By Yotam Rozenwald JERUSALEM (Tazpit) — Since the passing of the Governance bill legislation on March 11, 2014, new alignments have appeared in Israeli politics. The legislation raised the electoral threshold from 2% to 3.25% of the votes. By doing so, it created a strong incentive for parties and politicians to unite their efforts and combine […]
Israeli political parties combine to meet new threshold Read More »
Middle EastBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — In his State of the Union address, President Obama forcefully announced he would not accept “a nuclear-armed Iran.” This reflects his view that the only objectionable element of Iran’s behavior would be acquisition and possible use of such weapons. This is conveniently narrow. While the ability to produce nuclear
Iran should be opposed for more than nuclear program Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USAAri Ne’eman, disability self-advocate on a national stage, awarded $100K inclusion prize (JNS.org) Disability self-advocate Ari Ne’eman, a member of the President’s National Council on Disability, on Monday was named the recipient of the second annual Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion, a $100,000 prize from the Boston and Israel-based Ruderman Family Foundation (RFF) that
Jewish news briefs: January 26, 2015 Read More »
International, Middle East, USANEW YORK (Press Release)–The American Jewish Committee (AJC) congratulated Alexis Tsipras, head of the Syriza political party, which convincingly won Greece’s national elections on Sunday, Jan. 25. Tsipras will serve as prime minister in the next government, succeeding Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. “Greece continues to face enormous economic and social challenges that will engage the incoming
AJC wishes Tsipras success as Greece’s new P.M. Read More »
International, Middle East, USABy Steve Kramer ALFE MENASHE, Israel — The New York Times editorialized that the recently scheduled, third speech by Prime Minister Netanyahu to Congress will harm US-Israel ties. The Times of Israel quoted a White House spokesman that “Netanyahu spat in our face.” What’s the furor about? After all, Netanyahu is not the first foreign statesman
Why Mr. Netanyahu goes to Washington Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, USABy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO—The flap over House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to Israel’s Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu to speak before a Joint Session of Congress, and the latter’s acceptance, without either man checking with President Barack Obama first, was a point of discussions on the Sunday morning television news shows. On CBS’s Face
Sunday news shows examine Bibi- Barack flap Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, USAJERUSALEM (Press Release)–Israel’s Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, at the start of his weekly Cabinet meeting, explained why he has accepted the invitation from the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, to address a joint session of Congress. Here is the text of his remarks: “In the coming weeks, the major powers are liable
Netanyahu tells Cabinet why he’ll address Congress Read More »
Middle East, USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–In the post-World II Poland of my childhood it was dangerous for Jews – as it had been before the Holocaust – to walk in the streets lest thugs attacked them. That’s why I wasn’t sent to a local school when we returned from the Soviet Union in 1946 but had
Violent racism practiced by some Israeli Jews Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The UN may do good somewhere, but the case would take some convincing. Its people are spread throughout the Third World. All told, they are probably not worse than the governments they are meant to help. We often see UN vehicles and personnel in our neighborhood. They are here to help the
U.N has done little good since Korea Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USACompiled by Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – The rumors and “not for attribution” comments are far outdistancing what U.S. officials have put on the record concerning President Barack Obama’s alleged anger with Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for agreeing to speak before a Joint Session of Congress, now planned March 3. So let’s go
Netanyahu, Obama: Who said what and when Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last week, officials from the U.S. Consulate in East Jerusalem attended a Palestinian protest over Israel’s removal of olive trees illegally planted in the West Bank. Coordinated with the Palestinian Authority [PA] but not Israel, the Consulate personnel ended up clashing with Israelis living nearby. It was, perhaps, the
U.S. equips Palestinian army on West Bank Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Time for the old joke again. In the early days of Israel, when the country was in dire economic straits, it was suggested that the Jewish state should declare war against the United States. The Americans would win, of course, and thus be obliged to provide for Israel. That
Netanyahu risks U.S. relations in bid to keep power Read More »
Middle East, USAMossad distances itself from report that it opposes new Iran sanctions (JNS.org) Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency distanced itself from a report that it opposes new American sanctions against Iran. Bloomberg News reported Thursday that Mossad Director Tamir Pardo told U.S. representatives visiting Israel this week that applying sanctions on Iran now, when negotiations on the
Jewish news briefs: January 23, 2015 Read More »
International, Middle East, USABy Michael Ordman NETANYA, Israel — The Hebrew word “beyachad” (together) typifies the Israeli approach to innovating a better world. Israel and the US continue to move closer together economically. The Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation recently approved $8.3 million in new funding for 11 projects where US and Israeli companies are
Positively Israel ~ January 23, 2015 Read More »
Michael Ordman, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education