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News Haredi Draft Could Cause Gender Issue
After six decades of exempting ultra-Orthodox from the army, the Israeli government appears resolved to draft them. But the plan, widely popular among secular Israelis, may have unintended negative consequences for the tens of thousands of women serving in the military. The planned Haredi draft — a product of the recent deal that Israeli Prime…
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News End of Two-State Solution, Orthodox in the IDF
In this week’s podcast, host Josh Nathan-Kazis talks with Washington correspondent Nathan Guttman about a growing sense that the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict may no longer be possible. Then, Josh is joined by opinion editor Gal Beckerman to discuss a new deal that may see ultra-Orthodox Jews serving in the Israel Defense Force…
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The Schmooze Yair Netanyahu Goes AWOL
Yair Netanyahu, son of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, wanted to pop home for Shabbat dinner with his family. So that is just what he did. The only problem was that Yair is an IDF soldier, and he did not have permission to do so. Now, Yair is serving a 21-day military…
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Opinion Israel and Iran: What ‘60 Minutes’ Didn’t Tell You
Leslie Stahl’s “60 Minutes” interview Sunday night with former Mossad chief Meir Dagan gave important exposure to his views on the folly of attacking Iran. However, she got two things very wrong, both of which weakened the strength of his case against a military strike. The bottom line is, she let you think Dagan is…
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The Schmooze Israeli Jews Split on IDF Women Singing
There is a surprising new poll out in Israel, where there has been significant controversy in recent weeks about religious soldiers who leave ceremonies where women sing. The walkouts have generated angry opinion pieces in the media and fury among top army brass, with 19 reserve major generals petitioning the Defense Ministry claiming that they…
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Opinion ‘Taking Out’ Obama, and Our Slide Into Madness
I guess we can all breathe a sigh of relief now that Andrew Adler has resigned as publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times. His January 13 column, proposing that Israel might consider assassinating President Obama, was enormously embarrassing to Israel, its supporters and Jews everywhere. Removing him from his visible position makes life a lot…
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Opinion Face It: That Atlanta Publisher Is One of Us
I guess we can all breathe a sigh of relief now that Andrew Adler has resigned as publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times. His January 13 column, proposing that Israel might consider assassinating President Obama, was enormously embarrassing to Israel, its supporters and Jews everywhere. Removing him from his visible position makes life a lot…
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Breaking News Israel Hopes To Mute Call to Prayer
Israel’s Civil Administration in the West Bank is looking into ways to use technology to mute the sound volume of electronically amplified muezzin calls in mosques. Settlement leaders frequently complain about the noise of the muezzins, whose electronically amplified calls to prayer can easily be heard in nearby Jewish settlements, including at night when people…
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Culture How the closing of a website for Yom Kippur confessions explains the modern internet
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Fast Forward Brown University rejects pro-Palestinian protesters’ demand to divest from Israel
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Fast Forward As Netanyahu pushes US to join fight against Iran, Biden tells Jewish leaders US ‘fully’ backs Israel’s right to defend itself
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Fast Forward German town’s memorial stones for Nazi victims are stolen on Oct. 7 anniversary
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