Israel News Today

After Hamas captivity, Bedouin hostage welcomes supporters from across Israel, recalls passing Aryeh Zalmanovich’s last days with him; 'We planned I’d visit him on the kibbutz when we were released' from ynet - News https://ift.tt/91wxENj

Thirty terrorists killed in IDF's ongoing operation in northern West Bank, with reports of heavy clashes in Jenin; army chief says offensive approach 'crucial'; goal: seize 2,000 weapons from ynet - News https://ift.tt/ZO1Adnl

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island — Touring the campus of Brown University with my kid this week, there was nary a sign of the  encampment  or  hunger strike  protesting Israel’s war in Gaza that had roiled the place last spring. No Palestinian flags, no graffiti about genocide. The only signs I saw on the main quad warned those gathered for orientation programs that photos were being taken to commemorate the proceedings. Oh, and a bunch of bulletin boards had fliers advertising Shabbat dinners. Granted, most undergraduates had not yet returned to campus, as Brown classes don’t start until Wednesday. And I am keenly aware that a handful of other schools including Cornell, the University of Michigan and MIT have already seen flashes of anti-Israel and antisemitic actions. Related How university presidents have failed us during this turbulent year on campus Still, as summer turns to fall and we approach the anniversary of the horrific Hamas terror attack of Oct. 7 and ...

Progressive Judaism has lost one of its true lions: Rabbi Michael Lerner, who died Wednesday at 81. May his memory be for a blessing. It’s hard to overstate the impact Michael had on progressive Judaism, as well as on American progressive politics and spirituality more broadly.  In a sense, Michael’s magazine and community, Tikkun , which was founded in 1986 and closed its doors earlier this year, was a response to a moment not unlike our own. Then as now, massive funding from a relatively small number of wealthy individuals had tilted the Jewish intellectual and institutional communities rightward. Epitomized by Commentary and by the rise of neo-conservatism (which could practically be described as Jewish conservatism, or conservatism without its antisemitic baggage), the zeitgeist of the Reagan years was the antithesis of the leftward-moving 60s and 70s.  Remarkably, Michael’s work quickly found success beyond the boundaries of the Jewish community. A single phrase o...

ס׳האָט צו מיר געקלונגען אַ מאַן פֿון אינדיענאַפּאָליס. בײַם אָנהייב איז געווען זייער אײַנגענעם צו רעדן מיט אים. ער פֿאַרנעמט זיך מיט פּירסום פֿאַר פֿירמעס און אויך גרונט־מיסחר. דורך זײַנע געשעפֿטן באַקענט ער זיך מיט אַ סך אינטערעסאַנטע מענטשן און ער האָט מיך פֿאַרווײַלט מיט זײַנע מעשׂיות. צוויי וואָכן לאַנג האָט ער מיך געקלונגען יעדן צווייטן טאָג אַרום זיבן אַ זייגער אין אָוונט. דערנאָך האָט ער געוואָלט וויסן ווען איך לייג זיך שלאָפֿן ווײַל ער וויל קלינגען יעדן אָוונט אַ האַלבע שעה פֿריִער, כּדי זײַן קול זאָל זײַן די לעצטע זאַך וואָס איך הער איידער איך שלאָף אײַן. דערנאָך האָט ער געוואָלט וויסן ווען איך וועק זיך אויף. ער האָט געוואָלט זײַן מײַן וועקזייגער. מיט אַ וואָך שפּעטער האָט ער מיך אָנגעהויבן קלינגען אין מיטן טאָג אויך, איך זאָל אים זאָגן וואָס איך פּלאַניר צו עסן אויף מיטאָג. ער איז געווען אַזוי פֿאַרטאָן אין מײַן לעבן, ווען האָט דער מאַן געהאַט צײַט צו אַרבעטן? כ׳האָב דערפֿילט ווי ער נאָגט דעם זויערשטאָף אַרויס פֿון צימער ווען ער קלינגט. האָב איך אָנגעהויבן אָפּדרייען דאָס ק...

IDF says terrorists are attempting to flee northward from Rafah toward the Mawasi area; also reveals that rescued hostage Farhan Kadi was held by terrorists in the tunnel for 12 to 24 hours before his rescue from ynet - News https://ift.tt/gOAc8a7

It’s rare for staff at the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles to work on Shabbat, much less make major financial decisions. But as news trickled out about a horrific terrorist attack unfolding in southern Israel on Oct. 7, senior leaders scrambled to declare an emergency that would allow them to bypass normal controls on spending and rush $8 million to the country. Local donors eventually sent $35 million. “Money flooded into the system,” said Rabbi Noah Farkas, the federation’s chief executive. Nearly 11 months later, about half of that money remains in the federation’s bank accounts. And LA is not an outlier: Jewish federations across North America raised more than $850 million after Oct. 7 with the promise that “100% of the funds” would go “directly to the emergency,” but 40% of it — $342 million — has not yet been spent.  The UJA-Federation of New York, which led the field with $203 million in donations, still has 45% of its haul, and Boston has not yet used $30 million of its...

( JTA ) — Just one month after Israel’s national soccer team returned to the Olympics for the first time in nearly 50 years, the country is facing a potential ban from international competition in the world’s most popular sport. FIFA, the global soccer governing body, is considering a request by the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) to temporarily bar the Israel Football Association (IFA) from future tournaments. The reason, as in Palestinian appeals to other international bodies, is the war in Gaza: Palestinian officials allege that Israel is committing violations of both international law and running afoul of FIFA’s human rights policies . The PFA submitted its official proposal in March, and a decision is expected by Saturday. FIFA has postponed the ruling multiple times, including days before the Olympics — a tournament in which the Palestinians also challenged Israel’s participation . FIFA sought independent legal review and solicited input from both the Israeli and Palest...

