Israel

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 »

TEL AVIV (JTA) — In 2012, Anna Varsanyi was married in an Orthodox Jewish ceremony conducted through Israel’s Chief Rabbinate. Two years later, the Hungarian immigrant has made a life in Israel, settling with her husband in the central city of Modiin and working a desk job in a… Read more »

Hatnua leader Tzipi Livni has joined forces with Isaac Herzog of Labor to form a joint slate in the upcoming Israeli elections. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — In the latest episode of the satirical show “State of the Nation,” the zingers aimed at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu weren’t coming from the comedians. Tzipi Livni, who until last month was Netanyahu’s justice minister, called the prime minister a “zero” on the program… Read more »

This week we have learned that Adam Everett Livvix, a 30-year-old from Texas, was arrested in Israel for allegedly plotting to attack the Dome of the Rock with explosives. Thanks to the collaboration between Israeli security agencies and the FBI, an incident of colossal implications was prevented. The Palestinians,… Read more »

LOD, Israel (JTA) — He says he’s a leader of a “Zionist settlement” movement, but Raz Sofer’s home is no West Bank outpost. Sofer, 25, is the manager of a 100-member student village in this mixed Jewish-Arab city in central Israel. The village, comprised of several apartment complexes, offers… Read more »

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip celebrating an attack on a Jerusalem synagogue, Nov. 18, 2014. Israeli elections in March are expected to have a much greater focus on security than they did two years ago. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — This government was supposed to be different. During the last election campaign in 2012, Israelis seemed to tire of the existential issues that have plagued the country for decades. Barely anyone talked about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Long-simmering social tensions over the rising cost of living… Read more »

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu leading a Likud faction meeting at the Knesset, Dec. 1, 2014. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — For the second time in about two years, Israel appears to be headed toward elections. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firing Tuesday of two key Cabinet ministers, Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni, increased the likelihood of a government collapse. “The people of Israel placed the responsibility on… Read more »

Inside the Max Rayne Hand in Hand Jerusalem School. an Arab-Jewish school that was vandalized over the weekend, Nov. 30, 2014. Some opponents of Israel's nation-state bill cite the recent proliferation of attacks on minorities in Israel as evidence that democracy rather than Jewishness needs attention. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – It’s not unusual to hear U.S. Jewish groups speaking out against laws that discriminate and framing their protests as protecting Jewish interests. What’s unusual is that the target this time is the Israeli government and the proposed law emphasizes Jewish rights. At issue is Israel’s nation-state… Read more »

Zili Grossman, a former PR professional for Eilat's hotel scene, now runs an aid organization for the city's poor with an annual budget of $650,000. (Ben Sales)

EILAT, Israel (JTA) — Zili Grossman did public relations for “half the hotels” in Eilat, she says. She was the mayor’s press adviser. Her job took her to festivals, bowling alleys, theaters and miniature golf courses — the gamut of tourist attractions in Israel’s best-known resort town. After a… Read more »

Herzliya-Pituach, a tony suburb on the coast just north of Tel Aviv, has beaches, luxury real estate and affluent residents in common with the Hamptons on New York's Long Island. (Jorge Novominsky/Flash90)

NEW YORK (JTA) – If they buy it, they will come. That’s the philosophy behind a new luxury apartment project in Israel called The Hamptons in Herzliya Pituach that’s attempting to link two very swanky locales in the service of strengthening Diaspora Jews’ connections to Israel — and selling… Read more »

World Council of Arameans now “Looks specifically to Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon”  Lost in the uproar over Israel’s proposed Nationality Bill has been the historic recognition of Arameans as a separate nationality in Israel. Israel is the first country in the world to recognize the Arameans. Israel’s historic recognition has empowered… Read more »

Israeli flags standing next to the Israeli state symbol in the Knesset, Nov. 6, 2014. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — On Sunday, Israel’s Cabinet advanced a bill in a 14-6 vote that if passed by the Knesset would enshrine into law Israel’s status as a Jewish state. The nation-state law, as the controversial measure is being called, has sparked a crisis in Israel’s coalition, with… Read more »