The Muslim head of J Street U unabashedly urges pro-Israel organizations to fight Israel's "Occupation" in order to gain allies.
Seeing the sight of Jesus on a cross must have made them feel like they were seeing Avodah Zara in the Beis HaMikdash.
For the second time in office, US President Barack Obama has used a Hanukkah menorah from a hurricane-ravaged area to conduct the official White House Hanukkah celebration.
The conference, titled "Freedom of Religion and/or Mutual Respect in Europe," was jointly organized by the European Parliament and the European Jewish Association.
An amendment to S. 3254, the National Defense Authorization Act would punish both the PA and the UN for a unilateral recognition of a Palestinian "observer state."
By dvora
At a dramatic press conference in Tel Aviv on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced his resignation from politics. Barak said he would remain in his post until the establishment of the next government, following the January 22 elections.
Toys to Discover, a Jewish-owned toy store on 18th Avenue in Borough Park gave away over $10,000 worth of toys to children affected by hurricane Sandy.
By JTA
A network plotting to kidnap and ransom members of a southern Tunisia town's Jewish community was broken up by the country's national guard, a Tunisian newspaper reported.
Yisrael Medad's letter to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on the true beginning of the movement for Soviet Jewry and what country the JTA said Medad resided in.
By JTA
Emory University issued a formal apology to Jewish dental students who attended the school between 1948 and 1961 and faced anti-Semitism. University President James Wagner delivered the apology at a special event Wednesday night that included 32 former students, now in their 70s and 80s, of the Atlanta school. The students had received failing grades, […]
Police in Israel have reportedly arrested a rabbi suspected of stealing seven Torah scrolls from the synagogue of Moshav Brosh near Be’er Sheva.
The New York Board of Health on Thursday voted 9-0 to require parents to sign a consent form in order for a mohel – ritual circumciser – to use direct oral-genital suction, known as metzitzah b'peh. The form would indicate that parents are aware of the risk of infection. Haredi leaders have resisted calls to […]
The Zionist Organization of America has lost its 501(c)3 tax exemption status, due to failure to file tax returns for the last three years.
By JTA
Iran has moved further along in its ability to build nuclear weapons, according to some diplomats.
By JTA
Rabbi Asher Lopatin of Chicago is set to succeed Rabbi Avi Weiss next year at the helm of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, the Modern Orthodox rabbinical school founded by Weiss. Lopatin is the spiritual leader of Anshe Sholom B'nai Israel Congregation, a high-profile Modern Orthodox synagogue in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago that counts Mayor Rahm […]
By Tibbi Singer
Among the items that Tzohar is calling for will be to elect new rabbinical court judges who would be more open to the needs of the general public, not just the religiously observant sectors; and new guidelines for managing the marriage, divorce and conversion processes in Israel – three areas that have been particularly alienating to secular Israelis.
By JTA
Two Torah scrolls, one complete and one incomplete, were found in Poland's Sokolow Podlaski district. The Torah scrolls found Aug. 20 are believed to have belonged to a synagogue in nearby Wegrow. A local policeman brought the scrolls to the municipal offices in Sokolow and gave them to Marcin Pasik, Sokolow Commune Head. "The policeman […]
For more than a decade, anti-Israel activists have sought to shoehorn Israel into the nomenclature of apartheid-era South Africa through the use of a tactic named BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions). Apartheid was a universally decried racist system. BDS activists argue that Israel is the second coming of apartheid South Africa and must be treated the same.
Boteach: "I treasure the Adelsons’ support. They have been dear friends for a long time and were among the earliest backers of my campaign. Not only are they heroes in the Jewish community for their mega-philanthropy, but they are among the most generous and sophisticated political donors in the country...This donation is a game changer.”
Rep. Kevin Yoder, 36-year-old first-term Republican from Kansas: “A year ago, my wife, Brooke, and I joined colleagues for dinner at the Sea of Galilee in Israel. After dinner I followed some Members of Congress in a spontaneous and very brief dive into the sea and regrettably I jumped into the water without a swimsuit."
Canadian singer songwriter Evan Malach won an international Hallelujah music competition. Malach, 27, sang the Israeli rock classic “Canaanite Blues” before a live audience in Hod Hasharon. The 14 finalists performed personally selected Hebrew songs. Malach won an $8,000 prize and will be invited to record a duet with Israeli singer Dudu Fisher. The song […]
The community, home to over 100 families and located approximately 18 miles from Tel Aviv, was founded in 1998 on state land. It was identified as an illegal outpost in Israel's Sasson Report published in 2005, but the Netanyahu government decided in April to retroactively legalize its status.
