Thousands of ultra-Orthodox Israelis protested in Jerusalem against plans to enlist haredi men into the military. The protesters gathered Thursday night near the city’s military draft bureau to listen to rabbis warn that army service would irreparably harm their way of life. “The government wants to uproot and secularize us,” Rabbi David Zycherman said, according to Reuters, “They call it a melting pot, but people cannot be melted.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s …More

As Rosh Hashanah approaches, it has come time for Jspace to name its Most Influential Jewish Person of the Year. The competition was stiff and many could have claimed the top spot, but only one can be named. Before revealing this year’s main macher, however, we must give some credit to the best of the rest. For the fourth time, Stanley Fischer was named by Global Finance magazine as one of the World’s Best Central Bankers of 2012, and was one of only six bankers to score an “A” in the …More

Like any of the Israeli army's combat battalions, the soldiers of Netzach Yehuda faced a 60-mile hike during basic training meant to simulate battle conditions. They hiked with their gear at night and during the day, up and down hills and through rough terrain. One night, their commanders told them that their supply trucks had been bombed and they needed to ration whatever food and water they had left. Finishing the hike, they put down their gear and caught their breath. As a band played traditional Jewish …More

On an August weekday afternoon, 19-year-old Mohammed Kernowi stands in front of a small store in Israel’s largest Bedouin city, a hot plate in front of him with small pancakes sizzling in preparation for the end of that day’s Ramadan fast. At his age, many Israeli men have been through basic training and are weathering their first of three years of compulsory military service either on the country’s borders, in the West Bank, in an office or on one of the country’s many bases. Kernowi, …More

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the Israeli Defense Forces to draft haredi Orthodox men as it does other Jewish Israelis. Barak has allowed a month for officials to formulate regulations on haredi conscription, according to reports. The order came as the Tal Law, which allowed haredi men to defer army service, expired on Wednesday. Israel’s Supreme Court overturned the law in February. Israeli law mandates that Jewish Israelis enter the army at age 18. Some Israelis legally defer army service …More

Austria permits circumcision to continue. [The Jewish Daily Forward] Netanyahu has not decided whether to order military intervention to Iran or not. [The Times of Israel] The 54,000 yeshiva students who have legally deferred national service through their religious studies become obligated to fulfill their military obligations to Israel once the Tal Law expires tonight. [The Jerusalem Post] Defense Minister Ehud Barak says that the IDF troops' salaries should be gradually raised to minimum wage and the period …More

The Tal Law expires at midnight. [AFP] Follow Mitt Romney’s journey through Israel. [The Guardian] Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office deliver a letter from Knesset faction heads to Mitt Romney yesterday, urging him to support Jonathan Pollard. [The Jerusalem Post] The White House wants clarification on Romney's Jerusalem-capital comment, as do the Palestinians. [NECN.com] Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issues a statement applauding both …More

Israel is easing travel restrictions for West Bank Palestinians in honor of Ramadan. [Haaretz] Bulgarian investigators will use DNA from the bomber’s fingers to identify him. [The Jerusalem Post] President Barack Obama cites the bus attack in Bulgaria and the upheaval in Syria as reasons to support Israel in his re-election campaign. [Reuters] Moshe Silman, the Israeli activist who set himself on fire during a protest in Tel Aviv last week, passed away from second and third-degree burns on 94 percent of …More

Rob Lattin is Jspace News' Foreign Affairs Correspondent. In addition to covering foreign affairs for Jspace, Rob is a blogger on Israeli and Middle Eastern foreign policy for the Foreign Policy Association, as well as a freelance writer. He can be reached by email at rob@jspacecorp.com. It is official, Israel’s super coalition experiment was a failure. After just 70 days, Shaul Mofaz and the Kadima party voted to remove itself from the coalition over the inability of the government to come up with a …More

Israeli lawmakers voted down a bill that would have required all Israelis to enlist in the army or perform national service at the age of 18, including the haredi Orthodox and Arabs. The bill, submitted by Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beiteinu Party, was voted down Wednesday in a preliminary reading by a vote of 74 to 22. Four members of the Kadima Party, which left the government on Tuesday over a failure to arrive at a compromise on a universal draft law, voted for the legislation. Under the proposed …More

The Kadima Party voted to quit Israel's government coalition. The Knesset members from Kadima voted 24-3 on Tuesday night to leave the government after negotiations broke down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party over a universal draft bill. Kadima had joined the governing coalition just two months ago. On Tuesday, [Shaul] Mofaz reportedly rejected an offer from Netanyahu that would have drafted half of the age-appropriate haredi Orthodox men into the military and the other half into …More

Negotiations between the Kadima and Likud parties over a universal draft bill have broken down, Israeli media are reporting. The talks reportedly ended on Tuesday morning and Kadima scheduled a faction meeting for Tuesday evening to discuss its future in the government coalition, according to reports. It appears likely that Kadima will pull out of the coalition, some 70 days after joining it. Kadima Party head Shaul Mofaz reportedly rejected on Tuesday a compromise offer from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, …More