Moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem Could Help Bring About Peace—But Will It Happen? The Jerusalem Embassy Act, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in 1995, mandates that the United States must move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which three successive presidents have avoided by signing...

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin met with the envoys of 10 Asian-Pacific nations in Jerusalem on Wednesday, expressing his appreciation for their cooperation and a desire to further strengthen relations. Speaking at his residence with ambassadors and charges d’affaires of Australia, India, South Korea, Philippines, China, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Japan, Myanmar, and Nepal,...

Israel is planning to decriminalize the possession and private use of marijuana, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced Thursday, adopting a policy similar to certain European countries and U.S. states. At a press conference, Erdan said that he will accept recommendations by the Anti-Drug Authority to pursue the “Portugal Model,” which treats possession...

New American Secretary of Defense James Mattis offered “his unwavering commitment to Israel’s security” in a call on Thursday to Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, the Department of Defense stated in an official summary. By calling his Israeli counterpart during his first week in office, Mattis meant to “emphasize his intent to...

Prof. Haya Itzhaky was on an extended trip to Nepal to study the behavior of post-army Israeli backpackers when the deadly April 25, 2015 earthquake struck. Itzhaky, chair of the PhD program at Bar-Ilan University’s School of Social Work, quickly initiated a study she hadn’t planned on conducting: how were...

A Hamas-run court in the Gaza Strip has sentenced eight members of Fatah’s security forces to jail terms ranging from seven years to life in prison for “undermining revolutionary unity,” The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday. Hamas’s Interior Ministry stated that the men, who have been unemployed since Hamas’s 2007 takeover of...