Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Saturday revved up his attacks on President Obama's Mid East policy, suggesting the president fears that Israel might attack Iran more than he fears that Iran will develop a nuclear weapon. “I think, by and large, you can just look at the things the president has done and do the opposite,” Romney said.
According to a survey of 5,993 individuals conducted by the UJA Federation, the Jewish community in New York City is growing, mainly fueled by an increase in the Orthodox and Chasidic community. The downside is, according to their critics, Welfare is a crucial ingredient in these communities.
By Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON – President Obama is spreading the word, one Jewish constituency at a time: He has Israel’s back. Obama defended his record on Israel and on religious freedoms last week during a White House meeting with Orthodox leaders convened by the Orthodox Union.
By Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON – Mitt Romney’s Lacrosse moment awaits him. The Democratic convention in Los Angeles was where Joe Lieberman made history as the first Jewish candidate on a major ticket on Aug. 17, 2000. But two days later, history came to life in Lacrosse, Wis., the little college town where Lieberman walked – and pointedly did not drive – to the local synagogue on his first post-nomination Shabbat.
By JTA
"We have confronted the Russians about stopping their continued arms shipments to Syria," Clinton said Tuesday. "We are concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria."
By JTA
A bipartisan letter is circulating in the U.S. House of Representatives soliciting signatures on a letter to President Obama asking him to commute Pollard's sentence to time served. The "Dear Colleague" letter is signed by veteran House members Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.).
A study by the UJA-Federation of New York found that the population of the New York Jewish community - comprising the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester - has grown nearly 10% since the last study in 2002. New York City's Jewish population stands at 1,086,000, with 40% identifying themselves as Orthodox, a 7% increase from 2002.
A week of setbacks for President Obama has the GOP excited about Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney's chances to emerge victorious in November. Rasmussen's most recent poll has Romney leading Obama by one percentage point, which represents a five point swing from May 20, when Obama led Romney, 47%-43%.
Aides to President Barack Obama have been holding “hundreds” of meetings behind closed-doors with representatives of the Council on American–Islamic Relations (CAIR), America's largest Muslim advocacy organization, with close ties to Hamas and its parent organization, the Muslim Brotherhood.
Jacob Ostreicher remains locked up at Palmasola Prison in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. That notorious facility was designed to hold 1,000 prisoners, but is currently home to 3,500. Unlike U.S. facilities, this prison is essentially run by the prisoners. Guards provide food and make sure prisoners do not escape, but do nothing to maintain order within the prison’s walls.
By Jewish Press Staff Reporter
Zlata Blavatnik, 65, was part of a ring of 31 individuals, including Claims Conference former employees, who, over 10 years, allegedly stole $57 million in German reparation funds intended for Nazi Holocaust victims. Blavatnik is cooperating with the FBI investigation.
WASHINGTON – Jewish Republicans nationwide are hoping a heated congressional race rematch in the New York suburbs puts a second Jewish Republican in the House of Representatives.
The OU reps pressed Obama hard on his handling of US-Israel relations and on mandating contraceptive coverage. Obama accused Netanyahu of trying to "act without restraints."
US undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence David Cohen, visiting Israel to coordinate sanctions policy with senior Israeli security, discussed plans to impose additional sanctions on Iran in the summer. In an interview with Haaretz, Cohen said: “If we don't get a breakthrough in Moscow there is no question we will continue to ratchet up the pressure."
By JTA
U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg were among the dignitaries who marched in Sunday's annual Celebrate Israel Parade in the Big Apple.
Vice President Joe Biden's 30-year-old daughter Ashley on Saturday married Dr. Howard David Krein of Pennsylvania at a ceremony in Delaware, according to a late Saturday news release from the vice president's office.
JERUSALEM – In a meeting with a visiting U.S. delegation fresh off nuclear talks in Baghdad, Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak and National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror expressed their government’s growing concerns over America’s diplomatic negotiations with Iran.
The Commerce Department's Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) published a notice regarding a petition it received on January 11, 2012 from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), requesting formal designation of Arab-Americans as a minority group that is socially or economically disadvantaged.
By Anav Silverman, Tazpit News Agency
Utilizing social networking as its base, Jobsminer.com is the only job search engine that aggregates jobs in real time from social networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and more.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Josh Mandel is returning $105,000 in campaign contributions, as the FBI is investigating possible campaign finance violations. The donations raised suspicions because they were made by individuals who never before had made campaign donations, and whose income didn't appear high enough to enable them to be this generous.
By Shalom Bear
US Glatt kosher deli manufacturer Abeles and Heyman merged with Israeli company Yehiam to help both expand their reach in the US market.
