Category: 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.  […]

(JTA) — When David Friedman served as ambassador to Israel under former President Donald Trump, he was known for helping to shepherd through policies favored by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That’s why it’s remarkable that he vocally criticized one of Netanyahu’s signature policy goals: the controversial proposal to overhaul Israel’s judiciary. While attending a session […]

(JTA) — The fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic is just days away, as players and fans across the globe prepare for two weeks of competition beginning on Wednesday. Jewish fans may remember that Israel took the WBC by storm in 2017, winning four straight games as an underdog and advancing to the second […]

(JTA) — Rabbi Sharon Brous began a sermon at her Los Angeles synagogue last month with a content warning. “I have to say some things today that I know will upset some of you,” she began.  That same morning, across the country in New York City, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl was confessing something to her congregants, too: […]

(JTA) — The U.S.-based Israel Bonds organization is set to host Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right Israeli government minister, at an upcoming conference. The decision stands in contrast to hundreds of rabbis who have said they will not welcome Smotrich, the finance minister and leader of the far-right Religious Zionism Party, into their synagogues. They have […]

RA’ANANA, Israel (JTA) — Recurring bouts of laughter were some of the most remarkable moments of the funeral of Elan Ganeles, the 27-year-old Jewish American from West Hartford, Connecticut, who was shot dead this week when driving through the West Bank. Descriptions of an incredibly kind, open minded, funny, brilliant and humble young man came […]

(JTA) — In a defiant televised address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu compared protesters of his government’s proposed judicial overhaul to the West Bank settlers who recently rioted in a Palestinian village, burning houses and cars. Netanyahu, speaking for about seven minutes shortly after 8 p.m., warned that the protesters were crossing “red lines” and […]

(JTA) — Anti-LGBTQ politician Avi Maoz has resigned from the Israeli cabinet, claiming that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu balked on letting him launch an initiative to shape Jewish identity. Maoz heads the Noam Party, one of three in the far-right Religious Zionist bloc that helped return Netanyahu to office. For the past two months, he […]

(JTA) —  An Orthodox Jew and Israeli left-wing political activist has raised more than $400,000 for victims of a recent settler riot in a Palestinian West Bank town. Yair Fink, a former Labor Party candidate known by the nickname Yaya, launched a crowdfunding campaign for the residents of Huwara, a Palestinian village in the northern […]

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Despite resounding condemnation from across the world and efforts by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to denounce the outbreak of Jewish violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, settler leaders remain defiant and are backing members of their community involved in what has been described as the one of the worst events […]