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israeli

Conservative responsa approves selling, renting to non-Jews

Jewish Journal December 21, 2010

Up to 50 Conservative rabbis signed on to a religious responsa that says it is permissible to rent or sell homes to non-Jews in Israel. The statement, issued Monday, counters a rabbinic ruling signed by about 50 Israeli municipal rabbis that prohibits the same. Written by Schechter Institute President Rabbi David Golinkin, it examines the issue from biblical sources to modern opinions.

Heritage site renovations approved

Jewish Journal December 21, 2010

An Israeli government committee approved the $25 million renovation of 16 national heritage projects and sites. The Ministerial Committee on the National Heritage, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Tuesday approved the renovation of the sites — among the 150 sites and initiatives included in the \”Plan for Renovating and Strengthening National Heritage Sites and Assets\” approved in February — at a cost of $25 million. The plan caused some controversy when two West Bank biblical sites, Rachel\’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs, were added to the list.\n

Jewish teens arrested for attacks on Arabs

Jewish Journal December 21, 2010

Israeli police have arrested nine Jewish teens suspected in a series of attacks on Arabs. The seven minors, including a 14-year-old girl, and two young men have been arrested over the last two weeks, police announced Tuesday after a gag order on the case was lifted. The Jewish teens reportedly had the girl seduce the Arabs and lead them to various meeting places, including Independence Park, where they would attack them with stones, glass bottles and pepper spray. Several of the Arabs required hospitalization. The suspects confessed to police that their acts were nationalistically motivated, according to reports. They are under house arrest; more arrests are expected.

Greece-Israel relations soar as ties with Turkey fade

Jewish Journal December 14, 2010

Israel’s ambassador to Greece, Arye Mekel, was on the phone with a journalist earlier this month when the call came in that Israel’s Carmel region was up in flames. The Israeli prime minister needed to speak urgently with his Greek counterpart. Mekel quickly located Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou in Poland, where he was meeting with the Polish president. But a Papandreou aide told Mekel the meeting could not be interrupted. “Tell him Bibi Netanyahu wants to speak with him urgently,” Mekel pressed, using the Israeli prime minister’s nickname.

Jewish officials meet with Italian leaders, pope

Jewish Journal December 10, 2010

World Jewish Congress officials met with Pope Benedict XVI and separately with senior Italian officials, praising Italy for its support of Israel. WJC President Ronald Lauder told Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini in their meeting Friday that the Jewish world \”deeply appreciates\” its \”important and well-established friendship with the Italian government\” and also appreciates \”Italian attention to the safety of the people of Israel.\” Italy, Lauder later said, \”has a key role in advancing the peace process in the Middle East.\”\n

Protesters rally against rabbinic ruling

Jewish Journal December 9, 2010

Protesters rallied in Jerusalem against a rabbis\’ ban on renting apartments to Arabs. About 150 demonstrators took up positions Wednesday night across from the Great Synagogue to protest the rabbinic ruling, which was issued Tuesday by dozens of Israel\’s municipal chief rabbis. \”Racism is blasphemy\” and \”Rabbis\’ letter — public blasphemy\” read the signs carried by some of the protesters.

Op-Ed: Response to fire illuminates challenges for Israel

Jewish Journal December 8, 2010

One of the reactions of Israelis to the fact that their government called on the international community for assistance to combat the Carmel Forest fire is a sense of shame. After all, Israel is a leader in the high-tech world and an innovator in dealing with crisis situations. Now Israel had to admit that it wasn’t capable of dealing with the blaze alone. More than that, for some in Israel there is a reluctance to admit that Israel is not isolated, that not everyone is against Israel. The willingness of nations and peoples to rush to Israel’s side, including the Turks and the Palestinians, challenged this assumption. I remember when Yitzhak Rabin took over as prime minister in 1993, his inaugural address to the Knesset took a different tack than the norm. He spoke to the idea that Israelis need to get beyond the way of thinking that assumed that everyone was against them. He argued that this was neither accurate nor productive, as it led to distorted policies.

State Dept. awards $770,000 to push diversity in Israel

Jewish Journal November 30, 2010

The U.S. State Department has given $770,000 in grants to Merchavim, an Israeli NGO promoting diversity and shared citizenship in Israel. Most of the grant, some $750,000, will go to expand the collaboration between Merchavim and the American nonprofit Sesame Workshop, producer of \”Sesame Street,\” to continue to produce Israel’s version of the show, \”Rechov Sumsum,\” which features Israeli Jews and Arabs. The grant will help develop content in Hebrew and Arabic for use by 1,200 kindergarten teachers from various ethnic and religious backgrounds.

Poll: More than half of Jewish Israelis want Arabs to leave

Jewish Journal November 30, 2010

Some 53 percent of Israel\’s Jewish population believes that the state can encourage Arabs to leave the country, a new poll found. The Israel Democracy Institute\’s 2010 poll released Tuesday also found that 86 percent of the Jewish public, constituting 76 percent of the total public, believes that critical decisions for the state should be made by the Jewish majority. In addition, 43 percent of the general Israeli public believes that it is equally important for Israel to be a Jewish and democratic country, while 31 percent believe the Jewish component is more important and 20 percent say the democratic element is more important.

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