By dvora
The sellout crowd that filled Citi Field on Sunday night wore black and white, not the New York Mets’ blue and orange. And instead of jeering the Philadelphia Phillies or Atlanta Braves, they faced a foe that was, intheir view, far more formidable: the World Wide Web.
By Assaf Yair and Aryeh Savir, Tazpit News Agency
Training held on Jerusalem College of Engineering campus. ZAKA volunteers: "The objective is to create a unified work technique"
Frequent travelers to the US from Israel – and vice versa - will soon have a smoother time making the landing, thanks to Israel’s entry into the US Global Entry Program.
More than 50,000 ultra-Orthodox Jewish men packed Citi Field in Flushing, Queens, on Sunday, for the Asifa, a gathering decrying the dangers of the Internet. Organizers have also rented the nearby Arthur Ashe Stadium for the overflow crowd. Event spokesman Eytan Kobre said the group wants to teach families how to use technology responsibly.
By Z Street
Got that? The goal of J Street is not to represent American Jews on the left, but is instead "to move American Jews" to the left and to the Administration's/friends on the Hill's point of view, and to "provide them with cover."
It’s official – over half of babies are being born to racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, according to a report in the Associated Press.
Washington prefers the diplomatic option and stated as much time and again – but it seems that beneath the surface, an attack is ready to roll on command. An unusual moment of candor on the part of U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro at a closed meeting in Tel Aviv, reveals the planning behind the scenes. "The military option is not only possible, it's ready," he says.
By JTA
Supporters say he’s an innocent man caught up in the tentacles of a corrupt Latin American regime. Authorities in Bolivia allege he’s a shady businessman with ties to drug dealers and money launderers.
The family of Daniel Wultz, 16, a Florida resident who was killed in a Palestinian suicide bomb attack in Tel Aviv won a $323 million judgment in a U.S. court against Iran and Syria. Attorney Darshan-Leitner said the Syrian government's aircraft, ships and corporations can be impounded to force Syria to comply with the court's ruling.
New York rapper Yitz “Y-Love” Jordan, famed black convert to Orthodox Judaism and celebrated artist, has announced that he is homosexual in an interview with Out magazine.
By JTA
The United States-Israel Enhanced Security Cooperation Act of 2012 passed by a vote of 411-2. In addition to expanding military cooperation between the two countries, the legislation states that it will be U.S. policy to provide Israel with essential military capabilities to preserve its qualitative military edge in the region.
Maurice Sendak, winner of numerous literary awards for children’s book writing and illustration, and author of classic children’s book Where the Wild Things Are, passed away Tuesday at the age of 83. Born in Brooklyn to Holocaust survivors Sadie and Philip Sendak, Maurice gained acclaim at the age of 35 for authoring and illustrating Where […]
A Toronto Islamic school has apologized to the Jewish community after an investigation confirmed that it encourages students to hate Jews and prepare to combat them. Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies in Toronto had submitted a complaint that the curriculum for the East End Madrassah, a Muslim Sunday school conducted on […]
North Carolina approved a constitutional amendment on Tuesday defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman, eliminating the possibility of same-sex marriages in the state. Unofficial returns showed voters passing the amendment with 61 percent of the vote, making North Carolina the 30th state to adopt a ban on gay marriage. Campaigning […]
Speaking at the annual convention of the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly in Atlanta on Tuesday, Vice President Joe Biden made the case that Obama's strategies regarding the Iranian nuclear program have worked, but said the decision to strike must be Israel's. "I would not contract out my security to anybody, even a loyal, loyal, loyal friend like the United States," Biden said.
Coupled with the new political reality engendered by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's new and broad unity government, Congress' supplementary funding appears to advance Israel's preparation for the military option against Iran, as well as the potential international and military fallout.
By Rafi Harkham
Danny Goldstein, founder and chairman of 'Calcala' ('Finance'): “We are focused on making Israel a better place to live and a better place to invest by merging the best of Israel and America - representing Israelis, but with an eye on the American perspective.”
Warren Weinstein, an American humanitarian aid worker kidnapped by al-Qaeda begged US President Barack Obama to free all al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners in US detention camps, and end airstrikes against forces in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia in exchange for his freedom. Weinstein, 71 of Rockville, Maryland, was kidnapped August 13, 2011, while in Lahore, […]
Members of the UJA-Federation of New York set a Guinness World Record on April 29 for assembling the greatest number of sandwiches for the needy in one hour. The mitzvah-slathered soiree took place at Temple Beth Sholom in Roslyn Heights and involved 100 volunteers from the local Jewish community, 3,320 slices of bread, and gobs […]
By Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON – President Obama enjoys the support of three-fifths of American Jews, according to the latest American Jewish Committee survey, a significant improvement over where he stood half a year ago in the organization’s polling.WASHINGTON – President Obama enjoys the support of three-fifths of American Jews, according to the latest American Jewish Committee survey, a significant improvement over where he stood half a year ago in the organization’s polling.
