As world leaders scrambled this month to make sense of a seeming upsurge in deadly terrorist attacks around the globe, Israeli policymakers were struggling over how best to portray their nation’s place in the mayhem. In response to the attacks, some Israeli officials were suggesting that Palestinian strikes against Israel were part of the worldwide…
TEL AVIV — Just two weeks before the commencement of what could be the decisive political step in his career — pulling Israeli troops and settlers out of Gaza — Ariel Sharon suffered one of his career’s most serious political and personal blows: the indictment of his son, Omri, on campaign finance violations. The indictment,…
In the heat of the fight over the Supreme Court, Christian conservatives are turning to a rabbi best known for his book, “Kosher Sex.” Rabbi Shmuely Boteach, author and radio talk-show host, is to be among the speakers at the next “Justice Sunday,” the second in a series of extravaganzas put on by a consortium…
VENTA PRIETA, Mexico — On a dusty street in this small town, about 60 miles east of Mexico City, Eliseo Marron Tellez points out a cinder-block building that has served as the synagogue for his new Jewish congregation. Marron, along with many others in his town, is part of a Jewish community that was converted…
A series of proposals to slash Jewish day school tuition in suburban New York by using the public school system is igniting a debate on the cost of Jewish education. The measures also are drawing criticism from observers who say they would violate the Constitution on church-state grounds. The proposals are being promoted by two…
Group Launches African Effort In the latest sign of growing Jewish interest in African issues, the American Jewish Congress last week launched a consultative committee on Africa-Jewish Relations at the United Nations and issued a statement urging the international community to take urgent action to stave off mass starvation in Niger. The new initiative, which…
Polish authorities appear to have given up their efforts to extradite an Israeli citizen accused of committing crimes “against the Polish nation.” Israel’s ambassador to Poland, David Peleg, told the Forward that the Polish Ministry of Justice has agreed to drop its efforts to extradite Solomon Morel, a Polish Jew living in Israel, who allegedly…
Human Rights Watch announced that it is creating a new senior position to handle terrorism issues, leading one right-leaning Israeli watchdog to take credit for the move. The Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor issued a statement last week giving credit for the move to its own reports, which alleged an anti-Israel bias on the part of Human…
JERUSALEM — After more than three decades of defending Israel’s deprived minorities — Arab citizens, Palestinians in the territories, gays, foreign workers and the Reform and Conservative movements — the Association for Civil Rights in Israel has a new cause: the settlers and their allies. As the August 15 start date for the Gaza pullout…
Bald Innuendo: One of the Republican Jewish Coalition’s top crowd pleasers, former Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer, is featuring prominently in press reports about the administration leak of the identity of undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame. Fleischer has served as a veritable Bush ambassador to the Jewish community since leaving the administration in 2003. The…
TEL AVIV — Two billboards dominate the Israeli street in these final weeks leading up to the disengagement. One, in the ubiquitous construction cone orange that has become the brand of the anti-disengagement forces, reads, “Jews do not expel Jews.” The other, in the patriotic blue and white that the pro-disengagement groups have chosen as…
