Activists at a 20111 rally in Tel Aviv gather under a banner that reads, "We requested refuge, we received prison." (Dima Vazinovich/Flash90) SAHARONIM, Israel (JTA) — A long chain-link fence with barbed wire seems to rise up out of the desert at the new Sadot facility in Israel for African migrants. Situated along Israel’s barren border with Egypt and across the street from the notorious Ketziot Prison, which houses thousands of… Read more »
Rabbi Eliezer Berland, seen at a prayer service at the Western Wall on Jan. 25, 2012, fled to Morocco after being accused of sex abuse. (Uri Lenz/FLASH90) (JTA) — Surrounded by dozens of adoring followers at his grandson’s wedding this summer, Eliezer Berland looked like any other Hasidic rebbe marking a family celebration. But Berland is not like most rabbis. The founder of the Shuvu Bonim religious seminary in Israel, Berland, 76, fled to Morocco earlier… Read more »
Dov Jakobovitz, 85, lives in an old-age home in a poor neighborhood of Tel Aviv. He survived Auschwitz and fought in two Israeli wars, but now he doesn't have enough money for food. (Ben Sales) TEL AVIV (JTA) — Breakfast costs Dov Jakobovitz $2. Lunch costs him $2.25. Both are served in the public old-age home in south Tel Aviv where he lives. But the food is not to his liking. Jakobovitz longs for the dishes he ate as a child in Transylvania —… Read more »
Manager Brad ausmus, right, and two of his coaches, Shawn Green, left, and Gabe Kapler, constituted the all-Jewish, Major Leagie-pedigree leadership of Israel's 2012 tean competing for a World Baseball Classic bid. (Israel Association of Baseball) BALTIMORE (JTA) – Almost from the moment they met him, several officials and players with Israel’s national baseball team said they saw manager Brad Ausmus headed for the major leagues. They cited his communication skills, command of the game and preparation — not to mention his 18-year playing career… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — It is a cause that elicited cheers from a roomful of participants at the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly. Leading politicians have long championed it and are now trying to push it through a divided Knesset. Nearly two-thirds of Israelis support it, and activists… Read more »
President Obama makes a statement announcing an interim agreement on Iran's nuclear program at the White House on Nov. 23, 2013. (T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool/Getty Images) TEL AVIV (JTA) — For the first time in a decade, the United States and a coalition of world powers have reached an agreement with Iran to curb the country’s nuclear program. The deal requires Iran to limit its nuclear enrichment and freeze most of its centrifuges for six… Read more »
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement, in his office in Jerusalem, Nov. 24, 2013 regarding the agreement reached in Geneva a few hours earlier between Iran and six world powers. (Haim Zach/GPO/Flash90) TEL AVIV (JTA) — With an interim agreement on Iran’s nuclear program in place, President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu each face formidable challenges ahead. For Obama, the goal will be to move from the interim agreement to a broader and more permanent deal within six… Read more »
Naftali Bennett says his wife, Gilat, right, only drew closer to Judaism when the couple lived in New York. (Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images) NEW YORK (JTA) — Naftali Bennett doesn’t like to waste time. In the eight months since he took over three Israeli ministries — religious services, economy, and Diaspora and Jerusalem affairs — Bennett has pushed through legislation to give Israeli couples more freedom in choosing which rabbi officiates at… Read more »
Israeli military personnel assist survivors of the typhoon that ravaged the Philippines last week. (JTA) — Obviously wanting to get back to work as the medical manager of the field hospital set up by the Israel Defense Forces in the Philippines, Lt.-Col. Dr. Ofer Merin speaks hurriedly about the three days his team has been seeing patients in the typhoon-ravaged nation. He tells… Read more »
