By Nathan Jeffay
When representatives of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — known collectively as the Middle East Quartet — arrived here for crucial meetings in March, they met, as usual, with the Palestinians in Ramallah. And, as usual, Saeeb Erekat, the indefatigable Middle East negotiator who has led the Palestinian side in peace talks since the mid 1990s, represented the Palestinians.
Read More
By Nathan Jeffay
Some tragedies lead to nations pulling together. But in Israel, the March 11 terrorist attack that left five Israelis, including three children, dead in their home in the West Bank settlement of Itamar has led to bitter sectarian arguments.
Read More
By Nathan Jeffay
When New Yorker Bruce Smith prays three times a day for a “return to Zion,” it’s a very personal plea. He is desperate to immigrate to Israel with his wife, Fanny, and their three children, but he can’t: Fanny is an Orthodox convert to Judaism.Read More
By Rex Weiner
Hayyim Nahman Bialik, Israel’s first national poet, defined Zionism’s aspiration to make the Jews a normal people via statehood: “We will be a normal state only when we have the first Jewish prostitute, the first Hebrew thief, and the first Hebrew policeman.” But in the 21st century, it’s not enough to be a local thief; you have to go global. And the upcoming Los Angeles trial of Itzhak and Meir Abergil promises to update Israel’s “normalization” when it comes to crime in a way that befits the times.Read More
By Joy Resmovits
As the rest of my family spent the day shopping in this picturesque port city on the Mediterranean, I was a few miles away in the hospital — not as a patient, thankfully, but as an observer. In an attempt to learn as much as possible about Israel’s emerging medical technologies, I passed the day at Rambam Health Care Campus, a large government hospital with a renowned trauma center.
Read More
By Nathan Guttman
The recent showdown at the United Nations Security Council over a proposed resolution condemning Israel’s settlement policy did more than highlight Israel’s isolation in the international body. It also reminded many that for the past six months Jerusalem has been lacking a permanent ambassador to represent its interests in the most public arena of international politics.
Read More
By Gal Beckerman
Did Jews commit genocide in 1948? The question is provocative, and the answer for most people is an unequivocal no. But a debate over this idea has formed the crux of a heated argument among the most eminent genocide scholars in the world, and led recently to the censure of an Israeli professor by the field’s leading academic association.
Read More
By Nathan Jeffay
In American Jewish memory, the Jewish National Fund’s historic blue pushkes, or charity boxes, evoke warm images of hard-earned pennies given to the group’s mission of redeeming the Land of Israel through planting trees. But to the Bedouin of Al-Arakib, a village in the Negev, the group’s current forestation plans mean the destruction of their homes and what they say is the theft of land they have owned since the beginning of the 20th century.
Read More
By Nathan Guttman
Several recent setbacks for J Street are refocusing attention on the dovish Israel lobby’s ongoing struggle to gain acceptance both in Washington and within the broader Jewish community. J Street’s opposition to an American veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement activity cost it the support of a key member of Congress and strained its ties with Israeli officials in Washington.Read More
By Nathan Jeffay
Back in 1991 Chen Yiyi was, as he puts it, a “bored” law student at Peking University. At the time, China was in the process of formalizing relations with Israel, and the Chinese Education Ministry and Israel’s Foreign Ministry selected his university as the site of China’s first Hebrew course taught by visiting Israeli teachers. When the class fell short of its eight-student enrollment target, Chen was persuaded to sign up to boost its numbers.
Read More
Claims Conference Chief Knew of $57M Holocaust Fraud Probe Earlier 
Rama Burshtein Offers Rare Glimpse of Orthodox World
Top Dog: Who Makes the Best Kosher Hot Dog in America?
What We Can Learn From Mel Brooks About Racism
Life After the Holocaust, at 90 and Beyond
You've successfully signed up!