Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Thursday with former UN Envoy Nickolay Mladenov, who is set to become the Director of the Board of Peace for the Gaza Strip.During the meeting, Netanyahu insisted that "Hamas must be disarmed and the Gaza Strip must be demilitarized in accordance with the 20-point plan of US President Donald Trump."Mladenov met on Friday with the Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh in Ramallah, as the US president pushes ahead with his plan for the enclave's future, Reuters&nbsp;reported.The two men discussed "the situation in the Gaza Strip, ways to move to the second phase, and mechanisms for implementing (Trump's) plan," Sheikh said.<figure><img alt="Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Thursday, 8 January 2026, at the Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem, with Nickolay Mladenov, who is set to become the Director of the Gaza Strip Board of Peace." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/701223"></figure><h3>Trump's Board of Peace plan for Gaza</h3>Trump plans to establish the Board of Peace in Gaza, which will oversee the technocratic Palestinian government.This government will be selected by Palestinians and approved by Israel after a vetting process from a submitted list, while the members of the board will be selected by Trump.In recent weeks, Israel has pushed to keep Turkish representatives away from the board, with President Trump reluctant to allow this veto by the Israeli government.Some officials in the Trump administration believe Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should be part of the peace council, in part because Turkey – alongside Egypt and Qatar – is a guarantor of the agreement signed with Hamas.Several sources told the Post that, for now, a final decision on the composition of the Board of Peace has not yet been made. Trump is expected to reveal the full list sometime in January.Amichai Stein and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Netanyahu meets former UN Envoy Mladenov, who is set to become director of Gaza's Board of Peace

A man was arrested on suspicion of committing 'indecent acts' on patients at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, the Israeli police said on Friday.The 23-year-old suspect from Har Homa allegedly entered the hospital dressed in attire resembling that of the medical staff and presented himself as an authorized hospital employee.The investigation was triggered after the father of a 16-year-old minor filed a complaint against the suspect. The 16-year-old patient is believed to be one of the victims.After the complaint was filed, investigators from the Moriah station in Jerusalem, in collaboration with the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital’s security department, launched an investigation.During the investigation, the suspect was located and arrested, and further allegations suggest that he may have harmed additional patients.<figure><img src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/t_JD_ArticleMainImageFaceDetect/482019"></figure><h3>Arrest and court appearance&nbsp;</h3>The suspect is scheduled to appear before the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court, where police will request an extension of his detention to continue their investigation.The police statement read, “Quick actions during the investigation led to the identification and arrest of the suspect, and it has also come to light that he may have harmed additional patients.”Authorities are urging other potential victims to come forward and file complaints, as general concern rises regarding other unknown patients who may have been affected or assaulted.

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Suspect arrested for indecent acts on patients at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital

‘You went to a Shlock Rock concert? In Beit Shemesh?” When I informed my inquisitive friend that the legendary Jewish rock-and-roll parody band had reunited for a 40th anniversary concert, she was agog.&nbsp;“Did they play 'Achashverosh”? she asked, referring to the 1985 Purim parody of “Rock Me Amadeus” by Falco. When I responded affirmatively, she was genuinely disappointed that she had missed the event.For Jewish music aficionados of a certain age, Shlock Rock played a significant part in their musical development.The band, led by the legendary Lenny Solomon, has performed more than 2,000 concerts in all 50 US states, as well as Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, and Israel.Over four decades, Solomon released 42 albums full of his unique musical parodies intended to teach people about their Jewish heritage and inspire them to get closer to God.<figure><img alt="The music of Ehud Banai filled Heichal Hatarbut on January 1." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/700832"></figure>An indication of how far the group had become part of mainstream US culture by the early ’90s, Shlock Rock was even the subject of a question in the 1993 All-American edition of the Trivial Pursuit game: “What style of music did the Jewish group Shlock Rock adapt in the song, ‘Yo Yo Yarmulke’?” The answer is rap.The venue for the concert, as well as for many other cultural events in Beit Shemesh, tucked away in a corner of old Beit Shemesh, is the city’s cultural gem, the Beit Shemesh Heichal Hatarbut.<h3>A cultural haven for Beit Shemesh</h3>Now, over five years since its construction, the Beit Shemesh 537-seat auditorium has become an oasis of song, music, and theater for residents of the city and surrounding areas, who previously had to travel to Tel Aviv or Jerusalem to enjoy first runs of plays and concerts.Numerous dramatic productions from the Gesher Theatre, the Cameri Theatre, the Habima National Theatre, the Beit Lessin Theatre, the Haifa Theatre, and others have graced the cultural hall’s stage.Inside, the building is bright and sparkling, with excellent sightlines, comfortable seats, clear sound, and colorful, attractive lighting. There is a snack bar on the first floor, and unlike some other public places in the city, it is clean and well-maintained.Miri Shalem, manager of Heichal Hatarbut, notes that approximately 170 events are held there throughout the year. While 70% of the audience is Beit Shemesh-based, many events attract audiences from throughout the region, notably Mevasseret Zion, Gush Ezion, and Modi’in.<figure><img alt="In 1993, Shlock Rock was the subject of a questions in the popular Trivial Pursuit game." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/700834"></figure>“Each day, we may have an event that attracts a particular segment of the population, whether haredim [ultra-Orthodox], English or Russian-speakers, parents who bring their families to kids’ events, or stand-up comedy fans,” Shalem says, adding that there are many women-only events suitable for haredi women interested in the arts.&nbsp;The center has attracted some of Israel’s top musical talent since its opening, such as Ehud Banai, Yehuda Poliker, Rita, Idan Raichel, and Keren Peles. It has also hosted international stars, notably French singer-songwriter Enrico Macias and popular Greek singer Glykeria.&nbsp;Classical music is also popular among the center’s subscribers. In February, Heichal Hatarbut Beit Shemesh will present “The Grand Victory March,” a concert performance of Aida by Giuseppe Verdi, featuring 100 artists on stage.According to Shalem, performers who go to Beit Shemesh are impressed with the quality of the facilities and the hospitality shown to them at the cultural center. They particularly appreciate the homemade soup the staff prepares for them.Over the past six weeks, my wife and I have attended an eclectic selection of events, experiencing firsthand the wide variety of cultural programs with broad appeal available to Beit Shemesh residents and visitors.<h3>From Elton John to Ehud Banai</h3>In early December, we enjoyed a nostalgic performance celebrating the music of Elton John, featuring American-Israeli vocalist Michael Harpaz, a former member of the group Hi-Five. A large percentage of the audience was English-speaking, and while no one would mistake Harpaz for Elton John – though his spectacles were quite eye-catching and reminiscent of the real rock star’s eyewear – the performance was enthusiastic, entertaining, and enjoyable, as the band played a wide assortment of Elton John’s hits, which included “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” “Crocodile Rock,” “Daniel,” and “Candle in the Wind.”Toward the end of the month, we ventured out on a rainy Saturday evening for the aforementioned 40th anniversary kickoff concert of Shlock Rock. For a near-capacity crowd, Solomon, together with Eitan G (known as “the Jewish Rapper”), performed such crowd pleasers as “Abarbanel,” based on the Beach Boys’ hit “Barbara Ann”; “Rashi,” a takeoff on the 1967 hit by The Association; “Hashem Is One,” taken from the 1976 standard “You’re Still the One” by Orleans; and one of my personal favorites, “Under the Chuppah,” based on the 1964 Drifters classic “Under the Boardwalk.”Jewish music icon Rabbi Shlomo Katz made a surprise guest appearance, singing several songs together with Solomon. Solomon and his family made aliyah to Beit Shemesh in 1996, and many of his most devoted fans live in the area.While the audience was mainly comprised of English speakers with a similar demographic to those who had attended the Elton John evening, their enthusiasm was far greater, as they had come to hear the soundtrack of their youth. Many were already familiar with Shlock Rock from performances in their former communities around the world and were delighted to have the opportunity to hear the band in Israel.Before the music began, a video was screened featuring congratulatory messages from Hollywood filmmaker Saul Blinkoff, comic Elon Gold, and Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz, “Weird Al” Yankovic’s drummer and historian. Throughout the evening, images from Solomon’s lengthy career were displayed on a large screen, while outside in the lobby, Shlock Rock CDs were on sale, giving the evening even more of a retro vibe.I noticed numerous audience members singing along to almost every song, and several women in our row were squealing in delight and dancing to the music as Solomon pounded the keyboard, backed up by energetic guitarists, saxophone players, and a drummer. “I grew up on this music,” said one audience member happily.When Solomon played “Prayer Jumping,” a parody of the 1997 hit “Tub Thumping” by Chumbawamba and reached the chorus, “I sit right down and say ‘Kriyat Shema,’ then I get up and do the Amidah,” many in the crowd stood up and swayed to the tune, mimicking the movements made during the recitation of the prayer.Solomon’s recipe for parody success is simple. “The song has to be extremely popular where you hear it, and you know it immediately, because otherwise, you might as well write your own song. It is instant gratification,” he said.<h3>Where Beit Shemesh goes for great theater</h3>Just three days later, we returned yet again to Heichal Hatarbut, this time with a decidedly native Israeli audience to see the play Freeing Nechama, starring Tzipi Shavit, the Israeli actress, comedian, and entertainer, who has been described by the media as the “First lady of Israeli entertainment.” In my Anglo ignorance, I was unaware of her fame, but when she first appeared onstage, the audience gave her a thunderous ovation.The play was a mixture of humor and pathos, as it told the story of four women hospitalized in an internal medicine ward who are having difficulty sleeping because of a fifth, Nechama Cohen, who makes noise at night. When all hope of moving her to another room is lost, one of the others proposes a somewhat controversial solution. After a stormy, emotionally charged moral debate, the four fall asleep and wake up in the morning to a surprising piece of news.Several weeks earlier, we attended a decidedly more serious drama about a couple’s unhappy marriage, titled Permitted to All Men, from the Beersheba Theatre. The play focuses on a wealthy husband’s refusal to grant his wife a religious divorce (get) and her desperate efforts to obtain freedom through the religious courts. The audience sat silently, absorbed in the gravity of the circumstances.We attended the cultural center again on January 1 to welcome legendary singer Ehud Banai to Beit Shemesh. He strode about the stage comfortably and deliberately, and, together with his band, provided an enthralling performance, playing a mixture of his greatest hits, along with more contemporary songs. The show drew a wide variety of people from Beit Shemesh and the surrounding area.The Beit Shemesh Heichal Hatarbut has attracted growing interest in its five years of existence, and its multilingual appeal is reflected in its publicity materials, which are printed in Hebrew, English, and Russian.Local residents, used to the sometimes rough-and-tumble goings-on in the town’s city hall just up the street, can find refuge in the enjoyable events held at the cultural center.Heichal Hatarbut Beit Shemesh provides escapism at its best.

