Tag Archives: Israel

The Christian Post reports: Israel has decided to remove the U.S.-based evangelical Christian station GOD TV from the Israeli cable television provider HOT due to claims that it was trying to evangelize Jews. Asher Biton, chairman of Israel’s Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, said he told the station last Thursday that it has seven days to halt broadcasting. “The channel …

The Times of Israel reports: The Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality on Sunday said it would allow cohabiting couples to register their relationship and enjoy marital rights, in a protest of the government’s refusal to recognize same-sex couples or those not wed under the state’s religious authorities. Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai said the move, coinciding with the country’s Pride Week, makes …

The Times Of Israel reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hired prominent right-wing journalist Aaron Klein as his new strategic and communications consultant, the Likud party announced Monday. Klein, 41, has advised Netanyahu for several months, but in recent weeks quit his job as Israel correspondent for the far-right Breitbart website to work for Likud full-time. Klein’s new appointment made …

The Associated Press reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday launched a tirade against the nation’s justice system as his long-awaited corruption trial got underway, accusing police and prosecutors of conspiring to “depose” him. Netanyahu’s comments opened what is sure to be a tumultuous period for Israel as he becomes the country’s first sitting prime minister ever to go …

Haaretz reports: Although proselytizing can be against the law in Israel, a brand-new evangelical channel dedicated to taking “the gospel of Jesus into the homes and lives and hearts of the Jewish people” had its official launch last week on cable television. Shelanu (Hebrew for “Ours”) TV is the new Hebrew-language channel of GOD TV, an international Christian media network …

The Times Of Israel reports: Roger Stone, a longtime confidant of President Donald Trump who was convicted last year in Robert Mueller’s investigation into ties between Russia and the Trump campaign, was in contact with one or more apparently well-connected Israelis at the height of the 2016 US presidential campaign, one of whom warned Stone that Trump was “going to …

Axios reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former rival Benny Gantz signed a deal on Monday to form a “national emergency government,” ending more than a year of political deadlock in which Israel was forced to hold three elections. Facing corruption charges and protests, Netanyahu will remain in office as prime minister — just weeks after it seemed …

NBC News reports: The deadline for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief political rival to form a government elapsed Wednesday, increasing the chances the nation will be headed toward an unprecedented fourth election in little over a year. Last-minute talks between Netanyahu and the Blue and White alliance’s leader Benny Gantz failed to form a coalition for Israel’s next government, …

Axios reports: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared with his cabinet a video he claimed was evidence of Iran concealing coronavirus deaths by dropping bodies in garbage dumps, two cabinet ministers tell me. Several hours later, Netanyahu’s office realized the video had nothing to do with Iran, or with the coronavirus crisis. It was a clip from “Pandemic,” a 2007 …

Haaretz reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he will enter quarantine along with his close advisers. Netanyahu’s aide on Knesset affairs tested positive for coronavirus on Monday. The PMO said the step was a precaution and is being taken even before the epidemiological investigation has been concluded. Also Netanyahu’s spokesperson Shir Cohen, Director of Prime Minister’s Office Asher Hayoun …

The Times of Israel reports: An Orthodox Israeli rabbi has claimed the spread of the deadly coronavirus in Israel and around the world is divine retribution for gay pride parades. An influential Sephardic rabbi, Meir Mazuz is the former spiritual leader of the defunct ultra-nationalist and homophobic Yachad party, and is head of the Kiseh Rahamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak. …

The Jerusalem Post reports: Israeli scientists are on the cusp of developing the first vaccine against the novel coronavirus, according to Science and Technology Minister Ofir Akunis. If all goes as planned, the vaccine could be ready within a few weeks and available in 90 days, according to a release. “Congratulations to MIGAL [The Galilee Research Institute] on this exciting …

The Times of Israel reports: Another former worker at the Prime Minister’s Residence is suing Sara Netanyahu for mistreatment, Channel 12 reported today. The woman, a 56-year-old immigrant from France, is seeking NIS 650,000 ($189,000) in damages for a series of accusations including work-related harassment and abusive employment. Several former employees have claimed mistreatment and abuse by the prime minister’s …

The Washington Post reports: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has never attended an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, according to the lobbying group. In fact, his public refusal to attend last year’s conference early in his bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination spurred a petition that urged other presidential candidates to steer clear of the pro-Israel lobbying group’s event. Things …

The Associated Press reports: The corruption trial for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will begin March 17, just two weeks after national elections are held, a court said Tuesday. The surprise announcement immediately shook up the final stretch of the contentious election campaign, upending Netanyahu’s attempts to divert attention away from his legal woes. It also could weaken his ability …

The Times of Israel reports: Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Tuesday filed the indictment against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust with the Jerusalem District Court. “The indictment was filed a short time ago… as is required by law,” Mandelblit’s office said. The move marks the first time in Israel’s history that a …

Haaretz reports: The Jerusalem municipality has announced that it is embracing the position of Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and will now allow signs sporting homophobic messages, which it had previously removed. The municipality stated its position at a hearing in the Jerusalem District Court over a petition filed by a religious Zionist group called Hazon (“vision” in Hebrew), which is …

The New York Times reports: Several Israeli school districts held impromptu tolerance classes on Sunday after the country’s education minister, an Orthodox rabbi, angered LGBT campaigners by implying homosexuality was unnatural. The furor over the remarks by Education Minister Rafael Peretz – who last year spoke favorably about gay “conversion therapy”, a widely discredited method – reached into the Israeli …

The Times Of Israel reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the United States and President Donald Trump for killing Iranian top commander Qassem Soleimani in an airstrike in the early morning hours. “Trump is worthy of full appreciation for acting with determination, strongly and swiftly,” he told reporters before departing Greece to head back to Israel. “We stand fully …

The Washington Post reports: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Wednesday that he would ask the Israeli parliament to grant him immunity from three criminal charges, tying up further the lengthy legal proceedings against him in a political system that has been gripped by deadlock for the past year. Netanyahu’s immunity request to the Knesset would shield him from prosecution at …