Excitement, hope and the rhetorical art- experiences from Obama’s speech

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on March 21, 2013

Obama’s visit to Israel: a new kind of hope

By Noga Gur-Arieh
Published on March 20, 2013

As trip begins, Obama and Netanyahu are all smiles

Published on March 20, 2013

President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it’s safe to say, haven’t always been the best of friends.

Israel releases tentative Obama schedule

Published on March 11, 2013

Israel released a tentative itinerary for President Obama's visit to Israel and the West Bank.

Obama to speak directly to Israelis on visit to Jewish state

Published on February 12, 2013

President Obama is scheduled to deliver an address directly to the Israeli people during his two-day visit to Israel.

Obama’s planned visit to Israel

By Shmuel Rosner
Published on February 5, 2013

As you’ve probably heard, President Obama will visit Israel next month, his first time as president. And for those people still upset with him for not visiting during his first term, here’s the good news: Obama’s visit is still much earlier in his second term than when George W. Bush visited.

Will Obama’s planned Israel visit revive Israel-Palestinian peacemaking?

Published on February 5, 2013

Is President Obama's plan to visit Israel a sign that he’s ready to take another shot at Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking?

U.S. military official’s secret visit to Israel is revealed

Published on September 6, 2012

The vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. James Winnefeld, is in Israel to discuss security and defense issues.

Romney visit reveals falling visibility of Palestinian issue

Published on July 30, 2012

Mitt Romney’s policy speech in Israel covered plenty of bases: The presumptive Republican presidential candidate spoke about the status of Jerusalem, the threat of a nuclear Iran, the “tumult” of the Arab Spring and the “enduring shared values” that bedrock the U.S.-Israel relationship.

Obama campaign: Visit to Israel will take place in second term

Published on July 23, 2012

President Obama would visit Israel in a second term, a top campaign surrogate said.

State Dept. reviewing how member of terror group visited White House

Published on June 25, 2012

The U.S. State Department is reviewing how it granted a visa to an Egyptian lawmaker who met with top Obama administration officials and is known to be a member of a terrorist group.

Birthright Berlin

By Rob Eshman
Published on May 30, 2012

I’m a normal Jew. When I dream, I dream of Israel. When I have nightmares, I have nightmares of Germany.

Aboriginal leaders from Canada to visit Israel

Published on April 25, 2012

Thirty young aboriginal leaders from Canada will travel to Israel to study culture and society in the Jewish state.

U2’s Bono on surprise Israel visit

Published on April 10, 2012

U2 lead singer Bono is on a personal visit to Israel.

Russia’s Putin will visit Israel, officials say

Published on March 27, 2012

Vladimir Putin, the president-elect of Russia, intends to visit Israel this summer.

Israel confirms visit by Mohammed Merah

Published on March 26, 2012

Toulouse killer Mohammed Merah visited Israel in late 2010, Israeli officials said.

Toulouse killer visited Israel, other countries in the region

Published on March 22, 2012

The passport of Toulouse killer Mohammed Merah showed that he visited Israel, Syria, Iraq and Jordan, a French newspaper reported.

Peres the prophet

By Jonah Lowenfeld
Published on March 13, 2012

When Shimon Peres appeared at the Beverly Hilton on March 8 before an audience of more than 1,000 Israel supporters, the Israeli president received two standing ovations — before he even uttered a single word.

Peres to visit the U.S.

Published on January 17, 2012

Israeli President Shimon Peres will visit the United States in March.

Cuban Jewish leaders meet with Alan Gross

Published on December 29, 2011

Two Cuban Jewish leaders met with jailed American Jewish contractor Alan Gross.

Le Pen’s deputy visits Israel

Published on December 13, 2011

Louis Aliot, vice president of France's National Front party, is visiting Israel to try to drum up spoort for Marine Le Pen in elections this spring.

Chinese military chief to visit Israel

Published on August 8, 2011

The head of China's military will visit Israel for the first time.

Hoenlein reveals secret Syria visit

Published on February 14, 2011

Malcolm Hoenlein, head of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said he met for several hours with Syrian President Bashar Assad during a secret visit to Damascus.

NBA’s Dwight Howard to visit Israel

Published on August 23, 2010

NBA All-Star Dwight Howard will visit Israel to hold a basketball clinic for teens.

Sinai Akiba Students Visit Islamic Center [VIDEO]

By Melanie Reynard
Published on May 7, 2010

Seventh grade students and faculty from Sinai Akiba School in Westwood filed into the Islamic Center in Los Angeles at noon on Friday May 7 for a lecture on Muslim culture and to observe an afternoon prayer session.

