Benjamin Netanyahu
Outrage over far-right Israeli government has American Jewish leaders stewing
By Yonat Shimron — February 3, 2023
(RNS) — One New York rabbi has forsworn the Prayer for the State of Israel in the Saturday liturgy. Many others have protested through letters and petitions.
Israel’s new hard-line government has made headlines – the bigger demographic changes that caused it, not so much
By Michael Brenner — January 11, 2023
(The Conversation) — Two religiously observant groups of Jews in Israel, the ultra-Orthodox and Religious Zionists, are increasingly acting as political allies. The consequences could be profound.
Does the state of Israel still have a prayer?
By Jeffrey Salkin — January 9, 2023
(RNS) — I love Israel. Its current government — not at all. I pray that it changes, or that its policies change. Too much is at stake.
Why a visit by Israel’s national security minister to Al-Aqsa Mosque caused a firestorm
By Daoud Kuttab — January 6, 2023
(RNS) — Israel must decide whether its future will be as a modern democracy or a theocracy.
Palestinian backers and Israel at odds over holy site visit
By Edith M. Lederer — January 5, 2023
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Tuesday’s visit by Israel’s new National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site has fueled fears of unrest.
The 10 most significant Jewish news stories of 2022
By A. James Rudin — December 27, 2022
(RNS) — Though dogged by a pernicious antisemitic wave, the news from the Jewish world had its share of hopeful moments.
Hundreds of US rabbis protest new Israeli government in public letter
By Yonat Shimron — December 23, 2022
(RNS) — Leaders of several religious nationalist parties will be part of the most hard-right administration in Israel’s history, one US rabbis say endangers Jewish values.
Far-right Ben-Gvir to be Israel’s national security minister
By Associated Press — November 26, 2022
JERUSALEM (AP) — Giving the sensitive role to Ben-Gvir raises concerns of a further escalation in Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
Israel’s Haredi parties support Netanyahu again, but their politics aren’t what you think
By Avi Shafran — November 14, 2022
(RNS) — The 'ultra-Orthodox' Shas and United Torah Judaism parties aren't political hardliners, or very political at all.
Israel just had a bad week
By Jeffrey Salkin — November 4, 2022
(RNS) — The challenges that face world Jewry seem almost overwhelming. Time to drill down on what we know to be true.
Israel’s Haredi voters drift hard right in leadership vacuum
By Ilan Ben Zion — October 31, 2022
JERUSALEM (AP) — Itamar Ben-Gvir's sharp rise in popularity in the last three years has transformed him from a fringe provocateur to a central player in Tuesday's parliament election.
The Pulitzer winner is also the most compelling Jewish novel of the past year
By Jeffrey Salkin — May 12, 2022
(RNS) — It just won the Pulitzer for fiction. It is either a tour de force, or a tour de farce. You decide.
The tinder box of Jerusalem and the tyranny of the religious calendar
By Daoud Kuttab — April 8, 2022
(RNS) — The holiday crunch doesn't bode well for a population already strained by repression and attacks.
US Jewish movements ‘outraged’ by Israeli PM’s decision to quash Western Wall deal
By Yonat Shimron — January 31, 2022
(RNS) — The prime minister said members of his right-wing Yamina Party opposed the plan, which would expand the current mixed-gender section of the Western Wall and create a joint management committee with leaders of the Conservative and Reform movements.
The top 10 Jewish news stories of 2021
By A. James Rudin — December 28, 2021
(RNS) — Israeli politics and the continuing fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic dominated Jewish concerns this year.
