After two consecutive years of having to cancel their trip to Israel due to Covid, Tucson Hebrew Academy (THA) has resumed the trip this year, and their 8th graders are having a blast! They arrived in Israel on Erev Yom HaZikaron (the eve of Israel’s Memorial Day) and joined… Read more »
Todd Rockoff will lead a Z3 lunch and learn on Dec. 13. This year’s Z3 event won’t be what people might expect. Now in its sixth year, Z3, which originally was dubbed Zionism 3.0, is an opportunity to talk about a wide range of issues in Israel and the Diaspora. But this is definitely not going to be your typical conference, and not… Read more »
Participants in the S.A.H.I. program for at-risk youth give out hand sanitizer in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. (Courtesy Adi Shacham, director of P2G Kiryat Malachi-Hof Ashkelon)
In early June, Aviva Zeltzer-Zubida, Ph.D., vice president for planning and engagement at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, visited Kiryat Malachi and Hof Ashkelon in Israel for what she calls a “deep dive” into the Weintraub Israel Center’s Partnership2Gether program. Zeltzer-Zubida met with representatives of social service programs… Read more »
(JTA) — Public protests in Israel will be limited during the coronavirus lockdown under legislation passed early Wednesday by the Knesset. Protesters will be prohibited from traveling more than 1 kilometer, or 0.6 miles, to participate in a demonstration and outdoor gatherings will remain limited to 20 people. Hours… Read more »
(JTA) — An Italian lawmaker has nominated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel for the Nobel Peace Prize. Paolo Grimoldi of the right-wing Northern League party tweeted Wednesday that he had nominated Netanyahu because he signed peace agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as the… Read more »
(JTA) — The king of Saudi Arabia has thrown cold water on the assurances of Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of President Donald Trump who is leading Middle East policy, that all Arab countries will follow the United Arab Emirates’ lead and normalize ties with Israel. Saudi Arabian King Salman… Read more »
(JTA) — The president of Malawi said that his country would open an embassy in Jerusalem Lazarus Chakwera made the announcement Saturday as part of a larger expansion of the country’s diplomatic representation abroad. Malawi currently does not have a diplomatic mission in Israel. The announcement came a day… Read more »
(JTA) — The display was striking: 1,019 empty plastic chairs set up in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv, one for each of the Israeli victims of the coronavirus since the pandemic began this spring. The chairs, set up on Monday by the grassroots organization Standing Together, each bore a… Read more »
(JTA) — Israel passed a grim milestone over the weekend as its tally of coronavirus deaths exceeded 1,000. The country currently has the highest rate of new infections per capita in the world, with an average of 199.3 new cases a day per 1 million residents for the week… Read more »
(JTA) — Residents of Uman, Ukraine, scuffled with Orthodox Jews who were seeking to enter a building in the city that is the site of an annual Jewish pilgrimage. In a video posted to Facebook on Friday by Sergiy Alekseev, a city council member representing the far-right Svoboda party, several… Read more »
(JTA) — El Al, Israel’s national airline, is scheduled to make its first publicly advertised flight to the United Arab Emirates. The flight, which appears to be reserved for dignitaries, is set to leave Ben Gurion Airport on Monday bound for Abu Dhabi, the Associated Press reported. The flight… Read more »
(JTA) — The treaty between Israel and the United Arab Emirates is a big deal. The agreement, announced Thursday in a joint statement from the White House and called the Abraham Accord, means that Israel will now have diplomatic and economic relations with a country that had not recognized… Read more »
Sen. Kamala Harris in Washington, D.C., June 24, 2020. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
(JTA) — It’s official: Kamala Harris is Joe Biden’s choice for vice president. The California senator, who made history Tuesday as the first Black woman to join a major party presidential ticket, is still in her first term. But during several years in public office, the 55-year-old lawmaker’s outspoken… Read more »
Rep. Karen Bass in her office at the Rayburn House Office Building, July 30, 2020. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is expected to name his running mate in the next two weeks, and while the list of contenders has changed constantly for months, most reports have now whittled the group of front-runners down to Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Susan Rice, Karen… Read more »
Seth Rogen speaks onstage at The Workers Circle 2019 benefit in New York City, where he was honored, Dec. 2, 2019. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
(JTA) — In a new interview, Seth Rogen said his comments about Israel being a bad idea for a state were made in jest but affirmed that he found his childhood education about the country, which he received through Jewish schools and camps, to be problematic. “I don’t want… Read more »
(JTA) — Austria will allow the descendants of Holocaust victims to receive citizenship beginning Sept. 1, the country’s embassy in Israel announced Sunday. Before an amendment to Austria’s citizenship law ratified last September, only survivors were entitled to receive citizenship, and then only if they left Austria due to… Read more »
An activist with Tag Meir, an Israeli group funded by the New Israel Fund, hands out flowers on a day to counter racism in Jerusalem on June 1, 2019. (NIF/Yossi Zamir)
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A pro-Israel activist has filed a complaint with the Internal Revenue Service that, if successful, could severely restrict freedom of speech for non-governmental organizations. David Abrams’ lawsuit alleges that the nonprofit New Israel Fund “electioneered” in violation of its tax-exempt status by supporting grantees in Israel… Read more »
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel has offered Lebanon humanitarian assistance after a massive explosion at Beirut’s waterfront killed at least 30 people and injured thousands. Israel’s defense minister Benny Gantz announced the offer on Twitter. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli army and at least one Israeli hospital also offered… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Foreign students planning to begin their studies in Israel this fall will be permitted to enter the country despite coronavirus restrictions that ban non-citizens. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri said in a statement reported by The Jerusalem Post that “we have been making great efforts to maintain… Read more »
Israeli poet Rachel Korazim has been surprised by the popularity of her online classes during the pandemic. (Screenshot)
(JTA) — Israeli poetry scholar Rachel Korazim had been thinking about cutting back on travel when the coronavirus pandemic made the decision for her. “I said I really want to shift my teaching to distance learning because, you know, I’m not getting any younger. Travel is tiring,” she said… Read more »
