
Ron Kampeas is the former Washington bureau chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Ron Kampeas is the former Washington bureau chief of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Trump administration said it cannot envision an outcome in which the Western Wall is not part of Israel — the first signal by any U.S. administration that it recognizes a claim to Jerusalem outside the 1967 lines. Senior administration officials briefing reporters on Friday about Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — “A Very Narrow Bridge” is a popular Hasidic song, one that is embraced by Jews of all denominations. The words to it, which are from the writings of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, the 18th-century founder of a Hasidic sect, are “The entire world is a very narrow bridge; the main thing is…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In announcing U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, President Donald Trump spoke loud and clear — except when he didn’t. That’s not to say that Israel and many of its supporters weren’t thrilled with what many called the “long overdue” acknowledgement by the United States that Israel gets to say where…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Middle East policy community to do what it could to “seize the opportunity” presented by President Donald Trump when he decertified Iranian compliance with the nuclear deal. “President Trump has created an opportunity to fix the grave flaws of the JCPOA,” Netanyahu said Sunday during a…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A number of the foundations that fund Project Veritas, a group that uses deception and selective editing to discredit the media and liberal groups, also fund Jewish causes. BuzzFeed tracked the tax returns of 26 foundations that have given money to Project Veritas after its latest gambit backfired this week: A woman…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Rep. Eliot Engel has become the first U.S. congressman to be featured on a postage stamp in Kosovo. Engel, a New York Democrat, may be the first Jewish member of Congress on a stamp, period. Bella Abzug helped inspire a 1999 stamp celebrating the women’s rights movement, but the late New York…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — In 1987, Congress passed legislation that declared there would never be an office of the Palestine Liberation Organization on U.S. soil. President Ronald Reagan agreed and signed the law. Seven years later the law was still on the books. But that year the PLO opened an office in Washington — with the…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Ilan Mengistu knows his pitch to rescue his brother, Avera, should be a no-brainer to Jews — “pidyon shvuyim,” the redemption of the hostage, is among the greatest of commandments. But Mengistu also knows that the story he has to tell is not the straightforward narrative longed for by those who would…