccination Complications

Israel gave 100 doses of coronavirus vaccines to the Palestinian Authority at the beginning of January as a “humanitarian gesture,” The Times of Israel reported….

News Digest — 1/13/21

Airstrikes near the Syria-Iraq border early Wednesday (13th) targeted sites used for Iran’s nuclear program, a senior US Intelligence official told AlJazeera Wednesday (13th). According to…

Hope for Today and Tomorrow

As COVID-19 nears its one year anniversary of its presence on the world stage, and appears to have an aggressive variant…

News Digest — 1/12/21

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu directed the construction of approximately 600 housing units in Judea and Samaria on Monday (11th). Included among the units are…

News Digest — 1/11/21

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, headed by MK Zvi Hauser, held a special meeting Monday morning (11th) in honor of US Ambassador to Israel…

News Digest — 1/8/21

The president of the Bahraini Journalists’ Association asked Jewish-American colleagues to support Arab media professionals who are bullied and threatened online for…

News Digest — 1/7/21

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) on Wednesday night (6th) conducted a series of strikes against several targets in southern Syria, the country’s state media reported. SANA news quoted…

Home Again, Home Again

We might have flipped the calendar to 2021, but so far, things are looking a lot like 2020 in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for…

News Digest — 1/6/21

The IDF thwarted a terror attack at the West Bank’s Gush Etzion junction, with a security guard killing a Palestinian man who had thrown an axe at him near…

News Digest — 1/5/21

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran on Monday (4th) saying that the country’s move to enrich uranium to 20% purity was proof Iran is developing…

A New Year; Same UN

From August 31-September 8,2001 in Durban, South Africa, the United Nations convened the World Conference Against Racism…

News Digest — 1/4/21

Tel Aviv Municipality employees and other authorities remain baffled after trying for three days to find the mysterious source of underground heat that is causing…

News Digest — 12/31/20

President of Israel Reuven Rivlin held the traditional New Year’s reception for heads of the Christian denominations in Israel, this year online, Wednesday (30th)…

News Digest — 12/30/20

Syrian state news reported early Wednesday (30th) that air defense intercepted Israeli missiles over targets near the capital Damascus and in the country’s southwest…

A Look Back and Ahead

This has been quite a year for the world and Israel. Israel has had two lockdowns, with a possible third lockdown looming, due to over 400,000 cases…

News Digest — 12/29/20

US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said Sunday (27th) in a condolence visit to the Horgan family that the only proper response to…

News Digest — 12/28/20

A Moroccan delegation was in Israel on Monday (28th) for the first time since normalization between the countries…

News Digest — 12/23/20

Seven months after it was formed, the Likud-Blue and White unity government missed the deadline to pass a stage budget and dissolved itself as of midnight Tuesday (22nd), meaning…

News Digest — 12/22/20

Israel is organizing a mass airlift to return its citizens home before new, draconian quarantine rules go into effect that would force all returning Israelis to…

Saving a Child’s Life

In 1995 Dr. Ami Cohen formed Save a Child’s Heart (SACH) in Holon, Israel. “ Worldwide in 2020 350,000 children died because they did not have access to appropriate cardiac care…”

News Digest — 12/21/20

Security forces’ original suspicion that Samaria resident Esther Horgan, who was killed while out running near her home in Tel Menashe on Sunday (20th), was the victim of a…

News Digest — 12/18/20

An Israeli-American delegation is set to take off for Morocco next Tuesday (22nd) on the first-ever direct Israeli airline flight between Tel Aviv and Rabat. Last week…

News Digest — 12/17/20

While lighting Hanukkah candles, my thoughts wander to a time many years ago, in the village of Modi’in where Matityahu, surrounded by his five sons, faced dozens, perhaps…

News Digest — 12/16/20

Storms are causing flooding in Israel, forcing emergency services to rescue multiple people trapped overnight by rising waters, Israeli Police reported Wednesday morning…

News Digest — 12/15/20

While Jewish communities worldwide are celebrating Hanukkah, the small community in China must do so in secret as Beijing works to crack down on…

Helping the Stranger

In his unique photographic presentation, emergency room physician Brant Slomovic presents the life and experiences of the Lone Soldiers who come to Israel…

News Digest — 12/14/20

An annual event bringing together Holocaust survivors from around the world to mark Hanukkah was held online for the first time Sunday (13th) due to…

News Digest — 12/11/20

In an historic breakthrough, Morocco has agreed to establish diplomatic relations with Israel.  As part of the deal, the United States will recognize the Western Sahara as part of…

News Digest — 12/10/20

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke at the White House Hanukkah party on Wednesday (9th), wishing those in attendance a “very happy Hanukkah.”  He also joked…

Coronavirus Vaccine Reaches Israel

Israel is beginning to see a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, and it came today in the form of a shipment of coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer…

News Digest — 12/9/20

In a historic moment, the first batch of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine arrived in Israel on Wednesday morning (9th) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who spoke at a…

News Digest — 12/8/20

Israel’s Coronavirus Cabinet decided Monday night (7th) to institute a nighttime lockdown over the Hanukkah holiday in an effort to prevent a further spread of the coronavirus over…

Threats and Tensions

The latest statistics for Israel in its attempt to defeat the Coronavirus are grim. The current statistics show: Current Cases: 345,661, Active Cases: 13,158…

News Digest — 12/7/20

Six Israeli Border Police officers were injured after riots erupted outside northern Jerusalem Monday morning (7th). An IDF undercover unit was attacked by Arab rioters during…

News Digest — 12/4/20

The National Security Council’s Counterterrorism Bureau urged Israelis on Thursday (3rd) to avoid travel to the Gulf States of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, citing threats of…

News Digest — 12/3/20

Hezbollah’s Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah plans to move to Iran, and may have already made the move, an informed source told the Kuwaiti Al-Jarida newspaper on…

Fourth Elections on the Horizon?

The Knesset passed a motion 61-54 in favor of dissolving itself, which makes it appear increasingly likely that a fourth round of national elections…

News Digest — 12/2/20

Israel and Bahrain are working to quickly bring the normalization of their ties to fruition, Bahraini Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani said in…

The Fruits of Peace

Prime Minister Netanyahu has received a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize, and he has received approval and congratulations from the UAE…

News Digest — 12/1/20

The assassination last week of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh generated a furious rhetorical response from the country’s leadership, with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and…

News Digest — 11/30/20

You won’t hear their stories in the European Union Meetings or see their photographs exhibited in the hallways of the United Nations.  Their names cannot be found…

News Digest — 11/25/20

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations called on the UN Security Council Wednesday (25th) to “take immediate action against the presence of Iran in Syria” in wake of…

News Digest — 11/24/20

Following reports of a “secret” meeting in Saudi Arabia between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday (22nd), accompanied by…

In Israel Women Move Up!

Israel has long rightly held the title of “Startup Nation.” That reputation added another evidence, as this year MasterCard has awarded Israel the…

News Digest — 11/23/20

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly visited Saudi Arabia Sunday (22nd). An Israeli source claimed that Netanyahu accompanied US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to…