Category: Israel

(JTA) — As most of the votes in Israel continue to be tallied on Wednesday, Benjamin Netanyahu looks assured of returning to power, as his far-right bloc of parties is predicted to win around 65 seats, well above the 61 needed in the 120-seat Knesset, or parliament. The official final results are not expected to […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Few of the American Jewish groups who would not speak out about the prospect of extremists in government before Israel’s elections have done so the day after, even though Itamar Ben-Gvir, a far-right provocateur, seems headed for a position of power. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the American […]

WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden called Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on being reelected Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu said the two would work to expand the Abraham Accords. “President Biden called me to congratulate me on my elections victory and said the U.S.-Israel alliance is as resilient as ever,’ Netanyahu said Monday in Hebrew […]

(JTA) — As she walked along Tel Aviv’s long stretch of boardwalk Wednesday afternoon, the mounting returns making clear that Israel’s next government would be right-wing, Bridget Gottdank thought back to another time she cast a losing vote for a liberal candidate. “All day I’ve been thinking about 2016. When I found out [Donald Trump] […]

(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid called his rival, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to concede this week’s election as most of the votes were counted by the end of Thursday. “The State of Israel is above any political consideration. I wish Netanyahu luck for the sake of the people of Israel and the […]

(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett had a homecoming of sorts on Manhattan’s Upper East Side Monday evening. Observing the holiday of Shemini Atzeret, the final holiday of the Jewish fall festivals, Bennett visited Kehilath Jeshurun, the Orthodox synagogue he and his wife Galit attended when they lived in the neighborhood in the early […]

NEW YORK (JTA) — The first thing Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said, facing a room full of the leaders of the American Jewish community: “I wish my mom were here.” The son of American immigrants to Israel, Bennett, like his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks a fluent, nearly accentless English, and spent years living in […]

(JTA) — In his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett addressed the twin threats of Iran and the coronavirus, in keeping with his quest for a relationship with the international community that is less confrontational than his predecessor’s. Bennett launched his speech Monday morning with a plea to […]

(JTA) — The Israel Defense Forces killed at least four Palestinians during an operation to arrest terrorist operatives in the West Bank. Two Israelis were seriously wounded by friendly fire in the operation overnight between Saturday and Sunday, though their condition is improving, according to the Israeli publication Ynet. Four of the Palestinians killed were […]

(JTA) — Hundreds of Iraqi civic leaders and activists attended a conference calling for the country to establish full diplomatic relations with Israel. But Iraq’s government rejected the call, saying in a statement that the demand for normalization of ties with Israel “was not representative of the population’s [opinion] and that of residents in Iraqi […]