Israel

The Holocaust decimated the Jewish population in Europe from 1939 to 1945.  After the war, the vast majority of the remnant of European Jewry moved to either France, the United States or the Mandate of Palestine.  Just three years after the end of the genocide of the Jews, the modern …

Yup, it can. This is the first posting of the year 2021, and it will focus on good news. There hasn’t been much of late.  But I rejoice that there actually seem to be a number of upbeat items worthy of attention.  Let’s set a positive tone while that is …

This week’s Good News Weekend post simply HAS to focus on the amazing – and far too belated – return of Jonathan Pollard to Israel. If you want to know the background to the Jonathan Pollard case, you can read all that I have written about him at this link …

So we’re into election campaign mode. This does not, by any stretch of the imagination, mean that matters will now go smoothly: We’ve got a long and winding road ahead of us before election day. One factor seems reasonably certain: this election will play out for the most part on …

It is absolutely wrong to say that Arab residents of Mandated Palestine did not suffer a NAKBA (catastrophe) in 1948. History shows that from their perspective, whatever the truth of the conflict itself, the end result was a catastrophe for them. But is accepting they suffered a catastrophe the same …

There is no room for niceties.  We must tell it as it is. It has been a while since I have had to write about a terrorist murder, but this fact makes it no easier. Esther Horgan, 52, was a mother of six and a grandmother; her youngest child had …

What causes us to grieve is the horrendous state of affairs in America. Should Biden end up becoming president (something that I absolutely do not consider a “done deal” at this point), there would be no reason to be reassured as to the direction he would take.  The more we …

Tonight we kindle the first light of Chanukah.  And it strikes me that this year the messages and themes of the holiday are especially important: It is hardly an easy time. Not here in Israel, and certainly not in the US.  We struggle with corona and the concommitant economic difficulties. …

It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these posts, and while I don’t promise to be going back to making this a regular feature, I am delighted to feel “the muse” awaken within me. It’s the first day of Chanukah today, and soon we’ll begin Shabbat Chanukah. …

FACT: Orwell famously said, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”  This is the goal of the tyrannical majority of the UN General Assembly and associated agencies such as UNESCO and the Human Rights Council.  Acting more like the old Soviet Politburo than …

Revisiting UN Resolution 181 – The Partition Plan November 29, 1947 In his latest book,  A Promised Land, President Obama seems to rewrite history. While he gets much wrong about Israel’s wars and struggles to survive, what is most striking is his misunderstanding of her founding. Perhaps it is time …

Most of you are probably familiar with the phrase, spoken by someone who feels neglected or left out, “What am I, chopped liver?” Well, broadly I apply this sentiment now to Israel, which has taken a back seat in the focus of my last few postings. (Apply it with a …

President Rivlin and Prime Minister Netanyahu have both spoken with President elect Joe Biden and for the first time have referred to him with that descriptor. That in and of itself is significant as President Trump has not yet ceded the election and there are still two months remaining of …

Mandate for Palestine Sovereignty over the Land of Israel London – July 24, 1924   The Mandate for Palestine, a historical League of Nations document, laid down the Jewish legal right to settle anywhere western Palestine, a 10,000- square-miles area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.  The Mandate’s …

FACT: Orwell famously said, “Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.”  This is the goal of the tyrannical majority of the UN General Assembly and associated agencies such as UNESCO and the Human Rights Council.  Acting more like the old Soviet Politburo than …

Press release – Sheikh Who Praised Murder of French Teacher Banned from Temple Mount Palestinian Arab Islamic scholar Sheikh Issam Amira was issued a ban from the Temple Mount on Saturday after he called the beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty a “great honor” for all Muslims during his weekly …

What’s the F-uss with F-35? It’s time to weigh in about the F-35 next-gen fighter that may or may not be sold to the United Arab Emirates. That may or may not be sold to Qatar. That may or may not be sold to Turkey. Here are some random thoughts.

In January 1919, Chaim Weizmann, who would become the first president of Israel, signed an agreement with Emir Faisal, who would rule Syria and Iraq. Signed on the eve of the Paris Peace Conference at which the victors of World War I would determine how to administer the former colonies …

The US election is less than a week away, and, as I track the news, I have a growing conviction that Donald Trump will be in the White House for four more years.  As Caroline Glick tweeted: “Spit three times, then say, ‘No evil eye, things look hopeful, things look …

The recent release of taped telephone conversations underscores the bitter irony that the politically motivated initiative to indict Netanyahu on contrived charges will end up by undermining precisely those who launched it & were complicit in conducting it. There is something sick in the State Prosecutor’s Office; Shai Nitzan is …