Israeli allowed to visit Beirut

Published on April 13, 2010

Israel's Supreme Court has given an Israeli-Arab writer permission to visit Beirut to attend an Arab writers' conference.

Affordable ways to visit Israel

Published on March 23, 2010

The price of a standard 10-day Israel trip can be expensive, averaging about $3,000 per person, according to Israel’s Tourism Ministry. But there are a number of programs that can get you to Israel at a reduced price or free, as long as you meet certain criteria.

Politics abound on Pope’s mission of peace to Israel

Published on May 12, 2009

Pope Visits Yad Vashem

By JewishJournal.com
Published on May 11, 2009

Pope, in Israel, vows to fight anti-Semitism

Published on May 11, 2009

Pope Benedict XVI vowed to fight anti-Semitism and called for an independent Palestinian state upon his arrival in Israel.

The pope also invoked the memory of the six million Jews who died in the Holocaust and said he would pray for peace during his five-day visit to Israel, which began Monday morning when he landed in a plane belonging to the Jordanian royal family at Ben Gurion International Airport.

Pope’s visit to Israel fraught with potential minefields

Published on May 1, 2009

ROME (JTA) -- 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."

Report from Beijing: Israeli Olympians visit Beijing school

By Alison Klayman
Published on August 19, 2008

The Shi Jia school put on events over the last two years to teach the students about Israel, how to say "Shalom," even had its students Skype with a school in Jerusalem. Of course, the school was following the progress of Israeli athletes along with China's.

VIDEO: Israel tries to sex up its image

Published on September 18, 2007

Britains' Sky News reports from Tel Aviv on an Israeli advertising campaign to sex up its image.

First Person - A Mother of Wisdom

By Jack Goldfarb
Published on September 1, 2005

Calcutta's kaleidoscope of teeming streets, sprawling markets and chaotic taxis has always mesmerized me.

At times, it seems as though all 10 million denizens of this eastern Indian metropolis are roaming the city at once, surging in tidal waves, an urban sea of humanity. It was here that Mother Teresa pursued her humanitarian mission for almost 70 years.

My wife, Simone, and I have visited Calcutta (now called Kolkata) often, setting aside time to plod our way through the cacophonous traffic along Chandra Bose Road to the calm oasis of Mother Teresa's shelter for children, Shishu Bhavan. We would spend a day or two volunteering, as do so many others from around the world, to care for the youngsters. The volunteers always included Jews, who were welcomed as all others in this basically Catholic institution.

Putin Visit Stirs Conflicting Opinions

By Lev Krichevsky
Published on May 5, 2005

There were important issues on the agenda when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Israel last week. Still, Russian newspapers seemed most impressed that Putin -- the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit the Jewish state -- wore a kippah on his head when he visited Yad Vashem.

Do Not Abandon the Jews of France

By Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark
Published on August 5, 2004

As the old song goes: "I love Paris in the springtime. I love Paris in the fall." But for many Jews, Paris, and all of France, is not at the top of their visitor's hit parade, because of the anti-Semitic activities that have plagued that country in recent times.

Smuggling Jicama

By Hank Rosenfeld
Published on June 10, 2004

"Security measures enacted after 9/11 are impeding the inflow of scientific talent that helps energize American universities.... If the red tape is not untangled soon, it could cause long-term harm to universities and high-tech industries." -- (Visa Quagmire, The New York Times Editorial, May 17, 2004)

World Briefs

By JTA Staff
Published on December 11, 2003

World Briefs

A Father’s Daughter

By Murray Fromson
Published on November 6, 2003

I am a Jew, a journalist and a professor, but I also am an anguished and proud father. Last month, my wife and I welcomed our daughter back to Los Angeles for her annual visit to observe the High Holidays with our family. She will not be coming home. Home for her is Israel, where she has lived for 23 years.

We hope to talk about things other than the subject, but who's kidding whom? After all, we are Jews. Inevitably, we will banter about politics, be it the wackiness of California's recall election or the tragedy of Israel's dead-end policy in the territories.

Jewish History Draws in Bratislava

By Curt Leviant
Published on January 9, 2003

Once we declared here that we would visit Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, we expected people to say, "How quaint! How interesting! What an unusual place to visit." Instead, we invariably heard, "Why Bratislava?" And in Prague, when we announced our next stop, the reaction was, "Why do you want to go there?" Amazingly, even in beautiful Bratislava itself, residents asked in wonder and bemusement, with no hint of being impolite: "Why would you want to come here?"

