European Union governments plan to ratchet up sanctions pressure against Iran over its nuclear programme on Monday, approving new measures against Tehran’s banking sector, industry and shipping. The new sanctions mark one of the toughest pushes against Iran by Europe to date, and come amid mounting concerns over the Islamic Republic’s military intentions and the…
In comments that may stir Israel’s election campaign, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that he and Ehud Olmert were “two months” away from a peace deal before Olmert had to resign as Israeli prime minister. With Olmert lately cleared of several graft charges and considering a challenge to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at…
A Jewish man was attacked and rendered unconscious in a Paris metro, a local watchdog reported. The 52-year-old victim entered the subway directly from his synagogue but wore no markings that would identify him as Jewish, according to a report on the late September incident by the National Bureau of Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism, or BNVCA,…
Arlen Specter, the longtime moderate Jewish Republican senator from Pennsylvania whose surprise party switch helped pass President Obama’s health-care reforms, has died. Specter, 82, died Sunday at his Philadelphia home following a long struggle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, his family told The Associated Press. He was first elected to the U.S. Senate from Pennsylvania in 1980,…
The wife of Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, the influential and controversial Israeli spiritual advisor, attempted suicide today, the Jerusalem Post reported. Pinto and his wife, Debra Rivka Pinto, were both under house arrest in Israel after being questioned in the alleged bribery attempt. According to the paper, Debra Rivka Pinto took an overdose of pills while…
A collection of yet unseen Franz Kafka writings, stashed for four decades in a Tel Aviv apartment, will be made public and transferred to Israel’s national library, according to an Israeli court ruling published on Sunday. The papers had been held by Eva Hoffe and Ruth Wiesler, two sisters who argued in a more than…
Israel and Jewish organizations congratulated the European Union for being awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. “The exemplary success of the E.U. in establishing peace in Europe after two world wars is an inspiration to the whole family of nations. The European Union crystallizes the way of reason and compromise through which nations can overcome…
President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are neck and neck in opinion polls, but there is one area in which the incumbent appears to have a big advantage: those who have already cast their ballots. Obama leads Romney by 59 percent to 31 percent among early voters, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling data compiled…
The great-grandson of the onetime German-Jewish owner of Edvard Munch’s masterpiece “The Scream” is reportedly pushing his family’s claim to the $120 million painting as the Museum of Modern Art prepares to put it on display. Rafael Cardoso, a Brazilian curator and descendant of banker Hugo Simon, says his great grandfather was forced to ditch…
“Many people still believe the post of mayor is exclusively for men,” says Vera Baboun, aiming to become the first female mayor of the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, and in the process shake up a society where men still make the laws and do the deals. The university lecturer has a good chance of achieving…
Israel’s cabinet announced on Sunday a January 22 date for a national election, a ballot that opinion polls predict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will win. The date needs to be approved by the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, which convenes on Monday to vote to dissolve itself and move up an election originally scheduled for October 2013….
