Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak over their positions on the Iran nuclear program, calling the possibility of a strike without U.S. coordination “irresponsible.” “The Iranian nuclear project has not reached a level that forces Israel to act immediately or in the near future,” Olmert said…
A former Israeli soldier was convicted under a plea bargain for a crime highlighted in the Goldstone report on the Gaza war. The plea bargain for the unnamed Givati Brigade soldier, who was convicted in 2010, was approved by the Jaffa military court on Sunday. In the incident, Staff -Sgt S. shot and killed a…
The Russian Olympic men’s basketball team, coached by Israeli-American David Blatt, took a bronze medal at the London games. The Russians played Argentina’s national team for the third place medal. The final score was Russia 81, Argentina 77. It is the first time Russia has won an Olympic medal in basketball since the fall of…
Australia’s public broadcaster apologized after a radio host asked his listeners to play a word association game involving Hitler and fan-forced ovens. The prank broadcast Aug. 9 on triple j, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s youth radio station, caused Dvir Abramovich, the director of the Center for Jewish History and Culture at the University of Melbourne,…
Israel’s Home Front Command will on Sunday begin testing a text-message warning system to individual cell phones with alerts about impending missile attacks or other emergencies, sources from the Israel Defense Forces said. Officials expect the system to be operational by next month. From Sunday to Thursday, from 8 A.M. to 6 P.M., cell-phone owners…
The first rabbi to be elected a congressman in Latin America announced his resignation from the Rabbinical Assembly. Sergio Bergman made the announcement Saturday at the World Union of Progressive Judaism gathering in Buenos Aires, which ends today. “I was born Reform and a tried during more than twenty years that the Reform and Conservative…
Partisan Jewish groups focused on Paul Ryan’s leading role in the budget stand-off in assessing Mitt Romney’s pick as running mate. Rep. Ryan (R-Wis.), the chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives budget committee, has taken a lead role in the stand-off between the White House and the Democratic-led Senate on one side and the…
As the dispute between Israel and the Obama administration over how to address the Iranian nuclear threat rages, a senior Jerusalem official has said Iran has made significant progress in assembling a nuclear warhead. The official, who asked to remain anonymous, said new intelligence obtained by the United States, Israel and other Western countries shows…
It’s coming from an unlikely source, but the message of David Berkowitz is undeniably positive: society needs to take the “glory out of guns.” Or so says Berkowitz, also known as Son of Sam, speaking to the New York Daily News from his prison cell, where he’s serving out his six consecutive 25-to-life sentences. Three…
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday asked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to cancel his plans to participate in a conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, schedule to take place in Tehran in late August. “Your trip to Iran is a big mistake, even if it is being done out of good intentions,” Netanyahu told Ban in…
Both supporters and protestors are expected to pack next week’s Sacramento city council as it decides whether to become sister cities with Ashkelon, Israel. The California capital already has joined up with nine cities, including what it calls “Bethlehem, Palestine,” and has been discussing adding an Israeli town for several years. A vote is planned…
