Middle East

North American immigration to Israel spikes after pandemic’s ‘year of challenges’

By Yori Yalon (June 16, 2021 / Israel Hayom via JNS) Some 5,000 new immigrants from the United States and Canada are scheduled to immigrate to Israel by the end of 2021, according to new data published by the Nefesh B’Nefesh organization in conjunction with Israel’s Aliyah and Integration Ministry, The Jewish Agency for Israel,

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Middle East, USA

San Diego’s High Tech High Now Has a Peres Campus in Israel

Sunday, June 13, was a very remarkable day.  The inauguration of a new government in Israel.  The hope for a refreshing change.  However, no less important for me and my family was the inauguration of the “Peres Campus” in Holon–an additional High Tech High School in the charter school system based in San Diego, California since 1996. [Yoni Peres]

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Middle East, San Diego County, Science, Medicine, & Education, USA, Yoni Peres

Israel-Gaza violence erupts for first time since end of last month’s fighting

Published by Reuters By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) -Israel mounted air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the first since the end of 11 days of cross-border fighting last month, in response to incendiary balloons launched from the Palestinian territory. The flare-up, a first test for Israel’s new government, followed a march in East

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Middle East

Will We Lose the House of Israel to Another Nation?

A bit of friendly advice for my fellow Jews, and especially those from Israel residing in San Diego.  The House of Israel, which has been open continuously in Balboa Park since 1948–the same year Israel was created–is now in danger of losing its charter.  The dedicated volunteers who do their best to keep the House open every Saturday and Sunday, as required by the City of San Diego, are wearying.  Some are getting too old to maintain that type of schedule; others are experiencing burnout. [Donald H. Harrison]

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Donald H. Harrison, Jewish History, Lifestyles, Middle East, San Diego County, USA

Israel’s 36th Government in 73 years – What’s Next?

Now that the Lapid-Bennett government (aka Change government) has replaced the Netanyahu-Likud government, which “reigned” for 12 years, what’s next? From the above headline one can see that the average government has lasted only two years, not nearly the full four years allotted. This is the result of Israel’s parliamentary system, wherein the government falls if the prime minister fails a “vote of confidence.” Alternatively, the prime minister can call for new elections at any time if it’s thought to be advantageous, but it doesn’t always work out that way. [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer

It wasn’t just politics that led to Netanyahu’s ouster – it was fear of his demagoguery

Published by The Moderate Voice Benjamin Netanyahu sits in the Knesset before parliament voted June 13, 2021, in Jerusalem to approve the new government that doesn’t include him,Amir Levy/Getty Images Dov Waxman, University of California, Los Angeles There is something Shakespearean about Benjamin Netanyahu’s downfall. As in a scene from “Julius Caesar,” who was assassinated

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Middle East

Jewish Stories Are Everywhere — Especially in Books

It’s my joy to review for this publication many current books — especially memoirs, biographies, and novels — but occasionally when there are none left on the pile to review, I have the opportunity to tuck into older books recommended to me by friends and relatives who know that I love to find stories corroborating this publication’s mantra that “There is a Jewish story everywhere.” [Donald H. Harrison]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USA

NIF: New Israel Government Advances Arab Rights

Israel has a new government, and, for the first time in 12 years, it is not headed by Benjamin Netanyahu. In that respect, today feels like a brand-new day.
The legacy of now-former Prime Minister Netanyahu is complex, and we will leave it to the historians to evaluate it in its totality. But one thing is clear: Netanyahu changed Israel in some deeply worrying ways. [Daniel Sokatch]

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Middle East

Shirley Pinto Becomes Israel’s First Deaf MK

s Israel welcomes its new government, the Ruderman Family Foundation applauded the Yamina party’s Shirley Pinto on becoming Israel’s first deaf Knesset member, as Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana announced Sunday he will leave parliament under the so-called Norwegian Law. She is slated to be sworn in within the next 24 hours. [Ruderman Family Foundation news release]

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Middle East

Uncertainty Attends Israel’s New Government

There’s a new government, but . . . As we got closer to the Knesset decision on a new government, the tone of Bibi and his supporters became ever more aggressive. And disturbing. Commentators compared it to the actions of Donald Trump. Trump didn’t attend the ceremonial signing in of the Biden administration. Will Bibi avoid the start of the new government? [Ira Sharkansky, Ph.D]

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

New Israeli government wins majority vote, ending Netanyahu tenure

Published by Reuters By Jeffrey Heller and Maayan Lubell JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Benjamin Netanyahu’s record 12-year run as Israel’s prime minister ended on Sunday with parliament approving a new “government of change” led by nationalist Naftali Bennett, an improbable scenario few Israelis could have imagined. But the razor-thin 60-59 vote of confidence in a coalition of

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Middle East