A growing number of Arabic-speaking youth are volunteering to serve in the Israeli army. And that has meant an increase in intimidation and threats from those in the Arab community who oppose coexistence within the Jewish state.

At the annual holiday gathering hosted by the Christian Empowerment Council (CEC) last week, Israel Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked vowed to do everything in her power to protect Israel’s Christian soldiers.

Keren Kadosh dreams about Hanukkah all year long. The co-pastry chef at Kadosh, the esteemed Jerusalem bakery and cafe founded by her father-in-law, which she now runs with her husband, Itzik Kadosh, dreams at night about the taste sensations she wants to bring to her dough — infused with alcohol to help push away the oil and yeasty flavor so often found in this holiday favorite.

“Every day I make 15 or 16 flavors, and a total of 50 over the course of the holiday,” said Kadosh. “I have terrible ADHD, and I forget what I’m planning to make, so my bakers write down whatever I talk about, and then we end up with pineapple cream with coconut or raspberry with lychee.”

The Shas party submitted a bill on Sunday that would make it illegal to hold pluralistic prayer services at the Western Wall plaza.

The proposed law would impose penalties of six months’ imprisonment or a fine of NIS 10,000 ($2,600) on those who hold mixed-gender services or women’s Torah readings, and women who don a prayer shawl or phylacteries.

Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef on Saturday night said that it is forbidden for women and ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students to serve in the Israel Defense Forces or perform national service.

In his weekly sermon, Yosef spoke about the upcoming Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Hellenists. The chief rabbi claimed that yeshiva students did not fight in the religious war against the Greeks 2,000 years ago because those learning Torah were exempt from all army service.

For the first time, some 45 teenagers from the ultra-Orthodox community successfully completed selection trial for entry into the IDF’s elite paratrooper unit, the Defense Ministry announced on Thursday.

The program, dubbed “Haredim to the Paratroopers,” included workshops, Krav Maga classes, mental exercises and lectures. The teenagers also participated in some physical exercises with actual paratroopers.

An Israeli man died saving his 10-year-old son when the two fell off a cliff during a hike in the Nahal Tze’elim in the Negev on Friday. The boy was seriously injured in the accident.

The man was later named in the Hebrew media as Dr. Omri Nir, an expert in Lebanese history and politics from Moshav Kfar Vitkin in central Israel. Nir, who lectured at Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, is survived by his wife and three children.

The religious-Zionist youth movement Ariel called on its members to take part in a non-violent struggle against the evacuation of the Amona outpost in the central West Bank, which has been ordered by the High Court for no later than December 25.

“[The movement] cannot keep silent while the destruction of a settlement in the Land of Israel takes place. It is our right and obligation to safeguard our country, our way and our faith,” read a statement by the movement. “Everyone should choose the form of struggle that works for him. Of course one should not protest violently or break the law,” the statement concluded.

The Knesset vote on a bill seeking to penalize mosques in Israel for using loudspeakers to deliver the Muslim call to prayer was apparently shelved temporarily Wednesday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to muster a majority for a more punitive version of the legislation.

In a last-minute decision, the coalition pulled the bill from the agenda, postponing a vote for a third time this month, and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party indicated it would be buried.