Hamas official calls Friedman’s annexation remark ‘destructive and radical American thinking’

  Member of Hamas’ International Relations Office Basem Naim said Saturday that remarks from U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman about Israel’s right to annex some parts of the West Bank expresses “the destructive thinking of the extreme American leadership.”   Earlier Saturday, PLO chief Saeb Erekat called potential annexation “a war crime.”    

Are Saudi Arabia and Iran in an ‘arms race’ or is the contest more complex: Notes and sources

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN A version of this article appeared in ‘The Jerusalem Post,’ this one has links and charts. In May 2017 US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia inked a $110 billion arms deal. Two years later news that Riyadh was seeking to extend its missile capabilities has resurrected claims that the Kingdom is […]

US Fears Having F-35s Close to S-400 Over Latter’s ‘Ability to Understand the Profile of Jets’

Sergei Chemezov, head of the state corporation Rostec, earlier stated that Turkish personnel had already finished their S-400 training programme in Russia and that the air defence systems will be shipped to Turkey in two months. The US Undersecretary of Defence for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord stated that the Pentagon wants to keep its […]

Can Israel become an energy independent nation?

Can Israel become an energy independent nation? The country’s energy infrastructure relies on a centralized source supplying mainly natural gas to power plants all over the country; unexpected events such as natural disasters or supply shortages could quickly bring a coutnry’s electricity grid to its knees, especially when war could break out Dr. Daniel Madar, […]

Iran minister: Tehran secretly defying US sanctions with ‘unofficial’ oil sales

Bijan Zanganeh scant on details, but says Iran covertly circumventing ‘evil’ American oil embargo through ‘unconventional means’ By AFP and TOI STAFFToday, 4:25 pm  0 0shares This photo from March 12, 2017, shows an Iranian laborer walking the platform of the oil facility in the Khark Island, on the shore of the Gulf. (AFP/Atta Kenar) Iran is keeping up […]

Iran says new US sanctions show offer for talks is ‘hollow’

Foreign Ministry says announcement of penalties for petrochemical industry belie Trump’s claim he would reopen discussions if Tehran agreed to give up nuclear weapons By AFPToday, 2:32 pm     Abbas Mousavi, spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, gives a press conference in the capital Tehran on May 28, 2019. (ATTA KENARE / AFP) TEHRAN, Iran — Iran […]

US envoy defends Israel’s ‘right’ to annex West Bank land: NYTimes

i24NEWS Latest Revision june 08, 2019, 8:11 AM AP Photo/Ariel Schalit US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman speaks during the 5th trilateral summit between Israel, Greece and Cyprus in Beersheba, Israel, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018. ‘There were some extraordinarily generous proposals made to Palestinians that they turned down,’ Friedman said In an interview with the New […]

Iran Has No Intention of Withdrawing From OPEC – Iranian Oil Minister

In May, Iranian authorities vowed to retaliate if their interests in the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are harmed. Iranian officials also noted that the organisation is flawed due to “the unilateralism of some of its members and that it’s possible that the organisation may collapse”. Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh stated in an interview […]

Putin: Iran can defend its interests, US measures endangering world

Iranian Meda IRNA – The Russian president, during a meeting with IRNA’s managing director and few senior world news agencies’ directors, stated that Iranians with over thousand years of cultural history and national pride are capable of defending their own interests, and Russia supports the preservation of the JCPOA. Vladimir Putin made the remarks in response […]

Netanyahu tells Japan’s Abe to pressure Iran as he prepares for Tehran visit

Japanese PM, set to travel to Iran next week, aims to use his warm relationships with Islamic Republic and US to mediate between the two rivals By TOI STAFFToday, 5:03 am     Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C-R) and visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C-L) pose for a group picture during a meeting with Japanese […]

Anti-Israel Hate Marches Continue in Europe and the West

 by Laureen Lipsky An Israeli flag is burned by protestors at the 2019 “Quds Day” demonstration in Tehran. Photo: Reuters/Meghdad Madali. Last weekend, antisemitic rallies protected by free speech rights were once again tolerated by Western and European countries. Isn’t it interesting that so many hate marches target the Jewish people? Starting in 1979, Iran […]

Israel to ally with Arab neighbors around Red Sea in bid to save world’s corals

Swiss institute to manage partnership between Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Eritrea, Djibouti and Sudan in largest regional project of its kind By MELANIE LIDMANToday, 4:21 pm  0 0shares The Red Sea Transnational Research Center will study thousands of types of fish and coral found in the Red Sea, like these photographed near Eilat by Professor […]

Army chief says Gaza deal for calm is working, violence along border is down

But Aviv Kohavi also signals to leaders of communities near border of Hamas-run enclave that IDF will not allow arson balloons to be launched into Israel forever By TOI STAFFToday, 2:42 pm  1 55shares Israeli firefighter battles a fire started by an incendiary device launched from Gaza Strip, near the Israel and Gaza border fence, Wednesday, May […]