Participants in an anti-racism rally in Jerusalem holding signs that say, "Enough violence.Yes to co-existence," July 7, 2014. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash 90) WASHINGTON (JTA) — For many Israelis, eyes are turning south watching yet another conflict unfold with Hamas. Yet thoughts are also turned inward, contemplating the sense of national solidarity occasioned by the abduction and murder of three teenagers and then shattered by the murder of a fourth. The Israeli… Read more »
Black smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on the Gaza International Airport in Rafah, July 7, 2014. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash 90) WASHINGTON (JTA) — Escalations between Hamas and Israel are nothing new. What’s missing this time, analysts say, is the alignment of outside interests that has resolved such fights in the past.Egypt’s government lacks the influence over Hamas of its predecessors and the United States is in hand-washing mode… Read more »
(L-R): Rabbi Thomas Louchheim, cantorial soloist Nichole Chorny, Rabbi Batsheva Appel, Steven Seltzer, Cantor Avraham Alpert, Rebecca Crow, Rabbi Samuel M. Cohon and Rabbi Yehuda Ceitlin on stage at Tucson's community service memorial for three murdered Israeli teens, July 2, 2014 (Courtesy Simon Rosenblatt) About 250 people came together Tuesday at the Tucson Jewish Community Center for a memorial service for three Israeli teenagers kidnapped June 12 and found murdered Monday. The service was organized by the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona, the JCC and local clergy. Against a backdrop of photos of… Read more »
A community-wide memorial service for the three Israeli teens found murdered June 30 will be held Tuesday, July 1 at 5:30 p.m. at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. Naftali Fraenkel, 16, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Eyal Yifrah, 19, were kidnapped June 12 while hitchhiking near the West Bank settlement of… Read more »
At the hitchhiking spot in the West Bank where teenagers Eyal Yifrach, Naftali Fraenkel and Gilad Shaar were abducted, Israelis light memorial candles after the discovery of their bodies, June 30, 2014. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90) TEL AVIV (JTA) — A national ordeal here ended in tragedy as three Israeli teenagers kidnapped earlier this month were found dead near Hebron. The discovery of their bodies Monday night by the Israeli army and volunteer searchers brings to an unhappy conclusion the intensive effort to find the… Read more »
People gather for a vigil for three kidnapped Israeli teens outside the Israeli consulate in New York City on June 16. According to the Israeli defense Forces (IDF), Gilad Shaar (16) Naftali Frenkel, (16) and Eyal Yifrach (19) have been missing since late Thursday or Friday and were last seen around Gush Etzion. Israeli soldiers have detained over 150 Palestinian suspects in the search for the three teens. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Since the three teenagers were abducted last week, Israel’s goals have been simple: Find them and punish their kidnappers. Realizing those goals, though, is far from a simple task. The international community has condemned the kidnappings, and Israel has spread its forces across the West Bank to search for… Read more »
