Israel

July 1, 2009

Israeli and Palestinian Mayors Fight, But For a Common Good

by Felice Friedson, The Media Line News Agency

Although it’s not an opinion often heard within the context of public debate, there are some who argue that resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be characterized by cooperation rather than separation.

Featured

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Europeans: Gilad Shalit transfer to Egypt imminent

By Akiva Eldar, Haaretz Correspondent

European diplomatic sources said Thursday that kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit will be transferred to Egypt in the coming hours or coming days.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, left, meets with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on June 21, 2009. (Ariel Hermoni/Ministry of Defense/Flash90/JTA)Monday, June 22, 2009

Iran turmoil likely to benefit Israel

by Leslie Susser, JTA

Like the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly two decades ago, the outcome of the post-election unrest in Iran could be of major strategic significance for the Middle East and for Israel.

Latest

Group of Birthright Israel participants visiting Jerusalem. Tess Scheflan / JINIWednesday, June 17, 2009

At least 10 teens contract swine flu during ‘Birthright Israel’ trip

By Haaretz Service

Around a dozen participants on a 'Birthright Israel' trip contracted swine flu during their tour of Israel and were put under quarantine, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Bar-Ilan University in Israel on June 14, 2009. Photo by Michael Kramer/Flash90/JTAWednesday, June 17, 2009

Will Bibi’s Speech Be Enough for U.S., Palestinians?

By Leslie Susser

After two months of intense American pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally uttered the magic words: two states for two peoples.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that he would accept creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state on Sunday. (Alon Ron / Archive) HAARETZ.comSunday, June 14, 2009

Netanyahu OK with a demilitarized Palestinian state

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would agree to a demilitarized Palestinian state.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Op-Ed: Holocaust denial in Israel needs urgent attention

By Kenneth Bandler, JTA

The last place one might expect to find Holocaust deniers is in Israel. Yet a new University of Haifa survey shows that an astonishing 40.5 percent of Israeli Arabs say the Holocaust did not happen.

Schoolgirls walk past the construction of a building in Modiin Illit, a settlement just inside the West Bank. Photo by Dina KraftWednesday, June 3, 2009

How a Settlement’s ‘Natural Growth’ Appears at Ground Level

By Dina Kraft

Pushing a baby stroller and clutching her toddler’s hand, Hanna Yadler walks through the shiny lobby of her new apartment building and explains how she’s relieved her family found a place to live in Modiin Illit.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Groups silent in face of Obama calls for settlement freeze

By Eric Fingerhut, JTA

Even as it publicly stakes out a hard-line position against Israeli settlement expansion, the Obama administration is avoiding serious criticism from most U.S. Jewish groups and pro-Israel Democratic lawmakers.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Will pro-Israel groups miss Ahmadinejad?

By Ron Kampeas, JTA

For several years Israel and pro-Israel groups have been holding up Iran's president as a would-be Adolf Hitler. But with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad facing reelection June 12, the question arises whether they would be worse off if they didn't have the Holocaust-denying leader to kick around anymore.

Schoolgirls walk past the construction of a building in Modiin Illit, a settlement just inside the West Bank. (Dina Kraft)Tuesday, June 2, 2009

How a settlement’s ‘natural growth’ appears at ground level

By Dina Kraft, JTA

Pushing a baby stroller and clutching her toddler’s hand, Hanna Yadler walks through the shiny lobby of her new apartment building and explains how she’s relieved her family found a place to live in Modiin Illit.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Obama: U.S. must be ‘honest’ with Israel

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

President Obama said in an interview that it is important for the United States to be more "honest" with Israel than in the past, and reiterated his call for a settlement freeze.

Students gather for lunch at the Bialik-Rogozin School in south Tel Aviv.Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Education on the Edge: The Bialik-Rogozin School

By Meredith Price Levitt

From the outside, the brown stucco exterior and flat architectural lines of the Bialik-Rogozin School in south Tel Aviv are uninspiring.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Flatbush yeshiva closed due to swine flu

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

A Flatbush yeshiva has been closed after two students were diagnosed with swine flu.

President Barack Obama makes a point to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel in the Oval Office on May 18, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The day after Bibi and Barack: Depends who you ask

By Ron Kampeas, JTA

Not even 24 hours had passed and already the Obama-Netanyahu summit was assuming Rashomon-type qualities, with partisans reading their own fears and beliefs into the encounter.

