Jewish News

Emanuel Could Leave the White House in October

White House aides are preparing for the possibility that Rahm Emanuel may step down as chief of staff as soon as early October if he decides to run for mayor of Chicago, according to a person familiar with deliberations in the West Wing.One issue hastening the timing of Emanuel’s departure is concern over whether he can build a campaign operation ...

Elyashiv to haredim: Avoid IDF, academy

Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, leader of the Lithuanian Orthodox public, is calling on haredim not to be tempted to join special programs offered by the State in military or civilian service and in higher education institutions.He explains that these programs are subject to the rule of “rebels” and aim to bring the haredi public closer to the secular lifestyle, values ...

Elkin: Conversion bill delays good for country, coalition

The country is profiting from the fact that no real progress is being made in legislating the so-called conversion bill, coalition chairman Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) said on Tuesday.“I’m one of those who isn’t exactly crying over the fact that the bill is being delayed, since Israel is benefitting in another sphere,” he told rabbis from the liberal-Orthodox Tzohar organization during ...

Elite soldier missing during training

IDF and police forces were searching Thursday for an elite soldier who went missing during a training exercise in southern Israel late Wednesday night. The soldier, from one of the IDF’s most-elite units, began the solo navigation exercise in the Haruvit Forest in the Lachish Region late Wednesday night and was supposed to complete it by Thursday morning. The soldier ...

Eliminating Hebrew from U.K. Schools Would not Spell the End of Jewish Education

Last week, Britain’s Jewish community stirred debate about the government’s proposal to exclude Hebrew from its list of recognized languages for primary school education. Under the proposal, only seven languages would be recognized as compulsory learning for primary schools, including Spanish, French, German, Mandarin, Latin and ancient Greek. Hebrew was not included.When I first heard about this proposal, I thought to myself, ...

Elie Wiesel: Jerusalem is Above Politics

World renowned author and activist Elie Wiesel, a Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor, took out full page ads in major American newspapers to express his views on the city of Jerusalem. Here are his words as published in The International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal on April 16, 2010 and in The New York Times ...

Eli Zborowski, Founder of American Society for Yad Vashem, Dies

Eli Zborowski, a Holocaust survivor who founded and served as the chairman of the American Society for Yad Vashem, has died.Zborowski, who founded the society in 1981and served as its chairman until his death, died Monday in New York. He was 87.Zborowski was born in Zarki, Poland. He was able to leave the town’s ghetto after the outbreak of World ...

Eli Yishai places blame on treasury for delaying funding to firefighters

Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who continues to fend off criticism of his conduct as the official in charge of Israel’s firefighting service, is preparing for the likelihood of an investigation into the blaze at the Carmel Forest.A day after complaining in an interview with Haaretz that he was the victim of a “media lynching,” because of his political affiliation and ...

ElBaradei: ‘Mubarak must resign to prevent bloodshed’

Mohammed ElBaradei called on Tuesday for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to resign in order to save lives.“Mubarak must resign and leave the state in order to prevent bloodshed,” ElBaradei said in an interview with Al-Arabiyah.Earlier Tuesday, the UN’s top human rights official that she has unconfirmed reports that 300 people have been killed and over 3,000 injured in the anti-government ...

El Al to Hasidim: Don’t smoke on plane

The El Al rabbi this week issued a leaflet with strict instructions to Hasidic pilgrims flying to Ukraine for the High Holidays, following passengers’ inappropriate behavior on the airline’s planes in recent years – including smoking, refusing to put on their safety belts and destroying equipment.Some 22,000 Hasidim have embarked on the pilgrimage to Rabbi Nachman’s grave in the city ...

EJC regrets Israel-Turkey crisis

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) on Monday expressed regret over the recent deterioration in the historic relations between Israel and Turkey since the release of the United Nations report which investigated the deadly IDF raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla on May 31 2010.EJC President Dr. Moshe Kantor said in a statement that with all the recent events in the Middle ...

EJC President Receives Prestigious French Award

Dr. Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress (EJC), was awarded the Chevalier Dans L’Ordre National de la Legion d’honneur by the President of France on Tuesday.The award is the highest level of the French National Order of the Legion of Honor, established by Napoleon Bonaparte. Past recipients of the award include the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal ...