Benjamin Netanyahu
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.
How Israel’s missing constitution deepens divisions between Jews and with Arabs
By Brendan Szendro — June 17, 2021
(The Conversation) — Governed by a changeable body of 'basic laws,' Israel never settled basic questions like the rights of religious minorities. These destabilizing issues will continue to fester under a new government.
Will Naftali Bennett’s diverse coalition lead Israel to recognize Jewish diversity?
By Michele Chabin — June 16, 2021
JERUSALEM (RNS) — Many Israelis and Diaspora Jews are hoping the new government will unlock the decades-long monopoly that strictly Orthodox Jews have had on everything from marriage to public transportation.
EXPLAINER: What will change under Israel’s new government?
By Joseph Krauss — June 14, 2021
JERUSALEM (AP) — The next government, which will be led by the ultranationalist Naftali Bennett, has vowed to chart a new course aimed at healing the country's divisions and restoring a sense of normalcy.
EXPLAINER: Who is Naftali Bennett, Israel’s new leader?
By Joseph Krauss — June 14, 2021
JERUSALEM (AP) — Bennett represents a third generation of Israeli leaders, after the founders of the state and Netanyahu's generation.
Violence at Al-Aqsa Mosque leads to rocket fire, air strikes between Hamas and Israel
By Michele Chabin — May 10, 2021
JERUSALEM (RNS) — Reports of 20 dead in Gaza, hundreds injured as skirmishes over Jewish-Arab land claims threaten to ignite regional violence in the Middle East.
Israeli watchdog to investigate deadly festival stampede
By Associated Press — May 3, 2021
(AP) — The tragedy brought renewed attention to Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, where many have flouted coronavirus restrictions over the past year.
New players add volatility in Jerusalem tensions
By Josef Federman — April 26, 2021
(AP) — The fate of Jerusalem and its holy sites is one of the most explosive issues in the conflict.
Israel’s high court broadens acceptance of non-Orthodox Jews, setting up political battle
By Michele Chabin — March 2, 2021
(RNS) — The US Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly said in a statement that the ruling 'was a very long time coming. Not swift justice, but sweet and righteous just the same.'
Ultra-Orthodox unrest threatens Netanyahu re-election hopes
By Josef Federman — January 28, 2021
(AP) — Netanyahu has watched his political partners undermine the country's war against the virus and spark a public backlash that threatens him at the ballot box.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who brought Judaism to a global audience, dies
By Yonat Shimron — November 8, 2020
(RNS) — The former chief rabbi of the United Kingdom won a large audience for his ability to reconcile the particularities of Judaism with universal concerns.
Jewish voters edge further away from Trump
By Mark Silk — October 22, 2020
(RNS) — Republican politicians — Trump above all — have failed to grasp that Israel policy has never had much impact on the voting behavior of American Jews.
Second coronavirus lockdown in Israel frustrates many religious Jews’ plans for High Holidays
By Michele Chabin — September 16, 2020
JERUSALEM (RNS) — The three-week shutdown is timed not only to take advantage of the slow pace of the High Holiday period, but is also an acknowledgment that crowded religious institutions were a coronavirus breeding ground this past winter.
