The state of Israel, as well as dignitaries, and Jewish groups around the world, are mourning the death of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, who passed away on Tuesday, two weeks after suffering a massive stroke. He was 93 years old. The government convened a special mourning session at 10 a.m. Wednesday, which began with a moment of silence in Peres’ honor. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eulogized Peres: “I join the Israeli public, the Jewish people, and many worldwide, bowing my head in memory of the nation’s beloved, Shimon Peres. “Shimon dedicated his life to our people’s independence. As a visionary,…
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With the help of the Jewish-American organization “Amaliah” and in coordination with the Israeli army, 42 children and their parents have been brought from Syria to Israel for much needed medical treatment at hospitals in Safed (Tzfat) and Nahariya. The children come from the area of Quneitra in southern Syria, which has been hit hard by their country’s ongoing civil war. This is not the first time Israeli hospitals have aided Syrian civilians, including children. But until now, aid of this kind has always been paid for by the Israeli taxpayer. The current operation marks the first time that the funding…
This past weekend saw for the first time Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome anti-missile defense system go into action against Syrian missiles on the Golan Heights. The Iron Dome battery recently redeployed to the Golan successfully intercepted two rockets in Syrian airspace last Friday. Over the past week, a number of errant mortar shells from Syria’s bloody civil war have landed in Israeli territory, prompting fierce aerial reprisals. During one of those retaliatory missions, the Syrian army fired ground-to-air missiles at Israeli jets, sparking fears of a major escalation. It is hoped that with the Iron Dome intercepting Syrian artillery before it…
Both American Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump and Pope Francis have expressed their best wishes for the recovery of former Israeli President Shimon Peres, who suffered a major stroke on Tuesday of last week and currently remains sedated in an Israeli hospital. The 93-year-old Israeli statesman and Nobel Peace Prize laureate’s condition remains unchanged, according to a spokesman for Peres. “His condition is obviously still serious but at the moment he is stable,” the spokesman said, AFP reported. In a letter sent to Peres last Thursday, Pope Francis said he had “prayed for strength for the family and for a full…
U.S. Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) spoke to an Israeli delegation this week about congressional support of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, Israel National News reported. “I want to say to all the people of Samaria that they are beloved by the American people, and we believe that Judea and Samaria are not the ‘West Bank’ but part of the state of Israel,” Franks told the Samarian Regional Council delegation on Capitol Hill. The council’s chief Yossi Dagan visited Washington D.C. to meet with more than a dozen Republican and Democrat legislators to discuss the U.S. support of Israel’s…
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the weekend uploaded another YouTube video, this time taking at the assertion (most often made by the Obama Administration) that the presence of Jews in Judea and Samaria (the so-called West Bank) is an obstacle to peace. “I am perplexed by this notion,” stated Netanyahu, “because no one would suggest that the two million Arabs living inside Israel are an obstacle to peace. Because they aren’t.” Netanyahu also turned the tables on the “ethnic cleansing” charge, noting that the only side trying to ethnically cleanse anything is the Palestinian leadership, which demands a state free…
A new drought is in full swing in Israel, as evidenced by the plummeting water level of the Sea of Galilee, known locally as the Kinneret, which has resulted in the appearance of a large island near its southern shore. The Galilee today stands some 4.5 meters (nearly 15 feet) below its optimal water level, and is fast approaching its “Black Line”, at which point it will suffer irreversible ecological damage, experts have warned in the past. The deputy head of the Kinneret Authority told Israel’s Ynet news portal that “everyone needs to pray for a rainy winter.” But meteorologists…
American officials and police officers joined Israeli counterparts outside Jerusalem on Sunday to mark the 15th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States. The ceremony took place at a large 9/11 memorial, the only one outside the United States to list the names of all 2,996 victims. Ron Lauder, chairman of the US branch of the Jewish National Fund, which paid for the memorial, noted that the memorial even lists numerous victims from nations that continue to view Israel as their enemy. “Everyone is remembered, no matter their country of origin, no matter their religion,…
Much to the delight of parents, the new school year has begun in Israel, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had two related messages for students: study the Bible and seek peaceful coexistence. Netanyahu told his cabinet that he wants to “carry out an education revolution based on two things: excellence and Zionism.” Central to achieve that is the study of the Bible, the prime minister insisted. “First of all, the study of the Bible,” Netanyahu told his ministers. “This is the basis for why we are here, why we have returned here, why we stay here.” While that message may…
Researchers have discovered how Melanoma spreads through the body, a “breakthrough” they hope will lead to cancer becoming nonthreatening and easily curable, according to a new Tel Aviv University study done in cooperation with the German Cancer Research (DKFZ). Melanoma is an aggressive cancer that kills one person every 52 minutes, according to the international Skin Cancer Foundation. The study, which looked at the spread of Melanoma, was published in a Nature Cell Biology article. Scientists found that before spreading, Melanoma tumors send out small vesicles with molecules that trigger structural changes in the skin that prepare it for receiving…