Tagged President Barack Obama

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Jewish leaders expected President Barack Obama to sell them hard on the Iran nuclear deal. Instead, participants in two White House meetings on Monday said he offered a softer pitch on how deeply he cares for Israel and the Jewish people. “He tried to explain he… Read more »

WASHINGTON (Washington Jewish Week) — For the second year running, a bid to pass a bill intensifying sanctions against Iran appears to be foundering on threat of a presidential veto. In his State of the Union address Tuesday, President Obama vowed to veto further sanctions legislation, saying it would… Read more »

President Obama speaking at the first of two White House Chanukah parties in Washington, D.C., dec. 17, 2014. (Steve Sheffey)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — I’ve been JTA’s Washington bureau chief for 11 years, but this was the first time I scored a coveted invitation to the annual White House Chanukah  party. A Washington tradition started by President George W. Bush, the party has actually expanded (to meet demand) to two:… Read more »

Alan Gross, freed from a Cuban prison earlier in the day, waves after concluding his remarks with his wife, Judy, at a news conference in Washington shortly after arriving in the United States, Dec. 17, 2014. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Alan Gross was imprisoned while trying to connect Cuba’s isolated Jewish community to the wider world. The deal that got him released five years later may do just that and much more. Gross’ flight home to suburban Washington on Wednesday with his wife, Judy, was part… Read more »

President Barack Obama speaking about his executive action on immigration policy at Del Sol High School in Las Vegas, Nev., Nov. 21, 2014. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Obama did not mention Jews once in his Nov. 20 speech announcing immigration reforms, but he ended with a flourish that would be immediately recognizable to anyone who has sat through a Passover Seder. “Scripture tells us that we shall not oppress a stranger, for… Read more »

“A cold man who is developing a grudge against Israel is now sitting in the White House,” a leading Israeli journalist wrote some years back. Today, many in Israel, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, might share this view. At the same time, there is no love in the White… Read more »

President Obama speaks before the U.N. General Assembly, Sept. 24, 2014. (Getty Images)

NEW YORK (JTA) – A year ago, when President Barack Obama took the dais at the U.N. General Assembly, his speech focused on Iran’s nuclear program, Syria’s chemical weapons and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He talked about Egypt’s messy transition to democracy and defended America’s actions in Libya. A year… Read more »

President Barack Obama speaking at the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Sept. 24, 2014. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NEW YORK (JTA) – President Obama devoted the bulk of his U.N. speech to the fight against violent Islamic extremism and hardly mentioned Iran’s nuclear program. In his address last year to the General Assembly, Obama spent a great deal of time talking about Tehran’s nuclear pursuit, describing it… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — When it comes to the deal between Iran and major powers, Israel and the pro-Israel community are retreating from a strategy of confrontation and working instead to influence the contours of a final agreement. In a conference call last week, Howard Kohr, the American Israel Public… Read more »

President Obama makes a statement announcing an interim agreement on Iran's nuclear program at the White House on Nov. 23, 2013. (T.J. Kirkpatrick-Pool/Getty Images)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — For the first time in a decade, the United States and a coalition of world powers have reached an agreement with Iran to curb the country’s nuclear program. The deal requires Iran to limit its nuclear enrichment and freeze most of its centrifuges for six… Read more »

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, arrive in New York, Sept. 29, 2013. (Kobi Gideon/GPO/Flash 90)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Worried that he may be losing the biggest stick in his arsenal when it comes to Iran — the threat of a U.S. strike — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington for a meeting Monday with President Obama prepared to speak out. But friends,… Read more »

Israeli President Shimon Peres presents the Presidential Medal to President Obama at Peres' residence in Jerusalem, March 21, 2013. (Mark Neyman/GPO/Flash90/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — President Obama had three goals for his first presidential trip to Israel. He wanted to persuade Israelis that the United States is committed to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. He wanted to promote the renewal of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, albeit without any specific “deliverables.” Most… Read more »

President Obama speaks to Israeli students at the Jerusalem International Convention Center, March 21, 2013. (Uriel Sinai/Getty/JTA)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — President Obama reaffirmed his commitment to Israel and called for a renewed peace process in a speech to thousands of Israelis in Jerusalem. In the centerpiece of his first presidential visit to Israel, Obama on Thursday stressed America’s “unbreakable” alliance with Israel and support for Israel in the… Read more »

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets President Obama at a welcome ceremony for the president at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, March 20, 2013 (Miriam Alster/Flash90/JTA)

TEL AVIV (JTA) — President Obama began his first presidential visit to Israel with an airport speech calling the United States the “strongest ally and greatest friend” of Israel. “Why does the U.S. stand with Israel?” Obama asked the crowd at the welcoming ceremony Wednesday afternoon at Ben-Gurion Airport. “We… Read more »

Rabbi Julie Schonfeld reads a psalm at the presidential inaugural service at the National Cathedral in Washington, Jan. 22, 2013. (Ron Kampeas/JTA)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The inaugural poem included a “shalom,” and three rabbis and a cantor attended the traditional next-day inaugural blessing. But the message that Jewish Democrats were most eager to convey during President Obama’s second inauguration on Jan. 21 was that the long romance between the community and… Read more »

JERUSALEM (JTA)  — Those who view American-Israeli relations through a dualistic “are you pro-Israel or anti-Israel” lens must be confused. In one week, the United States stands virtually alone with Israel against the Palestinians’ upgrade of their status at the United Nations, then immediately condemns Israel’s settlement expansion. Similarly,… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — “To be good Americans, we must be better Jews.” When Justice Louis Brandeis spoke these words, he sought to inspire our nation’s Jewish community to live by our ideals and our principles, to serve as active citizens in a thriving democracy founded on the right to… Read more »

President Barack Obama, left, and challenger Mitt Romney differ on several issues of importance to the Jewish community. (Graphics by Uri Fintzy)

NEW YORK (JTA) -- JTA reviews the positions of presidential candidates Barack Obama, the Democratic incumbent, and Republican challenger Mitt Romney on some issues of importance to the Jewish community.… Read more »

President Barack Obama participates in an interview with Robin Roberts of ABC's "Good Morning America," in the Cabinet Room of the White House, May 9, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

WASHINGTON (JTA) — As soon as President Obama wrapped up the television interview in which he endorsed same-sex marriage, he called an evangelical minister who advises him to offer a heads up. Jack Lew, the White House chief of staff, made a similar call to the Orthodox Union. The… Read more »

WASHINGTON (JTA) — If Israel goes to elections as expected this summer, will it be a replay of 1988 or 1992? Both Israeli election years also were American presidential election years, as 2012 is. In 1988, the Dukakis-Bush race had no discernible effect on a race that saw Yitzhak… Read more »