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Israel’s chief Ashkenazi rabbi visits Taiwan in milestone moment for the country’s Jewish community
TAIPEI (JTA) — In what is likely a first, an Israeli chief rabbi visited Taiwan last week, marking a milestone both for the island nation and the Jewish community there.
Last week, the Jeffrey D. Schwartz Jewish Community Center in Taipei welcomed Israel’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau on a three-day visit which included a dedication ceremony for the community center, a regional summit of rabbis and a meeting with Israeli and Taiwanese officials.
About 30 rabbis from the region, including from Sydney, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Cambodia, attended the summit to promote cultural exchange throughout the region and celebrate the opening of the Jewish center, according to the Jeffrey D. Schwartz and Na Tang Jewish Taiwan Cultural Association, or JTCA.
COVID-19 travel restrictions had delayed Lau’s original plan to attend the official opening to the public in 2021.
“It was an honor to visit Taiwan and meet with the Jewish community here. I was impressed by their dedication to Jewish culture and traditions, and I am confident that the community will continue to thrive in the years ahead,” Lau said after the event in a statement.
Over the past decade, Taiwan’s Jewish community has undergone a dramatic revival thanks to the arrival of Rabbi Shlomi Tabib, who is affiliated with the Hasidic Chabad-Lubavitch movement, in 2011, and the efforts of the Taiwan Jewish Community, a nondenominational community with its own vibrant congregation in Taipei. Jeffrey Schwartz, a local businessman, split from the Taiwan Jewish Community group to start his own association and the $16 million center, which houses Tabib and his family.
The synagogue in Schwartz’s center is now used as an event venue by both Schwartz’s Chabad-run congregation and the Taiwan Jewish Community, which for years remained separated over intra-community squabbles.
With a goal of promoting cultural exchange between Jews in Taiwan and non-Jewish locals, Schwartz’s community center includes a Judaica museum, a mikvah and kosher restaurant, and it hosts tours and events open to the Taiwanese public. The volume of visits from local Taiwanese visitors over the center’s first year of operation is “one the most heartwarming accomplishments,” Schwartz said.
He added in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he hopes Lau’s visit will also help strengthen ties between Israel and Taiwan.
Don Shapiro, one of the earliest members of the TJC, which first officially registered with the government in 1979, attended the ceremony on Feb 21.
“I never imagined I would ever see a visit to Taiwan by the chief rabbi of Israel, let alone as part of a conclave of rabbis from all around the Asia-Pacific region,” he said. “It was a testament to how the Jewish community in Taiwan — now home to two vibrant religious congregations and a Jewish cultural association — has been thriving in recent years after a period of great uncertainty.”
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Israel’s Ben-Gvir Visits Flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound
Israeli politician Itamar Ben-Gvir walks inside the Knesset, in Jerusalem, Oct. 13, 2025. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Pool via REUTERS
Israel’s far-right police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday, saying he was seeking greater access for Jewish worshipers and drawing condemnation from Jordan and the Palestinians.
The compound in Jerusalem’s walled Old City is one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. Known to Jews as Temple Mount, it is the most sacred site in Judaism and is Islam’s third-holiest site.
Under a delicate, decades-old arrangement with Muslim authorities, it is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.
Suggestions that Israel would alter the rules have sparked outrage among Muslims and ignited violence in the past.
“Today, I feel like the owner here,” National Security Minister Ben-Gvir said in a video filmed at the site and distributed by his office. “There is still more to do, more to improve. I keep pushing the Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) to do more and more — we must keep rising higher and higher.”
A statement from the Jordanian foreign ministry said it considered Ben-Gvir’s visit to be a violation of the status quo agreement at the site and “a desecration of its sanctity, a condemnable escalation and an unacceptable provocation.”
The office of Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said such actions could further destabilize the region.
Ben-Gvir’s spokesman said the minister was seeking greater access and prayer permits for Jewish visitors. He also said that Ben-Gvir had prayed at the site.
There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office. Previous such visits and statements by Ben-Gvir have prompted Netanyahu announcements saying that there is no change in Israel’s policy of keeping the status quo.
Muslim, Christian and Jewish sites, including Al-Aqsa had been largely closed to the public during the Iran war. There was no immediate sign of unrest on Sunday after Ben-Gvir’s visit.
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Netanyahu Visits Troops Fighting Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference at the Prime Minister’s office in Jerusalem, Aug. 10, 2025. Photo: ABIR SULTAN/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon on Sunday as military operations against Hezbollah-linked targets continue.
Netanyahu toured forward positions alongside Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, Eyal Zamir, and Northern Command Commander Rafi Milo, meeting troops and receiving operational briefings from commanders on the ground.
Speaking to soldiers, Netanyahu praised their performance and said operations in the Lebanese security zone were ongoing.
“The war continues, including within the security zone in Lebanon,” he said, adding that Israeli forces were working to prevent infiltration attempts and neutralize threats such as anti-tank fire and missiles.
He described the northern campaign as part of a broader regional struggle involving Iran and its allies, saying Israel’s adversaries were now “fighting for their survival” following sustained Israeli military pressure.
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Saudi Arabia Restores Full Capacity on East-West Oil Pipeline to 7 Million BPD After Attacks
FILE PHOTO: General view of Khurais NGL recovery plant in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, June 28, 2021. Picture taken June 28, 2021. REUTERS/Mohammed Benmansour./File Photo
Saudi Arabia has restored full oil pumping capacity through the East-West pipeline to about seven million barrels per day, it said on Sunday, days after providing an assessment of damage on its energy sector from attacks during the Iran conflict.
The ministry said energy facilities and the pipeline affected by attacks during the conflict have recovered and restored operational capacity.
Saudi did not specify who launched the attacks, but the kingdom has intercepted many Iranian missiles and drones in recent weeks.
The strikes also disrupted operations at key oil, gas, refining, petrochemical and electricity sites in Riyadh, the Eastern Province and Yanbu Industrial City.
OUTPUT RECOVERY TO HELP SUPPLY CONTINUITY
Saudi said on Thursday the attacks had cut its oil production capacity by around 600,000 barrels per day and throughput on its East-West Pipeline by about 700,000 bpd.
The East-West Pipeline has been Saudi Arabia’s only crude export route amid the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Reuters reported on Wednesday that Iran attacked the pipeline just hours after the ceasefire was agreed.
The ministry said it recovered affected volumes from the Manifa oilfield, where output had previously been reduced by around 300,000 bpd.
Work was ongoing to restore full output at the Khurais facility, after strikes on it reduced Saudi capacity by a further 300,000 bpd, the ministry said.
It said the quick recovery would enhance the “reliability and continuity of supplies to local and global markets.”