Michael Wilner

Michael Wilner is the former Washington bureau chief and White House correspondent for The Jerusalem Post, coordinating coverage of US foreign policy in the Middle East from the White House, State Department, Pentagon and Congress. He was formerly the New York and United Nations correspondent for the Post. Wilner leads coverage of the Iran nuclear deal, the US-Israel relationship and the rise of Islamic State. A native New Yorker, he has reported from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East on business, cultural and international affairs. At age 23, Wilner joined the White House press corps as its youngest member and as the only representative of an Israeli news organization in its foreign corps. He traveled with the US delegation negotiating with Iran through Switzerland and Austria, and has filed from the field on the 2016 US presidential campaign, the Syrian refugee crisis, and the Gaza war during Operation Protective Edge. Wilner earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy, politics and economics as a McKenna Scholar at Claremont McKenna College in Los Angeles, California, and graduated in 2012 as a Hindery Fellow from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. Email Michael at: mawilner@gmail.com
US Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a meeting with Jewish community leaders at the David Posnack Jewish Community Center in Davie, Florida, September 3, 2015.

For Biden, Jewish voter turnout is key in Florida as race tightens

Polls over multiple election cycles have shown that Israel policy fails to move Jewish voter attitudes. The top concerns are always domestic matters.

OCTOBER 25, 2020
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Omani Foreign Minister Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah (L) in Warsaw, February 13th, 2019

Omani foreign minister tells Netanyahu of 'new era' in Middle East

“People in the Middle East have suffered a lot by sticking to the past. Now we are saying this is a new era for the future and for the prosperity of every nation,” said the Omani foreign minister.

DECEMBER 13, 2019
Moldova’s President Igor Dodon and his wife, Galina, walk out of a polling station in Chisinau on February 24

Jewish World: Moldova’s choice

Those hoping for a future with the West see Israel as their ticket.

MARCH 29, 2019

Which has shifted: The U.S. Left or Israel’s Right?

Democrats have become increasingly critical of the Israeli gov’t, but there’s also been a change in J’lem

MARCH 15, 2019
Democratic congressional candidate Ilhan Omar speaks at her election night party in Minneapolis.

Trump endorses Republican push to wrestle Jewish votes from Democrats

Quoting the founder of a new Republican-aligned group hoping to wrestle Jewish votes away from the Democrats, Trump tweeted that “Jewish people are leaving the Democratic Party.”

MARCH 13, 2019
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks to U.S. troops in an unannounced visit to Al Asad Air Base, Iraq December 26, 2018.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II meets with U.S. peace team to discuss its plan

The 45-minute meeting took place at the Jordanian ambassador's residence and briefly touched on the administration's upcoming effort to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

MARCH 12, 2019
A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace on March 11, 2019 shows Jordanian King Abdullah II (R) meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington, DC

Democrats now an ‘anti-Jewish party,’ Trump says

"Democrats have become an anti-Israel party," Trump said. "They have become an anti-Jewish party, and that’s too bad."

MARCH 9, 2019
.S. President Donald Trump reacts while talking to reporters as he departs to visit storm-hit areas of Alabama from the White House in Washington, U.S., March 8, 2019.

After 'tense' internal fight, Democrats broaden antisemitism resolution

Omar renewed controversy over her Israel stance last weekend when she questioned "the political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country."

MARCH 8, 2019
Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) participates in a House Education and Labor Committee Markup on the H.R. 582 Raise The Wage Act, in the Rayburn House Office Building on March 6, 2019 in Washington, D.C

American support for Israel falls to ten-year low, poll finds

The number of Americans who sympathize more with the Palestinian cause has remain unchanged, at 21%.

MARCH 6, 2019
‘WHAT ARE the effects, in Israel, in the US, and the rest of the world, of the perceived opinions of American Jewry?’

Sheldon Adelson, GOP donor and Israel conservative, battles cancer

Adelson gave $30 million to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and $100 million to the GOP for its midterm races in 2018.

MARCH 2, 2019
Sheldon Adelson speaks during an inteview

GOP lawmakers introduce bill recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Golan

Trump administration officials have privately asked their Israeli counterparts to quiet that lobbying campaign.

FEBRUARY 28, 2019
Mount Hermon is seen in the background as Israeli soldiers travel on mobile artillery units after an exercise in the Golan Heights, February 2013

'Not getting involved' in Otzma controversy, Pompeo says

Two of America's largest Israel advocacy organizations– the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and the American Jewish Committee– indirectly condemned Netanyahu for his move on Friday.

FEBRUARY 25, 2019
Then-CIA Director Mike Pompeo testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on "Worldwide Threats" on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, February 13, 2018

NYPD investigating swastikas drawn on elementary school as a hate crime

While the school was closed, the playground is publicly accessible.

FEBRUARY 24, 2019
A playground for detained children is seen through chain link fencing as U.S. first lady Melania Trump tours an immigration detention facility for children run by Southwest Key Programs and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S., June 28, 2018