Israeli Jews

Benjamin Netanyahu sits with his hand covering his mouth.

What Israel’s new election reveals about the struggle over Jewishness

Identity

In Israel, secular and religious social practices and lifestyles have continued to clash. Israel’s most recent election and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent failure to form a coalition highlighted some of these struggles that continue to divide Israel’s citizens.

billboard near a busy intersection advertises "Eva's Stories"

‘Eva’s Stories:’ The Holocaust seen through Instagram

Arts, Culture & Media
the silhouettes of members of the ultra orthodox community in Jerusalem

The ultra-Orthodox are the hottest thing on Israeli TV

Arts, Culture & Media

After five years, Gilad Shalit is released by Hamas (with video)

Israeli election

Israelis head to the polls in what has become an unusually tight election

Global Politics
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Uninvited by Obama, will Netanyahu speak to Congress?

Global Politics

Even the Israeli prime minister’s usual supporters — and much of the Israeli public — question Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to address Congress on March 3 without an invitation from President Obama. The address, at the request of House Speaker John Boehner, comes two weeks before Israeli elections. Is Bibi being savvy, or playing the pawn?

The World

Israel’s looking for a new president — and the competition for the ceremonial job is fierce

Global Politics

Shimon Peres has been Israel’s president for seven years, and now he’s moving on. The job has no political power, but is full of symbolism. And that makes finding a successor tough.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel "The Bulldozer" Sharon in Jerusalem August 9, 2005.

Controversial Israeli leader and former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has died

Global Politics

Former Israeli leader Ariel Sharon has died after spending nearly eight years in a coma that followed a stroke. Sharon was highly controversial — both loved and hated. And few individuals in recent memory have had as much of an influence on the recent history of the Middle East.

Father Gregory Collins, Abbot of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem, addresses the Jewish audience in his Christmas sermon.

What do you preach to a church full of Jews on Christmas?

Lifestyle & Belief

Every Christmas Eve, Jewish Israelis flock to churches in the Old City of Jerusalem for Midnight Mass at the Dormition Abbey on Mt. Zion. There are often more Jews in the church than Christians. And a priest knows just what to tell them.

Rami Yizraeli (tan jacket) chats with Benjamin Netanyahu (black shirt), while the Israeli Prime Minister's bodyguards look on.

Here’s what happened when Israel’s prime minister stopped beneath my apartment balcony

Global Politics

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu usually gets around by motorcade. But, last Saturday, I looked over the balcony of my fourth-floor apartment in Jerusalem and there he was, standing below wearing sneakers and a black shirt. He’d stopped to help an old man take out the trash.