Opponents have accused Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charge he denies, of trying to use the reforms to quash possible judgements against him. The prime minister has rejected the accusation.

Israel has approved buying a third squadron of advanced F-35 fighter jets manufactured by Lockheed Martin in a $3-billion deal, the defense ministry said. Israel is the only Middle East nation with F-35s which is stealth capable and can be used to gather intelligence, strike deep into enemy territory and...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had "thrown out" a key provision of his controversial judicial reform plan that has sparked one of the country's biggest ever protest movements. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Netanyahu said he intends to press on with the reforms.

UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland issued a warning on Monday against changes made by the Israeli government that will simplify procedures to authorize settlements in the occupied West Bank. The alterations, expected to expedite settlement expansion, have caused international concern.

JERUSALEM- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to advance the government's controversial judicial reforms, which have seen his premiership marred by mass protest against the proposed overhaul. "We will come together this week and begin the practical measures," Netanyahu said at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting...

The "agreement in principle" would see the semiconductor firm build the facility in southern city Kiryat Gat that would open by 2027 and operate at least until 2035, Israel's finance ministry said. As part of the deal, Intel's taxes to Israel would rise from five to 7.5%, the finance ministry...

Jerusalem, Undefined - Israeli defense exports hit an all-time high of $12.5 billion last year, with Arab countries that recently established ties accounting for nearly a quarter of purchase contracts, officials said Wednesday. The defense ministry, which oversees and approves the exports of Israel's defense industries, said one quarter of deals...

JERUSALEM -  Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid on Monday testified at a Jerusalem court in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial. His arrival at the court at around 9:00 am (0600 GMT) was confirmed by two AFP journalists. Lapid's testimony forms part of a case in which Netanyahu is...

Three Israeli soldiers and a member of Egypt's security forces were killed in a rare exchange of fire near the border between the two countries, official sources from both sides said. The Israeli army said an Egyptian assailant shot dead two soldiers " while they secured a military post at...

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party, said that the three were among the group's "fighters". The health ministry identified the three men killed in an overnight Israeli army raid in the Balata refugee camp as Muhammad Abu Zaytoun, Fathi Abu Rizk and...

Thursday's march began in the western part of the city before passing into east Jerusalem and through the Old City to the Western Wall, where about 50,000 people took part in the Jewish evening prayer, according to local authorities. Those marching were mostly young men, with some wearing white T-shirts...

the EU delegation to Israel said it would still celebrate Europe Day on Tuesday but regretted that "this year we have decided to cancel the diplomatic reception, as we do not want to offer a platform to someone whose views contradict the values the European Union stands for."

Israel transferred a Jordanian member of parliament to Amman's authorities, weeks after arresting him for attempting to smuggle pistols, rifles and gold into the occupied West Bank, officials said. Imad Adwan was detained at the Israel-administered Allenby (King Hussein) crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on April 22.

"(We're a) group of people that wants to end the situation of violence and the hatred between members of the two populations," said Khaled Abu Awad, the Palestinian partner in the initiative. Alaa, a 25-year-old Palestinian from Jerusalem, said he was attending for the first time and did not feel...

The pro-Palestinian rallies follow months of unrest in Iran sparked by the September death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young women arrested for an alleged breach of strict dress rules. The rallies, an annual fixture since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, are held on the last Friday of Ramadan.

A barrage of rockets fired from Lebanon targeted Israel, a day after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians inside Islam's third-holiest site drew warnings of retaliation. Israel's army said it had "identified 34 rockets that were fired from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory" and that 25 were intercepted by Israeli...

Israeli police stormed into the Al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday to dislodge what it calls agitators in a move condemned as an "unprecendented crime" by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. The movement which rules the Gaza Strip appealed to Palestinians in the West Bank "to go en masse to the Al-Aqsa...

The Israeli government approved a decision to form a national guard, officials said, which opponents warn would function as a "private militia" of firebrand National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. A statement from Ben-Gvir's office said the guard, which would operate under his ministry, would deal with "emergency scenarios, nationalistic crime,...

Israeli police said they shot dead an Arab Israeli who grabbed a gun from an officer and fired it in a scuffle in the Old City of Jerusalem. Police said the attack took place around midnight near the Chain Gate, an access point to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Israeli-annexed...

JERUSALEM -Israel's attorney general on Friday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "illegal" public intervention on the government's divisive judicial reform program, citing his ongoing corruption trial. After largely staying on the sidelines of the discussions, Netanyahu said in a televised address on Thursday he was "entering the arena" and...

Israeli parliament approved legislation restricting grounds for declaring a premier unfit for office, a move the opposition has called a "personal law" that serves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The vote came as Netanyahu's government pushes forward with a judicial reform program, which critics say threatens Israeli democracy and has sparked...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the parliamentary vote scraps "a discriminatory and humiliating law, that prohibited Jews from living in areas in northern Samaria, which is part of our historic homeland," using the biblical name for the northern West Bank.

The parliamentary vote notably paves the way for Israeli authorities to formally allow settlers to return to Homesh, the only one of the four sites whose residents were forcibly removed before their homes were demolished. Most governments around the world consider all Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories as illegal...

JERUSALEM- Israel's parliament took another step Tuesday to push forward a legal reform package that has sparked mass protests against the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Lawmakers in a 3:00 am (0100 GMT) vote approved a bill in first reading that would, among other things, allow the Knesset...

An Israeli settler killed an assailant in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said, the latest bloodshed in a surge of violence in the Palestinian territory. The incident occurred at Dorot Illit settlement in the north of the West Bank, the army said in a statement.

