Aron Heller

National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat elbow bumps with an Emirati official ahead of boarding the plane before leaving Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, September 1, 2020. (Nir Elias/Pool/AFP)

September 2, 2020, 8:43 am

UAE’s warm welcome to Israelis reflects changing region

Abu Dhabi officials gave Israeli officials and journalists a glamorous crash course in Emirati culture, during a groundbreaking, albeit tightly controlled, visit

By Aron Heller

A wing tip with the Star of David is visible through the window of an Israeli El Al airliner just before the plane lands in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday, Aug. 31, 2020. (Nir Elias/Pool Photo via AP)

August 31, 2020, 9:00 pm

A new ‘sense of hope’: Israel-UAE flight feels like start of a bigger journey

First we veered east toward the desert terrain rather than west over the Med; then the pilot proudly announced his El Al aircraft had crossed into Saudi airspace for first time

By Aron Heller

An F-35A Lightning II fighter jet is directed out of a hangar at Al-Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, September 10, 2019. (Tech. Sgt. Jocelyn A. Ford/US Air Force via AP)

August 20, 2020, 7:43 pm

UAE hopes deal with Israel will make getting advanced weapons from US ‘easier’

While critics in Jerusalem warn against leveraging its ‘qualitative military edge’ in volatile region, Abu Dhabi insists F35s, drones necessary in fight against common enemy Iran

By Jon Gambrell and Aron Heller

A photo of Dubai's skyline with Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower in the center, as the sun sets over Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on April 4, 2016. (AFP/Karim Sahib)

August 17, 2020, 7:36 pm

Israelis eager to tighten ties to UAE after historic accord

Prospect of mutual embassies, expanding tourism to the Gulf and solidifying business opportunities with tech-friendly country has entrepreneurs and travelers already lining up

By Aron Heller

Israeli Olympic racewalker Shaul Ladany holds his 1972's Olympic race shoes for a portrait in Omer, Israel, July 12, 2020. (Ariel Schalit/AP)

August 9, 2020, 3:11 pm

Still going strong, Israeli athlete, 84, recalls surviving 1972 Olympic massacre

Race-walker Shaul Ladany was awoken by a roommate, as Palestinian terrorists tried to round up team members, in notorious Munich assault, managed to escape

By Aron Heller

Israel's outgoing ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in the central Israeli city of Ra'anana, Tuesday, July 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

July 29, 2020, 1:46 am

Returning UN envoy: Israel won’t suffer for tight Trump ties

Danny Danon says he believes bipartisan support for Israel is still strong, but is relieved that Bernie Sanders, who he calls a ‘radical’ voice, did not win Democratic nomination

By Aron Heller

Demonstrators chant slogans against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in front of the Knesset on July 21, 2020. (AP/Ariel Schalit)

July 27, 2020, 2:08 pm

Coronavirus, corruption bring some Israelis to the street for the first time

Younger Israelis from all walks of life, many of whom have not been politically active before, seek reckoning from Netanyahu as nation buckles under economic crisis and other ills

By Aron Heller

Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli arrives for a court hearing at the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court, July 20, 2020. (Yariv Katz/POOL)

July 20, 2020, 3:04 pm

Top model Bar Refaeli convicted of tax evasion

Despite legal troubles tarnishing her brand as an informal ambassador, the supermodel remains popular in Israel, with her image gracing advertisements around the country

By Aron Heller

Former Israeli Air Force general and leading critic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Brig. Gen. Amir Haskel poses for a photo in Tel Aviv, on June 28, 2020. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

June 29, 2020, 11:36 pm

A quiet Israeli ex-general emerges as new hero for anti-Netanyahu camp

Following his much-criticized arrest at a protest, Amir Haskel has become the unwitting standard-bearer of the movement demanding the PM’s resignation

By Aron Heller

A scene in the trailer for the new Israeli television series "Tehran." (Screen capture: YouTube)

June 27, 2020, 5:13 pm

New Israeli espionage TV series ‘Tehran’ tackles shadow war with Iran

Dana Eden, a creator of the show, says she wants to take viewers into the heart of Israel’s archfoe, ‘which is a place we really don’t know and really want to know more about’

By ISAAC SCHARF and Aron Heller

Protesters rally against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside his residence in Jerusalem on May 24, 2020. (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP)

May 27, 2020, 9:47 pm

A stunning tirade highlights Israeli divide over Netanyahu

The PM claims there is a wide-ranging conspiracy against him, but his opponents assert that his populist rhetoric is undermining trust in democratic institutions

By Aron Heller

Opposition leader Yair Lapid poses for a photo at his office in Tel Aviv, Israel, May 21, 2020. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

May 21, 2020, 10:29 pm

New opposition leader Lapid says Netanyahu ’embarrassing’ Israel

Yesh Atid chief laments international attention PM’s upcoming graft trial will draw, slams new Likud-Blue and White government as ‘a monster with 52 heads’

By Aron Heller

This undated family photo shows David Toren, who died on April 19, 2020 in his Manhattan home from symptoms of the coronavirus at the age of 94. (Peter Toren via AP)

May 15, 2020, 1:44 pm

Lives Lost: Holocaust survivor reclaimed Nazi-looted artwork

David Toren, whose family’s vast art collection was seized by the Nazis while they perished in the death camps, dies of coronavirus at 94

By Aron Heller

Protesters hold up a sign in front of the Texas State Capitol building on April 18, 2020 in Austin, Texas. (Sergio Flores/Getty Images/AFP)

April 20, 2020, 1:25 pm

Anti-Semitic sentiments seen rising as pandemic dredges up old hatreds

Tel Aviv University researchers say Jews are being accused of instigating pandemic to profit from it, find 18% jump in anti-Jewish attacks worldwide in 2019

By Aron Heller

Arie Even, the first casualty of COVID-19 in Israel. (courtesy)

April 17, 2020, 2:25 pm

Israel’s 1st virus death: Hid in hay bale after saved by Wallenberg in Holocaust

When Germany occupied Hungary in 1944, Arie Even, his mother and brother had to go into hiding for nearly a year, at times in bales of hay and in underground cellars

By Aron Heller