Tag Archive for Western Wall

US Ambassador David Friedman’s first stop in Israel was to pray at Western Wall

 

US Ambassador David Friedman, a practicing Orthodox Jew, drove to Jerusalem’s Old City with his wife & daughter, straight after his arrival at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

By TOVAH LAZAROFF

 

US Ambassador David Friedman’s first stop on the job in Israel was the Western Wall, where a simple prayer at the Biblical site, turned into a lager diplomatic statement.

US Ambassador David Friedman, with wife & daughter at the Western Wall – Facebook screenshot

Friedman, who is a practicing Orthodox Jew, headed to Jerusalem’s Old City right after he landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

“It was a long trip. We are a bit tired, but we wanted to come straight to the holiest place in the entire Jewish world, the Western Wall, straight from the airport” he said. Continue Reading »

Trump Administration disassociates itself from diplomat’s Western Wall comments

 

White House issues prompt and decisive response: Remarks made earlier today by American diplomats in Israel that suggested the Western Wall is not part of Israel, “do not reflect the U.S. position, and certainly not the President’s position.”

By Nitsan Keidar

 

The White House on Monday disassociated itself from remarks by American diplomats, who told representatives of the Prime Minister’s Office that the Western Wall is not part of Israel but rather part of the “West Bank”.

“These comments, if true, were not authorized by the White House. They do not reflect the U.S. position, and certainly not the President’s position,” a White House spokesman told Haaretz. Continue Reading »

Western Wall security call police after discovering what’s inside cane of 60 yr-old tourist

 

Police are summoned after 60-year-old tourist arrived at the Western Wall entrance with an innocent-looking cane that security personnel found extremely perplexing.

By Ido Ben-Porat

 

Israeli police operating in the Western Wall plaza were called on Friday to the security post at the entrance to the Wall after a suspicious object was found in the possession of a 60-year-old tourist.

Cane sword – Photo: Israel Police Spokesman

Examining police officers found the tourist’s walking stick to contain a sword.

Police interrogated the tourist and heard from her that since she has trouble walking in the alleys of the Old City, she acquired in one of the shops a walking stick to get around with, which she used until arriving at the security post at the Western Wall’s entrance. Continue Reading »

REPORT: Russian PM declares support of Jewish connection to Jerusalem

In a TV2 report, Russian PM Medvedev says, “Our country never denied Israel’s or the Jewish people’s rights to Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.”

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev spoke with Channel 2 about the Israel-Russia relationship.

During the interview Medvedev was asked about UNESCO’s decision to deny history and claim Israel has no connection to the Western Wall and other holy places in Jerusalem.

 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - Photo: AFP

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – Photo: AFP

“I think this subject has been blown out of proportion. UNESCO has made at least ten similar decisions, worded almost identically to this one. Continue Reading »

Latest Israeli project: High speed rail from Tel Aviv to Western Wall in 30 minutes

 

Minister of Transportation Katz orders plans drawn for high-speed railway extension from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, allowing riders to get from an underground station in the Old City, close to the Western Wall, to Tel Aviv in under half an hour.

By Ofer Petersburg

 

Minister of Transportation and Road Safety Yisrael Katz has instructed the ministry’s staff to promote the planning of an extension to the upcoming high-speed railway line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem so that it extends into the Old City, near the Western Wall. As part of the project, an underground stop will be built in the Western Wall area. Continue Reading »

Palestinians threaten UNESCO not to oppose upcoming Jerusalem vote

 

view videoAhead of Wednesday’s vote on another controversial anti-Jewish, Jerusalem resolution, Israel’s Ambassador to UNESCO said such threats & ultimatums only serve to reveal the true face of the Palestinians as “thugs” & “liars.”

By TOVAH LAZAROFF

 

The Palestinian Authority and the Jordanians have warned the 21-member states of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee not to oppose or abstain from a Jerusalem resolution on Wednesday in Paris.

The resolution, which refers to the Temple Mount solely by its Muslim name of Al-Haram Al Sharif, is expected to be approved by the committee at its 40th session.

But in light of public statements on such resolutions made last week by Italy, Mexico and Brazil, the Palestinians want the resolution to pass by consensus, with the full support of all 21 member states of the World Heritage Committee (WHC). Continue Reading »

Israel’s PM thanks Italian PM Renzi for speaking out against UNESCO vote on Jerusalem

 

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi described UNESCO’s anti-Jewish resolution condemning Israel’s actions in Jerusalem as ‘incomprehensible & unacceptable.’

By i24news

 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi for his opposition to a UNESCO resolution condemning Israel’s actions in east Jerusalem.

 Israel's PM Netanyahu (Amos Ben Gershon:GPO) and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (Alessandro Di Meo:EPA)

Israel’s PM Netanyahu (Amos Ben Gershon:GPO) and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (Alessandro Di Meo:EPA)

Netanyahu over the weekend spoke by telephone with his Italian counterpart after having sent him a letter following Italy’s UNESCO vote and thanked him for his remarks to the effect that Italy’s vote on the Jewish People’s link to Jerusalem was a mistake that would not recur. Continue Reading »

In dramatic move, Italy vows to reject UNESCO’s anti-Jewish, Jerusalem resolution

 

Italy announced on Friday that it would vote against such texts in the future, with the Italian PM Matteo Renzi adding during a visit to Brussels, These resolutions are “incomprehensible, unacceptable and wrong.”

