Israel Matters!

Israel to Create an Egalitarian Prayer Plaza at the Western Wall Israel recently approved a plan that would dramatically change the layout of Jerusalem’s Western Wall plaza, one of the holiest sites in Judaism, creating a space for egalitarian prayer and mixed-gender ceremonies for non-Orthodox Jews. The new area, which will enable men and women to pray side by side, is to be adjacent to the existing plaza run by stringent ultra-Orthodox rabbis. That area is split into prayer sections for men and women, although women are not allowed to read aloud from the Torah, wear prayer shawls, or sing there. click Israel Matters! 99 to read the complete issue. Will open with the free Adobe Reader or equal.

New Mossad Chief: Iran Deal ‘Significantly Increases’ Threat To Israel The nuclear agreement signed between Iran and six world powers in July 2015 has “significantly increased” the threat to Israel posed by the Islamic republic, Yossi Cohen warned as he was sworn in as the new head of the Mossad intelligence agency. Still, he added, he was confident the spy agency would be able to formulate an “appropriate response.” click Israel Matters! 98 to read the complete issue. Will open with the free Adobe Reader or equal.

Netanyahu to UN: 44 Seconds of Silence For 40 minutes at the United Nations General Assembly in early October, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eloquently articulated the challenges posed to Israel and to the international community by Iran and by Islamist fanaticism. He warned of the growing danger that Iran, “unleashed and unmuzzled,” will constitute in the wake of its nuclear deal. And he castigated the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for “libeling” Israel, from the same podium 24 hours earlier, by falsely asserting that Israel was seeking to harm religious freedom on the Temple Mount, when it was Islamic extremists who were desecrating the site by “smuggling explosives” into the Al-Aqsa Mosque. click Israel Matters! 96 to read the complete issue. Will open with the free Adobe Reader or equal.

Netanyahu: We Need Pact to Preserve Jewish Israel A two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord is desirable not because it will have any significant influence on the turmoil roiling through the Middle East, but rather because this will prevent the establishment of a binational state, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said while recently in London. Netanyahu, speaking to some 120 Members of Parliament and members of the House of Lords from parties across the political spectrum, said the solution to Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians was “a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes a Jewish state, the nation state of the Jewish people.” click Israel Matters! 95 to read the complete issue. Will open with the free Adobe Reader or equal.

Senator Schumer Breaks with Administration; Announces Opposition to Nuclear Pact with Iran Sen. Charles E. Schumer announced his opposition to President Obama’s nuclear pact with Iran, becoming the most senior Democrat to break ranks with the administration. The likely next leader of Senate Democrats, Schumer (N.Y.) said his three-week reading of the proposal left him unconvinced. “There is a strong case that we are better off without an agreement than with one,” he said, referring to the nuclear pact. Schumer is in line to succeed Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), who is retiring at the end of 2016. He is also the most senior Jewish member of Congress. click Israel Matters! 94 to read the complete issue. Will open with the free Adobe Reader or equal.

Israelis and Saudis Reveal Secret Iran Talks Since the beginning of 2014, representatives from Israel and Saudi Arabia have had five secret meetings to discuss a common foe, Iran. In June, the two countries revealed this covert diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. click Israel Matters! 93a to read the complete issue. Will open with the free Adobe Reader or equal.

Netanyahu Forms Fourth Term Government Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cemented a conservative and religious coalition that will let him re-main Israel’s leader for a fourth term, but afford little room to safeguard his government’s survival. In an unexpected epilogue to his Likud Party’s election landslide in March, the Israeli leader became embroiled in prolonged negotia-tions with coalition partners that were further complicated by a former ally’s desertion. click Israel Matters! 92 to read the complete issue. Will open with the free Adobe Reader or equal.    

Israel, U.S. Lawmakers Press Case Against Iran Nuclear Deal Israeli officials and congressional Republicans set high bars with exacting conditions for a nuclear accord with Iran, signaling fresh domestic and international pressure on negotiations leading up to a summer deadline.  Leading Arab governments, including Saudi Arabia, cautiously accepted the landmark diplomacy with Iran. But Saudi officials said they needed more assurances that Iran’s pathway to a nuclear weapons program has been blocked. click Israel Matters! 91 to read the complete issue. Will open with the free Adobe Reader or equal.    

Obama Attacks Netanyahu’s Credibility Following Speech to Congress Responding to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech, President Obama told Reuters that a deal with Iran to freeze its nuclear activity for at least 10 years, with verification measures, would be “far more effective in controlling their nuclear program than any military action we could take, any military action Israel could take and far more effective than sanctions will be.” He also said Netanyahu has been wrong before — pointing to the 2013 interim deal with Iran. click Israel Matters! 90 to read the complete issue. Will open with the free Adobe Reader or equal.