In their memory…

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on April 15, 2013

Israeli Soldiers Stories- touring the States, spreading the truth

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on April 3, 2013

Israeli troops, Palestinians clash in Hebron

Published on December 14, 2012

Participants in a Hamas-organized demonstration in Hebron hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers.

Did Stevie Wonder succumb to Israel haters?

By Danielle Berrin
Published on November 29, 2012

Hope for injured IDF veterans

By Ryan Torok
Published on November 28, 2012

An officer in the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) Paratrooper Brigade, Arale Wattenstein was injured during a 2005 operation in the West Bank.

Israel requests reservists after rockets target cities

Published on November 16, 2012

Israeli ministers were on Friday asked to endorse the call-up of up to 75,000 reservists after Palestinian militants nearly hit Jerusalem with a rocket for the first time in decades and fired at Tel Aviv for a second day.

FYI: first person, live reports from Israelis

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on November 16, 2012

Here’s what really happened in Israel in the past couple of days

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on November 15, 2012

One Israeli Creation for the Weekend

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on November 9, 2012

All about my IDF (part one)

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on October 17, 2012

Egypt media say six Sinai “terrorists” held after attack

Published on August 10, 2012

The Egyptian army has captured six people it regards as "terrorists" in Sinai after an attack on a police station earlier this week that killed 16 border guards near the border with Israel, a military source told state media on Friday.

Remember and thank

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on April 24, 2012

Mishap leaves Israeli brigade with seder meal of matzah and salami

Published on April 9, 2012

Israeli soldiers in the Kfir Brigade ate salami and matzah for their seder meal after a base chef heated up the real seder food inappropriately, rendering it unkosher.

Life, Death, Love, Hate, Faith & Prayer

By Ilana Angel
Published on March 19, 2012

Six charged in beatings of soldiers in Haifa

Published on March 8, 2012

Six Arab residents of Haifa were indicted in an attack on two off-duty Israeli soldiers in the city. The Haifa District Court judge who presided over Thursday's hearing said the attack on Shnir Dahan and Roie Sharaff did not appear to be motivated by nationalism, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Israel’s Yishai apologizes for saying soldiers do not have faith

Published on January 18, 2012

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai apologized for saying that Israel fell short in the Second Lebanon War because its soldiers did not have faith.

IDF chief: Formal ceremonies mandatory for religous soldiers

Published on December 27, 2011

Orthodox Israeli soldiers must attend formal military gatherings at which women sing, but can be excused from informal social gatherings, the head of the military said.

News Flash: Jill Zarin Loves Barbra Streisand!

By Ilana Angel
Published on December 11, 2011

Israeli soldiers held in ‘price tag’ incidents

Published on December 7, 2011

Three Israeli soldiers are under arrest in connection with the vandalism of military and Palestinian property in what is being called a price-tag attack.

Gunmen fire on Israeli troops at Gaza border

Published on November 3, 2011

Palestinian gunmen fired on Israeli soldiers working on the border fence between Israel and Gaza.

Turkey IDs Israeli soldiers, commanders in ship’s raid

Published on September 26, 2011

A list of 174 Israeli soldiers and commanders involved in the May 2010 raid on the Mavi Marmara ship as it attempted to break the Gaza blockade, was given to Turkish prosecutors.

Right Now, Kids are Dying, Because They Are Gay

By Ilana Angel
Published on September 23, 2011

Female soldiers decry order to leave for yeshiva students

Published on August 30, 2011

Four female combat soldiers have protested orders to leave their unit because male yeshiva students will be joining it.

104 new soldiers arrive on aliyah flight

Published on August 17, 2011

A charter aliyah flight brought 360 new immigrants to Israel, including 104 young men and women who have enlisted in the military.

Homosexual Israeli soldiers claim harassment

Published on August 16, 2011

Gay and lesbian soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces said they have been sexually harassed during their military service.

My 4th of July Dinner Date

By Ilana Angel
Published on July 4, 2011

Israeli soldiers go on trial

Published on March 25, 2010

Two Israeli soldiers are on trial for allegedly using a Palestinian boy as a human shield during the Gaza war.

Three IDF soldiers attacked in Hebron

Published on March 19, 2010

Three unarmed Israeli soldiers who accidentally entered the Arab-controlled area of Hebron were attacked and wounded.

