Churchill Israel Tours, Matt Churchill

09/07/2024

Manofim, meant to have opened October 8, moves annual event to summer and brings 'Believe' to King David's Tomb on historic hilltop

07/07/2024

07/07/2024

02/07/2024

“I trust Israel, for I have faith in the Jewish people. Let Israel be given a chance, let hatred and danger be removed from her horizons, and there will be peace in and around the Holy Land.”

Elie Wiesel passed away eight years ago today.

May his memory be a blessing.

Elie Wiesel in Israel in 1981, photo by Dan Hadani, the Dan Hadani Collection, the Pritzker Family National Photography Collection, the National Library of Israel

30/06/2024

28/06/2024

"…if you don't laugh you're going to cry and never stop crying - that's probably what's responsible for the Jews having developed such a great sense of humor. The people who had the greatest reason to weep, learned more than anyone else how to laugh.”

“Look at Jewish history. Unrelieved lamenting would be intolerable. So for every ten Jews beating their breasts, God designated one to be crazy and amuse the breast-beaters. By the time I was five I knew I was that one.”

- Mel Brooks

Mazel tov Mel on your 98th birthday!

Photo: A. Currell

10/06/2024

10/06/2024

Hebron Vibes

07/06/2024

To mark Jerusalem Day, we speak with the 'Jerusalem Through the Ages' author and learn about the archaeological record of the peoples who have resided in the Holy City

07/06/2024

The Megiddo Mosaic, discovered in 2005 on the grounds of a prison in northern Israel, to get first public showing at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC

06/06/2024

Despite security threats and concerns over provocations, Israeli officials say goal is to bring home 4-5 medals at 2024 games, upping state grant to gold medalists to NIS 1 million

05/06/2024

Splashing Around At Ein Gedi

05/06/2024

The Librarians | The National Library of Israel

03/06/2024

Looking For A Date?

02/06/2024

Cardo Maximus At Hippos-Sussita

01/06/2024

Kibbutz Ein Gev

01/06/2024

Jerusalem Summer Nights

31/05/2024

Inside the Lutheran Church of Ascension

27/05/2024

Teddy Kollek was one of those rare people that history seemed unable to ignore.

During an illustrious career that spanned seven decades, this unique individual would find himself, again and again, at the center of events that shaped the world.

As a young representative of the Haganah, he was sent to Vienna in 1939 to meet Adolf Eichmann, “I walked through a large, elegant, wood-paneled room up to a desk and there he was: a neatly dressed, clean-shaven young man in a brown uniform with the sw****ka on his arm…" Kollek recalled, "He kept me standing throughout the interview.” The N**i officer eventually agreed to Kollek's request to allow 3,000 Jews to leave for Britain.

In New York in the 1940s, Kollek was involved in smuggling arms across the Atlantic for the Haganah's use. In one case, he was able to persuade none other than Frank Sinatra to pass on a bundle of cash that needed to be delivered, as he feared he himself would be followed by the FBI.

A close associate of David Ben-Gurion, Kollek served as the director of the first Prime Minister's office.

His American connections were instrumental in forging a strong relationship between the CIA and the young State of Israel's intelligence establishment. Kollek was even involved in passing on a copy of Soviet leader Nikiita Khrushchev's secret 1956 speech castigating Joseph Stalin. The West learned of the dramatic event thanks to a Polish Jew who brought a copy of the speech to the Israeli embassy.

But Kollek was most famous, of course, for his long tenure as the mayor of Jerusalem, which began in 1965, two years before Israel captured the city's eastern half.

An advocate for religious tolerance, he attempted to bridge the divide between Jerusalem's Jews and Muslims, as well as its secular and ultra-orthodox communities. Kollek was also a champion of cultural projects, and was heavily involved in the establishment of the Israel Museum, the Jerusalem Theater and the Jerusalem Foundation; the mayor was also a great supporter of the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo.
Kollek ran for mayor seven times, losing his first election in 1993, at the age of 82.

In a 1977 article in Foreign Affairs, Kollek wrote:

"This beautiful golden city is the heart and the soul of the Jewish people. You cannot live without a heart and soul. If you want one simple word to symbolize all of Jewish history, that word would be Jerusalem."

Teddy Kollek was born on this day back in 1911.
He passed away in January of 2007.

Photo: Kollek surveys the damage inside Jerusalem's al Aqsa Mosque, after it was set on fire by an Australian tourist, August, 1969. By U*i Keren, the Dan Hadani Collection, the Pritzker Family National Photography Collection at the National Library of Israel

23/04/2024

Israel marks Passover in shadow of 200 days of war, absence of 133 hostages in Gaza; hundreds demonstrate at Netanyahu's home demanding hostage deal, set fire to 'non-Seder table'

28/01/2024

In Auschwitz, nonagenarian says southern Israel massacre a 'painful' extension of her death camp experience; pro-Palestinian activists in Italy refuse to delay rally, fight cops

21/01/2024

18/01/2024

Extended family of the baby, his 4-year-old brother Ariel and their parents Yarden and Shiri Bibas, all abducted to Gaza, mark his first birthday with pleas for a speedy release

26/11/2023

On 2nd day of 4-day truce deal, 8 children, 4 moms, 1 young woman handed over by Hamas following long, unnerving delay; 4 Thai nationals also released; 195 hostages still held

20/11/2023

Israeli Association for Early Childhood says lack of action by UN members to secure the release of some 40 children and babies held by terror groups adds to their suffering

31/10/2023

16/07/2023

Found some cool sculpture at Mount Scopus ✌