TEL AVIV — In Zohan Dvir, Israelis have a Hollywood hero — no matter that the soldier-turned-hairstylist played by Adam Sandler represents some of their country’s worst stereotypes. “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan” looks to be a big hit in the Holy Land. Billboards bearing the leading man’s split-legged, blow-dryer-wielding image are plastered across city walls, and numerous stories … Read More
HADERA, Israel (AP) When Ayele Seteng arrived in Israel in 1991 with thousands of other frail Ethiopian immigrants, he was looking to flee famine and make a better life for his family. Now, he is an unlikely Olympic athlete. After some strange twists of fate that began with an unexpected weight gain, Seteng is heading to the Beijing Games as … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) – They used to paint swastika graffiti, get into street fights with immigrants and distribute anti-Semitic propaganda. But after studying the cases of a few of the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II, some former Swedish neo-Nazi teenagers came to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial with new attitudes. The teens, some of whom were … Read More
JERUSALEM — A rivalry between two of Israel’s most famous cantors has spilled over from the exalted world of prayer into allegations of a sexual entrapment plot that includes hidden cameras, a police inquiry and a female private detective hired by one of the men to seduce his adversary. The saga pits Naftali Herstik, a revered and influential cantor, against … Read More
JERUSALEM — American televangelist John Hagee led several hundred flag-waving followers across Jerusalem on Monday, a colorful display of the growing alliance between Christian evangelicals and Israel. Hagee, who calls himself a Christian Zionist, pledged his unconditional backing for the Jewish state. He also vehemently denied he is anti-Catholic, telling reporters that comments attributed to him were either false or … Read More
JERUSALEM — A mathematical mystery that has baffled the top minds in the esoteric field of symbolic dynamics for nearly four decades has recently been cracked — by a 63-year-old former security guard. Avraham Trakhtman, a mathematician who worked as a laborer after immigrating to Israel from Russia, has succeeded where dozens have failed, solving the elusive “Road Coloring Problem.” … Read More
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinians say they know when an Israeli drone is in the air: Cell phones stop working, TV reception falters and they can hear a distant buzzing. They also know what’s likely to come next—a devastating explosion on the ground. Palestinians say Israel’s pilotless planes have been a major weapon in its latest offensive in Gaza, … Read More
ASHKELON, Israel — Residents of this beachside city are still coming to terms with being on the front lines of Israel’s battle against Hamas militants. A dozen long-range rockets slammed into Ashkelon over the weekend, marking a significant turning point in the conflict and compelling Israel to strike back hard. “Until yesterday, I never would have believed that I would … Read More
TEL AVIV, Israel — Sitting on a thin mattress in an underground bomb shelter that reeked of urine, Tasfa Mara said he’s happy where he is. The 24-year-old Eritrean escaped forced conscription, beatings and a treacherous trek across three countries before reaching his promised land. “Only Israel safe,” he said in patchy English, his hands and feet heavily bandaged from … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP)- Israel’s Holocaust memorial launched an Arabic version of its Web site Thursday, including vivid photos of Nazi atrocities and video of survivors’ testimony, to combat Holocaust denial in the Arab and Muslim world. Among those featured on the Yad Vashem site is Dina Beitler, a survivor of the Nazi genocide that killed 6 million Jews in World War … Read More
JERUSALEM — Israel’s government on Monday endorsed the ambitious plan of a private entrepreneur to install the world’s first electric car network here by 2011, with half a million recharging stations to crisscross the tiny nation. Supporters hailed the undertaking as a bold step in the battle against global warming and energy dependency, but skeptics warned that much could still … Read More
SDEROT, Israel – Worn down by thousands of rockets fired from the nearby Gaza Strip, an estimated one-seventh of the people of this Israeli town have fled. Many more say they would go if they could. The mayor says life here has become “impossible.” This is all welcome news to Gaza’s Islamic militants, who say their goal is to turn … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — In 1942, 8-year-old Moshe Bar-Yuda walked hand-in-hand with his father to a collection point in his hometown in Slovakia and watched him being shipped off to a Nazi labor camp. The boy never saw him again, and for 66 years was left to wonder about his father’s fate. Because of a newly opened Nazi archive, the mystery … Read More
ABU DIS, West Bank – With the Muslim call to prayer wailing from a mosque, some 20 Palestinian students crowd into a classroom on the outskirts of Jerusalem to study the origins of the Jewish state. The Israel studies program at Al Quds University in the West Bank claims to be the first in the Arab world, drawing an eclectic … Read More
JERUSALEM — A teary-eyed President Bush stopped in front of an aerial photo of Auschwitz on Friday at Israel’s Holocaust memorial and said the U.S. should have sent bombers to prevent the extermination of Jews there. Yad Vashem’s chairman, Avner Shalev, quoted Bush as saying the U.S. should have “bombed it.” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Bush referred to … Read More