Ben Sales
By Ben Sales
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News Does Bernie Sanders Still Champion Values of His Israeli Kibbutz?
(JTA) — Every morning, Bernie Sanders would wake up at 4:10 a.m. to pick apples and pears. Leaving the cabin he shared with a few other American college student volunteers, Sanders would have a quick bite of bread before heading out to the orchard. After 2 1/2 hours of work, he and the other 20 or…
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News Western Wall Prayer Fight Ends With Historic Compromise
TEL AVIV (JTA) — Israel’s government on Sunday approved a compromise to expand the non-Orthodox Jewish prayer section of the Western Wall, putting to rest the decades-long fight between Women of the Wall and Israel’s haredi Orthodox religious establishment. The deal achieves what had been an elusive goal: an interdenominational consensus on Judaism’s holiest site…
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Breaking News 22 Percent Poverty — and 5 Other Revealing Facts About Israel’s Economy
TEL AVIV (JTA) — It has the highest poverty rate among affluent democracies, the fourth-worst income inequality and the seventh-lowest government spending on social services. Those are among the dismal conclusions of the State of the Nation report, an annual set of papers on Israel’s economy and society released last week by the Taub Center…
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Breaking News How One-Armed U.S. Soldier Fought His Way Back Into the Israeli Army
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The hardest part was loading the assault rifle. That’s not because he was a newbie, unaccustomed to the workings of a Tavor rifle. Rather, 1st Sgt. Izzy Ezagui had lost an arm in combat. He’d overcome seemingly insurmountable bureaucratic hurdles and got a posting on a base in the Negev. And so…
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News Father of Jewish Arson Suspect Claims Son Only Confessed Due to Israeli Torture
(JTA) – The father of Elisha Odess, the American-Israeli Jewish teen held by Israel’s internal security service, says his son is innocent and that he confessed to terrorism under torture. “We are sure he didn’t commit this crime,” Rabbi Moshe Odess told JTA in a telephone interview. “When they put him through the most aggressive…
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News Why Russian Jews Love Their (Don’t Call Them Christmas) Trees
(JTA) — Every December Elana Snitman’s family gathers at her home, where they decorate a fake pine tree with ornaments, placing gifts underneath to exchange. After gathering for a dinner of chicken, eggplant and beet-and-potato salad, they sing a traditional song about the festive tree and the coming of winter. It’s a sacred tradition for…
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Breaking News Breaking the Silence Comes Under Withering Attack for Questioning Israel’s Military
They’ve been banned from Israel’s schools and forbidden from speaking to Israeli soldiers. Israel’s prime minister denounced them from the floor of Knesset. A right-wing group has accused them of being foreign moles. The Israeli veterans’ group Breaking the Silence has been controversial since it was founded in 2004 by soldiers who had served in…
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Breaking News John Kerry Pointedly Tells New Yorker Israel Must Take Steps for Peace
(JTA) — John Kerry hasn’t given up on a two-state solution. But the party responsible for making it happen, the secretary of state and his subordinates make clear, is Israel. A lengthy profile in the New Yorker traces Kerry’s work with Iran, Syria, Israel and the Palestinians, as well as his lingering bitterness over his failed…
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