JERUSALEM — The rabbinic head of a religious Zionist pre-military yeshiva in the West Bank who called homosexuals “perverts” sent a letter clarifying his statements to the Defense Ministry but did not retract them or apologize. Rabbi Yigal Levinstein, who runs the Bnei David academy in the Eli settlement, wrote to the ministry’s director, Udi…
— A senior adviser to Sen. Ted Cruz who met with a committee in search of Yeshiva University’s next president is not a candidate for the position, according to a statement from the school. Earlier this week, JTA reported that Nick Muzin had been considered for the post, now held by Richard Joel. Muzin met multiple times…
PHILADELPHIA — Hillary Clinton personally asked an adviser, Wendy Sherman, to make sure the Democratic Party platform remained pro-Israel, Sherman said. Speaking at an event hosted by the American Jewish Committee at the Democratic National Convention, Sherman said that “continuing to secure our bond with Israel” was one segment of enhancing America’s role in the Middle East…
JERUSALEM — A rabbi who was extradited back to Israel from South Africa to face sex abuse charges is heard admitting to raping one woman on a years-old recording. The recording purported to be Rabbi Eliezer Berland was aired Tuesday night on Israel’s Channel 2. It reportedly has been turned over to the police. Berland…
— Conservative political pundit Ann Coulter has come under fire on social media for tweeting after Hillary Clinton was nominated as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, “Where are the Bernie supporters tonight? Did Hillary have them gassed?” Coulter was slammed for apparently referring to the Holocaust in the Twitter post on Tuesday night during the…
Billionaire investor Steven A. Cohen is committing $250 million to a Boston-based investment firm that lets scientists, developers and students submit computerized investment models and then picks the most promising ones to manage the money. Quantopian, a hedge fund that makes investments with the help of algorithms submitted by thousands of would-be traders, is getting…
– The organization representing Scottish Jewry reported a significant deterioration from 2013 in congregants’ level of comfort living as Jews in Scotland. The Scottish Council of Jewish communities, or ScoJeC, released on Wednesday a report that it called “sobering” and “very perturbing” based on a survey filled out by 300 people after 2014. Nearly one-third of respondents…
The Democratic Party has spent the first couple days of its convention projecting unity on issues from fighting racism to fair trade. But fissures are showing here on one issue that Democrats have long been united on: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Their party, which has long commanded the vast majority of Jewish votes, like the Republican…
PHILADELPHIA — Mark Weiner, a prominent Rhode Island Democratic fund-raiser and close friend of the Clintons, died on the day he hoped to watch Hillary Clinton secure the Democratic nomination for the presidency. Weiner, who was Jewish and who manufactured paraphernalia for the Democratic National Committee and was a former chairman of the state Democratic…
PHILADELPHIA (JTA) — Democratic National Committee staff members questioned Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s request for the group to put out a statement in honor of Holocaust Remembrance Day, leaked emails show. In an from May released as part of the batch of DNC emails leaked by Wikileaks this week, a staffer wrote that an statement marking the…
To the millions of tourists who visit Nice annually, the city in southeast France is an ultimate holiday destination that offers inviting beaches and luxury casinos, stunning architecture and world-class museums. Sandwiched between the Maritime Alps and the Mediterranean Sea, Nice is France’s largest tourist destination after Paris, with 5 million arrivals each year and…
