News

  JERUSALEM (JTA) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued earlier this month that the Palestinian leadership is supporting “ethnic cleansing” by refusing to accept Israeli settlers in its future state. “Yet the Palestinian leadership actually demands a Palestinian state with one precondition: No Jews. There’s a phrase for that: It’s called ethnic… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) – President Barack Obama’s near parting gift to Israel, a guarantee of $38 billion in defense assistance over a decade, distills into a single document what he’s been saying throughout eight fraught years: I have your back, but on my terms. The agreement signed Wednesday in the State Department’s… Read more »

Ramat Gan (TPS) – The medical condition of former Israeli President Shimon Peres has improved to the level where he is stable and responsive, according to the most recent update from Sheba Medical Center where he is receiving care. “After 24 hours of evaluating the ninth president, Mr. Peres,… Read more »

Herzliya (TPS) – Education Minister and Chairman of the Jewish Home Party Naftali Bennett told a counter-terrorism conference Monday that Israel is the world’s “front post” in the battle against terror. “No nation is as threatened by terror as we are,” Bennett told the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism annual… Read more »

  WASHINGTON (JTA) — Hillary Clinton trounces Donald Trump among Jewish voters, but underperforms compared to her Democratic predecessors, according to an American Jewish Committee poll that depicts a Jewish community disenchanted with politics and anxious about the country’s future. The poll released Tuesday shows Clinton defeating Trump, 61… Read more »

Updated 9/13/16 at 1:18 p.m. MST. JERUSALEM (JTA) — Former Israeli President Shimon Peres was hospitalized after having a stroke. Peres’ office said in a statement Tuesday evening that the 93-year-old statesman “is stable and fully conscious.” The office later announced that Peres’ doctors decided to sedate him and… Read more »

(JTA) — A stabbing and car-ramming epidemic in Israel that some called a third intifada was among the most dominant Jewish stories of the past year. But 5776 was also notable for the release of spy Jonathan Pollard after 30 years in prison, the communal fallout from the Iran nuclear deal, a historic… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — “We are committed to helping ensure that the State of Israel welcomes Jews of all colors.” “We say, we have black lives that matter in Africa.” “In America, race has been a central area of Jewish concern historically.” These are all statements that have been… Read more »

Broadway in Tucson Centennial Hall, 1020 E. University Blvd. 903-2929 broadwayintucson.com The 13th season begins in September with a revival of the Tony-award winning masterpiece “Cabaret.” Rodgers and Hammerstein’s family classic “The Sound of Music” will thrill audiences with its Tony®, Grammy® and Academy Award® winning score, including “My… Read more »

The Tucson Jewish Community Center has added JPride to its programming roster. JPride, then known as the LGBT Jewish Inclusion Project, began in 2005 when the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona became one of the first federations in the country to create an outreach program for lesbian, gay, bisexual… Read more »

Driving one of Tucson’s new Israeli teen emissaries, Leah Avuno, from a lunch and learn on the University of Arizona campus to her next destination, Cantor Avraham Alpert found his talking point. Avuno, originally from Ethiopia, told him Ethiopian Jews would never have made it to Israel if it… Read more »

The Arizona Theatre Company pulled off a fundraising feat this summer, raising $2 million in pledges from Tucson and Phoenix supporters in less than three weeks. That effort staved off concerns that ATC would have to suspend operations, despite the success of its past three seasons. In the wake… Read more »

The Tucson Jewish community will hold its annual Project Isaiah food drive benefiting the Community Food Bank from Sept. 15-Oct. 15. The project, timed to coincide with the High Holy Days, is named for the Prophet Isaiah, who when asked why we fast on Yom Kippur, responded, “Is it… Read more »

The Temple Emanu-El board of directors has unanimously voted to be a chartering organization for a Cub Scout pack of the Boy Scouts of America. Recruitment is beginning in both the Jewish and general communities for charter members of Pack 613, says Herbert A. Cohn, assistant district commissioner, Spanish… Read more »

A Jewish community “Northwest Fun in the Sun Day” will be held on Sunday, Sept. 25, 1-4 p.m. at Cañada Del Oro Riverfront Park in Oro Valley, hosted by the Tucson Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona’s Northwest Division. The free event, open to all,… Read more »

Leah Avuno

The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy will hold its annual welcome, “Making Our Mark in Tucson, Israel and around the World” on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. at Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort. The guest speakers will be Leah Avuno, one of two Israeli teens… Read more »

A three-part campus-wide dialogue at the University of Arizona, “Will Today’s Global Unrest Lead to Genocide?” will examine the roots of genocide and current political discourse to reflect on the state of the world today. Sponsored by the UA Hillel Foundation, the Holocaust History Center at the Jewish History… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Most Israeli Jews would prefer Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump as the next president of the United States — even though more of them think Trump would be better for the “Israeli government’s policy.” According to a poll released Wednesday, 43 percent of Israeli Jews prefer Clinton as president, compared to 34 percent who… Read more »

The Hebrew University researcher who unearthed evidence that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas served as an agent for the Soviet Union during the 1980s says that this should not derail Russia’s current attempt re-ignite Israel-Palestinian peace talks. But at least one senior MK said the revelation is serious enough to… Read more »

NEW YORK (JTA) — When Rosh Hashanah came around last year, Rabbi Aaron Gaber wanted to grapple with an issue roiling the country. So he decided to focus his sermon on racism. But several members of Brothers of Israel, a 120-family Conservative synagogue in suburban Philadelphia, weren’t pleased. “Some of the… Read more »