Author: Sara Wood

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Every Friday night, Rabbi Marc Katz’s synagogue recites a prayer for Israel that, since Oct. 7, has expressed hope for the release of the hostages held by Hamas, mentioned the Israeli government and asked God for dignity for both Israelis and Palestinians. Katz, the spiritual leader of Temple Ner Tamid in Bloomfield, […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — The Israeli military chief of staff fired two officers found to be responsible for the mistakes that led to the killing of seven aid workers with the World Central Kitchen, which deepened a crisis in U.S.-Israel relations. The sackings Friday, and the Israel Defense Forces’ publication of details that led to the […]

WASHINGTON ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — It was September 2015, on the eve of what AIPAC was depicting as one of the most critical congressional votes in U.S. history — for or against President Barack Obama’s Iran nuclear deal, which was reviled by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and much of the centrist pro-Israel community. Howard Kohr, […]

WASHINGTON ((JEWISH REVIEW)) — In the three days since an Israeli strike killed seven aid workers in Gaza, the prime minister has said he “deeply regrets” the incident, the defense minister has expressed his “sorrow and condolences,” the chief of the military has said sorry for the “grave mistake” and the president has personally apologized […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Ira Sheskin is one of the most prominent demographers of American Jews. A professor at the University of Miami, Sheskin helps Jewish communities across the country carry out complicated population surveys. He sometimes works for businesses, too, and several years ago, a major kosher poultry company turned to him with a quandary. […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) – Officials in Rochester, New York, this week condemned a cartoon depicting the head of the local Jewish federation and the Jewish majority leader of the county legislature in crude antisemitic caricatures that was sent out in a mass mailer. The cartoon appeared to object to an Israeli flag that has flown outside […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — A U.S.-led U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza failed on Friday because Russia and China said it was not strong enough, despite being the closest the Biden Administration has come to calling for a pause in the Israel-Hamas war. The U.S. delegation accused Russia and China, two of […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Israel studies professor Ron Hassner has ended his two-week sit-in at his University of California, Berkeley office, saying the school had made sufficient commitments to satisfy his concerns about the safety of Jewish students on campus. Over the last two weeks, the university has pledged to monitor an ongoing pro-Palestinian protest in […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — In their escalating criticism of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, Democratic leaders have trained their fire on one man: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Earlier this month, President Joe Biden said the way Netanyahu was conducting the war was “hurting Israel more than helping Israel.” Sen. Bernie Sanders, the standard-bearer for […]

((JEWISH REVIEW)) — Mehdi Hasan, the prominent journalist and pro-Palestinian commentator, summed up the feelings of many progressives in January when he posted, “A lot of folks don’t recognize John Fetterman these days.” Hasan was responding to a statement by Fetterman criticizing anti-Israel activism at Harvard University. It was the latest in a string of […]