Author: David Leibermann

(JTA) — In the early 1960s, a Bulgarian-born scientist named Raphael Mechoulam was caught carrying five kilograms of, as he called it, “superb, smuggled Lebanese hashish” on a bus from Tel Aviv to Rehovot. But he wasn’t planning on smoking the stuff. Mechoulam was a fledgling researcher keen on exploring the science behind cannabis, a […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The leading institutions of the Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist movements are among a coalition of liberal Jewish groups calling on American Jews to snub Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, when he visits the United States next week. But the Orthodox Union, an umbrella organization for Orthodox Jews, has confirmed to JTA […]

This is a developing story. WASHINGTON (JTA) — A gunman shot and wounded three people outside a cafe on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv, striking a lively area of the city on Thursday night, the beginning of the weekend in Israel. It is the latest act of violence in a period of escalation in the […]

JUPITER, Florida (JTA) — In the squad’s first-ever exhibition game against an MLB team, Team Israel lost 11-5 against the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night in a tuneup before the World Baseball Classic. Israel had taken a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Marlins scored three runs in both the […]

If an alien spacecraft landed in Dr. Avi Loeb’s backyard tomorrow, he would readily step on, leave his family behind and take off to discover the great beyond. Obviously, he’d be giving up a lot, but it’s for an essential cause, he says: Humans need to explore the possibilities for human life beyond earth. “We […]

(JTA) — Hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets to oppose the government’s planned judicial reform on Saturday night, but within hours Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition advanced the legislation through the Knesset. Protests against the reforms extended to areas of Israel’s establishment where political protest was once unthinkable, including among combat pilots […]

(JTA) — Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire media mogul, philanthropist and former New York mayor, is the latest pro-Israel stalwart to warn that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms could be catastrophic. “Close allies bound together by shared values stand together in times of need — not only to support each other but to reaffirm […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Biden administration is considering denying entry to Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli minister who said a West Bank village should be “wiped out,” according to multiple reports from Israeli and U.S. media. Smotrich, who is the finance minister and the minister responsible for civilian matters in the West Bank, has requested entry […]

This article was sent as a newsletter. Sign up for our weekly Jewish sports newsletter here.  Good morning!  This week, we’re talking all things Team Israel. The World Baseball Classic is just days away, and we’ve got you covered with a full tournament preview. If you want to keep up with all the Team Israel […]

(JTA) – Last week, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich got one of his longtime wishes: authority over the civilian life of settlers, and some Palestinians, in the West Bank. The role is a chance for Smotrich, a right-wing firebrand and staunch advocate of annexing settlements to Israel, to mold the territory according to his ideology.  […]