Direct Etihad passenger flights to Israel; the formation of Kosher Arabia which will apparently make it easier to get kosher food in Abu Dhabi and Dubai than in Sydney or Melbourne; a public sukkah in front of the world famous Burj Khalifa Tower; and normalisation with Sudan around the corner. …

It’s quite amazing how the State of Israel at this moment in time, has become a mirror image of the two sides of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s operating styles. Internally, whilst the raison d’etre for the formation of this coalition government was to fight Covid 19, it has descended into a …

Once again, and as has been the case for some time now, there are only two central players in Israel’s political arena – Bibi, the flawed human being and Prime Minister Netanyahu, the statesman. Bibi against whom the discontent of the demonstrators and beyond, manifests itself throughout daily life in …

In Israel we currently see two worlds clashing. Perhaps more accurately, running parallel, as if the other did not exist. That is, the real world and the world of the internal machinations of the Israeli government and Knesset politics. In the real world, Israel, initially an international leader and example …

It would be hard to find two more contrasting leadership styles than those of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister/Prime Minister in waiting, Benny Gantz. One highly visible almost 24/7 and the other, unseen and publicly at least, almost silent. And at the same time, two people whose political fortunes, …

We stand just weeks after celebrating that the Balfour Declaration of 1917 moved from a statement of British intent, to the legal process of affirmation of the Jewish Homeland at the San Remo Conference in April 1920 – and its then formal ratification by the League of Nations. This is …

Well, if nothing changes between now and Wednesday, we will finally see an actual Israeli government being sworn in. The main potential crinkle it would appear, is an internal Likud bun fight over the reduced number of cabinet portfolios left to divide, after the achievements of Benny Gantz. Gantz took …

When people discussed the need for Israel to finally form some sort of unity government after three election attempts in order to deal with real matters of government, almost no-one imagined that as Bill Gates had predicted already in 2015 – the next danger facing mankind would not be something …

Election number three. What was different? Exit polls, having twice underestimated Prime Minister Netanyahu and his block’s number of Knesset seats in April 2019 and September 2019, now overestimated them. Only by a small number. But a very critical one. Despite predictions of voter fatigue – turnout has steadily increased …

Some observations: – There has been a consistent pattern to the “peace process” for 100 years from when the Palestine Arab Executive Committee met in 1921 and declared – “Either us or the Zionists.  There is no room for both” Some form of partition is proposed, the Jewish people go with …

Devastating drought and bush fires in Australia and extreme flooding in Israel. On the political level regarding satisfaction/action assessments by the electorate, much centres on image and perception. Just ask Prime Minister Scott Morrison for one. We are fast approaching the third act of the continuing Israeli election process in …

Well the unthinkable has happened. Israel is going to her third election in 12 months, still trying to resolve an electoral impasse that has now been going in effect, for the whole of 2019 – leading Israel to have a year of caretaker and therefore hamstrung government as a direct …

It’s always great to be in Israel. I like to visit a small hole in the wall business in Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem – the Kippah Man. Let’s call the owner ‘Yosi’ – being Israel, everyone knows his real name is Avraham of course – but……… When I have …

Just as it is wrong of those who criticise everything President Trump says and does just because it comes from him, likewise it is wrong for his supporters to blindly praise or try and explain away, a very poor decision and/or action. Trump made no secret of the fact from …

It seems that in those countries where conservatives win elections, opinion polls and exit polling are proving less accurate.  Think about Trump in the US, or Morrison here in Australia.  Or Israel.  Perhaps conservative voters are less likely to publicise their intentions. Never the less this time the Israeli polling …

We are seeing a rerun of the April 2019 Israeli elections but with one big difference, this time round we will have a government formed. The question is, what government? In the main, the issue in April was whether the people wanted to elect the statesman Prime Minister Netanyahu, or …

The amazing thing about coming to Israel, perhaps especially in summer, is that for all of the fears that people outside of Israel have for her, apparently Israelis themselves are not troubled nearly as much as her supporters overseas are. In Australia we worry for Israel about Iran.  We worry …

The Palestinians have only themselves to blame for unifying the bulk of the Israeli public and for not being a hot issue of division in the forthcoming Israeli elections. A century of unbroken Palestinian intransigence is best expressed by the Palestine Arab Executive Committee’s statement in 1921, “Either us or …

The amazing thing about coming to Israel, perhaps especially in summer, is that for all of the fears that people outside of Israel have for her, apparently Israelis themselves are not troubled nearly as much as her supporters overseas are. In Australia we worry for Israel about Iran. We worry …

How did that happen? Notwithstanding the individual party count from the April 9thelections, the single outstanding overall result was that fully 65 members of the Knesset (out of 120), recommended to President Rivlin that Netanyahu be invited to form a government. With only 45 recommending Gantz. This in itself signalled …