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1 week ago | 
clevelandjewishnews.com | Cliff Savren
For years, the threat from Iran, which has vowed to destroy us, has hung over our heads here in Israel. But never did I expect all-out war with the Islamic Republic to begin exactly when it did. Apparently, the Iranians were caught somewhat by surprise, too. During the night of June 12 to June 13, in addition to air-raid sirens, we all received a special cellphone message that I didn’t understand at first.
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2 weeks ago | 
clevelandjewishnews.com | Cliff Savren
Fifty-eight years ago this month, on June 7, 1967, Israeli forces captured Jerusalem’s Old City, including the Western Wall and the Temple Mount, which are considered the Jewish people’s holiest sites. The capture of the Old City and the rest of East Jerusalem from Jordanian forces in what became known as the Six-Day War put an end to the division of the city between Israeli West Jerusalem and Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem – a creation of the 1949 armistice agreement.
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1 month ago | 
clevelandjewishnews.com | Cliff Savren
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1 month ago | 
columbusjewishnews.com | Cliff Savren
With the approach of Memorial Day weekend in the United States, I’m struck by how different Memorial Day is in the U.S. and Israel. Although U.S. citizens have died in overseas wars within the memory of most Americans, my sense is that most people in the United States simply view it as another long holiday weekend.
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1 month ago | 
clevelandjewishnews.com | Cliff Savren
Of all of the crazy policies enacted by Donald Trump in the three months since he resumed the presidency, the arrest of foreign students for their views critical of Israel is among the most shocking. As an immigrant to Israel who has both American and Israeli citizenship, I am outraged by the prospect that an American administration would arrest and seek to deport foreign nationals simply for expressing criticism of Israel. Freedom of speech is indivisible.
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2 months ago | 
clevelandjewishnews.com | Cliff Savren
In many ways, Israel is in a horrible situation. The war with Hamas has been dragging on for more than a year-and-a-half with no conclusion in sight. Fifty-nine hostages, fewer than half of whom are still believed to be alive, remain in Gaza. And after a hiatus of sorts due to the war, the current government is charging full steam ahead to try to undermine the gatekeepers of Israeli democracy – the Supreme Court, the attorney general’s office and the Shin Bet security agency.
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2 months ago | 
clevelandjewishnews.com | Cliff Savren
Amid a war between Israel and Hamas that has now been going on with varying intensity for a year and a half and intensifying efforts by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to eliminate the few legal limitations on its power, there was news of a different sort last month that is also at the heart of the Israeli reality. Google announced that it is buying Wiz, a five-year-old Israeli cloud security startup, for $32 billion.
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Mar 19, 2025 | 
clevelandjewishnews.com | Cliff Savren
I find that the older I get, the easier it is to speak my mind. I thought about that recently while watching a speech by former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who is 91 and left office as prime minister in 2003. The speech came at a fraught time for Canada, after President Donald Trump unleashed a merciless trade war against the country on baseless grounds – part of a larger campaign against America’s other close allies.
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Mar 5, 2025 | 
clevelandjewishnews.com | Cliff Savren
In January, I wrote a Columbus Jewish News column in which I quoted an op-ed piece written by Yocheved Lifshitz, an elderly resident of Kibbutz Nir Oz who was abducted to Gaza along with her husband, Oded, in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Yocheved Lifshitz was released a few weeks after her abduction, but her husband remained in captivity. “I hope Oded returns,” she wrote in January.
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Feb 20, 2025 | 
clevelandjewishnews.com | Cliff Savren
Since the ceasefire and hostage-release agreement between Israel and Hamas went into effect on Jan. 19, there have been weekly releases of small numbers of Israeli hostages on Saturday mornings, followed later the same day by the release of Palestinian prisoners, many of whom are hardcore convicted terrorists. It would be wrong to call the new Saturday ritual a routine. Every week brings unique drama, and Israelis know the personal stories of each hostage before they are handed over. On Feb.
