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January 3, 2011
WikiLeaks: Iran can reach Israel in 12 minutes
Iran has missiles that can reach Israel in 12 minutes, according to cables released by WikiLeaks.
Russian president nixes Israel visit over strike
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev canceled a planned visit to Israel due to a strike by Foreign Ministry employees. The striking workers had threatened to embarrass the Russian leader during his visit, which was scheduled for the middle of January. The workers gave interviews in Israel\’s Russian-language media, closely monitored by the Russian government, saying that they would not assist in preparations for the visit, Haaretz reported. The visit, scheduled several months ago, was to include a delegation of 500 people, including businesspeople, lawmakers and senior officials, according to Ynet.\nThe Foreign Ministry workers are protesting low wages.
Israeli lawmakers’ petition calls for boycott
Dozens of Israeli lawmakers have signed a petition calling for a boycott of Israeli companies that have signed contracts to help build a new Palestinian city. Sponsored by the Land of Israel Lobby, the petition was signed by 48 lawmakers after being circulated Monday. Right-wing lawmakers and half of the Kadima Party signed, The Jerusalem Post reported. The petition comes in response to a contract signed by 20 Israeli companies to help build Rawabi, in the West Bank near Ramallah, in which they agree not to use raw materials, products or services originating in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as well as in eastern Jerusalem or on the Golan Heights, which the Palestinian Authority also defines as settlements.
Palestine National Orchestra debuts
The Palestine National Orchestra performed for the first time in the Palestinian Authority and in Israel. The orchestra made its debut in Ramallah, and then performed in eastern Jerusalem over the weekend and in Haifa on Sunday night. \”Today an orchestra, tomorrow a state,\” Suhail Khoury, director of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music, wrote in the program, according to the French news agency AFP.
Reb Zalman archives given to Colorado U.
The personal papers and other materials of Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a founder of the Jewish Renewal movement, have been given to the University of Colorado. The material, including audio-visual material, have become part of the Colorado University-Boulder Library Archives, according to the Boulder Jewish News, after being in the care of Naropa University, which was working with the Reb Zalman Legacy Project of the Yesod Foundation to preserve, develop and circulate the rabbi\’s writings and teachings. The Jewish Renewal movement has infused modern Judaism with mystical teachings and contemplative practices influenced by Hasidism. The movement is run by ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal in Philadelphia.
Safed rabbi refuses police summons over anti-Arab letter
The Chief Rabbi of Safed, Shmuel Eliyahu, said he would refuse to respond to a police summons for questioning on suspicion of incitement to racism. Eliyahu reportedly did not present himself to Jerusalem police on Sunday, as ordered, over a letter signed by nearly 50 municipal rabbis calling on the Jewish public not to rent or sell homes to non-Jews, specifically Arabs. The official reason given for not answering the summons was time restrictions, the Jerusalem Post reported. But Eliyahu reportedly said, according to the Jerusalem Post that he “asked whether David Grossman, Yossi Sarid and Shulamit Aloni, who demonstrated against Jewish presence in the Shimon Hatzadik (Sheikh Jarrah) neighborhood, were also summoned for questioning. Were there summonses for the heads of the Jewish National Fund, whose constitution prohibits selling apartments to non- Jews? If not, double standards are being applied here, and I don’t intend on playing into the hands of a legal system that acts in a non-egalitarian manner.”
Katsav rape conviction hailed as watershed moment
For years it was considered an open secret in Israeli political and media circles that Moshe Katsav had a habit of sexually harassing women who worked for him.
Rabbi Marc Angel, Modern Orthodox Firebrand, Comes to Your Shabbat Table
Netanyahu: Israel was ready to extend freeze
Israel was prepared to extend a West Bank construction freeze, but the United States withdrew the idea, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
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