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Inside the unexpected cultural renaissance happening in Beit Shemesh

The commander of the IDF’s Battalion 101 in the Paratroopers Brigade revealed the complexity involved in West Bank operations during an interview with Walla published on Friday.The commander, referred to as Lt.-Col. R. summarized a recent, intense period of operations in an area where the proximity of Palestinian villages to Israeli communities is completely different from that faced by soldiers in Gaza or Lebanon.When asked what the greatest challenge for him in the sector was, he replied that “in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon, the sector boundaries are clear.”“You know what your vital assets are, you know what you need to defend, you know where the enemy is, and you know where you are,” he continued. “In the West Bank, how do you protect so many communities across such a large area?”He added that as a battalion commander, he was responsible for a large sector of territory spanning 20 kilometers by 20 kilometers. “The nearest company commander from the battalion headquarters is 40 minutes away,” he said. “In Gaza, if your subordinate encounters terrorists, you’re with him within a minute. I was in many situations, and in the West Bank, it’s different. You have to protect many vital assets.”<figure><img alt="IDF arrests two terrorists in West Bank during counterterrorisim operation, November 14, 2025." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/689998"></figure><h3>'No less complex than attacking deep inside Lebanon'</h3>According to Lt.-Col. R., “it’s a challenge no less complex than attacking deep inside Lebanon.”“So how do you protect so many vital assets across such a large area? You need every force with you to conduct itself at the level of a battalion commander in the field. You have no other option - you must trust it. Think about the fact that even for a company commander, it can take 15 minutes to reach an incident in his sector.”Over the past two months, the battalion carried out four operations, during which two terrorists were killed, and 26 suspects involved in terrorist activity were arrested.In addition, the battalion recently conducted an operation in which 40 wanted individuals were arrested overnight.In another operation in the village of Kafr Aqab, Lt. Col. R. recounted that “an entire battalion walked four kilometers through the village. That demonstrated governance. It sent the message.”Lt. Col. R. described another incident in which a terrorist attempted to carry out an attack in the settlement of Ateret. “The fighters were right near the entrance to the community. A patrol that rushed there within three minutes encountered the terrorist and killed him. Another terrorist tried to move up toward the farm - and he too was killed.”When asked how the West Bank sector looks now compared to past situations, and whether it is more or less volatile, Lt. Col. R. said that it is “not the West Bank [he] knew from the past.”Elaborating on the changing atmosphere, he said that “entering the refugee camps of Balata, Askar, and Jenin today is not the same as it used to be. In the past, we would enter with large forces, and today, a force under the command of a squad leader or a platoon commander carries out arrests in the casbah of Nablus,” asserting that “today, the IDF has freedom of action.”

