By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
A postdoctoral fellow at Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School identified a genetic protein involved in the development of glioblastoma, a common and aggressive brain cancer. Regina Golan-Gerstl’s discovery could help create new diagnosis and treatment options for more than 20,000 Americans diagnosed with brain cancer each year. The Israel Cancer Research Fund supported the research, which […]
By JTA
Israel’s antitrust regulatory commission is investigating whether the Google-Waze merger constitutes a monopoly. The Israel Antitrust Authority opened its investigation on Wednesday, the Israeli business daily Globes reported. The probe will focus on whether Google’s purchase of Waze, a free downloadable navigation application with more than 50 million subscribers, should have obtained permission from the […]
By JTA
A federal judge reprimanded an attorney working on behalf of jailed former Agriprocessors executive Sholom Rubashkin. In a meeting Tuesday, U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade told the attorney that interviews of jurors in Rubashkin’s 2009 trial on bank fraud charges cannot be used for future appeals or other court proceedings, according to The Gazette, […]
By JTA
Practices covered by the resolution include female genital mutilation and the circumcision of young boys for religious reasons.
By JTA
The chain Hobby Lobby, following a blog report that it did not stock Hanukkah merchandise, said it was evaluating its inventory, and also looking into an alleged anti-Jewish slur by one of its employees. Ken Berwitz on his Hopelessly Partisan blog wrote over the weekend that a friend who asked about Hanukkah goods at the […]
By JTA
Move over Kohn Kerry and let the moviemakers take over. It took five years of negotiations for an IMAX visual tour of Jerusalem, including the three major religions, to come to the screen.
The gigantic (as it was billed) pro-Settlement rally in Binyanei Ha’uma on Wednesday night, was a gigantic success.
The Women of the Wall are unhappy again. Yes, they can read from the Torah, but now that have no scroll. It was damaged by dampness, and WoW blames the government for lack of proper storage.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef regained consciousness at Hadassah Medical Center in Ein Kerem Wednesday but his condition remains very serious, doctors said. He woke up and recognized family members, who helped him put on tefillin. His physician, Dr. Dan Gilon, said that the rabbi may not have suffered brain damage. The 93-year-old Torah sage and spiritual […]
Rohani claims that he rejected five White House requests to meet with Obama which is just as well. Don’t U.S. sanctions include not picking up the tab for dinner? Or maybe Rouhani demanded that Bibi pay.
A resolution that calls male ritual circumcision a “violation of the physical integrity of children” was passed overwhelmingly by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The council, a pan-European intergovernmental organization that strongly influence European Union decisions, debated and passed the resolution on Tuesday, as reported here. The resolution was based on a […]
On the heels of Israel's warning to the world of the existential dangers posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, that country was chosen for a leadership position on the U.N. Disarmament and International Security Committee.
JERUSALEM – Despite President Obama’s cautious optimism about resolving the Iranian nuclear issue diplomatically, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reportedly handed the president a top-secret intelligence dossier allegedly showing that Iran might have already crossed the nuclear threshold.
By Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a blunt speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, warned that Israel was ready to go it alone against Iran should it come close to obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Israel, like Canada and many states in the US, has one big reason to legalize marijuana: Money. Canada launches legal medical marijuana. Colorado and Washington have legalized it. Is Israel next?
There are more people in America who identify themselves as Jews than you may have thought – an estimated 6.8 million, according to a new study. But a growing proportion of them are unlikely to raise their children Jewish or connect with Jewish institutions.
By Batya Medad
Our people in Jewish Home and Likud kept campaigning that they had to be in the coalition to influence government. They're in now, and what influence do they have?
