Jerusalem photos

Photos from the JNS International Policy Summit

Sharon A

It’s summertime.

People are returning to the Jerusalem streets.

From June 21-23, 1000 people gathered in Jerusalem, Israel, to meet and hear from 200 speakers.

The Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem was the site of the three-day JNS 2026 (Jerusalem News Syndicate) International Policy Summit.

Breaking 3 full days down to 3 minutes of highlights was not simple.

DAY ONE

Before the official program began, the VIP Lounge was briefly open.

South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein was one of the speakers.

Miss Israel 2025 Melanie Shiraz was one of the participants.

Security was at the highest level.

Getting stuck with Col Richard Kemp and Jonathan Cornicus made for an interesting wait.

Outspoken Sid Rosenberg was back again, as was diplomatic Malcolm Hoenlein.

As always, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee was a favorite speaker.

JNS Editor-in-Chief Jonathan Tobin moderated the first panel

One of the Israeli politicians at the summit was MK Ohad Tal.

The opening night program ran late, waiting for the Prime Minister and his wife to arrive.

During the day, they were at Har Herzl for the 50th anniversary of Yoni Netanyahu’s death during the rescue in Entebbe.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu spoke – all the plenaries were livestreamed and recorded.

We were all smiling when the program ended, and we could finally eat something.

I went home just as long-time friends were also leaving the hotel.

DAY TWO

Tzipi Hotovely, former Ambassador to the United Kingdom, now Head of the National Public Diplomacy Directorate, was interviewed by JNS CEO Alex Traiman.

There were hundreds of people outside the main sessions. Some spent their time taking selfies.

No, that is not me for a selfie. But one person I was glad to see, and compliment was Marcus Sheff, IMPACT SE CEO. I often use their information on UNRWA’s Arabic hate against Israel on social media.

Imagine so many people, I did not find friends in the crowd, but got these two with similar names together!

Jonathan Tobin found a minute of solitude to check his phone.

Shabbos Kestenbaum and comedian Ami Kozak were together again. I had taken their photo together at another conference.

I missed Einat Wilf speaking, but stopped her in the hall.

She is starting a new political party, OZ, and just wrote a complementary post on social media about the Lebanon-Israel agreement.

There was a long list of speakers and many panels.

Plus, videos were made during the days with interviews for JNS TV.

A highlight of the day, as the day went on, was the Shalva Band.

Interestingly, several minyanim, prayer services, were not in the schedule, but popped up in the hall, and not only in the synagogue.

Caught Caroline Glick on my way out, and watched the rest online.

More Day 2 photos- HERE

Nice to see something bright and new on the Jerusalem streets on my way home.

DAY THREE

Montana Tucker spoke well. I have been a fan since her movie, The Children of October 7, opened at the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem. I was glad I had a minute to tell her when she left the stage.

She is to be featured at the Maccabiah Opening event on Wednesday night.

Tired yet?

Summit chairman Richard Heidemann welcomed EMET founder Sarah Stern and Mosab Hassan Yosef to the stage.

Along with Dr. Dan Diker, the “Green Prince” spoke without politically correct filters about the Middle East to great applause.

As the son of the founder of Hamas, his inside views should be valued.

Another favorite panel – Israel’s Wounded Warriors – was corrected to Heroes by moderator Tila Falic Levi.

It was followed by ‘Making Aliyah Easier.’ For sure, not easy. However, it’s been almost 20 years for us.

One speaker of the night was Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Sa’ar.

Nissam Black was the featured entertainer, caught him with JNS Feature editor Steve Linde.

Skipped the rest of the program that ran late and watched at home.

That’s it, folks…

Now back to the real world.

Out on the Jerusalem streets, Emek Refaim has been torn up for light rail construction, and buses are being rerouted.

Road work delays and construction in Jerusalem are the norm.

BUT – the signs are up for Jerusalem Design Week from July 9-16, 2026.

Tomorrow is a med-tech innovation conference at the Jerusalem International Convention Center.

Always something happening on the Jerusalem streets, hope to see you here soon.

