By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — The Israeli daily Ha’aretz reports that Israel’s Consul-General in Philadelphia recently sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry suggesting that Israel is losing the support of American Jewry over Iran. If he’s right, does it mean that Prime Minister Netanyahu is wrong or is it because American Jews will […]
Is Iran N- deal pulling U.S. Jews away from Israel? Read More »
Middle East, USATop Israeli jurists crafting ‘legal Iron Dome’ to boost public diplomacy (JNS.org) Top Israeli legal experts came together this week to formulate a new strategy to bolster the public diplomacy efforts of Israel’s government. The project, promoted by Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), seeks to provide Israeli diplomats with solid public diplomacy messages to
Jewish news briefs: July 30, 2015 Read More »
International, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — This oldie from the Kingston Trio (“They’re rioting in Africa . . . “) is an appropriate theme for today, even though we have to look beyond its details. The general point remains. There’s chaos in lots of places, and we must hope that somebody doesn’t make it a lot
On Africa, U.S. and the Middle East Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Israel is a marvelous country and I deem it a privilege to live here as a citizen. But nowadays the Jewish state is seriously (I hope not irreparably) marred by a terrible government. Perhaps it’s even more menacing than our hostile and volatile neighbors. As the Hebrew Prophets have
Israeli government seeks to subvert housing law Read More »
Middle EastIsraeli politicians warmly welcome Jonathan Pollard’s impending release (Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli politicians warmly welcomed the news that Jonathan Pollard, the Israeli spy imprisoned in the U.S. for nearly 30 years, is due to be freed on parole in November. “Throughout his time in prison, I consistently raised the issue of his release in
Jewish news briefs: July 29, 2015 Read More »
International, Middle East, USABy Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — Gov. Mike Huckabee, presidential candidate, preacher, and talk show host, seems to believe that he has special access to Jewish historical pain. Yet what he uttered about the dubious nuclear deal with Iran served only to Trump his own calibrations about how to get some attention. Huckabee’s utterance,
Huckabee’s ‘oven door’ comment outrageous Read More »
International, Middle East, USAMajority of Americans want Congress to reject Iran nuclear deal, poll says (JNS.org) A majority of Americans want Congress to reject the Iran nuclear deal, a new survey has found. According to a CNN/ORC poll—which interviewed 1,017 adults from July 22-25—52 percent of Americans believe Congress should reject the agreement, including 66 percent of Republicans
Jewish news briefs: July 28, 2015 Read More »
International, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — He’s done it again. The nice man who happens to be the US President has called for an end to homophobia in Africa. May he have more success than his call for equality and democracy in Cairo. The best he, Tom Friedman and others could do about that earlier aspiration
Obama’s gay appeal in Kenya unlikely to be productive Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USAIsraeli minister meets secretly with chief Palestinian Authority negotiator (JNS.org) Israeli Interior Minister and Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom (Likud) held a secret meeting with chief Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat in the Jordanian capital of Amman last week. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss ways to renew the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which
Jewish news briefs: July 27, 2015 Read More »
Middle East, USA
By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – Numerous speakers during a Sunday, July 26, rally at Balboa Park passionately decried the nuclear arms deal that the United States and other major world powers recently reached with Iran, but the San Diegan who easily was the hero of the day chose the printed word-not the microphone-to
Hundreds rally in San Diego to stop Iran N- deal Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, San Diego County, Shor M. Masori, USABy Toby Klein Greenwald JERUSALEM–A little while ago, as we broke our fast at the end of the mournful day of Tisha B’Av, I was suddenly overcome with this strong sentimental thought – perhaps prompted also by a friend who wrote in a Facebook message that when he drives on Begin Highway and sees new
Jews, despite differences, must love one another Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East, Toby Klein Greenwald
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson DOMEYROT, France — The house where we are staying in the French countryside is opposite the village church, a not very imposing edifice dating from the late seventeenth century. Many of the other churches in the region are from the twelfth, thirteenth and even ninth centuries and seem to have stood the
An outlander’s view of a French wedding Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, InternationalBy Rabbi Ben Kamin ENCINITAS, California — The Washington Post and other sources have reported on a regrettable tweet dispatched—and then withdrawn—by Judy Shalom Nir-Mozes, who is married to Israel’s deputy prime minster, Silvan Shalom. She is also is a prominent media personality in her own right. The despicable tweet was as follows: “Do u
Racist tweet mars U.S. – Israel relations Read More »
Middle East, USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–A man once told me that he became a more observant Jew when he changed from being a person who remembers the Sabbath Day, according to the first set of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:5), to a person who observes it, as per the second set (Deuteronomy 5:12). Using the same
The danger of excessive Tisha B’Av mourning Read More »
Jewish Religion, Middle East