Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambled on Sunday to hold back an opinion-poll surge by a far-right party, appealing in rare radio interviews for his supporters to stand by him in the Jan. 22 election. There is little doubt in Israel that Netanyahu’s conservative Likud, running jointly with former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman’s nationalist Yisrael…
A defiant Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called on Sunday for national mobilisation in a “war to defend the nation”, describing rebels fighting him as terrorists and agents of foreign powers with whom it was impossible to negotiate. Appearing in an opera house in central Damascus packed with cheering supporters, the Syrian leader delivered his first…
A Baltimore rabbi dubbed the ‘Jewish Indiana Jones’ for his supposed efforts hunting down torahs lost in the Holocaust, has begun a four-year federal prison sentence for fraud. Menachem Youlus began serving a 51-month prison sentence last month at the federal correctional institution (FCI) in Otisville, N.Y., the Baltimore Jewish Times reported. Convicted of two…
Jewish leaders have expressed “concern” about the impending entry of the Qatari-owned Al Jazeera network to the U..S television market, citing its record of anti-Israeli coverage and support for extremist Muslim regimes. Both Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents and Abe Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League publicly voiced their apprehensions…
If you had to flip a coin over whether Congress will raise the debt ceiling, here’s the ultimate one – a freshly minted trillion-dollar platinum coin. A formal petition has been started asking the White House to create such a coin in order to avoid another high-stakes fiscal battle to raise the debt ceiling. The…
Retired Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy is taking aim at what he sees as knee-jerk support for marijuana legalization among his fellow liberals, in a project that carries special meaning for the self-confessed former Oxycontin addict. Kennedy, 45, a Democrat and younger son of the late “Lion of the Senate” Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts,…
Vienna’s Jewish Museum holds hundreds of books and works of art that may have been stolen by Nazis, a newspaper reported on Saturday. A screening programme that started in 2007, years after other Austrian museums began combing their collections for works taken from their rightful owners, has determined that about 500 works of art and…
Israel’s main centre-left parties may join forces against conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Jan. 22 election that he is currently forecast to win easily, one of the challengers said on Saturday. Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, head of the centrist Hatenuah party, said on Twitter that she would meet counterparts from the kindred…
President Barack Obama appeared poised on Friday to pick former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as the next U.S. defense secretary and the announcement may come early next week. Sources on Capitol Hill and in the national security community said all signs were pointing to Hagel as Obama’s choice to replace current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta….
There are increasing indications that President Barack Obama plans to push ahead with the appointment of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel as Secretary of Defense, setting the stage for a fierce political confirmation battle in which Israel will play a central role. Although there has been no official statement, informed sources told Haaretz that they…
The Palestinian Authority officially changed its name to the State of Palestine. President Mahmoud Abbas decreed Friday that the name would be changed to reflect the recent upgrade of the Palestinians’ status at the United Nations, the Associated Press reported Palestinian stamps, signs and letterheads will be changed to reflect his decision, according to Wafa,…
