Beitar Illit Rises Up as Country Locks Down

Residents of the ultra-Orthodox city in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, insist that "decision-makers are only human beings," as they prepare to resist lockdown | “Laws that cannot be enforced and do not make sense, are null and void"

Lockdown Returns in Time for Holidays

Rosh Hashanah services limited to 20 or outdoors | Family gatherings risk being fined 500 shekels per person | Many families celebrated the holiday a day earlier, risking grandparents' health

Histadrut Fought Public Sector Wage Cuts, and Won

Histadrut chair Arnon Bar David: "We will not allow the public sector to pay the price for government incompetence” | After unions declared a labor dispute, the Treasury was forced to reconsider

After Eilat, Israel Reckons with Rape Culture

Gang rape in Eilat proves to be a reflection of deeper issues of violence against women | “It's about using force, violence and relationships. It's their conscious choice not to ask themselves questions, to look at sex as something that 'I deserve', that I should take at the expense of women”

Lab Technicians, Essential during Virus, Win Pay Raise after 8-Day Strike

"Today, lab technicians receive an insultingly low paycheck. After 30 years of neglect, our major achievement is reaching an agreement which includes a commitment to raise wages for all lab technicians"

Minimum wage is not enough - Israel will legislate definition of 'living wage'

The definition, intended to protect debtors in insolvency cases, may create a precedent applicable to labor disputes | The 'minimum living wage' will create a legal definition of basic needs that should be available to all

Back to school during the pandemic: innovating in times of crisis.

Yeruham, a development town in the southern periphery of Israel, forges ahead with a creative education program | Ido Fromer, director of the city's Education Department: "We need to push the limits and create learning spaces with technologies like 3D printers and robots adapted to the 21st century"

Histadrut defies Finance Minister over threats to public sector wages.

Histadrut chair: "Governments around the world have saluted their workers, while the Israeli government has attacked its own employees. We will not allow the government to make cuts to wages or pension plans"

The Miracle of the Tomb of Prophet Nahum.

The 2,600-year-old tomb, avoiding destruction by ISIS after standing neglected for years, was recently saved thanks to a massive renovation involving the Kurdish government, U.S government and the Assyrian church | Behind its walls lay buried the memories of Kurdistan’s Jewry and their Assyrian neighbors

Worldwide, countries learned that public sector wage cuts damage economic growth - only Israel hasn't received the memo

Israel's Ministry of Finance announced plans to reduce wages for public sector employees, proving that Israel hasn't learned the lessons of the 2008 recession | World Bank: “Protecting all jobs, public and private, is a priority right now”

The Potential: 2 million Muslim tourists a year

The emerging agreement opens the door to Muslim 'pilgrimage' to Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque - the third holiest place in the world for Muslims | Tour guides who are already guiding thousands of Muslims a year talk about the tremendous potential, and what it will take to realize it

School support staff threatened to strike - and funds were found for educational enrichment programs

Union success story: School assistants, maintenance staff and secretaries threatened to go on strike | Soon after, a budgetary source was found for enrichment programs for students in Israel's social and geographic periphery

Threatened budget cuts cancelled - a sign of fundamental change?

Cuts had been announced in order to fund labor contract with social workers' union | Funds for the contract will now be included in the coronavirus emergency spending plan | The deal followed a 16 day strike of all social services in Israel

35 percent of Israel's COVID-19 emergency aid funds have yet to be spent.

12.5 billion shekels of the 35 billion shekel emergency aid package that was meant to be utilized by July 31 as a life line for Israel's economy and citizens, never left the treasury | Worse, due to the failure to pass a budget, spending in non coronavirus-related areas has decreased

Evidence of prehistoric human migration route from Africa discovered in Israel.

A flint tools-carving site, the northern-most evidence to date of modern man's migration path from Africa, was discovered near Dimona | The excavation operation provided rare COVID-19-safe summer jobs for local teens