Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest in Jerusalem over army enlistment plans

Ultra-Orthodox demonstrators pack the streets in Jerusalem to protest against government plans to force students at yeshiva religious seminaries to enlist in the Israeli army. Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images

Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews have rallied in Jerusalem against government plans to force students at yeshiva religious seminaries to enlist in the Israeli army.

Some 25,000 protesters, dressed in traditional long black coats and black hats, gathered outside the Jerusalem army enlistment office as rabbis urged the crowd to go to prison rather than heed the draft.

Clashes with police left six policemen and five protesters injured, and journalists and a small group of secular counter-demonstrators were also attacked.

Protesters arrested Internal security minister Yitzhak Aharonivich said eight protesters were arrested and will be charged.

Criminal behaviour, illegal protests and assault of officers will not change the equal share of the burden law and the governments firm stand on the issue.

Psalms were recited and rabbis told the crowd that the government had declared a war on observant Jews with an evil decree aimed at forcing them away from yeshiva study and into the army.

The rabbis also fear that army service will open up youth from the extremely insular ultra-Orthodox community to what they perceive as the destructive influences of modern, secular Israeli society.

Israeli males serve three years in the army (two years for women), but the overwhelming majority of ultra-Orthodox Jews are exempted under the terms of a deal struck between Israels first prime minister David Ben-Gurion and the communitys leaders.

However, resentment has grown among most Israelis as the ultra-Orthodox numbers have burgeoned.

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Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest in Jerusalem over army enlistment plans

Israel to authorise new settlements

16 May 2013 Last updated at 08:28 ET By Yolande Knell BBC News, Jerusalem

The Israeli government has taken steps to authorise four new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

It has begun a legal process that could see four settlement outposts given legal approval under Israeli law.

The decision has been condemned by Palestinian officials.

It comes just days before the United States Secretary of State John Kerry is due to meet the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to discuss restarting peace talks.

“The timing is very significant because it’s a direct affront to all efforts at trying to revive any kind of peace negotiations. It’s an attempt to tell the Americans that Israel calls the shots,” PLO official, Hanan Ashrawi told the BBC.

“It’s also a message about the true nature of this Israeli coalition government. It’s an anti-peace government.”

A spokesman for the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment.

The Israeli Supreme Court has received a document from the Israeli government saying it is examining ways to authorise four settlement outposts in the West Bank.

The last round of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down two years ago over the issue of settlements.

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Israel to authorise new settlements

PHOTOS: Orthodox Jews In Jerusalem Riot Against Military Conscription

Ultra-Orthodox Israelis Rally In Protests Against Army Drafts

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – MAY 16: A wounded ultra-Orthodox demonstrator is treated on May 16, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel. Tens of Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis have clashed with police after gathering to protest against newly proposed government legislation that would see them drafted into the military. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Thousands of ultra-orthodox jews gather near an Israeli Defense Forces recruitment center during a protest against military conscription of yeshiva students, in Jerusalem, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

An ultra-orthodox jew takes a snapshot during a protest against military conscription of yeshiva students, in Jerusalem, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

An ultra-orthodox jew overviews clashes between Israeli security forces and Ultra-orthodox jews, not pictured, during a protest against military conscription of yeshiva students, in Jerusalem, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

An Israeli security officer scuffles with an ultra-orthodox Jew during a protest against military conscription of yeshiva students, in Jerusalem, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Ultra-orthodox jews push a burning garbage bin towards Israeli security forces during a protest against military conscription of yeshiva students, in Jerusalem, Thursday, May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A religious leader (C) tries to calm the crowd as thousands Ultra Orthodox Jews clash with Israeli police forces in Jerusalem on May 16, 2013 during a protest in front of the main army recruitment office to demonstrate against any plans to make them undergo military service, a police spokesman said. Protesters also prayed and chanted ‘the Torah above everything!’ referring to Jewish religious law, and ‘the army will not take yeshiva (religious seminary) pupils.’ AFP PHOTO / MARCO LONGARI (Photo credit should read MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

