Batya Ungar-Sargon is the former Opinion Editor at the Forward.
Batya Ungar-Sargon
By Batya Ungar-Sargon
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Opinion Young Jews Are Actually Winning The Generational War Over Israel
Ever since the late 1960s, Israel has been a defining feature of American Jewish identity. But for the first time in fifty years, this is changing. Wedge issues have been alienating liberal Jews from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hawkish, pro-Orthodox, pro-settlement platform, issues like prayer accommodations for Reform and Conservative Jews at the Western Wall…
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Opinion Is Shmuley Boteach Attacking Qatar Trip Because He Wasn’t Invited?
This piece has been updated to include a statement by Shmuley Boteach. America’s right-wing Jewish community has recently been split over a curious question: whether to cozy up to Qatar. After a number of American Jewish Zionist leaders visited the tiny Gulf country rich in gas, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach began denouncing both Qatar and the…
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Opinion Does Qatar Think Zionist Jews Control Congress?
The Qatari government has recently enlisted a new proxy fighter: Jews. More specifically, American Zionist Jews. Over the past few months, the tiny Gulf country has been bringing American Zionist leaders to visit with its ruler, the emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. The list of recent visitors, first reported by Haaretz, was made up…
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Opinion The Secret Hidden In Mike Pence’s Grin
Vice President Mike Pence has been noted for his “close-cropped helmet of white hair,” his “folksy Midwestern drawl” and the “devotional gaze” he trains on President Trump. But his most striking feature is surely his smile. It’s not really a smile. It’s actually more of a grin. He brought this very grin to the Israeli…
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Opinion The Nazi Who Saved Jews
Karl Rudolf Werner Best was your average run-of-the-mill Nazi, until he wasn’t. A curious footnote to history, Best both ordered and subsequently sabotaged the deportation of Denmark’s Jews, rendering him an enduring mystery. Born in Darmstadt on July 10, 1903, Best was an early and staunch German nationalist who founded the first local group of…
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Opinion Are Orthodox Jews Assimilating To The Christian Right?
Orthodox Jews and evangelicals have a lot in common. Large majorities of both communities say that religion is very important to their lives — 83% of Orthodox Jews and 86% of white evangelicals. Both groups report attending religious services at much higher margins than their less fundamentalist brethren. And roughly the same number of Orthodox…
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Opinion Welcome To The Post Modern Anti-Semitism Debate
Tuesday in New York City told a tale of two anti-Semitism panels. The first was a buttoned-up afternoon symposium in a minimalist midtown law office entitled “Anti-Zionism=Anti-Semitism.” The second, “The Uses and Abuses of Anti-Semitism,” was a jolly evening affair at the New School where, as you might expect, students predominated. These two mirror image…
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Opinion ZOA Rolled Out The Red Carpet For Steve Bannon — And It Backfired
On Sunday night, some of America’s most fervent Zionists gathered in midtown Manhattan for the Zionist Organization of America’s annual gala. The well-heeled crowd at the Grand Hyatt included members of Congress, Fox News contributors and members of the Knesset, as well as many young Orthodox Jewish men. They were attending a reception and a…
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