Connect with us

RSS

Israeli Government Officially Approves New Benefits for Soldiers

Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terror group Hamas, in this handout picture released on Jan. 2, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

The Israeli government has officially approved a new set of benefits for military reservists discharged from service, giving them significant discounts on land purchases.

“Today is a good day, because we have committed for some time to bring free or almost free land to the army servants, our reservists, with an emphasis of course on combat service,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been pushing heavily for the discounts.

“There is really a big news here of 90 percent [discounts], and in some places even 95 percent,” he continued, detailing the benefits. “Though the land itself is almost free, we are aware that there are also development expenses. We are now discussing how to also provide assistance, such as subsidies, with the Finance Ministry for the benefit of development expenses. This is of course a great revolution; it also creates justice.”

Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf added, “Today we passed a series of historic decisions for the benefit of Israeli citizens of all shades of the population, with an emphasis on [Israel Defense Forces] IDF soldiers and reservists, who sacrifice their time and energy for the defense of the homeland. In addition to increasing discounts for buyers in areas of national priority, in order to encourage and develop Jewish settlement there.”

As mentioned by Netanyahu, the main benefit approved on Thursday was a 90 percent discount on land purchases where the buyer is building a house for personal use. Additionally, priority will be given to reservists in housing lotteries — first choice on 20 percent of the units — and they will become eligible for discounts on apartment purchases.

The new approval gives extra discounts if the land is purchased in “priority locations” such as the Negev, the Galilee, and the Gaza Envelope. The rate will be 10 percent or up to 100,000 NIS (slightly under $28,000), which will be subtracted from the 90 percent discount already applied.

“With the decisions passed today, the state will offer significant discounts for the purchase of land in national priority areas for reservists,” said Yehuda Morgenstern, director-general of the Construction and Housing Ministry. “In addition, we increased the percentage of apartments that will be allocated to reservists in discounted apartment lotteries. We consider it a moral obligation to help as much as possible to encourage settlement throughout the country, especially in the areas close to the borders, and at the same time to give as much assistance as possible to the reserve soldiers who give of themselves for the country all the time.”

The measure defines reservists qualifying for the discounts as being those who served at least 45 days, meaning that almost every soldier who was called can take advantage of the discounts.

More than 300,000 soldiers were called up following Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing over 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages in documented cases of systemic rape, murder, and mutilation.

Now almost six months into the war, a large portion of the soldiers called for duty after Oct. 7 have returned to their homes following service, though many remain in or around Gaza and in the north of Israel, where the IDF has been trading missile fire with the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon.

The post Israeli Government Officially Approves New Benefits for Soldiers first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

RSS

Trump Open to Meeting Iran’s Leaders, Sees Chance of Nuclear Deal

US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 23, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US President Donald Trump this week said he is open to meeting Iran’s supreme leader or president and that he thinks the two countries will strike a new deal on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

However, Trump, who in 2018 pulled the US out of a now moribund nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, repeated a threat of military action against Iran unless a new pact is swiftly reached to prevent it developing nuclear weapons.

Trump, in an April 22 interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran” following indirect US-Iranian talks last week in which the side agreed to draw up a framework for a potential deal.

The Republican US president, speaking separately to reporters at the White House on Friday, reiterated his positive prognosis, saying: “Iran, I think, is going very well. We’ll see what happens.”

A US official said the discussions yielded “very good progress.”

Asked by Time whether he was open to meeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, an anti-Western hardliner who has the last say on all major state policies, or President Masoud Pezeshkian, Trump replied: “Sure.”

Expert-level talks are set to resume on Saturday in Oman, which has acted as intermediary between the longtime adversaries, with a third round of high-level nuclear discussions planned for the same day.

Israel, a close US ally and Iran’s major Middle East foe, has described the Islamic Republic’s escalating uranium enrichment program – a potential pathway to nuclear bombs – as an “existential threat.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear capabilities, saying partial measures will not suffice to ensure Israel’s security.

Asked in the interview if he was concerned Netanyahu might drag the United States into a war with Iran, Trump said: “No.”

‘I’LL BE LEADING THE PACK’

However, when asked if the US would join a war against Iran should Israel take action, he responded: “I may go in very willingly if we can’t get a deal. If we don’t make a deal, I’ll be leading the pack.”

In March, Iran responded to a letter from Trump in which he urged it to negotiate a new deal by stating it would not engage in direct talks under maximum pressure and military threats but was open to indirect negotiations, as in the past.

Although the current talks have been indirect and mediated by Oman, US and Iranian officials did speak face-to-face briefly following the first round on April 12.

The last known face-to-face negotiations between the two countries took place under former US President Barack Obama during diplomacy that led to the 2015 nuclear accord.

Western powers accuse Iran of harboring a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program.

Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly peaceful. The 2015 deal temporarily curbed its uranium enrichment activity in exchange for relief from international sanctions, but Iran resumed and accelerated enrichment after the Trump walkout in 2018.

The post Trump Open to Meeting Iran’s Leaders, Sees Chance of Nuclear Deal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say

US President Donald speaking in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC on March 3, 2025. Photo: Leah Millis via Reuters Connect

The United States is poised to offer Saudi Arabia an arms package worth well over $100 billion, six sources with direct knowledge of the issue told Reuters, saying the proposal was being lined up for announcement during US President Donald Trump‘s visit to the kingdom in May.

The offered package comes after the administration of former President Joe Biden unsuccessfully tried to finalize a defense pact with Riyadh as part of a broad deal that envisioned Saudi Arabia normalizing ties with Israel.

The Biden proposal offered access to more advanced US weaponry in return for halting Chinese arms purchases and restricting Beijing’s investment in the country. Reuters could not establish if the Trump administration’s proposal includes similar requirements.

The White House and Saudi government communications office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A US Defense official said: “Our defense relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is stronger than ever under President Trump‘s leadership. Maintaining our security cooperation remains an important component of this partnership and we will continue to work with Saudi Arabia to address their defense needs.”

In his first term, Trump celebrated weapons sales to Saudi Arabia as good for US jobs.

Lockheed Martin Corp could supply a range of advanced weapons systems including C-130 transport aircraft, two of the sources said. One source said Lockheed would also supply missiles and radars.

RTX Corp, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, is also expected to play a significant role in the package, which will include supplies from other major US defense contractors such as Boeing Co, Northrop Grumman Corp and General Atomics, said four of the sources.

All the sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

RTX, Northrop and General Atomics declined to comment. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Lockheed Martin spokesperson said foreign military sales are government-to-government transactions. Questions about sales to foreign governments are best addressed by the US government.

Reuters could not immediately establish how many of the deals on offer were new. Many have been in the works for some time, two of the sources said. For example, the kingdom first requested information about General Atomics’ drones in 2018, they said. Over the past 12 months, a deal for $20 billion of General Atomics’ MQ-9B SeaGuardian-style drones and other aircraft came into focus, according to one of the sources.

Several executives from defense companies are considering traveling to the region as a part of the delegation, three of the sources said.

The US has long supplied Saudi Arabia with weapons. In 2017, Trump proposed approximately $110 billion of sales to the kingdom.

As of 2018, only $14.5 billion of sales had been initiated and Congress began to question the deals in light of the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In 2021, under Biden, Congress imposed a ban on sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia over the Khashoggi killing and to pressure the kingdom to wind down its Yemen war, which had inflicted heavy civilian casualties.

Under US law, major international weapons deals must be reviewed by members of Congress before they are finalized.

The Biden administration began to soften its stance on Saudi Arabia in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine impacted global oil supplies. The ban on offensive weapons sales was lifted in 2024, as Washington worked more closely with Riyadh in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack to devise a plan for post-war Gaza.

A potential deal for Lockheed’s F-35 jets, which the kingdom has been reportedly interested in for years, is expected to be discussed, three of the sources said, while downplaying the chances for an F-35 deal being signed during the trip.

The United States guarantees that its close ally Israel receives more advanced American weapons than Arab states, giving it what is labeled a “Qualitative Military Edge” (QME) over its neighbors.

Israel has now owned F-35s for nine years, building multiple squadrons.

The post Trump Poised to Offer Saudi Arabia Over $100 Billion Arms Package, Sources Say first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

RSS

Iran Summons Dutch Envoy to Protest Assassination Attempts Claim

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi looks on before a meeting with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, in Tehran, Iran, Aug. 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

The Iranian foreign ministry summoned the Dutch ambassador to Tehran on Friday, the official IRNA news agency reported, a day after the Netherlands called in Iran‘s envoy over suspicions that Iran was behind two assassination attempts.

An Iranian foreign ministry official described the Dutch accusation as “laughable” and based on “suspicions or assumptions,” according to IRNA.

“It is regrettable that the Dutch diplomatic apparatus acts so easily on speculations injected by its security bodies and the Zionist regime [Israel], and even summons the Iranian ambassador over such an absurd fabrication,” the official, Alireza Yousefi, was quoted as saying.

The Netherlands summoned Iran‘s ambassador after the Dutch intelligence agency, known as the AIVD, said in its annual report published on Thursday that it was likely Iran was behind two assassination attempts in the Netherlands and Spain.

Two men were arrested in June 2024 in the Dutch town of Haarlem after an assassination attempt on an Iranian residing in the country, the report said.

One of the suspects was also believed to have been behind the failed assassination attempt on Spanish politician and Iran critic Alejo Vidal-Quadras in Madrid in November 2023, it said.

The post Iran Summons Dutch Envoy to Protest Assassination Attempts Claim first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News