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Paratrooper battalion commander reveals the complexity of operating in the West Bank

Soon after Sheldon Ritz made aliyah from South Africa, he began working at the Jerusalem Hilton before it became the David Citadel. Then he transferred to the King David Hotel, where he worked for many years, dealing with the diplomatic community and seeing to the needs of visiting heads of state, dignitaries, and celebrities.&nbsp;After that, he became general manager of the Vert Hotel, which had previously been the Crowne Plaza, and before that, the first Hilton hotel in Jerusalem, as well as the first hotel in that part of the city. Next came the Theatron Hotel, opposite the Jerusalem Theatre, the first venture into the hotel industry by the Hassid Brothers, who specialize in luxury residential complexes. They wooed Ritz away from the Vert to oversee the establishment of the Theatron and to take on the role of general manager responsible for both the hotel and the adjacent residential building, whose occupants benefit from the services of the hotel.When Ritz was at the Vert, some of the regular clientele who had long patronized the King David followed him, and continued to do so when he went to the Theatron, where after several months he stopped managing the hotel and continued to manage the residential complex while still spending time at the hotel every day.Now, after 33 years in the hotel industry, Ritz has started out on a new path. He has been appointed to oversee all the Israel staff of Australian billionaire Sir Frank Lowy. A Holocaust survivor, who fought in Israel’s War of Independence, the Czech-born Lowy later went to Australia, where he made his fortune. He visited Israel many times over the years, and returned in 2018 to live permanently in Tel Aviv, where he has business interests and also chairs the National Institute for Security Studies. He also donates substantially to causes throughout the country, including Jerusalem, where the National Library is among the recipients of his largesse.<h3>Recognizing genuine causes in a crowded fundraising landscape</h3>Despite the high cost-of-living increase with news bulletins referring to what people have to now do without, such as family vacations, social welfare and educational organizations continue like Oliver Twist to ask for more. There were huge fund-raising campaigns in December, with umpteen organizations sending out messages on different social media platforms telling recipients that this was their last chance to give in 2025.<figure><img alt="Jerusalem Mayor Moshe lion surrounded by members of the Hasid family and General Manager Sheldon Ritz at the ribbon cutting ceremiony marking the official opening of the Theatron hotel." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/542210"></figure>Now, in January 2026, the messages are repeating themselves with a slight twist: that recipients are being told that giving is a good way to start the new year. Yes, it is if you can afford it, and if there is truth to certain hard-luck stories such as 14 orphans left without one or both parents, or a poor bride whose wedding is tomorrow.If a family is poverty-stricken, why do the parents keep on bringing more children into the world? Birth control is permissible in Jewish law, once the family includes a boy and a girl. As for a bride, crowd funding for a dowry, and even a wedding reception, is an old Jewish tradition, but receiving identically worded notices purportedly on the day of or the day before the wedding raises suspicions as to where donations would really be going.Of course, there are many causes that are genuine, above board, and visible for anyone to see.For instance, there is Alyn Hospital, which is a pediatric and youth comprehensive rehabilitation hospital, whose donors include leading companies such as the Ashtrom Residential Group, Altshuler Shaham Investments, Harel Insurance, the Tidhar Group, the Dan Hotel chain, and Migdal Insurance.<h3>Chanie Canterman’s tireless efforts to support displaced families</h3>There's also the Friendship Circle run on behalf of children with disabilities by Chanie and Rabbi Eliahu Canterman, the directors of Chabad of Talbiyeh Mamilla, who toward the end of December announced that they had reached the halfway mark of their goal in their fund-raising campaign to help in social and physical rebuilding after more than two years of war and so many bereavements.This week, they announced that thanks to generous donors who had agreed to match all donations – and have indicated their willingness to keep doing so with regard to donations that come in after the conclusion of the campaign – the goal had been realized. In making the announcements , the Cantermans thanked all donors “for trusting us, believing in our work, and for helping us rebuild together.”Chanie Canterman is a bundle of energy, who has organized numerous Loaves of Love challah bakes for women who for security reasons were displaced from their homes; concerts; study circles; an emergency supply store which gave away good quality clothing, food supplies and toiletries to families who had been displaced; and, of course, social activities for children with disabilities to enable them to mix and integrate with their peer generation of mainstream volunteers who play games with them.Both the municipality and the President’s Office are calling for nominations for awards to be made to exceptional people. Chanie Canterman is deserving of awards from both entities. In addition to the above mentioned, she also has a large number of guests at her Shabbat table – and to add to her other qualities, she’s a fantastic cook.<h3>Shai Doron’s vision lives on at the Jerusalem zoo</h3>In ethics of the Fathers (Pirkei Avot), we are told “It is not your duty to complete the work, but neither are you at liberty to neglect it” (2:16). Anyone looking to see where this is applied should go to the Biblical Zoo and see the exciting new playground and adventure park named in memory of Shai Doron, the dynamic president of the Jerusalem Foundation, who died while on a fund-raising mission to London in July 2024. He was a disciple of the iconic Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek, who appointed him as director of the Biblical Zoo, a position that he held for 25 years.It stands to reason that Doron retained a special fondness for the zoo and was always thinking up ways to make it even more attractive than it is already. He had long dreamt of creating something really special for children who visit the zoo but was unable to see this project to its fruition. It was left to his successor, Arik Grebelsky. It is not the only project which the Jerusalem Foundation has named in Doron’s memory. There is also the Shai Doron Leadership Fellowship, honoring his belief in developing and supporting future leaders.greerfc@gmail.com

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Grapevine: Puttin' in the Ritz

