Senator Marco Rubio and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toasted their nations’ close ties on Wednesday with a click of plastic water bottles reminiscent of the Republican’s sip seen ‘round the world in Washington last week. Photographers captured the cross-table gesture in Netanyahu’s office moments after Rubio remarked how Israel resides “in a challenging neighbourhood,”…
Sequestration could lead to cuts in military assistance to Israel, Jordan and Egypt, Secretary of State John Kerry told Congress. “Under sequestration, our security assistance accounts would face an approximately $500 million reduction, undermining our efforts around the world to prevent conflict and protect our national security,” Kerry wrote in a Feb. 11 letter to…
As more details have seeped out about the mysterious life and death of Israel’s Prisoner X – identified last week by an Australian TV program as Ben Zygier – the wall of silence surrounding those who knew him has begun to show some cracks. On Tuesday, Israel released parts of a report into Zygier’s death,…
One of Britain’s oldest synagogues will be renovated ahead of its 250th anniversary. The Exeter Synagogue restoration project is slated to begin in March and is expected to end in time for the synagogue’s anniversary ceremony in July, a spokesperson for the synagogue told the BBC. The roof of the synagogue, which is located about…
The Zionist Federation of Australia blasted as “totally uninformed and mischievous” several claims in the media that Israel programs serve as recruitment camps for the Mossad. In a statement Wednesday,Zionist Federation of Australia President Philip Chester wrote: “Contrary to the assertions of these commentators, these programs are aimed at educating Jewish youth about their heritage…
How essential is a house of worship to a neighborhood? That’s the crux of a question now exercising Congress as a bill advances that would provide direct relief to synagogues and churches damaged by superstorm Sandy last October. The bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives last week by a vote of 354-72 with…
Michael Moore, the American film director, sent a message Wednesday on his Twitter social networking account saying that the Palestinian co-director of the film “5 Broken Cameras,” Emad Burnat, had been detained early Wednesday morning by U.S. immigration officials at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving at the airport overnight. Burnat flew to Los Angeles…
Members of the student council of the University of Budapest reportedly have compiled illegal lists of students’ presumed religion, ethnic background including Jewish origins, and political affiliation. The files were compiled annually on freshmen by the HÖK student council, according to a report published on Tuesday by the Hungarian television channel ATV, which received a…
Three years ago, Fanni moved to Vienna from her native Hungary with her husband. Now she is pregnant. Though the couple would prefer to raise their child near their Jewish families in Budapest, rising nationalism and an economic recession are leading them to stay in Austria. “I don’t want to cut my roots, but I…
A seven-member U.S. congressional delegation met on Tuesday with Cuban President Raul Castro, official media reported, to improve relations that have been strained since U.S. government contractor Alan Gross was imprisoned there in 2009. Members of the group, which arrived on Monday, also met with Gross, said a delegation member who asked not to be…
France saw an increase of 58 percent in anti-Semitic incidents in 2012 compared to the previous year, according to a report by the French Jewish community. The report released on Tuesday by the SPCJ, the security unit of France’s Jewish communities, showed that 614 anti-Semitic acts were documented in the republic last year compared to…
