Author: David Leibermann

(JTA) — Itamar Ben-Gvir, the right-wing Israeli politician called a “pyromaniac” by his critics because of his penchant for inflaming his country’s deep tensions, will head Israel’s police forces, under the terms of a deal inked with Benjamin Netanyahu early Friday. The deal would expand the ministry of internal security, the old name of the […]

(New York Jewish Week) — Like so many people, I feel like I’ve known Itzhak Perlman my entire life (thank you, “Sesame Street”). And now, I finally had the opportunity to see and hear the Israeli-American violin virtuoso perform in person. And not just perform: At a fundraising event Tuesday for the nonprofit Amit Children, […]

(JTA) — Two bombs rocked bus stops at crowded entrances to Jerusalem early Wednesday morning, killing a teenager and sending about 20 people to the hospital, some in serious condition. The fatality was a 16-year-old yeshiva student named Aryeh Shtsupak from Har Nof, a largely Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem. He may have held Canadian and […]

TEL AVIV (JTA) — On a recent Monday, the owner of a restaurant here captivated a group of 14 lunch patrons with stories of her life before and after moving to Israel from Ethiopia as a youngster. A family visiting from New York approached from another table, and the adult son asked if he could […]

(JTA) – Birthright Israel is drastically cutting back on the number of free trips it plans to offer to Jewish young adults, scaling back its operations by up to a third, the organization announced Monday. The cuts come amid what the organization said is a mix of financial pressures: inflation, heightened travel expenses in a […]

(JTA) — A plaza in Jerusalem’s Kiryat Hayovel neighborhood has been named after Aristides de Sousa Mendes, a Portuguese diplomat who saved thousands of lives during the Holocaust but spent the rest of his life as a social pariah. “This small corner of Jerusalem, the eternal city, now carries the name of a hero,” Jerusalem […]

(JTA) — A Palestinian assailant killed three Israelis in an extended attack before being shot dead in the northern West bank settlement of Ariel on Tuesday. The attack comes after a period of relative calm following a wave of Palestinian stabbing attacks in the spring, which spurred a series of Israeli raids in the northern […]

TEL AVIV and JERUSALEM (JTA) — It was the day before Israel’s Nov. 1 election. In a classroom in downtown Jerusalem, Avi Rose was teaching  about Jewish identity through art to a group of Jewish students from abroad spending a gap year in Israel. Suddenly, movement outside caught his eye. Rose stopped his lecture and approached […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Israel will not cooperate with an FBI investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian American journalist who died in May in an exchange of fire between Palestinian and Israeli troops, Israel’s defense minister said. “The American Justice Department’s decision to investigate the regrettable death of Shireen Abu Akleh is […]

TEL AVIV (JTA) — Taking aim at claims made by Israel’s opposition leaders, including opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, America’s top diplomatic representative to Israel shot down claims that the U.S.-brokered deal on gas and maritime borders between Israel and Lebanon was a surrender to Hezbollah. “That is ridiculous,” Ambassador Tom Nides told the Jewish Telegraphic […]