Dozens of Israeli Air Force pilots have said they will boycott military training in protest at government legal reforms that critics see as threatening democracy. In a letter sent to the chief of staff, 37 pilots threatened to not attend a training day due on Wednesday. The pilots' statement was...

Tensions are high, especially after the nearby Palestinian town of Huwara came under attack by Israeli settlers on Sunday, hours after two Israeli settlers were shot dead as they drove past.

Dozens of Israeli settlers set homes and cars ablaze in the northern town of Huwara overnight Sunday, after a day of Israeli-Palestinian talks in neighbouring Jordan aimed at quelling escalating unrest in the Palestinian territory. More than 350 Palestinians were injured, most suffering from tear gas inhalation, the Palestinian Red...

The entrances to the home of Fatima Alqam, her husband Moussa and four children were sealed within days after her son killed seven people outside a synagogue in the settlement of Neve Yaacov. Khayri Alqam was shot dead in the attack and his family later received a demolition order for...

Israel's government approved the 2023-2024 budget against the backdrop of economic uncertainty linked to controversial judicial reforms advanced by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The government had been expected to adopt the budget during a cabinet meeting Thursday, but talks ran late into the night and also took...

Israel's inflation rate hit a 14-year high of 5.4 percent in January, prompting the central bank to raise interest rates by half a percentage point.

Israel condemned the "severe" expulsion of a senior diplomat from the African Union summit, accusing Iran of orchestrating the move with help from Algeria and South Africa. A video on social media shows guards escorting the Israeli foreign ministry's deputy director general for Africa, Sharon Bar-li, out of the AU...

The measures, which were inching towards approval through a series of preliminary votes inside the chamber, have provoked widespread criticism and charges that they would give the legislative branch nearly unchecked authority.

Netanyahu said earlier Sunday during a meeting of his government he wanted to "strengthen settlements", which are illegal under international law. The measures apply to Israeli Arabs as well as to Palestinians with resident status in east Jerusalem, part of the city annexed by Israel. The measures apply to Israeli...

Cairo, Egypt - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday accused Israel of having "crossed all red lines" in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem and urged world leaders to put an end to its actions. The international community must "protect" the Palestinian people and "put a stop to Israeli aggression......

The only indication of the Western Wall plaza's North African heritage is a Moroccan flag, flying discreetly in a nearby private garden.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Israeli and Palestinian leaders on his Middle East tour aimed at curbing the outbreak of violence in the region. Blinken met Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and said that the US is committed for the Jewish state's security. Gallant called the US official...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Egypt at the start of a Middle East trip on which he will look to notch down Israeli-Palestinian tensions after an eruption of violence. Blinken, who will travel Monday and Tuesday to Jerusalem and Ramallah after his stop in Cairo, had planned...

Israel announced a slew of steps late Saturday, including revoking the rights to social security of "the families of terrorists that support terrorism".It also announced that the home of 21-year-old Khayri Alqam, who was shot dead by police following Friday's attack, "will be sealed immediately ahead of its demolition".

Doha, Qatar-- The preacher of the Al Aqsa mosque Sheikh Ekrema Sabri fears takeover of the mosque by the extreme right-wing Israeli government. He said in an interview with QNA, that they do not rule out the attempt to control the Al Aqsa mosque by the extremist Israeli National Security...

The agency warned that most Palestinian refugees now live below the poverty line and a growing number are dependent on UNRWA for assistance, sometimes for their "sheer survival".

Braving rain, tens of thousands of people protested in Tel Aviv against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's new right-wing government, which critics fear could threaten Israeli democracy. Chanting "bring down the dictator" protestors brandished signs with slogan decrying a "government of shame".

Freedom Theatre's ability to provide Jenin residents with respite is under growing strain due to repeated raids by Israeli forces.

The UAE, which launched diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020, "strongly condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard by an Israeli minister", in a foreign ministry statement. The US ambassador to Israel, Tom Nides, said Washington "has made it clear to the Israeli government it opposes any steps that could...

Israel's hawkish veteran Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in as prime minister after a stint in opposition, heading what analysts call the most right-wing government in the country's history. Netanyahu, 73, who is fighting corruption charges in court, had already served as premier longer than anyone in Israeli history, leading the...

Jerusalem-- Israel's newly sworn-in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has granted major concessions to far-right and ultra-Orthodox allies to cement a coalition following last month's election, the country's fifth in less than four years. The agreements, published by the Knesset, or parliament, on Wednesday, have already prompted an outcry among Israel's...

Jerusalem, Undefined - Israel's parliament on Tuesday passed controversial legislation paving the way for the return of veteran hawk Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister. Following his November 1 election win, Netanyahu secured a mandate to form a government backed by ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties and an extreme-right bloc. Netanyahu will present what analysts...

Tripoli, Libya- -The Council of Arab Information Ministers chose the city of Jerusalem as the permanent capital of Arab media, in an affirmation of the centrality of the Palestinian cause, and in appreciation of the emotional status and the special historical and legal character of this holy city, media reports...

Some Israeli political analysts had forecast that Netanyahu would move to announce a coalition days after receiving his mandate from President Isaac Herzog on November 13. But the coalition talks have proved complex, with Netanyahu forced to give sensitive portfolios to controversial figures, including Jewish Power leader Itamar Ben Gvir,...

While Jerusalem is home to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which Christians believe contains Jesus's tomb, the Nativity story of his birth happened in nearby Bethlehem, according to the faithful. But at Santa House, Kassissieh said his young visitors have more modern concerns.