In a rare press interview, former Israeli Defense Force chief Gabi Ashkenazi sat down with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour to talk about Syria, Iran, and Israel’s newly mended fences with Turkey. Israel’s strategy relating to Syria is currently a popular topic on numerous news outlets, and Tuesday’s interview was no different. Ashkenazi said the West could consider “lethal assistance” in dealing with the two-year long conflict, saying, “Weapons, in order to help them to topple …More

Turkey declined to agree to a meeting of NATO's Mediterranean Dialogue group including Israel and six Arab countries. Egypt also declined to convene the group for the first time in five years, the Turkish Hurriyet Daily News reported. The Mediterranean Dialogue, founded in 2004, is intended to contribute to regional security. Along with Israel and Egypt, the other participating countries are Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Algeria and Jordan. Turkey declined the meeting despite Israel's recent apology for the …More

Two hundred Israelis are set to be tested for tuberculosis. [Times of Israel] Women of the Wall back Sharansky's Kotel plans. [Times of Israel] An ex-owner of an LA market is sued in the ongoing kosher scandal. [Forward] Fatah is glorifying suicide bombers on its Facebook page. [Algemeiner] Turkey is delaying its Mavi Marmara compensation talks. [Arutz Sheva] The Times rounds up the Arab-Jewish NYC train ad feud. [NYT] Jason Segel is working on a series of young adult novels. Seriously. [Heeb] …More

Relatives of Mavi Marmara victims go to court. [Forward] Anne Frank's step-sister has released a memoir. [Forward] A look at Israel's starving Shoah survivors problem. [Tablet] Hamas has outlawed "stylish haircuts" and low cut jeans for men. [Times of Israel] Newly released documents reveal the moment Israel caught Eichmann. [Times of Israel] The UK's Jewish community pays tribute to Margaret Thatcher. [JC] Germany is starting a new search for living SS guards. [Ynet] …More

The president of the Ukrainian Jewish Committee will lead a conference with Christian, Islam, Zoroastrian, Buddhist, and Jewish religious leaders around the world. [JPost] President Shimon Peres plans to travel to Rome and meet with Pope Francis I on April 30th. [Times of Israel] The IDF’s Chief of Staff recently met a woman who was saved at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp by the chief’s mother. [Times of Israel] An Israeli man saved two Beoudin brothers, after they were pulled out to sea on …More

Jacob Kamaras, JNS.org Some Israeli leaders are criticizing Israel’s recent apology to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident in light of the demands Erdoğan has made of Israel since the apology was publicized. Erdoğan, clarifying initial reports that Turkey-Israel ties had been normalized following his conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that those ties would not be fully restored until Israel both provides financial compensation for the …More

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said normalization of relations with Israel will not take place until Israel fulfills its part of the agreement. Turkey and Israel agreed to normalize ties after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for Israel's 2010 raid on the Mavi Marmara ship as it attempted to break a maritime blockade of Gaza. In the phone call, Netanyahu agreed to compensate the families of nine Turks killed in the ensuing violence when Israeli naval commandos boarded the ship. Erdogan …More

In a surprising turn of events Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued an apology to his Turkish counterpart, ending three years of frozen relations and marking a move toward battling the potential for unrest overflow from Syria. The move came via a phone call at Ben-Gurion Airport just as US President Barack Obama readied to board a plane for Jordan. Obama reportedly spoke first to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, then handed the phone to Netanyahu to continue. The Prime …More

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly rejected Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s offer to write an apology to his Turkish counterpart for possible “operational errors” during the IDF raid of Mavi Marmara in May 2010. Relations between Turkey and Israel have been strained since the incident, which resulted in the death of nine activists. Israeli daily Haaretz, citing unnamed Foreign Ministry sources, reported Sunday that Netanyahu vetoed Barak, who has repeatedly advocated an …More

A rabbi’s summary of what Purim is really about. [Jewish Journal] “The Whipping Man” portrays the reality of Southern Jewish slave owners during Civil War. [AJC] Many items in Jewish Museum of Vienna were stolen by Nazis from Jewish families during Holocaust. [Algemeiner] Chuck Hagel’s probable tenure for defense secretary continues to cause disagreement in Washington. [Times of Israel] Benjamin Netanyahu presses his team to bring The Jewish Home into the coalition. [Israel Hayom] An …More

Jewish Home holds coalition talks in the hope of revoking Netanyahu’s agreement with Tzipi Livni. [Times of Israel] Madeline Albright discusses discovering her own family’s Jewish heritage and Holocaust experience, in new book “Prague Winter.” [Marin Independent Journal] Taglit-Birthright founders Michael and Judy Steinhardt will auction off 400 pieces of rare Judaica collection. [JPost] Standing Together helps IDF soldiers have special Purim celebrations. [Jewish Press] Recently …More

Israel will allow Turkish sources into Gaza to build a hospital, a rare move that comes after months of negotiations. The move is not only groundbreaking for what it will mean for Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip—the hospital is set to be the largest in all of Gaza—but also for the forwarding of Israeli-Turkish ties. The Jewish state and Turkey have been on frosty terms since the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, when nine Turkish nationals were killed while attempting to enter blockaded Gaza …More