year in review
continued from page 92
New York Jewish teenager Josh Orlian's raunchy stand-up routine on
America's Got Talent cracks up the judges, but his Orthodox day school
isn't tickled.
JULY 2014
Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, the father of the Jewish Renewal
movement, which sought to introduce more music, dance and medita-
tion into prayer and Jewish life, dies in Boulder, Colo., at age 89.
Israel launches its third major Gaza operation in six years. Dubbed
Operation Defensive Edge, the campaign begins with 10 days of
intensive airstrikes in Gaza. After several failed cease-fire attempts,
a ground invasion of Gaza follows. Hamas fires thousands of rockets
into Israel, striking as far away as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and a Haifa
suburb. In four weeks of fighting before a 72-hour cease-fire in early
August, some 1,800 Palestinians are reported killed. Israel comes
under heavy criticism for attacks that kill children, strike U.N. facili-
ties and damage civil infrastructure. Israel blames Hamas for using
civilians as human shields and schools, hospitals and U.N. facilities as
weapons depots. The death toll in Israel includes 64 soldiers and three
civilians. Several of Israel's casualties are due to Palestinian infiltra-
tions of Israel through tunnels burrowed under the Israel-Gaza border.
Israel's prime minister says destroying the tunnels is one of the war's
main objectives.
Above: An Israeli tank crossing
through a field in southern Israel near
the border with Gaza, the day after
Israel began its invasion of Gaza, July
18, 2014.
A riot outside a French synagogue is one of several incidents related
to the Gaza war that threaten Jews in Europe. The riot by Palestinian
sympathizers outside the Synagogue de la Roquette in central Paris
traps some 200 people inside the building. A street brawl ensues
between the rioters and dozens of Jewish men who arrived to defend
the synagogue.
Left: An Israeli inspects the damage
from a Palestinian rocket strike
outside a store in the southern Israeli
city of Ashdod, July 9, 2014.
Most foreign airlines suspend flights to Israel's Ben Gurion Airport
near Tel Aviv after a Hamas-fired missile strikes nearby. The suspen-
sions, prompted by a flight ban issued by the U.S. Federal Aviation
Administration, last two to three days.
Iran and the major powers, led by the United States, agree to extend
negotiations over Iran's nuclear program for another four months,
citing progress in a number of areas. But the potential deal breaker
remains: Iran does not want to reduce its number of its centrifuges,
and the world powers say they won't accept Iran maintaining its exist-
ing capacity for uranium enrichment.
AUGUST 2014
As the fighting in Gaza wanes and Israeli troops begin to pull back,
Israel experiences several terrorist attacks inside the country per-
petrated by West Bank Palestinians, including a tractor attack in
Jerusalem.
The 72-hour cease-fire that brought Operation Protective Edge to a
halt expires, and Gazans resume intensive rocket fire against Israel.
The Israeli military responds with airstrikes inside Gaza. The sides
then agree to another 72-hour cease-fire.
Above: Palestinians walking by
rubble of building damaged by
Israeli air strikes in the Jabalia
district of the northern Gaza
Strip, July 24, 2014.
Four-year-old Daniel Tregerman became the first child casualty in
Israel since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge. His parents,
Gila and Doron Tregerman, urge U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon to investi-
gate Hamas crimes. ❑
Left: Four-year old Daniel
Tregerman became the
first Israeli child killed in
Operation Protective Edge.
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