Jewish support for President Obama has improved significantly in the last year and a half, according to a new survey by the American Jewish Committee .
Bosnian immigrant Adis Meunjanin was found guilty on Tuesday of plotting to bomb New York’s subway system as an Al-Qaeda terrorist.
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared May “Jewish American Heritage Month”. In a ceremony kicking off the month, the president praised Jewish Americans for bearing “hardship and hostility” with the “deep conviction that a better future was within their reach”.
A new AJC survey of American Jews shows President Obama would win a majority of the Jewish vote in a contest against Gov. Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican nominee. Obama would gain 61 percent and Romney 28 percent, with 11 percent undecided.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has announced that Israel had severed all working relations with the UN Human Rights Council as of Monday this week, and will block a U.N. fact finding team from entering Israel or Judea and Samaria to investigate Jewish settlements. Spokesman Yigal Palmor said this "means that we're not going to work with them. We're not going to let them carry out any kind of mission, including this probe."
Tens of thousands of Ultra-Orthodox Jews will participate in a huge rally to be held on Sunday evening, May 20, at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York, to combat the evils of the Internet and the damages caused by advanced electronic devices. One of the event organizers said: "This will be a mass rally never before seen in the history of Orthodox Jewry in the U.S." The rabbis behind the event say the Internet creates "many serious family-related problems."
The US Congress is expected to pass legislation giving $680 million to Israel to pay for more Iron Dome anti-missile systems.
A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that a man who alleges he endured anti-Semitic slurs from his former supervisors can sue them – even though he is not Jewish.
The trial of the brothers Eliyahu and Avraham Werdesheim, who are accused of beating a black 15-year-old on November 19, 2010 as they were patrolling an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Baltimore, is scheduled to start today, Tuesday. In a case disturbingly reminiscent of the Trayvon Martin shooting in Florida, the brothers are charged with assault, false imprisonment and carrying a deadly weapon, and could face 13 years in prison.
The Washington Post quoted a Republican congressional aide as saying that the House Armed Services Committee will propose the increase when it convenes next week to formulate the 2013 fiscal year's defense budget. There are currently four operational and actively deployed Iron Dome batteries in Israel, but "at least ten" are needed to defend the whole country.
Four hundred South Floridians have joined together on a “Mega Mission” to Israel, organized by the Miami Jewish Federation.
Iran has started manufacturing models of its captured US spy plane, the commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps announced on Saturday, Meher reported.
A Colorado Springs synagogue was vandalized with swastikas on the walls, signs, and door on Friday, on the birthday of Adolf Hitler.
Aaron Klein’s popular radio program made the radio industry’s highly coveted Talkers Magazine “Heavy Hundred,” one of only two all-weekend shows in America to make the list.
The SEC alleges that for the past two years, Shervin Neman raised more than $7.5 million from investors by claiming to be a hedge fund manager. Although Neman promised investors exorbitant returns resulting from his investing acumen and access to pre-IPO shares of well-known companies, what they actually received was simply other investors’ money in hallmark Ponzi scheme fashion.
By Tibbi Singer
Shaul Spitzer, 18, who used to be the Skverer Rebbe's Butler, is facing 5-10 years for first-degree assault in his attack on Aron Rottenberg in May, 2011, in New Square, NY. Rottenberg was attacked because he chose not to pray at New Square's main synagogue, under the leadership of the Skverer Rebbe.
By Tibbi Singer
In an explosive letter, Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas ("Basic Instinct," "Jagged Edge") writes Mel Gibson, Joe is accusing Mel of “hating Jews” and of using him to deflect his anti-Semitic reputation. Eszterhas wrote that Gibson, the director of a sadomasochistic flick about how the Jews killed you-know-who, never actually intended to make the movie about Jewish heroism, titled “The Maccabees.”
By Tibbi Singer
Judge Margaret Marrinan dismissed a lawsuit looking to force the state of Minnesota to sell the $18 million in Israeli bonds which is held in its portfolio. The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota published this understatement: "Divesting from the State of Israel, the only true democracy in the Middle East, one of our nation’s strongest allies, and an important trading partner for the State of Minnesota, is wrong."
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin says elections for Israel's next government will be held this coming September. There's one major reason why Rivlin is interested in going to the voter soon: he hopes that the in the next Knesset he'll get the votes to pass his new bill, seeking to level the playing field between the High Court and the Knesset. He also believes Peres will bring Pollard home.
