(JTA) — The Obama administration may be on a collision course with pro-Israel advocates over an intensified sanctions bill that the White House fears may scuttle negotiations to resolve the standoff over Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Council for Public…
The government shutdown already has veterans and federal workers up in arms. Now, you can add an 18-year-old Jewish chef to the list. Until last week, Sarah Rosenthal was spending long hours in the kitchen. The Seattle resident was scheduled to fly to Washington D.C. last Friday, and compete on Saturday for the title of…
President Barack Obama will nominate Federal Reserve Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen to be the next head of the U.S. central bank on Wednesday, a White House official said on Tuesday. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Yellen would replace Ben Bernanke, whose current term as head of the Fed ends in January. Obama is due…
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Vice President Joe Biden hosted Jewish leaders at a sukkah set up at his residence. The sukkah, provided by American Friends of Lubavitch and decorated by children with special needs, drew dozens of guests to the residence at Washington’s Naval Observatory on Tuesday evening, including leaders of the Reform, Conservative and Orthodox…
Close to 700 rabbis and other Jewish communal officials were briefed by a top White House aide on President Obama’s Syria plans. The call Tuesday with Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, was organized by the Reform movement’s Religious Action Center and the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly and attracted 691 callers from all religious…
The U.S. administration has launched an outreach campaign to convince American Jewish leaders and their organizations to support President Obama’s efforts to win Congressional support for a military operation in Syria – but the leaders are wary of joining the fray. Despite the Labor Day weekend, senior White House and administration officials have initiated phone…
The United States moved several steps closer Friday to attacking Syria. President Obama strategized by phone with the British and French leaders, and briefly addressed reporters (video here, transcript here), just before a meeting with Baltic leaders, about the options he’s considering for responding to Syria’s reported use of chemical weapons. French president Francois Hollande…
The Daily Beast just posted a magazine-length article by yours truly looking back at the Chuck Hagel confirmation battle and the role (or lack thereof) of the Jewish community and the notorious “Israel lobby” in the affair. What’s surprising about the whole affair, on close reexamination, is how absent the Jewish advocacy community was from…
100% of profits support our journalism