When is jewelry not strictly jewelry? The answer to that improbable riddle might these days be found at the Museum for Islamic Art, in the form of the Melting Point exhibition currently on show there.The collection moniker is something of a spoiler, as it points clearly in the direction of the technical dynamics involved in the creative process and invokes the multifarious baggage backdrop to the stylistically expansive spread.It is not the artworks that initially grab your attention as you enter the display hall on the ground floor of the museum, simply because you don’t see them straight off. You don’t see the glass cabinets or their contents from the doorway due to the strategic placement of towering off-white drapes that descend from the high ceiling, imbuing the room with a cozy, almost homey ambiance.The décor catches you unawares and begs an explanation for the seemingly coy approach to the business of unveiling creations by 62 artists for our viewing pleasure. As the exhibition notes illuminate – provided by the Association for Contemporary Metalsmithing and Jewelry in Israel (ACMJI) – the curtains invite “the viewer to draw them aside,” thereby spawning “a transition from a public space to a personal and intimate one, shaping the visitor’s experience as a process of revelation echoing the moment of transformation.”&nbsp;One might add that this hands-on act engages more than the passive onlooker experience, however impressive, emotive, and inspiring the works on show may be.<figure><img alt="Eden Herman Rosenblum&amp;rsquo;s intriguing &amp;lsquo;Stoor&amp;rsquo; creation looks at the emotional upheaval of Oct. 7." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/700859"></figure>I tell exhibition producer Naama Ben-Porat that I don’t recall a showing of that magnitude in the artistic field in question in recent years. “This is a major event in general,” she concurs. “I don’t think there has ever been an event on this scale of contemporary jewelry in Israel, even at the Israel Museum.”<h3>Israel Museum is more well-known</h3>That is both surprising and entirely apt. While the Israel Museum is a far larger and better-known repository of art, the Museum for Islamic Art is a natural venue for such an offering. That premise is unequivocally corroborated when you cross the hallway to view the permanent exhibition that includes the Harari Collection, and you get up close to some delectable ornamental items dating back to the Iran and Egypt of the 10th-12th centuries.But the Melting Point exhibition is very much about the here and now. I put it to Ben-Porat that should one want to convey an overview of the state of jewelry-making in Israel these days, the museum on the corner of Hapalmach Street would be the place to visit. The producer is happy to go along with that supposition.“And we have jewelry artists at all stages of development. We have some very young artists who recently finished their formal studies, and we have quite a few masters in the field,” she adds, with more than a hint of collateral pride.I learn that it is not just about the individual artist’s handle on aesthetics, philosophy, or style. “There are works here from different disciplines,” the producer says, adding that the scale of size is an operational factor here, too. “The association, with its many members, incorporates all the academies in Israel active in this field. There’s Bezalel and Shenkar [College of Engineering, Design and Art], and the Tel Hai Arts Institute. They’re all represented here. And there are people who work outside the academic sphere but are part of the [jewelry artists’] community.”As you draw back the drapes, you discover a manifold slew of enticing pieces of all shapes, sizes, textures, hues, and intent. The ACMJI credo says it was founded “to establish and deepen public and professional knowledge in Israel of the field of jewelry-making and its cultural significance.” That is clearly a connecting thread among the hundred or so works in the showcases dotted around the room.The first exhibit you encounter as you take a clockwise tour of the draped layout summarily dispenses with the broadly accepted definition of jewelry.Avigail Capon’s An Open Call to Come Back Home is a generously proportioned effort made of uncoated iron wire. It looks like something between an unevenly fashioned vase and a lampshade made of a mesh of woven rattan.“The weft thread intertwines with the warp threads and rises in a circular movement to form a single, unified vessel,” Capon says. There’s a poignant subtext to the creation. “In a world shaped by separation and division, this work reminds me of unity. The connection between us is invisible, even though we all emerged from the same melting point.” That’s quite an uplifting notion to home in on in these post-Oct. 7 days.The conversation veers back toward the thematic arc, the interface not only between different materials and various stages of the magic of the creative process, but also between groups and their histories and modes of expression.“The concept of the melting point refers to the moment at which a metal reaches a precise temperature, yields to heat, and becomes liquid, flexible, and open to reshaping,” the association sets out in its declaration of intent.“It is a liminal threshold at which all possibilities are reopened. In the exhibition before you, this moment becomes a space in which identities, opinions, and experiences may shift, merge, and form a multidimensional picture.”Intercultural coalescence is a given in this part of the world and comes across in all the country’s numerous artistic disciplines. I catch a whiff of that as I view Dalia Sharon’s charming and unmissable evocative contribution that she calls The Homes and the Homes That Remain. It is an alluring, ostensibly simplistic affair made of recycled wrapping paper and red sewing thread. Oct. 7 also comes crashing into emotional view as Sharon expounds that the work “emerges from material memory, where it is reassembled from fragments of absence.”&nbsp;The human confluence dynamic and evolution are firmly lodged in the core. “The work weaves a living dialogue between nature and culture, past and present, and between what has been lost and what begins anew – a delicate process of disassembly and reconstruction, of loss and becoming.” That sensibility is, naturally and painfully, front and center of everyday life in Israel, and of the Jewish people in general.It also comes into the nuts and bolts of professions, trades, and crafts that are definitively portable and, as such, suit the likes of Jews who have led a nomadic existence across the millennia. “Historically, that has led to Jews taking up jewelry,” Ben-Porat notes. “That also means there is great variety [due to the cultural milieu and baggage collected by Jews on the move]. That also leads to cultural and ethnic melting points.”The latter, the producer says, continues to come to fruition in our multifaceted national mosaic. “There is clearly a very broad representation of all the ethnic subgroups that gravitated to this part of the world throughout history and created something new.” There were, however, philosophical and tangible constraints on the expansion of purview, which, says Ben-Porat, has undergone something of a metamorphosis.“Historically, jewelry has been narrowly defined and, by and large, involved the use of metals. In the past few decades, there has been a turning point; a new spirit has emerged. In terms of contemporary jewelry-making, there has been a significant release, freeing up the discipline in terms of the substances employed and the form, and conceptually, too. Some [of the artists] feed off a textual basis before they start creating. Others are craftsmen and women.”That much is patently clear from the current display at the museum, which crosses several disciplinary divides into areas one might not normally identify with jewelry-making. “It is not just about jewelry per se,” Ben-Porat observes.“The artists approach jewelry through the study of the body; some examine vessels and everyday implements we use. There is also the history of jewelry and, of course, each artist brings their own story to their work.” Naturally.And the gifts of Mother Nature come into the jewelry fray as they have done for millennia. One particularly striking and evocative item that caught my eye, and heart, was an untitled effort comprising three brooches, deftly crafted by Alma Lion. The barbaric Hamas attack down South and its continually chilling aftermath come back into view.It is a delicate, almost achingly appealing triad set that combines man-made endeavor with olive tree sprigs. “The brooches were created in October 2023. The encounter between the cold, sharp metal and the olive branch – a living material that holds within it the potential to break, distort, and change – emerged almost on its own,” Lion explains. “The symbolic meanings surface naturally in this meeting of strength and vulnerability, loss and hope.”Incorporating natural elements suggests that an ongoing, unfolding continuum is in store. Lion pleads guilty to the intentional subtext. “The work continues to change and carries the marks of time: a memory of what once was and a testimony to all that endures. It offers a renewed reflection on the reality that has formed – a layered space holding within it memory, rupture, and repair, transience and security – and raises questions of identity and the values that shape us, both as individuals and as a society.”Dania Chelminsky also takes a lead from the natural world in her Snail’s Dialogue work, for which she used sterling silver, shells, and cold enamel. But there are powerful kinetics behind the ostensibly harmonious endeavor, once again alluding to the most recent shock to our already shaken system. “My works respond to rupture, a ‘melting point’ in a turbulent, dynamic, and changing world,” Chelminsky declares. “They explore personal and national identity, migration, rootedness, and survival. I fuse materials from different worlds into new identities. The series deals with the ability to survive in extreme conditions.”Eden Herman Rosenblum takes a quizzical, somewhat dark-humored approach to the process behind her craft. The brass work comprises an off-kilter spiral-shaped base with spindly slim extensions rising heavenward. These are reflected in the name Herman Rosenblum chose for her efforts – Stoor, as in “roots” in reverse. That makes complete visual and corporeal sense. She also references the exhibition banner while addressing some immersive thoughts about where we are currently.“The ‘melting point’ marks a moment of transition, when a solid substance transforms and becomes open to change. Likewise, Israeli society is undergoing a societal melting point – a shift in its collective state of being. Roots, long symbols of stability and belonging, were uprooted and left exposed to the elements on Oct. 7. Yet from this uprooting transformation emerges roots growing upward and embody a human fusion, where upheaval turns into an opportunity for renewal and growth.”There are more positive vibes and hopeful pointers in a healthier, calmer direction elsewhere across the display. Einat Leader, for example, cites from biblical realms in the accompanying notes to her Wax Pit Birds arrangement. “A dove returning with an olive leaf in its mouth heralded a new, safe, and better life,” she says. “These birds symbolize locality, continuity, peace, and carry a prayer for the end of all wars.”That optimism or, simply, wishful expectancy for an upturn in our existential circumstances and quality of life here is reprised in Hope Necklace, created by Noa Liran. She follows a harmonious neighborly line. She says her necklace-shaped work, crafted in 2022, comprises “pumice stones that crossed the Mediterranean Sea from Greece to the shores of Israel, cotton thread, dried petals, [and] glue.”Liran waxes eloquently and poetically as she feeds off the properties of her chosen components. “In the fusion between light lava stones, air-soaked and porous, and butterflies made of orchid petals, a delicate promise of hope is woven.”Perhaps some of the visitors to Melting Point will come away with a smidgen of a morale boost or, at the very least, a much broader picture of jewelry.&nbsp;Melting Point closes on February 14.For more information:&nbsp;www.islamicart.co.il/ and&nbsp;001.cmji.org.il/en/melting-point/