By Tibbi Singer
It started when Michael Carreon, a resident of Los Angeles’ 14th council district, objected to the rules of decorum at a City Council meeting on Tuesday. "I'm upset, so I guess I'll just salute you," he said, raised one hand in the air in a Nazi salute, and shouted: "Heil Hitler."
By Tibbi Singer
This reality show we'll watch. Producer Noah Scheinmann has been pitching to the networks (with some early interest) a new reality TV show with the working title "The Unchosen Ones." He says it's less about religion and more about the culture shock that the main characters—two men and two women—face after leaving the insular Ultra Orthodox Jewish community.
The White House on Monday rejected an emotional appeal by Israel's President Shimon Peres to commute convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard's life sentence. Peres based his appeal on Pollard's fast deteriorating health, after Peres' recent conversation with Pollard's wife Esther. Peres' appeal came after he had received a petition signed by 80 MKs, urging Obama to release Pollard.
By Tibbi Singer
Democratic candidates vying for Connecticut’s US Senate, which is being vacated by Joseph I. Lieberman, are not sure their colleague Lee Whitnum should be allowed to participate in future live televised debates, after calling US Rep. Chris Murphy a “whore” for his support of Israel, during an NBC debate. Whitnum is suing the US over its support for Israel, saying it should send $600 million of it to Connecticut.
By Tibbi Singer
As of now, 62 percent of Jewish voters favor Obama's return—down from 78 percent in 2008—but this number is still more than twice the number who said they would prefer a Republican candidate, according to the survey released Tuesday at a National Press Club briefing. Only 37 percent said Comic Sarah Silverman represented Jewish values well or very well. Eric Cantor only got 38 percent.
When asked how he felt about the warm reception, the governor responded “it’s a little disorienting. I just got here 9 am this morning and did not expect to meet Americans from Tennessee, Minnesota, California, and New Jersey.” Chants of “2016” could be heard among the crowd, referring to the governor’s potential bid for the next presidential election in four years time.
This Passover season, more than 100,000 Jewish families in NYC will find themselves struggling to put food on the table, according to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. Many households have lived through job loss, dwindling savings and maxed-out credit cards. Met Council and the Food Bank For New York City, two of New York […]
Gov. Christie, who is visiting with his family and a delegation of leaders from the business and religious sectors, told the Prime Minister that “this is my first visit abroad as Governor and there was never any question of where we would come first, so I’m glad we did.”
By dvora
The U.S. Supreme Court returned to the lower courts the issue of whether Americans born in Jerusalem may list “Israel” on their passports – a ruling that drew praise from Jewish groups. The decision delivered Monday was a success for the family of Jerusalem-born boy Menachem Zivotofsky. His family for years has sought to force the State Department to agree to state on his passport that he was born in Israel, citing a law passed by Congress in 2002.
President Obama was unaware that he was within microphone range at the Seoul Nuclear Summit when he made the comments to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
By The United Nations Relief and Works Agency
The Commissioner-General of UNRWA expressed his gratitude for the crucial support extended by the United States: "The United States remains UNRWA's largest bilateral donor and this latest contribution again demonstrates America's strong support to the Agency and its activities, of which improving the lives of Palestinian refugee youth, and the opportunities open to them, is such an important part."
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday on the case of Zivotofsky v. Clinton, a suit in which Naomi and Ari Zivotofsky are challenging the way the State Department may list the birthplace of their son, nine-year-old Menachem. The State Department decided that little Menachem's US passport should show Jerusalem as his birth place, without an accompanying country.
The Iron Dome Support Act (IDSA) authorizes and encourages President Obama to provide funds for the "procurement, maintenance and sustainment" of more of the anti-missile defense systems, should the Israeli government request it. The legislation was actually inspired by an op-ed by Israeli Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, in which he wrote that "at least ten Iron Dome systems will be necessary in order to defend the whole country."
By Tibbi Singer
As federal and local authorities investigate the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, and whether or not Florida's “stand your ground” law applied to the shooter, George Zimmerman (not Jewish), Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan has been calling for "justice" in typically disturbing ways.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton phoned President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, ahead of a meeting of the international Quartet scheduled for next month. Clinton's call to Abbas was to follow up on discussions between Abbas and Obama a day earlier.
A major backlash against a UJA-Federation and Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) decision to permit groups encouraging Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel to march in the upcoming Celebrate Israel Parade in New York City has led to a campaign to oust the groups from the event. “A coalition of community Jewish organizations urgently […]
On his WABC Radio show, Aaron Klein offered $50,000 to an organizer of the upcoming Global March to Jerusalem if the activist could name one city in the Middle East outside of Israel that has more freedom than Jerusalem.
