This is the Forward’s coverage of Israel, the Jewish state in the Middle East founded in 1948.
Israel
The Latest
-
Fast Forward Netanyahu, Gantz sign ‘National Emergency Government’ agreement
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz signed a deal Monday to form a “national emergency government’ that keeps Netanyahu as the prime minister for now. Israel has spent more than a year under a caretaker government as neither Netanyahu nor Gantz could assemble a coalition government. With…
-
Fast Forward Netanyahu’s son tweets apparent death wish to ‘old people’ protesting unity talks
(JTA) — A protest in Tel Aviv against establishing a unity government in Israel that includes Benjamin Netanyahu led the prime minister’s son Yair to tweet, “I hope the old people who die because of this demonstration will be from your camp.” The tweet generated a storm of condemnations from the left and the right…
-
Community Passover is the Jewish people’s real independence day
Standing on a mountaintop three days north of Eilat, I turned around for the first time. I looked back along the route I’d hiked, with its brown and gold hills and valleys, the shimmer of the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea in the distance. I was amazed at how far I’d come —…
-
Israel News Israeli Haredim, blamed for COVID outbreaks, could see their communities forever changed
After a spike of coronavirus infections in Haredi Orthodox Jewish areas, Israel is now experiencing a flareup of a more familiar ailment in the socially fractured country: religious tension. “It’s like a barrel of oil,” said Kimmy Caplan, a professor of Jewish history at Bar-Ilan University, of the strain between Orthodox and secular Israelis in…
-
Fast Forward Netanyahu accused of breaking his own quarantine rules by having son at Passover Seder
Israel’s prime minister and president were criticized on social media Thursday for having Passover Seders with children who live outside their home – despite strict quarantine measures that banned such gatherings. The Israeli government ordered Jewish citizens to stay in their homes with no exceptions from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning, in order to stop…
-
Fast Forward Israel’s health minister tests positive for coronavirus
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Health Minister Yaakov Litzman has been diagnosed with the coronavirus. The announcement that Litzman and his wife tested positive for the deadly virus came late Wednesday night. Litzman, 71, has mild symptoms, according to reports. He is continuing to work from home, his office told Israeli media. The entire Health Ministry…
-
Fast Forward Western Wall stones sanitized after notes removed
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Western Wall stones were cleaned and sanitized ahead of Passover. Every year, the prayer notes tucked between the stones in the wall are removed at Passover and before the High Holidays, and buried with other sacred papers according to Jewish law in the cemetery on the Mount of Olives. This year,…
-
Israel News Lovers of street protest, Israelis take their anger to computer screens, cars, balconies
Israelis sheltering at home this week against the coronavirus were jostled by several minutes of loud clanging coming from balconies in Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem. Demonstrators were crashing pots and pans. In typical times, pro-democracy activists would have stormed Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square. But with Israel’s strict restrictions on gathering in the time of…
Most Popular
- 1
Fast Forward CA Gov. Newsom says he regrets apartheid comment, ‘reveres’ Israel in new interview
- 2
News Mamdani voices concerns about synagogue buffer zone bill poised to pass NYC Council
- 3
Holy Ground The promised land is… Oklahoma? Inside Tulsa’s campaign to court young Jews
- 4
Looking Forward We need to talk about New Jersey’s Jewish master of literature. No, not that one
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture Inside the ancient Christian theology driving modern antisemitism
-
Looking Forward We were instant friends. Then came the Israel question.
-
Fast Forward Man arrested over alleged firebomb plot targeting pro-Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani
-
Opinion The moral degradation of Israel’s far-right is even worse than you think
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism