All Stories Archive

About half of the American people are confident that Israel is a real ally to the US, while most do not expect to see a viable peace process, a poll published by CNN on Tuesday night has revealed. The CNN poll showed that 33 per cent of Americans said...

American taxpayers have paid the equivalent of $234 billion at today's values in aid to Israel since 1948. The figures are revealed in a report by Israeli economic magazine The Marker this week and show the actual amount of $113 billion adjusted to take inflation into account. The pro-Israel...

US sources have said that they do not expect Secretary of State John Kerry to present any new ideas for a peace plan to the Israelis and Palestinians during his visit to the region next week. Speaking to Israel Radio, the anonymous sources claimed that Mr Kerry will concentrate...

At a time of serious economic crisis in America, the US government has allocated $220 million to Israel for its "Iron Dome" missile defence system. Documents linked to the US Department of Defence budget, reviewed by Agence France Presse yesterday, reveal that the US allocation will be made in...

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry told the Congress Foreign Affairs Committee, "I believe the window for a two-state solution is closing," an issue that requires immediate action in order to revive Palestinian-Israel negotiations. "Time is running out for establishing a Palestinian state," he added. When asked...

The annual report of the US State Department stated that Israel discriminates against Arabs, women, foreign nationals, and people with special needs. The report, which covers the year 2012 and addresses the human rights situation around the world, did not put Israel in the section of violators of human...

More than 100 American professors and teaching staff at Columbia University have called for five American companies to withdraw their investment in Israeli jails over "breaches of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories," the website of Israeli TV channel 7 said. The companies that invest money from the...

The Committee of Foreign Affairs in the US Senate have approved a draft resolution that affirms the US aim of banning Iran from owning nuclear weapons and announces its support for Israel if it decides to carry out a military attack alone. Elshaab, an Egyptian newspaper, said that the...

A Western diplomatic source claims that US Secretary of State John Kerry has identified the economy, security and political situation as the three main routes to a resumption of the peace negotiations between Palestine and Israel. Kerry, it is alleged, is working on opportunities to attract major investment to...

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has expressed his concern that the Jordanian regime is threatened by the ongoing Syria conflict, pointing out that King Abdullah is moderate and America's ally in the region. Graham called for Washington to take a more decisive stand on Syria. Presenting four reasons to encourage...

The Israeli Minister of Justice, Tzipi Livni, and the Israeli Prime Minister's special envoy Isaac Molcho arrived in Washington for a quick visit – that actually lasted for several hours – to meet US Secretary of State John Kerry. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Thursday that the visit...

The UN Human Rights Council has prepared a draft report which calls for a universal ban on making, transporting and using unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs), otherwise known as drones. According to reports in Germany, the UNHRC has made the call because UAVs breach international law and create "widespread fears...

Russia and the United States agreed on Tuesday to hold an international conference in an effort to end the civil war in Syria. The conference will possibly be at the end of the month. Despite their differences in opinion over Syria, the agreement was announced by Russian Foreign Minister,...

Following the Arab League announcement that it accepts the principle of land swap based on the 1967's borders, media reports have revealed that the US administration is working to convince members of the League to declare recognition of Israel as a Jewish state. Israel's Maariv newspaper stated that the...

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said that any solution to problems in the Middle East, especially the Syrian conflict or Iran's nuclear programme should be "political, not military." In a keynote speech at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Hagel said, "The most enduring and effective solutions to...

Turkey is greatly disappointed by the meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and American President Barack Obama in Washington last week. Talk of Syria took up most of their time on Thursday, both during the day, and during dinner that night. The Turkish leader tried to explain...

Canada's largest Protestant church, the United Church of Canada, has decided to boycott three Israeli companies as part of its campaign against products manufactured in illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The "Unsettling Goods: Choose Peace in Palestine and Israel" campaign is set to start on Saturday and...

US Secretary of State called the Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, last week demanding an explanation about planned legalisation of four Israeli outposts in the occupied West Bank, Israeli newspaper Haaretz said on Tuesday. Haaretz reported a senior Israeli official as saying that Kerry personally phoned Oren...

The American Newseum has backed down from its decision to honour two Palestinian journalists, Mahmoud al-Kumi and Hussam Salama, by including their photos on the museum's memorial wall honouring journalists killed in the line of duty. According to "Yedioth Ahronoth", the decision to back down was due to pressures...

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has told Palestinian Foreign Minister Dr Riyad Al-Malki that the international organisation does not recognise Israel's annexation of occupied East Jerusalem and regards settlement activity as illegal. Mr Ban also expressed his rejection of the continuation of "Israeli violations" against the Palestinian people, especially...

UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, has called for Israelis and Palestinians to seize the current chance at peace represented by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry. "This may well be the last chance for the two-state solution", he said. In a video message to the American Jewish Committee...

According to a poll conducted by Gallup research institute, the majority of Americans are against their country's military involvement in Syria. The poll's results, which were published last Friday, also indicated that 68 per cent of Americans say that the U.S. should not use any military force in an...

VIDEOBelow is a statement from the 'Students Against Israeli Apartheid': On 4th June, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visited Washington D.C.'s Woodrow Wilson Centre to offer a so-called "moderate" perspective on Middle East affairs and the Palestinian-Israeli impasse. A coalition of Palestinian justice activists from the DC area,...

The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee approved on Monday to grant Israel a $488 million increase in military aid. The additional amount is for the development of Israel's rocket and missile interception systems. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that a US Congress defence authorisation bill was approved...

Israel Hayom newspaper has claimed that US Secretary of State John Kerry has given up his wide-ranging peace plan and replaced it with "a gradual multi-step peace plan between Israel and the Palestinian Authority". Kerry has, senior Israeli officials have revealed, also asked the European Union to "step back...

