The false façade of Blue & White was even more friable and fragile than anyone imagined; under the assault of recalcitrant reality, even the fast-drying Bibiphobic glue proved unable to hold things together. Just over a year ago, immediately after the announcement of the union between Benny Gantz and Yair …

In stark contrast to Netanyahu, Ehud Olmert was indicted on existing interpretation of the law, no “creative” legal precedents were needed to prosecute him, there were no claims of selective prosecution, or allegations of police investigatory misconduct. …indictment is not evidence of guilt and does not detract from the presumption …

There is—and should be–a qualitative difference (i.e. a structural inequality) between votes cast for parties that wish to undermine the Jewish nation-state and those who wish to protect and preserve it.  … the right of the Jewish people to establish their State is irrevocable…This right is the natural right of …

This week, Israeli politics plumbed appalling new lows with reports that, Blue& White, which, as the major rival to PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud, emerged as the second largest party in last week’s Knesset elections, was actively planning to violate its solemn pledges to the voters, made only days previously. In …

The tenets of “defensive democracy” require Israel to act against those who would use its democracy to undermine the very foundations on which it is founded. Clause 7A of Basic Law: Knesset: 1. A candidates’ list shall not participate in elections to the Knesset, and a person shall not be …

Assessing the overall long-term merits of the “Deal of the Century” is a little like trying to hit a rapidly moving target.  Over the years, I have expressed what are generally considered distinctly hardline, hawkish views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I categorically opposed any notion entailing the establishment of a …

 Whatever the operational efficacy of targeted assassinations may be—or not be—the conscience of every decent individual should rebel at the thought that arch-purveyors of terror should be permitted to pursue their deadly profession with impunity. Last week’s assassination of the commander of the Quds brigades, the overseas arm of Iran’s …

Despite his remarkable success, Netanyahu has been ceaselessly assailed by his political adversaries. Indeed, it is perhaps his very success that has generated such raw rancor against him. I would have preferred to have devoted this week’s column to some other topic—such as the ascendance of blatant antisemitism around the …

Despite the dramatic physical, societal and political differences between Israel and the US, in both countries a very similar—and disturbing—assault on the fabric of democracy is taking place.    Israel and the US are very different in many ways. Geographically, they are separated by the width of an ocean and …

Despite its many undoubted merits, democracy has one glaring detriment. There is never a dictator to blame for the fate that befalls the people. They alone are responsible for whatever befalls them. Israel is now hurtling towards its third national election within a year. Not Force Majeure  This was not …

Last Thursday (Nov. 21, 2019), Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit dropped a long-awaited bombshell on Israel’s political system. Emotions erupt After months of speculation, he announced his intent to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000 (the Bezeq-Walla Affair);  for breach of trust in …

“Such a missile would pulverize a house to dust. It blasted a crater that is impossible to describe… There is no protection that defend us in the case of missiles like this.” – Gaza-border resident    I have written on Gaza in my last two columns—one just before the latest …

Delaying the inevitable does not make it less inevitable—only more costly   The targeted assassination of the senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorist, Bahaa Abu al-Ata, strikingly underscored two—curiously contrary—things. The paradox of Israel: Techno-tactical genius; strategic imbecility. The one is Israel’s remarkable expertise and aptitude at the techno-tactical level that …

The obdurate resistance of Gaza to any type of resolution has led to such overriding exasperation that it has begun to undermine the quality of the public debate on the issue. The IDF swept triumphantly into the Egyptian-ruled Gaza Strip in early June 1967 and pulled out ignominiously in mid-August …

Former Justice Minister, ‘Tommy’ Lapid: “…the legal system in Israel is being undermined by an over-zealous State Prosecutor’s Office, that is losing esteem and credibility with each additional trial…”    This week was a tumultuous one for Israel’s legal establishment—and rightly so. Perversion of the democratic process. For almost a …

  Since the early 1990s, and certainly since the Oslo process (1993), the ‘Land for peace’ principle  has been Israel’s dominant policy paradigm, particularly, but not exclusively, with regard to the “Palestinian problem”.  This is something that is difficult to comprehend.  After all, not only was it a formula that …

The Oslo process that resulted in the signature of the “Declaration of Principles” on the White House Lawns on September 13, 1993, was in many ways a point of singularity in the history of Zionism, after which everything was qualitatively different from that which it was before.  It was a …

The feasibility of Trump’s “Deal of the Century” will be dramatically impacted by the nature of the regime east of the Jordan River and its prospective stability. With the media in a furor over the election deadlock and the legal woes of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, some of the other …

From the rabid rants of the myriad of “Bibiphobes”, the uninformed observer would be led to believe that Netanyahu is to blame for every misfortune and every malfeasance on the face of the globe… Let me commence with full disclosure on two matters: First, I am a totally non-observant Jew, …

Arguably, Netanyahu’s gravest strategic miscalculation was not to call elections in May 2016 rather than capitulate to Liberman’s demand to be given the Defense portfolio.   Earlier this month, I wrote a column with the interrogative title: Sept. 17: Will the Right snatch defeat from the jaws of victory…again? Judging …