Israel, Japan mark 60 years of relations

Published on May 16, 2012

Israel and Japan marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Egypt’s new politics make Israel ties a target

Published on April 24, 2012

To mark the day Egypt regained control of the Sinai peninsula from Israel, a group of protesters pledged they would this week cover a memorial to Israelis killed in the war with an Egyptian flag bearing the words: "Sinai - the invaders' graveyard."

Opinion: Time to rethink how we relate to Christians

Published on January 25, 2012

Jews are known for their intellect, and for legitimate reasons. The number of Jewish recipients of Nobel Prizes, for example, is wildly disproportionate to the Jewish proportion of the world’s population. Jews make up about one-fifth of 1 percent of the world’s population, yet they have received about 20 percent of the Nobel Prizes for chemistry, 41 percent for economics, 26 percent for physics and 27 percent for medicine.

No end in sight for downward spiral in Turkish-Israeli ties

Published on September 6, 2011

The bad diplomatic news for Israel just kept getting worse.

Greece-Israel relations improving, Israeli envoy says

Published on February 14, 2011

The historic exchange of visits by the premiers of Israel and Greece is a sign of rapprochement between the two countries, Israeli Ambassador to Greece Arye Mekel said. Mekel made his statements in an interview Feb. 12 with the Athens News Agency, the official Greek news agency, in its first interview with an Israeli official in 40 years.

Democratic Rep. Brad Sherman delivers mixed review of Obama’s Israel policy

Published on April 8, 2010

“I know why you’re here, and I want to address it, but I think it’s a tempest in a teapot,” Brad Sherman, the Democratic Congressman from Sherman Oaks said Wednesday evening at a town hall at Temple Aliyah in Woodland Hills. The meeting was called to focus on U.S.-Israel relations.

Rude Israeli Olympic medalist ticks off Chinese, Peres apologizes

By Alison Klayman
Published on September 15, 2008

Israel’s biggest source of pride at the Beijing 2008 Olympics became its biggest blight this past week, after bronze medal-winning windsurfer Shahar Zubari called Chinese people “sh*ts” in an interview published September 5th in Israel’s Yediot Aharanot.

Lessons From Abramoff’s Case

By Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak
Published on October 6, 2005

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff's recent indictment and arrest on charges of wire fraud involve an already notorious individual.

U.S. Mistakes Worsen Iran Situation

By H. David Nahai
Published on July 7, 2005

The recent runoff election in Iran catapulted the ultra-conservative mayor of Tehran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, onto the international stage and set off a blaze of speculation. But while the face of the presidency may have changed, the soul of the regime has not.

From the vantage point of the United States and Israel, the Iranian government remains a repressive autocracy at home and a sponsor of terrorism abroad. It's also a regime they view as close to developing nuclear weapons. With Ahmadinejad as president, Iran's government is now dominated by hard-liners, with the reformists marginalized. This development certainly does not augur well for the future of relations between Iran and the United States and Iran and Israel, or for the cause of freedom within Iran. However, the added problem is that the regime now asserts that the election (with its high turnout) affirms the regime's legitimacy and validates its system of government.

Milestones in Pope’s Relations With Jews

By Ruth E. Gruber
Published on April 7, 2005

During his papacy, Pope John Paul II repeatedly condemned anti-Semitism and met frequently with Jewish religious and lay leaders. He also took certain steps that Jews criticized. Following are some of the milestones in his relations with Jews and Israel:

Fly the Mitzvah Skies

By Gaby Wenig
Published on January 13, 2005

El Al, Israel's national airline, is the only airline that keeps kosher, observes Shabbat and even gives out doughnuts on Chanukah, but recently it has been doing other mitzvot as well.

Israeli Tourists ‘Ugly’ No More

By Larry Derfner
Published on June 17, 2004

Leafing through travel books on Turkey at Tel Aviv's L'Metayel (For the Traveler), veteran sojourner Ronen Lazar suggests how to curb the phenomenon of the "ugly Israeli" -- the obnoxious Israeli tourist.

Timeline of Reagan, Key Jewish Events

By Journal Staff
Published on June 10, 2004

The following are key events in the Ronald Reagan presidency focusing on his Middle East policy and relations with the American Jewish community

Will Jesus Film Poison Christian-Jewish Ties?

By Joe Berkofsky
Published on January 29, 2004

Jesus will appear on the Christian holy day of Ash Wednesday -- thanks to Mel Gibson. The Hollywood star directed and financed the $25 million epic "The Passion of the Christ," which is emerging from a nearly yearlong media storm and is due to hit 2,000 screens nationwide Feb. 25.

Complicated Branches

By Robert Brustein
Published on October 31, 2002

"The Syringa Tree," which won the 2001 Obie Award for best play and premieres in Los Angeles this week, might be the first theatrical work to deal with the complicated and ambiguous relations between Jews and blacks in South Africa. A solo performance written and acted by Pamela Gien, it is a partly fictionalized -- though mostly factual -- account of a half-Jewish, half-English child in Johannesburg during apartheid. Created by Gien in a Santa Monica acting class in 1996, the play was inspired by the brutal murder of Gien's grandfather when she was a child.

Mixed Messages

By J.D. Besser
Published on October 25, 2001

With U.S.-Israel relations facing an explosive new crisis, a number of Israel representatives were in Washington this week, offering mixed messages about the intentions of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government.

Some Jewish leaders here said the conradictions could increase the likelihood of serious misunderstandings between the two allies as the U.S.-led war against terrorism intensifies and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict worsens.

Senate Shocker

By James D. Besser
Published on May 31, 2001

The stunning change in the U.S. Senate triggered by Sen. James Jeffords' switch from GOP to independent status means a seismic shift in the war over a host of domestic issues, including the church-state skirmishes that have preoccupied Jewish groups.

UCLA Hillel Hosts Muslim-Jewish Series

By Jewish Journal Staff
Published on April 5, 2001

On April 2, UCLA Hillel opened a spring forum titled "Muslim-Jewish Relations: Harmony and Discord Throughout History" examining relations between Muslims and Jews from the founding of Islam to the contemporary era.

Open Discussions

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 27, 1999

Los Angeles, as always, attracted a variety of interesting visitors in recent days. The Jewish Journal couldn't meet all of them, but we made contact with a group of German journalists and government officials, the former executive editor of The New York Times, and the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations.

Dialogue in Distress

Published on April 8, 1999

There's good news and bad news in Catholic-Jewish relations.

Forging a Common Future

By Wendy J. Madnick
Published on October 29, 1998

Allies or adversaries? That is the question confronting Jewish and Latino political leaders as they assess the current and future relations of their communities.

The Torah of Our Lives

By Rabbi Laura Geller
Published on October 9, 1997

In Leviticus, male sexual relations are considered an abomination,punishable by death. "A man shall not be with another man as if with a woman. It is an abomination," reads one passage. But, as with all things biblical and Jewish, the Torah passages are open to interpretation. And interpret they did last week at University Synagogue at a panel discussion on Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist views on homosexuality and bisexuality.