Intensive investment must be made in civil society frameworks that can not only draw the idea of extended Israeli sovereignty into the main-stream discourse as a legitimate political objective, but as one that can dominate that discourse. In a significant departure from his usual ambivalent and non-committal policy formulation regarding …
Read More »Dr. Martin Sherman
Trump’s presidential decree on the Golan – A moral & practical imperative.
In issuing his recent presidential decree, recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, President Donald Trump followed the commendable policy pattern he has set … of not following the policy patterns set by his predecessors. Recognizing reality. Much like his decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, Trump’s decision was, …
Read More »Into the fray: Gaza – Disaster foretold.
What has unfolded in Gaza should not really surprise anyone willing to face up to the inclement realities. After all, it was not only entirely foreseeable, but easily foreseen. The nightmare stories of the Likud are well known. After all, they promised Katyusha rockets from Gaza as well. For a …
Read More »Into the fray: Israel’s High Court-When Legality loses its legitimacy.
In overturning a previous decision of the Knesset’s Central Elections Committee, the High Court took another giant step towards further undermining the already dwindling public confidence in the Israeli judiciary. In Israel, the negative impact of the judicialization of politics on the Supreme Court’s legitimacy is already beginning to show …
Read More »Into the fray: “Palestine” – Time to say “No!”
The two-state paradigm’s deadly detriments are now so glaringly apparent that it is becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile calls for Palestinian statehood with genuine concern for the well-being of the Jewish nation-state. Ladies and gentlemen, when the Palestinians say “two states” they do not mean what we mean—Maj-Gen. (res.) …
Read More »Into the fray: Will the “Deep-State” destroy democracy?
The unrelenting drive to bring an indictment—any indictment—against Netanyahu has long exceeded the bounds of reasonable law enforcement. The issue at the center of these investigations seems trivial against the background of the existential crises Israel is facing…The first probe, also known as case 1000, involves gifts of cigars and champagne …
Read More »Into the fray: Gantz & Lapid’s “Blue and White”- A fragile, directionless, ad hoc political concoction.
The purported electoral appeal of the Blue & White line-up is that it includes 3 former IDF Chiefs-of-Staff, yet virtually invariably when top military figures have departed from their field of expertise (security) & ventured into one where they have none (politics), they have been disastrously wrong. The greatest tragedy …
Read More »Into the fray: 2019 Intelligence Assessment: The policy implications for Gaza.
It would seem futile to conduct yet another indecisive round of fighting, only to return to yet another tense and sporadically violent interbellum for several years—until the next major flare-up of fighting… Military assessment warns of high risk of war with Gaza – The Times of Israel, Feb. 13. 2019. …
Read More »Into the fray: Unilateral concessions: The latent agenda for the April elections.
Despite claims to the contrary, the Palestinian-Arabs, territory and the fate of the Jewish settlements will permeate the agenda of the April elections, lurking below and hovering above all other issues. Almost inevitably, elections in Israel revolve—one way or another—around one issue…even when everyone insists they don’t. This is …
Read More »Will Trump’s Middle East deal naturalise Palestinians in Arab countries?
In recent weeks, rumours have been swirling as to the substance of the much anticipated “deal of the century”, billed by the Trump administration as a compelling blueprint for resolving the seemingly intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has plagued the region for decades. Shrouded in secrecy, it has long been held …
Read More »Into the fray: Benny Morris – An unlikely proponent of incentivized Arab emigration?
If, as Morris maintains, a peaceable two-state outcome is unattainable, and a one-state outcome will lead to a Muslim-majority tyranny, then a large-scale initiative for incentivized Arab emigration is the only policy that can preserve the Jewish nation-state. As readers will recall, I have, for years, been urging the initiation …
Read More »Into the fray:The imperative for incentivized Arab migration & the emerging inevitability of the Humanitarian Paradigm.
Once inconceivable, the dismantling of UNRWA; the naturalization of stateless Palestinian residents in Arab countries; and the emigration of Palestinians from Judaea-Samaria & Gaza are slowly emerging as realistic outcomes Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth – Sherlock Holmes, in “The …
Read More »Into the Fray.: Generals in Israeli politics: The pinnacle of perversity?
As a rule, on entering Israeli politics, senior military and security figures have played a troubling role, which has—almost uniformly—proved disastrous, both for the country and/or for themselves. Little could have reflected the perversity of politics in Israel more than the ten minute prime-time interview with former Prime Minister and …
Read More »Into the Fray: Will the “New Right” get it right?
If the “New Right” is to really advance “Right wing” causes, it must abandon schemes that lead to the Lebanonization or Balkanization of Israeli society & work towards legitimizing the idea of incentivized emigration of the Arab population of Judaea-Samaria Last week, Education Minister, Naftali Bennett, and Justice Minister, Ayalet …
Read More »Into the Fray: “Terror”, tigers and tabby cats…
One cannot but think that if another country treated Jews, wearing “kippot” and “peyote”, the way Jewish minors, accused of “terror” are treated in Israel, it would surely be engulfed in a wave of outrage and condemned for blatant antisemitism. This was a week, in which there was much for …
Read More »Into the fray: Palestine: What if the Six-Day War never took place?
If the “West Bank” was part of the “Hashemite Kingdom” up to 1967, how did it suddenly become the Palestinians’ long-yearned-for homeland which, up until then, they were submissively willing to cede to an alien potentate? As the new elections approach, the “Palestinian problem” is once again likely to dominate …
Read More »Into the fray: Commanders for Israel’s (In)security: Taking the name of security in vain.
There is no greater irony than the spectacle of scores of ex-senior security officials, who spent their adult life defending Israel, now promoting a political initiative that will make it indefensible. I used these very excerpts in an article I wrote some thirty months ago, entitled “Imbecility squared”, addressing …
Read More »Into the Fray: Bennett and Bibi’s election boo-boo?
Given the emerging realities in Israel’s political landscape, the danger to Right-wing incumbency entailed in early elections might well be considerably less than those entailed in postponing them. The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry – Robert Burns (1759 – 1796). The “received wisdom”, as reflected in …
Read More »Killing Children!
On International Children’s Day Nov.20, the British-based group, Campaign4Truth held an event at Golders Green, commemorating the Israeli children murdered or maimed by Arab terror since 1920. I was asked by the organizers to compose a short message for the event. This is what I wrote: Terrorism is always heinous—but …
Read More »Into the Fray: Defending Israel—Civilian casualties and common sense.
Jewish victory over the adversarial Arab collective must be Israel’s overriding moral & operational concern. Facilitating its achievement should be the overriding challenge for Israel’s legal establishment. Naftali Bennett’s recriminations against what many in the Israeli public considered the IDF’s feeble response to Hamas’s terrorist aggression along, and across, the …
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