Did you see another International Jerusalem Winner Marathon?

Sharon A

One day, sirens sounded, and people headed to shelters off the Jerusalem streets.

Then, Pesach, Passover, ended with a ceasefire announcement.

Put away the Pesach pots and pans and dishes, and boom, back to normal?!

April weather had been unusually cold.

But the next day, when the sun was shining, people returned to the Jerusalem streets.

Overnight, the blue and white Israeli flags were seen flying in the breeze.

Seeing the new flag on the car mirror was a sure sign of the season of the Yoms.

For Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Martyrs’ and Remembrance Day, the official state opening at Yad Vashem on Monday night was recorded. With the constant missile attacks since Purim, Homeland Security regulations had limited the size of events and the need for adequate shelters.

President Herzog speaking at Yad Vashem

Hundreds of guests outside in the Warsaw Ghetto Plaza did not happen this year.

The event was broadcast with all the annual elements, but no live audience.

Leading up to Yom HaZikaron, Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror, President Herzog hosted families of fallen soldiers at an annual event supported by the IDF Widows and Orphans and Yad L’Banim organizations.

Fallen soldier Moti Shamir’s mother told how he would stand with his Holocaust survivor grandmother for the siren each year. Shamir’s daughter, born after he was killed on October 7, sat on her mother’s lap.

So many new stories with over 350 widows and 900 orphans since October 7, 2023.

Each of the eight families shared stories of their lost son, daughter, or sibling.

They also brought an item to share; one family showed the Herzogs a shirt.

One mother shared a story of a policewoman and a stuffed toy.

Yom HaZikaron begins tomorrow night, Monday, April 20, 2026.

The Michael Levine Base Ammunition Hill ceremony has people sitting outside. This year, it is recorded. There were doubts about the safety of 1000 people seated outside with no adequate shelter.

However, for Yom Hazikaron, there are many smaller community-centered commemorations throughout Israel.

What a week this was with the transition of going back to school after 6 weeks.

The biggest event to end the week was the 15th International Jerusalem Winner Marathon.

The races were originally planned for before Passover and then rescheduled for April 17, 2026.

Decisions were made down to the last tense minute, to run or not to run.

By Thursday evening, thousands had come to Cinema City to pick up their race kits.

Remember, people signed up to run in Jerusalem before the ceasefire was announced.

The marathon EXPO was held at Cinema City, and people were shopping.

It had one new feature this year that was popular.

All the runners’ names were posted on a sign, and they could take a selfie.

Can you see that there were fewer names at the top of the blue row for the full marathon than the other, shorter, much more popular races?

The green section is the 10-kilometer race, which had so many runners that it was divided into 3 start times.

Red was the half-marathon; all registered full runners could participate in that race.

There was no full marathon this year due to the hot weather forecast.

In previous years, the marathoners came here as I went to the starting line.

The barriers left along the street were very different this year.

All start times were moved up an hour, and the first runners took off in the dark.

The air quality did get very bad, and running later was a health hazard.

The entrance used by full marathon runners to enter the park was closed.

The full marathon finish line was empty when I got to the park.

The VIP tents on the side were not open this year.

However, the marathon finish was popular this year. Almost everyone took photos.

Only runners were allowed in the park, not their supporters, due to security.

The organizations’ booths were not allowed to set up in Sacher Park.

Homeland Security had limited numbers and encouraged runners to leave as quickly as possible after their race.

The Remember Roey running group managed to get a small table set up.

This year, many running groups were in memory of fallen soldiers.

Many of the organizational groups were smaller, with international runners unable to come.

Less celebrating, less congregating, and less music – no full marathon, but the races went on.

At the starting line for the 10-kilometer races, it was very crowded.

Thousands of runners lined up and waited for their start.

The enthusiasm was not muted by the weather or war.

Preparing for this marathon was done in a sprint.

Supporters were out at the crazy earlier hours.

All runners at the finish line were winners.

Without the booths, food, and family and friend supporters, runners were filling the park, able to rest after their race.