By JTA
An El Al spokesperson said the airline had not decided whether or not to honor round-trip tickets to Israel that were offered erroneously for prices as low as $330. On Wednesday afternoon, the airline issued the following statement via Twitter: "Thanks for your patience. Details/decisions re incorrect fares that were briefly sold on Monday are […]
Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson's lawyers sent a warning letter to the NJDC and to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last week, after both groups had called on Republicans not to take money from Adelson following an allegation by a fired employee that the billionaire had approved of prostitution at his facilities in Macau, China. The allegation first appeared in an Associated Press account of the lawsuit filed by Adelson's former employee, Steven Jacobs, who had managed Adelson's Macua business until being fired in 2010.
By JTA
Was the only Israeli on the International Olympic Committee instrumental in stopping a tribute to the Munich 11 at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Games? In the past few weeks, a war of words has erupted between the official, Alex Gilady, and the families of the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches murdered by […]
The Decision comes after the girl's mother applied for a court order in November 2011 to prevent her ex-husband from having the girl baptized.
Efraim Halevy, former head of the Mossad, made the statement to the New York Times on Thursday. Later in the day, he told Israel Army Radio that Iran's "math is off if they think they have open-ended immunity."
Ninety-thousand Jews will gather in Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., to celebrate Siyum HaShas, the completion of a Talmud study program that occurs once every seven-and-a-half years. The attendants will be finishing a study program called Daf Yomi, "page of the day," a daily regimen of learning the 2,711 pages of the Babylonian Talmud […]
Under the final version of the enhanced sanctions bill, the president has considerable leeway to postpone sanctions on insurers in order to give them time to comply. Also omitted from the final version are sanctions that congressional hard-liners had sought on individuals associated with SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, as long as the body continues to deal with Iran's central bank.
By Jewish Press Staff Reporter
A clip from NBC showing Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman’s parents’ reaction to her uneven bar routine has garnered close to 100,000 hits on You Tube.
When pressed by reporters on Obama's perceived disfavor towards Israel – which appeared to manifest most notably in his failure to visit Israel in his first term despite coming to the region to visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt – campaign spokesman Colin Kahl said that "Being a friend of Israel shouldn't be judged by a travel itinerary...I don't think this is a serious policy difference; it's basically a distraction."
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) is making fresh allegations of ties between an Islamist movement and vast parts of the U.S. government.
The wall will be fronted with 60 white cross "that symbolize the 60 million little baby boys and girls have been murdered since 1973 in America alone."
By JTA
Milton Gralla, a Jewish philanthropist and longtime publisher of business magazines, died in Boca Raton, Fla., on July 11. He was 84. As an active philanthropist for Jewish causes, Gralla and his wife, Shirley, helped support a number of initiatives at Brandeis University, including the Gralla Fellows Program for journalists, the Genesis program for high […]
"I have not been able to move the peace process forward in the Middle East the way I wanted," he told WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington on Sunday, in response to a question on whether there was "anything you believe you failed at, not because Congress wouldn't play ball, but that rests squarely on your shoulders and has you desperate to get that second term to atone for it?"
In meetings Monday with Israeli leaders, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on them to take steps to strengthen the Palestinian Authority. According to a news report, Clinton has received a promise from President Morsi that he would not end the closure of the Gaza Strip. Clinton reiterated that the U.S. "commitment to Israel is rock solid. By strengthening Israel's security we are strengthening U.S. security."
By JTA
A Philadelphia-area Reform temple will feature a Republican speaker to balance an appearance by U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee. Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) is set to speak Monday at the Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel in Elkins Park, Pa., on behalf of President Obama. The synagogue's senior rabbi, Lance Sussman, […]
The ads depict a succession of shrinking Palestinian territories in four maps and are accompanied by a statement that reads: “4.7 million Palestinians are classified as refugees by the United Nations.” The ad claims to cover “Palestinian loss of land” from 1946 to 2010.
"It wasn't really a gaffe," says Jonny Daniels, a leading Republican political strategist in Israel. "They knew what the day was, but they were looking for the correct time and circumstance to do it. Instead it ended up seeming like a big dinner, but that's not really what it is."
On Monday, the Church of England's General Synod overwhelmingly passed a motion to support the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel. The program "brings internationals to the West Bank to experience life under occupation" and "monitor and report human rights abuses" for a period of three to four months. As part of the program, participants are encouraged to lobby on behalf of the Palestinian cause upon their return.
