In a Catholic-Jewish double-header, Pope Francis met in a private audience this morning with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, and later in the morning with Britain’s Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, accompanied by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
Avraham Mengistu, 28, an Israeli citizen, crossed into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip on September 7, 2014. He has since been kidnapped by the Palestinian terror group, and they have refused to let him return home, Israeli officials said Thursday.
Both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin have declined a request to meet former Democratic President Jimmy Carter when he is due to visit Israel in the next few weeks.
On the eve of his historic, controversial, and critically-important address to Congress next week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a small-ball political barrage in Israel. His party, the Likud, lost a challenge against a U.S.-funded left-wing group, V15. The Prime Minister is being investigated for allegedly pocketing the deposits on beverages served at his residence, and his rivals are blaming him for rising housing prices in Israel, documented in a new report.
