Israel

Israeli Air Force, particularly its scrappy beginnings, inspires 3 films

Al Schwimmer, who guided the vast operation to build Israel's air force, with Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. (Courtesy of Boaz Dvir)
May 12, 2015 / Tom Tugend, JTA

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — The Israeli Air Force is getting its moment in the spotlight, with two documentaries airing on television stations and at film festivals, while a feature movie waits in the, ahem, wings. The focus of the films is not on today’s highly professional IAF or its astonishing… Read more »

For Netanyahu and Obama, mistrust is personal — and cynical
May 12, 2015 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Obama administration officials have long contended that the friction between the U.S. president and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not personal and that American support for Israel remains as robust as ever — and arguably even more robust by some metrics. But a year of… Read more »

Back in power, haredi parties aim to roll back religious reforms
May 11, 2015 / Ben Sales, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israel’s last governing coalition — divided on war, peace and economics — did agree on one thing: Israel’s religious policies needed to change. Now it appears that the incoming coalition will be organized around the opposite principle: Those changes must end. A coalition agreement signed… Read more »

Pinning of yellow star on 3-year-old reignites Israeli education debate
May 6, 2015 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — On April 19, Keren Zachmi’s daughter returned from her kindergarten near Tel Aviv wearing a yellow patch emblazoned with the word “Jude.” A teacher had put the yellow star on 17 kindergarteners so they would feel like Holocaust victims during Yom Hashoah, Israel’s national Holocaust commemoration day. Appalled,… Read more »

Where is the Jewish aid to Nepal going?

Israeli soldiers establish a field hospital together with the Nepalese army on April 29 in Nepal. (IDF Spokesperson/ Flash90)
May 6, 2015 / Uriel Heilman, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) – Almost as soon as news of Nepal’s devastating earthquake reached the wider world, Jewish aid groups began mobilizing humanitarian efforts to help the victims. In Israel, that meant dispatching first responders to Nepal; in America, it mostly meant raising and allocating money. How is the… Read more »

Why Ethiopian-Israelis took to Tel Aviv’s streets

Israeli policeman trying to disperse the hundreds of demonstrators in Tel Aviv protesting on behalf of Ethiopian-Israelis, May 3, 2015. (Ben Kelmer/Flash90)
May 4, 2015 / Ben Sales, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) — A historically disadvantaged black minority is galvanized when one of its members appears to suffer brutality at the hands of police — and the episode is caught on video. Peaceful mass protests devolve into violence. Police crack down in an attempt to control crowds. It’s… Read more »

Why last week’s Women of the Wall drama was a big deal — and why it wasn’t

Women of the "Women of the Wall" organization dance with a Torah scroll as they attend their montly prayer services at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, April 20, 2015. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
April 27, 2015 / Ben Sales, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) —A man was trampled. A raucous protest broke out, restrained only by police. The Western Wall’s mechitza — a partition between men and women considered sacrosanct — was breached by those who ostensibly care about it most. The brouhaha that erupted last week at Women of the Wall’s monthly service… Read more »

Recycling toilet water and 4 other Israeli answers to California’s drought

A faucet and toilets are seen in a classroom in the ecological village in Nitzana, Israel. Students there learn about desalination and how to save water. (Chen Leopold/Flash 90)
April 21, 2015 / Ben Sales, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) — For help facing its worst drought in centuries, California should look to a country that beat its own chronic water shortage: Israel. Until a few years ago, Israel’s wells seemed like they were always running dry. TV commercials urged Israelis to conserve water. Newspapers tracked… Read more »

Will Russia’s missile deal with Iran end Israel’s silence on Ukraine?

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, being greeted by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, June 25, 2012. (Israel Government Press Office/ Kobi Gideon)
April 21, 2015 / Cnaan Liphshiz, JTA

(JTA) — After Russia invaded Ukraine in March 2014, Israel resisted pressure to join the United States and its European allies in condemning the move — citing in particular its concern not to antagonize Russia for fear it could provide Syria with a powerful anti-aircraft missile called the S-300.… Read more »

When El Al flew to Tehran — and 9 other things you may not know about Israel’s past

Golda Meir, shown in January 1964, was not the world's first female prime minister. (Wikimedia Commons)
April 14, 2015 / Uriel Heilman, JTA

(JTA) — Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, falls on April 23. In honor of the Jewish state’s 67th birthday, we present, in no particular order, 10 little-known aspects of its history. El Al used to fly to Tehran. Iran and Israel enjoyed mostly good relations up until the Islamic revolution… Read more »

U.S. and Israel escalate war of words over Iran
April 7, 2015 / Ben Harris, JTA

(JTA) – Israel and the Obama administration have stepped up their war of words over the framework agreement that aims to limit Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for a gradual rollback of sanctions. President Barack Obama made his most detailed effort yet to persuade skeptics of the accord reached… Read more »

After the nuclear negotiators go home, what happens next?

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, thir from left, in Lausanne, Switzerland, with his counterparts from the other world powers negotiating with Iran before the nuclear talks resumed, March 30, 2015. (U.S. State Department/Flickr)
March 31, 2015 / Uriel Heilman, JTA

(JTA) – Diplomats in Lausanne, Switzerland, have extended their deadline on a framework accord on Iran’s nuclear program. But even if an agreement is reached this week, it’s merely a way station toward a comprehensive deal that is due by June 30. If a deal is reached, who needs to approve… Read more »

Jewish-Christian charity bringing Ukrainians to Israel — and aiming to keep them there

A Ukrainian couple at pre-flight briefing for immigrants to Israel in Kiev, March 23, 2015. (Ben Sales)
March 31, 2015 / Ben Sales, JTA

KIEV (JTA) — Tatyana Orul would have moved to Israel years ago if not for her job as a television journalist in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, which interested her too much to give up. But when bombs started falling next to her house last year, she reconsidered.… Read more »

Will Netanyahu join partners’ push for the poor?

A homeless man in Jerusalem. Under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has emerged as one of the developed world's most economically unequal countries. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 30, 2015 / Ben Sales, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel got his wish in last week’s elections: a larger and more stable right-wing government marching in lockstep on security and diplomacy. But while the coming coalition may be more unified when it comes to the conflict with the Palestinians, it… Read more »

Is U.S.-Israel crisis a speed bump or sign of a long-term conflict?
March 30, 2015 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Barack Obama’s refusal to accept Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ostensible recommitment to a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has watchers of the U.S.-Israel relationship wondering if the recent crisis is a mere speed bump or a sign of a deeper shift in ties… Read more »

After Brooklyn blaze kills 7 kids, grief spans an ocean

A mourner near the fresh graves of the seven children from the Sassoon family during their funeral in Jerusalem, March 23, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 24, 2015 / Uriel Heilman, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) – Even in a city accustomed to deadly fires, this one stood out for the sheer scale of the tragedy: seven children, ranging in age from 5 to 16, killed in the middle of the night after awakening from their Sabbath slumber to smoke and flames.… Read more »

Netanyahu facing challenges, criticism from Jewish liberals

J Street Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami addressing the group's conference in Washington, D.C.,March 21, 2015. (Courtesy of J Street)
March 23, 2015 / Ron Kampeas, JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) – With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing escalating criticism and pressure from the White House, he could use some help from Israel’s erstwhile allies in the American Jewish community — especially those with sway in liberal and Democratic circles. But several leading Jewish liberal critics of Netanyahu… Read more »