Skip to Main Content
A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

War In Israel

Trump on Israel: ‘They’re not winning the world of public relations’

By Grace GilsonPublished September 3, 2025

(JTA) — President Donald Trump said Israel support in Congress has weakened during the Gaza war, telling The Daily Caller that the once-powerful pro-Israel lobby no longer holds the same influence on Capitol Hill. | RELATED: Lawyer who...

A vigil organized by the Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Maryland campus took place under court order on Oct. 7, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Judge lifts Pitt ban, reinstates SJP chapter amid campus protests

Grace Gilson, JTAPublished September 3, 2025

(JTA) — The Pitt SJP chapter was reinstated by a federal judge, who ordered the University of Pittsburgh to lift its suspension, saying the school unfairly restricted the pro-Palestinian group’s ability to recruit students as the new school year...

A room in the permanent exhibit of the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan, discussing the origins of the term "genocide," August 18, 2025. The center's permanent exhibit space was overhauled in 2024. (Andrew Lapin/JTA)

Genocide scholars blast Israel over Gaza war vote

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished September 2, 2025

(JTA) — A major association of genocide scholars has passed a resolution saying that Israel’s two-year military campaign in Gaza constitutes genocide. Israel’s Foreign Ministry immediately rejected the determination, accusing the scholars...

Sylvan Adams (right) hosts an event for Make-A-Wish Israel at his Tel Aviv home with organization co-founders Denise and Avi Bar-Aharon. Credit: @lans production, Aug. 27, 2025.

Israel ‘failing miserably’ in media war, warns Sylvan Adams

Etgar Lefkovits (JNS)Published August 29, 2025

Israel is “failing miserably” in the communications war against Hamas, and needs to take this deteriorating situation, fueled by a trillion-dollar campaign by Qatar, much more seriously, the president of the World Jewish Congress’s Israel Region...

Former U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan answers questions during the daily press briefing at the White House, May 13, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Ex-Biden aides unload on Netanyahu: ‘He sabotaged ceasefire’

Grace Gilson, JTAPublished August 28, 2025

(JTA) — Top administration officials under former President Joe Biden are speaking out against Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza and criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that he sabotaged ceasefire negotiations last...

Rabbi Yosef Blau, former spiritual adviser at Yeshiva University, addresses members of Smol Emuni, an organization of liberal observant Jews, in a video shown at their conference in March, 2025. (Courtesy Smol Muni)

An Orthodox rabbi breaks the silence on Gaza. Responds to critics

Andrew Silow-Carroll, JTAPublished August 28, 2025

(JTA) — For 48 years, until he moved to Israel earlier this year, Rabbi Yosef Blau was the “mashgiach ruchani” at Yeshiva University, a revered figure who served as a sort of spiritual guidance counselor to students at Modern Orthodoxy’s flagship...

Yarden Gonen, whose sister Romi Gonen remains captive in Gaza, speaks at a rally in Central Park, New York, Dec. 15, 2024.  (Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters)

Families worry after new claims about hostages in Gaza

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished August 25, 2025

(JTA) — President Donald Trump suggested on Sunday that some Israeli hostages have died inside Gaza since the last ceasefire, alarming families of the 20 hostages thought to remain alive. Trump made the comment while speaking to reporters at the...

Community leaders from Israel's Gaza envelope area meet with the the CEO of UJA-Federation of New York, Eric Goldstein, third from left, and Itzik Shmuli, the director general of UJA’s Israel office, second from left. (Yarden Cohen)

How American Jews are helping Israel’s communities near Gaza rebuild and return to life

By Larry LuxnerPublished August 21, 2025

KIBBUTZ EREZ, Israel — Under the shade of a large tree on Kibbutz Erez less than a mile from the Gaza Strip, half a dozen Israeli children play history trivia games with a counselor. When loud booms from Gaza echo across the sky, some of the kids...

The grave of slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg Polin at Har HaMenuchot cemetery in Jerusalem, July 28, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

On yahrzeit of 6 slain hostages, Hamas said to accept ceasefire deal

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished August 19, 2025

(JTA) — Jews around the world are marking a grim date on Tuesday: the first anniversary on the Jewish calendar of when six hostages were murdered by Hamas in captivity, shortly after the collapse of negotiations that would have freed at least some...

Political activist Laura Loomer stands across from the Women's March 2019 in New York City on January 19, 2019. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

Trump ally Laura Loomer pressures State Department to suspend Gaza medical visas

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished August 18, 2025

(JTA) — The Department of State has halted a program meant to allow Gazan children who require medical care to receive it in the United States. Laura Loomer, a Jewish provocateur who holds considerable sway in the Trump administration despite...

Demonstrators block Israel's main highway connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, after families of hostages have called for a nationwide strike to demand the return of all hostages and an end to the war in Gaza, in Latrun Israel August 17,2025 REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Netanyahu says protests harden Hamas, distance hostage release

JNS StaffPublished August 18, 2025

(JNS) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized nationwide anti-government demonstrations on Sunday, saying at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting that the results are the opposite of what they claim to want. “Those who today...

People gather at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv during a rally calling for the release of hostages held in Gaza, Aug. 17, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis join largest recent rallies on behalf of Gaza hostages

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished August 18, 2025

(JTA) — Hundreds of thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv on Sunday at the end of a day of demonstrations around the country to call for the release of 50 hostages held in Gaza. Demonstrations took place in at least 200 locations, and some...

Load More Stories