Author: David Leibermann

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Israel’s military announced the death of an American-Israeli soldier who had been missing since Oct. 7, ending months of uncertainty during which his parents emerged as two of the most visible advocates for the more than 100 people still being held hostage by Hamas. Itay Chen, 19, from Netanya, was killed and […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — After weeks of uncertainty about its participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, Israel has released a video for its entry, “Hurricane,” a reworking of an earlier song called “October Rain” that was rejected for being too political.  The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, reportedly barred “October Rain” because of lyrics referring […]

How do you deal with the trauma of the deadliest day Jews have experienced since the Holocaust? This was the question Israeli trauma experts faced in the wake of Oct. 7, 2023, when over 1,200 Israelis were killed and some 250 taken captive in Hamas’s attack on Israel.  The massive attack by terrorists immediately was […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — In “Make New Friends,” a mother worries that her tween-age daughter has no friends, and that the pressures of social media will only make the girl’s isolation more acute. In “A Visit (Scenes),” a mother flies to America to visit her distant son and self-involved daughter-in-law, desperate to connect with a grandchild […]

BUENOS AIRES ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — The grandmother of two Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza says she evaded capture herself on Oct. 7 by bonding with a Hamas terrorist over the Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi — and now wants the athlete to help secure her grandsons’ freedom. Ester Cunio, 90, was at her home on Kibbutz Nir […]

TEL AVIV ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Every morning for the last five months, Yair Moses rises from his bed and recites a mantra: “Another day you must keep fighting.”  Then he dons a T-shirt with a portrait of his father, 79-year-old Gadi Moses, who was kidnapped along with Moses’ mother, Margalit, from Kibbutz Nir Oz on […]

BETHLEHEM, West Bank ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — At the entrance to the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, a large poster depicts a white hand tearing away an UNRWA tent from a Palestinian woman and her children. Next to the image, a caption reads, “UNRWA services are our right until return.” Below the image of the hand […]

WASHINGTON ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — President Joe Biden called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war before Ramadan, the upcoming Muslim holy month when the fighting could become “very, very dangerous” if a truce is not reached. Biden’s call comes days after his vice president, Kamala Harris, also called for a ceasefire in a speech that […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — As the American-Israeli poet Marty Herskovitz thought about the upcoming Passover holiday, the prospect of singing “Dayenu” at the first seder since his country was attacked didn’t sit right with him. The classic Passover song, whose title means “It would have been enough,” expresses gratitude about how much God has done for […]

WASHINGTON ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — When President Joe Biden delivers his State of the Union speech on Thursday, the audience will include 17 relatives of Americans held captive or murdered by Hamas terrorists in Israel. A list published Monday by the Families of the American Hostages in Gaza coalition named relatives of six hostages still held […]