The Times of Israel https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/melanie-lidman/ News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World Sat, 29 Aug 2026 08:41:58 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://static-cdn.toi-media.com/www/uploads/2018/11/toi_icon_512-200x200.png Melanie Lidman | The Times of Israel https://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/melanie-lidman/ 32 32 IDF’s viral Arabic-language spokesman sparks fear, fascination in Gaza and Lebanon https://www.timesofisrael.com/idfs-viral-arabic-language-spokesman-sparks-fear-fascination-in-gaza-and-lebanon/ Tue, 09 Jun 2026 15:48:19 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3839625 Avichay Adraee has become one of the region's most recognizable influencers through his evacuation orders and social media presence, though some view him as Israel's 'face of evil'

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]]> Netanyahu’s union with Haredi parties pushing draft evasion risks his reelection https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahus-union-with-haredi-parties-pushing-draft-evasion-risks-pms-reelection/ Wed, 20 May 2026 17:33:49 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3827612 Bill legalizing exemptions for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students faces pushback from within the coalition, while Haredi factions desert PM over failure to pass law

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]]> Under shadow of war with Iran, Jerusalem heads into subdued Passover and Easter https://www.timesofisrael.com/under-shadow-of-war-with-iran-jerusalem-heads-into-subdued-passover-and-easter/ Sun, 29 Mar 2026 12:02:02 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3790223 Celebrations canceled and shops shuttered after missile fragments fell in Old City; Home Front Command limits religious gatherings to 50 people

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]]> Weddings, yoga, medical care: Life goes on, somehow, in Israel’s underground shelters during war https://www.timesofisrael.com/from-weddings-to-yoga-life-goes-on-in-israels-underground-shelters-during-wartime/ Tue, 24 Mar 2026 10:13:56 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3785903 Surreal images show country's resilience; Tel Aviv's Central Bus Station has become an impromptu home for a migrant community, while other shelters host kids' play zones, prayer groups

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]]> Ali Larijani was hardline voice in Iran’s regime for decades, with supreme leader’s ear https://www.timesofisrael.com/ali-larijani-was-hardline-voice-in-irans-regime-for-decades-with-supreme-leaders-ear/ Tue, 17 Mar 2026 21:49:19 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3780661 A heavy-handed culture minister, then parliament speaker and top security official, the close adviser to Ali Khamenei was widely believed to be running Iran after US-Israeli attack

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]]> The Purim story ‘with a different cast’: Mid-war, festival readings and parties move to bomb shelters https://www.timesofisrael.com/dressed-down-purim-parties-move-to-bomb-shelters-under-threat-of-missiles/ Tue, 03 Mar 2026 07:55:53 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3767327 As Book of Esther is read aloud in Tel Aviv parking garage, sheltering father says conflict with Persia's modern-day successor feels like the modern iteration of the 2,500-year-old saga

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]]> Born in a concentration camp, a Holocaust survivor tells her story for the first time https://www.timesofisrael.com/born-in-a-concentration-camp-a-holocaust-survivor-tells-her-story-for-the-first-time/ Tue, 27 Jan 2026 08:52:58 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3742264 Ilana Kantorowicz Shalem, one of the youngest living survivors, opens up about the romance her parents shared in captivity, and her miraculous birth and survival

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]]> Iran has aired some 100 forced confessions by anti-regime protesters, activists say https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-has-aired-some-100-forced-confessions-by-anti-regime-protesters-activists-say/ Tue, 13 Jan 2026 23:34:50 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3733304 Tehran ups pace of notorious broadcasts amid unrest, with regular references to Israel and US as supposed proof of foreign plots; activists report that confessions follow torture

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]]> As Iran protests grow, Israel watches closely but prefers to remain on sidelines https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-iran-protests-grow-israel-watches-closely-but-prefers-to-remain-on-sidelines/ Mon, 12 Jan 2026 02:11:46 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3731813 Ex-intel official says Jerusalem unlikely to strike unprovoked, as it would risk weakening demonstrations; Hebrew U expert says Iranian instigation would be 'suicide for regime'

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]]> ‘I don’t feel like a hero’: Ex-hostage Segev Kalfon tells of long path to recovery https://www.timesofisrael.com/i-dont-feel-like-a-hero-ex-hostage-segev-kalfon-tells-of-long-path-to-recovery/ Fri, 02 Jan 2026 07:41:27 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3725244 Former Hamas captive describes dire conditions and torture experienced in Gaza, says Jewish faith and hearing mother's voice on radio helped him survive

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]]> Elizabeth Tsurkov recovering from captivity and torture at hands of Iraqi terrorists https://www.timesofisrael.com/elizabeth-tsurkov-recovering-from-captivity-and-torture-at-hands-of-iraqi-terrorists/ Tue, 11 Nov 2025 11:25:56 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3686108 Kataeb Hezbollah originally kidnapped the researcher hoping to get ransom for her as a foreigner, she says, but started torturing her when they discovered she was Israeli

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]]> Israeli Kristallnacht survivors mark 87th anniversary amid rising global antisemitism https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-kristallnacht-survivors-mark-87th-anniversary-amid-rising-global-antisemitism/ Sun, 09 Nov 2025 07:18:41 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3684096 Survivors see parallels between today and period ahead of Holocaust: 'We live in an era equivalent to 1938, where synagogues are burned, and people in the street are attacked'

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]]> Michael Smuss, last surviving Warsaw Ghetto Uprising fighter, dies at 99 https://www.timesofisrael.com/last-surviving-warsaw-ghetto-uprising-fighter-michael-smuss-dies-at-99/ Thu, 23 Oct 2025 19:15:49 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3672481 While working to repair Nazi helmets, Smuss stole material for Jewish resistance needed to make Molotov cocktails; he survived the war and moved to US, then to Israel

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]]> Eli Sharabi’s memoir, the first by a freed Hamas hostage, is coming out in English https://www.timesofisrael.com/eli-sharabis-memoir-the-first-by-a-freed-hamas-hostage-is-coming-out-in-english/ Mon, 06 Oct 2025 07:44:15 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?post_type=liveblog_entry&p=3657403 'Hostage,' already out in Hebrew, instantly became a bestseller in Israel; Sharabi isn't yet ready to go inside the Kibbutz Be'eri home from where he was kidnapped 2 years ago

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]]> Thousands of archaeological relics rescued in Gaza ahead of IDF strike https://www.timesofisrael.com/thousands-of-archaeological-relics-rescued-in-gaza-ahead-of-idf-strike/ Wed, 17 Sep 2025 05:20:27 +0000 https://www.timesofisrael.com/?p=3643819 Army says Hamas was using warehouse that contained artifacts from over 25 years of excavations, including some of the oldest known evidence of Christianity in Gaza

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