Middle East

Biden Unlikely to Take Issue With Israel’s Golan Heights Development Plan

By Dmitriy Shapiro (JNS) As Israel is set to invest 1 billion shekels ($317.3 million) into developments to increase the population in the Golan Heights, American experts believe the move announced by Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday is unlikely to elicit much response from the Biden administration. Former Trump administration official Elliott Abrams, […]

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Middle East, USA

If Israel Strikes Iran, Hezbollah’s Nasrallah Will Obey Iranian Orders

By Yaakov Lappin (JNS) While Israel has refrained from publicly setting clear red lines to act as precise markers for a threshold that, if surpassed by Iran’s nuclear program, would trigger an Israeli attack, it is clear that Jerusalem has been sending warning signals about Iran’s approach towards the danger zone. These warnings appear, in

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Middle East

Israel Cuts Wait Time for 3rd Vaccine Jab, Relaxes Quarantine Rules

Published by DPA Israel has cut the recommended period between receiving a second Covid-19 vaccine shot and a booster dose from five months to three. The country also relaxed its quarantine period for those who test positive but are vaccinated. A statement from the Health Ministry’s director-general, Nachman Ash, said the booster recommendation was changed

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Middle East

Conference of Presidents Denounces UN General Assembly Vote on Gaza War Investigation

The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations (COP) on Monday issued the following statement: “We are appalled by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) vote to approve an open-ended Commission of Inquiry solely focused on Israel’s response to the conflict initiated by the Hamas terrorist regime last May, also known as ‘Operation Guardian of the Walls.’ … (Conference of Presidents)

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International, Middle East, USA

Travel: The Gates of Jerusalem

From time immemorial until the late nineteenth century, almost all of Jerusalem’s residents lived in the walled Old City. Divided into four uneven quadrants – the Jewish Quarter, the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter and the Armenian Quarter – the Old City looms large due to its rich and multi-layered history, but it is actually quite small, at slightly less than 4/10 of a square mile. To give you a sense of perspective, it is less than 1% the size of modern Jerusalem. [Gedaliah Borvick]

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Middle East, Travel and Food

Israel sets goal of doubling number of Jewish settlers on Golan Heights

Published by Reuters UK JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s government set a goal on Sunday of doubling the number of Jewish settlers in the Golan Heights within five years, a move that could tighten its hold on the territory it occupied in fighting with Syria in 1967. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett cited then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s

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Middle East

Israeli hospital to give fourth COVID-19 vaccine shot in trial

Published by Reuters JERUSALEM (Reuters) -A major Israeli hospital will begin administering a fourth COVID-19 vaccine shot to 150 staff on Monday in a trial aimed at gauging whether a second booster is necessary nationwide, the facility said on Sunday. Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv said its trial would shed light on the efficacy

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Middle East

Palestinians and Israelis Can’t Solve the Problem, So They Cope

We can’t solve the issue, or the problem, of Palestine. So, we cope. Years ago, I asked my daughter, who was studying to be a clinical psychologist, about her dissertation. It dealt with coping. What’s that? She explained, and I came to see coping as the essence of dealing politically with insoluble problems. [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Good News from Israel – December 26, 2021

NETANYA, ISRAEL — In the December 26, 2021 edition of Israel’s good news, the highlights include:
–An Israeli treatment for Parkinson’s has successfully finished trials.
–Israel is the only Middle Eastern country where Christians are thriving.
–Israeli nanomaterials are reshaping the manufacturing industry.
–The UAE hosted an event in its Embassy to showcase Israeli technology.
–An Israeli woman has won Israel’s first World Championship swimming gold medals.
–Three major archaeological discoveries in Israel. [Michael Ordman]

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Business & Finance, International, Jewish History, Michael Ordman, Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, Sports & Competitions

Getting to Know a Shaliach from Israel Can Be Life Changing

Shlichim (plural of shaliach or shlicha, the feminine form of the word) are emissaries who are trained and sent from Israel to be equal parts teacher, ombudsman, and friend to myriad kids, staff, and community members with whom they come in contact over the course of a shlichut (literally, a “mission”) that typically lasts between two and three years. Those years are spent far from home and as a time-out from career pursuits, but with a vitally important purpose: to bring Israel to life for Jews throughout the Diaspora. [Doron Krakow]

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International, Middle East, USA

OpEd: Israel’s Energy Muddle

 In 2000 a natural gas field was discovered in Israel’s offshore waters near Ashkelon, and amid great rejoicing commercial production started in 2004. An offshore rig can be seen from the coast, which doesn’t do much to improve the beauty of the scenery but certainly helps Israel’s energy-starved economy. Till then Israel relied on imported coal and oil to fuel its power stations, as well as on its only natural resource – ample sunshine – to heat water by means of solar panels on the roofs of houses. [Dorothea Shefer-Vanson]

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

Rabbi Eliezer Waldman, Hebron-Based Rabbi

Much has been written about the Jewish community in Kiryat Arba and Hebron, but I would like to share three personal memories of Rabbi Eliezer Waldman, of blessed memory, who was among the founders of the renewed Jewish community in the city of our forefathers, who passed away on December 18th. [Toby Klein Greenwald]

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Toby Klein Greenwald

Lebanon Blast Reminds of Hamas’s Growing Armed Presence to Israel’s North

By Yaakov Lappin (JNS) The deadly explosion that tore through a Hamas arms depot on December 10 in a mosque in the Burj Al Shimali refugee camp, in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, is a vivid reminder of Hamas’s growing organized armed presence on Lebanese territory – and Iran’s role in helping it grow.

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Middle East

Meet the Orthodox Skater Representing Israel at the Beijing Olympics

By Josh Hasten (JNS) In a true “Cinderella story,” 19-year-old Hailey Kops, a religiously observant athlete from West Orange, N.J., is preparing to take on the world’s finest ice skaters while proudly representing Israel at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Kops and her partner 33-year-old Evgeni Krasnopolski recently qualified for the pairs ice skating

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International, Middle East, Sports & Competitions, USA