National

Donald Trump says Jews are leaving the Democrats. Are they?

President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House, March 10, 2019. (Al Drago/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The House hearing was about foreign aid, and almost as soon as it started it took a political turn: The most powerful congressional appropriator was asking one of Washington’s most influential lobbyists about bipartisanship. “What in your view would be the consequence of making Israel a… Read more »

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says AIPAC is coming after her. It’s not.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on stage during the 2019 Athena Film Festival at Barnard College in New York City, March 3, 2019. (Lars Niki/Getty Images for The Athena Film Festival)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — “It’s official,” says the fundraising appeal from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the freshman lawmaker who has become the flagbearer for the Democratic Party’s restive progressive wing. “AIPAC is coming after Alexandria, Ilhan, and Rashida.” Not only is it not official, it’s not true. The release starts… Read more »

Neshama Carlebach is figuring out how ‘to both love and not love’ her father

Neshama Carlebach says "I want to live for this moment, for today, and I want my children to know joy.” (Michael Albany)

NEW YORK (JTA) — Neshama Carlebach says she is figuring out how “to both love and not love” her father. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, a spiritual leader and musician whose soulful melodies penetrated the hearts of people across the religious spectrum, is the man who made her into who she is… Read more »

Jason Greenblatt urges outside parties not to interfere in peace plan

Jason Greenblatt, left, meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Jerusalem, March 13, 2017. (Government Press Office)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The best thing everyone except for the Israelis and Palestinians can do when the Trump administration reveals its peace plan is to be supportive, Trump’s chief negotiator said. And nothing else. “It really is up to the Israelis and the Palestinians; they’re the ones who will… Read more »

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to visit Israel ahead of elections

(JTA) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will visit Israel this month with the country in the throes of an election campaign. Pompeo will be in Israel on March 20 for a summit involving Israel, Greece and Cyprus, Axios reported. State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told reporters that Pompeo’s… Read more »

Democrats’ anti-Semitism resolution tied to Ilhan Omar will now also condemn Islamophobia and white supremacy

Nancy Pelosi at her weekly news conference at the Capitol, Feb. 28, 2019. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Democrats are revising a statement on anti-Semitism to include other forms of bias following complaints by caucus progressives that the original resolution unfairly singled out Rep. Ilhan Omar. Despite the impassioned objections of at least one Jewish Democrat, House Democrats are set to vote on the… Read more »

5 Jewish things to know about John Hickenlooper

John Hickenlooper participates in a discussion as part of the Brookings Institution's Middle Class Initiative in Washington, D.C., Oct. 10, 2018. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

(JTA) — John Hickenlooper is the latest Democrat who thinks he can win back the White House in 2020. The former Colorado governor and self-described “extreme moderate” announced his candidacy on Monday and is holding his first campaign rally this week. “Ultimately I’m running for president because I believe… Read more »

Documentary on Joseph Pulitzer recalls another era of president vs. the press

A scene from "Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People" shows an old edition of the New York World, Pulitzer's influential paper. (First Run Features)

LOS ANGELES (JTA) – It’s a story that would not sound too out of place in 2019: New York’s leading newspaper accuses the president of the United States of corruption and the latter sues the paper’s publisher for libel. Striking back, the publisher declares in an editorial that his… Read more »

A new book sheds light on little-known American Jewish women throughout history

Pamella Nadell is the author of the forthcoming book "America's Jewish Women: A History From Colonial Times to Today." (Book photo: Courtesy of W. W. Norton & Company; Nadell photo: Sophia Myszkowski)

NEW YORK (JTA) — While looking at family photos, historian Pamela Nadell noticed how female relatives dressed differently with each generation. Her great-grandmother wore a high lace collar and covered her hair with a wig, like some Orthodox Jews. Her daughter’s go-to is a pair of skinny jeans. Nadell, a… Read more »

World’s first privately funded, Israeli lunar mission to launch today at 8:45 p.m. from Cape Canaveral

Beresheet payload (at the top, in gold), the first Israeli lunar spacecraft. (Photo credit: Courtesy of SSL)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb. 18 – Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) today announced that Israel’s inaugural voyage to the moon – the world’s first privately funded lunar mission – will begin on Feb. 21 at approximately 8:45 p.m. EST, when the lunar lander “Beresheet” (“In the Beginning”)… Read more »

Meet the Jewish undocumented immigrant who’s the student president of the biggest college in the country

Josh Boloña, pictured sitting in his campus library, is the president of the Student Government Association at the University of Central Florida. (Ben Sales)

ORLANDO, Fla. (JTA) — Growing up, Josh Boloña was just like a lot of kids in South Florida: He was a Latino immigrant, from Ecuador, in an area with a lot of Latino immigrants. He was a Jewish kid in an area with many Jews. He was a soccer… Read more »