Middle East

(As of Friday morning San Diego time) Fire kills more than 40; international effort mobilized HAIFA (Press Release)–A fire on the Carmel Mountain near the city of Haifa,, in northern Israel, has killed at least 40 people – among them students, prison guards and firemen who were racing to evacuate the Damon prison. When a […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release)–President Obama hosted a second-nigh Hanukkah reception on Thursday, Dec. 2,  at the White House, where he made he following remarks:   THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, this is a good looking group right here.  (Laughter.)  Good evening, everybody. AUDIENCE:  Good evening. THE PRESIDENT:  Welcome to the White House.  I want to thank all of you for joining

JERUSALEM (Press Release) — The worst fire in Israel’s history is raging across Haifa and the Carmel Forest. Lives have already been lost, and many more are in danger as Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services and JNF-KKL foresters battle the blaze. As all forests in Israel are urban forests and abut either large cities or small

 By Morton A. Klein and Daniel Mandel  NEW YORK — It’s a constant refrain that, if Israel would only give more land and concessions to the Palestinians, peace would arrive. If only that were true. But the Arab war on Israel has nothing to do with borders; with Jews building homes in the West Bank

  NEW YORK (Press Release) — In cooperation with The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, the Association of Reform Zionists of America (ARZA) has established the Carmel Fire-Israel Emergency Fund to help Israel battle the worst fire in the country’s history. Funds will be distributed via the Israeli Reform

HAIFA (Press Release)–Due to a fire in the Carmel mountains, the University of Haifa announced on Thursday that it is evacuating the campus. That said, it is important to clarify that there is no immediate danger at the campus, but after consultation with the police and firefighter authorities, a management decision was taken to avoid unnecessary

By Audrey Jacobs and Michael Lurie SAN DIEGO —  As they light the candles for Hannukah, the Jewish festival of lights, Jews recall the central message of this happy festival – renewing their faith as a free people in their homeland, the land of Israel. Hannukah commemorates the events of over 2,100 years ago, when the

RAMALLAH (WJC)–The Palestinian Authority (PA) has removed a controversial report claiming that the Western Wall in Jerusalem is not holy to Jews from its official website. The paper by a senior PA official had sparked world-wide criticism and was condemned as incorrect and provocative, including by the US government. The five-page ‘study’ was authored by

JERUSALEM (WJC)–Tamir Pardo, a former deputy director of Israel’s foreign intelligence agency Mossad, has been tapped by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as successor to current Mossad Director Meir Dagan. Pardo has worked in the organization for much of his career. In a statement Netanyahu praised the new director’s “decades-worth of rich experience in the Mossad”.

NEW YORK (Press Release) — Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations on Tuesday, Nov. 30, welcomed the strong condemnation by the Obama Administration of a report issued by a senior Palestinian official claiming that the Western Wall is an Islamic Waqf and refuting Jewish claims to the Western Wall. The

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami released the following statement in response to an online paper by a Palestinian Authority official that denies any Jewish connection to the Western Wall: J Street condemns this week’s denial by an official of the Palestinian Authority of any Jewish connection to the Western Wall. This