The principal of a private Jewish high school in Brooklyn was convicted of sexually abusing three boys over the course of a decade, authorities said. Emanuel Yegutkin, 33, the principal of Elite High School in the Bensonhurst section, was found guilty of 75 counts of sex abuse. He faces up to 25 years in prison…
The United States on Monday ratcheted up criticism of Israel over plans to expand Jewish settlement building on occupied land, urging it to reconsider despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to back down. The Obama administration’s tougher-than-usual words for close ally Israel came after five European governments summoned Israeli ambassadors in their capitals to express…
Journalist David Oliver Relin, co-author of the controversial best-selling book “Three Cups of Tea,” took his own life last month in the Columbia River town of Corbett, Oregon, east of Portland, authorities disclosed on Monday. The cause of Relin’s death on Nov. 15 was listed as suicide by blunt force head injury, said Tom Chappelle,…
The Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center and Hazon are merging. The New York-based nonprofits made the announcement Monday after discussing the merger since the beginning of the year. The new company will be called Hazon. David Weisberg, the executive director of Isabella Freedman, will be the merged organization’s new CEO and Hazon founder Nigel Savage…
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Monday condemned a call by a far-right Jobbik lawmaker to draw up lists of Jews as “unworthy” of his country, promising he would protect all citizens from any kind of discrimination. Orban was responding to comments by Marton Gyongyosi, one of Jobbik’s 44 lawmakers in the 386-seat parliament, who…
Rahm Emanuel said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu betrayed the Obama administration by announcing a new settlement expansion and the cutoff of tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority. Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago and President Obama’s chief of staff in his first term, delivered the assessment over the weekend at the Saban Forum, an off-the-record…
Jewish-American contractor Alan Gross asked the U.S. government to sign a non-belligerency pact with Cuba in an effort to obtain his release from a military hospital there. In a meeting with a Cuba specialist from a non-profit research center in Washington, Gross asked that the United States negotiate for his release and a dialogue with…
Israel will not backtrack on a settlement expansion plan that has drawn strong international condemnation, an official in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Monday. “Israel will continue to stand by its vital interests, even in the face of international pressure, and there will be no change in the decision that was made,” the…
Gaza’s prime minister has appealed to Arab states and friends of the Palestinian people to help pay for reconstruction after a week of Israeli aerial attacks on the enclave inflicted damage assessed at between $250 million and $545 million. “We urge Arab brothers and the international community to stand beside the Palestinian people and Gaza…
French President Francois Hollande said on Tuesday he did not want to start imposing sanctions on Israel after it announced plans to expand settlement building in occupied territories. “We don’t want to shift into sanctions mode,” Hollande said at a news conference with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti. “We are more focused on convincing.” France…
A Jewish school teacher accused of child sex abuse was heckled in an Australian court by a victims advocate after being extradited from the U.S. David Kramer, 52, looked stunned when alleged child sexual abuse victim Manny Waks stood up and shouted at him. “Welcome back to Australia Rabbi Kramer,” Waks called out, according to…
