(JTA) – The European Union’s highest court has upheld Belgium’s bans on slaughtering animals without first stunning them, a ruling that confirms the prohibition on the production of kosher and halal meat in parts of Belgium and clears a path for additional bans across Europe. Israel’s ambassador to Belgium called the ruling “a blow to…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The U.S. Senate passed a bill that would elevate the position of the anti-Semitism monitor to ambassador, adding punch to the envoy’s mission of pressing other governments to confront anti-Jewish bigotry. “Anti-Semitism continues to rise at an alarming rate across the globe,” Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., who led sponsorship of the bipartisan…
Zach Banner, offensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, offered up a chunk of his paycheck as a donation to the synagogue that was the site of a 2018 massacre. Im crashing Hanukkah this year guys … By donating part of my last week’s game check to the Tree of Life synagogue here in Pittsburgh. Happy…
Israel’s Supreme Court has rejected the appeal to stay the extradition of Malka Leifer, an Australian ultra-Orthodox school principal who fled to Israel after being accused of sexually abusing students in the Melbourne girls school she ran. The decision closed the final avenue for Leifer to avoid a return to Australia, where she faces 74…
(JTA) — For the second time in three weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court indicated that state governments may not restrict religious gatherings more strictly than secular ones due to the pandemic. Responding to an appeal by a New Jersey priest and an Orthodox rabbi, the high court in a unanimous opinion instructed an appellate court…
(JTA) — Floridians can now stand with Israel even while stuck in traffic. A graphic designer from Boca Raton has come up with the winning design in a contest to create a specialty license plate saying that “Florida Stands with Israel.” Daniel Ackerman’s blue, white and orange design was chosen among more than 100 submissions…
(JTA) — A Jewish Democratic group released a video ad Tuesday featuring the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the party’s challenger in one of two key Senate runoffs in Georgia, talking up the Black-Jewish alliance. The Jewish Democratic Council of America’s ad comes as Warnock tries to fend off attacks by his opponent, incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler,…
A day after the electoral college certified his victory, President-elect Joe Biden is back in Georgia this week to campaign on behalf of Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock, who are both in runoff races to unseat Republican incumbents on Jan. 5. A victory for both Warnock and Ossoff, who is Jewish,…
(JTA) — The Trump administration rescinded Sudan’s status as a state sponsor of terrorism, part of the effort to establish ties between Israel and the Arab country. “This represents a fundamental change in our bilateral relationship toward greater collaboration and support for Sudan’s historic democratic transition,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday in a…
(JTA) — Dawn Johnson, a Republican just elected a state representative in New Hampshire, apologized for sharing a post from the neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer. “I have removed the report as it came from a source I do not agree with and thanks to a couple of people who showed me,” she said. Johnson…
(JTA) — Israel and Bhutan, a small Buddhist majority Himalayan kingdom snuggled between India and China, have established full diplomatic ties. Ron Malka, the Israeli ambassador to India, posted photos on Twitter Saturday of the signing ceremony. Bhutan and Israel already have cordial, informal ties. Bhutan has over the last 20 years emerged from centuries…
