By Rafael Medoff, JNS.org The news that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) unfairly targeted conservative groups has brought renewed spotlight on a 2010 lawsuit filed by the pro-Israel group Z Street, which alleges it was also singled out by the IRS when applying for tax-exempt status. The Z Street case, whose first hearing is set for July 2 in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia, has raised eyebrows in the Jewish community. But Z Street’s claims, if true, would not mark the first time the IRS …More

David Karp, the 26-year-old programmer who grew up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and created outrageously successful blogging platform tumblr from a bedroom in his mother’s apartment after he dropped out of high school, is sitting pretty after Yahoo acquired tumblr for a reported $1.1 billion. Who knew that gifs and pictures of wolves were worth that much? It does make sense, though. Tumblr has become the breeding ground for culture since it launched in 2007. As of May 19, the blogging platform …More

Israel is the world leader is drone sales, according to insiders. The Jewish state reportedly sells $400 million in drones annually, and has sold a total of $4.6 billion worth in the last eight years. The data was published in a report by leading business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, which also found unmanned drones account for 10 percent of the Israeli military's export. In 2008, Israel’s drone exports totaled $150 million, a sum that increased to $650 million for the 2009 year. In 2010, Israel …More

The Jews of Corpus Christi knew a decade ago they had to act fast to save their two synagogues. With at most 1,000 Jews left in the Texas town and only 60 families making up its membership, the 60-year-old Conservative synagogue was in shaky financial shape. So in 2005, B’nai Israel Synagogue merged with Temple Beth El, a Reform shul, to form Congregation Beth Israel, combining customs and sharing sacred spaces to preserve Jewish life in an area that saw its heyday around World War II. The combined …More

Economic woes in the United States and Europe may force one leading environmental group to shutter its doors. The Public Health Coalition, a 12-year-old green group located in Haifa, will be force to close this month if it cannot gather the emergency funding needed to keep afloat. The coalition issued a statement saying that fruitless fundraising efforts in the last year both in Israel and abroad have left the group in the red. “Over the last year, raising money from foundations has been very difficult to …More

The museum dedicated to the memory of Yitzhak Rabin raises nearly half its money from labor leaders. It’s just not the labor you think. Members of US labor unions raised $1.4 million for the Yitzhak Rabin Center in Tel Aviv last year, 45 percent of the center's total 2012 fundraising. Since 2005, American unions have raised $12 million for the center. Labor leaders say programs at the center, which celebrates the slain Labor Party prime minister who signed the 1993 Oslo Accords and promotes dialogue among …More

Israel is set to release a new line of currency, each sporting the visage of a beloved Israeli writer. The new shekel bills will bear the images of Nathan Alterman, Rachel Bluwstein, Shaul Tchernichovsky and Leah Goldberg. The first of these special bills will begin circulation later this year. "They are beautiful and touch our soul," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday. Bibi also spoke about some criticism the bills have faced, regarding the seclusion of any Sephardic writers. "I agree with those …More

Israel Aerospace Industries will produce fighter jet wings for Lockheed Martin, a US leader in aerospace defense. The F-35 jets IAI will assist are the most expensive weapons program utilized by the Pentagon, with a $400 billion cost. "The contract marks a key milestone in the existing cooperation between IAI and Lockheed Martin," a statement read today. "This agreement represents an important milestone for IAI and ensures its involvement in the world's most advanced fighter aircraft," added Joseph Weiss, …More

The 165 Jewish billionaires around the world have $812 billion in joint wealth, Forbes Israel reported. The Hebrew magazine released its Jewish billionaires list on Thursday. The richest Jew in the world is Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, with a net worth of $43 billion, according to Forbes, up $7 billion from last year. Ellison was fifth on the Forbes 2013 world billionaires list. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in second place with $27 billion, up $5 billion from 2012. He appeared 13th on the world list. …More

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the allocation of some $14 million to benefit Holocaust survivors and other elderly Israelis. Just before the start of Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, Netanyahu also asked the Knesset to approve an additional $7 million to pay for medicine to help the elderly population. "We have a deep obligation to the elderly in general and to Holocaust survivors in particular, first of all to their welfare and also to their security," he said Sunday at the beginning of the …More

Woodside Petroleum’s purchase of a controlling stake in Israel’s largest natural gas field is causing trouble for Woodside’s Arab-allied partial owner—the Shell gas company. Royal Dutch Shell, Shell Gas & Power’s masthead, owns a 23 percent interest in Woodside, which declared its intentions late last year to purchase a 30 percent stake in Leviathan, the innovative Israeli gas field the Jewish state hopes to use on the path toward energy self-sufficiency. Shell, on the other …More

Amsterdam fined Holocaust survivors following liberation for failing to pay taxes while in hiding or imprisoned at concentration camps. The information was reported over the weekend by the Dutch paper Het Parool, which claimed the city fined hundreds of Shoah survivors as late as 1947. Most Dutch cities waived unpaid taxes following the war. Het Parool reported, however, that the Dutch Nazi party in some instances confiscated Jewish homes over unpaid fees and used them for their own purposes. Once the scheme …More