An Orthodox Jew looks on as thousands of others gather in front of the main army recruitment office in Jerusalem on May 16, 2013 to demonstrate against any plans to make them undergo military service, a police spokesman said. Protesters also prayed and chanted ‘the Torah above everything!’ referring to Jewish religious law, and ‘the army will not take yeshiva (religious seminary) pupils.’ AFP PHOTO / MARCO LONGARI (Photo credit should read MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

Ultra Orthodox Jews observe from a stair while thousands Orthodox Jew gather in front of the main army recruitment office in Jerusalem on May 16, 2013 to demonstrate against any plans to make them undergo military service, a police spokesman said. Protesters also prayed and chanted ‘the Torah above everything!’ referring to Jewish religious law, and ‘the army will not take yeshiva (religious seminary) pupils.’ AFP PHOTO / MARCO LONGARI (Photo credit should read MARCO LONGARI/AFP/Getty Images)

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PHOTOS: Orthodox Jews In Jerusalem Riot Against Military Conscription

Israel to authorise new settlement

16 May 2013 Last updated at 08:28 ET By Yolande Knell BBC News, Jerusalem

The Israeli government has taken steps to authorise four new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.

It has begun a legal process that could see four settlement outposts given legal approval under Israeli law.

The decision has been condemned by Palestinian officials.

It comes just days before the United States Secretary of State John Kerry is due to meet the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to discuss restarting peace talks.

“The timing is very significant because it’s a direct affront to all efforts at trying to revive any kind of peace negotiations. It’s an attempt to tell the Americans that Israel calls the shots,” PLO official, Hanan Ashrawi told the BBC.

“It’s also a message about the true nature of this Israeli coalition government. It’s an anti-peace government.”

A spokesman for the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment.

The Israeli Supreme Court has received a document from the Israeli government saying it is examining ways to authorise four settlement outposts in the West Bank.

The last round of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down two years ago over the issue of settlements.

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Israel to authorise new settlement

Palestinian protests mark the anniversary of Israel's creation

On Wednesday, Israel’s 65th anniversary, Palestinians demonstrated and expressed their desire to return to what they view as their holy land. A recent report shows approximately 5.3 million Palestinians are classified as refugees and live inSyria,Lebanon,Jordan, theWest BankandGaza.

Palestiniansclashed with Israeli forces in the occupiedWest Bankon Wednesday during demonstrations to mark 65 years since what they call the Nakba (Catastrophe) when the creation ofIsrael’s caused many to lose their homes and become refugees.

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A shell fired fromGaza, which is ruled by theIslamistmovementHamas, exploded in an open area ofIsraelbut caused no injuries, according to an Israeli military spokesman. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerryis to return to the region on Tuesday in another bid to revive peace talks frozen since 2010.

But a resolution remains elusive and many Palestinianswant refugees and their descendants to return to lands now inIsrael- an ideaIsraelrejects, saying it would spell the end of the Jewish state.

Protesters skirmished with Israeli forces outside a refugee camp near theWest Bankcity of Hebron and at a prison nearRamallah. Several Palestinianswere injured.

Israeli police in Jerusalemscuffled with Palestinian protesters, tossing stun grenades and making several arrests.

Thousands also rallied in the mainsquare of Ramallah, the Palestiniande facto capital whileJerusalemremains under Israeli control, holding up placards with the names of villages depopulated in 1948 and old keys, symbols of lost homes.

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Palestinian protests mark the anniversary of Israel's creation

Israeli Jews temporarily barred from Jerusalem holy site

By The Associated Press

Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian man during clashes that erupted during a rally marking Nakba Day in Jerusalem, Wednesday, May 15, 2013. Palestinians annually mark the “nakba,” or “catastrophe” the term they use to describe their defeat and displacement in the war that followed Israel’s founding in 1948. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

JERUSALEM Israeli police have temporarily barred Israeli Jews and tourists from entering the most hotly contested Jerusalem holy site after Palestinian demonstrations.

Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the ban, announced Thursday, is a precaution.

On Wednesday, violence erupted as the Palestinians held an annual day of mourning and protests over the displacement of Palestinians following Israel’s creation in 1948. Police say Jewish worshippers inside the Old City were attacked during the unrest.

