Rabbi Josh Weinberg (he/him) serves as the vice president for Israel and Reform Zionism for the Union for Reform Judaism, and as the president of ARZA.
ARZA membership affirms that a commitment to Israel is a core component of your identity as a Reform Jew and is critical to strengthening the Reform Movement’s voice within Israeli National Institutions (WZO, KKL, JAFI), the Israeli political system, and Israeli society at large. Become a member of ARZA and subscribe to Rabbi Weinberg's weekly newsletter and commentary.
In November 2006, I set out with a pack on my back to walk the Land. I knew that before I enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces, I wanted a more intimate relationship with the country that I had made my home.
On Sunday, Israel’s Knesset narrowly voted in Israel’s 36th government with Naftali Bennett as the nation’s 13th prime minister, unseating the incumbant Benjamin Netanyahu.
The winds of change are blowing through Israel these days. This week the so-called “coalition for change” presented its new government to President Reuven Rivlin, ousting Benjamin Netanyahu after 12 consecutive years as Israel’s Prime Minister.
Much of the rhetoric coming out of an American understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian interrelationship seriously lacks nuance. Nuance is cavalierly sacrificed on the altar of the soundbite and the hashtag. Those who preach liberal politics and tolerance based on their American experience seem unwilling to understand the complexity of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.