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Melting Point at the Museum for Islamic Art shows what jewellery can be

It’s always a good idea to swing by Yad Lakashish and pick up some greeting cards for the year ahead. These include a unique greeting card of the Western Wall (NIS 28), a set of Ethiopian greeting cards (NIS 85), and cards depicting the beauty of Israeli nature (NIS 65).All cards are created by elderly Jerusalem men and women. Proceeds go toward supplementing their income.14 Shivtei Yisrael St. Call (02) 628-7829 for more. You can book a tour and meet the artists your support aids. Visit https://yad-la.com/en/home/ to see other items for sale.<h3>SATURDAY, JANUARY 10</h3>Enjoy live opera beamed from New York’s Metropolitan Opera House to the silver screen of the Jerusalem Cinematheque, and take in I Puritani by Vincenzo Bellini.Directed by Charles Edwards, this opera is a love story set against the backdrop of the English Civil War – prompting some Puritans to relocate from England to the New World.This was Bellini’s last opera; he died nine months after the premiere, at age 33. A technically difficult work, it has a happy ending (how splendid for an opera!).<figure><img alt="&amp;lsquo;After the Fifth Sun&amp;rsquo;" src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/700865"></figure>8 p.m. NIS 170. Italian with English subtitles. 11 Hebron Rd. Call (02) 565-4333 to book.<h3>SUNDAY, JANUARY 11</h3>Watch the 2024 film Reading ‘Lolita’ in Tehran by Israeli director Eran Riklis. Based on the 2003 same-titled book by Azar Nafisi, the film follows Nafisi’s bold attempt to lead a clandestine book club for Iranian women, where the great literary works of the West might be read and discussed.The Iranian regime takes literary matters seriously, as Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses, can testify, mostly due to his efforts to stay alive after Ayatollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa calling for his murder.8:30 p.m. In English and Farsi. English subtitles are used when Farsi is spoken. NIS 35. Cinema by Sam Spiegel, 3 Menora St. Visit cinema.jsfs.co.il to book.<h3>MONDAY, JANUARY 12</h3>Start 2026 by dropping by the Russian-language bookstore Babel and picking up the English edition of Tired Truths by Victor Shenderovich. A Russian-language satirist and anti-Putin activist, this Jewish creator currently lives in Israel. This is a good way to get to know his witty aphorisms translated into English by Marian Schwartz, with illustrations by Viktor Bogorad.31 King George St. Call 054-206-7957 for more.<h3>TUESDAY, JANUARY 13</h3>Head to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Givat Ram campus and listen to A German Requiem by Johannes Brahms, performed by the Jerusalem Street Orchestra, with the lavish stained glass window crafted by Mordechai Ardon serving as a mystical backdrop.Baritone Yair Poloshook and soprano Tal Ganor will take to the stage to intone the musical expression of grief and hope.The Germanic aspect in the work’s title is linguistic, as Brahms opted to turn to the Lutheran tradition and not the Latin requiem. He avoided any mention of Jesus, to boot.There was an overwhelming demand for tickets when the piece was performed in October. This is a second chance to experience this musical work in an unforgettable location.8 p.m. NIS 120 per regular ticket; tickets are also offered at NIS 30. Patrons can also pay more than the regular cost to show their support. To book, visit eventer.co.il/brahmsrequiem.<h3>WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14</h3>Step into the Leo Baeck Institute and hear a panel discuss the life and oeuvre of artist Yosl Bergner, marking 105 years since his birth. The panel will include curator Ruth Direktor, curator Carmela Rubin, and culture critic Ariel Hirschfeld.Bergner was born in 1920 in Vienna; his father was Yiddish-language poet Melech Ravitch.&nbsp;Bergner grew up in Warsaw and made aliyah in 1948 from Australia. He quickly became one of the better-known painters and set designers during Israel’s early years. He was especially hailed for his profound understanding of Jewish destiny.7 p.m. 33 Bustanai St. In Hebrew. Free. Pre-registration is required. Call (02) 563-3790 to book. It is possible to watch the panel discussion online. Visit https://leobaeck.org/?lang=en for more.<h3>THURSDAY, JANUARY 15</h3>Enter the Machol Shalem Dance Center and watch After the Fifth Sun, a new dance by Ofra Idel. The work is based on the Aztec cosmic myth of our world having gone through four cycles of birth and death, with our own times being part of the fifth sun – Huitzilopochtli – which requires blood sacrifices to keep the sun burning bright and sustain life.&nbsp;Idel ventures beyond that ancient tale to explore what happens when that last sun is blotted out. In the twilight zone, four women survivors are poised between darkness and light, and strive to move toward a yet unborn new order.8:30 p.m. 3 Haparasa St. NIS 65. One-hour performance. Call 050-641-1334 to book.Throwing a special event? Opening an art exhibition or a new bar? Bringing in a guest speaker to introduce a fascinating topic? Email hagay_hacohen@yahoo.com and let In Jerusalem know about it. Write “Jerusalem Highlights” in the subject line. Although all information is welcome, we cannot guarantee it will be featured in the column.

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Jerusalem Highlights: January 9-15

A 46-year-old kitesurfer died, and two others were injured at Tayo Beach in Bat Yam due to extreme winds registered on Friday.The three surfers allegedly lost control of their kites due to unusually strong winds and were thrown approximately 150 meters into the rocks along the coastline.According to statements from Magen David Adom (MDA), paramedics found the man unconscious, without a pulse or breathing.&nbsp;After performing prolonged resuscitation efforts, they pronounced him dead at the scene.&nbsp;The other two surfers sustained moderate injuries.Police officers from the Bat Yam station stated they are on-site and investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.<figure><img alt="Magen David Adom (MDA) on the scene of a kitesurfing incident in Bat Yam." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/701199"></figure><h3>Extreme winds across Israel</h3>The dangerous conditions are attributed to a widespread winter system producing coastal gusts of 60–70 km/h, with winds expected to strengthen throughout Friday evening.Dr. Amir Givati, head of the Israel Meteorological Service, warned that gusts could reach 100 to 115 km/h along the coast and in lowland areas, and 90 to 100 km/h in the mountains, with conditions expected to ease overnight. Authorities urged the public to avoid flood-prone roads, secure loose objects, and follow emergency instructions.“Winds will peak from midday into the evening along the coast and lowlands,” Dr. Givati said, adding that calmer conditions are expected only overnight.Hodaya Ran, and Yoav Etiel contributed to this report.

