Middle East

American presidents typically lack foreign knowledge

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It’s no surprise that Americans vote their interests. Most likely, citizens of all countries with a meaningful right to vote are parochial, i.e., most concerned about what’s close to them. For many, national political matters are less important that what they get from local authorities– whether their streets and parks are […]

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International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA

US-Israel talks on settlement building suspended — report

Negotiations said put on ice after Netanyahu, Greenblatt fail to agree on formula; comes days after Israel announces self-imposed restrictions By Times of Israel staff Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Jason Greenblatt, US President Donald Trump’s special representative for international negotiations, at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, March 13, 2017. (Matty Stern/US Embassy

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Middle East, USA

Liberman suggests Hamas behind killing of top terrorist

Defense minister says ‘Hamas is known for its internal assassinations — let them look there’ By Sue Surkes Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman at the inauguration ceremony for a new Elbit defense electronics factory in the southern Israeli town of Arad. April 02, 2017. Photo by Ariel Hermoni/Ministry of Defense Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman on Sunday

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Middle East

Israeli scientists design robot to squeeze through small intestine

Ben-Gurion University researchers predict the snake-like, ingestible device will revolutionize colonoscopy tests By Times of Israel staff A depiction of the SAW (single actuator wave-like robot) designed by Israeli scientists at Ben Gurion University. (Screen capture/YouTube) A tiny ingestible robot designed by Israeli scientists may one day have the capacity to slither its way through

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Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education

500-year-old ‘Prague Haggadah’ found

Just prior to Pesach (Passover), the National Library of Israel revealed that it had acquired the velum Prague Haggadah two months ago, when the library purchased the famed Valmadonna Collection of Judaica. The Haggadah was printed in Prague in 1556. A previous Haggadah was printed in 1526, but no copy survived. Several elements of the

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East

In Tel Aviv, a glimpse into the turbulent years when the British ruled

Lehi leader Avraham Stern was gunned down 75 years ago in an unassuming apartment; it now houses a museum dedicated to the underground group By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am The entrance to the Lehi Museum, located on a street named for Avraham Stern in south Tel Aviv. (Shmuel Bar-Am) Stern’s room in Tel Aviv, where

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International, Jewish History, Middle East

Hamas looking undersea, not just underground, for attack routes

Gaza-based terrorist group is training and manufacturing weapons for naval warfare, officer warns By Judah Ari Gross While Hamas’s terror tunnels and its reportedly refilled and upgraded rocket arsenal garner attention, the Israeli Navy is keeping a watchful eye on the terror group’s growing maritime capabilities and is investing its resources in preventing attacks “at

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Middle East

Sculptor’s work on refugees takes on increased resonance in new London exhibit

Drawing on the Old Testament as inspiration, the late Chaim Stephenson crafted compassionate scenes of familial pain and drama By Anne Joseph LONDON –Acclaimed Anglo-Israeli artist and self-taught sculptor Chaim Stephenson had a lifelong sympathy for people driven from their homes. In a career that spanned over 60 years, he produced a huge body of

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International, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual Arts

UN chief calls for world support for Iraq refugees

Cairo (dpa) – UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Friday called on the world to show “more solidarity” in helping Iraqis displaced by an ongoing campaign against the Islamic State extremist militia in Iraq’s northern city of Mosul. “We need more solidarity from the international community,” Guterres said at a refugee camp east of Mosul. “We

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International, Middle East

‘How can France allow anti-Semitic demonstrations?’

French MP Meyer Habib appealed to French Interior Minister Matthias Fekl this week to demand the cancellation of an anti-Israeli demonstration planned for this weekend. A number of left-wing anti-Zionist organizations are expected to hold a demonstration on Saturday (April 1) calling for a boycott of Israel. The demonstration was approved by the French authorities,

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International, Middle East

Trump accepts new Jewish town

US President Donald Trump has accepted the construction of a new town for the former residents of Amona in Judea and Samaria, the Jerusalem Post reported. A senior Trump Administration official told the Post that the administration considers the new town to be an exception to its request that Israel “hold off” on construction in

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Middle East, USA