Jerusalem Snowstorm Forces Postponement of Netanyahu-Kerry Meeting
Image by getty images
Jerusalem and its environs were blanketed with snow, causing the postponement of a scheduled meeting between Benjamin Netanyahu and John Kerry.
The U.S. secretary of state is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Thursday afternoon, and still plans to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday afternoon, citing unnamed American sources. It is his second visit to Israel in two weeks in an attempt to move Israeli-Palestinian peace talks forward.
Access routes to Jerusalem, including Highway 1, were blocked for part of the day as municipal crews worked to clear the roads in the city; school was canceled for the day. Snow is expected to continue falling into Thursday night, though no major accumulation is expected.
Some two feet of snow have fallen on Mount Hermon in Israel’s north. Roads were closed due to flooding in the Negev Desert in Israel’s south.
Syria and Lebanon also were hit with large amounts of snow.
The Times of Israel reported Thursday that the Chief Rabbinate has withdrawn its request from last week to the Israeli public and world Jewry to insert into the regular prayer service additional prayers for rain and psalms.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
