The chief rabbinate of Israel called an emergency meeting over the weekend, to discuss counteraction plans against the Jewish state’s plan to fund non-Orthodox rabbis. The decision to employ Reform and Conservative rabbis with state money was met last month with derision by the religious right. Now, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar wants to unite Orthodox leaders to fight the move, in a meeting set to take place next week. Israel’s finance committee, headed by far right United Torah Judaism MK Moshe …More

Anti-Zionist vandalism at Yad Vashem has drawn suspicion of involvement by the haredim. Grafitti was found at 12 different spots on the grounds of the historic Holocaust trust in Jerusalem. Slurs written in spray paint read “Hitler, thank you for the Holocaust,” “Jews, wake up, the evil Zionist regime doesn’t protect us, it jeopardizes us,” and “If Hitler hadn’t existed, the Zionists would have invented him.” The graffiti was reportedly written in practiced Hebrew …More

As the ultra-Orthodox community continues to raise awareness and take action against the dangers they claim are posed by the Internet and technology, the primary target has become the smartphone. Many from the community are abandoning their smartphones and encouraging others to do the same. Other leaders within the community are taking more drastic approaches. The Rebbe of Satmar has instructed his followers to ditch their smartphones, ordering them to stop using their phones within one month or find a new rabbi …More

Some 40,000 ultra-Orthodox men gathered at the Mets stadium Sunday, warning against the dangers of the Internet. The event was closed to the press and open only to men, though groups of women attended viewing parties in schools and event halls across New York. Some estimates put the cost of the rally at $3 million, a bill footed by private sponsors. Individuals traveled from outside states to attend the protest, with so many arrivals that a nearby stadium had to be rented out as well. "It's not about banishing …More

Mitch Ginsburg recounts the story of Motti, an ultra-Orthodox boy who dreamed of joining the Israeli army, as a lens through which to view the controversy over the Tal Law. [The Times of Israel] Leaders of the Young Likud urged Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin to denounce MK Hanin Zoabi for abusing her position and harming the Jewish State. [Arutz Sheva 7] After a decade, Haifa University has revived its partnership with California State University, allowing foreign students to earn degrees at the …More

The United States State Department is warning American tourists against dressing “immodestly” in Jerusalem as a precaution due to the recent behavior of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community. "Most roads into ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhoods are blocked off on Friday nights, Saturdays, and Jewish holidays. Assaults on secular visitors, either for being in cars or for being 'immodestly dressed' have occurred in these neighborhoods," said the American consulate. The State Department also told …More

The Israeli Ministerial Committee for Legislation voted in favor of a bill on Monday that would make it illegal to use Nazi symbols or even say the word aloud as an insult. The bill came in response to a recent ultra-Orthodox protest that involved dressing in black-and-white prison garb with yellow stars affixed to the front, referencing the Holocaust. The bill would punish using Nazi symbols with up to six months in jail and a fine of up to NIS 100,000. It would also limit the use of such symbols in …More

Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel strongly condemned a recent ultra-Orthodox protest in Israel for its use of Holocaust imagery. Wiesel, who is a Holocaust survivor himself and has written several books on the subject, called the images of young children wearing black-and-white prison uniforms with yellow stars saying “Jude” affixed to the front a “vile sight.” "I never thought they'd stoop to such a low. How dare they? To both desecrate the honor of the State of Israel and the memory …More

Israeli Opposition leader Tzipi Livni met with United States Senator Joe Lieberman in Jerusalem on Wednesday to discuss a variety of issues, including the rise of religious extremism in Israel and what that means in terms of the country's relationship with the United States. Livni said that the passing of radical legislation and the recent intense battles over the segregation of women in Israel make it difficult for American Jews to defend the Jewish state. “I met with Senator Joe Lieberman and discussed …More

Israeli and Jewish leaders worldwide have condemned ultra-Orthodox Jews for using Holocaust imagery as part of a protest against their treatment in the Jewish state. "It's shocking and terrifying," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in a radio interview on Sunday, adding that “the leadership of the Orthodox Jewish community, which is globally responsible, must eradicate this intolerable phenomenon.” Over a thousand Haredi Orthodox protesters took to the streets of Jerusalem on Saturday night to …More

Last month, a court in Israel approved the extradition to the United States of Yitzchak Shuchat, a 28-year-old Lubavitcher Hasid, who is wanted by the New York Police Department for the 2008 assault of a black resident of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, more than three years ago Shuchat approached Andrew Charles, the son of an NYPD officer, and attacked him with a nightstick and pepper spray. Charles sustained wounds to the head and arms, while Shuchat …More

The fight over women’s rights in Israel has now come to billboards and segregated bus routes. After their removal earlier this year, images of women have returned to the billboards around Jerusalem. They had been taken down as not to anger the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community. Nissim Hasson, vice president of sales at Zohar Hutzot advertising company, says one has to tread carefully in the holy city. "Jerusalem is a symbol, a capital, built on mutual respect, holy to Jews, Christians and Muslims. If you …More