(L-R) Capt. Kyle Canty, Northwest Fire Department; Capt. Richard Johnson, Tucson Fire Department; Division Chief Kelly McCoy, Northwest Fire Department; Capt. Mark Lytle, Green Valley Fire District; Capt. Scott Laird, Rincon Valley Fire District; Tzvia and Emil Riven (in front of Laird); Lt. Thomas Tucker, Tucson Airport Authority Fire Department; and Capt. Kris Blum, Tuscon Fire Department, plant a tree on Mount Carmel to honor the Rivens’ son, Elad, who died in 2010 fighting Israel’s worst forest fire. (Courtesy Greater Tucson Fire Foundation) “We went as seven firefighters and came back as seven ambassadors for Israel,” says Capt. Scott Laird of the Rincon Valley Fire District, who spent Oct. 15-25 in Israel as part of Southern Arizona’s first Firefighters Without Borders delegation. The group sought to learn, firsthand, about how Israel’s… Read more »
Karnit Flug was named successor to Stanley Fischer, right, as governor of the Bank of Israel. (Miriam Alster/Flash 90) JAFFA, Israel (JTA) — Andromeda Hill is a beachfront complex of luxury apartments connected by tree-lined pathways that features such amenities as a spa and business center. Five minutes down the road is Ajami, a low-income neighborhood profiled in the 2009 film of the same name that remains one… Read more »
Jerry Silverman, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, at the 2012 General Assembly in Baltimore, Md. (JFNA) NEW YORK (JTA) – This time, it’s not going to be just talking. There’s going to be listening and debating — and, eventually, action. That’s what Jerry Silverman, CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America, says will distinguish this year’s General Assembly, which is slated for Nov. 10-12… Read more »
JERUSALEM (JTA) — It looks like a futuristic salon hair dryer. Connected to a computer by a bright orange strip, the half-cube with rounded corners sits comfortably atop the head, a coil of wires resting on the skull. As a doctor stands at the computer, the patient gets comfortable.… Read more »
Israelis demonstrating against the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners, Oct. 28, 2013. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s peace talks with the Palestinians remain mostly shrouded in secrecy, but one thing is certain: The Palestinian prisoner release that paved the way for their resumption is increasing tensions in Israel’s governing coalition. Israel completed the second stage of the four-part release on Tuesday, setting… Read more »
Nov. 4-8, 2013, BBYO teens will lead peers worldwide in Speak UP Week, an international initiative that explores Israel education, awareness and advocacy through formal, informal and experiential lenses. Leading up to Speak UP Week, BBYO invites the Jewish community to share their personal connections to Israel through a… Read more »
Former Saudi ambassador Prince Turki bin Faisal al Saud confers with Israeli strategic affairs analyst Yossi Alpher at the National Iranian American Council conference in Washington, Oct. 15, 2013. (NIAC) WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping the enemy of one’s enemy truly does become a friend. In recent years, Netanyahu has said the enmity for Iran shared by Israel and the Arab states could become a spur to regional reconciliation. Last week, in a speech… Read more »
Syrian refugees in the Jordanian city of Mafraq collect supplies funded by IsraAid, an Israeli humanitarian aid organization, and distributed through a local Jordanian NGO. MAFRAQ, Jordan (JTA) — The purple plastic sacks fill two rooms in the otherwise sparsely furnished headquarters of a Jordanian NGO, awaiting distribution to Syrian refugees already lined up on the sidewalk. They contain an array of staple dry goods — lentils, pasta, powdered milk, tea — as well… Read more »
Jewish immigrants of the Bnei Menashe arriving at Ben Gurion airport in Israel, Dec. 24, 2012. (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images) SDEROT, Israel (JTA) — A Kassam rocket had just landed across the street, but it couldn’t wipe the smile off David Lhundgim’s face as he entered his apartment in this embattled town near the Gaza border. Born in the rural provinces of northeast India, Lhundgim had lived in Sderot… Read more »
BEIT SHEMESH, Israel (JTA) — It was only when her sons came at her with knives that she realized keeping quiet was not going to work. For nine years, her rabbis had told her not to speak up about her husband’s verbal, physical and sexual attacks. They assured her that… Read more »
Therapist Zahava Baruch (right) counsels Ethiopian immigrants Fanta (left) and Weinishe at the welfare department in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona and the Jewish Community Foundation of Southern Arizona fund a variety of programs in our TIPS (Tucson, Israel, Phoenix, Seattle) partnership city of Kiryat Malachi, Israel, including counseling for Ethiopian immigrants. Every Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., there is an unusual… Read more »
