By AMY TEIBEL
JERUSALEM -- Israeli rabbinic authorities have abruptly called on Jews to shun a major Christian tourism event, baffling and upsetting evangelical groups that traditionally have been big supporters of the Jewish state.
More than 6,000 Christians from over 90 nations are expected to arrive in Jerusalem this week to take part in the 28th annual Christian celebration of the weeklong Jewish holiday of Sukkot, or Feast of Tabernacles, according to the event's organizers, the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem.  
According to the Old Testament Book of Zechariah, all nations will make pilgrimages to Jerusalem in the messianic era to celebrate Sukkot. Christians have interpreted this to mean that Sukkot is a holiday where Jews welcome non-Jews to join them in celebration in Jerusalem.
Thousands of Christians take part in the celebration annually, as do Israeli lawmakers, government representatives and ordinary Israelis.
But last week the chief rabbinate urged Jews to stay away from the event, saying some of the groups want to convert them to Christianity. Israel has laws against missionary work, and for many here, proselytizing is dangerously close to the forced conversions European Jews endured for centuries.
"According to information that has reached the chief ...   more »

JERUSALEM (AFP) — The Israeli army unveiled a new website on Sunday that will be used to warn Israelis of impending attacks after the "lessons learned" from the 2006 war in Lebanon.
"The Home Front Command, which sees great importance in the relations with the Israeli population, is now in the frontline of technology," Major General Yitzhak Gershon said in a statement.
"The new website reflects the lessons learned from the Second Lebanon War."
The site, at www.oref.org.il, will offer postings in English and Arabic as well as Hebrew providing emergency information such as live alerts for missile attacks, audio-visual instruction manuals, and forums with security experts.
In July, Israel's state comptroller blasted Prime Minister Olmert for "intolerable" failures in protecting civilians during the 2006 war against Lebanon's Hezbollah Shiite militia.
In Israel, both the government and army are responsible for providing services to civilians in time of war, from maintenance of public shelters, to rescue, medical and basic administrative services.
During the 34-day war with Hezbollah, the Shiite militia fired over 4,000 rockets into Israel, forcing a million residents to flee, paralysing the northern part of the country and catching the public shelters system unawares.
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Israel's air force scrambled fighter jets on Saturday after a Syrian military aircraft disappeared from its radars at it approached the Syrian-Israel border.
The Syrian fighter was later found to have crashed on the Syrian side of the border. Israeli officials do not believe it was on a hostile mission.
The incident highlighted the growing tensions between Israel and Syria following an alleged Israeli air force raid on a suspected nuclear installation in eastern Syria earlier this month. Officials in Damascus have said they are eager to respond to that attack, putting Israel on high alert for the possibility of war with its neighbor.
In related news, London's Sunday TImes reported that Israel's air raid on Syria came after undercover Israeli commandos spent months gathering evidence of North Korean nuclear equipment being installed in the country. The Arabic-speaking Israeli soldiers reportedly disguised themselves as Syria soldiers to gain access to the facility housing the equipment.
It was that evidence that convinced Washington to give a green light to the Israeli raid, according to the newspaper.
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By Rebecca Harrison
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Archaeologists have found an ancient quarry where King Herod's workers may have chiselled the giant stones used to rebuild the second Jewish temple in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago.
The Israel Antiquities Authority said on Sunday experts believe stones as long as 8 meters (24 feet) were extracted from the quarry and then dragged by oxen to building sites in Jerusalem for major projects such as the temple. 
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"This construction most likely included the walls of the Temple Mount and other monumental buildings," the authority said in a statement.
Some of the blocks discovered at the site resemble stones used in the lower parts of the ...   more »