Israel’s elections on Tuesday resulted in what will likely be a fifth term for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – but there were a number of firsts as well. The number of LGBT members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, will rise from two to a record five when parliamentarians are sworn in next month. Amir Ohana…
The Israeli right-wing party Jewish Home merged on Wednesday with a small extremist party led by followers of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, all but guaranteeing Knesset seats for the extremists. Kahane’s party was banned from running in Israeli elections in 1988 for racism, then banned entirely in 1994 under anti-terrorism laws. Two Kahanist groups,…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israelis will soon be heading toward the polls after the heads of all six coalition parties announced that they were dissolving the government, forcing new elections. “Out of national and budgetary responsibility, the leaders of the coalition parties decided, unanimously and unanimously, to dissolve the Knesset and go to new elections at…
Actress Roseanne Barr will visit the Israeli Knesset in late January to speak out against the boycott, divest and sanctions movement. Barr, a pro-Israel activist, is set to tour Israel with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, founder of the World Values Network. She reportedly was invited to speak at the Knesset by Deputy Speaker Yechiel Hilik Bar…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Knesset has rejected a bill that would have allowed same-sex couples to have children by surrogacy. The bill to extend surrogacy to single men and same-sex parents was voted down Wednesday during a preliminary reading in a 49-41 vote. In July, the Knesset passed a surrogacy law that expanded eligibility to…
An intriguing alliance, ad hoc but no less notable for the fact, took place in Israel’s Knesset recently. Two Haredi parties, United Torah Judaism and Shas, came to the defense of the Joint List of Arab parties to block a bill that would ban religious institutions from using loudspeakers. The legislation was clearly aimed at…
I first heard of the Nation-State Bill about eight years ago, when I was a Member of the Knesset. I was stopped in the hallway by a fellow M.K. from my party who asked me to support a bill affirming that Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people. My initial reaction was that this…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli lawmaker ended a 25-day hunger strike staged to convince the Knesset to pass a tax on loose tobacco equal to the tax on cigarettes. Yehudah Glick announced on Saturday night on Twitter and Facebook that he would end the hunger strike “in order to avoid harming my health and following…
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