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In recent years, Israelis have been choosing to fly to the Far East through Arab states which do not recognize the State of Israel, according to Israel Channel 2 News. Israel's Foreign Office says that those enemy countries prohibit the entry of Israelis – but Israeli passengers report no special problem at those stops, and they get to save as much as $500 per ticket.

The Iran issue may be moved somewhat down the agenda as flailing Syrian dictator Bashar Assad is being pressured by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to move both his WMD cache and long-range Scud missiles to well-protected Hizbullah bases inside Lebanon.

Israel Defense reports that Eurospike, a subsidiary of weapons manufacturer Rafael, has signed a contract to supply Spike missiles totaling hundreds of millions of dollars to Germany.

So, what have the children of Jacob and the people who hate them been up to over the past 24 hours? What can I say, it's a violent planet. But even in a violent blue-green ball like ours, some stories still get our goat.

The Chief Rabbinate claims that, based on data provided by the Badatz in London, it appears that the products under the name "Dr Pepper" which are made in England and imported to Israel are not kosher.

In pre-Oscar television interviews, actors Shlomo Bar-Aba and Lior Ashkenazi, stars of the Israeli Oscar nominated "Footnote," which last night became the tenth Israeli nominee to not win the big prize – were telling anyone who would listen that it was definitely going to be Iran this year. And they were right. The Hollywood elite which decides these things gave the nod to Iran's "A Separation," from what we hear a fantastic family drama, and Director Asghar Farhadi has taken home the Oscar for best foreign language film. While Director Joseph Cedar, an observant Jew, went home empty handed for the second time in his career. Bummer.

The AP reported that the European Union is working on regulations that would shut out Iran's banks from the financial clearinghouse SWIFT, which is...

The Security Council statement, read to the media, "condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack in New Delhi, India, aimed at Israel's diplomatic...

Malcolm Hoenlein: “While I choose not to reveal their names, they [Arab leaders] have all expressed serious concern about Iran and are interested in making peace with Israel. They are serious about what they say and proof of that has been seen in recent weeks, as you don’t hear many of these leaders raise the Palestinian issue against Israel in our discussions or in the headlines.”

At least it took a while, since somehow the organizers of this 4-day event for 120 European Jewish young professionals didn't realize they would all insist on eating kosher food. In Malta? It took a few heroic feats to straighten out that one…

Robert Bernstein, founder of Human Rights Watch, has established a new organization called Advancing Human Rights, with Irwin Cotler and David Keyes on the Board of Directors.

On occasion it's nice to read good things about one's country, reflected through the eyes of a sworn enemy. If half of what Iran's UN ambassador Mohammad Khazaee told the UN Security Council about Israeli covert operations, cyber warfare, psychological war and assassination of nuclear scientists is true, then we should sleep quietly tonight…

Two settlements in Samaria will be celebrating a modest expansion with Wednesday's decision to add nearly 700 housing units to an area where so much Jewish blood has been spilled. Now wait for it… wait for it… international condemnations!

Last April, NYU student Emily Harrold embarked on the production of a film exploring why The New York Times under-reported the Holocaust during the 1940s. Now, a little less than a year later, the project has expanded to more than twenty students.

WASHINGTON – For the Jews of Cuba, it was the ultimate Internet connection. The high-tech equipment that U.S. contractor Alan Gross brought with him to Cuba in 2009 to help connect local Jews to the Internet reportedly included a SIM card that makes it almost impossible to track satellite signals and is generally unavailable to civilians, even in the United States.

The explicit aim of the Istanbul Process -- currently backed by the Obama administration -- is to make it an international crime to criticize Islam.

At stake is nothing short of an all out effort on the part of Israel, Britain, France, and the US, to squash, militarily, the Iranian nuclear program. In a regional mood that's becoming reminiscent of the days before Desert Shield, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, as well as Russia, will likely, if tacitly, support and encourage an attack on Iran. What we may be seeing in the days leading up to the Obama and Netanyahu March 5 meeting, is a president being dragged, against his best intentions, into a new, hot war.

It was touch and go for a while at the Canadian mission to the UN, as Foreign Office Mideast hands managed to sneak pro-Palestinian statehood paragraphs into the FM's speech against his expressed wishes – and views. In the end, Baird proved he was able to speak softly and carry a big pair of scissors.

The work that's been accused of romanticizing terrorism and touting the ideology of murderers is being launched again, by England's esteemed National Opera, with predictable reactions from offended Jews.

While the world is shocked and enraged by the brutality of Syria's military assault on its own civilians, President Bashar al-Assad is not without friends, both faraway and next-door.

Two Iranian warships have gone up the Suez Canal to dock at a Syrian port, on the same day that a Syrian economic mission is concluding negotiations for preferential trade with Iran. At a time when both countries are being isolated from the West, their aim to enhance each other's position is clear.

The minute-long video appears at first glance to show a packed courtroom with Vladimir Putin standing in the cage-like enclosure for defendants, with his head bowed, facing trial on charges of theft and terrorism.

Malaysia will extradite Iranian suspected of involvement in attempted bombing in Thailand; Report reveals that Mossad chief visited New Delhi days before the attack on the Israeli diplomatic vehicle and lauded India as a safe destination for Israelis; Israel's envoy to the UN has lodged a complaint, blaming Iran and Hizbollah for the week-long terror campaign.

Mossad approached authorities in Singapore with confidential information leading to the arrest of an Iranian and Hezbollah cell which were planning to assassinate the defense minister.

WASHINGTON – Israeli leaders blamed Iran for two assassination attempts late Sunday and early Monday – in Tbilisi, Georgia, and in New Delhi, India. The bomb in Tbilisi was disabled before it could be activated, and the attack in India wounded the wife of an Israeli diplomat and her driver.

On Sunday, President al-Assad received a copy of the new draft constitution from the head of the National Committee charged with drafting a new constitution for the Syrian Arab Republic.

Unlike India's government, the Thais have no problem pointing the finger of blame squarely at Tehran. The similarities between the devices used in Bangkok and New Delhi may convince the Indians to change their pro-Iranian stance.

Thailand and India are utilizing watch lists of Iranian terrorists provided by Israeli intelligence. India's options regarding Iran are limited given its heavy dependence on Iranian oil.

The blasts injured five people including a bombing suspect carrying an Iranian passport who blew off his own legs.

A poll of Muslims in Britain found little support for freedom of speech. Nearly 80% of Muslims in Britain said that the publishers of the Danish cartoons depicting the Muslim Mohammed should be prosecuted; 68% said that those who insult Islam should be prosecuted; and 62% of Muslims in Britain disagree that freedom of speech should be allowed if it insults and offends religious groups.