Livni fears UK-led push to boycott settlement goods

The Israeli and British governments have clashed over imports from West Bank settlements, with Jerusalem concerned this may be the first salvo in a British-led international campaign.

The issue has been personally pursued by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who, according to an internal document "has proposed a round-table involving UK government officials, NGOs, and retailers" to discuss it.

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Britain prepares to do the honours for Peres

All the stops will be out to honour Israeli President Shimon Peres when he visits Britain on November 17 - his first time since becoming president.

In addition to being awarded an honorary title from the Queen, he will receive an honorary doctorate from King's College, London.

Both the British and Israeli foreign ministries have unofficially confirmed that Mr Peres will be awarded a title during his visit, though details are "still in the works".

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Neighbours attack ‘barbaric’ brit

An elderly woman living in sheltered housing has been threatened by an anonymous letter over her plan to hold her great-grandson's brit milah in her flat.

The letter was sent to Shirley Shad, of Norman Harris House, Southend, after she had told her neighbours about the impending circumcision.

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National race gets fresh faces

A raft of political newcomers and veterans have already entered the fray of Israel's election season.

This week's most prominent debut was of Benny Begin, the son of the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who will return to the Likud almost a decade after leaving in protest at Binyamin Netanyahu's acceptance of the Oslo Accords. Another recruit to Likud was Brigadier-General (Res) Miri Regev, the former IDF spokeswoman.

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Peres to address MPs in historic visit

All the stops will be out to honour Israeli President Shimon Peres when he visits Britain for the first time since becoming president, on November 17. In addition to an as yet unannounced honorary title from the queen, he will be receiving also an honorary doctorate from King's College in London.

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Olmert faces fresh allegation

A new allegation of corruption was raised this week against Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

David Cohen, one of the central witnesses in the case against former Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson - accused of stealing NIS 4 million (£680,000) from two public organisations - told a Tel Aviv courtroom that he had passed a "fat envelope" to Mr Olmert in the early 1990s when he was health minister.

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Jewish judge ‘not biased’ in Arab asylum-seeker ruling

The Law Lords have upheld the decision of a Jewish judge to refuse asylum to a Palestinian woman, denying the claim that the judge's membership of a Jewish jurists' organisation prejudiced her ability to hear the case.

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Israeli elections: Blackmail, threats and a policy or two

Israel's ruling party, Kadima, will try to run its election campaign on the promise to reform Israel's shaky electoral system. Kadima spin-doctors are planning to leverage the breakdown in coalition talks with Shas to portray party leader Tzipi Livni as a no-nonsense stateswoman who will not give in to blackmail.

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Peres to be knighted?

Israeli President Shimon Peres may receive an honorary title from the Queen on his forthcoming visit to Britain next month. The details of the visit, which was reported first in the JC last month, and the bestowing of any possible title, are still under discussion between the Foreign Office and Buckingham Palace.

Mr Peres will visit Britain on November 18 for three days and though the trip is not classified as an official state visit, he will also meet the Queen.

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Jerusalem mayoral race enters last lap

The Four candidates vying for the job of Jerusalem's mayor in the elections that will take place on November 11 have been finalised.

The two front-runners are MK Meir Porush of United Torah Judaism (UTJ), representing Jerusalem's strictly Orthodox community, and the independent Nir Barkat, who has led the opposition in Jerusalem's City Hall for the last five years and has emerged as the champion of the secular camp.

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Leviev cuts back on schools

The largest Jewish education network in Europe is to cut back as a result of the global financial crisis.

Or Avner, founded by billionaire Lev Leviev, is to "rationalise" operations due to a shortfall in donations.

Operating more than 100 Jewish schools in Russia, the former Soviet Union, Germany, Israel and the US, it is planning to cut back particularly in places where there are only small communities and little Jewish activity.

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Vote for me — I have a kippah

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Pius XII may soon be a saint

Pope Benedict is expected to announce the beatification of controversial wartime pope Pius XII within the next year.

Conservative Catholic groups have been pressuring the Vatican to canonise Pius for decades, but major Jewish organisations have tried to oppose such a move since he has been accused of remaining silent over the extermination of the Jews.

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Tony Blair reaches out to ‘Jewish values’ at Succot

Tony Blair, the former prime minister, today lauds the work done by Jewish organisations to alleviate poverty around the world, and calls upon the community to join other faith groups in fighting hunger and deprivation.

Writing in this week's Jewish Chronicle, Mr Blair says that the current festival of Succot "gives rise to the virtues of charity and solidarity, core covenantal values expressed in the work of the community's NGOs - World Jewish Relief and Tzedek, among others".

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Financial crisis? That will be the Jews’ fault

A new anti-Jewish conspiracy theory was spawned on the internet this week, latching on to a wave of antisemitic online comments blaming Jewish financiers for the global credit crunch and then exploiting it.

According to the latest false theory, Jewish executives at Lehman Brothers sent $400 billion (£230bn) to Israel before the bank collapsed last month.

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