Israel

(JTA) — Israel’s ambassador to the United States said the decision to ban Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from entering the country had nothing to do with President Donald Trump. In a conference call with Jewish groups Thursday afternoon, Ron Dermer said reports implying that Israel had caved… Read more »

(JTA) — Rep. Ilhan Omar likened Israel’s decision to deny entry to her and Rep. Rashida Tlaib to President Donald Trump’s Muslim ban. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., tweeted that the decision is “a sign of weakness.” In a statement Thursday, the Minnesota Democrat called Israel’s decision “an affront.” “Trump’s… Read more »

(JTA) — When Israel announced that it would deny entry to Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, the decision struck many as an unprecedented step. But Israel has blocked multiple lawmakers from coming in recent years. The difference this time is that it’s lawmakers from the United States who are… Read more »

(JTA) — Israel’s deputy foreign minister confirmed that Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar will not be allowed to enter the country. “We won’t allow those who deny our right to exist in this world to enter Israel. In principle this is a very justified decision,” Tzipi Hotovely told… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — In its 10 years of placing young Palestinian and Israeli leaders with Congress members, no lawmaker asked New Story Leadership for one of each — until Jamie Raskin did. This summer, Eran Nissan and Mohammed Ahmad have been interning in the office of the Maryland Democrat,… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Palestinian gunman who crossed the border from southern Gaza into Israel shot and injured three Israeli soldiers. The gunman was killed by other soldiers in the area in the early Thursday morning incident, according to the Israel Defense Forces. The IDF said it also fired… Read more »

SAN FRANCISCO (J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) — A former Peruvian president living in the Bay Area and facing bribery charges in his home country has been denied bail by a federal judge in San Francisco out of fear he would flee — to Israel.… Read more »

(JTA) – Editor’s Note: In March, the the liberal Israel policy group J Street announced that it would be creating a 10-day free trip to Israel, designed to provide students with both Israeli and Palestinian perspectives on the conflict. Many interpreted the announcement as a move to compete with… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party has launched a new ad campaign featuring Russian President Vladimir Putin, coinciding with one of the Kremlin’s largest crackdowns on political dissent in years. Large multi-story banners featuring Netanyahu with Putin, as well as others featuring President Donald Trump and… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A new left-wing alliance including former Prime Minister Ehud Barak has formed to take on Benjamin Netanyahu and the right wing that backs him in Israel’s September elections. The united slate announced Thursday has the far-left Meretz party running with Barak’s new Israel Democratic Party and… Read more »

(JTA) — Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, reiterated statements about terminating his government’s dealings with Israel. Abbas’ announcement Thursday followed an emergency meeting after Israel razed Palestinian buildings built without permit on the edge of Jerusalem, near the security barrier that Israel built in the West… Read more »

(JTA) — Following protests, authorities in eastern France rescinded a ban they had issued forbidding soccer fans from Israel from flying their country’s flag in the streets of Strasbourg. The prohibitions, which are unusual and provoked vociferous criticism, came in a four-page order Thursday from the head of the Bas-Rhin… Read more »

(JTA) — Norway and six EU countries voted at the United Nations in favor of two resolutions that singled out Israel for criticism as a violator of women’s and human rights. Israel was the only country named Tuesday as a violator or trouble spot by the 54-nation UN Economic… Read more »

(JTA) — Israeli Education Minister Rafi Peretz walked back his recent statement that intermarriage is “like a second Holocaust,” writing that the phrase was “probably not an appropriate term to use.” Jewish leaders in Israel and the United States had criticized the analogy made at a July 1 Cabinet… Read more »

Danielle Levy and Shay Friedwald, both 18, are Tucson’s teen Israeli ambassadors, or shinshinim, for the new year. They have just graduated high school and are among the 10 percent of students accepted out of about 2,000 who apply for this Jewish Agency for Israel global outreach program. “I… Read more »

Shelley Ann Lipowich, Ph.D., says she’s taught “for 150 years … everything from pre-kindergarten to post-doctoral, and I’ve had a ball.” She got her first taste of the Old Pueblo when it truly was a little village. She attended Sam Hughes Elementary as a child, “when Plumer Avenue was… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israeli society has been gripped over the past week by the killing of Solomon Tekah, an unarmed 19-year-old Ethiopian Israeli. On June 30, an off-duty Israeli police officer shot and killed Tekah under highly contested circumstances. While emerging evidence seems to indicate that the policeman was not… Read more »

Twenty-first century technology can go a long way toward bridging distances between people thousands of miles apart, but there is no replacement for personal and cross-community connections, says Inbal Shtivi. Shtivi, 43, who will be Tucson’s new shlicha (Israeli emissary) and director of the Weintraub Israel Center, will arrive… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Tel Aviv suburb has approved operating public transportation on Shabbat. The City Council of Ramat Gan, a municipality in central Israel, approved the measure on Tuesday by a vote of 15-6. In a harbinger of the religious freedom debate that will infuse the campaign for… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a point of reminding a conference of Christian Zionists that Israel permits conversions to Christianity, just weeks after his department reported on the difficulties converts face there. Pompeo, speaking Monday to the annual Washington summit of Christians United For Israel,… Read more »