Middle East

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Most Jews in the world are sure, or would like to be sure, that Israel has an unassailable case in dealing with the Palestinians. When the rest of the world, or at least much of it, thinks otherwise, Jews tend to ascribe it to two reasons: (1) the non-Jewish world has

MUMBAI (Press Release)–The Chabad House in the Indian city of Mumbai, which was the site of a terrorist attack in November 2008, has received an anonymous letter warning of another attack. Israeli media reported that the hand-written letter included a picture of Hitler and included the message “Israel is dogs. We will strike again –

JERUSALEM (WJC)–United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon have uncovered ten bombs in a weapons cache near the Israeli border. According to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, the arms were probably produced in Iran or Syria and planted near the border by Hezbollah fighters. Israel’s UN ambassador in New York, Gabriela Shalev, wrote in a letter to

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Authority (WJC)–Tayeb Abdel Rahim, director-general of the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority and a member of the Fatah Central Council, has claimed that Hamas had forged an alliance with Iran in a way that harmed Arab national security and Palestinian interests. “Hamas has turned the Palestinian cause into a cheap card in the

BAGHDAD (WJC)–Iraq is planning to sue Israel for bombing its nuclear reactor at Osirak nearly three decades ago. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has instructed his Foreign Ministry to find out from the United Nations whether it can receive compensation from Israel. Israel’s Air Force bombed the reactor, which had not yet gone on line,

JERUSALEM (WJC)–Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon has said that peace talks with the Palestinians were not likely to resume in the coming weeks. “Instead of moving toward negotiations, the Palestinians just attack Israel in the world,” Ayalon said at a gathering of the Israel Council for Foreign Relations in Jerusalem, which is sponsored by

JERUSALEM (Press Release)–The municipality of Jerusalem has approved construction of four apartment buildings next to a Jewish seminary in the eastern part of the city. “As far as the municipality is concerned, building can begin,” a  spokesman for Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said after a planning committee gave the go-ahead on Monday for the complex

JERUSALEM (WJC)—Mayor Nir Barkat of Jerusalem  has announced that he would petition the High Court against an election process which is likely to lead to the appointment of two ultra-Orthodox chief rabbis for the city. Barkat said 70 percent of Jerusalem’s population was not haredi. On Sunday, a five-man committee, including three haredi members from the

By Rabbi Philip Graubart LA JOLLA, California–Who is the most influential writer for American Jews?  To my mind, it’s Daniel Gordis, the American-born rabbi, writing from Israel.  Gordis grabs his readers with passionate, cogent arguments, but also through his chosen medium: emails, which fly through cyberspace, landing in tens of thousands (or more) inboxes, provoking