By Ronen Shnidman JointMedia News Service TEL AVIV (JNS) — Forward Omri Casspi made the leap from Israel to the National Basketball Association in 2009, but the latest Israeli hoopsters seeking to compete on American soil aren’t human. Earlier this month, several thousand spectators watched student-built robots from across Israel square off for two days [ Read More...]

By Linda Gradstein Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM — Ever wonder about Albert Einstein’s love life? Now you can get a firsthand glimpse by searching the newly improved Einstein Archives website, which relaunched Monday with expanded offerings. The online archive now makes available digitally 2,000 documents from Einstein’s papers and other sources, as well as a [ Read More...]

By Mati Wagner Jewish Telegraphic Agency TEL AVIV (JTA) — Capitalism in pursuit of social justice. The notion is becoming more common in Israel as a new generation of entrepreneurs and innovators in the fields of high-tech, industry and real estate is delving into philanthropy. “The culture of venture capital and the startup nation also [ Read More...]

What’s Israel’s next step on Iran?

By Marcy Oster Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) — Though the death last weekend of John Demjanjuk brought a close to the seemingly never-ending quest for justice in the case of a man long accused of being a Nazi war criminal, it also brought a premature end to the legal battle over his legacy. Though [ Read More...]

By Hillel Kuttler Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) — Ashrat “Assaf” Mamo is such a common sight when he pounds the pavement in Jerusalem that he’s on a first-name basis with city bus drivers, who he says always “ask me about the marathon and encourage me.” Mamo, a 27-year-old immigrant from Ethiopia, became the first Israeli [ Read More...]

By Andy Altman-Ohr j weekly BEERSHEVA, Israel (j weekly) — A bus carrying eight American journalists drove smack dab into the throes of rocket attacks from Gaza. And it wasn’t because of a wrong turn. The journalists, including this reporter, agreed to go willingly. The group was on a science- and agriculture-focused media tour of [ Read More...]

Toulouse victims to be buried in Israel JERUSALEM (JTA) — The four victims of the attack at a Jewish school in France will be buried in Israel. The burials in Jerusalem are scheduled for Wednesday. The bodies will be flown from Toulouse to Paris by the French Air Force, and then to Israel by El [ Read More...]

By Marcy Oster Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) — As southern Israel was barraged by rockets for a fourth straight day, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel was hitting back “strongly and decisively,” and its Iron Dome anti-missile defense system was intercepting many of the rockets coming from the Gaza Strip. “The IDF is continuing [ Read More...]

By Mati Wagner Jewish Telegraphic Agency JERUSALEM (JTA) — If Israel has its way, this is how future conflicts with Gaza-based terrorists will unfold: Israeli aircraft launch surgical strikes on rocket launchers; terrorist leaders are assassinated as necessary; Israeli civilians along the southern frontier are protected by advanced technology that shoots enemy rockets out of [ Read More...]