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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

Adam Boehler, right, speaks during "Mornings With Maria" at Fox Business Network Studios, Oct. 23, 2024 in New York City. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

US is holding unprecedented direct talks with Hamas over ending Gaza war

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished March 5, 2025

The White House has confirmed that U.S. officials are holding talks with Hamas representatives in an effort to negotiate an end to the Gaza war. Adam Boehler, the Trump administration’s hostage envoy, who is Jewish, met with Hamas officials in Doha,...

First responders and emergency vehicles at the scene of a car-ramming attack in Israel on Feb. 27, 2025. (Courtesy of Magen David Adom)

17-year-old Israeli injured in car-ramming dies of her wounds

Ben Sales, JTAPublished March 5, 2025

A 17-year-old Israeli girl who was critically injured in a terror attack last week has died of her wounds. Yahli Gur was one of more than a dozen people wounded when an attacker rammed his vehicle into a bus stop roughly midway between Tel Aviv and...

Jewish newspaper editor fired after running cartoon about Gaza

Jewish newspaper editor fired after running cartoon about Gaza

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished March 3, 2025

A Florida editor says he was fired by his local paper, part of a national network, after he ran a cartoon that was critical of the death toll in the war in Gaza. Tony Doris says he was fired as editorial page editor at the Palm Beach Post in February...

About 100 women, including activist Lizzy Savetsky holding a #MeToo sign, protested outside the New York City headquarters of U.N. Women for its weak responses to the violent Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on scores of women, Nov. 27, 2023. Photo by Roi Boshi.

Pro-Israel influencer Lizzy Savetsky opens up on sharing Kahane video

Amelie Botbol, JNSPublished February 26, 2025

Lizzy Savetsky, a top influencer and pro-Israel activist, sparked controversy this week after posting to social media a clip of Meir Kahane conveying the message that Arabs in the Middle East only understand force and fear. Back in the 1980s, Kahane,...

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff (right) speaks at an American Jewish Committee event in Washington on Feb. 25, 2025. Credit: AJC/Aryeh Photo

Removing Hamas from power ‘red line’ for Trump, Middle East envoy says

Andrew Bernard, (JNS)Published February 26, 2025

Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, said on Tuesday that removing Hamas from power in Gaza was a “red line” for the Trump administration as Israel and Hamas prepare for the next round of ceasefire negotiations. Speaking at the...

President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lounge by a pool in Gaza in a new A.I. video shared by the president. (Screenshot)

President Trump posts AI video showing ‘Trump Gaza’ as a beachside paradise

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished February 26, 2025

Is Donald Trump backing away from his vision to transform Gaza into a beachside resort? Not according to a video the president posted late Tuesday to his Truth Social account that imagines the Palestinian enclave as “Trump Gaza.” The AI-generated...

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, Feb. 23, 2021. (Amos Ben-Gershom/Israel Government Press Office)

Just 33% of Democrats have a favorable view of Israel, Gallup poll finds

Ben Sales, JTAPublished February 26, 2025

Just a third of Democrats have a favorable view of Israel, a steep decline from just a few years ago, according to a Gallup poll. That’s in contrast to 83% of Republicans who view Israel favorably — a partisan gap of 50 points. Responding to the...

Barnard College in New York City as seen on Aug. 29, 2024. (Philissa Cramer)

Two students who disrupted Israel history class with pro-Palestinian protest, expelled

Philissa Cramer, JTAPublished February 24, 2025

Barnard College has expelled two students, both seniors who disrupted an Israeli history course last month by banging on drums, shouting “Free Palestine” and distributing fliers showing a boot stomping on a Star of David. The incident drew widespread...

Hundreds gather in St. Louis to honor Israeli hostages—A night of light and hope

Hundreds gather in St. Louis to honor Israeli hostages—A night of light and hope

Bill Motchan, Special To The Jewish LightPublished February 23, 2025

After a long, difficult week for the St. Louis Jewish community, Stephanie Gross and Dafna Revah felt the need to honor and remember the Israeli hostage survivors, those still held in captivity and the tragic loss of Shiri, Kfir and Ariel Bibas. Late...

Secretary Marco Rubio attends a meeting with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud, National Security Advisor Mosaad bin Mohammad al-Aiban, the Russian president's foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov, and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, February 18, 2025. (Official State Department photo by Freddie Everett)

Rubio: Palestinian terrorists must free all hostages or be destroyed

JNS StaffPublished February 23, 2025

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanded on Saturday that Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip immediately free all remaining hostages, or else be eradicated. “Hamas’s treatment of hostages, including its brutal murder...

A poster of Tenafly’s Edan Alexander hanging at Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport is covered in messages of support. It's been 11 months since Alexander was taken hostage in the Hamas terror attack of Oct. 7, 2023.

Trump administration pushes for release of last living American hostage in Gaza

By Jacob Kornbluh, The ForwardPublished February 23, 2025

The Trump administration is intensifying efforts to secure the release of Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old Israeli-American and the last known living U.S. citizen held by Hamas in Gaza, according to White House Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. “He is front...

Pictures of Shiri Bibas and her children Kfir and Ariel who are held hostage in Hamas captivity hang outside the protest tent calling for the release of Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip, outside the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem, Feb. 19, 2025.

Hamas promises investigation after ‘error or overlap in bodies’

Ben Sales, JTAPublished February 21, 2025

Hamas has handed a body to the Red Cross that, the terror group says, belongs to Shiri Bibas, Israeli media reported on Friday. The transfer of the body comes less than 24 hours after the Israeli military announced after a forensic examination that...

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