Evelyn Garcia: "I deeply resent U.S. taxpayer funds being used to continue Israeli aggression, (yes, confiscating other peoples' land and building illegal settlements is aggression), not to mention ‘incursions’ that kill PEOPLE, destroy civilian homes and infrastructure all over, mass concentration prison camps, etc, etc, etc.”
NJDC President David Harris says Sheldon Adelson's money is bad because the casino magnate approved of prostitution at his China properties.
The announcement of Clinton's visit comes just after news earlier this week that Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, would visit Israel this summer. "As part of her ongoing consultations with senior Palestinian and Israeli leaders, the Secretary will also meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas" – in Paris. But the State Dept. is vague on a meeting with newly elected Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.
The Planning and Budgeting Committee of Israel's Council for Higher Education recommended Wednesday to defer the decision until a comprehensive evaluation is undertaken in the next year. The list of Ariel's accomplishments may be the very reason for its failure to achieve recognition by its peers in Israel.
With tougher sanctions by the European Union taking effect, Iran announced new missile tests and threatened to obliterate Israel. The Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps launched missiles with ranges of 300, 500, 800, and 1,300 kilometers, the Mehr agency reported on Tuesday.
Nobel Prize winner author Günter Grass was asked not to visit the synagogue in Gdansk, his birthplace.
As president of Manhattan's Fifth Avenue Synagogue, Merkin introduced Madoff to members like Mort Zuckerman and Elie Wiesel, who together took "a $2 billion bloodbath."
Mofaz, the Kadima leader who is in Washington this week for his first round of meetings since joining his party to the government, had a surprise meeting Thursday with the U.S. president when Obama interrupted a scheduled meeting with Tom Donilon, the national security adviser.
The author of “The Color Purple,” refused to authorize a Hebrew translation of her prize-winning work, citing what she called Israel’s “apartheid state.” She added: "It is my hope that the non-violent BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) movement, of which I am part, will have enough of an impact on Israeli civilian society to change the situation."
Class action lawsuit against Hebrew National alleges the company is misrepresenting its own kashrut standards “as defined by the most stringent Jews who follow Orthodox Jewish Law."
By Larry Luxner
DHAKA, Bangladesh – Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury sat at the cafe of the five-star Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in downtown Dhaka – capital of the third-largest Muslim nation on earth – proclaiming his love for Israel and the Jewish people.
Jacob Ostreicher remains locked up at Palmasola Prison in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. That notorious facility was designed to hold 1,000 prisoners, but is currently home to 3,500. Unlike U.S. facilities, this prison is essentially run by the prisoners. Guards provide food and make sure prisoners do not escape, but do nothing to maintain order within the prison’s walls.
The OU reps pressed Obama hard on his handling of US-Israel relations and on mandating contraceptive coverage. Obama accused Netanyahu of trying to "act without restraints."
By JTA
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called on Israel to withdraw from all lands it occupied in 1967, warning that the two-state solution may not be on the table for much longer. "I would like to address our Israeli neighbors and say we are seekers of peace and freedom and our people made a major sacrifice […]
US undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence David Cohen, visiting Israel to coordinate sanctions policy with senior Israeli security, discussed plans to impose additional sanctions on Iran in the summer. In an interview with Haaretz, Cohen said: “If we don't get a breakthrough in Moscow there is no question we will continue to ratchet up the pressure."
The recent massacre at a Jewish school in Toulouse "triggered an explosion” in anti-Semitic attacks across France, according to the French Jewish community's protection service. Last Saturday afternoon, three young Jewish men came under attack on their way to synagogue by at least 10 men of North-African origin.
By JTA
The City University of New York denied a report that it had created a special minority designation for Jewish faculty (see "Is CUNY Planning a Jewish Quota?"). Rather, a university spokesman told JTA, the university simply had responded to requests by Jewish faculty members to be recruited for focus groups aimed at boosting the recruitment […]
Belgium’s health minister Laurette Onkelinx said she was “profoundly troubled” by the behavior of her Israeli counterpart, Yaakov Litzman, after the Haredi official refused to shake her hand at a conference. The website Juif.org wrote: "There are indeed only two possibilities: either this lady is ignorant, or has malicious intent."
By dvora
The sellout crowd that filled Citi Field on Sunday night wore black and white, not the New York Mets’ blue and orange. And instead of jeering the Philadelphia Phillies or Atlanta Braves, they faced a foe that was, intheir view, far more formidable: the World Wide Web.
