News

This story originally appeared on Kveller. When Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis was sworn in to Washington’s Supreme Court earlier this month, she became the second Native American person to serve on a state Supreme Court. “This was never something I really planned on or expected to happen,” Montoya-Lewis tells Kveller… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli Border Police officer was shot and wounded in an attack Thursday morning on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem hours after 12 Israeli soldiers were injured in an early morning car-ramming attack in the center of the city. Also Thursday, an Israeli soldier was injured… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) – Kirk Douglas, the legendary actor who portrayed legions of tough guys and embraced his Jewish heritage later in life, died at his home in Beverly Hills on Wednesday. He was 103. Over a career that spanned 87 films — including 73 big screen features and… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Two Palestinian Authority police officers were killed in West Bank clashes early Thursday morning with Israeli soldiers. They were hit by Israeli fire overnight after clashes erupted in the city of Jenin during the Israeli army’s demolition of the home of Ahmed Kunba, who was charged… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign is now in overdrive, judging by the way he turned much of his State of the Union into a campaign pitch. “We are moving forward at a pace that was unimaginable just a short time ago, and we are never going… Read more »

(JTA) — Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, is engaged nearly five years after the death of her husband. Sandberg will marry Tom Bernthal, the founder and CEO of the Los Angeles-based strategic consulting agency Kelton Global, People first reported, citing a Sandberg rep. The couple were… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — As evening descended on Jerusalem one Friday last month, 1,000 students gathered at the Western Wall for the traditional prayers to welcome the Jewish Sabbath. They joined the throngs who dance and sing at the holiest site in Judaism as Shabbat begins. When it was over,… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Call it the deal of the century, the ultimate deal, the vision for peace: President Donald Trump and his Middle East team unveiled their long-awaited peace plan on Tuesday. My colleague Gabe Friedman runs down the highlights (you can also read all 181 pages here and… Read more »

(JTA) — A bag emblazoned with a Star of David containing soap and anti-Semitic literature was left outside an exhibition about the Holocaust. For many years after World War II, rumors persisted that the Nazis used Jewish bodies to produce soap. No evidence was found to support the claim.… Read more »

(JTA) — A boarding school in Britain said it will modify its logo following complaints that it references an anti-Semitic blood libel. Jeremy Wyld, headmaster of St. Hugh’s School in Woodhall Spa, situated some 130 miles north of London, told The Jewish Chronicle that a red dot hanging over… Read more »

(JTA) — Terrorists in the Gaza Strip launched rockets into Israel on Friday, the second straight day of rocket fire from the strip. Three rockets and three mortar rounds were launched into Israel on Friday. Israel’s Iron Dome defense system intercepted one of the mortar rounds, leaving the remaining… Read more »

(JTA) — More than 15% of respondents to a poll in Italy said the Holocaust never happened. The results are part of the annual Italy Report of the Eurispes published Thursday. The poll by the nongovernmental organization probes Italians’ views on a number of subjects, including the credibility… Read more »

RAMALLAH, West Bank (JTA) — Standing outside the Al Siwadi juice shop, located near this Palestinian city’s central Al Manari Square downtown, a man named Maher complains about the recently released U.S. peace plan. Trump’s plan is designed to “give the rich Jews what they want,” Maher asserts as… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinians in Gaza fired a mortar at southern Israel, setting off Code Red sirens. The mortar exploded in an open field near Kibbutz Kissufim, a Gaza border community, on Wednesday evening. It caused no injuries or damage, according to the Israel Defense Forces. Two other explosives… Read more »

(JTA) — Red paint was found on the facade of a synagogue in Finland in what some fear may have been an anti-Semitic incident. The speckles and blotches of paint were found on the synagogue of Turku, which is situated 70 miles west of the capital Helsinki, on Sunday,… Read more »

BERLIN (JTA) – Researchers released a photo album with images of the Sobibor death camp, including what may be the face of the late convicted war criminal John Demjanjuk. The album, presented to the public at the Topography of Terror museum in Berlin on Monday, comes from the estate… Read more »

(JTA) — Anti-Jewish graffiti was discovered in multiple locations in Italy as the country observed International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan 27. On Monday night, the words “die dirty Jew” were discovered outside the home of Maria Bigliani, 65, in Turin. “It is a terrible message, especially on Holocaust… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The timeline is growing hazy for an Israeli Cabinet vote on annexing Jewish settlements in the West Bank, one day after U.S. President Donald Trump revealed a peace plan endorsing the move. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday after Trump unveiled the plan at the… Read more »

(JTA) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has pardoned Naama Issachar, an Israeli-American backpacker who was sentenced to 7 1/2 years in prison for drug smuggling. The Russian news agency Interfax News reported Wednesday that Putin had issued the pardon. Issachar, 26, had been returning from India to Israel by… Read more »

(JTA) — French President Emmanuel Macron is under fire from top members of the judiciary after criticizing a court decision not to have a trial for a Jewish woman’s killer. During a visit last week to Israel last week, Macron took issue with the Paris Appeals Court decision in… Read more »