Middle East

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt (WJC) — Several hundred Israeli Jews have come to Egypt for an annual pilgrimage to the tomb of a 19th-century rabbi in the Nile Delta. Last year, Egypt had denied the pilgrims entry because the anniversary coincided with Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip. In past years, Cairo limited the number of pilgrims visiting

RA’ANANA, Israel (WJC) — Family and friends of former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s have marked the fourth anniversary of his massive stroke. Sharon, 81, has never regained consciousness from the stroke he suffered on 4 January 2006 and has since remained in a coma. He lives in a long-term care facility in Ra’anana. Family

JERUSALEM (WJC)–Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed cautious optimism that peace talks with the Palestinians could soon resume. “In recent weeks, I have had the impression there is a certain change in atmosphere. I hope that a maturation that would enable the negotiating process to move forward has occurred…We are serious in our intention to

LONDON (WJC)–Israeli officers invited to come to London by the British Army were unable to depart last week after UK authorities could not guarantee that they would not be arrested, according to Israeli newspaper ‘Yediot Aharonot’. The paper reports that the Israeli Foreign Ministry approached the British government in order to ensure that the officers

ROME (WJC)–Italian researchers have accused Israel of contaminating land in the Gaza Strip through bombing. The New Weapons Committee, an Italian group of researchers, said it had studied Israel’s use of ammunition and concluded that the population of the Gaza Strip was “in danger.” The group of scientists based the claim on soil analysis of

TEHRAN (WJC)–The head of Iran’s soccer federation was forced to issue a public apology and a member of his staff resigned after the federation mistakenly sent a New Year’s greeting to its counterpart in Israel. “It was a big mistake sending an e-mail to Israel’s football federation,” Ali Kaffashian, president of the Iran Football Federation,

JERUSALEM (WJC)–Jewish immigration to Israel increased in 2009 by 17 percent compared to the previous year, the first rise in a decade.  According to figures released by the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) – the government body in charge of immigration – 16,244 people made aliya in 2009, whereas 13,869 had moved to Israel in

SDEROT, Israel (WJC)–Residents of southern Israel and the town of Sderot have held a March of Freedom to mark the first anniversary of Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip. Organizers of the rally expressed hope that the new decade would be one of “hope, security and peace”. Students attending the annual congress of the

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Professor David Shulman of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, commenting on the by now almost notorious Goldstone report – and sort-of agreeing with much of it – writes nostalgically in the December 17 issue of The New York Review of Books:             I remember a time when charges of war crimes

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM—Perhaps Prime Minister Netanyahu’s stress on the Iranian threat may not only reflect the grim reality of Israel being in the firing line but also a ploy to avoid dealing with the Palestinian issue by arguing that Iran is a more urgent and immediate problem and must be dealt with before