Author: David Leibermann

(JTA) — An $18 million museum dedicated to the legacy of Albert Einstein will be built in Jerusalem.  The Israeli government approved a plan Sunday to establish a new home for Einstein’s extensive materials, including some 85,000 documents, on the campus of the Hebrew University, which Einstein helped found a century ago.  It’s the largest […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israeli president Isaac Herzog had a message and stuck to it: Israel and the United States are on the same page no matter who wins elections in both countries next month. “We have elections in Israel, and you’re having midterm elections in the United States,” Herzog told President Joe Biden in the […]

(JTA) — After years of negotiation and military posturing, Israel and Lebanon signed a U.S.-brokered agreement that establishes maritime boundaries between the countries, allowing each to explore for fossil fuels unthreatened by the prospect of an attack. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, heading into an election next Tuesday and under fire from his rival, former […]

(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid was all smiles on Thursday, as he signed a long-delayed maritime deal with Lebanon, an adversary in the region. “It is not every day that an enemy state recognizes the State of Israel,” he boasted at a cabinet meeting. But his good mood likely won’t last long.  Despite […]

CHICAGO (JTA) — It was 6 p.m. Monday night and the hallway of the Chicago hotel was suddenly filled with Israelis navigating suitcases through a throng of American Jews debating what to eat for dinner. They were headed to the airport for the last flight to Israel that would allow them to vote in Tuesday’s election […]

JAFFA, Israel (JTA) — Niji Abu Shehadeh sits outside a polling station a block away from Jaffa’s Givat Ha’Aliya beach, clutching a wad of white ballot slips. The slips contain a “Daled,” the Hebrew letter representing Balad, the party led by his father Sami Abu Shehadeh. The young Abu Shehadeh hands slips to two elderly […]

(JTA) — According to exit polls, Benjamin Netanyahu looks to have eked out a victory in Israel’s election on Tuesday, with a projected bloc of 61-62 seats, at or just above the 61 needed to form a majority in a 120-seat parliament. Those polls, taken at voting stations by local broadcasters and released at 10 […]

(JTA) — As most of the votes in Israel continue to be tallied on Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu looks assured of returning to power, as his far-right bloc of parties is predicted to win around 65 seats, well above the 61 needed in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament. The official final results are not expected to […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Few of the American Jewish groups who would not speak out about the prospect of extremists in government before Israel’s elections have done so the day after, even though Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right provocateur, seems headed for a position of power. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the American […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden called Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on being reelected Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu said the two would work to expand the Abraham Accords. “President Biden called me to congratulate me on my elections victory and said the U.S.-Israel alliance is as resilient as ever,’ Netanyahu said Monday in Hebrew […]