FIRST LADY President Reuven Rivlin kisses the coffin of his wife, Nechama, at the Jerusalem Theater on June 5, before her funeral on Mount Herzl.
By STEVE LINDEresident Reuven Rivlin kisses the coffin of his wife, Nechama, at the Jerusalem Theater on June 5, before her funeral on Mount Herzl.(photo credit: GPO/AMOS BEN GERSHOM)FIRST LADY President Reuven Rivlin kisses the coffin of his wife, Nechama, at the Jerusalem Theater on June 5, before her funeral on Mount Herzl. Three months after receiving a lung transplant, Nechama Rivlin died in Beilinson Hospital a day before her 74th birthday. “Happy birthday, sweetheart, a sad birthday,” the president said in his eulogy, noting how she was loved by all citizens of Israel. A patron of music and the arts, Nechama had three children and seven grandchildren, and was especially devoted to children with special needs.NEW ELECTIONS The 21st Knesset voted on May 29 to disperse itself, and set new elections for September 17, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to present a government to President Reuven Rivlin. Netanyahu blamed Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman for refusing to join the coalition with his five MKs, which would have given him a 65-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament. Liberman, for his part, blamed Netanyahu for not accepting his proposal over the Haredi conscription bill.GAY MINISTER Likud MK Amir Ohana was appointed by the prime minister as interim justice minister on June 5, making him Israel’s first openly gay cabinet minister. Ohana replaces minister Ayelet Shaked, who was fired together with education minister Naftali Bennett on June 2 after their New Right Party failed to cross the electoral threshhold in the April 9 election. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit ruled that Netanyahu could not be acting justice minister because of the public corruption charges he faces. Netanyahu was also expected to replace Bennett and make other new ministerial appointments.ANNEX AWAY! US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman angered the Palestinians and left-wing groups by saying that Israel has the right to annex part of the West Bank. “Under certain circumstances, I think Israel has the right to retain some, but unlikely all, of the West Bank,” Friedman told The New York Times on June 14. He also sharply criticized the Palestinian Authority for attempting to sabotage an upcoming economic conference in Bahrain. The PA condemned Friedman’s remarks, threatening to lodge a complaint against him with the International Criminal Court, for “jeopardizing peace and security in the Middle East.”BAR-ILAN GALA Speaking at the gala event of Bar-Ilan University’s 64th annual Board of Trustees on June 4, former UK prime minister Tony Blair decried antisemitism in his Labour Party. “If you’d told me back in May 1997 or at any time in the next 10 years that the Labour Party – which I led for 13 years – would have a problem with antisemitism today, I wouldn’t have believed it,” he said. “It is a poison that must be rooted out and eradicated.” A day later, Bar-Ilan presented honorary doctorates to, among others, Shalva founder Kalman Samuels and philanthropist Dr. Miriam Adelson.BLIND APP The Center for the Blind in Israel has introduced a special app that includes audio tours to make the Old City of Jerusalem accessible to the blind and visually impaired. In addition, the Tower of David Museum has made its flagship night show – known for its spectacular visual content – accessible to the visually impaired with a descriptive audio accompaniment, the first of its kind in Israel.NEW COMPTROLLER The Knesset voted in secret ballot on June 3 in favor of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s nominee for state comptroller, Matanyahu Englman. The 53-year-old Englman has served as director general of the Technion and of Israel’s Council for Higher Education. “This is a great honor for me, and I will enter this position with humility and a sense of national duty,” said Englman, who will replace Joseph Shapira in July.Matanyahu Englman (Credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
if(catID != 151){
var cont = `Take Israel home with the new Jerusalem Post Store
