Israel

WASHINGTON (JTA) — When America’s top intelligence official said that Iran’s regime is considering attacks on U.S. soil, he cited a single incident and qualified the assessment with a “probably.” But intelligence and law enforcement experts say the Jan. 31 warning by the director of national intelligence, James Clapper,… Read more »

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, seen here addressing a regional economic summit in Tehran in May 2011, says he is "optimistic" that nuclear inspectors will not find anything amiss this week during their visit to the country. (Parmida Rahimi via Creative Commons)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel, the United States and Iran have all gone deep into mixed-signals territory. Conversations with Israeli officials, including Defense Minister Ehud Barak, left one prominent journalist convinced that Israel will strike Iran by year’s end. Yet two weeks ago, Barak had said that any possible Israeli… Read more »

Soldiers from the Israeli army's haredi Orthodox unit called the Netzah Yehuda Battalion praying. (Abir Sultan/Flash90/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — When Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, granted a few hundred haredi Orthodox Jews an exemption from army service, it’s likely he never dreamed that 63 years later, tens of thousands of haredi Israelis would claim the exemption — or that the issue would be among… Read more »

Vered Otmy

Four Israeli artists will spend almost two weeks in Tucson this month, giving workshops and talking about their experiences as artists living in Israel. “This amazing ‘partnership 2gether’ project, sponsored by the Jewish Agency for Israel, Jewish Federations of North America and our local TIPS (Tucson, Israel, Phoenix, Seattle)… Read more »

On a JFSA mission in 2006, Deborah Kay visits a Kiryat Malachi program for Ethiopian mothers and children

Thousands of protesters demonstrated in Jerusalem Jan. 18 against racism and discrimination toward Ethiopians in Israel. Some 5,000 protesters marched in front of the Knesset before proceeding to Zion Square for a rally. They carried signs reading “Blacks and Whites — We’re all Equal,” “Social Justice” and “Stop racism.”… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Joseph Cedar is on a pretty good run: The Israeli director has made four movies in his 11-year career, and the first three have represented his country at the Academy Awards for best foreign-language film. One made the cut of five finalists, but a Cedar… Read more »

(Jewish Ideas Daily) — Some days, I think back 25 years to my high-school French course, where I first encountered the concept of the juste milieu — the happy medium — and the difficulty of achieving it. Why is it so elusive? Why do I often feel caught betwixt… Read more »

(Jewish Ideas Daily) — Suddenly, it seems, gender segregation is everywhere in Israel — buses, army bases, Jerusalem sidewalks, Beit Shemesh schoolyards and, above all, the front pages. What is going on here? Let’s start with the buses. In the late 1990s, at the request of some Haredim, the… Read more »

Filipinos light Chanukah candles in their home in South Tel Aviv on Nov. 24, 2010 in advance of the Jewish holiday. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — With eyes closed, it would have been difficult to guess that the female voice with the amazing range singing a Hebrew classic was a shy-looking, 11-year-old Filipina. But there was Kathleen Eligado performing Miri Aloni’s “Ballad of Hedva and Shlomik” before a prime-time television audience… Read more »

Yair Lapid, alongtime television anchor, is quitting journalism to enter politics. (Yair Lapid's official Facebook page)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — One of the big open questions after Israel’s social protests last summer was whether or not the one-time mass movement would be able to translate its newfound clout into lasting political power. During the weeks of protests and for months afterward, none of Israel’s political parties… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The decision by Israel and the United States to delay a massive joint anti-missile exercise set off a frenzy of speculation as to what the move says about relations between the two allies amid mounting tensions with Iran. U.S. and Israeli officials confirmed to JTA over… Read more »

(Jewish Ideas Daily) — The mighty River Jordan cuts a tiny ribbon through the geological depression stretching from Syria to Ethiopia. The river’s output is paltry. But for millennia the Jordan has been a thread in Western consciousness; and it has now returned to the forefront of attention, courtesy… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The indictment of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and 17 other Israelis on charges related to one of the largest real estate scandals in Israeli history is the latest shoe to drop in a country where political corruption has come to be seen as an epidemic. The… Read more »

Shlomo Fuchs, a haredi Israeli accused of harassing a female soldier for her refusal to move to the back of a bus, is released on bail in Jerusalem, Dec. 30, 2011. (Miriam Alster/Flash 90/JTA)

(JTA) — The cascade of condemnations started pouring in almost as soon as the Israeli TV report aired. It’s subject was  an 8-year-old girl harassed by haredi men on the way to her Modern Orthodox girls’ school in the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Shemesh. The Israeli prime minister and… Read more »

An Israeli crowd throngs the H&M store in Tel Aviv's Azrieli mall for a special sale, Nov. 17, 2011. (Meir Partush/Flash 90/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — It’s a question many a shopper in Israel has pondered, particularly if they’ve spent time overseas. Why does this fill-in-the-blank cost more in Israel? Whether it’s a box of Cheerios, a supply of Ziploc bags or a shirt from H&M, Israelis are paying more for many… Read more »

Haredi Orthodox men clash with police in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, Dec. 26, 2011. (Kobi Gideon/Flash 90/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — For several years now, the Jerusalem suburb of Beit Shemesh has been the site of on-again, off-again religious violence. But it wasn’t until the plight of a fearful 8-year-old girl from a Modern Orthodox immigrant family from America was broadcast on Israel’s Channel 2 over the… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — A man arrives at an airport for a flight, and as he goes through security the agent asks some questions. Did anyone help him pack his suitcase? What is the purpose of his trip? Is anyone accompanying him? During the conversation, the agent enters answers… Read more »

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks on Dec. 12, 2011 at the Israeli Business Conference held at the David Intercontinental Hotel in Tel Aviv. (Flash 90/Marc Israel/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — He may be a lightning rod for criticism abroad, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is consolidating power at home. On Dec. 5, Netanyahu announced that elections for leadership of his Likud Party would be held Jan. 31. The decision came as something of a surprise; primaries… Read more »

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — The Six-Day War in 1967 was a brilliant military victory, a turning point in Israel’s history. Similar glory by Americans on the battlefield no doubt would have led to the production of a half-dozen films with John Wayne single-handedly wiping out the Arab armies. Yet… Read more »

Samer al-Issawi spent five time in five Israeli prisons for shooting at Israeli soldiers before he was released in the first phase of the swap for Gilad Shalit. (Linda Gradstein)

OFER, West Bank (JTA) — When Israel releases 550 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday in the second phase of the Gilad Shalit exchange deal, the freed men and women will be leaving behind thousands of fellow Palestinians in Israeli jails. According to the Israeli Prison Service, there are 6,640 Palestinian… Read more »