Israel

KFAR SABA, Israel (JTA) — The Israeli Labor Party’s new leader, Shelly Yachimovich, makes a grand entrance at the annual Rosh Hashanah toast for party activists. Well over an hour after the guests begin munching on puff pastries, she is greeted like a conquering hero as she wades into… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Republican presidents have been guiding Israel toward the peace table — sometimes not so gently — almost since the Jewish state was born more than six decades ago. But in the recent round of debates, the crop of candidates vying for the GOP nomination have been… Read more »

Palestinians in the West Bank village of Nabi Saleh, near Ramallah, faced off against Israeli soldiers during their weekly protest on the same day that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas submitted a bid for Palestinian statehood to the United Nations, Sept. 23, 2011. (Isasm Rimawi/Flash 90/JTA)

RAMALLAH, West Bank (JTA) — A larger-than-life sky-blue chair with the word “Palestine” dominates the center of Manara Square in downtown Ramallah. The Palestinian flag, a national symbol once banned by Israel, flies everywhere. Long banners of flags crisscross the square, huge flags decorate the sides of buildings, and… Read more »

President Obama, meeting with his Brazilian counterpart, Dilma Roussef, at the United Nations, is canvassing world leaders to oppose a bid by the Palestinians for statehood recognition, Sept. 20, 2011. (Office of Brazilian president)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Was it a speech to help launch his campaign for re-election, or an address to bury hopes for immediate Palestinian statehood recognition? Both assessments marked the immediate reaction to President Obama’s speech Wednesday at the United Nations General Assembly, and there was ammunition for both arguments.… Read more »

Diana Golbi performed in new york on behalf of ELEM, a nonprofit Israeli organization that helps "distressed youth" from whcih she herself benefited in her earlier teens. (Courtesy ELEM)

NEW YORK (JTA) — For her first visit to New York and the United States, Diana Golbi adopted the unofficial uniform of most city dwellers — head-to-toe black. Black shirt, black top and tight black jeans. Her long brown hair was straight and hung past her shoulders. Pointing to… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — In recent months, the tensions that have characterized relations between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government have largely receded into the background. The Obama administration is preparing to stand virtually alone with Israel at the United Nations in opposing the Palestinians’ statehood push. A consensus… Read more »

Israeli specialists holding their shoes during a demonstration by doctors outside the Barzilai Medical Center in Asheklon, July 26, 2011. (Tsafir Abayov/Flash 90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Thousands of Israeli doctors spent the last four months engaged in a nationwide strike, using work stoppages, YouTube videos and a final hunger strike by disgruntled medical residents to protest their wages and working hours. Now that the doctors’ strike is over, Israelis are debating whether a… Read more »

Noam Shalit, right, with Knesset member Michael Eitan during a protest on behalf of Shalit’s captive son Gilad outside the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem on Gilad’s 25th birthday, Aug. 28, 2011. (Miriam Alister/Flash90)

Noam Shalit, the father of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, wants his son’s plight to be part of the discussion of Palestinian statehood at the United Nations in September. In his view, Shalit’s release should be a precondition of any vote at the United Nations on recognition of a… Read more »

(Tablet Magazine) — Walk down the cobblestone alley and you’ll see it lined with restaurants serving falafel and schnitzel, and Internet cafes advertising their businesses with Hebrew signs and Israeli flags. Shoppers speak Hebrew, and Israeli pop music emanates from storefronts. A shopkeeper waves and calls out “Shalom!” to… Read more »

Footage taken from cameras aboard the Mavi Marmara showing passengers preparing for a confrontation with Israeli soldiers, May 31, 2010. Turkey has demanded an apology for the deaths of its citizens aboard the flotilla ship, but Israel has refused, causing a major rift in ties between the two former allies. (IDF/Flash 90/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The bad diplomatic news for Israel just kept getting worse. First Turkey announced that it was slashing the level of its diplomatic ties with Israel to the second secretary level, giving the senior Israeli embassy staff 48 hours to leave the country. Turkey also said it… Read more »

