— The Israeli Knesset has issued a new dress code, banning visitors and employees from wearing miniskirts and short dresses. The rules were based on an earlier version and were “intended to clarify, as much as possible, the ambiguity that existed in the past — while expressing sensitivity and attempting not to hurt the feelings of…
After the Friday night release of an audio tape in which Donald Trump bragged about committing sexual assault, Republican leaders abandoned their presidential nominee in droves. That trend extended across the ocean, with Yehuda Glick, a former American citizen and Likud member of the Knesset, renouncing his support for the party’s standard bearer. “Mr. Trump,…
JERUSALEM — Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, has been appointed deputy minister in the Prime Minister’s Office. The PMO announced the appointment, which also makes Oren head of public diplomacy, on Monday evening. Oren is part of the Kulanu Party, which joined the government after the elections in 2015. Oren served…
As a woman who underwent Orthodox conversion, I was livid when I read about the controversial Israeli bill that was formally passed into law July 25. The bill allows local Orthodox rabbinates to ban non-Orthodox conversions in publicly funded mikvehs. The ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism Party may have introduced this piece of legislation, but in…
One day before Jerusalem’s gay pride parade and one year after the murder of 16-year-old Shira Banki by an ultra-Orthodox homophobe, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has announced that he will not attend the parade. His stated reason: not wanting to “be part of something that offends the ultra-Orthodox.” Barkat, give me a break. You must…
Israel’s parliament, in a dazzling display of perverse logic, managed to shoot itself in the foot on Monday with formal approval of a law that hobbles human-rights organizations. The law’s sponsors have been working for five years to craft a measure that reins in organizations they believe damage Israel’s international reputation, particularly in the West,…
On May 24, Israel’s parliament welcomed its first-ever member to survive an assassination attempt before he even stepped foot into office. Yehuda Glick was shot and wounded for his leading role in groups devoted to rebuilding the Jewish Holy Temple in Jerusalem at a sensitive site sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians worldwide. In a…
This has been a tough week for women in Israel. While the Knesset was debating how much power the rabbinate should have over women immersing in the ritual bath, or mikveh, Women of the Wall Executive Director Leslie Sachs was being arrested at the Western Wall for carrying a Torah. All this reminds us that…
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