By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
Hungarian Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics vowed to "crack down" on antisemitism in his country through legal and political means during a conference on Jewish life and antisemitism in Europe. "We cannot allow, especially knowing our own responsibility, antisemitism to gain strength in Hungary," he said. "We know Hungarians were responsible for the Holocaust. Hungarians were perpetrators, and victims." […]
By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) welcomed the Vatican’s announcement of the canonization of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII, citing their groundbreaking work in denouncing antisemitism and building positive Jewish-Catholic relations. “For us in the Jewish community, Popes John Paul II and John XXIII have already been saints for a long time. They are towering men […]
By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
In a speech at the conference of the self-labeled “pro-Israel, pro-peace” lobby J Street, Vice President Joe Biden said Monday that the Palestinians are the “least ideological and sectarian” Arabs in the Middle East. Biden’s comments on the Palestinians were an attempt to address questions concerning the Obama administration’s brokering of Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations during […]
Lhota: "David Koch’s beliefs on social issues are no different than mine or my opponent’s when it comes to women’s choice and women’s issues and other issues like that."
By JTA
Before there was a State of Israel or "Settlements", Arabs massacred 21 Jews in Tiberias on October 2, 1938.
In the September 10th Democratic primary for New York City Public Advocate, none of the five candidates received 40 percent or more of the vote. For that reason, on Tuesday, October 1, there was a runoff election for the position, which has a total budget of only $2.1 million. The cost of the runoff election? […]
PM Netanyahu said Israel will not allow Iran to have nuclear weapons, even if it must stand alone to do so.
If brilliant speeches mean anything, Netanyahu crushed Iran’s nuclear program at the U.N. Tuesday, but he may be tested to back up his statement: “If Israel has to act alone, we will do so.”
President Obama is set to give a press conference at this afternoon about the U.S. government shut down. Obama's speech, which is expected to be covered live by all the major networks, will conflict and overlap with Prime Minister Netanyahu's speech at the UN, which the major networks were supposed to be covering at the […]
Banning Jewish circumcisions used to be anti-Semitic. Today it is called a “violation of human rights.” Why aren’t there protests for children’s rights to watch porno and get sick on junk food?
Police looking for illegal PA workers, and were surprised by the forged Israeli ID they found.
Warsaw Ghetto survivor and researcher Israel Gutman has died in Jerusalem at the age of 90. He was born in Warsaw, where he was wounded in the Jewish uprising against the Nazis in 1943. He is survived by two daughters and three grandchildren. Gutman survived three concentration and death camps, including Auschwitz, but his parents […]
By JTA
Argentinian President Cristina Fernandez sent out a blitz of 31 tweets to urge President Barack Obama to include the issue of the Buenos Aires Jewish Center AMIA bombing in its bilateral talks with Iran. The tweets posted Monday night from the president’s official Twitter account also mentioned the pressure that she feels from U.S. Jewish […]
Saudi Arabia announced Tuesday it will cancel its scheduled speech at the United Nations General Assembly this week to protest the new soft glove approach of the United Nations and the United States towards Iran and Syria. Citing sources in Saudi Arabia, the Italian ANSA news agency reported that Riyadh is unhappy over President Barack […]
More than two-thirds, 68 percent to be exact, of Palestinian Authority Arabs believe that American intervention in Middle East policies harms stability in the region, according to a new poll carried out in mid-September by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion. The same survey also revealed that a tiny majority of 50.3 percent favors the […]
Israel and Iran may be the only two countries that tell each other what they really think, without diplomatic niceties. Tehran calls Netanyahu a liar after he warned that Iran tries to deceive the world.
Hey, buddy! Can you spare 14 dimes for a cup of coffee? That is the price for a cut of caffeine at a new low-cost tale-away chain that plans to take Israel by storm with 300 branches in three years. The “Cofix" chain opened its first café in Tel Aviv Monday, charging at least half […]
Pew survey: U.S. Jewish intermarriage rate rises to 58 percent
By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras vowed to eliminate the Golden Dawn neo-Nazi party just days after his government began a widespread crackdown against it. The Greek government also announced plans to present a bill targeting hate speech to the country's parliament. The Greek government had already arrested the Golden Dawn party head and other parliament […]
By JTA
Vice President Joe Biden told J Street’s annual conference Monday that he and President Obama were asked often why they chose to focus on restarting Israeli-Palestinian talks, considering the fires consuming Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain. “In light of all these problems, some people ask us: Why Biden, why, why Obama. Why are you […]
By JTA
A federal court dismissed a defamation lawsuit against the National Jewish Democratic Council brought by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. A lawyer for Adelson, a Republican Party funder, said he would likely appeal Monday’s ruling by the U.S. District Court in New York. The lawsuit was based on an NJDC news release during the 2012 election […]
By JTA
There might be more people in the US who identify themselves as Jews than previously thought.
By JTA
The CEO of the (U.S.) Chevra Hatzalah ambulance service resigned amid allegations that he conspired with William Rapfogel, the ex-CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, in an insurance scam on the Met Council. Rabbi Dovid Cohen gave no reason for stepping down over the weekend at Hatzalah, according to David Shipper, the Jewish […]
Obama reaffirmed that the military option remained on the table, and Netanyahu stated the bottom line is Iran's dismantling of its nuclear weapons program.
Terror from Gaza resumes. The army spotted two armed terrorists and opened fire before the cell could carry out an attack on a nearby Jewish community. Aircraft are looking for the terrorists.
By Kosher Today
Several kosher food manufacturers and distributors introduced new products in time for the Jewish holidays as part of an overall push to gain an edge over competitors. For some, the timing of the introduction was designed to coincide with what several termed “a period of time when you have the customer’s attention.” In the major […]
It is chutzpa but no surprise that Syria told the U.N. the “terrorist” rebellion is its 9/11. It is a surprise that the US delegates did not throw him out of the General Assembly.
By JTA
A fire destroyed two Israeli-owned kosher restaurants in a South Florida shopping plaza, including one that was torched a year ago by arsonists. The early Sunday morning fires that hit the Achla Pita Grill and Bon Ami Cafe at the Emerald Center in West Hollywood are being investigated as suspicious, the Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. The […]
By JTA
A police official said during Monday’s court hearing on remanding Iranian-born spy Ali Manosuri that the decision to lift the gag order on his arrest came from high–level government officials. The decision to go public with news about the spy appears timed to coincide with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s trip to the United States, where […]
Terrorists in the Sinai, south of Gaza, killed three Egyptian policemen, a soldier and one civilian and wounded at least six others Monday in three separate sniping attacks. Masked gunmen shot at policemen in El Arish, attacked a checkpoint near the border with Gaza and shot at a police car in an El Arish neighborhood. […]
The Palestinian Authority puts a new meaning into the term “red line.” Fatah, headed by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, states on Facebook,"Blood of Martyrs (Shahids) that draws the borders of the homeland."
How can the government stop building in Judea and Samaria without saying so? Simple. Just stop “settlements” from buying land from Palestinian Authority Arabs. The High Court will decide who is right.
