Michael Oren refused to meet with Donald Trump to discuss Israel, reported the Jerusalem Post. The former ambassador to the U.S. and member of the Israeli Knesset turned down the invitation two weeks ago, when Oren was in Washington, D.C. recently. An unnamed member of Trump’s campaign who reportedly advises the Republican presidential candidate on…
– Unidentified individuals hurled firebombs at the gravesite of a Hasidic luminary in the central Ukrainian city of Shpola. The incident in the city located 120 miles south of the capital, Kiev, occurred on Sunday evening, according to Eduard Dolinsky, director of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee. Dolinsky wrote on Facebook Monday that the perpetrators intentionally tried to…
A controversial bill that would enable local Orthodox rabbinates to bar non-Orthodox Jewish conversion ceremonies in publicly funded mikvehs was passed in the Knesset. The bill — introduced by the haredi Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party and opposed by many North American Jewish leaders — passed into law on Monday night, the Jerusalem Post ….
— Newly rediscovered footage of a 1968 interview with David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, shows that he opposed West Bank settlements and instead favored returning most of the land Israel captured in the Six-Day War. The six-hour interview with Ben-Gurion — segments of which appear in a new film called “Ben-Gurion Epilogue” — had been…
— A Reform Jewish death row prisoner in Kentucky is suing the penitentiary where he is incarcerated for kicking him out of the state’s kosher food program. In a lawsuit filed last week in federal court, William Harry Meece claims that he is being unfairly penalized for eating rotisserie chicken that had not been certified…
Comedian Sarah Silverman chided diehard supporters of Bernie Sanders at the Democratic National Convention — but only succeeded in riling up the ‘Bernie or bust’ crowd. Sharing the stage with Sen. Al Franken to introduce singer Paul Simon, Silverman pleaded with Sanders fans to stop booing any mention of Hillary Clinton or Democratic unity. She…
(JTA) — As Yeshiva University continues its search for a new president with an emphasis on financial sustainability, JTA has learned the name of at least one candidate: the deputy chief of staff for Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign this year. Nick Muzin, who earned a medical degree at Yeshiva’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine,…
Only days after former Georgia lawmaker Cynthia McKinney implied in a tweet that Israel was involved in the recent terror attacks in France and Germany, her replacement in the House is stoking anger in the Jewish community by likening Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank to “termites.” Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson decried the ongoing…
With the 100th anniversary of a key Zionist declaration approaching, the Palestinian Authority said it plans to sue Britain for issuing the edict. The P.A.’s foreign minister, Riyad al-Malki, told Arab League leaders in Mauritania on Monday that the Palestinian Authority will sue over the Balfour Declaration, saying it led to all “Israeli crimes” committed…
Israeli fighter jets struck Syria in retaliation for mortar fire that landed in Israeli-controlled areas of the Golan Heights. The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement Monday that its Air Force had “successfully targeted the source of the fire in Syria.” It was not known whether the Israeli airstrike caused any damage or casualties….
Alex Bregman, a Jewish player and one of Major League Baseball’s top prospects, has been called up by the Houston Astros. Bregman, 22, will make his debut on Monday night against the New York Yankees after being promoted the night before from Houston’s Triple A Fresno minor league affiliate. He will likely play third base…
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