U.S. backs Ambassador Daniel Shapiro in spat with Israel (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A U.S. State Department spokesman defended U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro on Tuesday, a day after Shapiro sparked outrage in Israel with criticism of Israeli policies in Judea and Samaria. When asked on Tuesday about Shapiro’s comments, which were made in […]
Middle East Roundup: January 20, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–The Netanyahu government is getting under the skin of the United States Administration. US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro echoed it earlier this week when he spoke in Tel Aviv at a conference organized by Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies. We can safely assume that what he said had been
Extremist settlers strain U.S. – Israel relations Read More »
Middle East, USATop Israeli official welcomes new Egyptian envoy (JNS.org) Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold on Monday met with the new Egyptian ambassador to Israel, Hazem Khairat, who arrived in Israel at the start of this month. “Israel considers Egypt an important country in the region and relations with it are vital to Israel,” Gold
Middle East Roundup: January 19, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastIsrael aims to compel social media to combat Palestinian incitement (JNS.org) Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Sunday proposed new legislation that would compel social media platforms to remove posts deemed to directly incite murder or violence. According to Erdan, an Israeli law should be enacted in conjunction with legislation in other Western
Middle East Roundup ~ January 18, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — This ain’t a simple country. Part of the explanation is that Jews are not a simple people. And another part is that the Land of Israel, however you define its boundaries, was and is an outsider in both ancient and modern versions, always having to defend itself in a tough
Idealism often must give way to reality in Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Kenneth Bandler NEW YORK — The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is outraged by the overnight attack, Jan. 16-17, on the Church of the Dormition in Jerusalem. “Christians to Hell” and other hateful, threatening graffiti were scrawled in Hebrew at the Benedictine Monastery. “Once again, we are compelled to condemn vandalism of Christian holy sites
AJC speaks out on church vandalism, Iran deal Read More »
International, Middle East, USABy Barry Shaw NETANYA, Israel — Recent incidents highlighted the dangerously failed European left-wing politics that has draped itself in the false cloak of morality and judgment. Israel has been hit by over a thousand terror attacks perpetrated by Palestinian Arabs in a four month period. With knifing, car ramming, fire bombing, rock throwing and
Sweden’s leftist government inviting terror Read More »
Barry Shaw, International, Middle EastBy Richard L. Cravatts, PhD BOSTON — Winston Churchill could have been observing the sorry state of academic free speech today when he observed that “Everyone is in favor of free speech. Hardly a day passes without its being extolled, but some people’s idea of it is that they are free to say what they
Open Hillel seeks to install enemies in the tent Read More »
Middle East, Richard L. Cravatts, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — BDS has some traction among academics, performers, trade unions, churches, and retailers, but it has also generated opposition in all of those fields. If it has had any tangible economic impact, it is more likely against Palestinians dependent on employment with Israeli firms located in the West Bank, and in lowering
Why the BDS campaign is ludicrous Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
JERUSALEM (WJC) — Benjamin Netanyahu lashed back at Sweden’s Foreign Minister Margot Wallström, saying her call to investigate whether recent killings of Palestinian attackers by Israel were “extrajudicial” was “outrageous”, “immoral” and “stupid”. The Israeli prime minister, who also holds the post of foreign minister, said at the Government Press Office’s annual toast for members of the foreign media in Israel: “It
Netanyahu blasts Swedish foreign minister Read More »
International, Middle EastNetanyahu writes final letters of Torah scroll in memory of soldiers (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday wrote the final letters of a Torah scroll dedicated to Israel’s fallen soldiers. The scroll was one of 73 scrolls donated in August and showcased at the Western Wall before being sent to
Middle East Roundup: January 15, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Joe Spier CALGARY, Alberta, Canada — In the Spring of 1991, my wife and I, touring Israel, together with a small group of Calgarians, found ourselves in a caravan camp on the outskirts of Mazkeret Batya, our sister city. There we encountered the most remarkable sight; Jews who before their very recent arrival in Israel
The amazing saga of Operation Solomon Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle EastBy Rabbi Ben Kamin GAN YAVNEH, Israel—I wiped away a tear as my El Al jumbo jet floated in the sky above the blue Mediterranean and then gracefully tipped its wings over the Tel Aviv skyscrapers and the nearby groves and meadows of my birth-land. Below, in the sands and the sea foam, was the
An emotional return to his birthplace Israel Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Police state? Not quite. But it’s best to behave yourself hereabouts. A while ago the stories were about Shin Bet interrogators who had tortured Jewish youths accused of burning an Arab home in the West Bank, killing three members of a family, and other crimes. Relatives and other supporters of the accused
Police must strike delicate balance in Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East