Hasmonean

Haredi enlistment to combat units jumps 30% as over 250 men join IDF in recent draft cycle

Current assessments indicate that some of the tracks are expected to meet the recruitment targets set by the head of the IDF Personnel Directorate, Maj.-Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa.

Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men at the Tel Hashomer IDF base, August 30, 2026.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews walk through a forest near the grave of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai in Meron, northern Israel, attempting to reach the Lag BaOmer celebrations after the site was closed by police following Home Front Command restrictions, May 5, 2026.

IDF preparing to arrest haredi draft dodgers as early as next week - report

Hasmonean-era coin depicted the seven-branched menorah (L) and silver tetradrachm minted in Ashkelon during the Persian period (R) which were returned to Israel from the United States earlier this week, May 13, 2026.

US returns two rare, ancient coins to Israel following joint antiquities theft investigation

Workers and volunteers on an archaeological dig sift through dirt at Alexandrion/Sartaba in the Jordan Valley.

Israel digs up the West Bank – and reignites a battle over history


Galilee fort part of string of forts made to fortify Hasmonean territory

Finds at Horvat Tefen also shed light on the little-known material culture of the Hasmonean period in the Galilee.

 A coin of Alexander Jannaeus

2,100-year-old agricultural farmstead uncovered in dig in northern Israel

Inhabitants of an agricultural farmstead in what is today Horbat Assad in eastern Galilee appear to have left in haste, leaving a “time capsule” for archaeologists to find.

 The excavations at Horbat Assad.

Rare menorah engraving dates back to Hasmonean era

The menorah was discovered in the 1980s in Judea and Samaria.

The faint marks of one of the menorahs can be seen drawn in cistern at al-Alilyat cliffs near Mukhmas

Palestinian Authority demolishing Hasmonean dynasty fortress - report

The Hasmonean dynasty, descendants of the Maccabee family, ruled Judea and surrounding areas from 141-37 BCE, during classical antiquity.

Aerial view of the Hasmonean estate house near Modi'in.

The halachic legacy of Maccabean warfare

On Hanukkah, Jews celebrate the Hasmonean victory over the Greeks. Yet almost nothing about this victory is recorded within classic rabbinic literature.

JUDAH MACCABEE as portrayed by Arthur Szyk; Lodz, 1930s.

The symbol of Masada

The adoption of Masada as a modern symbol for the State of Israel, however, is controversial because of what Josephus wrote took place there.

Moshe Dann

Officials stop illegal building by palaces of Second Temple 'Hanukkah hero'

Catching the vehicles before construction started likely prevented damage from being done to the current and future archaeological findings.

A soldier is seen walking towards construction vehicles at an illegal construction site in the West Bank

The Lights in the Clear Air

The Jerusalem Post