Iran is propping up the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in order to ensure that Hezbollah, which both countries support, has the continued capability to wage war against Israel, expert witnesses told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at a hearing Tuesday. “The gains made by the Assad regime (with Russian and Iranian help)...

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s recent push for new peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is “promising,” former Israeli finance minister Yair Lapid said Wednesday during a public Q&A at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Lapid, who for years has been promoting a regional peace summit involving Egypt and...

Former Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Liberman will be named defense minister and is bringing his Yisrael Beiteinu party into the Knesset’s governing coalition, Israel’s Channel 2 reported Wednesday. Yisrael Beiteinu’s six seats will mean that the governing coalition comprises 67 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, making it much more stable than the current...

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne kicked off her week-long trade mission to Israel by signing 18 agreements and partnerships valued at $87 million. Wynne’s delegation includes government officials as well as around 130 business, academic, and research representatives. “I am pleased that so many Israeli and Ontario companies have created partnerships to...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s recent push for Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, saying in a statement Tuesday that Israel is “ready to participate” in efforts to advance diplomacy. “I welcome Egyptian President El-Sisi’s remarks and his willingness to make every effort to advance a future of peace...

The United Methodist Church, one of the largest denominations in the United States, voted against four resolutions calling for divestment in companies that do business in Israel at their quadrennial convention in Portland over the weekend. The resolutions called on the church to divest from Catepillar, Hewlett-Packard, and Motorola. Similar divestment resolutions...