Columbia University, the trigger point for last spring’s wave of encampments protesting Israel’s war in Gaza at schools across the country, is restricting access to its Upper Manhattan campus this week to people with university identification and their authorized guests, and only opening five entry points. Meanwhile at the University of Michigan , the fall semester began Monday with the student government suspending funding for all campus clubs — a total of $1.3 million — until the administration agrees to divest from companies it sees as profiting from the war. After an intense academic year marked by pro-Palestinian protests, complaints about antisemitism on campus and heated debates over the lines between free speech and student safety, colleges and universities are returning this fall with a panoply of new policies. Some schools have banned encampments entirely, while others are restricting the time, duration, location and amplification of protests. Those who wear masks may be re...

Two-thirds of college students do not hold views toward Israel or Jews “likely to threaten their relationship with their Jewish peers,” a  new study  from Brandeis University found. But what about the remaining third? Researchers found that group split roughly equally between those who expressed hostility toward Israel (but not Jews) and those who thought poorly of Jews (but not Israel). It represents the  second recent study  to find that animosity toward Israel is not clearly linked to an embrace of antisemitic ideas — even while these hostile attitudes can alienate them from Jews on campus. The Brandeis team polled 4,123 undergraduates at 60 schools with a significant number of Jewish students. The academics asked a battery of questions, which you can see the in the chart below, and then using a  complex process  grouped respondents into one of four buckets: Those not hostile toward Israel or Jews (66% of the total); those hostile toward Israel but no...

IDF suspected other hostages held in sector where Farhan found; troops discovered him alone in 65-foot-deep tunnel and faced no resistance; Farhan later urged Netanyahu, 'there are still people waiting' from ynet - News https://ift.tt/wLyNfQs

Republican presidential candidate launches new social media campaign claiming US under Biden administration funded Iran, which helped Hamas carry out attack from ynet - News https://ift.tt/B2pgxv6

( JTA ) — In 1993 the film critic Shawn Levy was working on a biography of Jerry Lewis when, sitting down with the comedian on his yacht, Levy gingerly asked him about “The Day the Clown Cried.” Levy knew the film, Lewis’ unreleased Holocaust movie, was likely to be a touchy subject for the legendary funnyman. Even so, the response was apoplectic. “I’ve never been yelled at like that in my entire life,” Levy recalled to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency three decades later. He recited the string of insults the once astronomically popular Jewish performer threw at him for having the gall to inquire about the movie: “‘You need a personality transplant. You’ve got some nerve.’” Finally, in an epilogue that became so famous in comedy circles that Martin Short would later reenact it for dinner guests, Lewis ordered Levy off his yacht. The star also demanded the author’s tape recorder, then erased everything related to discussion of the film that he directed and starred in before sending it ...

Volunteers with metal detectors scour Ashkelon's Delilah Beach for the lost ring of the Itay Moreno after it fell off his wife's neckless; ring finally found  from ynet - News https://ift.tt/RZ8NKdM

Defense Minister IDF's preemptive strike in Lebanon, claiming it thwarted Hezbollah plans to attack strategic sites; 'Those who aim to harm Israeli citizens will not escape punishment,' he says from ynet - News https://ift.tt/Gpgvcm5

Citizens in South Lebanon scramble for cover, Beirut airport in chaos as flights canceled leaving passengers stranded; Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati tells cabinet the pathway to de-escalation lies in achieving a ceasefire in Gaza from ynet - News https://ift.tt/ANtLYk6

Military spokesperson says IDF detected Iran-backed group's preparation to fire missiles and rockets and is acting in self-defense; warns of threat to civilians  from ynet - News https://ift.tt/AwBxcLF

Israeli officials say the anticipated response is not necessarily linked to ongoing negotiations for a hostage deal, and it is likely coordinated with Tehran, which, for now, does not plan to launch simultaneous attacks from its own territory from ynet - News https://ift.tt/wT8MBXP

Danil Pechenyuk, 26, from Bat Yam, and Nitai Metodi, 23, from Ashkelon were killed in a severe explosive incident on Friday that also claimed the life of Evyatar Atuar; Yaniv Itzhak Oren was killed in a separate clash with terrorists from ynet - News https://ift.tt/hRfNGy8

Israeli security official says that in the village of Rujeib some 80 settlers entered Palestinian land, set fire to trees and property, threw stones, and engaged in violent confrontations with locals from ynet - News https://ift.tt/EgNwe3A

Since October 7, Israel has seen surge in addiction to alcohol, drugs and gambling; new study reveals even before war, percentage of at-risk gamblers above global average; experts warn: next wave of addicts is coming from ynet - News https://ift.tt/o89Y6Gz

After years of turmoil at the Zionist Organization of America, two board members are asking a judge to remove Mort Klein from his longtime perch atop the group, alleging financial misconduct and poor leadership. The board members, Brian Grodman and Paul Tartell, claim in a lawsuit filed last week that Klein has “effectively clipped the wings of the ZOA for his own self-interest,” arguing that the group has been absent from the Jewish communal responses to the Hamas terror attack on Oct. 7.  Marc Kasowitz, who previously served as Donald Trump’s personal attorney, is defending Klein and accused the dissident board members of waging “a selfish and ego-driven jihad” in letters filed with the court. Another attorney for ZOA, Fria Kermani, said in an email that Tartell was motivated by a personal vendetta against Klein after not being named board chair last year. Kermani promised a countersuit, a threat that the board members’ lawyer, Steven Goldberg, described as “the shriek of a ...