This is the Forward’s coverage of Israel, the Jewish state in the Middle East founded in 1948.
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Fast Forward Is This $1,400 Crocodile-Skin Kippah Kosher?
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Curious locals and journalists rushed to a Judaica store in Jerusalem’s Old City to marvel at the new luxury-marketed crocodile, python and cowhide Jewish head coverings. An ostrich edition was said to be coming soon. But as the hype grew, so did public backlash, and last week, the government confiscated the kippahs…
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Community How Israeli Culture Killed The Mensch
“Be a mensch,” a person of integrity, is a phrase one will likely hear frequently growing up Jewish in the United States. Striving for moral goodness is a quintessential feature of Judaism in America. Israeli Jews live by a completely different dictum: “don’t be a freier” — a sucker. A freier is easily exploited, something…
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Israel News Israeli Ambassador To U.S.: We Will ‘Act To Enforce’ Syria Red Lines
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to Washington, told a Rosh Hashana event packed with U.S. officials that Israel would enforce two red lines in the civil war in neighboring Syria: The transfer of major weapons to Hezbollah and the establishment of a permanent Iranian beach head in the country. “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin…
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Fast Forward ‘Emerging’ Jewish Groups Cheer Israeli Plan To Ease Visa Requirements
A government proposal to create a new status in Israel for people who have Jewish roots or belong to “emerging” Jewish communities was welcomed by leaders of communities that could be affected. “This would be a big step forward,” Rabbi Gershom Sizomu, spiritual leader of the Abayudaya community in Uganda, told Haaretz. Members of that…
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Fast Forward Israel Restaurants Can Be ‘Kosher’ Without Rabbinate Certification
Israeli restaurants can tell patrons that they serve kosher food even if they do not have official kashrut certification from the state rabbinate, the Supreme Court ruled. The ruling was handed down Tuesday and comes a year after the Supreme Court ruled that businesses cannot describe themselves as kosher unless they have official certification from…
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Fast Forward Israeli Firm Picked To Build Trump Border Wall Prototype
(JTA) — Elta North America, an Israeli-owned defense manufacturer with U.S. headquarters in Maryland, was one of four companies chosen to build a prototype for the border wall between the United States and Mexico. The company is a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries. Some 200 companies vied for the tenders, which will provide a $300,000 to…
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Fast Forward Ultra-Orthodox Lawmaker Ousted For Attending Nephew’s Gay Wedding
An Israeli lawmaker from the Sephardic Orthodox Shas Party resigned from the Knesset after he was criticized for attending a gay wedding. Lawmaker Yigal Guetta on Wednesday resigned after coming under fire from several prominent rabbis and party faithful. At the beginning of the week he confirmed to Army Radio that he had attended his…
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Opinion Jared Kushner, Israel And The Enduring Power Of ‘Whiteness’
Ta-Nehisi Coates has published a new essay. It’s about Donald Trump and the enduring power of whiteness in American politics. It doesn’t mention Israel. But it explains a lot about the American Israel debate, and why it may change. The American Jewish establishment’s dominance of the Israel debate in Washington has never been more complete….
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Fast Forward Steeped in history, Pensacola Jews celebrate the 150th anniversary of Florida’s oldest synagogue
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Fast Forward Rahm Emanuel joins calls for end to US ‘financial aid’ to Israel
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Fast Forward Michigan Democrats nominate Eli Savit, progressive Jewish prosecutor, for state attorney general
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Fast Forward At soldiers’ graves, the rows keep growing: Israel’s Memorial Day is shaped by new loss
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