The unemployment rate in Israel fell to a 20-year low in August, and unlike in the United States, participation in the job market is increasing, according to the latest data from the Central Bureau of Statistics The jobless rate in August was 6.1 percent, compared with a 7.3 percent in the United States. The rate […]
By Aryeh Savir, Tazpit News Agency
Yad Vashem recently recognized Dr. Mohamed Helmy and Frieda Szturmann as Righteous Among the Nations, an honorary title bestowed by Yad Vashem on behalf of the State of Israel and the Jewish people to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Dr. Helmy, an Egyptian physician living in Berlin and Szturmann, […]
By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
United Nations inspectors who will oversee the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons say that their first priority will be ending Syria’s capacity to manufacture weapons by Nov. 1. On Sept. 27, the U.N. Security Council ordered the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to destroy Syria’s arsenal by mid-2014 by any means possible. But […]
By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
The debate on the merits of the Oslo Accords, whose 20th anniversary passed in mid-September, continued at a Sept. 29 conference in Los Angeles. Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes said at the “Oslo @ Twenty” conference, organized by the American Freedom Alliance, that Israel’s key mistake was the mindset indicated by Prime Minister Yitzhak […]
By JTA
Israel was among the countries that warned Kenya’s government about the high risk of a terrorist attack in the months before last week’s attack on a Nairobi mall. “Israel had warned of attacks on their business interests, but apart from just being tossed from one office to another, nothing was taken out of the intelligence […]
By JTA
Iran approved the memorandum signed nine months ago with Argentina to jointly probe the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Saturday at U.N. headquarters in New York that the bilateral agreement was approved by “competent authorities” in his country, according to the Buenos Aires […]
By JTA
The alleged shooter of a rabbi in southern Russia was killed in a raid by Russian security forces. Sherif Akhmedov was one of five suspected extremists killed last week in Derbent, in the predominantly Muslim Republic of Dagestan near Chechnya, Russia’s National Anti-Terrorist Committee said in a statement issued Friday, according to international news agencies. […]
By JTA
Rabbi Norman Lamm, the former chancellor of Yeshiva University, was found unfit to testify in a $380 million sex abuse lawsuit against the school. Dr. Elise Caccappolo of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center said Lamm cannot provide reliable testimony, the New York Post reported, citing Lamm’s attorney Joel Cohen. Caccappolo, a neuropsychologist, evaluated Lamm on Sept. […]
Feiglin claims the legitimacy for an Israeli preemptive strike has dissipated.
Denmark on Sunday marked the 70th anniversary of the escape of 7,300 Jews during World War II to prevent their deportation to a Nazi concentration camp. At Copenhagen's synagogue, Jewish community leader Finn Schwarz told several hundred people it was "almost a miracle" that the October 1943 operation in Nazi-occupied Denmark avoided the German patrol […]
New York State Police from the Wappinger barracks, East Fishkill, are currently investigating a Bias-related criminal mischief complaint. Two vehicles that were parked at the Holiday Summer Homes Camp, located in East Fishkill, were targeted during the overnight hours on September 27, 2013 through September 28, 2013. An unknown person(s) entered the Camp property and […]
“Truth or Consequences” was an old TV show. An entertainer performed a stupid stunt if he could not answer an equally stupid trivia question. Now Netanyahu and Obama are playing, but it is not a game.
Tunisia's Islamist government agreed on Saturday to negotiate with their secular opponents to form a caretaker administration, then resign and prepare for new elections. The talks could end weeks of crisis for the Islamist-led coalition government and the secular opposition parties that are threatening to end the fledgling Tunisian democracy where the Arab Spring began […]
A shark attacked a fish pond worker at the port city of Ashdod Sunday and bit off part of his hand before he was rescued and rushed to a hospital in Tel Aviv., where his is recovering from moderate wounds. The man, described to be in his late 20s, was working in fish cages when […]
Who need chemical weapons to commit war crimes? Syrian President Bassar al-Assad’s planes bombed a secondary school in a rebel-held city in northeastern Syria on Sunday, killing nine people, most of them children, opposition spokesmen said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the death toll likely will rise because many of the survivors […]
A Chinese fund, bankrolled by the country’s richest man, is donating $130 million Technion University in a joint venture between the Haifa-based university and Shantou University (STU) to build a new academic facility in Guangdong Province. The contribution from the Li Ka Shing Foundation is the largest in Technion’s history and one of the largest […]
Israel arrested an Iranian spy for the Revolutionary Guards terrorist branch after he photographed the US Embassy. He was caught on this year’s anniversary of 9/11. A gag order on the arrest was lifted Sunday.
