Articles written by Ron Kampeas
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Survey: A quarter of U.S. Jews agree that Israel 'is an apartheid state'
(JTA) - A survey of U.S. Jewish voters taken after the Israel-Gaza conflict finds that a sizable minority believe some of the harshest criticisms of Israel, including that it is committing genocide an...
Andrew Saul, Jewish Social Security boss installed by Trump and fired by Biden, vows to stay in the post
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Andrew Saul, the Social Security Administration Commissioner who President Joe Biden fired last week, claimed the move was illegal and vowed to stay in the post. Saul, a businessman who has donated heavily to Jewish causes, gave...
New Israeli Diaspora minister travels to comfort Jews in Surfside
SURFSIDE, Fla. (JTA) - Nachman Shai's first visit to the United States as Israel's new minister for Diaspora affairs was not under normal circumstances. "In hard times, in times of disaster, we have...
73 congressional Democrats to Biden: Reverse more of Trump's Israel policies and call settlements illegal
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A letter from 73 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, including a number in leadership positions, urges President Joe Biden to make a number of moves to reverse what they call the Trump administration’s...
Constituents face to face with their lawmakers
(JTA) — The Orthodox Union is setting up meetings between members of Congress and Orthodox Jewish constituents who are alarmed by antisemitic incidents since last month’s Israel-Gaza conflict, and by what they see as Congress’ failure to have...
A Supreme Court decision splits Jewish groups
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A key Supreme Court decision on religious freedoms earned praise from Orthodox Jewish groups, and has more liberal groups breathing a sigh of relief that its scope was narrow. On Thursday, the court issued a unanimous decision ov...
Update: Ilhan Omar clarifies remarks on Hamas, US and Israel
WASHINGTON (JTA) — After a dozen Jewish Democrats in Congress asked Rep. Ilhan Omar to clarify remarks in which she grouped Hamas and the Taliban with the United States and Israel, she complied — but not before she got something off her chest....
Biden administration supports replenishing Iron Dome after Gaza conflict
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A Biden administration official said the U.S. government supports restocking Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system after it was depleted by last month’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza. Dozens of House members from both parties...
Antisemitic acts in US soared 80 percent in a month
(JTA) — The organization that advises U.S. Jewish communities on security matters said it recorded an 80 percent spike in antisemitic acts in the last month amid Israel’s 11-day war with Hamas. One of the causes, according to the Secure...
Nides new Israel ambassador
WASHINGTON (JTA) - President Joe Biden will name Tom Nides, a deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration, to be his ambassador to Israel. The Times of Israel first reported the decision....
$38.5 million in assistance to the Palestinians
(JTA) — The Biden administration increased its assistance to Palestinians by $38.5 million in the wake of the latest Gaza war and pledged to abide by U.S. laws that would keep the money from going to terrorists. On Wednesday, Secretary of State...
'Condemnation of antisemitism is another forms of hate'
(JTA) — As reports of attacks on Jews broke into the news late last week, Democratic lawmakers moved quickly to condemn antisemitism — but they didn’t stop there. “We’ve recently seen disturbing antisemitic attacks and a troubling rise in...
Violence escalates, who's in charge?
(JTA) - In the seven years since the last war in Gaza, Israel and Hamas have repeatedly come close to reigniting the conflict. But the peace on the Gaza border has largely held - until this week. Si...
Biden says Israel has a 'right to defend itself' as he sends envoy to deescalate conflict
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Saying that Israel has a right to defend itself, President Joe Biden has sent his top Israeli-Palestinian negotiator to the region in a bid to deescalate the deepening conflict there. During a White House news conference...
In a sign of greater willingness to criticize Israel, Democrats blame both Israel and Hamas for current conflict
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Last year, when AIPAC wanted a Democrat to sponsor the pro-Israel lobby’s signature legislative effort, it turned to one of its most reliable partners in the Senate, Chris Coons of Delaware. Coons contributed to a result the...
A Democratic pro-Israel group calls Jewish leader an enabler
(JTA) — Tensions among Jewish groups allied with the Biden administration blew into the open this week when a Democratic pro-Israel group briefly called a longtime Jewish leader an enabler of antisemitism — a sign of how potent a debate over a...
Jewish groups welcomed Biden's designation of an Armenian genocide
WASHINGTON (JTA) — One Wednesday in October 2007, seven Jewish lawmakers on the House Foreign Affairs Committee did something extraordinary: They ignored the pleas of the Jewish establishment. Jewish politicos were often happy to advance the...
Elie Wiesel's bust will be in the National Cathedral
WASHINGTON (JTA) - Washington's National Cathedral, known for its role during presidential inaugurations and other days of national import, is honoring Elie Wiesel, the Nobel Peace Laureate and Holocaust memoirist with a bust, making him the first...
Walter Mondale dies at age 93
(JTA) - Walter Mondale, the former vice president who represented a time in American history when being pro-Israel and progressive were often synonymous, has died at 93. He passed away Monday at his...
Two topics at J Street conference: Mahmoud Abbas says he's ready to 'remove obstacles' to relations with USc
(JTA) - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said he was ready to "remove obstacles" to renewing U.S.-Israel ties, apparently signaling a willingness to stop the payments to the families of...
UNRWA commits to 'zero tolerance' for anti-Semitism
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Days after resuming U.S. funding for the troubled U.N. agency that administers to Palestinian refugees and their descendants, the Biden administration says it has the commitment of UNRWA to “zero tolerance” for...
Antony Blinken in Holocaust Day speech recalls past State Department obstruction of bids to save Jews
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorations are by their nature calls for accountability for atrocities past and present. Antony Blinken, the U.S. secretary of state, used the occasion to take his own department to task for its negl...
Prince Philip dies at 99
(JTA) - Prince Philip, perhaps the closest member of the British royal family to Jews and Jewish causes, has died at 99. Buckingham Palace announced his death on Friday, April 9. Philip, who had been...
Fauci receives award from Holocaust remembrance group and references Maimonides
(JTA) — Drawing a line between its mission of Holocaust remembrance and the ravages inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic, the March of the Living honored Dr. Anthony Fauci with an award for “moral courage in medicine” on the eve of Yom...
US and Iran to join talks aimed at rejoining nuclear deal
(JTA) — Iran and the United States will join talks in Vienna next week that aim to return all parties to the terms of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. There will not be direct contact between Iran and the United States at the in-person meeting, accordin...
