(JTA) — It took seven years, but one of Israel’s staunchest allies among world leaders will be making his maiden voyage to the Jewish state on Sunday. In announcing the trip last month at a Jewish National Fund dinner, where he was being honored, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper called Israel “a light of freedom…
Stephan Kramer has resigned as secretary-general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany after serving for 15 years. Kramer will leave at the end of this month, according to a statement released Thursday by the office of Central Council President Dieter Graumann. The statement said he decided on his own to step down. Graumann…
The discovery of a Nazi-era guillotine in a Bavarian museum warehouse has triggered a national debate about whether it should be put on display. The guillotine was used to kill at least 1,000 opponents of the Nazi regime. One of the last living members of the White Rose resistance movement, whose leaders were among those…
Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), a longtime congressman from northern Virginia who repeatedly clashed with pro-Israel and Jewish groups, is retiring. Moran, 68, told media Wednesday that he would not run again in his district, which comprises Arlington, Falls Church and parts of Alexandria and Fairfax County, because it has become strongly Democratic, , making his…
A leading watchdog on soccer racism in Britain accused England’s Football Association of foot-dragging in probing a player who performed a gesture which is considered anti-Semitic. The watchdog, Kick It Out, urged the Football Association to wrap up its investigation into the Dec. 28 action of Nicolas Anelka, a striker for the West Bromwich Albion…
Israel’s prime minister has increased the amount of occupied territory he wants to keep after any peace deal with the Palestinians, state media reported on Thursday, a move that could complicate U.S.-backed efforts to reach an accord. Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman declined to comment on the report he had added a bloc of Israeli-settled land near…
Funding to Israel was restored to its pre-sequester levels in the spending bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed. The bill keeps funding for Israel at $3.1 billion for 2014, the amount designated in a 2007 10-year memorandum of understanding that guaranteed Israel an average of $3 billion a year in assistance. The $1.1 trillion…
A Jewish developer is suing the village planning board of a small upstate New York town, arguing that their decision to vote down a proposed all-girls Hasidic private school was motivated by anti-Semitic bigotry. The lawsuit comes at the peak of a tangled and bitter battle between the school’s developer, Shalom Lamm, and local Bloomingburg…
The van used in the kidnapping and murder of Hasidic real estate developer Menachem Stark has been found in Brooklyn — along with a cell phone that police think may lead to his killers. The 2002 van with Pennsylvania plates was found in the Brownsville section on Tuesday, law enforcement sources told the Daily News….
Florida police warned against jumping to conclusions about the apparent murder-suicide of a Palm Beach mother who apparently killed her two teenage children before turning the gun on herself. Authorities confirmed that Jennifer Berman seemingly gunned down her own children, but urged the public against rushing to judgment about what may have happened, according to…
(Haaretz) — The Justice Ministry department that investigates police misconduct is investigating the head of one of the police’s most prestigious units on suspicion of taking bribes from Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto and from businessmen who are disciples of the rabbi. The investigative material in the case has been given to Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, as well…
