Israel’s ministry of religious services, headed by economics minister Naftali Bennett of the Jewish Home party, has created a new Jewish Identity Administration in an “effort to increase national awareness of Jewish identity,” says a report in Yeshiva World News. Haaretz says its job is to “instill Jewish values” in the general public. The administration…
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told Religious Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday night she would not support changes to the law governing the holy sites that he is promoting to limit the activities of Women of the Wall. Livni told Bennett that such amendments required the justice minister’s approval. The regulations Bennett is working on…
That fight within the Jewish Home party over nominations for chief rabbi has more to it than meets the eye. True, it opens up a fault line within the religious Zionist movement, between the liberal wing that backs Rabbi David Stav and the more religiously conservative wing that backs Rabbi Yaakov Ariel. But it’s also…
Members of Habayit Hayehudi are split over who to support in the race for Chief Rabbinate, with party leader Naftali Bennett strongly in favor of Rabbi David Stav, a founder of the religious Zionist organization, Tzohar. On Sunday Bennett denied reports about “deals of one sort or another with Shas or other parties” concerning the…
Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday the Arab League’s acknowledgment that Israelis and Palestinians may have to swap land in any peace deal was “a very big step forward.” Arab states appeared to soften their 2002 peace plan on Monday when Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, said…
American and Israeli press outlets (Washington Post/AP, Detroit Free Press, Times of Israel, Arutz Sheva/Israel National News) are carrying unsourced reports that Secretary of State Kerry, currently visiting Turkey, Israel and the Palestinian Authority, is hoping to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on the basis of the “dormant” Arab Peace Initiative, which is “suddenly” springing back…
Maybe it’s just coincidence, but there does seem to be an awful lot of talk lately about the possible demise of the Jewish state. Indeed, it feels as though it’s heating up just as Israel approaches its 65th birthday. Should we be reading something into the fact that 65 is the age of retirement? Is…
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has successfully assembled a government, after almost six weeks of tense negotiations and pushing up against his deadline on Saturday. Three parties will serve alongside his Likud-Beiteinu faction: the new centrist Yesh Atid, the staunchly pro-settler Jewish Home, and the Tzipi Livni’s dovish party, known in Hebrew as Hatnua. The…
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