Tag Archives: Israel

The Times of Israel reports: Rabbi Meir Mazuz, a prominent ultra-Orthodox Sephardic religious leader known for his inflammatory homophobic comments, died in Bnei Brak on Saturday. He was 80 years old. Mazuz reportedly spent the past few days in a hospital, where his condition worsened until his death. After stating that he believed COVID-19 would not reach Israel because the …

The Associated Press reports: The Senate voted Wednesday to confirm former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as the Trump administration’s ambassador to Israel, two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s White House visit. The 53-46 vote installs a vehement supporter of Israel in the key Mideast post, which may prove critical to Trump’s unsuccessful efforts so far to end the …

The New York Post reports: President Trump has canceled a White House press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — amid a third day of stock market panic over his sweeping “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs. There was no explanation for the surprise decision to ax the East Room forum moments before Netanyahu’s arrival. A smaller Oval Office pool …

Axios reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is planning to visit the White House on Monday, four sources with knowledge tell Axios. If the visit takes place as planned, Netanyahu will be the first foreign leader to meet President Trump in person to try to negotiate a deal to remove Trump’s tariffs. The leaders are also expected to discuss the …

CBS News reports: Israeli officials are furious over the Signal chat leak involving senior Trump administration officials because it included sensitive intelligence Israel provided to the U.S. from a human intelligence source in Yemen, CBS News has learned. While the Signal chat messages published by Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic this week may not have compromised the effectiveness of the …

The Times Of Israel reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries to liken his political opposition to that of Donald Trump, employing some of the same rhetoric used by the US president to dismiss his critics. “In America and in Israel, when a strong right-wing leader wins an election, the leftist Deep State weaponizes the justice system to thwart the people’s …

The Times Of Israel reports: US President Donald Trump gave Israel a “green light” to renew military operations against Hamas in Gaza, US media reported Tuesday, as the international community lamented the collapse of the hostage-ceasefire deal. Trump made the decision after Hamas refused to release more hostages, an Israeli official was quoted as telling The Wall Street Journal. Israel …

The Washington Post reports: Israel’s military launched a large-scale bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, breaking the fragile ceasefire with Hamas that has been in place since late January. At least 404 people have been killed, with 562 injured, Gaza’s Health Ministry said. An Israeli official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to …

The Associated Press reports: The U.S. and Israel have reached out to officials of three East African governments to discuss using their territories as potential destinations for resettling Palestinians uprooted from the Gaza Strip under President Donald Trump’s proposed postwar plan, American and Israeli officials told The Associated Press. The contacts with Sudan, Somalia and the breakaway region of Somalia …

The Guardian reports: Israel is to cut off any remaining electricity supplies to Gaza in an apparent attempt to ramp up pressure on Hamas amid increasingly chaotic multi-track negotiations over the fragile ceasefire in the territory. Humanitarian officials in Gaza contacted on Sunday afternoon said they thought the only functioning desalination plant would be forced to shut down, reducing the …

Axios reports: Israel’s concerns over the Trump administration’s secret negotiations with Hamas erupted in a contentious call Tuesday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-hand man and the U.S. official leading the talks, an Israeli official and a source with knowledge of the call tell Axios. When Trump aides sounded out Israeli officials in early February about the possibility of engaging …

Axios reports: The Trump administration has been holding direct talks with Hamas over the release of U.S. hostages held in Gaza and the possibility of a broader deal to end the war, two sources with direct knowledge of the discussions tell Axios. The talks — held by U.S. presidential envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler — are unprecedented. The U.S. …

Reuters reports: U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday he had signed a declaration to expedite delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel. The Trump administration, which took office on January 20, has approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel, Rubio said in a statement, adding that it “will continue to …

The BBC reports: Israel has blocked the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza as it demands Hamas agree to a US plan for a ceasefire extension. The first phase of the ceasefire expired on Saturday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Hamas had so far refused to accept a temporary extension under a proposal by Donald Trump’s envoy, …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump has sent social media into an absolute tizzy as he dropped an AI-generated video depicting a surreal vision for Gaza, reimagining the war-torn territory as a glitzy, Dubai-style resort, complete with towering skyscrapers — and a golden statue of himself. Among the video’s more bizarre moments in the video Trump shared without comment on Tuesday: …

“I want to assure everyone who is now listening to us, President Trump and I are working in full cooperation and coordination between us. We have a common strategy, and we can’t always share in details this strategy with the public, including when the gates of hell will be opened, as they surely will if all our hostages are not …

CNN reports: Trump made no attempt Tuesday to soften his proposal to relocate Palestinians in Gaza and redevelop the land into premium housing, even as his guest in the Oval Office, King Abdullah II of Jordan, suggested the Arab world was opposed. Trump repeated his view that Palestinians should be moved out to “parcels” in third countries, including Jordan. The …

A new excerpt from last night’s Fox interview… TRUMP: We’ll build beautiful communities for the 1.9 million people. We’ll build beautiful communities, safe communities. Could be five, six, could be two. But we’ll build safe communities, a little bit away from where they are, where all of this danger is. In the meantime, I would own this. Think of it …

“I’m committed to buying and owning Gaza. As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it, other people may do it, through our auspices. But we’re committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn’t move back. There’s nothing to move back into. The …

Axios reports: President Trump said on Friday that there is “no rush” moving forward with his “Gaza takeover” plan, which he also described as a “real estate transaction” between America and Israel.  “The U.S. would view it as a real estate transaction. We will be an investor in this part of the world. No rush to do anything,” he said. Trump …