Israel

Watching Trump’s first trip abroad from my home in Israel was a nail biting experience. As an American, I was shocked to see him elected POTUS. As an Israeli, I was glad it was him and not her. We’d seen the results of the Clinton-Obama policies regarding the Middle East …

On Monday afternoon, the President of the United States, Donald Trump touched down in Israel after a visit to Saudi Arabia. The flight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Tel Aviv, Israel was an historic one given it was the first direct flight between the two countries, which have no official diplomatic relations. Prime …

Thank you, Prime Minister Netanyahu. I want to thank you and Sara for hosting us for what has been an unforgettable visit to this very special land. I also want to thank Chairman Yitzchak Molcho, Acting Director Ayelet Shiloh-Tamir, and Chief Operating Officer Dalia Lazar, for hosting us today in …

Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) comes first! If you can tolerate a painful pun: it trumps news about Trump (who is in Israel as I write).  I will in due course write about the president’s visit – here and in Saudi Arabia, but now I am inspired by Yom Yerushalayim – Jerusalem Day.  …

For fruits of Israeli victory to endure, any post-victory reality must preclude a self-governing Palestinian entity, which would always be subjected to external incitement to fight the Jewish “intruders”  Of all the nations at the UN the Palestinian state would be the only one which has limits imposed on its …

The Hebrew word “balagan” means confusion or muddle. “Ezeh balagan”: what a mess. It is a most appropriate term, I think, for describing the news as it is coming to us these days. ~~~~~~~~~~ The most recent, and potentially serious, flap has to do with what is presumed to be …

“Say It Proud!” It’s about time! Actually, past time. MK Avi Dichter (Likud), chair of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, has been promoting a version of this bill for years now. But the situation has shifted, making success not only possible now but very likely. The bill – …

I took a gap year from University in the early days of the Second Intifada.  At that time, sadly, there were terrorist attacks occurring in Israel, sometimes on a daily basis.  In those days, there was one Palestinian terrorist whose name kept popping up again and again – Marwan Barghouti. …

Sometimes even if we track the news carefully (or maybe especially if we track the news carefully) we find it very difficult to determine what’s really coming down the road. And this has particularly been the case these last days. ~~~~~~~~~~ A case in point has been the issue of …

Israel requires a massive strategic public diplomacy offensive to generate the freedom of action required for victory-oriented policy  Wars usually end when failure causes one side to despair when that side has…accepted defeat, and when that defeat has exhausted its will to fight – Daniel Pipes, A New Strategy for Israeli …

Sneakers put out to dry. Wet and full of sand, they looked tired. My heart almost bursts to see them. They tell a story people who live elsewhere wouldn’t recognize – but most Israelis would. Those who don’t have this story in their own home know the story well. Across …

The Humanitarian Paradigm, advocating funded emigration of Palestinian-Arabs  appears the most plausible method for achieving the goals of the Israel Victory Caucus The major issue is not [attaining] an agreement, but ensuring the actual implementation of the agreement in practice.  The number of agreements which the Arabs have violated is …

A parody is an imitation of something – a speech, song, etc. – done for comic effect in order to ridicule. And so, what I’m going to present here is not a parody in the strict sense of the term.  It is a self-parody.  No need to imitate words spoken …

Every year I write about this, and every year it astounds me yet again: The transition within a moment in time from mourning to joy, from Yom Hazikaron – Memorial Day, when we remember those who died for our country, to Yom Ha’atzmaut – Independence Day, when we rejoice for …

Israel is something you have to experience in order to truly understand.  This land is both less and much more than people tend to assume. These are some of the things I learned living in Israel: In Israel, I learned that “no” means “maybe.” Rules are for the boring. There …

Or: How did nationalism get such a bad rap? And: What’s a proud Israeli to do? People on the left side of the political spectrum talk about nationalism as if it is a dirty word, something to be discarded for global(homogen)ization. During the election campaign in the USA, many Americans …

This week we will be celebrating the 69th anniversary of the re-establishment of the Jewish State – Independence Day, Yom Ha’atzmaut – preceded by Yom Hazikaron where we remember those who fell in the defence of the State of Israel. This comes on the back of efforts formalised 120 years …

Tonight we began Yom Hazikaron, Memorial Day, here in Israel: a day of national mourning. At 8 PM, the siren sounded, calling everyone to stop in respectful silence. Tomorrow the siren will sound yet again. Visitors will flock to the military cemeteries of the country, to honor the memory of …

When I was a kid (a million years ago), I loved to ride the waves.  I would move out to meet an incoming wave and coast up on its front surface to its foaming crest, an exhilarating experience.  I would then drop down its back surface as the wave broke …

With so much coverage of a Palestinian threat to sue the United Kingdom for the 1917 Balfour Declaration I was surprised to find no one had investigated if they actually make a go of it.  To my surprise, it’s a long, long shot but, yes, it’s a possibility.  They could …