Israel News - Haaretz Israeli News source

'They are destroying the city house by house'

Hezbollah, Syrian government launch artillery campaign on rebel stronghold

Rebels report unprecedented shelling Qusair, a Syrian town close to the Lebanese border that has become a strategic battleground between the warring sides.

By Reuters | May 25, 2013 | 07:01 PM

Syrian opposition talks face collapse as Assad's foes fail to cut a unity deal
By Reuters

Hezbollah, Syrian government launch artillery campaign on rebel stronghold 07:15 PM
From treating Kings and Shahs to revolutionizing Israeli medicine - the enigmatic life of Professor Moshe Many 07:00 PM
Israeli official: Syria attempted to mount cyberattack on Haifa's water infrastructure 02:45 PM
Unholy alliances emerge in preparation for the election of the chief rabbi 11:46 AM
Palestinian rights group forges sturdy link between West Bank, Gaza 09:17 AM

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Obama's speech: Israel should be concerned

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Israel, what about Diaspora Jews?

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An Egyptian shop called 'Hitler'

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Church of Scotland's parody of Judaism

Bradley Burston

If an entire nation had PTSD

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Bibi, bed and beyond

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U.S.-style shooting stuns Israel

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Holy wars in store for Bennett

Mobile homes being transported from the site of Migron

Yesh Atid minister: Isolated settlements should be dismantled

Social Affairs Minister Meir Cohen (Yesh Atid) said on Saturday that isolated settlements should be unilaterally evacuated as...

By Jonathan Lis | 06:50 PM

Israeli official: Syria attempted to mount cyberattack on Haifa's water system

Syria has attempted to mount a cyberattack on Haifa's water infrastructure but failed, an Israeli official said...

By Yanir Yagna | 02:17 PM | 2

Discovering Jerusalem's glorious Georgian past

Zaza Gabunia loves hugging. He’s a warmhearted, friendly man who knows lots of people in the Christian quarter of Jerusalem's Old...

By Moshe Gilad | 05:30 PM

Palestinian rights group forges sturdy link between West Bank, Gaza

The Independent Commission for Human Rights, which issued its latest annual report this week, chronicles violations and fulfills a vital role in Palestinian society.

By Amira Hass | May 25, 2013 | 07:00 AM

A boy holding an Israeli flag in Jerusalem.

BBC poll: Israel among world's least popular nations

The annual BBC World Service poll finds Germany most popular; only countries less popular than Israel are North Korea, Pakistan and Iran.

By Haaretz | May 25, 2013 | 05:24 PM | 22

Unholy alliances emerge in preparation for the election of the chief rabbi

That strange sound coming from the Knesset this week could be traced to the back-scratching going on in its deepest recesses, as various factions sought to seal deals ahead of the upcoming election of the chief rabbi.

By Yossi Verter | May 25, 2013 | 10:10 AM

Jewish converts offer a window on conservative Christianity

Jewish-born Christians, especially within the Christian conservative movement, shed light on the expectations and the assumptions of Christians and Jews alike.

By The Associated Press | May 25, 2013 | 02:41 AM

Diplomacy & Defense

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks at a news conference in Tel Aviv

Kerry departs, urges Israel and Palestinians to 'make hard decisions'

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry left Israel early Friday afternoon following an additional round of talks with Prime Minister...

By Barak Ravid | 04:34 PM

Kennedy - NY Daily News via Getty Images - March 2012

Did John F. Kennedy admire Hitler?

John F. Kennedy admired Hitler as a young man and felt fascism was right for Germany, according to a new book in German that...

By Ofer Aderet | 02:39 PM

Scene of stabbing attack at Tapuach Junction

Settlers demand IDF ease rules of engagement in West Bank

Tensions in the West Bank are expected to increase on Friday as settler leaders plan protest marches to take place in support of...

By Chaim Levinson | 08:51 AM | 11

Middle East

Report: Wave of cyberattacks on U.S. energy firms tracked back to Iran

A series of potentially destructive cyberattacks seeking to sabotage corporations in the U.S. has been tracked back to Iran, the...

By Haaretz | 11:33 AM | 2

Demonstrators protest against Syrian President Assad in Istanbul

Syrian opposition talks face collapse as Assad's foes fail to cut a unity deal

Syrian opposition talks aimed at presenting a coherent front at an international peace conference to end the civil war faced the...

By Reuters | 06:00 AM

Iranian filmmaker premiers film about state oppression at Cannes

An Iranian director who was jailed for anti-government propaganda in 2010 emerged at the Cannes film festival on Friday to...

By Reuters | 08:10 PM

Jewish World

An FBI agent at the scene of the house where Ibragim Todashev was shot and killed.

Police backtrack on motive for killing Jewish triple murder suspect with Boston bomber ties

Law enforcement officials are now unsure of what spurred the killing of Ibragim Todashev, or if he was ready to confess to his...

By The Forward | 01:40 PM

"The Gathering of the Manna," by James Tissot

Freed of fantasies / Parashat Beha'alotcha

Midway through this week’s Torah reading, the Israelites embark on their journey through the wilderness toward the Promised Land....

By Yakov Meir | 12:23 PM

Monument to the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Vandalism at Poland's Blonie cemetery destroys last traces of a Jewish past

WARSAW - The Jewish cemetery in the Polish town of Blonie, one of the smallest and most ancient in the country, was, to all...

By Roman Frister | 02:03 PM

Adelsons donate $40 million to Birthright

The latest gift by casino tycoon Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam brings the couple’s overall donations to the program to $180 million.

By JTA | May 23, 2013 | 07:39 PM | 2

U.S. Jews need to decide if they are tourists in Israel, or extended family

The conference of Jewish Presidents has urged Yair Lapid to rethink plans to charge tourists VAT. If the U.S. Jewish connection to Israel is merely linked to how cheap it is for tourists, however, then we are in serious trouble.

By Joel Braunold / Jewish World blogger | May 23, 2013 | 11:14 AM | 4

In the Orthodox world, a rare dance and an historic gesture

At the Belzer wedding in Jerusalem, attended by thousands of people, the rabbi had a special dance not just with the bride, but with Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Such warmth between ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi and Sephardi rabbis is not an everyday occurrence.

By Yair Ettinger | May 23, 2013 | 01:34 AM | 5

Israel's motley mosaics

One of many stunning mosaics found in Tzippori.
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Moshe Gilad
Fruit basket at the Inn of the Good Samaritan
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Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
Cross at Mamshit from the period before the Church banned such images on church floor...
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Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
Geometric pattern at Inn of the Good Samaritan
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Miriam Feinberg Vamosh
Bird at Mamshit.
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Miriam Feinberg Vamosh