Folks in Bratislava are not used to tourists. It is not, as they say in the travel trade, a "destination." No tourist buses crowd the streets like in Prague. No Israelis swarm here. And even if tourists come, we were told, they are ultra-Orthodox Jewish tourists visiting Budapest who take a taxi to Bratislava for a quick visit to the tomb of the revered early 19th century sage Rabbi Moshe Sofer (the Chatam Sofer), and then scoot back to Budapest without so much as a backward glance.

Israel Trip Blossoms Into Philanthropy

By Andrea Adelson
Published on January 2, 2003

For a self-described spoiled American -- nails unerringly polished, paprika curls without a misdirected loop, ensembles color coordinated -- Blossom Siegel's first visit to Israel was a transformative experience. It also was a boon to Orange County's Jewish community by awakening a tireless activist and philanthropist.

"The first trip to Israel changed my life," said Siegel, who is the honoree at a scholarship fundraising dinner Jan. 25 for Irvine's Tarbut V'Torah Community Day School at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Irvine.

When Siegel saw the Israelis financial and emotional needs on her 1985 visit, she came to the conclusion that vigorous American Jewish communities ensured Israel's lifeline.

Lions in Zion

By Ari Z. Zivotofsky
Published on September 19, 2002

It is not common for the mayor of Jerusalem to write to a 7-year-old and a 5-year-old. But it is similarly not the norm for them to write to him.

Reflections on Ground Zero

By Jack Weiss
Published on November 15, 2001

I had not intended to go to New York. Instead, after having helped launch Los Angeles's Threat Preparedness Task Force, my focus for the past several weeks had been on practical measures that our city can implement to be better prepared in the event of a catastrophe. My brother, who now lives in Brooklyn, had suggested that I travel to New York and visit Ground Zero to develop a firsthand understanding of the urgency of my work. Although I believed that the media had made me well aware of the scope of the devastation in the financial district, I followed his advice and flew to JFK.

Israeli President to Visit Southland

By Tom Tugend
Published on May 31, 2001

President Moshe Katzav, Israel's eighth head of state, will visit Los Angeles June 4-6 and meet with community leaders, civic officials, and members of the local Iranian Jewish community.

Messianic Experience

By Joyce Moed Charman
Published on March 1, 2001

For Dawn Short and Jennifer Willis, the wait tovisit a newly opened "messianic Jewish" theme park was worth it.

Israel All to Yourself

By Adam Wills
Published on January 18, 2001

I was more than a little conflicted when Israel's Ministry of Tourism invited me to visit the Holy Land for one week in December to judge for myself whether the country was safe enough for tourists. I'd never traveled to Israel before, and while I knew that life was going on as usual for most Israelis, CNN's daily images of conflict and the U.S. State Department's warning fed my apprehension.

Netanyahu’s Day in L.A.

By Tom Tugend
Published on November 20, 1997

Telescoping a planned two-day visit into one day to keep his datewith the Jordanian monarch, Netanyahu displayed unflagging stamina, aquick sense of humor, and considerable deftness in turning asideunpleasant questions from polite but generally undemonstrativeaudiences.

Israel’s Tug of the Tides

By Rabbi Harvey J. Fields
Published on July 10, 1997

Photo from "The Jews in America," Collins Publishers, 1989.Out along the glistening white, sandy beach in Herzliya, one feels a sense of serenity. The expected is unfolding. The tides gently form the shining blue waters of the Mediterranean into white foaming waves that crash upon the shore. They invade and wash away children's sand castles, cool the feet of walkers like me. The sounds at water's edge are constant, primal, refreshing.

On Jews and Judaism

By Ari L. Goldman
Published on July 10, 1997

Ann Terrick, the rabbi's secretary, said that her boss wasn't taking calls but that she would dial him anyway. It's been a little more than two months since Rabbi Isaiah Zeldin, 77, was felled by a mild heart attack, but his voice booms through the receiver as he picks up the phone. He sounds as robust as he did 30 years ago, when he went to the mountain and built one of the country's landmark temples, Stephen S. Wise.

Minister of Compassion

By Tom Tugend
Published on June 19, 1997

Yitzhak Mordechai, Israel's defense minister, delicately discusses peace, his boss and the conversion bill during a recent L.A. visit

Mission

Published on June 19, 1997

A mission to Israel that's billed as the largest ever in the history of the Los Angeles Jewish community is scheduled to take place between Nov. 1 and 10 of this year. About 500 Southern Californians are expected to participate in the Golden Anniversary Community Mission, which is being coordinated by the Jewish Federation Council in commemoration of the Jewish state's first 50 years.