The United States opposes efforts to pass an anti-settlement resolution in the United Nations Security Council, a State Department spokesman said.
United States military aid to Israel for fiscal year 2011 has been delayed for three months.
The American Jewish population is larger than suspected, according to new estimates compiled by Brandeis University. The suburban Boston university’s Steinhardt Social Research Institute is estimating that there are some 6.5 million people in the United States who are either Jewish by religion or who self-identify as Jewish. The figure represents a 20 percent increase in the number of Jews since 1990. The numbers were drawn from a synthesis of data from more than 150 nationwide surveys conducted by the U.S. government and other agencies, as well as from national polling organizations.
Some 10 European Union countries have plans to upgrade the status of their Palestinian diplomatic missions, lead negotiator Saeb Erekat said. The upgrades would bring the missions one step closer to becoming embassies whose officials enjoy full diplomatic immunity, The Jerusalem Post reported. Norway decided last week to upgrade the status of its Palestinian mission, which encouraged the Palestinians to approach several European countries about following suit, Erekat told the Palestinian Ma\’an news service.
After meeting with U.S. leaders, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak predicted that comprehensive talks with the Palestinians on all final status issues would begin within months.
The United States recruited ex-Nazis and collaborators and helped them avoid prosecution in larger numbers than previously known, according to newly declassified documents.
The U.S. House of Representatives included missile defense assistance for Israel in a massive funding bill. Included in the $1.1 trillion bill passed Wednesday was $205 million for Iron Dome, a new Israeli short-range missile defense system aimed at containing rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, as well as $200 million for existing joint U.S.-Israel missile defense programs like the Arrow.\n
Randy Altschuler conceded the congressional election in a suburban New York district to incumbent Rep. Tim Bishop. Altschuler, a Republican, is trailing the Democrat Bishop by 263 votes, unofficial counts show in the eastern Long Island district. In his concession Wednesday, Altschuler said he concluded that a hand recount of 200,000 ballots was unlikely to change the result and would be overly burdensome on district taxpayers. Altschuler would have joined Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.), the incoming majority leader, as the second Republican Jewish lawmaker in Congress.
Democratic state senators in Florida elected national Jewish leader Nan Rich as their minority leader. Rich was elected to lead the 12 Democrats in the state Senate, down two from the previous session following an election in which Florida Democrats also suffered losses in the state House and in the congressional delegation. Rich, 62, has served as the national president of the National Council of Jewish Women, and as a board member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Australia offered to assist Israel in the wake of the devastating fires that have claimed at least 40 lives. \”Australia stands ready to offer assistance to Israel,\” Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd, who is due to visit Israel later this month, said in a statement Friday. \”Australians know directly the devastating impact inflicted by bushfires. I will travel to Israel later this month for an official visit and will convey my sincere condolences in person to Israeli leaders and people.\”
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