Israeli motorists will enjoy a relatively large drop in the price of gasoline in October following a sharp drop in the price of crude oil and a stronger shekel the past month. The end-of-the month adjustment Monday night is expected to knock approximately 45 agorot (13 cents) off every liter of regular unleaded fuel. The […]
Doctors reported a “slight improvement” in the health of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, “Rav Ovadia,” Saturday night, but cautioned that he still is in “very serious” condition. His son, recently elected Chief Sephardi Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef, said that Rav Ovadia briefly opened his eyes during Shabbat and moved his arm. He asked for people to continue […]
Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas continues a quiet and determined global campaign for recognition of the Palestinian Authority as a country and now has brought Haiti and Grenada into the growing number of countries who have established diplomatic relations. Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki signed the protocols with his Haitian and Grenadian counterparts at United Nations […]
By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
Three sukkahs, two in the United States and one in Israel, will share the title of "Number One Sukkah" as the winners of the Jewish Agency for Israel's first Sukkathon competition. The three winners are the sukkah at Terrace at the Glen, an assisted living facility in Queensbury, New York; the Schachter family sukkah in […]
J Street, the pro-Palestinian Authority Jewish lobby that calls itself “Pro-Israel,” offered weak applause to Israel’s chief negotiator Tzipi Livni when she defended the IDF in a speech Saturday night at the opening of the annual J Street conference. While Livni received a rousing welcome and warm support from the crowd for her comments defending […]
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is scheduled to land in the United States early Sunday morning “tell the truth in the face of the sweet-talk and the onslaught of smiles,” referring to Iranian President Hussan Rouhani’s “charm offensive” in the United Nations last week. The Prime Minister said before boarding the lane late Saturday night, "This […]
Two militants of the powerful Shiite Hezbollah movement were killed on Saturday in a firefight with members of a Sunni clan in eastern Lebanon, a security official told Gulf News. “Members of the Shiite (Sunni) family opened fire at a Hezbollah checkpoint in the center of Baalbek, provoking militants to return fire,” the official said. […]
The UN Security Council unanimously adopted the resolution outlining the details of taking under international control and ultimately destroying Syria’s chemical arsenal. "Today's historic resolution is the first hopeful news on Syria in a long time," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council after the vote. The Syrian sides must engage constructively in the upcoming […]
By JTA
Vice President Joe Biden hosted Jewish leaders at a sukkah set up at his residence. The sukkah, provided by American Friends of Lubavitch and decorated by children with special needs, drew dozens of guests to the residence at Washington’s Naval Observatory on Tuesday evening, including leaders of the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox streams, major pro-Israel […]
By JTA
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani acknowledged the Holocaust as a crime against the Jews but refused to comment on its scope. “I have said before that I am not a historian, and that when it comes to speaking of the dimensions of the Holocaust, it is the historians that should reflect on it,” Rouhani told CNN […]
By JTA
A man who made death threats against the Jewish school in Toulouse where Mohammed Merah killed four people last year was ordered jailed for a year. Lucien Abdelrhafor, 20, in an expedited court procedure Monday also received an additional year’s suspended jail term for phoning in the threats to the Ohr Hatorah school, the French […]
By JTA
Amid a terror threat, Jewish establishments in India have been instructed by police to tighten security in and around their businesses. The call came following the interrogation of Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal by the National Investigation Agency in New Delhi, as well as in the wake of the Islamist attack on an upscale mall […]
Marion Fesneau-Castaing, who hit an IDF soldier, will be expelled from Israel.
This was the first direct conversation between an American and an Iranian leader in 34 years.
Since early Friday afternoon, Arabs have been violently rioting throughout Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem.
For those of us in Israel, it's Isru Chag (the day after the holidays, when we pack up our Succahs, and finally get to relax after such a busy holiday). For those still stuck in Galus (the Diapora), it's still Yom Tov (holiday) so you shouldn't be reading this anyway. So - unless, there's major […]
On Thursday evening, the IDF caught two Arab terrorists that had earlier in the evening thrown multiple fire bombs at buses and cars near Beit El.
An Arab mob blocked the car, broke the windows, and violently tried to pull out the passengers - in Jerusalem.
