Israel

Until late yesterday Israelis were facing the unpleasant prospect of an early election brought on by the collapse of the coalition.  The presenting issue: Inflexible ultra-Orthodox party (UTJ and Shas) demands for blanket yeshiva student draft exemptions facing off against the inflexibility of Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (head of Yisrael …

It has been seven years since five members of the Fogel family – parents Ehud and Ruth, and three of their six children Yoav 11, Elad 4 and Hadas who was only three months old – were butchered in their home in Itamar while they were sleeping.  Baby Hadas was …

Palestinian statehood & a secure Israel are mutually exclusive goals. This was always the accepted wisdom in Israel – until the discourse was hijacked by the tyrannical diktats of politically correct dogma  We must all work toward that future: two states for two peoples. One Jewish with secure and defensible …

The sun may be behind the clouds part of the time, and the clouds can get very dark.  But it’s there.  And we need to remember that even when it’s raining. ~~~~~~~~~~ As I had mentioned in my last posting, on Sunday night at the AIPAC Conference, CEO Howard Kohr …

My regular readers know that I am basically an upbeat person.  I am not a Pollyanna: I face the bad news.  But I also seek out the promise and hold fast to the blessings.  And so I think I may surprise many of you, when I speak now of how …

Israel is approaching a point when it must decide to destroy enemy capabilities, rather than attempting to deter the enemy from using them.  To remain at peace when you should be going to war may be often very dangerous…Let us attack and subdue…that we may ourselves live safely for the …

    Wednesday night and Thursday we celebrate Purim (with the celebration a day later in Jerusalem, a walled city).  As we read the Megillat Esther, we relate the story of the machinations of Haman, in the Persian court, whose goal it was to eradicate the Jews. And we celebrate …

  Albert Einstein was initially opposed to the concept of Zionism, fearing it could stoke Jewish-Arab conflict, but with the rise of Nazism and the concomitant antisemitism he experienced in Europe, he became convinced of the need for a Jewish State as a haven from persecution. Einstein was at the California …

The calm before the storm, or the storm before the calm? Three broad areas fall into the things might get better, or on the other hand rapidly much worse, framework. The month began with numerous examples of the Trump effect on the Israeli leadership – and the ongoing effort to …

 The unrelenting drive to bring an indictment—any indictment—against Netanyahu has long exceeded the bounds of reasonable law enforcement  Ever since he [Benjamin Netanyahu] was elected to lead the Likud and especially after he became prime minister, the mainstream media has ceaselessly sought to besmirch him and his family. No other …

It’s a fascinating phenomenon, a paradox: Muslim Arab (and thus Palestinian Arab) culture is an honor-shame culture.  Honor is the ultimate value. But in this context “honor” means receiving appropriate courtesies and respect – being viewed positively by others.  It’s an external thing, not having to do with an internal …

  It feels as if there is flux everywhere: whether with regard to politics, diplomacy or security issues. And so, let us turn away from the tumult and begin with the good news – for, indeed, we are also blessed with good news. ~~~~~~~~~~ The Israeli Defense Ministry, working with …

It was Saturday morning.  I woke up to the sound of the Red Alert siren app ringing, announcing in-coming missiles somewhere in Israel. Where?  I knew it wasn’t in Haifa (yet) because the municipal siren wasn’t screaming outside but elsewhere in Israel, people were running to their bomb shelters. In …

What you should know about Palestinian juvenile offenders The law, international and domestic, apparently only recognises two groups who may be imprisoned, soldiers and criminals. Is Ahed Tamimi a child soldier?  Is she a political prisoner?  Is she a juvenile delinquent?  Is she Joan of Arc?

Netanyahu was elected as the Prime Minster, not as the Pope.  Accordingly, he should be judged primarily on the basis of his political and strategic accomplishments, not his personal morality. What we are witnessing is, in effect, little less than an attempt at a bloodless coup d’état – conducted, not …

On Saturday morning (Saturday evening in Australia), news began to filter through about an incident in Israel’s north – an Iranian drone flying into Israeli sovereign territory, a downed F-16 jet.  It was not clear straight away, but the IDF did post a timeline of the events and how the drama all unfolded: …

  Today I begin by following through on the events of this past Saturday, with regard to our contending with Iran and Syria.  There is so very much being said, so many different opinions as to the implications of what has happened. If there is any clarity I can bring …

Bereft of popular support, government support, and the support of the Supreme Court, the NIF has decided to engage in a smoke and mirrors pseudo-populist uprising. For shame!   The American-based New Israel Fund (NIF) has never hidden its mission to save Israel from itself, and its bedrock conviction that …

In the early hours of Saturday morning, for the very first time the Iranian military launched a direct military operation against Israel, when a drone (UAV) commanded from the Tiyas Military Airbase in the Homs desert region in central Syria was dispatched into Israeli air space. According to a statement …

Israel bashers always make light of Palestinian rock throwing, calling them “just a few pebbles” or trying to justify the violence.  But this rock throwing is part of the Palestinian culture, and it can be extremely dangerous.  Arutz Sheva has the account of recent victims who are lucky to have …