Articles written by Ron Kampeas
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Steven Spielberg to donate his Genesis Prize winnings
(JTA) — Steven Spielberg is donating his Genesis Prize earnings to Jewish and non-Jewish groups working to promote racial and economic justice. The prize’s foundation on Thursday announced that the film director would double the $1 million prize...
Who is Joel Greenberg? Meet the Jewish Florida politician at the center of the Matt Gaetz scandal
(JTA) — Matt Gaetz, the Florida congressman known for his firebomb rhetoric, is in big trouble — in part because of the alleged foibles of a Jewish buddy, Joel Greenberg, who has earned criticism...
Doug Emhoff hosts the White House's first online Passover seder
(JTA) — There was virtual wine spilled and nostalgia for gefilte fish, as well as a serious message to consider the role of women in the bible. Doug Emhoff, Vice President Kamala Harris’s Jewish husband, hosted the White House’s first-ever...
George Segal, vanguard of 1960s wave of young Jewish actors, dies at 87
(JTA) - George Segal, whose career as an actor ranged from shattering Jewish stereotypes in his youth to cheerfully indulging them in his dotage, has died at 87. The fact that early in his career...
Jewish actress Jessica Walter dies at 80
(JTA) - Jessica Walter, who specialized in playing women who were both beautiful and predatory, has died. Walter died in her sleep at her home in New York, Deadline reported. She was 80. Walter was...
After Atlanta massacre, Jewish groups rally on behalf of Asian Americans
(JTA) - Jewish groups are rallying in support of Asian Americans following a string of murders Tuesday at massage parlors in Atlanta that left eight people dead, including six Asians. Police in...
Senate confirms Merrick Garland as attorney general
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Some five years after being snubbed for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, Merrick Garland is the new U.S. attorney general. In a 70-30 vote Wednesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed...
This Montana rabbi cites Jewish law in the State Legislature
(JTA) - When Ed Stafman was designing the signs he hoped his supporters would plant on their lawns, he debated between two: "Elect Rabbi Ed" or "Elect Ed Stafman." He settled on the version with his...
Netanyahu calls Pelosi to discuss Israel's COVID response
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. House of Representatives speaker, spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Israel’s COVID-19 response at a time that Israel is under pressure to extend its vaccination program to...
Joe and Bibi talked, but what does it all mean? Biden and Israel, the scorecard.
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Four weeks into his presidency, Joe Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the “scandal” over the new U.S. leader’s failure to pick up the phone came to a quick and cheerful close. The end of the...
Biden and Bibi have good talk
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Joe Biden called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nearly a month into his first term — a time frame that drew criticism from Republicans for its length. Biden appeared to make up for lost time, at least...
Biden: White supremacists are 'the most dangerous people' in America
(JTA) — President Joe Biden, saying domestic terrorism was the “greatest threat” in America and white supremacists are the “most dangerous people,” pledged to focus his Justice Department on the rise of white supremacy. Biden, in Milwaukee...
Israel policy set to play a role in Ohio special congressional race
(JTA) — The Democratic Majority for Israel political action committee has made an endorsement in a special congressional election in Ohio, a sign of how Israel tensions within the Democratic Party have not abated since the party’s sweeping wins...
Nikki Haley broke with Trump - it could make her a Jewish GOP favorite in 2024
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Nikki Haley has finally and decisively broken with Donald Trump in a move that puts her at the front of the potential Republican presidential pack for moderate conservatives,...
George Shultz, secretary of state who pressed for freedom for refuseniks, dies at 100
(JTA) - George Shultz, the Reagan administration secretary of state who made it his mission to bring about freedom for Soviet Jewry, has died at 100. The Hoover Institution at Stanford University,...
Supreme Court rejects appeal by Holocaust heirs
(JTA) — The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously rejected an appeal by Holocaust survivors and their heirs who wanted to pursue restitution claims in the United States after failing in the countries where the art was stolen. The opinion published...
Why did Trump's impeachment lawyer David Schoen keep putting his hand on his head?
(JTA) - What Donald Trump's lawyer likely wanted: for America to spend this evening talking about how the former president was not responsible for the deadly Jan. 6 raid on the U.S. Capitol. What h...
Biden administration unrolls Middle East policy
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Statements and appearances by U.S. officials suggest the Biden administration's emerging Mideast strategy: reassuring Israel while resuming ties with the Palestinians ruptured by...
Larry King dies at 87
(JTA) - Larry King, the iconic Jewish radio and TV interviewer who never met a subject he didn't seem to like, has died at 87. King died Saturday at a hospital in Los Angeles. His company Ora Media...
The moment Gene Scheer heard President Biden recite his 'American Anthem'
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Gene Scheer had a deadline looming. He was getting ready for the CD release of one of his Holocaust-related works, timed for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, one week away....
Phil Spector, rock legend and convicted murderer, dies at 81
(JTA) - Phil Spector, the massively influential rock composer and producer who murdered a woman and spent his declining years in jail, died at 81. Spector died Saturday at a hospital in French Camp,...
Morocco promotes combating anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism
(JTA) — A Moroccan institution has with official government backing signed an agreement with the U.S. State Department to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, the second such agreement in the Arab Middle East. The agreement signed Friday by El Me...
For Jewish Democrats, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock are a heroic new Black-Jewish duo
(JTA) — Two days after his election to the Senate helped tip the balance of power in Washington, Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff found another historical echo in his victory. In a Twitter thread, Ossoff described his trajectory from a teenage intern...
Jewish nonprofits to get advice about securing slices of $284B pandemic relief bill
(JTA) — Nearly a third of the $900 billion Congress is set to approve in a pandemic relief will go to a new round of payroll protection, and the Jewish Federations of North America is set to reprise the role it played earlier this year and explain...
Kushner kids pulled from school
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump pulled their children out of a Jewish day school in Washington, D.C., two weeks before Election Day and three weeks after an outbreak of COVID-19 cases in and around the White House. The...