Rav Ovadia Yosef underwent a successful procedure to replace an electrode in the temporary pacemaker he had recently received. He is still sedated and on a respirator in the intensive care unit at the Hadassah Ein Karem medical Center. The original pacemaker had apparently caused an infection. The hospital released a statement saying the operation […]
The two top diplomats from the U.S. and Russia were unable on Tuesday to draft a U.N. resolution regarding Syria's chemical weapons. They remain divided on the key points of the document, VOA reports. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed the Security Council resolution during the U.N. General […]
By JTA
A motion to ban the non-medical circumcision of males younger than 18 was presented to the Swedish parliament. Two lawmakers from the rightist Sweden Democrats party, noting that female genital mutilation is illegal in Sweden, submitted the motion to the Riksdag on Tuesday. A vote on the motion has not been set. Bjorn Soder and […]
The “red line” associated with Iran’s nuclear program or Syria’s use of chemical weapons has sparked an ongoing international debate, in which both Israeli and Diaspora Jews have made their voices heard. But a debate that hits closer to home for American Jews is about where Jewish federations in their communities draw the line on funding programs associated with varying opinions about Israel.
JERUSALEM – Israel’s military and security services worked overtime during the Sukkot holiday, as officials contended with domestic and international crises that could have short- and long-term ramifications for both the peace process and the global war on terrorism.
Obama was not joking at the UN. He actually said, “The world is a more stable place today than it was five years ago.” Does he watch TV? Does he know that Islamic terrorists killed 400 people in five days?
Samantha Lewthwaite, the British-born “white widow” terrorist whose husband was a suicide bomber in the 2005 attack on London’s subway and bus system, may have been among the attackers on Nairobi’s Westgate Mall and probably was killed, A Kenyan minister suggested. “From the information that we have, two or three Americans (were involved) and I […]
El Al announced it will halt all daytime flights to Eilat starting Thursday, two weeks after resuming flights based on an understanding with government aviation officials that a solution would be found to a new landing path that El Al considers too dangerous to use. Terrorist attacks from the neighboring Sinai Peninsula have occasionally targeted […]
Hundreds of thousands of Jews in Israel and throughout the Diaspora are praying for the health of “Rav Ovadia,” one of Israel’s most influential rabbis and one of today’s greatest Torah sages. A name has been added.
Jerusalem police once again have prohibited Jews from visiting the Temple Mount because of security officials' unintended admission that they cannot or do not want to deal with violent Arabs. Officially, police say that they blocked the planned visit of hundreds of Jews to the holy site on Tuesday, the sixth day of the Sukkot […]
Kenyan authorities declared Tuesday morning that security forces have taken complete control of the mall and that no hostages remain, but Al Shabaab terrorist spokesmen claim live hostages still are trapped by attackers. Kenya declared that a third terrorist has been killed, but the announcement came after authorities said the siege is over. Based on […]
By JTA
“No thanks” is the message American-Iranian Jews delivered to new Iranian government headed by President Hassan Rohani, after the regime sent the Iranian American Jewish Federation received an official invitation to meet with him in New York. The meeting also would have included Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif and the only Jewish Iranian Member of […]
By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
Nearly two dozen Christian lawmakers from more than a dozen countries traveled to Israel on Sunday to take part in the Israel Allies Foundation’s Jerusalem Chairman’s Conference. The Israel Allies Foundation was started by former Israeli Minister of Tourism Binyamin Elon to work with lawmakers around the world to “mobilize political support for Israel based […]
By Jewish News Syndicate (JNS)
Reports indicate that recently elected Iranian President Hassan Rouhani will bring Iran’s only Jewish parliament member to the United Nations General Assembly this week in New York. Siamak Moreh Sedgh, a 48-year-old physician, has been an Iranian parliament member since 2008. He and Ahmad-Reza Dastgheyb, who is a Muslim, will be the only parliament members […]
By JTA
The Netherlands opposes any kind of import ban on Israeli products, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said, though it must enforce European Union legislation on labeling settlement goods. “I would like to stress that the Netherlands opposes any type of import ban or the boycott of Israeli products,” a Dutch official wrote in Rutte’s name […]