Jacob Magid

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US correspondent based in New York

Sarah Muscroft, head of OCHA OPT, speaks in a video address in December 2020. (Screen capture/YouTube)

August 15, 2022, 2:39 am

Israel urges UN chief to cancel ouster of top official who condemned PIJ rocket fire

Envoy Erdan says UN’s ‘surrender’ to Palestinian threats emblemizes a lack of objectivity, especially since inquiry member who recently denounced ‘Jewish lobby’ was not punished

By Jacob Magid

OCHA OPT Head Sarah Muscroft speaks in a video address on June 10, 2021. (Screen capture/YouTube)

August 13, 2022, 5:52 pm

Senior UN official loses her post after tweet condemning PIJ rocket fire at Israel

Jerusalem-based Sarah Muscroft to be assigned new role, spokesman says, after her statement panning rockets that ‘provoke Israeli retaliation’ met strong backlash from Palestinians

By Jacob Magid

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd from right) meets at his Jerusalem office with the ambassador to the US, Ron Dermer (right); White House adviser Jared Kushner (center); US Ambassador David Friedman (second left); and special envoy Jason Greenblatt, on July 31, 2019. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)

August 12, 2022, 5:58 pm

Backing Netanyahu, Dermer pans Kushner claim ex-PM went rogue with annexation pledge

Like Likud chief, ex-Israeli envoy points to exchange of letters by 2 leaders, which purportedly saw US commit to backing move, but the memos were more complicated than that

By Jacob Magid

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar waves to passersby for support during a voter engagement event on the corner of Broadway and Central Avenues in Minneapolis, on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. (Elizabeth Flores/Star Tribune via AP)

August 10, 2022, 6:52 am

Moderate rival nearly upsets Ilhan Omar in primary race pro-Israel groups sat out

After spending millions to defeat Squad member in last election only to lose in landslide, mainstream Jewish groups avoided endorsing Don Samuels, who is poised to lose by just 2%

By Jacob Magid

Defense Minister Benny Gantz, right, meets with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on May 19, 2022. (Shmulik Almany/GPO)

August 9, 2022, 11:46 pm

Pentagon backs off Jerusalem security coordinator downgrade amid lawmaker pressure

Defense Department notifies Congresspeople who opposed lowering rank that it is reversing its plans, after lawmakers argued 3-star officer needed to help keep stability in region

By Jacob Magid

(L) Don Samuels, Democratic candidate for Minnesota's 5th Congressional district. (R) Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. at a House Education and Labor Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 6, 2019. (Neighbors for Samuels; AP/J. Scott Applewhite/collage by Times of Israel)

August 9, 2022, 2:21 pm

Offering centrist alternative, ex-councilman poses long-shot challenge to Ilhan Omar

Don Samuels says Squad member alienated groups, including Jews, and that most rejected her effort to defund police; poll ahead of Tuesday primary shows support still with incumbent

By Jacob Magid

Egyptian Ambassador to the UN Osama Abdel Khalek addresses the Security Council on August 8, 2022. (Screen capture/UN TV)

August 9, 2022, 2:25 am

After mediating Gaza ceasefire, Egypt’s envoy castigates Israel at Security Council

As Lapid praises Sissi, Cairo’s envoy to UN laments ‘martyrs’ killed, Israeli ‘desecration of al-Aqsa,’ calls for end to Israeli blockade and says Israel responsible for Strip

By Jacob Magid

US President Joe Biden responds to reporters' questions as he walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, on his way to his Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, home after his most recent COVID-19 isolation, August 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

August 8, 2022, 5:31 am

Biden welcomes Gaza ceasefire, says US proud to back life-saving Iron Dome

US president thanks Egypt for leading talks alongside Qatar, backs probe of civilian casualties caused by Israel and PIJ, commends Lapid’s leadership during the crisis

By Jacob Magid

Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Karen Riyad Mansour listens to speakers during a meeting on the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, Wednesday, November 20, 2019, at United Nations headquarters. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

August 7, 2022, 9:17 am

UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting Monday to discuss Gaza-Israel violence

UAE is one of nations initiating meeting, expressing ‘deep concern’ over violence; Jordanian FM decries Israel’s ‘aggression’ in Strip, warns against Temple Mount ‘provocations’

By Jacob Magid

US Ambassador to Israel Thomas (Tom) Nides visits the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem on December 2, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

August 5, 2022, 11:20 pm

US says Israel has a right to defend itself; UN envoy ‘deeply concerned’ by violence

PA leader blasts ‘Israeli aggression’ in Gaza, while Iran assails ‘the brutal attack of the Zionist apartheid regime’

By Jacob Magid and TOI staff

Palestinians in Gaza fire rockets at Israel on August 5, 2022. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

August 5, 2022, 5:11 pm

Under rocket fire, Israelis near Gaza spend night in shelters; IDF hits PIJ targets

IDF says Islamic Jihad commander it killed was preparing major attack, stresses it is not targeting Hamas; reservists call-up approved; PM: ‘Zero tolerance’ for attacks from Gaza

By Jacob Magid

US President Donald Trump (left) and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu take part in an announcement of Trump's Middle East peace plan in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 28, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP)

August 4, 2022, 8:11 pm

Netanyahu hits back at ‘baseless’ claim he shocked Trump with annexation declaration

Likud says ex-PM made announcement upon receiving letter from Trump giving him green light, countering Kushner book saying Netanyahu, ex-envoy Friedman went rogue

By Jacob Magid

Enrique Mora, a leading European Union diplomat, second right, attends a meeting with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani, third left, in Tehran, Iran, March 27, 2022. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)

August 4, 2022, 12:42 am

Senior Biden official: ‘We’ve lost nothing by keeping door open to deal with Iran’

Top official speaking to ToI defends refusal to walk away from talks, even as Iran continues to expand its nuclear program; notes US has intensified economic, diplomatic pressure

By Jacob Magid

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides (L) and opposiiton chairman Benjamin Netanyahu meet in the Knesset on December 9, 2021. (US Embassy in Israel)

August 2, 2022, 11:13 pm

US envoy warns time running out on visa waivers, amid Likud refusal to cooperate

As Tom Nides lobbies for legislation needed for Israel to join US Visa Waiver Program, Likud adamant it will not back the bills, claims it’s a lost cause this year anyway

By Jacob Magid

Palestinian policemen participate in a training session at their headquarters in the West Bank city of Hebron on January 30, 2019. (HAZEM BADER / AFP)

August 2, 2022, 3:47 am

Despite bipartisan opposition, US still plans to downgrade Jerusalem security post

Israel-PA coordination job to be filled by colonel rather than three-star general; Defense Department says it is following requirements of Congressional legislation

By Jacob Magid