Author: David Leibermann

(JTA) — Like hundreds of thousands of her fellow Israelis, Kelly Breakstone Roth’s instinct on Sunday was to take to the streets. The only wrinkle: She and her family have been in Brooklyn for the last two years, part of the diaspora of hundreds of thousands of Israelis living abroad. They couldn’t just walk out the […]

This is a developing story. (JTA) — Israel was filled with surreal images Sunday night as thousands of people lit bonfires and gathered to protest in the streets against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his planned judicial overhaul. On Monday morning, those dramatic scenes were replaced by another: of packed trains and crowded roads as […]

(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, exactly a day after Gallant called for a stop to far-reaching reforms to the judiciary that have divided the country and that the defense minister said posed security risks to Israel. The dramatic move could accelerate a crisis that Israel’s president, Isaac […]

(JTA) — Israel’s defense minister called for a pause on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans to overhaul the country’s court system,  dealing a potentially debilitating blow to proposals that have brought hundreds of thousands of Israeli protesters into the streets and have drawn international criticism, including from President Joe Biden and other world leaders. Yoav […]

(New York Jewish Week) — More than 200 American and Israeli Jews gathered on the Upper West Side on Wednesday to protest a private event featuring Moshe Koppel, the cofounder of the Kohelet Forum, the conservative think tank whose ideas undergird the judicial overhaul being advanced by Israel’s government.  As people walked into a building […]

(JTA) — After a day of raucous protests, arrests and clashes in the street protesting the Israeli government’s controversial judicial overhaul, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a televised speech encouraging Israeli unity, pledging to protect minority rights — and vowing that the first major piece of the overhaul plan would still pass next week. Netanyahu’s […]

(JTA) — Veteran catcher Ryan Lavarnway announced his retirement from baseball Wednesday, ending a journeyman career that featured 10 seasons in the MLB and multiple appearances with Team Israel. “I have played on eight big league teams and worn the uniform of 18 other clubs, mostly in the minors, concluding with a stint on Team […]

(JTA) — In a country that is deeply divided, where attending anti-government protests has become a weekly ritual for many, at least one idea still unites the right and left: Israel appears to be hurtling toward a constitutional crisis. The crisis — which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu termed a “governmental breakdown” during a recent visit […]

(JTA) — Avi Mayer, a pro-Israel activist and communications professional with a large following on social media, has been named the next editor-in-chief of the Jerusalem Post. Mayer, 38, will take over for the current editor of the 90-year-old English language newspaper in mid-April, after Passover. “I look forward to working with the Post’s outstanding […]

(JTA) — Many fans were despairing as Team Israel trailed Puerto Rico 6-0 in the World Baseball Classic last week, but the team’s Twitter account had a different message. “We will never give up,” the account tweeted. “After all, Moses was once a basket case.” While the quip couldn’t stave off the team’s ultimate 10-0 loss, […]