Middle East

The ministerial legislative committee, headed by Minister of Justice Ayelet Shaked, plans to discuss a number of controversial bills this Sunday. These bills were distributed today, and anyone who examines these off-the-cuff announcements every Thursday, including the names of the proposed bills, has to ask himself or herself whether there is any real legislative intent

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Wednesday, met with Zion Christian Church (ZCC) head Bishop Barnabas Lekganyana, who was visiting Jerusalem as part of a tour of Israel. ZCC is one of Africa”s largest Christian churches. Rivlin welcomed Lekganyana and spoke of the importance of the strong friendship between the Jewish community and the Christian communities

Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef on Wednesday criticized the proposal to amend child support so that divorced parents fairly split the cost of raising children. Speaking at a conference for lawyers and rabbinical legal representatives on the subjects of divorce and get refusal, Rabbi Yosef, such a law is “completely unnecessary.” A get is a

Officials of the Kurdistan Regional Government are accusing Iran of playing a key role in the fall of disputed territories in northern Iraq including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a claim rejected by Iranian officials. This week the Iraqi government forces backed by Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) marched into the Kurdish-controlled disputed territories after Kurdish

By Stuart Winer Israel’s Mossad spy agency is advertising for a field agent who is optimistic and spontaneous and has a sense of humor. No joke. The agency’s website recently posted a notification it is seeking an operations person in an “intelligence-gathering unit” needed for “challenging and dynamic work at the cutting edge of operations.”

MK Zehava Galon (Meretz) has notified the Knesset speaker of her resignation from the Knesset. She said that she had realized that she should spend all her time working as Meretz chairperson and in increasing the party’s power by opening its ranks to new groups. Meretz general secretary Moshe Raz will replace her in the

By TOI staff A Palestinian militant linked to the Islamic State jihadist group in the Sinai Peninsula has reportedly been killed by an Israeli drone in retaliation for rocket fire launched from the Egyptian territory into Israel. Gaza native Zaher Abu Sitta was killed by the drone strike earlier this week, according to the Amaq

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman have requested that the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and other organizations help the state fill gaps in the defense budget, according a report by Channel 1. According to the report, the Prime Minister and Defense Minister have asked the organizations to help raise NIS 4 billion