Jews and Muslims revere hilltop the site, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built above the ruins of the biblical Jewish Temples. The competing claims are a key issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Rosenfeld said the site remains open for Muslims and will reopen for others after security assessments. Palestinians see visits by Jews as a provocation, and disturbances often erupt.

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Israeli Jews temporarily barred from Jerusalem holy site

Israel police ban Jews from Jerusalem holy site

JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli police have temporarily barred Israeli Jews and tourists from entering the most hotly contested Jerusalem holy site after Palestinian demonstrations.

Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the ban, announced Thursday, is a precaution.

On Wednesday, violence erupted as the Palestinians held an annual day of mourning and protests over the displacement of Palestinians following Israel’s creation in 1948. Police say Jewish worshippers inside the Old City were attacked during the unrest.

Jews and Muslims revere hilltop the site, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque was built above the ruins of the biblical Jewish Temples. The competing claims are a key issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Rosenfeld said the site remains open for Muslims and will reopen for others after security assessments. Palestinians see visits by Jews as a provocation, and disturbances often erupt.

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Israel police ban Jews from Jerusalem holy site

Gender and Judaism: plurality of Israelis support controversial ‘Women of the Wall’ movement – Video




Gender and Judaism: plurality of Israelis support controversial 'Women of the Wall' movement
A new poll from the Israeli Democracy Institute has found that a plurality of Israel's Jewish population support the Women of the Western Wall organisation a…

By: JewishNewsOne

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Gender and Judaism: plurality of Israelis support controversial ‘Women of the Wall’ movement – Video

British Jews censure Israeli regime

Israeli regime backs bill to forcibly relocate up to 40,000 Bedouin villagers in yet another example of land grab.

Jewish youth and students in Britain have censured Israeli regimes authorities over a proposed Knesset bill to relocate Israeli Arabs (Bedouin) families who live in the Negev desert.

The British Union of Jewish Students, the Progressive Zionist movement Pro Zion and four youth movements – Habonim, LJY-Netzer, RSY-Netzer and Noam Masorti – demanded Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Finance Minister Yair Lapid put a halt to the proposed legislation.

As Zionist organizations, we cannot allow the expulsion of 40,000 Bedouin, and deny the Bedouin a fair opportunity to hold on to their ancestral lands. They called on the regime to give official recognition to all existing Bedouin villages and accept land ownership claims made over the past 40 years.

The Bedouin community constitutes 30 per cent of the Negev population, and their demands involve only 5.4 percent of its land, the groups stated.

There has never been a fair process for examining their demands, and most of the land claims the regime invited the Bedouin to submit in the 1970s were never processed, one way or the other.

Evicting 40,000 people from their ancestral homes; cutting them off from their sources of income and destroying their social fabric and way of life will only increase problems.

Sam Cohen, movement worker for the Liberal LJY-Netzer, said that all the signatories were members of the UK Task Force on Issues Relating to Arab Citizens of the occupied Palestinian territories.

MOL/HE

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British Jews censure Israeli regime

Israel opens Gulf mission: report

Israel has opened a new diplomatic mission in the Gulf, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported on Sunday, citing finance ministry costings for 2014 prepared for submission to the government this week.

“The paper is an economic plan for the next year and does not name the location of the new mission,” Haaretz said.

Questioned by AFP, a foreign ministry spokesman would say only that Israel “officially has no diplomatic representation in the Gulf.”

In May 2010, then Israeli trade minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer attended an international economic conference in Qatar. The first Israeli minister to visit the Gulf state since Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in November 2008.

Qatar, increasingly influential in the region, broke off diplomatic ties with Israel and closed the Israeli trade mission in Doha in protest against the Israeli military offensive in Gaza in December 2008-January 2009.

Besides Qatar, only Oman had established relations with Israel but they were broken in late 2000 after the beginning of the second Palestinian Intifada.

In January 2010, then national infrastructures minister Uzi Landau, attended a meeting of the International Agency for Renewable Energy in Abu Dhabi. But the United Arab Emirates stressed that his presence did not mean normalisation between the two countries.