Thousands of demonstrators in Haifa were among the 400,000 people throughout Israel who took part in the largest social protest in the nation's history., Sept. 3, 2011. (Chen Leopold/Flash90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Saturday night’s demonstrations by more than 400,000 Israelis calling for social justice represented a powerful climax to an unprecedented summer of protests and activism. The nationwide protests, billed as the March of the Million, have been called the largest demonstration in Israel’s history. Whether they ventured out in… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — When Israeli music producer-to-the-stars Eitan Gafni put on a global song contest for Jews nearly 20 years ago, finding contestants was difficult. At the time, he called on Jewish Agency shlichim, or emissaries, residing in capitals around the world to find young Jews with musical talent… Read more »

On Sunday, Aug. 21, Ira Kerem, the TIPS (Tucson Israel Phoenix Seattle) partnership representative in Israel, reported that following the killing of eight Israelis along the border with Egypt by terrorists based in Gaza, the Israeli air force launched attacks into Gaza.  “Since then almost 100 missiles have been fired from… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Last week, Muslim and Jewish soldiers gathered after a day’s training to eat a communal iftar, the traditional break-the-fast meal eaten after sunset during the month-long observance of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan. “Ramadan isn’t just one day like the 17th of Tammuz or Tisha B’Av,”… Read more »

Israeli soldiers carry an injured person on a stretcher at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba following a Palestinian terrorist attack near the Egyptian border, Aug. 18, 2011. (Shay Levy/Flash 90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) – After deadly terrorist attacks in southern Israel, officials in Jerusalem are on alert for how Egyptian instability may be opening up more avenues for terrorists intent on attacking Israel. Thursday’s coordinated attacks north of Eilat by terrorists who crossed over the border from Egypt left eight… Read more »

Michael Ripstein on patrol along the Egyptian border (courtesy Michael Ripstein)

MAZKERET BATYA, Israel (Tablet) — In 20 years of military service, I thought I’d seen all the crappy training camps the Israeli army had to offer. But there I was, early one morning last spring, walking from the glorified gravel pit that passed for a parking lot at the… Read more »

Hundreds of Israelis protesting against the country's soaring cost of living in front of the knesset in Jerusalem, Aug. 2, 2011. (Yossi Zamir/Flash 90)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — What began in Israel in June as a Facebook-driven rebellion against the rising cost of cottage cheese, then morphed in July into tent encampments protesting soaring real estate costs, has since turned into a full-scale Israeli social movement against the high cost of living in the… Read more »

Shay Shem Tobi, left, and Levy Forchheimer enjoying the cocktail party and comedy night thrown in honor of visiting Israeli soldiers by the Manhattan Jewish Experience, July 2011. (JTA)

NEW YORK (JTA) — When Israel wanted to help its troops, it sent them to America. Last month, 15 former soldiers selected by the Israel Defense Forces traveled to New York for a weeklong program to treat lingering trauma from their combat during the 2006 Lebanon War with Hezbollah.… Read more »

SHILOH, West Bank (JTA) — Yisrael Medad remembers when just eight families lived in the red-roofed homes in this Jewish settlement deep in the hills of the West Bank. Now some 2,500 Israelis live here, and Shiloh has playgrounds, schools and a yeshiva. The red-roofed homes sprawl over several… Read more »

Members of a young adult group in Kiryat Malachi, Israel, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, recruited other young adults from the city to demand affordable housing. The sign reads, “Welcome to the tent city — Kiryat Malachi.” About 100 people joined the protest on July 25. (Courtesy Jewish Agency for Israel)

The wave of protests sweeping Israel is about much more than the lack of affordable housing: It’s a grass-roots demand for a major redistribution of the nation’s wealth. In social terms, protesters are calling for a more caring government attuned to the needs of young, middle-class citizens who serve… Read more »