Israel News - Haaretz Israeli News source

Israel nixes UNESCO visit to Jerusalem

Foreign Ministry rescinded its offer to let a team from the UN cultural agency inspect historical sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, saying the Palestinians violated a prior agreement that the visit be apolitical.

By Barak Ravid | May 20, 2013 | 04:14 PM | 3

Israel to allow UNESCO inspections in Jerusalem after Palestinians agree to pull damning resolutions
By Barak Ravid | 21

Israel nixes UNESCO Jerusalem visit, alleging Palestinians tried to make it political 05:28 PM
Four dead in Be'er Sheva bank robbery; assailant releases hostage and shoots himself 05:25 PM
Vandals spray-paint inciting graffiti outside Jerusalem home of Women of the Wall activist 01:02 PM
Palestinian prisoners used forbidden mobile phones to plot terror attacks 10:00 AM
Bennett pushing vast reforms to pry Israel’s rabbinate from ultra-Orthodox grip 05:33 AM
Before confronting Syria, Israel should consider saving its energy for Iran 02:47 AM

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Four dead in Be'er Sheva robbery; police suspect assailant sought revenge over refused loan

Four people were killed, and one was seriously wounded on Monday after a man opened fire in a bank in the southern Israeli city...

By Yanir Yagna | 05:54 PM | 17

Actress and singer Barbra Streisand performs 'Memories' during the Oscars

Barbra Streisand to get honorary doctorate from Hebrew University

The legendary Jewish actress and singer Barbra Streisand will receive an honorary doctor of philosophy degree from the Hebrew...

By Haaretz | 11:24 AM

An Occupy Wall Street protester in 2011.

Israel's income inequality almost as bad as in U.S.

Income inequality is more pronounced in Israel than the vast majority of the developed world, but still looks fairly reasonable...

By Dafna Maor | 02:51 PM

Al-Dura's father urges international probe into whether IDF killed his son

Palestinians say the 12-year-old died during a shootout with the IDF at the start of the second intifada; Israeli committee disagrees.

By Jack Khoury | May 20, 2013 | 01:09 PM | 7

Word of the Day / Shin gimmel

An abbreviation of the term meaning 'the guard at the periphery,' this term has come to mean any lowly sort forced to take the blame for a hierarchy's worth of headache.

By Ruth Schuster | May 20, 2013 | 05:18 AM

Lapid to NYT: I oppose freeze on Israeli settlement construction

In interview with The New York Times, Yair Lapid addresses Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for first time since being instated as finance minister; suggests Abbas isn't partner for peace and says he hopes to succeed Netanyahu but he is in 'no hurry.'

By Barak Ravid | May 20, 2013 | 10:15 AM | 19

Claims Conference considers action to quell 2001 Holocaust restitution scandal

Allegations concern an anonymous letter sent to Frankfurt office that identified five cases in which restitution was approved for ineligible claimants.

By JTA | May 20, 2013 | 03:44 PM

Diplomacy & Defense

Palestinian prisoners used forbidden mobile phones to plot terror attacks

A recent trial before the Samaria Military Court revealed a startling connection between Palestinians and the employee of at...

By Chaim Levinson | 09:01 AM | 2

Yuval Steinitz submitting the report on the al-Dura case to Netanyahu

Report on IDF shooting of Palestinian boy during intifada may cause Israel more damage than good

The report on the investigation of the Mohammed al-Dura affair is probably one of the least relevant documents written by the...

By Barak Ravid | 02:28 AM | 23

Before confronting Syria, Israel should consider saving its energy for Iran

Israel made an effort Sunday to clarify its position on the increasingly messy situation in Syria. Prime Minister Benjamin...

By Amos Harel | 11:28 PM | 16

Middle East

Syrian troops backed by Hezbollah try to retake rebel town near Lebanon border

Lebanese Hezbollah militants attacked a Syrian rebel-held town alongside Syrian troops on Sunday and Israel threatened more...

By Reuters | 09:05 PM | 2

Peres sends condolences to Turkey following May 11 terror attack

President Shimon Peres sent a personal message on Friday to his Turkish counterpart, President Abdullah Gul, expressing his...

By Barak Ravid | 06:00 PM | 4

Egyptian police blocking Rafah crossing into Gaza, May 18, 2013.

Egyptian police block Israel border crossing in fury at kidnapping

Egyptian police enraged by the kidnapping of seven of their colleagues by Islamist gunmen in the Sinai Peninsula blocked a...

By Reuters | 02:57 PM | 3

Jewish World

In defense of Jewish pluralism

In her recent Open letter to Naftali Bennett, Allison Kaplan Sommer made the case for why the national religious public in...

By Arie Hasit / Jewish World blogger | 10:13 AM

The Gospel according to Sand: We are not Jews

Professor Shlomo Sand opens his new book, "How and When I Stopped Being Jewish," with a warning. Many readers will see the main...

By Ofer Aderet | 01:56 PM | 44

The Moroccan Jewish pig farmer preaching peace in Israel

With one side of his family having lived through the Holocaust, and the other through the Inquisition, Bruno Frydman knows a...

By Danna Harman | 12:20 PM

'Death to Jews’ tattoo costs Hungarian martial artist Prague gig

Attila Petrovszki's agent assured event organizers the fighter was no longer an active neo-Nazi, but his appearance was reportedly canceled due to 'media pressure.'

By JTA | May 19, 2013 | 08:30 PM | 11

The Jewish birthday blessing that teaches us to count

On birthdays, Jews greet each other with 'ad meah v’esrim' - 'may you live until 120.' This blessing, which can be traced back to the Torah, seems to acknowledge that our days are numbered.

By Rabbi Micah Peltz / Jewish World blogger | May 19, 2013 | 12:01 PM

New synagogue dedicated in Moscow

The Michurinsky congregation is the sixth operational synagogue in the Russian capital, which is home to at least 100,000 Jews, according to the European Jewish Congress.

By JTA | May 19, 2013 | 05:57 PM

Jaffa's flea market at dusk

The Jaffa Flea Market.
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Alon Ron
Jaffa's flea market at dusk.
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Daniel Tchetchik
Jaffa's flea market at dusk.
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Nir Keidar
Around the Jaffa Flea Market.
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Tomer Appelbaum
Jaffa's flea market at dusk.
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Nir Kafri