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Israel opens Gulf mission: report

Syria crisis: Israel prepares for the worst

11 May 2013 Last updated at 20:15 ET By Wyre Davies BBC News, Golan Heights

Following its long-held policy on such matters, the Israeli government has neither confirmed nor denied bombing an arms convoy inside Syria last weekend – the third such attack this year.

But Israel is widely believed to be responsible and had previously said it would intervene to stop weapons reaching its arch-enemy in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah.

It is a risky strategy for Israel – desperate to stop Hezbollah getting advanced weaponry but increasing tensions in an already volatile region.

Nearly seven years ago, during Israel’s two month-long summer conflict with Hezbollah, I spent several weeks in northern Israel covering the war.

Whereas the larger cities and conurbations to the south were not directly affected by the fighting, here in the north shells and missiles fell on a daily basis. Nahariya, Acre and Haifa were all targeted by Hezbollah’s rockets.

Haifa is Israel’s third largest city and has the country’s largest port. It is a busy, expanding cosmopolitan metropolis and has a genuinely mixed population of Jews and Arabs. Just 30km (17 miles) from the Lebanese border, it was repeatedly targeted back in 2006.

I was here on one particularly grim day, a Sunday morning, when a rocket crashed through the roof of a railway goods yard, near the port. Eight railway workers were killed and many more were injured.

The city’s mayor back then is the same man who holds the title now, Yona Yahav. He’s a larger than life character – perhaps the archetypal big city mayor – who cares passionately about the city in which he was born.

“In the period between 2006 and now we have prepared ourselves, we’ve trained the population and we’ve trained municipal workers. People are more aware of the functions they’ll be required to carry out,” Mr Yahav tells me in his office overlooking the port.

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Syria crisis: Israel prepares for the worst

Israel seeks US visa waiver exemption

Best of friends … but Israel and the US treat each others’ citizens differently when it comes to visas. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP

San Francisco: The US allows inhabitants of 37 countries to enter without a visa, as long as they extend the same privilege to US citizens. Senator Barbara Boxer is proposing to add Israel to that list but without requiring equal treatment for Americans travelling to Israel.

Instead, the legislation the Democratic senator has introduced would exempt Israeli visitors from visa requirements as long as the US government certifies that Israel “has made every reasonable effort, without jeopardising the security of the state of Israel,” to admit Americans without a visa.

What that means, according to critics of the Israeli government, is that Israel can continue to exclude Americans who are either Arab or Muslim, or who belong to groups that oppose Israeli policies. Requiring a visa for visitors allows the government to bar them from entering, or to limit their activities or the length of their stay.

The legislation “would codify into American law discrimination against American citizens,” said Sydney Levy of Jewish Voice for Peace, a group that opposes Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

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The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group, said the bill would give a US seal of approval to “Israel’s well-documented ethnic and religious profiling.”

As the organisation noted, the US State Department has officially advised travellers that US citizens “of Arab or Muslim origin have experienced significant difficulties in entering or exiting Israel or the West Bank.”

The advisory on the department’s website also notes that Americans seeking to enter Israel, the West Bank or Gaza “have been subjected to prolonged questioning and have been denied access to consular officers, lawyers and family members.”

Senator Boxer, in a statement to The San Francisco Chronicle last week, said the criticism of Israel’s practices and of her legislation was unfounded.

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Israel grounds drone aircraft fleet after crash

JERUSALEM (AP) Israel’s military has grounded a fleet of high altitude surveillance drones after one was downed over the Mediterranean Sea.

The military says it intentionally crashed the unmanned aircraft late Saturday because of a malfunction.

The military would not say how many aircraft were grounded. The planes will stay down during an investigation.

An Israeli defense official said the drone was the Israeli-made Heron 1, which flies at high altitudes and can stay in the air for about 45 hours. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.

Last year, a larger Heron TP drone crashed on a routine flight.

Israel is a world leader in drone technology. Palestinians say Israel uses drones to fire missiles, but Israel does not confirm that.

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Israel grounds drone aircraft fleet after crash