Israel

WASHINGTON (JTA) — In tense meetings, top congressional Democrats — including a number of Jewish lawmakers — confronted Israeli officials about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s planned speech to Congress. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), the minority leader in the U.S. House of Representatives, met Wednesday with Yuli Edelstein, the Knesset… Read more »

Israeli army veteran Yinon Cohen, 31, surprised his ski instructors at Challenge Aspen with his determination to ski unaided except for his prosthetic legs. (Nina Zale)

(JTA) — After Yinon Cohen lost his legs in an accident involving a rocket-propelled grenade, it wasn’t clear he’d ever be able to walk again, much less ski down a peak in the Rocky Mountains. A fresh-faced soldier in the Israel Defense Forces’ elite Golani brigade, Cohen was in… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – When Benjamin Netanyahu faces the Congress next month, two things are unlikely to come up in his speech: a consideration of diplomatic protocol and an analysis of the efficacy of sanctions. Media attention ahead of the speech has focused on the diplomatic crisis set off by… Read more »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Labor Chairman Isaac Herzog won’t be debating each other ahead of Israel’s March election, but English speakers in Tel Aviv who packed an event hall here got the next best thing: Candidates from five parties came out for a panel-style… Read more »

Some Israelis stayed up all nightto watch the Patriots celebrate their fourth Super Bowl victory in 14 years, Feb. 1, 2015. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — There were wings, beers, giant TV screens, and football fans wearing New England Patriots sweatshirts and Seattle Seahawks jerseys. If not for the fact that it was 1 a.m. and former Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid stood in the center of the bar, it could… Read more »

Amos Oz revisits interviews with soldiers he recorded almost 50 years ago in 'Censored Voices.' (Dogwoof)

PARK CITY, Utah (JTA) — In the wake of Israel’s seemingly miraculous triumph in the Six-Day War in 1967, the country’s victorious soldiers were lionized as heroes. But in private, even just one week after the conflict, many of them didn’t feel that way. One describes feeling sick to… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — When Israel wants something from the United States, it typically makes three stops: the pro-Israel lobby, Jewish members of Congress and the White House. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignored all three when he accepted an invitation from House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) to address Congress about… Read more »

Protesters clashing with Israeli police following the funeral of Sami al-Ja'ar in Rahat, in southern Israel, Jan. 18, 2015. (Activestills.org)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — In an economically depressed town populated largely by a minority group, a young man is killed under disputed circumstances. In the days that follow, riots consume the town, pitting frustrated and angry residents against the police, who maintain their officers acted in self-defense. But activists… Read more »

Stav Shaffir makes a point at a meeting of the Knesset Finance Committee in Jerusalem, Sept. 3, 2014. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Stav Shaffir was angry. The 29-year-old firebrand is known for her outbursts, which have gotten her kicked out of multiple Knesset hearings in the past year. But when she rose in the Knesset on Jan. 21 to answer Jewish Home party leader Naftali Bennett’s charge… Read more »

Yaakov Lehman

A former Tucsonan is the mastermind behind a multimedia Israeli tour book app (see www.theisraelapp.com). Yaakov Lehman, 29, made aliyah in 2008, after a spiritual, philosophical and physical journey that took him from California to Europe to yeshiva. Lehman grew up as Jake in Tucson and graduated from Catalina… Read more »

Anett Haskia fared poorly in the Jewish Home primary but said party voters embraced her despite her background. (Ben Sales)

PETACH TIKVAH, Israel (JTA) — Outside the Moriah Synagogue in this central Israeli city, boys in ritual fringes and girls in long skirts handed out fliers for the dozens of candidates running in the Jan. 14 primary for the Jewish Home party, a right-wing, modern Orthodox faction. Religious voters… Read more »

The crowd outside the kosher supermarket Hyper Cacher in Paris as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pays his respects to the victims of last week's terrorist attacks, Jan. 12, 2015. (Aurelian Meunier/Getty Images)

(JTA) – French Jews are feeling embattled. Arsonists have targeted their synagogues, terrorists have attacked their schools and shops, and with only a few exceptions, French society has not united behind them to stop the assaults and harassment. The solution, according to Israel’s prime minister, is simple: Move to… Read more »

A French policeman shakes hands with ZAKA Israel volunteer, Dano Monkotovitz (Courtesy ZAKA)

Two days after the deadly terror attack on the kosher supermarket in Paris, veteran ZAKA volunteers from Israel traveled to France to join their volunteer colleagues in the Paris Zaka unit. On Sunday evening, Jan. 11, ZAKA International Rescue Unit head Mati Goldstein and veteran ZAKA volunteer Dano Monkotovitz flew… Read more »

Beb Ammi Ben-Israel, the leader of the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem, who died on Dec. 27, celebrating the festival of Shavuot in 2011. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

DIMONA, Israel (JTA) — Yitzchok Elefant ascended the stage in his black hat and coat and turned to face an auditorium full of people in flowing white shirts and pants with matching scarves and caps. Standing beneath a banner reading “A tribute to his majesty, our spiritual leader, the… Read more »

Two officers in an elite intelligence unit, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of their activities, are among several groups of Israelis who have announced their refusal to participate in certain Israeli military activities. (Ben Sales)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — The Israel Defense Forces oppresses people, the letter said. The army creates inequality, perpetuates injustice and corrupts social values. The letter didn’t come from a foreign protest group, but from teachers and graduates of one of Jerusalem’s elite high schools, the Israeli Arts and Sciences… Read more »

Rachaeli Ibenboim is urging women to boycott Israeli haredi parties in March's Knesset elections unless they include female candidates. (Hadas Parush/Flash 90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Racheli Ibenboim acts as if she’s in a rush, repeatedly checking her phone before hurrying off to her next appointment exactly 30 minutes after the current one begins. The way Ibenboim tells it, she’s not just trying to keep up with a tight schedule but… Read more »

Mark Halawa on the first night of Chanukah in Tel Aviv's Great Synagogue. (Anav Silverman/Tazpit News Agency)

When Mark Halawa lights his family’s menorah during Chanukah, it is not without recalling his unique journey as a Kuwaiti Muslim to Orthodox Judaism. The 38-year-old businessman, who lives today in Jerusalem with his wife and family, keeping Shabbat and kosher dietary laws, began his journey 12 years ago in… Read more »

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein arriving in Israel with the first group of immigrants brought by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, Dec. 22, 2014. (International Fellowship of Christians and Jews)

(JTA) — Citing failures by the organization traditionally responsible for bringing Jews to Israel, the founder of a Jerusalem-based interfaith charity said his organization would begin bringing more Jews to Israel from Europe — starting with Ukraine. Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, the founder of the International Fellowship of Christians and… Read more »

Aerial view of the December 2014 oil leak in the Arava area of southern Israel, near where an initiative is under way to reduce the world's reliance on petroleum for energy. (Israel Environmental Protection Ministry)

TEL AVIV (JTA) – In the sun-parched fields near where the largest oil spill in Israeli history poured millions of liters of crude oil into the desert on Dec. 4, an ambitious effort is underway to help reduce global dependency on petroleum for energy. Known as the Eilot Belt,… Read more »

Labor Party leader Isaac Herzog speaking in the Knesset in Jerusalem at a memorial ceremony for Yitzhak Rabin, Nov. 5, 2014. Herzog is faring well in the polls since new elections were called in December. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Come early next year, there might be yet another world capital that opposes Israeli settlement expansion and sees Benjamin Netanyahu as principally responsible for Israel’s isolation: Jerusalem. Isaac Herzog, the Labor Party leader, is faring well in the polls since Netanyahu called for new elections earlier… Read more »