(Reuters) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a last-minute media blitz on Thursday to counter what appears to be a rising tide of support for his main opponent in next week’s election, the centrist Zionist Union. The latest opinion polls show momentum shifting to Zionist Union after weeks of running neck-and-neck with Netanyahu’s right-wing…
Israel’s military went far beyond its legal obligation last summer during its Gaza operation to prevent civilian casualties, according to report by a panel of former senior U.S. military officials and legal experts. The Gaza Conflict Task Force report, which was released Wednesday, was commissioned by the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, or JINSA….
Two Jewish teens in France were robbed and beaten after leaving their Marseille synagogue. The teens were attacked on Tuesday by two assailants who they described as youth “of African origin,” according to the National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA. According to the victims, the assailants said, “Dirty Jews, we will exterminate all…
A monument dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust was unveiled in Prague. Called “The Gate of No Return,” the sculpture unveiled Monday — the 71st anniversary of the mass murder of 4,000 Czech Jews in Auschwitz — is the first part of a planned remembrance site in the Czech Republic’s capital. Some two dozen…
Israel’s former president Shimon Peres endorsed the Zionist Union’s Isaac Herzog as prime minister. “The Israeli democracy is approaching the day of choice. It is natural that people will have differing opinions and that they will vote according to their conscience. As for me, I support Issac Herzog to be prime minister,” Peres, who also…
Israel imported its first fruit and vegetables from the Gaza Strip in almost eight years on Thursday, in a partial easing of an economic blockade maintained since the Islamist group Hamas seized control of the Palestinian territory. Twenty-seven tonnes of tomatoes and five tonnes of eggplants were trucked across the border under an Israeli plan…
Iran’s Supreme Leader hit out on Thursday at a letter by U.S. Republican senators threatening to undo any nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran, saying he was worried because the United States was known for “backstabbing,” Mehr news agency reported. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei added at a meeting with President Hassan Rouhani and senior clerics that…
Two Dutch mayors condemned the appearance of stickers featuring a cartoon nose on shops in a heavily Jewish suburb of the Dutch capital. The stickers were spotted earlier this month on the shop windows of several businesses in Amstelveen, a municipality just south of Amsterdam, which is home to approximately one third of the 50,000…
(Reuters) — Indie auteur Richard Glatzer, who directed and wrote films including “Still Alice” with his husband Wash Westmoreland, died Tuesday in Los Angeles of complications from ALS. He was 63. Sony Pictures Classics released “Still Alice,” for which Julianne Moore won the best actress Oscar for her portrayal of a woman with Alzheimer’s disease. The…
Students at two University of California campuses have passed resolutions condemning anti-Semitism after incidents on two UC campuses, including the painting of swastikas on the doors of a Jewish fraternity at UC Davis. The UCLA Undergraduate Students Association unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday amid controversy over the tough grilling of a Jewish candidate for…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Barack Obama noted improved Iranian behavior while nuclear talks are underway, but said a yearlong extension of sanctions is still merited. On Wednesday, Obama extended the status of national emergency for Iran, which perpetuates existing sanctions on the regime for a year. Such extensions have been routine since 1995, when President…