The soldiers, stationed near Hebron, lost their way Thursday during a physical training exercise.

Jewish troops in Iraq can practice their faith, thanks to Navy rabbi

By Lilly Fowler
Published on December 25, 2008

A short distance from the area where many historians believe the Talmud was written, Rabbi Jon Cutler leads one of the only functioning synagogues left in Iraq.

IDF support ensures bright future for Jews worldwide

Published on December 10, 2008

If our own youth and young adults connect to Israel, they will be more likely to connect to the more vibrant expressions of Judaism in the decades to come.

VIDEO: Girls of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

Published on August 3, 2008

Girls of the IDF. Video photo montage plus music

Former Israeli and Palestinian fighters push for peace—together

By Peter L. Rothholz
Published on February 8, 2007

A capacity-plus crowd of some 400 people, including mostly younger Jews and Muslims, filled the Skirball's Magnin Auditorium and gave the two speakers a warm welcome. The straightforwardness of the event gave little evidence of the passions that preceded it.

Israel grows impatient with terror-filled Gaza

By Dan Baron
Published on October 26, 2006

Israel's patience with the growing menace from the Gaza Strip appears to be wearing thin.

Israelis, Palestinians deserve US/Euro push for peace

By M.J. Rosenberg
Published on October 26, 2006

Are Israelis simply too weary to make it in the long term? Why do Israelis and Palestinians deserve less than the Irish, the Cypriots, the Serbs, the Bosnians or the South Africans?

The IDF and Civilians:  A Personal Account

By Rabbi Daniel Bouskila
Published on July 27, 2006

It was July 12, 1984, my first day on the Ketziot basic training base, my new "home" as an IDF soldier in the Givati Infantry Brigade. One by one, we were issued what was then the standard IDF infantry weapon, the Israeli-made Galil rifle.

Worst Fears Come to Pass for Foes of Gaza Pullout

By Marc Ballon
Published on July 6, 2006

Leaving Gaza also made sense morally, said Daniel Sokatch, executive director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance.

"For Israel to remain a democratic and Jewish state, it cannot occupy and control millions of Palestinians indefinitely," he said.

Protestors at Israeli Consulate Face Off Over Gaza Actions

By Amy Klein
Published on July 6, 2006

The Israeli consulate has not been a site for demonstrations since the disengagement from Gaza last summer, and last Thursday's demonstration and counterdemonstration was relatively small -- perhaps attesting to general world support for the release of the kidnapped soldier.

What’s So Bad About Torture?

By Arnold Steinberg
Published on March 23, 2006

Suppose your child were kidnapped. She is buried alive with a limited air supply. Police arrest one of the kidnappers. Indeed, he was on a store videotape luring the child and then abducting her. Witnesses saw him put the child in a car. His handwriting is on the ransom note. He admits he knows where she is but remains stubbornly unresponsive.

The Officer’s Grin

By Emanuel Cohn
Published on October 27, 2005

Gaza 1995. Though my tank brigade is stationed in the Jordan Valley, I am deployed to Rafiah. Rafiah lies in the southern Gaza Strip, on the Israeli-Egyptian border.

We Must Work to Build Solidarity in U.S.

By Rabbi Joshua Feigelson
Published on September 22, 2005

As it is for most of America, the Iraq war is an abstraction to many American Jews. We don't know by name anyone in uniform on the ground. And so, like most of America, it is hard for us to become motivated to take action. After all, what do we personally have at stake?

War Hero’s Medal Wait Finally Ends

By Tom Tugend
Published on September 15, 2005

Next Friday, as Tibor Rubin enters the White House, generals will stand at rigid attention. The president of the United States also will rise and then drape the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for gallantry in combat, around the neck of the 76-year-old Holocaust survivor and Korean War veteran.

Rubin and a legion of supporters have waited almost 55 years for this triumph of camaraderie and persistence over both bureaucratic lethargy and the prejudice endured by so many old-time Jewish GIs.

First Person - Torn in Two

By Robert Strazynski
Published on August 25, 2005

To the Jews of the Diaspora:
I recently returned from a monthlong vacation to the United States. Since I've gotten back home to Israel, however, it seems as though "reality" has smacked me upside the head.

Barbed Wire Fails to Separate Hearts

By Toby Klein Greenwald
Published on August 11, 2005

Almost every war has one photographic image that emerges and that remains ingrained in the public's mind -- and the media -- as the defining picture of that war.