President Barack Obama talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the South Portico following their meetings at the White House Monday, May 18, 2009. (White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House in Washington on May 18, 2009. (Moshe Milner/GPO/Flash90/JTA)Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Bibi gets his first date thrill, but what about the relationship?


by Ron Kampeas, JTA

With a presidential pledge to hang tough on Iran under his belt, Benjamin Netanyahu could be forgiven for thinking Barack Obama was an easy first date.

Wait until he hears about what happens when the relationship gets serious.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Obama-Bibi: The Preview

By Eric Fingerhut, JTA

The pundits and papers are weighing in as Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu get set for their first White House meeting:

Pope Benedict XVI prays at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on Tuesday. Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Politics Abound on Pope’s Israel Mission

by Marcy Oster, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Coming as a self-described “pilgrim of peace,” Pope Benedict XVI vowed to fight anti-Semitism and called for a Palestinian state in the moments after his arrival in Israel for a five-day visit.

Pope Benedict XVI, shown meeting with New York Rabbi Arthur Schneier at the Vatican in February 2009, is likely to be compared — and contrasted — with his predecessor, John Paul II, during his visit to Israel. Photo courtesy The Appeal of Conscience FoundationWednesday, May 6, 2009

Pope’s Israel Visit Fraught With Potential Minefields

by Ruth Ellen Gruber, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

The official Israeli government Web site for Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming trip to Israel and the West Bank promotes the May 11-15 visit as a “Bridge for Peace.”

Monday, May 4, 2009

Oren tapped as envoy

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Israel’s new government has selected Michael Oren as its ambassador to Washington.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Oren Sunday night to inform him that he had been selected, according to a statement released Monday from the Prime Minister's Office.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Judea Pearl: A Poem for Israel’s 61st

By Judea Pearl

The song was written for Micha Shagrir's documentary film "Mirdaf", during the War of Attrition (1968-1970). It describes the military situation along the Jordan border when PLO raids against Israel, followed by IDF chases after the perpetrators, became a daily routine. The song was first performed by Chava Alberstein, to music by Nahum Haiman (this year's recipient of Israel's Prize) and can be heard on you-tube (search for Mirdaf).

(From top) Tel Aviv’s first families gather on April 11, 1909, for a land lottery to assign plots. Photo courtesy Soskin Archive, The Historical Museum of Tel Aviv-Jaffa.; Early pioneers set out from Old Jaffa to establish a new city on the sand dunes to the north; among them is the father (second from left) of Reseda resident Aaron Friedman.; Tel Aviv school children pose for a class picture around 1929 - Aaron Friedman, now a Reseda resident, is shown in the center of the third row, wearing an undershirt.; Lifeguard Aaron Friedman shepherds kids on the Tel Aviv beach in a 1949 photo. Photos courtesy Aaron FriedmanWednesday, April 8, 2009

Tel Aviv Then and Now

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

When a few dozen families gathered April 11, 1909 on the sand dunes of the beach outside Jaffa to allocate land for a new settlement, they took the first critical step toward establishing what is today Israel’s commercial and cultural capital.

(Top) Rafaella Dizengoff Rivlin stands next to a framed photo of her famous great-uncle, Meir Dizengoff, the first mayor of Tel Aviv. (Bottom) Esther Rubin, who has lived in Tel Aviv for 70 years, poses beneath a painting by her late husband, the artist Reuven Rubin. Photos by Dina KraftWednesday, April 8, 2009

Tel Aviv Then and Now

By Dina Kraft

When Yoram Kaniuk was born in Tel Aviv in 1930, it was a small place with just 20,000 people and a handful of paved roads.

Shenkin Street. Photo by Creative Commons/Yuval HaimovitsWednesday, April 8, 2009

Tel Aviv Then and Now

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

This picturesque, recently restored part of old Tel Aviv offers a quiet, intimate look at the city’s first neighborhood. Home to artists and writers before falling into disrepair as the new Tel Aviv raced northward and upward.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Abbas: No negotiations until two states accepted

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinians will not restart peace negotiations with Israel until its new government accepts a two-state solution.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

As Olmert Exits, Creeping Doubts About His Ouster

By Leslie Susser, JTA

After finally leaving office this week, Ehud Olmert will have his hands full fighting the corruption charges against him.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Revelations of Army’s Actions in Gaza Cause Stir

Leslie Susser, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Revelations by Israeli soldiers of inhumane conduct in the recent Gaza War are putting Israel on the defensive.

According to soldiers involved in the 22-day operation, Israeli troops used heavy firepower in built-up civilian areas, shot and killed women and children on at least two occasions because of loose rules of engagement and, in many cases, showed little respect for Palestinian people and property.

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