PODCAST: The Daily Briefing – ToI blogosphere weighs in on end of Trump era

Welcome to The Times of Israel’s Daily Briefing: Your 15-minute audio update on what’s happening in Israel, the Middle East, and the Jewish...

The ethics of prioritizing COVID-19 vaccinations when considering race and ethnicity

MELBOURNE – Now that COVID-19 vaccines are being rolled out, policymakers are wrestling with the question of how to distribute them quickly and...

Liberation

NEW YORK – In celebrating the liberation from Donald Trump’s misrule, we must not forget that Trump’s presidency embodied the raw politics of US...

The accusation of Uighur genocide is Pompeo’s last-gasp attempt to morally nuke China, but he’s unlikely to find many backers

Yesterday, on his last day as secretary of state, Pompeo took one final blast at China, declaring that it is committing “genocide” and “crimes...

Once again, Brazil appeals for Israel's help to tackle a crisis

Once again, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has made his country seem weak in front of Israel by seeking help from the occupation state to tackle...

Right-wing Jewish Home party elects first female leader

The Jewish Home party on Tuesday night for the first time selected a woman as its leader, choosing Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Hagit Moshe to head the...

Two HMOs say they’ll vaccinate those 35 and up, without Health Ministry okay

Two of Israel’s four health maintenance organizations said Wednesday they will begin vaccinating anyone over age 35 and up, despite the current...

Hit me with your best shot: Turkey’s vaccination debate

While those in power in Turkey block the sale of affordable bread to the public, top executives from the ruling party came together to get...

Introducing 40-year mortgages

Elaborate safeguards needed to help young adults own homes easily The financial authorities have unveiled a plan to introduce mortgages with a...

Bid to restart talks

Former adviser tapped as foreign minister President Moon Jae-in tapped former national security adviser Chung Eui-yong as his new foreign minister...

Haaretz Cartoon

The Worst Man in America Is No Longer President

The ‘pro-life’ president ended his term with unprecedented executions, a health crisis rivaling a world war and a climate catastrophe. Thank God...

Trump gave America a four-year civics lesson - the hard way

By Scott Martelle Sitting out front of our house last week watching the sun set, I struck up a conversation with a few neighbors going through...

Was Brexit inevitable?

By Robert Skidelsky LONDON ― On one level, the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union was an unintended consequence of a too-clever...

Housing crisis pitting us against each other

By Joseph Shin Growing up on housing subsidies for 20 years, I went through childhood conditioning myself to the idea that homeownership was simply...

North Korea's strange military moves

By Boo Hyeong-wook During the eighth congress of the ruling Workers' Party, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared important development...

Dialogue between factions and the importance of successful Palestinian elections

In light of the announcement of the dates for the Palestinian presidential, legislative and PNC elections, it is imperative to define the...

Bank Discount, Shufersal chain set up joint financial services firm

Israel Discount Bank Ltd. and the nation’s largest supermarket chain, Shufersal, said on Wednesday they are setting up a joint venture to offer a...

China's economy is not out of the woods yet

Positive growth belies unresolved structural challenges

Kapitalizem, trumpizem in janšizem

Smo v nekakšnem babilonskem trenutku. V Babilonu je bog ljudem zmešal jezik, ker so postali preveč podjetni. In ljudje govorice drug drugega niso...

Park Geun-hye's Conviction and Talks of Possible Pardon

On January 14, 2021, South Korea’s Supreme Court upheld former President Park Geun-hye’s 20-year sentence on charges of corruption and abuse of...

Josh Hawley blocks quick Alejandro Mayorkas confirmation for Homeland Security

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Any hope of an immediate confirmation for Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security secretary nominee, ended on Tuesday when...

Departing Trump gets his parade, but few show up for sendoff

AFP — Donald Trump wanted a hero’s sendoff Wednesday and the ceremony arranged for him at an Air Force Base outside Washington looked just like...

Oh So Far Away (Jeremiah 46:13-28)

The message of this week’s haftarah is largely aimed at Egypt. As in last week’s haftarah from the book of Ezekiel, Jeremiah warns the Egyptian...

Inside the chicanery of scammers who impersonated Kurdish Jews

This report is part of a series. For several years, the Kurdish Jewish leadership in Israel has tried to build constructively on their historic...

