The Biden administration has frozen a planned arms shipment to Israel, according to a report Sunday, raising concerns among Israeli leaders of a major shift in American policy vis-a-vis the Jewish state.
Two Israeli officials told Axios and Walla that the Biden White House last week froze a weapons shipment to Israel, which includes ammunition and other American-made arms.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Friday that the U.S. military intends to deploy fighter jets, reconnaissance planes and armed drones to the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar. The move is reportedly designed to circumvent restrictions on airstrikes conducted from an airbase located in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
An unnamed Emirati official explained the restrictions on U.S. aerial strikes in the region.
The United Methodist Church, one of the largest Protestant denominations in the U.S., has voted to repeal its ban on LGBTQ clergy as well as prohibitions on its ministers from officiating at same-sex weddings.
Delegates overwhelmingly approved the changes, 692 to 51, during the United Methodist Church's General Conference.
(April 30, 2024 / JNS) Saudi Arabia has decided to normalize relations with Israel and is debating the timing of the announcement, a foreign diplomat familiar with the details told Haaretz on Monday.
According to the source cited in the article by the daily’s diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Lis, Riyadh is discussing whether to make the move in the coming weeks or after the U.S. presidential election this November, in which either Democrat Joe Biden will continue to lead the country or his challenger Republican Donald Trump will return to the White House.
BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday blasted the latest package of U.S. military assistance to Taiwan on Wednesday, saying that such funding was pushing the self-governing island republic into a “dangerous situation.”
The U.S. Senate late Tuesday passed $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign wars. China claims the entire island of Taiwan as its own territory and has threatened to take it by force if necessary.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — On a recent morning at a hospital in the heart of gang territory in Haiti’s capital, a woman began convulsing before her body went limp as a doctor and two nurses raced to save her.
They stuck electrodes to her chest and flipped on an oxygen machine while keeping their eyes on a computer screen that reflected a dangerously low oxygen level of 84%.
(April 22, 2024 / JNS) Iran is in contact with the Biden administration about restarting moribund talks on a new nuclear agreement amid a direct military confrontation between Tehran and U.S. ally Israel, the dpa German news agency reported on Sunday, citing a report in the Iranian Shargh newspaper.
Knowledgeable sources told Shargh that the Islamic Republic’s U.N. mission is coordinating the talks with the Americans and that Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri is no longer leading the negotiations. Instead, Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani is doing so.
US President Joe Biden released a Passover message on Sunday night that began well, focusing on the Biblical aspect of the Jewish holiday. It stayed focused on Jews and Israel, condemning the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and Hamas. But Biden strayed off course, claiming that he was working to bring about a ceasefire and humanitarian aid to Gaza, both of which benefit Hamas.
“Tomorrow night, Jews around the world will celebrate Passover, recounting their miraculous Exodus story from hundreds of years of enslavement in Egypt and their journey to freedom,” the statement read. “This holiday reminds us of a profound and powerful truth: that even in the face of persecution, if we hold on to faith, we shall endure and overcome.”
Saudi Arabia, a country that was on the verge of normalization with Israel before the October 7th massacre, helped not only with intelligence but may have also assisted in neutralizing missiles fired from Iran overnight on Saturday according to one report.
Many of the drones and missiles had to travel through Jordanian and Saudi airspace to reach Israel.
A greater proportion of young Americans sympathize with the Palestinian people and government than with the Israeli people and government, while almost one in five sympathize with Hamas and a growing number want the US to end or reduce its alliance with the Jewish State, according to a new poll.
The national poll — released by the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School — was of Americans aged 18-29. It found that while 52 percent of young people sympathize with Israelis, 56 percent sympathize with the Palestinian people.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — By mid-2024, Claudia Sheinbaum will most likely become Mexico’s first female president. She would also be its first leader with a Jewish background in a country that’s home to nearly 100 million Catholics.
On June 2, voters will choose a new president, 628 congressmen and thousands of local positions — Mexico’s largest election ever, according to the National Electoral Institute.
Numerous world leaders warned against an escalation of the situation in the Middle East on Friday, after Israel struck an Iranian military site in the city of Isfahan earlier in the morning.
Fears of a regional escalation caused oil prices to surge by several percent following reports of the Israeli strike, while several markets in Asia dropped, and European stock exchanges like the German DAX started trade with significant drops on Friday.
China expressed "grave concern" on Thursday at the deployment of a U.S. missile system to the edge of the South China Sea, potentially putting Chinese territory within striking range.
The U.S. Army this month hailed the "historic first" arrival of a medium or mid-range capability launcher in the northern Philippines as part of an ongoing military exercise.
Only 38% of American adults engage with the Bible, according to a new survey conducted by the American Bible Society, a non-profit organization that advocates Bible engagement among Americans. The latest figure represents a small decrease compared to 2023 (40%).
About 15% of the respondents said the Bible became more important in their lives during the past year, however, the latest poll figures reinforce last decade’s dramatic decline in the number of adult Americans who believe the study of the Word is a significant part of their lives.
(April 17, 2024 / JNS) Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said he believed “there’s some truth” to reports that U.S. President Joe Biden negotiated in advance with Iran on the extent of its massive missile attack on Israel on Saturday night.
During the Tuesday edition of the New York City-based radio show, “Sid & Friends in the Morning,” host Sid Rosenberg said he believed that Biden was “behind the whole thing” referring to the missile barrage on Israel.
(April 14, 2024 / JNS) U.S. President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call on Saturday that Washington will not support an Israeli retaliatory attack for Iran’s drone and missile assault on the Jewish state, Axios reported, citing a senior White House official.
Iran fired more than 300 missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles from its territory toward Israel on Saturday night, in what Tehran says was retaliation for the April 1 killing of several IRGC officers in Syria by Israel.
The United States Navy remains on high alert and repositioned at least two of its warships ahead of the expected Iranian attack on Israel, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Friday.
The move comes as U.S. CENTCOM Commander General Erik Kurilla arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday to begin coordinating a potential joint military response to an Iranian attack.
U.S. intelligence warned on Wednesday that a major strike against Israel to be carried out by Iran or one of its proxies using missiles or drones was “imminent,” Bloomberg reported.
Since the alleged Israeli strike killed a senior Iranian general and six other officers in Syria, Iranian officials have been threatening Israel with retaliation. Israeli officials have responded by warning that Israel would answer forcefully, and possibly attack Iran directly.
U.S. President Joe Biden harshly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy throughout the Gaza War in the most drastic comments he has made since the war with Hamas began last October.
Biden spoke to TV channel Univision in an interview that was broadcast on Tuesday evening but recorded shortly after the IDF mistakenly killed seven aid workers in the Gaza Strip.
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — Prior to October 7, the future seemed so bright for Israel.
We had just signed our sixth Arab-Israeli peace and normalization agreement.
We seemed to be on track to sign a seventh agreement with Saudi Arabia.
Our economy was booming, tourism was hitting record levels, and Israel was building increasingly close and warm ties with nations and governments all over the globe.
