— Jury selection began in the trial of a 24-year-old man who is accused of vandalizing and firebombing northern New Jersey synagogues and a rabbi’s home. Akashi Dalal of New Brunswick is charged with 30 counts of bias intimidation, conspiracy to commit arson on a synagogue and aggravated arson, as well as attempted murder and…
— Dehumanizing and politicizing refugees is “shameful” and our leaders must know it is unacceptable, the head of a refugee advocacy group said a day after the son of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump compared Syrian refugees to the fruit-flavored candy Skittles. “Persecution always starts with dehumanization. Often times this is done in jest, making…
In his first major United Nations speech eight years ago, President Barack Obama said he would not give up on Israeli-Palestinian peace. In likely his last U.N. speech, on Tuesday, he spoke little about the conflict beyond voicing the unsurprising sentiment that matters would improve if Israel let go of Palestinian land and if the…
— A swastika carved into a seat on the Long Island Rail Road in New York captured the attention of a commuter, who took a photo of the offending symbol and tweeted it. “This is a new one @LIRR swastika carved into seat in car 7170 511 train to FR. This goes way beyond poor…
On the first Friday evening that Jerusalem restaurant Azza 40 opened without a kosher license, allowing it to serve customers on the Jewish sabbath, crowds of ultra-Orthodox Jews protested outside, threatening to smash windows and burn the place down. “It was crazy,” said Reut Cohen, 29, the restaurant’s owner and head chef, recalling the events…
Israel’s defense industry faces layoffs, closures and a scramble to set up shop in the United States following the signing of a new U.S. military aid package that phases out Israel’s ability to spend a quarter of the funds on its own businesses. The 10-year, $38 billion agreement, signed on Sept. 15 after a year…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Hundreds of letters addressed to “God,” Our Heavenly Father” and other monikers, as well as to the Kotel, were delivered to the Western Wall. The letters, which usually arrive without a return address and are sent to the Israel Post Lost and Found Department, are delivered before the Jewish high holidays to…
JERUSALEM — A Palestinian teen was shot in the leg after she ignored instructions to stop at a West Bank checkpoint. A civilian checkpoint guard first fired a warning shot in the air, and then aimed at the legs of the girl, 13, after border guards repeatedly called on her to stop and she began…
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) must make significant changes to its structure, regulations and image or it will run itself out of business, a senior Nasdaq OMX official said on Wednesday. The U.S. bourse cooperates closely with TASE on various issues and earlier this year the two exchanges agreed to create a private market…
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum urged world leaders to press Iran’s leadership on its Holocaust denial during the U.N. General Assembly. “We want to make sure that the upcoming discussion at the United Nations is informed by facts about official Iranian efforts to promote racism and extremism in the form of Holocaust denial,”…
A suspected assailant was shot and wounded near the Israeli embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara on Wednesday, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman and Turkish police said. “The staff is safe. The attacker was wounded before he reached the embassy,” the spokesman said in a text message. “The assailant was shot and wounded by a…
