(This commentary first appeared on Politico.com) - Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, recently declared, "President Obama treats Israel ... as a problem, rather than as an ally." The Republican presidential candidate emphasized that Obama has an "anti-Israel...
When two-fifths of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate met last week in Washington with representatives of Jewish groups, the senators delivered a clear message: If you agree with us, it's about time you spoke up.The appeal, delivered at an annual meeting...
WASHINGTON — Michele Bachmann in a bathroom confronted by two lesbians and screaming for help, or Bachmann at the Western Wall surrounded by Jews and weeping with joy. Where your politics are likely will determine which incident involving Bachmann you'd...
Ten thousand pro-Israel activists jammed into the cavernous Washington, D.C. Convention Center last month - Jews and Christians, the observant and the secular, African Americans and Hispanics, Republicans, Democrats and Independents. That was the 2011...
Rabbi Richard Jacobs was unanimously elected to serve as president of the Union for Reform Judaism.Jacobs, the senior rabbi at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, N.Y., was elected Sunday by the URJ board of trustees. He will assume the presidency...
They said Bibi was different this time, that he had changed, grown, matured. They said he better understood the world stage, his place in history. The truth? We're not so sure. We don't in any way doubt Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's intentions,...
By Ron Kampeas, JTA, WASHINGTON
• Published May 25, 2011
That Israel problem President Obama had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? Old news. That Israel problem Obama has with Congress? And with his party? That's just beginning. In two successive speeches -- one to the American Israel Public Affairs...
By Ron Kampeas, JTA, WASHINGTON
• Published May 25, 2011
Let's get past this U.S.-Israel relationship thing, so we can get on with important stuff, like the U.S.-Israel relationship.That seemed to be the message this week at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.With a...
By Uriel Heilman, JTA WASHINGTON
• Published May 24, 2011
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that any peace deal with the Palestinians must grant Israel a military presence along the Jordan River, exclude repatriation of Palestinian refugees to Israel and leave Jerusalem as Israel's united capital. However,...
By Ron Kampeas, JTA, WASHINGTON
• Published May 18, 2011
Crush terrorists and then make peace.Through quirks of timing, it's a narrative that President Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally can agree on when they meet this week in Washington.There remains a critical difference, however, between...
