NEW YORK (Press Release)–A new poll of American Jewish opinion, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates, has produced a surprising result: despite the fact that American Jews voted for Barack Obama in 2008 by a massive 78% to 21%, today a plurality of 46% of American Jews say they would consider voting for someone else […]
46 percent of American Jews say they may vote against Obama next election Read More »
Middle EastLA JOLLA, California (Press Release)–Yom HaZikaron, the day Israel remembers its war dead and victims of terror, will be observed at 7 p.m., Sunday, April 18, at the Lawrence Family JCC, 4126 Executive Drive, La Jolla. The free public event is sponsored by the Israel Center of United Jewish Federation of San Diego County. During
San Diego Jewish community to memorialize those who fell defending Israel Read More »
Middle EastWASHINGTON, D.C. (Press Release) — J Street founder and Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami met today for the first time with Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren. The conversation, which took place at the Israeli Embassy, lasted approximately one hour and covered a wide range of topics, including the peace process, the US-Israel relationship and Iran. The meeting
J Street reports first official meeting with Israel's ambassador Read More »
Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–He ain’t stupid. Stubborn is not all that bad. Neither is pressure. The subject is Barack Obama. Signs are that he is backing off from saying that he expects early compliance with his demands on Israel and Palestine. “. . . even if we apply all our political capital to that issue,
Is Obama backing way from his Middle Eastern initiative? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA
HAIFA (Press Release)–An emotional first-time meeting took place at the University of Haifa between two survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp: Miriam Yahav, 83, and Nahum Bendel, 82. The two became connected five years ago, in 2005, when Yahav spontaneously stepped up to the stage at a ceremony in Poland commemorating 60 years of the liberation
Two Auschwitz Survivors have emotional meeting at Haifa ceremony Read More »
Middle East
AUSCHWITZ, Poland (Press Release)–Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, flanked by Israel’s former Chief Rabbi and government ministers, led a group of over 10,000 on the annual March of the Living at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and death camp in Poland, marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Monday (April 12). “It is easy to say that the lessons of Auschwitz
Sharansky, Lau, Peer lead March of the Living Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The Holocaust leads all other tragedies in the extent of its commemoration. Numerous countries have an annual observance on January 27th, the anniversary of the day in 1945 when the Soviet Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. Some of them also commemorate Israel’s observance in the Spring. It comes
A short overview of Holocaust commemorations Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Bruce S. Ticker PHILADELPHIA (Press Release)–American Jews were treated to two Biden-style “big deals” – one good for the Jews, one not so good. Most Jews probably cheered President Obama’s words when he signed the historic health-care bill into law: “The bill I’m signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have
Two ‘big deals’ for U.S. Jews Read More »
Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Israel returned from its Passover vacation, and unburdened itself of several files awaiting release from one official body or another. The scandal of the Holyland apartment development gained more weight with the detainment of another real estate mogul, said to have bribed local planning officials with respect to that project, and officials
Holyland scandal continues to dominate Israeli headlines Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Bruce Kesler ENCINITAS, California–“I’m tired of hearing about the Holocaust.” Be close enough to most people for them to be honest, even Jews, and you’ll often hear that said. What they most usually mean is they are tired of hearing hypocrisy. Sunday is Holocaust Day, Yom Ha-Shoah, Day of Remembering the Catastrophe, sadly commemorated
Why some are tired of hearing about the Holocaust Read More »
Middle East, USA
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Normally commentators would be worrying for days about the report in The Washington Post that a coterie of present and former National Security Advisors are pressing President Obama to proclaim their solution for Israel and Palestine. However, that story was below the fold on the front page of Ha’aretz, and is missing from
'Holyland' Hotel scandal rivets Israeli attention Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Avishai Margalit, arguably Israel’s most significant living philosopher, has recently published a book with the intriguing title, On Compromise and Rotten Compromises. As I haven’t read it, I’m not in a position to comment on it, but one quote as it appears in John Gray’s review in The New York Review of
Just a peace or a just peace? Read More »
Middle East, USABy Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel–Been there, done that. Why was Israel not affected by the global economic crisis to the same extent as some other countries, specifically the US and the UK? It was probably due to a number of factors. In the 1980s, due to a combination of ideological rigidity and economic
How Israel avoided the global economic meltdown Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–On Tuesday we read that the Hamas regime in Gaza had reached a consensus with other rejectionist movements to cease firing into Israel. They were not giving up the struggle, but agreed that escalation at this time was not in their mutual interests. Today (Wednesday) we read that six mortars were fired toward
Doubts that Obama would recognize borders of self-declared Palestine state Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East