A British woman has been stabbed to death on a tram in Jerusalem. She has been named as student Hannah Bladon by Israel’s ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev. Ms Bladon was stabbed several times in the chest while she travelled on a tram in Tzahal Square, packed with pilgrims visiting for Passover and Easter, … Read more
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Monday rejected a request for clemency by jailed ex-prime minister Ehud Olmert, who is serving a 27-month prison sentence for corruption, his office said. Olmert, who was premier between 2006-2009, was convicted of graft and entered prison in February 2016. The president noted that the grounds for the request — … Read more
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he was in discussions with Donald Trump’s administration on ways to move ahead with settlement construction ahead of fresh talks with a top adviser to the US president. Netanyahu also reiterated he intended to build a new “community” for residents of a wildcat Jewish outpost in the occupied … Read more
A top adviser to US President Donald Trump held further talks on the Middle East conflict Wednesday, meeting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin as he seeks to restart negotiations with the Palestinians. Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s special representative for international negotiations, met with Rivlin after holding talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin … Read more
Israel’s parliament gave preliminary approval Wednesday to two controversial measures that would limit calls to prayers from mosques, including one prohibiting the use of loudspeakers at all hours, after shouting matches between lawmakers. The bills — the second of which would ban loudspeakers in urban areas between 11:00 pm and 7:00 am — will eventually … Read more
British foreign minister Boris Johnson visited Israel and the Palestinian territories Wednesday for talks with leaders from both sides as Donald Trump’s arrival as US president casts uncertainty over the decades-old conflict. Johnson was due to meet both Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem in … Read more
A number of tombstones were overturned in an historic Jewish cemetery in New York, police said Sunday, the latest in rising number of apparent anti-Semitic incidents across the United States. Officers were called to the Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn on Saturday evening to investigate the vandalized graves, and the department’s hate crimes division has been notified, … Read more
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo began a whirlwind visit to Israel on Sunday, pledging solidarity with Jews as the United States sees a surge in anti-Semitic incidents. There have been more than 100 bomb threats against US Jewish organisations since the beginning of the year and three Jewish cemeteries have been vandalised, with some analysts … Read more
An Israeli military court on Tuesday sentenced a soldier to 18 months in prison for shooting dead a wounded Palestinian assailant who lay on the ground, sparking criticism from rights groups. Defence lawyers announced an appeal and right-wing Israeli ministers immediately called for a pardon, while the Palestinian government and the victim’s family condemned the … Read more
An Israeli military court on Tuesday sentenced a soldier to 18 months in prison for shooting dead a wounded Palestinian assailant who lay on the ground, sparking criticism from rights groups. Defence lawyers announced an appeal and right-wing Israeli ministers immediately called for a pardon, while the Palestinian government and the victim’s family condemned the … Read more
An Israeli court is expected on Tuesday to sentence Elor Azaria, a soldier convicted of manslaughter for shooting dead a wounded Palestinian attacker as he lay on the ground. Who is Azaria and why does the case matter? What did Azaria do? On March 24, 2016 French-Israeli Azaria, 21, was on a tour of duty … Read more
Israeli ministers on Sunday endorsed a contentious draft bill which Muslims say is meant to silence the traditional call to prayer, information released by the justice ministry showed. A list of draft legislation put to the vote in the powerful ministerial committee on legislation marked the “bill for prevention of noise from public address systems … Read more
Donald Trump’s first address as US president wasn’t just watched by Americans — the world was listening too, and for now, his inaugural remarks have left some depressed, many wary and everyone waiting for more. After Trump’s swearing in, the newly minted president gave a short speech that was light on policy specifics, but hit … Read more
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for a pardon for a soldier convicted of manslaughter for killing a wounded Palestinian. Elor Azaria, 19 at the time, shot Abdul Fatah al-Sharif, 21, in the head while he was lying immobile on a road. A military court convicted the soldier after dismissing his assertion that the … Read more