Ben Sales
By Ben Sales
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Fast Forward Worried About Economy, Israelis Want Better Scandinavia-Style Social Safety Net
(JTA) — On one hand, most Israelis say their financial situation is good and getting better. On the other hand, they’re worried they won’t be able to provide for their children. On one hand, they want significantly more government spending in a wide range of public services. On the other hand, they say they pay…
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Opinion What Avigdor Lieberman Can Learn From the Last Non-General To Be Israel’s Defense Chief
(JTA) – He was an outspoken politician with little military experience, appointed by a rival and promising to bring a new approach. Current and former officials at the Defense Ministry called his appointment an “enigma,” fretting that “it will take some time until he understands how things work” and that “he’ll have to undergo basic…
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Fast Forward Netanyahu Said to Recruit Hard-Liner Lieberman, Forgoing Labor Union
TEL AVIV (JTA) — The unity government was about to form: Likud and Labor, right and left, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Isaac Herzog. Then, according to media reports, Netanyahu swung to the right and instead embraced an old partner: Avigdor Lieberman, head of the hard-line nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu party. Lieberman, formerly…
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Fast Forward Benjamin Netanyahu Denies Reports Mahmoud Abbas Offered Direct Talks 3 Times
TEL AVIV (JTA) — A spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas offered to begin secret, direct talks with Netanyahu three times. Gershon Baskin, who has acted as a conduit between the Netanyahu government and Palestinian leadership, Monday that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas offered three times to…
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Fast Forward Talk of Giving Back Golan Heights Is Thing of the Past for Israel
(JTA) — During the five-plus years of Syria’s civil war, Israel has striven to stay neutral — supporting neither the government of President Bashar Assad nor the rebels, and certainly not the Islamic State. But on one issue, senior Israeli politicians have gladly taken sides: Israel keeping the Golan Heights. Facing reports of an international…
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Opinion Why Israeli Young People Are So Much More Right-Wing Than Americans
(JTA) — American young people are rallying behind Jewish socialist Bernie Sanders. Their Israeli counterparts look more likely to back Jewish nationalist Naftali Bennett. A poll of Jewish-Israeli teens released Wednesday by Israel Hayom, the free Israeli right-wing daily, portrays a generation that’s staunchly nationalist, pessimistic on peace and, in part, dismissive of Arab-Israeli civil…
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Israel News For Parents of Israeli Soldiers Lost in Gaza, the War Never Ended
KFAR SABA, Israel (JTA) — One family lost their son in late July 2014. The other lost theirs on the first of August in the same year. One family has lobbied the United Nations and crossed an ocean in hopes of bringing their son’s remains back. The other mostly stays home. One family is sure…
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Fast Forward Conversion Ruling Dents Power of Israeli Rabbinate Over Rituals
(JTA) — The Israeli Supreme Court decision on Jewish conversion changes almost nothing. But down the line, it could change a lot. Under the March 31 ruling, the state of Israel must recognize Jewish conversions performed in private Orthodox conversion courts not run by its Chief Rabbinate. A network of such courts, called Giyur Kahalacha,…
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