ISAAC SCHARF

Workers at the construction site of a massive underground cemetery in Jerusalem, August 18, 2019. (Oded Balilty/AP)

August 29, 2019, 1:45 pm

As cemeteries run out of space, massive modern catacombs to open in Jerusalem

Inspired by ancient Jewish custom of cave burials, tunnels with sepulchers for interring the dead are prepared beneath capital’s near-capacity Har Hamenuhot cemetery

By Ilan Ben Zion and ISAAC SCHARF

Cast members of Eva.Stories, the Instagram-based fictionalized retelling of the real story of 13-year-old Eva Heyman, a Hungarian Jew murdered in a Nazi concentration camp in 1944. (Channel 12 screen shot)

April 30, 2019, 7:41 pm

Instagram story of young Holocaust victim Eva aims at new generation

Much as Anne Frank’s diary gripped older generations, fictionalized social media account of real teenager Eva Heyman, murdered by the Nazis, is generating buzz among today’s young

By ISAAC SCHARF and AUDREY HOROWITZ

Israeli Singer Netta Barzilai, who won the 2018 Eurovision song contest, poses for a photo during an interview in Tel Aviv, Israel, January 29, 2019. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

February 1, 2019, 12:41 pm

Israel’s Eurovision winner Netta Barzilai releases song on her newfound fame

Barzilai says video for ‘Bassa Sababa’ presents a more raw and realistic version of female empowerment than last year’s ‘Toy’

By ISAAC SCHARF and Isabel Debre

In this photo from August 6, 2018, crocodiles rest at a a farm in the Jordan Valley, West Bank. (AP Photo/Dusan Vranic)

August 10, 2018, 1:26 am

Israel faces crocodile conundrum with 700 stranded reptiles

Hundreds are housed at a defunct tourist attraction and they are multiplying; official warns that a loose croc in the Jordan River could spark ‘an international incident’

By ISAAC SCHARF and Alon Bernstein

Illustrative: Detail from 'Noli me tangere' by Titian, c. 1512, depicting a meeting between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. (public domain via wikipedia)

April 1, 2018, 1:23 am

Long maligned, Mary Magdalene now seen as stalwart disciple

Scholars, pope, and new film rehabilitate image of prominent Jesus follower, casting her as a strong woman rather than reformed ex-prostitute

By Alon Bernstein and ISAAC SCHARF

In this Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2017 photo, workers prepare heavy machine to spray cement at the construction site of a massive underground cemetery in Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

November 17, 2017, 4:22 pm

Jerusalem cemetery goes deep underground with tunnel burials

Below ground beehive-like structure to make space for some 22,000 graves, providing an innovative solution to meet the capital’s growing needs

By ISAAC SCHARF

50,000 mirrors, known as heliostats,encircle the solar tower in the Negev desert, near Ashelim, southern Israel, December 22, 2016. (AP/Oded Balilty)

January 5, 2017, 1:23 pm

Israel harnessing sunshine with world’s tallest solar tower

Ashalim project in the Negev desert aims to boost renewable energy supplies by providing enough power for 130,000 households

By ISAAC SCHARF and Alon Bernstein

In this Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015 file photo, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his Jerusalem office. (AP/Tsafrir Abayov)

December 14, 2016, 3:15 am

Jerusalem mayor says Trump is serious about moving US embassy

While previous candidates have promised the same, ‘it’s different this time,’ says Nir Barkat

By AUDREY HOROWITZ and ISAAC SCHARF

The entrance to the Rabbinical Court of Tel Aviv, November 27, 2013. (photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

November 7, 2016, 11:03 am

Israeli rabbinical court punishes American for son’s divorce refusal

In first, religious authorities sanction the parent of a man who has denied his paralyzed wife a divorce for a decade

By Tia Goldenberg and ISAAC SCHARF

In this Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2015 photo, Iranian poet Payam Feili poses for a photograph in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/Dan Balilty)

December 11, 2015, 12:28 pm

How a gay Iranian poet fleeing persecution ‘fell in love’ with Israel

Payam Feili, 30, proudly defies his theocratic regime back home, hopes to move permanently to gay-friendly Tel Aviv

By ISAAC SCHARF

This Monday, July 27, 2015 photo shows Khader Abu Seif, from left, Naeem Jiryes and Fadi Daeem, protagonists of the documentary movie "Oriented" during an interview with The Associated Press in Jaffa. (AP Photo/Eyal Warshavsky)

July 30, 2015, 5:00 pm

Film highlights struggles of gay Arabs in Israel

‘Oriented,’ by a UK director, explores the friction between the national and sexual identities of three Tel Avivians

By ISAAC SCHARF and MIRIAM BERGER

This undated photo provided by Channel 8 and Go2Films shows Ori Gruder, left, and rabbi Yisrael Aharon Itzkovitz swimming in their clothes in a ritual bath, which is created for publicity purpose for "Sacred Sperm," a film Gruder directed. (photo credit: AP Photo/Gliad Kavalerchik)

February 6, 2015, 11:59 pm

‘Sacred Sperm’ film explores ultra-Orthodox Jewish taboos

New documentary is an intimate, informative and at times awkward study of the insular community and its approach to sexuality

By Tia Goldenberg and ISAAC SCHARF

Jewish educator Yiscah Smith in Jerusalem on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015. (photo credit: AP Photo/Dan Balilty)

January 16, 2015, 2:13 am

Former Orthodox educator builds life as woman in Jerusalem

Yiscah Smith, once active in the Chabad movement, now lectures on journey after sex change

By ISAAC SCHARF

Anett Haskia at her house in Kibbutz Yehiam, Israel, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014. (photo credit: AP/Dan Balilty)

January 1, 2015, 10:58 am

Iconoclast Arab supporter of IDF seeks Knesset seat

Anett Haskia, a Muslim kibbutznik, is a candidate with the right-wing national religious Jewish Home party

By Alon Bernstein and ISAAC SCHARF

A swearing in ceremony for Haredi soldiers in Jerusalem in May 2012. (photo credit: Noam Moskowitz/Flash90)

May 4, 2014, 4:56 pm

Israel’s ultra-Orthodox quietly join military

Despite community protests, some 1,860 Haredim joined IDF last year, up from 288 in 2007

By Aron Heller and ISAAC SCHARF