Jewish & World News

The future of Jerusalem is considered one of the core issues in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and one of the most significant obstacles to a permanent agreement between the two sides. However, it appears that on the Palestinian side, those who live in Jerusalem have already made their decision on the matter – and the Palestinian Authority leadership in Ramallah may not like it. A public opinion poll carried out by American Pechter Middle East Polls for the Council on Foreign Relations together with the head of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, Dr. Nabil Kukali, showed that if Jerusalem were divided as part of a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, east Jerusalem Arabs would prefer to live under Israeli sovereignty. The poll, which comprised the residents of east Jerusalem's 19 Arab neighborhoods, also pointed out that their opposition to Jerusalem's division is so intense that they would rather move to a new home within Israel's borders rather...

Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem on Wednesday threatened to forcibly evict four Palestinian families they claim are living on property belonging to Jews in the neighborhood of Silwan.

Jerusalem - The Israeli government has approved another “technical” step in the long bureaucratic process for the Ramat Shlomo housing project that infuriated the United States last March. This time, there has been no reaction because the United States “is too busy with the oil spill” to worry about other issues, Ambassador Michael Oren said Wednesday.

Israel - Shin Bet security service director Yuval Diskin said on Tuesday that the Islamist group Hamas was busy buying up land within the municipal territory of Jerusalem.

Israel - Nine Border Guard officers were injured Saturday during riots in the east Jerusalem village of Silwan. During the disturbances, Palestinians threw stones at Border Guard forces, lightly injuring two of them. The officers were evacuated to Hadassah Mount Scopus and Hadassah Ein Kerem hospitals with head wounds.

Jerusalem -  The Jerusalem Municipality and the Ministry of Transportation announced Tuesday that starting on Sunday, May 30, entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem via the Jaffa Gate will be prohibited during the day to private cars. 

Jerusalem -  When Devorah Adler's children go to school, they pass underneath the gun-toting security officer who stands on their roof 24-hours a day, walk down a path dotted by surveillance cameras and get in a van manned by another armed guard.

Jerusalem - Arye King answers his mobile phone with a traditional Arab greeting before switching into Hebrew to inquire about his most recent property deal. Mr King, one of the best-known settler activists moving Jews into east Jerusalem, which is still predominantly Arab, spends a good deal of his time on the telephone. The surprising part is that many of his business partners are Arabs who are helping him to get settlers into the contested eastern half of the city.

The Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee will convene next week, marking the first time such meeting will take place since the diplomatic crisis with the United States erupted following the announcement of Jerusalem building plans during U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Israel. 

Jerusalem's mayor on Tuesday denied any formal or informal freeze in Jewish housing construction in the traditionally Arab eastern part of the city, in comments that may complicate the Obama administration's attempts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

Two Jerusalem officials said on Monday that Israel has frozen new construction in the city's disputed eastern sector - despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's declarations to the contrary. 

The United States would "seriously consider abstaining" should the United Nations Security Council pass a resolution condemning Israel's housing construction in East Jerusalem, the BBC reported on Sunday. 

Most Israelis do not believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unaware of the plan to announce the construction of 1,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem at the time of US Vice President Joe Biden's visit, according to the War and Peace Index.

Sentencing for a former official of the Agriprocessors kosher meatpacking plant has been set for April 28.  Sholom Rubashkin is facing a maximum of 27 years in prison based on recommendations by federal prosecutors when he is sentenced in U.S. District Court in Iowa on 86 counts of financial fraud, according to reports.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been presented with a new proposal according to which construction in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem that are located behind the Green Line will be reduced, while Jewish construction in Arab neighborhoods will be frozen altogether, Ynet reported Thursday.