International

Benjamin Netanyahu’s Corruption Scandals, Explained

by Ben Sales, JTA | Mar 1, 2019 | International, Israel, News

(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is going to court on corruption charges — he says he’s innocent. Netanyahu was indicted in three cases Feb. 28 pending a court hearing. It’s the first time in Israel’s history that a sitting prime minister faces...

Netanyahu Becomes 1st Sitting Israeli Prime Minister to Face Criminal Charges

by Marcy Oster | Feb 28, 2019 | International, Israel, News, Politics

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases, the first time a sitting prime minister will face criminal charges. Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit announced on...

Israel Ranked 10th Healthiest Country in the World

by Gabe Friedman, JTA | Feb 27, 2019 | International, Israel, News

(JTA) — Israel is the 10th healthiest country in the world — 54 spots ahead of the United States. The Bloomberg Healthiest Country Index, published Feb. 24, ranked 169 nations based on factors such as life expectancy and access to sanitation and medical care....

Dr. Barry S. Lever, Preserver of the Exodus 1947 Legacy, Dies

by Staff Report | Feb 25, 2019 | Baltimore, Israel, Local, Maryland, News, Pikesville

Dr. Barry S. Lever, a retired periodontist known for his passion for the story of the Exodus 1947, the Chesapeake Bay freight passenger ship forever linked to the founding of Israel, died on Feb. 24. A Pikesville resident and Chizuk Amuno congregant, he was 84. Lever,...

Will Israel be the Fourth Country to Land on the Moon?

by Ben Sales, JTA | Feb 21, 2019 | International, Israel, News

(JTA) — He’s spent eight years trying to land a spacecraft on the moon, but when Yonatan Winetraub stood on the launchpad this month at Florida’s Cape Canaveral, he was still in shock. “I stood right next to the rocket, and it’s pretty big,” Winetraub said in a phone...

Anti-Semitic Acts in France Rose by 74 Percent in 2018

by Marcy Oster | Feb 12, 2019 | International, News

(JTA) — Anti-Semitic acts in France rose by 74 percent last year. Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said Feb. 11 that the total of reported acts of anti-Semitism was 541 in 2018, up from 311 in 2017, according to local reports. The latest incident occurred on Feb....

Israelis are Top Users of Social Media in the World

by Marcy Oster | Feb 7, 2019 | Business, International, Israel, News

(JTA) — When it comes to social media, Israelis rule the world. Some 77 percent of adults in Israel use social media, putting the country 1 percentage point ahead of South Korea, according to a Pew Research Center survey released this week. The United States was sixth...

Trump Invokes Israel’s ‘Wall’ in Saying he has Agreed to Reopen Government

by Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA | Jan 25, 2019 | International, Israel, National, National Politics, News, Politics

(JTA) — Announcing that he has agreed to end the partial government shutdown for three weeks, President Donald Trump invoked Israel’s security barrier in defense of what had been his previously non-negotiable demand to build a wall along the Mexican border. “Israel...

Woman Claims Apple Used Her Voice for Hebrew Siri Without Permission

by Marcy Oster | Dec 31, 2018 | Business, International, Israel, News

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The woman behind the female Hebrew voice of the Waze navigation app is suing Apple for using her voice as the Hebrew Siri. Israeli radio broadcaster Galit Gura-Eini filed a lawsuit last week for about $66,000 in Tel Aviv District Court, the Israeli...

Amoz Oz, Iconic Israeli Novelist and Peace Activist, is Dead at 79

by Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTA | Dec 28, 2018 | International, Israel, News

(JTA) — Amos Oz, one of Israel’s most widely read and best-known writers, has died. He was 79. The cause was cancer, Israeli media reported. Barely older than the country he chronicled in dozens of novels, essays and non-fiction books, Oz represented a generation of...