Breaking News

Is Netanyahu Alienating Israel’s Friends in Europe?

05/18/2010 | Leslie Susser | JTA

JERUSALEM (JTA) – On the day last week that Israel gained admission to the prestigious Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Israel's continued control over the Palestinians was eroding its global standing.

Justice Sought Against French Railroad

05/18/2010 | JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- Holocaust survivors met with officials on Capitol Hill to discuss legislation that will help them pursue a lawsuit against a French railroad company.

Leo Bretholz and Mathilde Freund were both refugees from Austria living in Vichy, France during World War II.

Clinton Announces Draft UN Iran Sanctions Plan that Includes China and Russia

05/18/2010 | Staff Report

Broad international sanctions aimed at thwarting Iran's nuclear ambitions could be a step closer, thanks to a U.S.-brokered deal that includes Russia and China, countries that have balked at tough economic penalties.

“We have reached agreement on a strong draft with the cooperation of both Russia and China,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday. “We plan to circulate that draft resolution to the entire [UN] Security Council today.”

Perfidious Son: Aaron David Miller Rejects the Peace Process

05/17/2010 | Ron Kampeas | JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Depending on your view of the Middle East and the Obama administration, Aaron David Miller is either a hero or a turncoat.

Major Donor Saban Unhappy With Obama

05/16/2010 | JTA

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- A major pro-Israel Democratic Party campaign donor says the Obama administration's Middle East policy unsettles him.

"The situation is catastrophic, if you want me to put it simply," Haim Saban, an entertainment magnate, told Israel's Channel 10 news on May 13. "Look, I don’t think Obama is anti-Israel, like people think he is. His goal is to achieve peace, just like our goal is to achieve peace. The way he intends to do it may not be the way some people in Israel would like it, and especially on the right."

Shavuot’s Gift: What to do After ‘Lost’

05/16/2010 | Ami Eden | JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) -- Early on in the Talmudic tractate of Taanit, Rabbi Yitzchak causes a bit of stir when, in the name of Rabbi Yochanan, he declares: "Jacob our father did not die."

Rav Nachman rejects the idea with a sharp retort, asking: "Was it then for nothing that they mourned Jacob and the embalmers embalmed him and the grave-diggers buried him?"