Holocaust education in schools is deeply lacking

This piece is a guest post written by Naomi Schmulewitz. Holocaust education in American schools is deeply lacking, and it was Elie Weisel who...

The exceptional Judaism of Jonathan Sacks

The Prince of Wales called Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, “A Light to the Nations”. Rabbi Sacks was also “a Light to the Nation” — his nation,...

Israel’s fledgling regenerative business consciousness

The pundits have been out in force giving their customary wraps of the “year that was” and prophecies for the “year that will be”. One of the...

Abbas calls for Palestinian elections

The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, declared this week that parliamentary and presidential elections will finally take place, after...

What makes a person a good Jew?

Zalman Zirkind, a Chassidic Jew, is scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court, in New York, for having pleaded guilty to laundering drug...

Parasha Bo בא: ‘Let my people go…..’

This chapter records the final three devastating plagues that befall Egypt and force Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave.  The chapter also...

What happens to the Mishpacha when women are removed? Now we know

The image of a father holding his child’s hand as they walk down the street has always been touching to me. Perhaps it makes me think of my own...

The remaking of G-d in the image of man

Voltaire – among others – was fond of making the satirical observation that “G-D created man in His image and, ever since, man has sought to...

Denied the truth, Americans miss the chance to mourn loss

The following is co-authored with  Rabbi Stewart Vogel. We write with great concern that one of the fundamental human rites of passage is being...

Sit tight until summer, amid Germany's lockdown

In Germany, COVID-19 lockdown restrictions have once again been extended — and tightened marginally, with stricter mask requirements and calls to...

Conflict in Central Africa

The Constitutional Court of the Central African Republic announced the results of the presidential elections in the country, which were held within...

The Kabbalah of miracles

KABBALAH OF MIRACLES MARVELS IN OUR TIMES Rabbi Yakov Saacks, The Chai Center, Dix Hills As a Rabbi, I study many topics of Jewish interest. I have...

The Two Faces of Russia’s Digital Diplomacy

In 1956, Erving Goffman introduced his theory of impression management. His book, The Presentation of the Self in Everyday Life, contended that...

Netanyahu’s Likud widens lead over Saar’s New Hope to 15 seats — poll

A new poll released on Tuesday suggested Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud party is regaining supporters, while ex-Likud minister Gideon Sa’ar’s...

17 arrested as police clash with ultra-Orthodox over virus lockdown violations

At least 17 people were said arrested Wednesday as police worked to enforce a national lockdown in a Jerusalem neighborhood where a school was...

US Institutions After Trump

BOSTON – The storming of the US Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters on January 6 may be remembered as a turning point in American history. The...

Former New York congressman Max Rose listed as new Pentagon COVID adviser

JTA — Max Rose, the outspoken former congressmen from Staten Island, appears headed to the Pentagon to be a top adviser on the coronavirus...

US-based political scientist arrested, accused of secretly working for Iran

BOSTON (AP) — A Massachusetts-based political scientist and author is accused of secretly working for the government of Iran while lobbying US...

Biden to be sworn in as 46th US president, ending Trump era

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Thirty-four years after first seeking the job, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th US president Wednesday, drawing a curtain...

IHRA definition of anti-Semitism divides US Jews ahead of Biden presidency

JTA — When is it anti-Semitic to criticize Israel? Anti-Semitism signifies hatred of Jews and the ways that hatred is perpetuated through age-old...

Trump considers starting new political party as his term ends, report says

US President Donald Trump is considering the possibility of launching a new political party as his White House tenure draws to a close, according to...

Snow, rain hit Israel in winter spell, raising Sea of Galilee level

Stormy weather hit Israel Wednesday for the first time in weeks, with the nationwide wintry spell lifting the level of the Sea of Galilee, filling...

‘But He’s Not Hitler’: Unraveling the Objections to Calling Trump a Fascist

Since the Capitol insurrection, there’s been a surge of historians rightly identifying fascist elements in Trumpism. So what’s behind the...

Biden or Bush? Democrats and neocons clamor to bring the ‘war on terror’ home, targeting Trump supporters as ‘domestic terrorists’

“The pro-Trump fanatics stormed and trashed the citadel of American democracy, nearly executing what al-Qaeda had failed to do: destroy the US...

Vowing return ‘in some form,’ Trump departs White House for last time

US President Donald Trump left the White House for the final time as president on Wednesday, heading by helicopter to a nearby military base and...