Israel

"If a magnitude 6.5 earthquake were to hit Tiberias, Kiryat Shmona, or Eilat, we can expect massive damage nationwide," says head of the Geological Survey of Israel. State comptroller report warns Israel is grossly unprepared for a major earthquake; tens of thousands of buildings are not up to code.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert repeats his assertion that his successor, Benjamin Netanyahu, exhibited "crazy behavior" as the high-profile defamation lawsuit between the two political heavyweights gets underway.

Writers, identifying themselves only as "three Israeli citizens in the US," threaten to kill Sara and Yair Netanyahu, then the Opposition leader himself.

Theophilos III tells the Times of London he believes there are Jewish extremists who want to drive the Christian community from Jerusalem's Old City, which is home to sites sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Israeli officials reject "baseless accusation."

The Jerusalem-based library is home to an extensive collection of Islamic and Arabic texts, including thousands of rare books and manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and Turkish ranging from the 9th to the 20th centuries.

"The educators and teachers in the Diaspora are at the forefront of Jewish education," says Diaspora Affairs Minister Nahman Shai.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett slams Yair Golan's remarks, says settlers are "modern-day pioneers." Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu says Gola's "shameful statement" was "taken directly from Nazi terminology."

Yad Vashem inaugurates the Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Educational Leadership Academy that will work to preserve the memory of the Holocaust by educating teachers and opinion leaders worldwide.

The legislation allows more than 130,000 Arab Israelis living in illegally built homes to be hooked up to the national grid. Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu calls the enactment of the law a “black day for Zionism and democracy.”