Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras refused to cover his head at a Yad Vashem memorial ceremony. Organizers of the ceremony at the Hall of Remembrance urged Samaras to respect Tuesday’s ceremony and cover his head with a kippah or hat, but he laid a wreath at the memorial bareheaded, Ynet reported. Samaras is leading a…
U.S. rabbis in the Reform and Conservative movements tend to be dovish on Israeli-Palestinian peace policies, according to a study. Asked whether Israel should freeze settlement building, 62 percent of the rabbis agreed to a “great extent” and 18 percent agreed to “some extent,” according to the study commissioned by the Jewish Council for Public…
It is safer to be a Jew in New York than in Israel, Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid told an audience in New York. “Israel was founded as a refuge for the Jewish people, but today it isn’t a safe place. It is safer to be Jew in New York,” Lapid told PBS host Charlie…
Nobel Prize winner Arieh Warshel emigrated from Israel because he couldn’t get tenure at a prestigious institute — a potent illustration of the brain drain affecting science and research in the Jewish State. Warshel completed his undergraduate studies in chemistry at Technion Institute in Haifa in 1966. From there he went on to the Weizmann…
Shots were fired at the synagogue of Yekaterinburg, the Russian Jewish Congress said, breaking windows but not injuring anyone. At least two bullets hit the building housing the synagogue on Monday, according to the Russian Jewish Congress team that monitors anti-Semitism. No one was hurt, Matvey Chlenov, deputy executive director of the Russian Jewish Congress,…
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel met at the Pentagon for the third time in the past six months. Hagel told Yaalon during Tuesday’s meeting that while U.S. officials intend to test the prospect for a diplomatic solution with Iran, “we remain clear eyed about the challenges ahead and will…
Despite widespread consumer perception that kosher food is healthier and cleaner, kosher chicken might be less safe to consume than conventional poultry, a new study found. Researchers with Northern Arizona State University examined the occurrence of antibiotic-resistant E. coli on four types of raw chicken: conventional, organic, kosher and those raised without antibiotics, all purchased…
Three Jewish scientists won the Nobel Prize for chemistry on Wednesday for pioneering work on computer programs that simulate complex chemical processes and have accelerated progress in areas from drugs to solar energy. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, awarding the prize of 8 million crowns ($1.25 million) to Martin Karplus, Michael Levitt and Arieh…
New York mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio was dragged into a tabloid fight over the legacy of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef after the liberal Democrat expressed his sympathies for the death of the Israeli Sephardic leader. The New York Post slammed de Blasio for the boilerplate condolence message, noting it ignored Yosef’s history of attacks on…
President Barack Obama will nominate Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen to be the next head of the U.S. central bank on Wednesday, a White House official said on Tuesday. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Yellen would replace Ben Bernanke, whose current term as head of the Fed ends in January. Obama is due…
Jewish community foundation-managed endowments increased 7.6 percent in 2012 over the previous year, a new survey found. The Jewish Federations of North America annual survey of endowment development released last week showed federation endowments distributed $1.4 billion in 2012 to Jewish and secular organizations locally, nationally and internationally. Endowment assets grew in 2012 to $14.3…