From a raucous display of affection for the Israeli prime minister to an inspiring encounter with beleaguered Israeli citizens who live near the Gaza Strip, influential evangelical leaders visiting from the U.S. this week gave the people of Israel a much needed injection of moral support.
By Tibbi Singer
Susan Crown, a philanthropist and member of the billionaire Crown family, says she has switched sides this election year, after supporting candidate Barack Obama in 2008. She will be bundling donations for candidate Mitt Romney this year.
Ackerman was most recently involved in the successful efforts to free Israeli-American citizen Ilan Grapel from prison in Egypt on spy charges. Grapel is a constituent of Ackerman's.
By Rafi Harkham
Noted Israeli author and Israel Prize Laureate A.B. Yehoshua said that living outside Israel "is a very deep failure of the Jewish people," and lamented that immigration numbers from the United States are "minimal" and "embarrassing." He was equally acerbic regarding the large Israeli ex-patriot community.
The Republican Jewish Coalition: "Over the last dozen years of Gallup polling on this question, there has been a clear trend: Republican support for Israel has risen steadily, moving from 60% to a high of 85%, while Democrat support has been relatively flat, at around 50%."
By Tibbi Singer
The New Hampshire House of Representative Wednesday defeated by a 246-85 vote a bill that would have allowed photographers, caterers and others to turn away wedding gigs if they had a religious objection to the marriage. "As New Hampshire goes, so goes the nation," and political trends have a way of trickling down to the more populated states.
Thus far, Romney has received the votes of 494 Republican delegates to Santorum's 251, while Gingrich trails far behind with 131. A candidate needs 1,144 delegates to win the Republican nomination.
In response to the question of whether they would back US military action if it meant an increase in gasoline prices, a majority -53%- still expressed support for military action, while 42% said they would not.
Democrat Lew Fidler and Republican David Storobin recently took part in the one and only debate between them.
By Tibbi Singer
Meet Josh Mandel, who won the Ohio GOP primary and will take on Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, in the fall. A new-age GOP, his fiscal policy comes down to this: he says the country needs to undertake "sweeping regulatory reform." Mandel is a strong supporter of Israel—He and his wife Ilana were married in Jerusalem in 2008. In February 2009, during Operation Cast Lead, the Israeli government thanked Mandel for his staunch support.
By Jacob Kamaras and Maxine Dovere
After the recent attacks on Israeli embassies in India and Georgia, Jewish institutions in the U.S. are asking a question that is much closer to home: Does Iran pose a local terror threat?
David Silverman, president of American Atheists, responds angrily: “The Jews have stopped the billboard. It’s really ugly bigotry. As a former Jew, it’s repugnant to see Jews act like this.”
By Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may not have bridged their differences on how to deal with Iran, but each managed to give the other a measure of reassurance.
By JTA
Super Tuesday Republican primaries were a race between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, Republicans selected a Jewish veteran for Ohio's Senate run, and Dennis Kucinich lost his bid for reelection. Ten states went to the polls Tuesday in what is the biggest election day of primary season.
Last week, two shameful events occurred on University of California campuses that made Jewish students feel targeted, intimidated, harassed, and unsafe. We charge the UC administration with failing in their basic responsibilities - to protect Jewish students from a hostile environment and to ensure their rights to freedom of speech.
Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy announced in response to an AP Exposé that his department will never conduct blanket surveillance of Muslims the way the New York Police Department had done in Newark, N.J., when he was the chief of police there. Mayor Bloomberg's response to the same AP story was: "We cannot slack in our vigilance. The threat was real. The threat is real. The threat is not going away."
Two Philadelphia universities - the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University - have reported being victims of anti-Semitic hate crimes in the wake of the hate-fest known as Israel Apartheid Week that recently took place across North America
At a speech before the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, coinciding with the Super Tuesday primaries, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum accused President Barack Obama of appeasement of Iran and urged an ultimatum demanding that it put a stop to its nuclear production immediately, or the US will "tear down" its plants. Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich took a break from their race for votes in the high-stakes primaries to speak to the pro-Israel lobby.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor: Romney "by far the right man for this historic election and the only one in the race who has put forward these kind of solutions and I believe he can beat Barack Obama."
Berlin-based researcher Benjamin Weinthal argues that Israel is militarily capable today of launching a successful attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. It would require successive strikes, using GBU-28 bunker busters to knock out Iran's entire nuclear program. Those devastating bombs were delivered to Israel by President Obama, who made good on a promise made by President Bush.
A transcript of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before the AIPAC Policy Conference Monday.