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Fatal kitesurfing accident at Bat Yam’s Tayo Beach: One dead, two injured due to extreme winds

‘I truly believe humor is a tool. It’s a tool that helps people release emotional tension, a tool that helps people feel safe. Very often, when someone tells me a joke or makes me laugh, even about something very small, it feels like a gesture – like they’ve seen me and said, ‘I want to make you feel a little better,’” said Zohar Shahar, one of the co-directors of Bella, a very funny and audacious new Israeli comedy, with a touch of drama, that dares to find laughs in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It opened in theaters around the country on Thursday.That Bella makes fun of a subject so serious that it’s virtually taboo to laugh about is not the only unusual aspect of the film. There is also the fact that Shahar is Jewish, her co-director, Jamal Khalaile, is Palestinian, and that the production features a mixed Jewish-Arab cast and crew.&nbsp;So by its very nature, the film challenges those who believe that the two groups can never live together.Bella, which premiered at the Jerusalem Film Festival last summer, tells an intricate story that works on two levels. On the surface, it follows two couples, one Arab and one Jewish, and a dove. Yaki (Elisha Banai) and his adopted Arab brother, Bilal (Hanna Birakh), meet again for the first time in years after the death of their father, Yitzhak.&nbsp;Yaki and his father had long shared a contentious relationship. Yitzhak never supported Yaki’s ambition to be a musician, and Yaki did not share his father’s passion for animals, particularly the doves he raised. After Yaki moved to Belgium, the two barely kept in touch.When Yaki returns to Israel for the funeral with his girlfriend, Limor (Jade Daiches Weeks), he reluctantly reconnects with Bilal, a Palestinian orphan whom Yitzhak had taken in.<figure><img alt="Co-directors Zohar Shahar and Jamal Khalaile." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/701027"></figure>Bilal had been far closer to their father and shared his love of animals, working alongside him for years. Now living in the West Bank, Bilal works in a pet shop but dreams of opening his own store. He is married, and his wife, Narjis (Asheel Farhat), is desperate for him to find a stable livelihood.Both couples urgently need money, but all Yitzhak leaves behind is a dove named Bella.&nbsp;Yaki initially tells Bilal he can keep her until he learns that the bird is worth $30,000 and that a wealthy buyer, a sheikh from the United Arab Emirates, is traveling to Jerusalem to purchase her at a fair.&nbsp;Narjis does not believe Yaki is entitled to the dove, and she brings Bella with her to a family wedding in Area A of the West Bank, the one under both Palestinian administrative and police control. Yaki and Limor follow in an attempt to reclaim the bird, finding themselves in a series of increasingly tense situations.Beneath the surface, the story functions as a biblical allegory about the eternal rivalry between two brothers, with the white dove symbolizing an elusive peace.Yet the film is so consistently funny that the symbolism rarely feels heavy-handed, emerging only occasionally to underline moments of drama.<h3>World's most acclaimed filmmakers among the producers</h3>Another unusual fact about the film is that among its producers are Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne, the Belgian directing duo who are among the world’s most acclaimed filmmakers. This is the first time they have chosen to support an Israeli movie. Given recent calls worldwide to boycott Israeli filmmaking, it can hardly be a coincidence that they have made this choice right now.The film is so much fun and so original that it would have been playing at international film festivals at any other time, but in the current political climate, it has been shown abroad only at a handful of Jewish film festivals, among them the Other Israel.For Shahar and Khalaile, the choice to explore the conflict through comedy was deliberate and carefully considered.“We were always aiming for comedy,” Shahar said. “But in the writing, it was more important to first bring in the dramatic complexity, and only then allow the comedy to emerge. It was a process of building the characters, really feeling them, and only afterward shaping it in a more comic direction.”Shahar, who lives in Wadi Ara, is keenly aware that not everyone feels comfortable laughing at a reality shaped by conflict. That discomfort, she said, became part of the directing duo’s challenge.“Our deep intention was to create a space where viewers from both of our peoples could sit together in front of the same film and, just for a moment, laugh together.”Khalaile, who is based in Acre, has witnessed that effect firsthand at mixed screenings where Jewish and Palestinian audiences watched the film together. “Suddenly this side is laughing, then suddenly that side is laughing,” he recalled. “Different moments, different people laughing. It was really beautiful.”Instead of creating a typical political narrative about victims and persecutors, the filmmakers deliberately grounded Bella in the characters’ lives. “We focused on the personal stories,” Khalaile said. “Everything happens at eye level. The big politics aren’t really there. It’s about family relationships, couplehood, [and] what happens between parents and children.”That choice, he explained, was born partly out of discomfort with films that offer black-and-white moral narratives.“From my experience watching films like that in the past, you come out feeling blocked emotionally,” he said. “It becomes: am I the victim or am I guilty? And there’s nowhere to go from there. We wanted to offer a new space – one where people could pause and think.”The biblical undertones were intentional, though neither director wanted them to overwhelm the narrative. Khalaile acknowledged that the film draws on mythological structures shared by Jewish and Arab cultures alike.“We chose a father named Yitzhak, with two sons,” he said. “We didn’t overthink it, but there were signposts from the beginning. Both societies are traditional, Semitic societies that sit on the same myths.”Shahar said the biblical echoes allowed the filmmakers to speak indirectly about the present.“We wanted these themes to resonate within our narrative space,” she said. “The two brothers – Yaki and Bilal – are fighting over a dove, but really, each of them is trying to create a better family, a better future, a better existence.They can’t move forward because they can’t make peace with their past… In order to build a good home, a person first needs to make peace within their soul with their parents.”The two have worked on the film for over a decade, which helped them develop perspective on the material. The movie was filmed not long before October 7, 2023, and a few lines of dialogue were added to refer to the war in post-production. It was important for the directors to dedicate the film to the memory of Yaniv Sarudi, a young producer who was killed at the Nova Festival as he helped many to escape.When asked whether releasing Bella now was an act of courage, Khalaile agreed, but added that timing was almost beside the point. “We’ve been working on this since 2015,” he said. “And Zohar first wrote it in 2008 or 2009 as a student project.”“The violent reality around us will always give us a reason not to speak,” Shahar said. “It will always give us a reason not to say how we think life here should look. This film is a kind of proposal for a humane, shared existence. There is probably never a ‘right’ time to release something so openly comic and human.”The origins of Bella are deeply personal for Shahar. She began writing the script while her children were attending a bilingual Jewish-Arab school run by the Hand in Hand association.&nbsp;“Questions of Jewish-Arab encounter, Israeli and Palestinian identity, and what you’re allowed to talk about – and what you’re not –these were the questions I was living with,” she said.Early versions of the script, written while she studied at the Sam Spiegel Film and Television School in Jerusalem, attracted attention and even won awards, but something felt wrong. “It took me time to understand that I was writing about two Jewish couples, even though one had Arab names,” she said. “Having Arab friends didn’t mean I could write about an Arab Palestinian family on my own. Their identity is too complex.”That realization led her to stop working on the project until she received an unexpected phone call.“A man said, ‘Hello, my name is Jamal. I’m a filmmaker looking for a Jewish partner to work with. I got your number from a friend.’ It felt like the film itself was calling me and saying, ‘Don’t give up.’”From that point, collaboration became the foundation of the film.“We rebuilt the script from scratch together,” Shahar said. “The process was first and foremost about getting to know each other deeply, talking about things we couldn’t talk about with anyone else. From that, all the layers of the film grew: the family dynamics, the sensitivities, the unresolved pain.”Both directors stress that Bella is not meant to offer solutions. But they hope it can change how people feel – if only briefly.&nbsp;“We want people to leave with a sense of hope,” Khalaile said. “That’s how we experienced the film working.”Shahar said, “If the film can be one more tool people hold onto to start talking again, then it’s done what it was meant to do.”Khalaile agreed, saying, “Maybe it can be a small point of light in this tunnel.”

