Articles written by Andrew Tobin
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 60
By 
What Israel and the Palestinians make of Trump's recognition of Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Amid the global controversy over President Donald Trump’s recognition last week of Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state, Israeli and Palestinian leaders actually found rare consensus: They agreed that the development was a w...
At a Jerusalem market, shrugs greet an announcement from President Trump
JERUSALEM (JTA)—President Donald Trump’s official recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital may have sent shock waves across the Middle East. But here, in the epicenter of a city where fewer than a million people work, eat, pray and shop, the f...
Sufganiyot get all the hype-but this humble Moroccan doughnut is Israel's Chanukah staple
TEL AVIV (JTA)-The sufganiyah is the plump, shining star of Chanukah in Israel. During the holiday season, the famed jelly doughnut poses in the windows of cafés and bakeries across the country. It...
Israel's judo warriors take the 'gentle way' in pursuit of athletic glory
TEL AVIV (JTA)-Israel's national judo team put on a tutorial in sportsmanship last week in Abu Dhabi. Despite being snubbed by opponents and officials alike, the athletes won five medals and treated...
The latest craze in Israel: pole dancing
TEL AVIV (JTA)-As Hebrew pop music blares, a half-dozen young Israelis swing around stripper poles. Clad in skimpy spandex outfits, the men and women dance, twirl and flip above the hardwood floor....
In a big anniversary year for Israel, Christian Zionists are seeing signs of the Messiah
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Fifty years since the Six-Day War, 100 years since the Balfour Declaration, 150 years since Mark Twain first visited Palestine. This has been a year of big Israel-related...
Poor Israeli soldiers earn cash by taking on rich colleagues' guard duty
JERUSALEM (JTA)-The Israel Defense Forces takes pride in its status as a "people's army." More than just a military, the IDF embraces its reputation as an equalizing force in Israeli society. Every...
What Palestinian reconciliation means for Israel
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken a wait-and-see approach to last week's Palestinian reconciliation deal. Netanyahu spoke out publicly and loudly against the move tow...
Israeli women have been saying 'Me Too' for years
TEL AVIV (JTA)-International fashion model Maayan Keret said she was raped at the age of 12. Since then, Keret said, she has been harassed or assaulted so many times she "stopped counting." Yael...
A female Israeli combat soldier proudly models for weapons companies
TEL AVIV (JTA)-When it comes to women posing with firearms, the United States is fully loaded. Lithe models can be found showing off weapons at gun shows, in rifle magazines and on dedicated social...
Photos of Holocaust survivors from the SS Exodus are incredible
TEL AVIV (JTA)-In the summer of 1947, when the British turned away the SS Exodus from the shores of Palestine, the world was watching. Before the eyes of the international media, British troops...
Chief Rabbinate telling more and more Israelis they aren't Jews
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Israel's rabbinical courts in recent years have ramped up their practice of blacklisting citizens they deem not Jewish, internal data released Sunday show. With increasing frequency,...
Israel gears up to host Italian cycling race
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Stressing the chance to show off Israel to the world, Israeli officials joined with their Italian counterparts in announcing Monday that three stages of the prestigious Giro d'Italia...
This haredi medic pioneered psychological first aid in Israel-now she's helping Houston
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Jerusalem therapist Miriam Ballin is the kind of person who takes the initiative. Despite resistance from her haredi Orthodox community, she became a medic. Then she launched a...
This factory makes thousands of shofars each year
GIVAT YOAV, Golan Heights (JTA)-Shimon Keinan has a business to run. He doesn't have time to teach you how to blow the shofar. But if you come all the way to his Kol Shofar factory here, Keinan is...
Now Israel has its own version of the 'alt-right'
JERUSALEM (JTA)—For many Jews, Nazis are public enemy No. 1, and using Nazi imagery to make a political point is strictly verboten. But some young, right-wing Israelis aren’t buying it. Inspired by the so-called alt-right abroad, their online com...
Israelis again debate the price of a kidnapped soldier's body
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Israel's defense minister reignited the emotional national debate over what price the country should be willing to pay for the return of kidnapped soldiers, particularly the bodies of...
U.S. pilots reunite with Israeli 'brothers in arms' from Yom Kippur War
TEL AVIV (JTA)-The arrival of U.S. fighter jets in Israel, part of a month-long arms drop, was critical to turning the tide of the Yom Kippur War in favor of the Jewish state. But for the American...
The first medic to respond to the Temple Mount terror attack was Muslim-here's his story
JERUSALEM (JTA)-When Nedal Sader first heard the crackle of automatic weapon fire Friday morning, he couldn't believe it was coming from the Temple Mount. As a Muslim, he regarded the complex just out...
A Knesset bloc unveils its plan for peace: Total Palestinian surrender
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Israel has already defeated the Palestinians. All that's left is for them to surrender. That, at least, was an argument being made in Jerusalem last week. Led by the...
These American Jews are looking beyond the Western Wall-to prayer on the Temple Mount
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Liberal American Jews are feeling thwarted in their years-long campaign for the right to pray as they wish at the Western Wall. Long frustrated that the plaza in front of the wall is...
How Gaza's electricity crisis could spell trouble for Israel
JERUSALEM (JTA)-An internal Palestinian dispute has left Gaza's nearly 2 million Palestinian residents dangerously vulnerable to a heat wave, but Israel could get burned, too. The West Bank...
A haredi Orthodox rabbi explains why his community opposes the Western Wall deal
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Haredi Orthodox Jews agree with their non-Orthodox brethren on one thing: The future of the Jewish people is at stake in the debate raging over who controls the Western Wall and...
Decaying relations with Diaspora yield bold words in Israel, but little action
JERUSALEM (JTA)-Israeli politicians rushed to condemn their government's decision Sunday to freeze a plan promoting pluralistic prayer at the Western Wall. Voices from across the political spectrum,...
The West Bank's world class wines have Israelis toasting the settlements
PSAGOT, West Bank (JTA)-Psagot Winery calls its Sinai wine an "unassuming but distinctive blend" of Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. Like all its wines, the bottle is stamped with the image of a coin...
