Israel’s 2014 budget will be able to absorb the costs incurred during the month-long Gaza conflict and there will be no need to increases taxes, Finance Minister Yair Lapid said on Thursday. It will take a week or two for the government to determine the total impact of the conflict on the economy, Lapid said,…
Newly discovered accounting errors at Brooklyn’s Congregation Beth Elohim forced the synagogue to lay off 12 employees in mid-March, synagogue officials say. The prominent Reform synagogue’s rabbi, Andy Bachman, also announced in March that he would not renew his contract after it expires next year. The synagogue’s president said that Bachman’s departure was unrelated to…
Profiles in democracy: The latest New York Times-CBS News poll indicates that voters are favoring Republicans over Democrats 42-to-39 in the upcoming midterm congressional elections. The reason? They’re angry at Democrats for failing to implement their agenda, which voters largely favor — including greater economic equality, higher minimum wage, abortion access, marriage equality, legalized pot,…
Funding to Israel was restored to its pre-sequester levels in the spending bill the U.S. House of Representatives passed. The bill keeps funding for Israel at $3.1 billion for 2014, the amount designated in a 2007 10-year memorandum of understanding that guaranteed Israel an average of $3 billion a year in assistance. The $1.1 trillion…
For Jewish and pro-Israel groups, the congressional year is ending with an odd reversal: the prospect, however fragile, of bipartisan comity on budget issues coupled with a rare partisan disagreement on Middle Eastern policy. The groups that deal with social welfare and justice issues are heartened, albeit warily, by the end-of-year budget forged by Rep….
The Conservative movement’s umbrella group, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, has laid off a total of 12 full-time and part-time employees, the Forward has learned. Rabbi Steven Wernick, CEO of the USCJ, said the reductions, about 10% of the staff, would save the organization about $1 million annually — about the size of its…
Despite a budget deficit twice what was expected, the leader of the Conservative movement’s synagogue umbrella group says the group will balance its budget within two years. Rabbi Steven Wernick, the CEO of the United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism, told JTA that his organization was anticipating a budget hole of more than $1 million in…
Just months after a dazzling political debut, Israel’s new finance minister Yair Lapid has come crashing down to earth with a budget that critics say hits the very people he vowed to protect – the middle classes. The deficit-cutting package was approved by the cabinet early on Tuesday and now passes to parliament, where Lapid…
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