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How a Jew and an Arab made a comedy about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The big news in the Israeli television and streaming scene is that HBO Max, the global streaming service of Warner Bros. Discovery, will launch as a stand-alone service in Israel on January 13, and will also be available via Yes.HBO Max offers several subscription plans starting at NIS 49.90 per month. Yes subscribers will receive six months of HBO Max for free, after which they can continue the service through Yes for NIS 49.90 per month.&nbsp;Details about HBO Max are available at hbomax.com, and information about subscribing through Yes can be found at yes.co.il. Yes announced the HBO Max launch in a festive event this week, which included an appearance by pop diva Noa Kirel, who is the subject of a new Yes documentary and who sang for the assembled guests.HBO, which later became HBO Max, helped launch the current golden age of television in the late 20th century withThe Sopranos. It went on to create iconic series such as The Wire, Sex and the City, Game of Thrones, Euphoria (a remake of an Israeli series), True Blood, Six Feet Under, and True Detective, earning its famous slogan, “It’s not TV. It’s HBO,” as its series often proved more influential than big-screen films.<figure><img alt="&amp;lsquo;One Battle After Another.&amp;rsquo;" src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/701037"></figure>In recent years, the service has added series such as The White Lotus, House of the Dragon, and The Last of Us.Until now, HBO Max series were available in Israel only sporadically, often long after their US premieres, sometimes years later, across various platforms and channels. With this launch, HBO Max in Israel, either directly or through Yes, will combine the best of HBO, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Television, DC, and Max Originals. The service will include all of the recent HBO Max series mentioned above.Upcoming series include A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a Game of Thrones prequel, and the Emmy-winning medical drama The Pitt, starring Noah Wyle, from Max Originals. Recent blockbuster films such as Superman, A Minecraft Movie, and Sinners will also be included. The catalog will feature The Batman, Dune, and Harry Potter films, as well as Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Rick and Morty, Veep, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and a wide range of documentaries and unscripted programming. Israeli viewers will also have full access to HBO’s classic library, including The Wire. The arrival of HBO Max is poised to be a game-changer for home entertainment in Israel.<h3>‘One Battle After Another’</h3>With so many good movies out there, it can feel unnecessary to dwell on a bad one. But when that lousy movie is winning awards and is widely seen as a frontrunner in the Oscar race, it warrants attention. The film in question is Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, which has just become available to rent on Apple TV+ in Israel.If you missed it during its theatrical run, you might be eager to catch up at home. I found the film not only predictable and boring, but also infuriating, because it celebrates the worst excesses and narcissism of armchair American leftists, doing so at the expense of believable characters and credible situations.Anderson was once a director whose films I looked forward to, particularly early movies such as Magnolia and Boogie Nights. In One Battle After Another, however, the problems are with the opening scenes of the movie. The film is a very loose adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland, and its opening scenes are set around 2010, depicting a left-wing cell blowing up an immigrant detention center on the southern US border.But Barack Obama was president then and the large-scale raids on migrants that the movie depicts resemble the Trump administration’s policies, not Obama’s. So, what’s the point here? No one who loves the movie seems to have an answer to this conundrum. The early scenes focus on Perfidia (Teyana Taylor), a gorgeous young Black woman who is handy with a shotgun, and her boyfriend, Bob (a constantly befuddled-looking Leonardo DiCaprio), who is a nerdy demolitions expert.During the attack, Perfidia encounters Col. Steven J. Lockjaw (Sean Penn), an openly racist military officer. She teases him sexually, and the two eventually have sex. The implication is that despite his racism, Lockjaw is aroused by Black women, particularly by a woman like Perfidia, who dominates him (irony alert).Perfidia is destined for revolutionary greatness, and the most iconic shot in the movie shows her firing a rifle dressed in a crop top that shows off the pregnancy resulting from her encounter with Lockjaw. After she gives birth, it’s the docile Bob who raises the little girl, while Perfidia takes off to fight the good fight, gets arrested, turns in all her former comrades to Lockjaw, and goes into witness protection.Fast forward about 17 years, and the baby, Willa (Chase Infiniti), has grown into a beautiful high-school student who is a martial-arts expert, living underground with Bob, now a substance-abusing nebbish.Meanwhile, Lockjaw yearns to join a secret society of wealthy, racist baddies who control everything, and uses another immigration raid as a pretext for tracking down Willa, whom he wants to kill to destroy the evidence of his affair with a Black woman. This last plot device makes no sense at all, since as the movie depicts it, Willa and Bob have new identities and are living off the grid. How would the white supremacists ever find out Perfidia and Lockjaw had a baby?But the plot holes are the least of it. What has made the movie such a critical hit is that the characters act out armchair leftists’ fantasy of “resistance.” Never mind that in reality, the #NoKings movement manages to mobilize Americans to protest just a handful of times a year, and that there is no real armed resistance to Trump, who was not installed by an evil cabal like the one depicted in the movie but came to power because he was elected.The campus pro-Hamas crowd and other keyboard warriors may celebrate when gunmen shoot people to death at the Jewish Museum in Washington or kill a CEO &nbsp;in New York, but that’s likely as close as America will ever get to any kind of left-wing revolutionary activity.There is certainly a movie to be made mocking the American Left, as Jean-Luc Godard poked fun at the self-importance and incompetence of middle-class French revolutionaries in movies such as La Chinoise.But while Anderson makes light of the cranky, stoned Bob in a genial way, there is only one scene that clearly ridicules the revolutionaries themselves, when Bob cannot remember his cell’s password and is scolded by an officious older white man on the phone.All of the Black, mixed-race, and Latino revolutionaries are portrayed as noble and luminous, with the sole exception of Perfidia, whose flaw lies in her sexual relationship with Lockjaw.There is one effective action sequence toward the end of the film, much of which recalls the Coen brothers’ No Country for Old Men. Beyond that, there is little to recommend in this muddled and self-indulgent movie.

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HBO Max arrives in Israel while Anderson’s film sparks controversy

The IDF on Friday announced a series of strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon "in response to Hezbollah’s continued violations of the ceasefire understandings."The IDF also announced that, in collaboration with the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), it had struck several Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip on Thursday night.The strikes targeted Hamas terrorists, rocket launch sites, and additional terrorist infrastructure.The strikes were made in response to a failed projectile launch on Thursday from the Gaza City area, aimed towards Israel. This attempted launch was in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.<figure><img alt="THIS PICTURE taken from Israel's border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during an Israeli strike on Gaza on July 17, 2025." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/701149"></figure><h3>IDF responds to settler violence in West Bank</h3>Additionally, the IDF on Thursday night responded to a report that Israeli citizens had vandalized a Palestinian school building and its contents.Soldiers were deployed to the scene on the outskirts of Jalud, a village under the jurisdiction of the Samaria Brigade, but found no suspects.Additional reports were received of Israeli citizens vandalizing Palestinian property, including setting cars on fire.

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IDF operates against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon following ceasefire violations

Many Jerusalemites have wondered what was behind the city’s spurt of urban renewal, with scores of new residential, office, and commercial towers either under construction, recently completed, or in the pipeline. Could it be that Mayor Moshe Lion envisages that a large swathe of the capital will be dedicated to an embassy row, in which case, he wants to upgrade as much of the city as possible to be worthy of all foreign heads of state, government, and other dignitaries who will be among the official visitors to the city?With the announcement by Samoa that it will open an embassy in Jerusalem this year to join the US, Guatemala, Kosovo, Honduras, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and Paraguay, and the strong possibility that Somaliland may also do so, it’s quite possible that other governments will move their embassies to Jerusalem in order to be closer to all government offices, the Knesset, the National Library, the Israel Museum, and other important venues.Moreover, some of the new towers at the entrance to the city are multipurpose, allowing for embassies and residences to be located on different floors in the same building or in buildings adjacent to each other. As several towers near the entrance to the city are either completed or in an advanced stage of construction, to move the embassies into one of them would be time-saving for ambassadors and embassy staff, particularly as the Foreign Ministry and some other government ministries are within easy walking distance.Following the US abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, with a view to restoring democracy to Venezuela, Israel hoped to revive diplomatic relations with Venezuela, which were severed in 2009. Sadly, there are certain quarters in Venezuela that claim that Israel had a hand in the abduction, so diplomacy is presently on hold.That’s kind of a pity, as Venezuela was one of the 33 UN member countries that on November 29, 1947, voted in favor of the partition of Palestine. A lot can change between now and November 2027 when Israel celebrates the 80th anniversary of the vote.<figure><img alt="Tom Hadani Nave." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/701050"></figure><h3>Gideon Sa'ar flies Arkia to Somaliland</h3>It's rare when countries that do not have airline agreements with each other allow the air carriers of one to land in the other. One of those few exceptions occurred this week when Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar flew to Somaliland from Israel.No, he didn’t use the official Wing of Zion plane, which is used by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Nor did he use El Al, which, though privatized, is still recognized as Israel’s national carrier. He flew with Arkia, whose top people knew well in advance of the flight and managed to keep the information under wraps in a country in which few things remain secret for long.Arrangements were very complex, but they worked out in the long run. Arkia CEO Oz Berlowitz said afterward that he was grateful for the trust the Foreign Ministry had placed in Arkia to carry the foreign minister and those who went with him on such a delicate and sensitive mission.<h3>Haredi draft resistance and rising internal violence</h3>Among the roles of a spiritual leader is to bring about peace and reconciliation. Those rabbis who are encouraging young haredi men to resist the draft are doing anything but that. To call police “Nazis,” to invoke the Holocaust in their anti-draft campaigns, to cast a blind eye on attacks on Arab bus drivers, and to incite violence could lead to a civil war.It’s bad enough that Israel has to fight those enemies who seek not only the extinction of the state but also of all the Jewish people; the draft dodgers and the hilltop youth pose an even greater problem, because they are the enemy from within. Arab bus drivers who have been physically attacked are frequently interviewed on the radio, and their reports indicate that the culprits come from two strata of society – the low socio-economic youth and the haredi youth.In both cases, they give a bad name to the communities from which they originate, and innocent members of those communities are unfortunately tarred with the same brush. This week, an anti-draft demonstration in Jerusalem resulted in the death of a 14-year-old boy, Yosef Eisenthal, who was caught up in a violent group.<figure><img alt="Elay Koren." src="https://images.jpost.com/image/upload/f_auto,fl_lossy/c_fill,g_faces:center,h_537,w_822/701051"></figure>Eisenthal lost his balance in the crush of the mob, fell under a bus, and was dragged for some distance. A KAN 11 crew headed by Haim Goldich was also attacked by the mob, even though, according to Goldich, they were standing on the sidelines. One of them had to be treated in the hospital after being struck in the head by a rock.As unpleasant as they may be, protest demonstrations are legitimate so long as they are non-violent. But when a passer-by is struck by a thrown object, the natural instinct is to turn around and retaliate. As for bus drivers, some of them simply keep going in an effort to disperse the crowd that is obstructing their route, or because they are afraid.Everyone has a snapping point, and a bus driver who has been attacked on several occasions because of his religion or his ethnicity will eventually lose control. One has to wonder whether some yeshivot are teaching Torah or teaching racism. And, of course, those rabbis who incite will never be arrested.<h3>University to open in Kiryat Shmona</h3>THERE WAS some good news for beleaguered Kiryat Shmona this week when Education Minister Yoav Kisch, together with Kiryat Shmona Mayor Avihay Shteren, announced that a university would be opened there.During the most recent war period, an extremely large percentage of Kiryat Shmona residents were evacuated, and less than 50% have returned. Of those who have returned, many have expressed the feeling that the government does not care about Kiryat Shmona and that very few ministers or members of Knesset have come to see what’s happening in Kiryat Shmona or to ask what’s needed.Of those who have not yet returned, few are expected to come back. When Kisch came to Kiryat Shmona and met with Stern, the two discussed the possibility of a university in the belief that with additional academic outlets and opportunities in the North, more people would return, and young people would not leave the region after their army service to study elsewhere in the country.Kisch said that he intends to convene a meeting of the Council for Higher Education as soon as possible in order to move quickly towards constructing the infrastructure for the campus.<h3>Old and new forms of antisemitism</h3>“Antisemitism old and New: The Current Crisis and Its Origins” is the subject of an international panel discussion at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday, January 21, at 7.30 p.m. Held under the auspices of the Austrian, Canadian, and Swiss embassies, the discussion will take place at the Cymbalista Synagogue and Heritage Center, where the historical and political contexts for understanding today’s antisemitism crises will be explored.Leading experts on Europe and North America will discuss the ideological frameworks that have shaped contemporary debate. Speakers include Prof. Dorit Geva of the University of Vienna, Prof. Christina Späti of the University of Fribourg and UniDistance Switzerland, and Dr. Yoav Fromer of Tel Aviv University. Professor Julie Cooper of TAU will be the moderator. The event will be in English. Admission is free of charge, but registration is required.<h3>National Library announces new cohort for Pardes Literary Incubator</h3>The National Library of Israel has announced the four authors selected to take part in the eighth cohort of the Pardes Literary Incubator. This prestigious fellowship program is intended for Israeli writers who have written and published a debut book in prose during the past five years. The Pardes fellows receive a monthly stipend of NIS 4,000 over a seven-month period.The selected authors will participate in workshops led by creators, scholars, and NLI staff and will familiarize themselves with various NLI collections. In addition, they will be featured in special cultural events at the library.The Pardes fellowship at the National Library was created to support Israeli literature in challenging times and to serve as an incubator and home for new works, said Tsila Hayun, head of the Culture and Visitors Department at the National Library of Israel.Oren Weinberg, CEO of the National Library, noted that over the program’s 12-year history, the achievements of its participants testify to the strong impact the program has had on them individually, as well as on the wider local literary scene.The Pardes program is made possible with the generous support of Pamela and George Rohr, Yair Cohen, and an anonymous donor from Israel.The adjudicating panel was headed by Prof. Ariel Hirschfeld.The four winners are Elay Koren, whose debut book of short stories, Good Strong Thick Stupefying Incense-Smoke, was published by Petel Publishing; Micky Maltz, whose debut book, Love in the Suburbs, was published in 2024 by Shtaim Publishing and received favorable reviews in Israeli literary supplements; Tom Hadani Nave, whose book, Splash Zone, was published by Yedioth Books in 2024; and Motti Perry, whose volume, Book of Parceled Land, was published by Kinneret Zmora in 2023.greerfc@gmail.com

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Grapevine, January 9, 2025: An embassy row in Jerusalem?