Saturday, January 18th 2025   |

News

‘Shalom, friends’: Jews on TikTok prepare for app’s possible ban after Supreme Court ruling

By ANDREW LAPIN

(JTA) — Like many people during the pandemic, Asher Lovy became addicted to TikTok. After watching numerous videos on the social media platform, he asked his organization’s social media manager to start an account of their own.

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For many Israelis, prospect of hostage release is tempered by concerns about freeing terrorists

By DEBORAH DANAN

(JTA) — Oct. 18, 2011, was a landmark day in Israeli history. Five years after he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists, the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was released from captivity in Gaza and photographed in uniform saluting...

Trump taps Mel Gibson, actor-director with record of antisemitism, as ‘special ambassador’ to Hollywood

By ANDREW LAPIN

(JTA) — For years following his highly publicized antisemitic outbursts, Mel Gibson couldn’t find much work in Hollywood.

But now he’s back in the filmmaking capital — as Donald Trump’s “special ambassador.”

The president-elect announced Thursday he...

Israeli leaders convene to approve ceasefire deal after day of delays

By BEN SALES

(JTA) — After more than a day of delays, Israel’s security cabinet has gathered to formally approve an agreement to stop the fighting in Gaza, paving the way for hostages to be released beginning on Sunday.

Later...

Israel and Hamas agree to ceasefire deal after 15 months of war

By BEN SALES

(JTA) — Israel and Hamas have agreed to a deal that will cease more than a year of fighting in Gaza and Israel, bring dozens of Israeli hostages home and release hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners.

...

Ari Berman, Yeshiva U president, to deliver benediction at Trump’s inauguration

By BEN SALES

(JTA) — Rabbi Ari Berman, the president of Yeshiva University, will deliver a benediction at Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration.

Berman, according to a Y.U. press release, is the first Israeli-American to ever speak at an inauguration. According...

Nearly half the globe has ‘elevated levels’ of antisemitic beliefs, ADL survey finds

By ASAF ELIA-SHALEV

(JTA) — Nearly half of adults around the world have “elevated levels of antisemitic attitudes,” the Anti-Defamation League reported in its latest global survey of anti-Jewish beliefs. 

In addition, the survey found that one-fifth of the world...

Will a hostage deal happen this week?

By BEN SALES

(JTA) — If the past year has taught us anything, it’s that banking on a hostage deal is a bad idea. 

But those odds seem to be changing. 

Since November 2023, when Hamas released more than 100...

Jewish groups pushed Meta to crack down on hate speech. Now, the company is reversing course.

By ASAF ELIA-SHALEV

(JTA) — Six months ago, Jewish groups celebrated a policy win when Meta banned the use of “Zionist” as a coded slur against Jews and Israel. Now, the same organizations are condemning the company for dramatically loosening...

‘Just things’ — like what my LA neighbors have lost — are what makes houses into Jewish homes

By RACHEL STEINHARDT

(JTA) — The antique silver menorah. The shabbos candlesticks. The tiny tefillin set. The last remnants from Europe that my grandparents, all Holocaust survivors, managed to shlep to America. And I need to get them out of...