Latest in Israel

“Ladies and gentlemen, due to all the division and hatred in this country right now, I've decided to leave America for the relative peace, quiet and sanity of the Middle East,” Conan O’Brien announced on his TBS late-night show. “That's right, I'm going to Israel." Conan‘s latest road trip is scheduled for Tuesday…

In a surprise move, Israel is looking to ban Al Jazeera from operating in the country and in occupied Palestinian territories after claims the Qatar-funded news network "supports terrorism." Israeli communications minister Ayoob Kara announced on Sunday that press cards for the company's reporters would be revoked, a…

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has dropped its trailer for Sand Storm, the drama written and directed by Elite Zexer that is serving as Israel’s submission this year in the Oscar Foreign Language race (that shortlist is due out next week). The pic won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize this year at Sundance where it world…

The WGA West is reaching halfway across the world to lend its support to the Scriptwriters Guild of Israel in its ongoing battle against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the fate of Israel's new Public Broadcasting Corporation. "The new Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation is the result of a law passed by your…

In a letter published today in the UK’s The Guardian, artists across Great Britain including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, Dame Hilary Mantel (Wolf Hall) and Simon Schama are rallying in support of Israeli-Palestinian dialogue versus cultural boycotts in a new group known as the Culture for Coexistence. The letter…

UPDATE, WEDNESDAY AM: After facing possible closure when its broadcast license expires at midnight tonight, Israel’s Channel 10 has been given a six-month reprieve. The long-struggling channel was granted the last-minute grace period by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein. This will allow broadcasting to continue through…

The BFI London Film Festival closed with a bang Sunday night as Brad Pitt, Shia Lebeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena and Jon Bernthal hit town for the European premiere of David Ayer's WW2 drama Fury. Speaking to reporters, Pitt paid tribute to the sacrifices so many soldiers had made. "We all walked away absolutely…

EXCLUSIVE: Basil Iwanyk’s Thunder Road has acquired screen rights to the Steven Pressfield hybrid history The Lion’s Gate: On The Front Lines Of The Six Day War. The producer will use the book as a template to tell the story of how Israel, faced with extinction as Jordan, Syria and Egypt prepared to attack, routed the…

Homeland star Mandy Patinkin announced on Tuesday’s The Colbert Report that, when his show’s fourth season wraps, he will enter the race to be elected Prime Minister of Israel, in order to “balance my participation in this world for however long I might have left to be in it.”  Then he asked Colbert to be his security…

ABC's interactive singing competition Rising Star crowned a winner last night in what was the finale of the U.S. version of Keshet International's successful format. Ratings for the American take the Israeli show have been choppy (1.07 average over first nine eps) but KI CEO Alon Shtruzman is unfazed. "We had a great…

Close to 200 Hollywood executives, celebrities and creatives — among them Aaron Sorkin, Greg Berlanti, Josh Charles, Amy Pascal, Sylvester Stallone, Seth Rogen, Kelsey Grammer, Jerry Weintraub, Ivan Reitman, HBO’s Richard Plepler, MGM’s Gary Barber, lawyer Alan Wertheimer and pr veteran Alan Nierob — have put their…

The Sarajevo Film Festival, which concludes Saturday, has been the scene of yet another hard stance from a filmmaker regarding the conflict in Gaza. Late Thursday, outspoken British director Ken Loach gave a speech at the Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Award Ceremony honoring Palestinian directors Abdel Salam Shehadeh…