European Union governments plan to ratchet up sanctions pressure against Iran over its nuclear programme on Monday, approving new measures against Tehran’s banking sector, industry and shipping. The new sanctions mark one of the toughest pushes against Iran by Europe to date, and come amid mounting concerns over the Islamic Republic’s military intentions and the…
Israel and Jewish organizations congratulated the European Union for being awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize. “The exemplary success of the E.U. in establishing peace in Europe after two world wars is an inspiration to the whole family of nations. The European Union crystallizes the way of reason and compromise through which nations can overcome…
For decades after the Holocaust, many Jews harbored an almost instinctive aversion to things German. But today, tens of thousands of Israelis, Jews from the former Soviet Union and even many American Jews are actively choosing German citizenship. Sound unreal? It’s today’s reality. According to a study by Dr. Sima Salzberg of Bar-Ilan University, 100,000…
The foreign policy chief of the European Union, Catherine Ashton, is under furious attack for a speech she gave March 19, several hours after the deadly shootings at the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse, in which she mentioned the Toulouse attack and deaths of Palestinian youths in Gaza in the same sentence. First Israeli Foreign…
The website of Foreign Affairs magazine has a very useful interview with David Makovsky, fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, former Jerusalem Post editor, former Haaretz diplomatic correspondent and one of the smartest Middle East watchers in Washington, on the various uncertainties Israel faces right now. He notes that Israel and Egypt…
What goes into making food kosher? The debate over this question has recently raged in America after the poor working conditions at the Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse were exposed. The new Magen Tzedek certification has proposed that kosher food follow certain labor and environmental standards, but many Orthodox rabbis have disputed whether kosher certification can encompass…