The 15th International Jerusalem Winner Marathon was held, with tens of thousands of runners participating in the shorter races. Only one case of heat exhaustion was reported.

On the way home, I saw this smiling duo coming toward the finish line.

Remember the first full successful marathon?

A woman was killed nearby by a bomb less than 48 hours before the start.

The same feeling this year.

Relief.

Accomplishment to start and to finish.

Winners all.

More Marathon photos on Facebook

Hope to see you next year in Jerusalem!

Photos from the last week of November in Jerusalem

Sharon A

On Nov. 30, Israel marks the Day of Departure & Expulsion of Jews from Arab Countries & Iran.

Almost a million Jews were expelled from their countries of birth after 1948, 850,000 from the Arab world & 100,000 from Iran. This fact of history and ethnic cleansing has been ignored for too long.

Sign 29 November Street

Kaf tet b’November was on Shabbat this year.

Why is it important to share the Jerusalem street sign again every year?

On November 29, 1947, the United Nations adopted Resolution 181, the Partition Resolution, to divide Great Britain’s former Palestinian mandate into Jewish and Arab states in May 1948, when the British mandate was scheduled to end. The Jews accepted. The Arabs declared war.

In 1977, the General Assembly called for the annual observance of 29 November as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The UN has become consistent in rewriting and inverting history.

Jerusalem doesn’t have fall colors like the US Northeast. However, these leaves were near the Knesset.

Oh, oh, the Jerusalem streets, with construction most everywhere, making it hard to drive or walk.

The new signs promote the use of the expanded bike lanes. I saw three bike riders at one time last week.

We had heavy rain and a couple of grey days. Again today, it was sunny, and then came heavy rain.

It was a good time to stay home and bake to fill the freezer on a rainy day,

However, when the sun comes out, so does the colour along the Jerusalem streets.

At the beginning of the week, I was back at the National Library of Israel, and the sun was shining.

Finally! The timing was right to get a photo of the shadows in the form of letters.

This display was back to the original before the Iron Swords War.

This was for a tour group, after almost two years without the faces of the murdered on October 7 on display.

The last three hostages are now down to two. One is a Thai worker, Sudthisak Rudalak.

Police officer Ran Gvili was murdered on October 7, and his body was taken hostage.

Will they ever be released to come home?

The main lobby was quiet; it is usually full of large tour groups.

From that lobby area, visitors usually take this image to post of the National Library of Israel.

However, this time I was escorted upstairs to a small conference room for a special presentation by three researchers. Avi Shmidman, Daniel Stokl Ben Ezra and Nachum Dershowitz are the principal investigators of the MiDRASH project.

For centuries, in the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, Old Cairo, the Cairo Genizah contained more than 300,000 handwritten pieces from the 9th to the 19th centuries.

They have used AI and Machine Learning to transcribe and share from the Cairo Genizah fragments.

Soon, the results will be available online through the National Library for researchers around the world.

For those wanting something less academic, NLI is hosting children’s events during Hanukkah.

Thursday night was Thanksgiving, a holiday mostly celebrated with Black Friday ads and not turkey.

But AMIT held a Thanksgiving dinner at the Jerusalem Inbal Hotel to celebrate 100 years of educating Israeli children. The attendees were mostly American, with a large percentage of them olim.

I went for the Thanksgiving-themed food for Friday night dinner.

It was interesting to see the photos of Thanksgiving and Shabbat posted on social media again. For two years, many refrained from posting their weekly gatherings as hostages were held starving in Gaza.

There are only two hostages presumed dead known to be left in Gaza, and for many, it’s back to normal.

However, the war is not over. Newly wounded have joined the long list of over 20,000 soldiers.

As we were reminded at the AMIT dinner, 66 fallen soldiers were students, as well as 3 AMIT educators.

Hadar Goldin, the longest held hostage, was kidnapped and killed during a humanitarian ceasefire 11 years ago, and finally returned for his long-suffering parents to have a proper burial.

There is what to be thankful for and hopeful for on the Jerusalem streets.

What will happen next? You never can predict.

Hope to see you soon, this year in Jerusalem.