There’s No Place for Ugly Words on Gaza

By Joseph Aaron
Published on July 28, 2005

The withdrawal of Israeli settlements and settlers from the Gaza Strip will dominate the Jewish summer.

Chaplain Crosses the Line for the Cross

By Steve Yuhas
Published on January 27, 2005

Military chaplains have a proud history in the U.S. military, and most of them uphold the mission of the Chaplain Corps in the various services to America's troops and to ensure their right to free exercise of religion.

Briefs

Published on December 9, 2004

Briefs

Rocket Threat Casts Shadow on Kibbutz

By Larry Derfner
Published on October 14, 2004

Kibbutz Nir'am, which is slightly closer to the Gaza Strip than Sderot, seemed dead that morning. The air was hot, harsh and still. Hardly anybody was outdoors.

Front-Line Valor

By Abraham Rabinovich
Published on September 23, 2004

As a journalist in the Yom Kippur War, I came upon a Patton tank company refueling behind the Israeli lines in Sinai during the last week of fighting.

Cossacks Look to Make Over Image

By Sue Fishkoff
Published on September 9, 2004

Nikolai Kozitsyn, chief of the Great Host of Don Cossacks, comes rushing into his second-story office in downtown Novocherkassk, apologizing for the informality of his navy blue sweat pants and flip-flops.

Our Soft Underbelly

By Shira Kaplan
Published on May 27, 2004

However, one truth does exist. Eleven dead soldiers in Gaza, literally torn into pieces, buried today on Mount Herzl. Eleven kids who are all between the ages of 19-23; 11 kids who could have been my best friends. My heart is breaking as I am writing these words. I served in the army for two years, and I am writing you as a soldier. These guys could have been my best friends, and they died in a way in which they did not deserve.

These Soldiers We Remember

By Gaby Wenig
Published on April 22, 2004

Yigal Shaked warned his mother that if she told the enlisting officers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that he should be excused from service because of his asthma, he would never speak to her again.

Controversy Erupts in Shooting at Fence

By Dan Baron
Published on January 1, 2004

Talk about trading places. Last month, Gil Na'amati finished his three-year stint of compulsory military service after serving in Israel's artillery corps and spending time operating in the West Bank. Now the 22-year-old kibbutznik is the poster boy for Palestinian grievances against Israel.

During a demonstration last week by Palestinians and Israeli left-wingers against Israel's West Bank security barrier, Na'amati was shot by soldiers, who until recently might have stood shoulder to shoulder with him at a checkpoint. An American activist also was lightly hurt in the clash.

A Roll in the Snow

By Tom Tugend
Published on October 2, 2003

Seldom has the boredom, tension and camaraderie of men and women at war been portrayed more realistically and economically than in this film, which has been a surprise hit among Israeli moviegoers, soldiers and civilians.

Haven of Refuge

By Nathan Ezra
Published on July 17, 2003

Jews have been migrating to Siberia from all over the continent for several centuries, lured by Siberia's relative isolation and, sometimes, the promise of wealth.

Soldier Survivors of Berga

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 22, 2003

After the American Army liberated them, the surviving prisoners looked like walking skeletons.

Israel: Independence and Remembrance

By Andrea Adelson
Published on May 1, 2003

Events remembering Israel's fallen soldiers, on May 6, and celebrating the nation's founding, officially May 7, include two local benefits to address gaping needs of Israelis.

Marine Becomes 1st Jewish War Death

By Joe Berkofsky
Published on April 10, 2003

"He was a macho kid with a gentle soul," his mother said as she was preparing her house for the shiva. "He was like a sabra."

Careful With That Pizza!

By Naomi Segal
Published on June 13, 2002

Mushrooms, peppers and extra cheese, please -- but hold the explosives. Concerns about booby-trapped pizzas have led the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to impose restrictions on the use of a Web site that allows users to spice up the Israeli army service by sending pies to soldiers.

World Briefs

By JTA Staff
Published on March 7, 2002

Syria's president backed a Saudi plan for an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord.

Refuseniks in the Ranks

By Larry Derfner
Published on February 7, 2002

The "officers' letter" came out on Jan. 25 in Yediot Aharonot, Israel's largest newspaper -- 52 reserve army officers declared that they would not serve in the West Bank or Gaza for moral and political reasons.