Amy Spiro

President Joe Biden speaks to American service members at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, England, June 9, 2021. (AP Photo/ Patrick Semansky)

June 13, 2021, 10:34 pm

Biden congratulates PM Bennett in phone call as US embraces new government

US leader says he looks ‘forward to working’ with premier ‘to strengthen all aspects of the close and enduring relationship between our two nations;’ FM Lapid invited to Washington

By Amy Spiro

Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas speaks to the Knesset plenum on June 13, 2021. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset)

June 13, 2021, 9:46 pm

In speech before swearing-in, Ra’am leader vows to ‘reclaim expropriated lands’

Mansour Abbas also pledges to tackle violence in Arab community; Joint List leaders bemoan ‘right-wing’ policies underpinning new government

By Amy Spiro and Aaron Boxerman

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Knesset plenum on June 13, 2021, ahead of the vote on the new government. (Noam Moskowitz/Knesset spokesperson)

June 13, 2021, 7:01 pm

In fiery exit, Netanyahu assails Bennett, says he can’t stand up to Iran, Biden

‘We’ll be back soon’: Outgoing premier delivers scathing address on the Knesset floor, vows to work tirelessly to topple the incoming government

By Amy Spiro

President Reuven Rivlin spoke at a joint session of the Romanian Parliament in Bucharest on Wednesday, June 9, 2021. (Mark Neyman/GPO)

June 10, 2021, 4:58 pm

Rivlin wraps up trip to Romania after celebrating warm ties

President attends business conference, addresses memorial ceremony for 7 people killed in an IDF helicopter training accident in 2010

By Amy Spiro

Shas party chairman Interior Minister Aryeh Deri (center), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left), and Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, at the Knesset on November 4, 2019. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

June 10, 2021, 12:57 pm

Deri bemoans not working harder to ensure Gantz remained in coalition

Likud MK David Bitan says he told Netanyahu that it was ‘a mistake’ not to give Gideon Sa’ar a ministerial position in the last government

By Amy Spiro

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, December 9, 2020. (John Bazemore/AP)

June 10, 2021, 10:52 am

Pompeo says F-35 sale to UAE was ‘critical’ to the Abraham Accords

Former US secretary of state suggests Biden’s support for Israel during the recent Gaza war was hiding ‘an entirely different message’

By Amy Spiro

Yamina MK Matan Kahana speaks during an election campaign event in Sderot on March 17, 2021. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)

June 9, 2021, 1:15 pm

Future minister sees some changes on religion and state, but largely status quo

Yamina MK Matan Kahana says he’ll reform kosher supervision, name new city rabbis, and of course there will be a full inquiry into April’s Mount Meron disaster, which killed 45

By Amy Spiro

Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Alla Nagorsky with the 1,000-year-old egg that was retrieved in Yavne.  (Yoli Schwartz/Israel Antiquities Authority)

June 9, 2021, 10:32 am

Preserved in poop: 1,000-year-old chicken egg found in Yavne cesspit

Archaeologists discover almost fully intact but nearly empty egg and three rare Islamic-period bone dolls in excavation of settlement dating from Byzantine period

By Amy Spiro

Seven of Israel's athletes for the upcoming Tokyo Olympic games model the T-shirts and shorts that are part of their official uniforms. (Amit Schussel/IOC)

June 9, 2021, 10:13 am

Israel unveils its official Tokyo Olympic outfits

Uniforms for the opening ceremony, designed by Castro, include printed T-shirts, chinos and a transparent nylon jacket

By Amy Spiro

United Torah Judaism party chief Moshe Gafni holds a press conference (together with UTJ MK Yaakov Litzman and Shas head Aryeh Deri) at the Knesset in Jerusalem, June 8, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

June 8, 2021, 4:56 pm

Haredi party chiefs: Jewish state in danger if wicked Bennett succeeds Netanyahu

In assault on PM-designate, Litzman says Yamina leader should remove his kippa, Deri says he’ll ‘destroy Shabbat, conversion, kashrut’; Bennett dismisses ‘hysterical outburst’

By Amy Spiro

A view of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)

June 8, 2021, 12:53 pm

American Jewish Committee opens UAE office, its first in an Arab nation

Foreign minister says Abu Dhabi is ‘thrilled to have you,’ urging ‘trying to look forward rather than looking backward’; vows to fight extremism and incitement

By Amy Spiro

George Birnbaum (right), an adviser to Naftali Bennett, appears on MSNBC with anchor Mehdi Hasan. (MSNBC/Screenshot)

June 7, 2021, 8:24 pm

Top Bennett adviser suggests he has ‘evolved’ beyond past inflammatory rhetoric

George Birnbaum, who worked on PM-designate’s most recent campaign, tells MSNBC the new government could change ‘the status quo’ with the Palestinians

By Amy Spiro

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves upon arrival at Queen Alia International Airport, in the Jordanian capital Amman, on May 26, 2021. (Alex Brandon/POOL/AFP)

June 7, 2021, 6:03 pm

US will work with any Israeli government, says Blinken

Pressed on would-be PM Bennett’s opposition to two-state solution, US secretary of state says ‘conditions are not there’ for peace agreement

By Amy Spiro

Legos used to repair a wall struck by a Gaza rocket in Ramat Gan on May 15, 2021. (Raz Sror)

June 6, 2021, 4:14 pm

Student uses Lego to repair Ramat Gan wall damaged by Hamas rocket

Raz Sror, who’s studying architecture, spent several days completing a school assignment by filling in holes in a building in the Tel Aviv suburb

By Amy Spiro