When Kate Middleton gave birth to a baby boy after being rushed to the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital, anxious to avoid hundreds of paparazzi camping outside. She almost certainly missed the little plaque at the entrance, which pays tribute to the anonymous donor “who was not unmindful of his neighbors’ needs” and who…
Andrew G. Szabo gets asked a lot of questions about his delegation at the 2013 Maccabiah games − “Where is that?” being the main one. It’s a fair enough question, really, for Guinea-Bissau − the country Szabo and his nine teammates are competing for − is not to be confused, as Wikipedia helpfully points out,…
Serbian police suspect three minors are responsible for the desecration of 39 Jewish graves in the northern city of Subotica. The three youths are suspected of smashing 39 headstones on July 10 in the city’s Jewish cemetery, which is situated near the border with Hungary, the news site Subotica.com reported last week. The president of…
For British table tennis champion Dov Katz, 38, the last Maccabiah Games, in 2009, were pretty sweet — and not just for the competition. “It was July 10th, a Friday, and we had spent the whole afternoon playing football in Netanya. In the killer sun, which is obviously the worst kind of preparation for our…
Gilad Shalit will accompany a flight of new immigrants, including 106 children, leaving New York for Israel on Monday. The former captive soldier will be onboard the first chartered El Al aliyah flight of the summer, which will leave John F. Kennedy Airport with 231 new immigrants, including 41 families. A live feed of the…
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will seek formal cabinet backing for reviving U.S.-sponsored peace talks with the Palestinians, an Israeli official said, after pro-settler ministers threatened to try and thwart the initiative. Netanyahu’s plan seemed to cast some doubt on how soon U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry might be able to relaunch talks stalled since…
The Palestinians played down on Monday the significance of an imminent meeting in Washington of their top peace envoy with his Israeli counterpart, saying formal negotiation would not begin unless their opening terms were satisfied. The Palestinian position seemed to run counter to U.S. hopes that bringing together Saeb Erekat and Israel’s Tzipi Livni in…
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to expedite legislation in the coming days of a public referendum bill, a senior official in Jerusalem said. The move comes in response to pressure from the right over renewed negotiations with the Palestinians. Economy Minister Naftali Bennett conveyed a message Sunday to Netanyahu through coalition chairman MK Yariv Levin,…
Latvian President Andris Berzins has yet to confirm his participation in a memorial ceremony for Jewish Holocaust victims during President Shimon Peres’ visit to Latvia next week. Senior officials in Jerusalem say they believe Berzins does not want to appear to be taking responsibility for acts committed by the Nazis together with local collaborators. Peres,…
Ethan Kadish, one of three campers struck by lightning at a Jewish camp in Indiana, marked his 13th birthday in a Cincinnati hospital. Kadish has been in the hospital since June 29, when lightning struck without warning at the Goldman Union Camp Institute in Zionsville, Ind., near Indianapolis. “This is never how we would have…
The director general of Saudi Arabian Airlines told an Arabic newspaper that the airline does not discriminate against Israelis, but cannot accept passengers not permitted entry to the country. In an interview Friday with the Al-Watan Arabic daily, Khaled Al-Molhem pointed out that there is no diplomatic relationship between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and…
