Thousands of Israelis join anti government protests for third day
Jerusalem Reuters Thousands of Israelis took to the streets in Jerusalem on Monday, continuing a three-day protest against the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and demanding new elections. The protests have gathered in intensity as the war in Gaza nears the end of its sixth month and anger at the government’s handling of the […]
Jews spitting on the ground beside Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land sparks outrage
JerusalemAP A video that shows ultra-Orthodox Jews spitting on the ground beside a procession of foreign Christian worshipers carrying a wooden cross in the holy city of Jerusalem has ignited intense outrage and a flurry of condemnation in the Holy Land. The spitting incident, which the city’s minority Christian community lamented as the latest in […]
Jerusalem Christians say they feel growing harassment
JerusalemReuters For several weeks, members of the small Christian community in Jerusalem’s Old City say they have felt under pressure from what they say is growing harassment and intimidation from violent Jewish ultranationalists. Earlier this month, a man later identified by church authorities as a Jewish radical was wrestled to the ground and detained after […]
Future of prayer site in doubt under Israel’s fragile government
Jerusalem, IsraelAP When Israel’s new government took office last June, it indicated it would press ahead on an egalitarian prayer site at Jerusalem’s Western Wall – a sensitive holy site that has emerged as a point of friction between Jews over how prayer is conducted there. But the plan is coming up against the limits […]
Israeli cabinet orders inquiry on deadly festival stampede
Jerusalem, IsraelReuters Israel’s new government approved on Sunday an official inquiry into a stampede in April in which killed 45 people at a Jewish pilgrimage site long deemed dangerously crowded by authorities. Though it was the country’s worst civilian disaster, a full-scale investigation into the Mount Meron deaths and dozens of injuries had lagged under […]
Purim celebrations threaten fresh virus outbreak in Israel
Jerusalem, IsraelAP Mass gatherings took place in Jerusalem on Sunday as Israelis celebrated the Jewish holiday of Purim in violation of coronavirus restrictions. Authorities had been concerned about a repeat of last year, when Purim celebrations helped fuel an initial wave of the coronavirus in the earliest days of the global pandemic. The government urged […]
Israel targets flights, religious scofflaws, as virus rages
Jerusalem, IsraelAP Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Israel will be closing its international airport to nearly all flights, while Israeli police clashed with ultra-Orthodox protesters in several major cities and the government raced to bring a raging coronavirus outbreak under control. The entry of highly contagious variants of the virus, coupled with poor […]
Israel to set new nationwide lockdown as virus cases surge
Jerusalem, IsraelAP Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday announced a new countrywide lockdown will be imposed amid a stubborn surge in coronavirus cases, with schools and parts of the economy expected to shut down in a bid to bring down infection rates. Beginning Friday, the start of the Jewish High Holiday season, schools, restaurants, […]
Do Christians really “thrive” in Israel?
World Watch Monitor Protests in the southern Israeli town of Dimona have flared up again, two weeks after a meeting centre for Messianic Jews re-opened its doors. The centre was closed in May last year following violent protests by ultra-Orthodox Jews and attacks on the homes of church leaders. Earlier this week a group of […]