Jerusalem Controversy

Getting tired of Netflix, online learning and doing house chores during the coronavirus quarantine? Try taking a virtual museum tour from your home. Israel’s museums are using the web to offer cultural options during the coronavirus lockdown, hosting virtual tours of current exhibits, activities for the young and old, talks…

In a dramatic move, the Defense Ministry announced Tuesday that April’s national Memorial Day ceremonies will take place without audiences and that the smaller events planned for municipal cemeteries across the country will be canceled outright, in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Israel’s Memorial Day — known as Yom Hazikaron…

A health minist­ry direct­ive orders people to stay at home unless going out to buy food or medici­ne A woman at Jerusalem's nearly deserted Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site, after Israel has imposed some of the world's tightest restrictions to contain the new coronavirus. PHOTO: AFP JERUSALEM: Israel on Tuesday barred…

The authorities at the Western Wall holy site in Jerusalem have asked worshipers who arrive there not to kiss the stones of the wall amid efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic. Kissing the stones is customary among worshipers at the Western Wall — the holiest place where Jews can pray —…

By Rami Ayyub Mar 16, 2020Jerusalem - The Jewish faithful should refrain from kissing the stones of the Western Wall, the chief rabbi of the Jerusalem site said on Monday, adding to measures that religious authorities have taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Jews pray en masse at…

By NASSER KARIMI and JOSEPH KRAUSS TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The official leading Iran’s response to the new coronavirus acknowledged Sunday that the pandemic could overwhelm health facilities in his country, which is battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East while under heavy U.S. sanctions. Elsewhere in the region,…

The official leading Iran's response to the new coronavirus acknowledged Sunday that the pandemic could overwhelm health facilities in his country, which is battling the worst outbreak in the Middle East while under heavy US sanctions. Iran's Health Ministry reported another 113 deaths, bringing the country's total death toll to…

With Jerusalem’s tourist scene decimated just before Passover and Easter, its tourist chiefs are launching an online platform to give people a “virtual” experience in the city. Museum staff will run trips inside empty museums, accompanied by cameras instead of tour groups, and guides will do the same on the…

JERUSALEM — Religious authorities moved to cancel or limit weekly prayer gatherings across the Middle East on Friday to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus as they encouraged the faithful to pray for those afflicted by the global pandemic. Iran, which is mired in the worst outbreak in…

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday sought to reassure Israelis that the raft of restrictions imposed to try and stem the spread of the coronavirus would not affect the food supply, saying there was “no reason to storm supermarkets.” Netanyahu’s comments came after he met with ministers and senior officials…