
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 year was 1981 and the director of AIPAC was calling for a “showdown” with the Reagan administration, saying “This country is being held hostage to the whims of the Saudis.” At issue was the sale to Saudi Arabia of AWACS, aircraft with radar-enabled surveillance capabilities that at the time were state of…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Among the Jewish men and women with a front-row seat to America’s executive branch, there are Jews who would be president, Jews who are indispensable to presidents and, less happily, Jews who help mire presidents in scandal. Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, is a definite category 2, with rumored ambitions of…
(JTA) — Mark Zuckerberg’s commencement speech at Harvard on Thursday was so, well, Zuckerbergish. Self-deprecating references to not having completed Harvard? Check. A rousing call to the students to commit social justice? Check. A recitation of the Mi Shebeirach prayer? Ch– Wait, what? Zuckerberg closed the commencement by saying that he draws strength from the…
WASHINGTON (JTA) – A key Senate committee approved new sanctions on Iran’s ballistic missiles program after amending clauses that critics said could scuttle the Iran nuclear deal. On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved the bill by a vote of 18-3. It was backed by the committee’s two leaders, Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman,…
WASHINGTON (JTA) – President Donald Trump is “putting a lot of pressure” on Israel and the Palestinians to restart peace talks, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. “The president was very forceful in his encouragement to both of them to be serious about approaching these discussions in the future and recognize you have to compromise,”…
WASHINGTON (JTA) – It’s not quite schadenfreude, but some Jewish organizational officials are sighing in relief at President Donald Trump’s cascade of domestic woes, saying it may present opportunities for their relatively liberal agenda. Domestically, some Jewish groups are welcoming the prospect that scandals and distractions besieging the White House could delay – if not…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Zionist Organization of America launched two broadsides against the Trump administration, signaling growing unease on the pro-Israel right with the president’s Israel policies. The ZOA, among Trump’s most ardent defenders in recent months and the flagship for the conservative pro-Israel community, slammed President Donald Trump for retreating from a campaign pledge…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Donald Trump waived nuclear sanctions on Iran, keeping in place the Iran nuclear deal he has derided, but added new sanctions relating to Iran’s testing of ballistic missiles. The waiver Wednesday of sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program has been expected since last month, when Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared…
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