The United States has announced a donation of $123 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). The UN agency said on Tuesday that the US donation "will enable UNRWA to continue its work serving a population of some five million registered Palestine refugees...

The US will cut five per cent from its annual military aid package to Israel as part of budgetary spending cuts, the Israeli daily Maariv reported on Friday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to have instructed Israeli officials in Washington not to ask the US government for an...

A US delegation headed by a senior naval officer has made a secret visit to the so-called E1 area between Jerusalem and the Ma'ale Adumim settlement bloc in the occupied West Bank. The members of the delegation are studying the impact of proposed highly-controversial Israeli construction projects on the...

US Secretary of State John Kerry has left the region denying that his shuttle diplomacy has failed. The gap between the Israelis and Palestinians has, he claimed, "narrowed", although his hopes for a breakthrough haven't materialised. Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Kerry left the region after he had suggested...

A delegation of Israeli settlers has left for a visit to the United States in a bid to raise awareness of their situation and reinforce their position in the eyes of American politicians. Media reports say that the delegation includes members of the Council of Jewish Settlements, led by...

American officials have said that Israel has asked the US administration not to halt the $1.3 billion annual aid to the Egyptian army because it might affect Israel's national security, Haaretz reported on Tuesday. The newspaper claimed that marathon talks over the issue have been held over the past...

Despite the fact that American president Barack Obama has said the US did not take sides during the recent coup against the elected president in Egypt, US federal government documents proves that the White House funded many prominent Egyptian activist who have worked outspokenly to undermine the democratic experience....

The US Secretary of State has welcomed the appointment of the new cabinet in Egypt. John Kerry, who is on a visit to the region, said that it is full of "competent" people. Interim Prime Minister Hazem Al-Beblawi announced the appointments amid protests as Egyptians continue to call for...

During her Senate confirmation hearing, the newly-nominated US representative at the UN has pledged to fight for Israel to have a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council. Samantha Power dismissed remarks attributed to her 11 years ago that angered Israel and said: "The United States has no greater...

On Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry announced the appointment of twice US ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk as the "US Special Envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations". The announcement came as Palestine's chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, and his Israeli counterpart, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, were on their way...

The Obama administration is apparently failing to please either the military leadership in Egypt or Muslim Brotherhood officials in its diplomatic efforts to find a way out of the coup-induced crisis. Both coup leader Abdul Fattah Al-Sisi and Brotherhood leadership are critical of the US approach. Egypt is regarded...

"Our town was no battlefield. We had no warning – our local police were never asked to make any arrest. My young nephew Waleed was a policeman, before the strike cut short his life." In August 2012 Faisal bin Ali Jabar lost his nephew and brother-in-law in a drone...

The Deputy Director of the CIA has told the Wall Street Journal that the escalating civil war in Syria poses the biggest threat to the security of the United States. Michael Morrell, who is about to leave the agency after 33 years, noted that Syria is probably the biggest...

During their visit to Cairo, US Senator John McCain called the removal of the elected Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi "a coup," while Senator Lindsey Graham implicitly agreed with the description. The remarks of both senior US senators came in the context of the White house administration's description, which had...

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has called for the free world to support Egyptian Defence Minister General Abdul-Fattah Al-Sisi and liberal leaders such as Mohamed ElBaradie, he told CNN on Monday. Barak alleged that President Mohamed Morsi was ousted by his people after he had attempted to change...

The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff arrived in Israel on Monday where he will be a guest of his Israeli counterpart, Israel Defence Forces Chief of Staff Benny Gantz. During his stay, General Martin Dempsey will meet with a number of senior IDF leaders to discuss...

The United Jewish Appeal-Federation has announced in New York that it will allocate $145 million to support its own and other projects intended to Judaise the city of Jerusalem. According to the head of the Jerusalem International Centre, Hassan Khater, this is the sum that has been raised in...

US Secretary of State, John Kerry, said that the Israeli announcement of new bids to build 1000 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem was "to some extent, expected." He ruled out that this could be considered an obstacle to the resumption of peace talks between...

Dr Ahmad Aref, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, has sent an open message to US President Barack Obama in which he insists that the people of Egyptian alone will be able to overthrow the military coup. "And we will do it peacefully," he insisted. The leader of the...

John Esposito speaks about the events that occurred in Egypt The slaughter of pro-Morsi demonstrators should be seen for what it is, a barbaric bloodbath. Gen. Al-Sisi and the Egyptian senior military have now demonstrated to the world the true colors of their coup and Egypt's illegitimate government. Egypt...

U.S. Senator John McCain said that President Obama failure to handle the issue of violence in Egypt has lost the United States its credibility in the Middle East. McCain made his remarks to the CNN network on Sunday. The Guardian newspaper reported that McCain compared Obama's position on Egypt...

The United States announced yesterday that it will be providing $148 million in aid to support the Palestinian Authority's budget, which is experiencing a fiscal deficit worth $3.1 billion this year. After the aid agreement was signed at the office of the Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Al-Hamdallah in Ramallah,...

Israel is to step up diplomatic efforts urging the US and Western countries to support the military-backed government in Egypt, despite a deadly crackdown on peaceful protesters, an Israeli official told the New York Times on Monday. The official, who is involved in the efforts according the NYT, said...

Egypt's interim Prime Minister, Hazem Beblawi, has said that Washington's decision to review its military aid to his country is not the end of the world and that Egypt will find a solution without the United States. Beblawi said during an interview with the American ABC News, in Cairo,...

Israeli security services are suggesting that Barack Obama could initiate a strike against Syria to punish the regime for its use of chemical weapons against civilians in Ghoutah last week. According to Haaretz newspaper, the Israeli officials base their belief primarily on the growing pressure on Obama, who said...