By Shoshana Bryen and Stephen Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Hellfire anti-tank missile — a weapon launched from Predator drones in anti-terrorism operations, among other uses — found its way into the hands of Cuba’s government in 2014. But the route it took, twice crossing the Atlantic, was less mysterious than the U.S. government’s
Did Obama sell missiles to Iran via Cuba? Read More »
International, Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, Stephen D. Bryen, USAAbbas shirks responsibility for stalled peace talks, Netanyahu’s office says (JNS.org) The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday denied claims by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas that the Palestinian leader had recently sought a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but was ignored. “This is another attempt by Abu Mazen (Abbas) to shirk responsibility
Middle East Roundup: January 22, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Something like 30 Israelis have died in the present wave of violence. Some call it the Knifing or Stabbing Intifada, in reference to the large incidence of attacks with knives, by a male or female, most of whom have ranged in age from 15 to 35. Some have been as
Nuanced relations between Israeli Jews and Arabs Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Barry Shaw NETANYA, Israel — The dogma of unreasoned hate pervades the atmosphere in seats of higher learning and research as campaigners for an end to Israel make dangerous inroads into the once hallowed hallways of British academia. The beginning of 2016 saw the nadir of freedom of speech at King College London, a once
Leftists strong arm British academia against Israel Read More »
Barry Shaw, International, Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–I’m not in a position to comment on the merits of the criticism that Naftali Bennett, the leader of the Habayit Hayehudi party and in that capacity a senior member of the government of Israel, expressed at the security conference in Tel Aviv the other day. Though, as expected from every
Why Netanyahu tolerates Bennett’s criticism Read More »
Middle EastBy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — I know I’ve written before about Verdi’s Requiem, the role it played in my childhood and musical education in general, about the impression made on me when I read of its performance by prisoners in Theresienstadt and finally being privileged to attend a performance of the reconstruction of
Book of the Dead, Yom Kippur and Verdi’s Requiem Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Music, Dance, and Visual ArtsTurkey considers senior diplomat as next ambassador to Israel (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Turkey is considering appointing a senior diplomatic official to be the country’s next ambassador to Israel as part of its efforts to restore ties between the countries, the Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported on Wednesday. According to the report, Ankara has decided to
Middle East Roundup: January 21, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Ben Kamin GAN YAVNEH, Israel, Jan. 20–I had to “come home” to feel at home again in my own life. Change and renewal are nothing without sorrow—just as no song can be written without lyrics. The Holy Land is a place where tired gestures are converted into genuine responses. It’s a heady, healing,
A global family repairs itself Read More »
International, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — A New York Times review of a book describing what may be the world’s largest refugee camp, near Kenya’s border with Somalia, notes that 60 million people have been displaced throughout the world as a result of conflict and other mass misfortunes.. We can paraphrase Stalin: one person forced from
Walling out the refugees Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USAU.S. backs Ambassador Daniel Shapiro in spat with Israel (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A U.S. State Department spokesman defended U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro on Tuesday, a day after Shapiro sparked outrage in Israel with criticism of Israeli policies in Judea and Samaria. When asked on Tuesday about Shapiro’s comments, which were made in
Middle East Roundup: January 20, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–The Netanyahu government is getting under the skin of the United States Administration. US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro echoed it earlier this week when he spoke in Tel Aviv at a conference organized by Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies. We can safely assume that what he said had been
Extremist settlers strain U.S. – Israel relations Read More »
Middle East, USATop Israeli official welcomes new Egyptian envoy (JNS.org) Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Dore Gold on Monday met with the new Egyptian ambassador to Israel, Hazem Khairat, who arrived in Israel at the start of this month. “Israel considers Egypt an important country in the region and relations with it are vital to Israel,” Gold
Middle East Roundup: January 19, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastIsrael aims to compel social media to combat Palestinian incitement (JNS.org) Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan on Sunday proposed new legislation that would compel social media platforms to remove posts deemed to directly incite murder or violence. According to Erdan, an Israeli law should be enacted in conjunction with legislation in other Western
Middle East Roundup ~ January 18, 2016 Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — This ain’t a simple country. Part of the explanation is that Jews are not a simple people. And another part is that the Land of Israel, however you define its boundaries, was and is an outsider in both ancient and modern versions, always having to defend itself in a tough
Idealism often must give way to reality in Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East