At least 30,000 people participated in the Jerusalem Day parade known as the Dance of the Flags, interrupted by some clashes between marchers and Arab protesters.
The family of Daniel Wultz, 16, a Florida resident who was killed in a Palestinian suicide bomb attack in Tel Aviv won a $323 million judgment in a U.S. court against Iran and Syria. Attorney Darshan-Leitner said the Syrian government's aircraft, ships and corporations can be impounded to force Syria to comply with the court's ruling.
Shop-A-Fada, a play on the violent Palestinian intifada, was launched Monday. It encourages the public to counter anti-Israel boycotts with the purchase of merchandise manufactured in Israel. Shop-a-fada is an innovative effort designed by a team of Israeli business owners and pro-Israel personalities to demonstrate support for Israel by purchasing products manufactured and sold in […]
Israel's Cabinet will meet in a special session to discuss legalizing the Ulpana Hill Neighborhood in Judea and Samaria, in response to a Supreme Court ruling calling for its demolition. The meeting will be held Friday, a day after National Union faction leader Ya'akov Katz (Ketzaleh) and Zevulun Orlev of the Jewish Home faction each […]
Speaking at the annual convention of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly in Atlanta on Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden made the case that Obama's strategies regarding the Iranian nuclear program have worked, but said the decision to strike must be Israel's. "I would not contract out my security to anybody, even a loyal, loyal, loyal friend like the United States," Biden said.
Coupled with the new political reality engendered by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's new and broad unity government, Congress' supplementary funding appears to advance Israel's preparation for the military option against Iran, as well as the potential international and military fallout.
By Jewish Press Staff Reporter
Some 5,000 French Jews participated in an aliyah fair in Paris. The fair, organized and run by the Jewish Agency, took place on the Sunday of Francois Hollande's election as their new president, beating incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy—the Jewish community's favorite. A recent poll found that 26 percent of those surveyed said they have considered emigrating due to French anti-Semitism.
Following his victory Sunday, the 57-year-old François Hollande shouted himself hoarse, as he had done so often during the campaign, thanking his supporters for electing him president and promising to unite the whole country. But Richard Prasquier, President of the Jewish-French organizations, says one of the changes the Hollande presidency brings is a boost to the anti-Israel left.
Belgian Jews are at loggerheads as a result of an EU vote to dispatch the UN to Israel on a mission to scrutinize Jewish towns and communities in Judea and Samaria.
This April, 70 years since the Nazi invasion on Lithuania destroyed the 800-year connection of the country with the Jewish people, a $50 million package was passed to compensate Jewish families whose property was stolen during the Holocaust, according to a report by JTA.
Both Israel's premier and its president invoked the Iranian threat at the Yom Hashoah ceremony at Yad VaShem. Netanyahu said: "People who dismiss the Iranian threat as a whim or an exaggeration have learned nothing from the Holocaust." Peres said, "Today humanity has no choice, we must learn from the lessons of the Holocaust and stand strong against existential threats before it is too late."
By JTA
Israeli President Shimon Peres met with the wife of Jonathan Pollard, who asked Peres to request her husband's release "before it is too late." Along with her came MK Uri Ariel (National Union) who delivered a petition for Pollard's release, signed by more than 80 Knesset members. Esther Pollard met with Peres in Jerusalem on […]
By Dana Kennedy
PARIS – When Arie Bensemhoun, a Jewish community leader in Toulouse, woke up Tuesday morning, he thought for a moment the horrific shooting of three children and a rabbi at a local Jewish school might have been a bad dream.
Although J Street describes itself as a pro-Israel organization that supports peace between Israel and its neighbors, many Israelis and US Jews, including many public figures, have said that J Street is anti-Israel, particularly in relation to the security challenges facing the Jewish state. Several US Jewish leaders have objected to J Street's position on Israel, and have publicly disassociated themselves from the organization.
If you asked someone to outline the profile of a director making a film on The New York Times’s coverage of the Holocaust, “non-Jewish,” “college student,” and “South Carolina native” would probably not be the first descriptors he would use. Yet, they perfectly fit the profile of Emily Harrold, a 21-year-old senior who is currently completing “Reporting on the Times,” a film inspired by Laurel Leff’s 2005 book, Buried by the Times: The Holocaust and America’s Most Important Newspaper.
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.”
People expressing reasonable, measured criticism of Israel cannot, of course, be considered anti-Israel or anti-Semitic. However, animus to Zionism itself – simply the existence of the democratic Jewish state – frequently betrays denial of Jews’ basic rights and history.