JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu should be upbeat these days: The economy is growing, his opposition is weak and the incoming Trump administration seems friendly, even to the much-maligned Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Instead, the long-serving leader is mired in a series of eye-popping corruption investigations in a country that has already jailed a prime minister and … Read More
PETAH TIKVA, Israel (AP) — Israel has just one baseball-specific field, and most Israelis know little about the game. Yet the country has emerged as a potential spoiler in the upcoming World Baseball Classic thanks to quirky regulations that allow it to pack its squad with American pro players of Jewish descent. Major leaguers Ike Davis, Sam Fuld and Ryan … Read More
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — As a seaside metropolis with a lively outdoor vibe and dozens of picturesque islands beckoning nearby, Athens is more often considered a summer tourist destination than a winter escape. But if you’ve got more than beaches on your mind, there’s plenty of upside to a brief cool visit that avoids the crowds and heat of summer. … Read More
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The rare manslaughter conviction Wednesday of an Israeli soldier who fatally shot a badly wounded Palestinian attacker exposed a deepening rift between proponents of the rule of law and a burgeoning nationalist movement. The military court verdict against Sgt. Elor Azaria marked a victory for commanders seeking to preserve a code of ethics, but it … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israelis are finding a new campaign by their crusading health minister hard to swallow: in the name of proper nutrition, he has gone on the warpath against the nation’s beloved Hanukkah tradition of gorging on sugar-laden, deep-fried, jam-filled doughnuts. As head of a powerful ultra-Orthodox political party, the bearded and black-coated Yaakov Litzman considers himself a guardian … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — After a series of embarrassing reports about Israel’s first family, an investigative journalist has become a particular target of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Raviv Drucker of Channel 10 TV has been a longtime thorn in Netanyahu’s side, exposing several scandals about the Israeli leader. In return, Netanyahu has berated him, sued him and even reportedly tried to … Read More
YABED, West Bank (AP) — For years, residents of central Israel have been complaining about air pollution from Palestinian factories in the nearby West Bank. Now that authorities have finally cracked down, shutting a group of the worst offending charcoal plants in one notorious town, Palestinians complain that hundreds were thrown out of work by their military occupiers. The story … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli firefighters on Friday reined in a blaze that had spread across the country’s third-largest city of Haifa and forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, but continued to battle more than a dozen other fires around the country for the fourth day in a row. The over 60,000 Israelis evacuated began returning to … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — For the first time in Yad Vashem’s 63-year history, live music echoed through the halls of Israel’s national Holocaust memorial in a somber tribute to the works of musicians who created a vibrant cultural life in the Terezin concentration camp before they were sent to their deaths. Standing upon replicas of train tracks and against a backdrop … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — While the European refugee crisis has captured the world’s attention, Sol Messinger is one of the few who can personally relate to the harrowing images of desperate families fleeing to safety by sea. The 84-year-old retired pathologist from Buffalo was aboard the SS St. Louis, the famed trans-Atlantic liner carrying nearly 1,000 Jewish refugees from Germany in … Read More
LOD, Israel (AP) — After years of abuse and death threats, Duaa Abu-Sharkh had finally divorced her husband, agreeing even to give up custody of her four young children and family property to escape his violent grip. Then, one night in late September, as the 32-year-old mother was dropping off her kids after a rare visit, a masked gunman dragged … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — As the senior representative of ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel’s government, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman is unapologetic about the insular lifestyle he advocates, despite irking mainstream Israel and endangering its long-term economic prospects. He insists that shirking compulsory military service, rejecting secular education and raising large families on state subsidies all serve the noblest of purposes: a life … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Shimon Peres was laid to rest Friday by dozens of world leaders who praised Israel’s former president and prime minister for pursuing peace with an indefatigable spirit and optimism, even though his vision of a “new Middle East” was never fulfilled. At a high-powered funeral befitting the globe-trotting Peres, speakers including President Barack Obama recalled a seven-decade … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Thousands of Israelis flocked to parliament Thursday to view the casket of Shimon Peres, paying final respects to the former president and prime minister whose life story mirrored that of his country. Dignitaries began arriving for a funeral that is expected to be Israel’s largest since that of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Peres’ partner in peace who … Read More
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel on Wednesday mourned the death of Shimon Peres, a former president and prime minister whose life story mirrored that of the Jewish state, as the government began preparations for a funeral that is expected to bring together world leaders and dignitaries. Peres, celebrated around the world as a Nobel Prize-winning visionary who pushed his country toward … Read More