Israel

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Call them Israel’s American volunteer fire brigade. Dozens of firefighters from across the United States put their lives on hold – leaving behind jobs and families – to help subdue the wildfires that swept Israel over the past week. While they all share a love of… Read more »

Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh said Thursday that “several” individuals have been arrested on suspicion that they were involved in arson attacks over the past several days, and Shin Bet (Israel Security Officials) said the agency is investigating the possibility that several of the fires were actual terror attacks, nationalistically motivated.… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) –  To become Suzi Boum, it takes Lior Yisraelov about an hour. It’s a routine Yisraelov has nailed down: First he shaves, then he applies layers of makeup. Next, fake eyelashes, and finally the blond wig, the glittering clothes and the over-the-top accessories. Over the years,… Read more »

Asher Susser

Asher Susser, a professor emeritus of Middle Eastern history at Tel Aviv University, signed on as the Stein Family Professor of Modern Israel Studies at the University of Arizona four years ago. He is the moderator for the Arizona Center for Judaic Studies’ second annual Modern Israel Conference, “Balancing… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Donald Trump’s surprising win may have spurred increased chatter among some Americans — Jews among them — about moving to Canada. But for Israelis, at least, the U.S. hasn’t lost its luster. Citizens of the Jewish state are as eager as ever to visit, and… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Right-wing Israeli politicians welcomed the election of Donald Trump with open arms. On Wednesday, Education Minister Naftali Bennett said Trump becoming the president-elect of the United States was a chance for Israel to “retract the notion of a Palestinian state.” Several politicians, including Jerusalem Mayor… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Reform movement and other liberal Jewish groups are urging Israel’s U.S. ambassador, Ron Dermer, not to accept an award from an organization deemed by the Anti-Defamation League to promulgate anti-Muslim extremism. The ADL itself stopped short of asking Dermer not to accept the award next… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) – As a kid, Ben Engelman dreamed of being a warrior. Until he was old enough to join the Israeli army, he settled for role playing as a sword fighter. Now 25, Engelman has been to war in Gaza and finished his service in a special… Read more »

 KARNEI SHOMRON, West Bank (JTA) — The Chicago Cubs are facing the Cleveland Indians in a historic World Series, and most of Israel could not care less. This Jewish settlement is different. The Neve Aliza neighborhood of Karnei Shomron is overwhelmingly American. Among the some 200 families from the… Read more »

Five Southern Arizona firefighters recently spent nine days in Israel training and battling blazes with fire crews in Jerusalem and Petach Tikvah. As the latest Firefighters Beyond Borders delegation, they were the first personnel from Arizona to participate in the Emergency Volunteer Project, a program that trains first-responders to… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Israeli and world leaders gathered atop Mount Herzl on Friday to say goodbye to Shimon Peres, Israel’s last founding father. In addition to fond personal recollections, many of those who took the stage alongside Peres’ Israeli-flag-draped coffin offered their visions of the peace that eluded the… Read more »

Jerusalem (TPS) – A military cavalcade delivered the coffin of former President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres to the Knesset early Thursday, where the deceased will lie in state in the parliament courtyard until his funeral procession tomorrow. Jerusalem police and Knesset security officials said they expect up to 1 million Israelis… Read more »

  TEL AVIV (JTA) — Shimon Peres, the former defense hawk turned Nobel Peace Prize winner and the last of Israel’s founders, has died. Peres died before dawn Wednesday at 93, Israel Radio reported. The former president suffered a massive stroke earlier this month and was reported initially to be… Read more »

(JTA) — A Jewish educator who works on behalf of the Jewish people every single day recently received a letter that began with harsh words about her support for the anti-occupation group Breaking the Silence. Before long it took a startling turn. “I regretfully must express my utmost hope,” the author wrote,… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Aymen Odeh has a tough job. He is the first person to represent all of Israel’s Arab political parties in the Knesset, or parliament. The parties, whose members range from secular communists to pious Muslims, came together as the Joint List to run in the 2015… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Donald Trump wants to profile likely terrorists the way Israel does it. The problem is, Israel and the United States already profile in similar ways – and neither in the way Trump prefers. The Republican presidential nominee’s proposal to blanket-profile entire communities would be unwieldy and… Read more »

  JERUSALEM (JTA) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued earlier this month that the Palestinian leadership is supporting “ethnic cleansing” by refusing to accept Israeli settlers in its future state. “Yet the Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one precondition: No Jews. There’s a phrase for that: It’s called ethnic… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – President Barack Obama’s near parting gift to Israel, a guarantee of $38 billion in defense assistance over a decade, distills into a single document what he’s been saying throughout eight fraught years: I have your back, but on my terms. The agreement signed Wednesday in the State Department’s… Read more »

Ramat Gan (TPS) – The medical condition of former Israeli President Shimon Peres has improved to the level where he is stable and responsive, according to the most recent update from Sheba Medical Center where he is receiving care. “After 24 hours of evaluating the ninth president, Mr. Peres,… Read more »

Herzliya (TPS) – Education Minister and Chairman of the Jewish Home Party Naftali Bennett told a counter-terrorism conference Monday that Israel is the world’s “front post” in the battle against terror. “No nation is as threatened by terror as we are,” Bennett told the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism annual… Read more »