WASHINGTON (JTA) — More time is needed to bridge gaps between Israelis and Palestinians before direct peace talks can resume, Dennis Ross said. In a speech Monday to the J Street conference in Washington, the senior White House adviser on Middle East peace issues said the current process of the United States working with both [ Read More...]

(JTA) — An Orthodox Jewish plaintiff in a medical malpractice trial will be allowed a retrial after he missed part of the trial for a religious holiday. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruled Feb. 24 that by not rescheduling the court date so that Alexander Neustadter could appear, his opponent went unchallenged, prejudicing the trial. [ Read More...]

LOS ANGELES (JTA) — A minyan of Jewish talent garnered coveted Oscar statuettes at the 2011 Academy Awards ceremony. In the opening montage of the Academy Award ceremony Sunday night, hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway played with a dreidel, which proved to be an omen that a good night awaited Jewish talent. Israel-born Natalie [ Read More...]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The European Union approved wide-ranging sanctions against Libya as world leaders urged Moammar Ghadafi to step down. Sanctions levied Monday following a meeting in Geneva include an arms embargo, a visa ban and a freeze on Libyan assets. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of opposition protesters in Libya have been killed by pro-Ghadafi [ Read More...]

SAN FRANCISCO (JTA) – The Jewish Federation of Greater Portland is looking for one or more programs worth $300,000. That’s the amount the Oregon group has allocated for innovative new programs that will meet “significant community needs and create significant opportunities” in and around Portland. Federation CEO Marc Blattner said the Community Impact Grand Funds [ Read More...]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A self-proclaimed rabbi who counseled his followers to commit acts of child abuse and abused several children who lived with him was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Elior Chen was sentenced Monday in Jerusalem District Court to 24 years in prison and damages of $192,000 to his victims, eight children of [ Read More...]

PARIS (JTA) — A video of fashion designer John Galliano saying he loves Hitler has emerged after he was suspended from the Christian Dior fashion house for allegedly harassing a couple, using anti-Semitic and racist slurs. The video, posted Monday on the website of the British The Sun newspaper, shows Galliano yelling at a different [ Read More...]

JERUSALEM (JTA) – A delegation of Chilean miners who survived 68 days trapped underground in a collapsed mine recited a thanksgiving blessing with Israeli President Shimon Peres. The 25 miners and their spouses or significant others met with Peres in the President’s Official Residence in Jerusalem on Sunday. Peres opened the ceremony by reciting with the miners [ Read More...]

JERUSALEM (JTA) – Newly appointed Israeli ambassadors and Foreign Ministry cadets will visit the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and other West Bank Jewish heritage sites, under a new educational project. The plan was announced last week to the Knesset by Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon of the Israel Beiteinu party. It has not yet [ Read More...]

(JTA) — The leaders of American Jewish groups appealed to Cuba’s president to release a Jewish U.S. citizen from prison and reunite him with his family. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, representing 51 Jewish groups in the United States sent a letter over the weekend to President Raul Castro, asking him [ Read More...]