WASHINGTON (JTA) — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. — war hero, presidential candidate, force of nature — has brain cancer, his family said Wednesday night, and he is garnering well-wishes from across the spectrum. More than a few are from Jews: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called McCain “A hero. A fighter. A friend.” Godspeed, @SenJohnMcCain….
Many pro-boycotts, divestments and sanctions activists met the rock band Radiohead’s arrival in Tel Aviv on Wednesday with protests. Michael Greilsammer, a noted Israeli violinist, welcomed the band with a passionate cover of one of their songs. In a video posted earlier this week, Greilsammer plays Radiohead’s classic hit “No Surprises.” The song is from…
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Palestinians rioted at the site of an attempted stabbing attack by a Palestinian assailant against a group of Israeli soldiers. The soldiers shot and killed the assailant near the Palestinian village of Teqoa, which is also near the Israeli settlement of Tekoa in the Gush Etzion bloc of the West Bank, according…
Hungarian Jews on Wednesday sharply criticized Viktor Orban’s billboard campaign using the image of U.S. financier George Soros and said the Israeli government’s backing of it came as a disappointment to the local Jewish community. In the campaign, Soros is singled out as an enemy of Hungary. “Let’s not allow Soros to have the last…
Alicia Garza, one of the co-founders Black Lives Matter, tweeted Wednesday night in support of the Chicago Dyke March’s decision to ask two Jewish LGBT women carrying Star of David flags to leave their march. “Shoutout to @DykeMarchChi for standing up for their principals when folks tried to take it over for their own agenda,”…
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — Brazil’s leading Jewish organizations have called for a boycott of a Muslim cleric who openly preaches the destruction of Israel slated to lecture in Sao Paulo. Shiite Ayatollah Mohsen Araki was announced as keynote speaker at an Arab-led event titled “Muslims and the fight against radical terrorism” to be held…
Arabella Trump made a super-cute Oval Office cameo Wednesday when she walked in on her grandfather’s interview with New York Times reporters. The six-year-old greeted the president with a cool “Hi Grandpa.” — then proceeded to show off her skills in Chinese as her mom Ivanka Trump watched from the doorway. “Say hello to them…
(JTA) — An influential progressive political action committee denounced a bipartisan measure targeting boycotts of Israel and its settlements. MoveOn.org, an influential liberal public policy advocacy group and PAC that raises money for progressive political candidates, criticized the Israel Anti-Boycott Act on Twitter. “Regardless how you feel about BDS, Congress must reject action to criminalize free…
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is weighing whether to remove metal detectors at a Jerusalem holy site whose installation after a deadly attack last week has stoked Palestinian protests, an Israeli cabinet minister said on Thursday. There have been nightly confrontations between Palestinians hurling rocks and Israeli police using stun grenades in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem since…
TEL AVIV (JTA) – Israel may pride itself on being an oasis of LGBT tolerance in the otherwise hostile Middle East, but many gay citizens are less than wowed. On Sunday, the government came out in favor of effectively preventing adoption by same-sex couples. Responding to a petition to the High Court of Justice challenging…
Presidential advisor/son-in-law Jared Kushner has agreed to testify on Monday before the Senate Intelligence Committee as part of its investigation into Russia’s role in the 2016 presidential election, ABC News reported Wednesday. “As Mr. Kushner has been saying since March, he has been and is prepared to voluntarily cooperate and provide whatever information he has…
