The Israel Defense Forces artillery corps revealed the previously classified Tamuz missile for the first time Monday, which was used in the Second Lebanon War and Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. The Tamuz missile has a range of up to 25 kilometers and is equipped with an electro-optic sensor that allows its operators to guide it to its target by watching it on a screen while it hovers to its target. In fact, the Tamuz missile, which is operated by the David's Sling Formation in the artillery corps, has been used by …More

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday addressed the growing popular protests over the high cost of living in Israel, saying the problem with Israel's economy is the absence of full competition. Netanyahu spoke during a special Knesset session to commemorate 71 years to the death of Zionist right-wing leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky, and used Jabotinsky's words to justify a free market economy. "The problem is not free competition, but rather the absence of full competition, which ultimately harms the citizen," said …More

Veteran reporter and columnist Aluf Benn has been named editor-in-chief of the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz. Benn's appointment by the newspaper's board of directors was announced Monday, the same day he started in the job. Benn, 46, has been at the left-leaning newspaper for the past 22 years. He has served as diplomatic correspondent, head of the news division and, for the past two years, political commentator and editor of the opinion pages. His articles and columns have been published in newspapers around …More

A Nazi-looted painting depicting Jewish life in the Warsaw Ghetto was returned to Poland. "Jewish Woman Selling Oranges," a 19th-century oil-on-canvas work, was one of several by the Polish artist Aleksandr Giermyski depicting Jewish life in the ghetto. The Polish Cultural Ministry unveiled the painting July 27 following its sale to Poland two weeks earlier. The painting, which was believed to have been stolen from the National Museum in Warsaw in 1944 near the end of the Nazi occupation, was discovered in …More

Leaders of the Chabad chassidic movement in Israel are expected to sign a deal with the IDF in upcoming days that will see young Chabad men enlist for three full years of service. Hareidi-religious men in Israel generally avoid IDF service completely. The deal would allow the young men to first leave the country to studyTorah at Chabadin New York City for a year, reversing the current situation in which they are required to remain in Israel. Young men who are eligible for IDF service but decline to enlist are …More

Israel’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Daniel Ayalon, recently released a video that has been gaining popularity and has been a source of heated debate and controversy. The video addresses the term “West Bank” and “1967 boarders” and discusses the mislabeling and fallacy that exists in world terminology of the disputed areas in Israel. The video elicited a negative response among Jordanians and Palestinians, which led to an official statement by Saeb Erkat, the Chief …More

In Israel, the inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) rose by 16% from $4.44 billion in 2009 to $5.15 billion in 2010, higher than 5% the increase in global FDI, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Developments Annual World Investment Report (WIR 2011). FDI outflows from Israel saw an impressive increase of 370%, from $1.7 billion in 2009 to some $8 billion in 2010. This significant growth was influenced amongst other factors by one giant $4.9 billion deal in the field of pharmaceutics by Teva. FDI …More

In the face of growing congressional concern over Middle Eastern extremism, some key Jewish Democrats are working to make sure President Obama has the leeway to dole out aid to Arab entities.The issue came to a head last week in the form of a State Department funding bill that makes clear the unhappiness of Congress. Through sharp exchanges and in subtle changes, Jewish members on the U.S. House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee attempted to advance the bill while leaving Obama room to engage …More

In many ways, this has been the season of the Good Jewish Girl. Next week, the proudly Jewish, defiantly curly-haired Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz—a woman “so, so excited to be Jewish”—will become the second woman to lead the Democratic National Committee. Two months ago, the elegant, shiny-haired, opportunely pregnant Natalie Portman ascended the podium at the Academy Awards to collect the Best Actress Oscar—a day before valiantly standing up to her sartorial patron in defense of …More

This past Monday, generous philanthropists presented Taglit-Birthright Israel with an incredible opportunity. Sheldon and Miriam Adelson, philanthropists who have donated over $100 million to Birthright over the past few years, offered to give a mtatching grant of $5 million to encourage new donors to give to the incredible organization. Taglit-Birthright Israel is an organization that provides a free ten-day trip to Israel, to Jews between the ages of 18- 36, for those who have never been to Israel on an …More

PM: We are working to ensure a U.S. veto in the Security Council • Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat refuses a challenge from Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon for a live political debate over whether West Bank is "occupied" or "disputed." Israel is still aiming for direct negotiations with the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas, even though Abbas has "made a strategic decision" to pursue a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood at the U.N. General Assembly in September, Prime …More

The district court ruled that Aleksandar Cvetkovic, a Bosnian Serb who obtained Israeli citizenship through his Jewish wife, should be sent for trial in a Sarajevo war crimes court.    The ruling, obtained by AFP, cited his "involvement in the offence of genocide during the massacre carried out in 1995 at Branjevo farm in the vicinity of the town of Srebrenica."    It said Cvetkovic had 30 days to appeal to Israel's Supreme Court and that he would be held in custody until his …More