Hamas has claimed responsibility for firing at least three rockets into southern Israel. The rockets fired late Monday night landed in Ashkelon, but did not cause any damage or injuries. The Palestinian Ma’an news agency reported that the rockets fired by Hamas’s armed wing, Izzaddin al- Kassam, were targeting a nearby military base. Hamas controls…
Government representatives and representatives of residents of the Ulpana neighborhood reportedly are close to a deal under which the families would leave voluntarily. Chief Rabbi of Beit El, Rabbi Zalman Melamed, told Israeli media that a deal is close to completion. Meetings were set to continue on Tuesday. Melamed told Ynet that if finalized the…
An Israeli lawmaker said in an interview that the Israel Defense Forces should stop enlisting homosexuals. Knesset member Uri Ariel of the National Union Party said in an interview with the Knesset Channel that homosexuals “interfere in the military’s ability to fight.” He also said that homosexuals should not be enlisted because “We must conduct…
The International Press Institute has called on Israel’s attorney general to reconsider an indictment against an Israeli investigative reporter for acquiring classified documents. Uri Blau, a reporter for the Israeli daily Haaretz, published an article in 2008 using classified documents given to him by Anat Kamm, who copied them from a superior’s computer during her…
The tombstone of a Polish woman who saved a Jewish woman by hiding her in the roof of her barn for two years during the Holocaust was rededicated with a Talmudic inscription. Maria Jalowiec, who died in 1979, hid her neighbor Regina (Rivka) Wallach, who had managed to jump off a wagon after being rounded…
A mosque in the West Bank village of Jab’a, located south of Ramallah, was set on fire in a suspected “price tag” arson attack early Tuesday morning. Graffiti carrying messages such as “The war has begun” and “You will pay the price” was spray-painted on the mosque’s walls. Shin Bet agents and police, accompanied by…
The Orthodox Union in formal comments expressed its concerns on pending Obama administration regulations mandating employer-sponsored health plans for contraceptives and sterilization. The comments filed Monday with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services express concerns over the regulations’ exemption of houses of worship but not other religious entities such as schools, hospitals and…
Alice Walker, author of “The Color Purple,” refused to authorize a Hebrew translation of her prize-winning work, citing what she called Israel’s “apartheid state.” In a June 9 letter to Yediot Books, Walker said she would not allow the publication of the book into Hebrew because “Israel is guilty of apartheid and persecution of the…
Google chairman Eric Schmidt said on Monday that the company’s development centers in Israel are among the company’s most efficient and that Google is constantly expanding them. Speaking at a Tel Aviv conference called “Big Tent,” Schmidt said that the quality of Israel’s engineers is very high, not least due to the country’s universities and…
Palestinian soccer star Mahmoud Sarsak, who was been jailed by Israel for nearly three years, is reportedly going to be released next month after agreeing to end a three-month hunger strike that attracted worldwide attention. Sarsak, a midfielder on the Palestinian national team, was arrested at a West Bank checkpoint and accused of terrorist activities…
All requests from refugees and illegal migrants from Africa to convert to Judaism have been rejected over the past year, according to a source in the Prime Minister’s Office. The source could not provide exact figures but said “many dozens” of such requests were rejected. Conversion falls under the auspices of the PMO. “Dozens of…