By TOVAH LAZAROFF

 

In a sign that European countries may be increasing their support for Israel’s battle against UNESCO’s Jerusalem resolutions, Italy announced on Friday that it would vote against such texts in the future.

unesco-under-palestinian-control
These resolutions are “incomprehensible, unacceptable and wrong,” Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi told an Italian Radio station during a visit to Brussels. Earlier this week he was in Washington, where he was honored with a state dinner at the White House. Continue Reading »

U.S. lawmakers write UNESCO to not revise Jerusalem’s history

Ted Cruz and Ros-Lehtinen lead a bipartisan congressional effort urging UNESCO to reject latest Palestinian inspired resolution describing the Temple Mount and Western Wall as strictly a holy Muslim site.

By Ben Ariel

 

U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are leading a bipartisan effort to stop the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) from passing a resolution that would describe the Temple Mount and the Western Wall as holy Muslim sites, thus diminishing the historic and verified Jewish and Christian ties to the Old City of Jerusalem.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) - Facebook

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and U.S. Rep.

Continue Reading »

Israeli Supreme Court angry that gov’t ignored court’s Western Wall decision

 

Israel’s Supreme Court rips at Netanyahu’s government for its failure to implement the court’s decision to create a separated prayer space for Judaism’s Reform Movement at the Kotel Plaza.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

The Supreme Court slammed the government over delays in the implementation of the Kotel (Western Wall) plan, despite a pledge by the government to create a mixed gender prayer space for the Reform and Conservative movements at the holy site.

The comments were made in the context of a hearing that was held this morning (Monday), following an appeal by eight non-Orthodox organizations against the Prime Minister, the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, and the Rabbi of the Kotel, Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch. Continue Reading »

Israel tightens security in Jerusalem for Jewish day of mourning

 

In preparation for the thousands of Jews expected to visit the Western Wall on Tisha B’Av, hundreds of additional police will be carrying out security measures in and around Jerusalem.

By i24news, AFP

 

Israeli police are to boost their presence at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound for a Jewish day of mourning commemorating the destruction of ancient temples there, a spokesman said on Friday.

Al-Aqsa, the third holiest site in Islam, is also venerated by Jews as the Temple Mount and is considered the most sacred place in Judaism. – Photo: THOMAS COEX/AFP/FILE

“Hundreds of extra police will be carrying out security measures in and around the old city of Jerusalem” on Tisha B’Av, which begins on Saturday night and ends 25 hours later, Micky Rosenfeld said in a statement. Continue Reading »

Planned UNESCO vote to repudiate Jewish connection with Western Wall

 

A joint Jordanian-Palestinian draft accusing Israel of misconduct on the Temple Mount including deliberate vandalism, will also deny Jewish affinity to the mount and the Western Wall, will be voted on during the annual UNESCO meeting.

By Itamar Eichner

 

The subject of the Jewish connection with the Temple Mount has once again been returned to the UN as Palestinians and Jordanians seek to repudiate Jewish affinity with any part of the compound.

Photo: AP

The draft decision presented by the Palestinians and Jordanians includes a number of problematic points in relation to Israel. Firstly, the draft calls on Israel to return the Temple Mount and the al-Aqsa mosque to “the historic status quo,” a new phrase implying that the sites should be returned to their pre-1967 status.The Continue Reading »

A history of the disappearing Western Wall & its slow reapearence

The Western Wall plaza was cleared after the liberation of Jerusalem almost 50 years ago, allowing the Jewish people to view their sacred site freely. But still, much of the Wall is hidden under Arab houses. “Those houses were built up against the Western Wall a few hundred years ago with the express intention of hiding it… Sewage drains empty directly onto the stones of the Western Wall. What other people would allow such a thing?” remarked PM Menachem Begin.

The secret of the disappearing Wall

 

On June 8, 1967, while IDF paratroopers were clearing out the last pockets of resistance in the alleys of the Old City, Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, came to the Western Wall passageway, accompanied by Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek and head of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority Yaakov Yanai. Continue Reading »

French PM condemns UNESCO resolution on Jerusalem as ‘unfortunate, clumsy’

 

PM Manuel Valls contradicts UNESCO’s resolution saying, “I want to repeat once again and clearly, with conviction – France will never deny the Jewish presence & Jewish history in Jerusalem. It would make no sense, it is absurd to deny this history.”

By AFP

 

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Wednesday described a UNESCO resolution on the flashpoint al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem as “clumsy” and “unfortunate” and said it should have been avoided.

Jewish men & women pray at the Kotel (Western Wall) – circa 1900

The Paris-based UN cultural body adopted the resolution on “Occupied Palestine” presented by several Arab countries in mid-April.  Continue Reading »

Lapid: UNESCO Temple Mount decision to erase Jewish connection will cause bloodshed

 

Israel’s former Finance Minister Yair Lapid wrote to UNESCO chairman Irina Bokova that the decision to ignore the Jewish people’s historic connection to the Western Wall & Temple Mount will lead to much more bloodshed.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Yesh Atid chairman and former Finance Minister Yair Lapid wrote a scathing letter to UNESCO over the weekend, stating to chairman Irina Bokova that a decision to divorce the Jewish people from the Western Wall and Temple Mount will lead to bloodshed.

Jews gather to pray at the Western Wall during Succot. – Photo by AFP

“This decision is a shameful attempt to rewrite history, rewrite reality as part of the ongoing political campaign against Israel and the Jewish people,” Lapid stated in the letter.  Continue Reading »