Israel

Press Release Report: New Bezalel Academy Institute “Hotbed for Anti-Zionism” A new government-funded institute in the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design is a hotbed for anti-Zionism, charges a new report by the pro-Israel watchdog Im Tirtzu. The report examines a year since the founding of Bezalel Academy’s “Institute for …

FACT. It will come as no surprise to learn that journalists in the Middle East share an interest in sensationalism with their colleagues covering domestic issues. The most egregious examples come from television re-porters whose emphasis on visuals over substance encourages facile treatment of the issues. For example, when NBC’s …

The time for politically correct obfuscation is past.  There is no room for pretending we don’t see: The issues are simply too important for it to be any other way. I turn back here to the attack last week at the kosher market in Jersey City, which is now being …

Despite its many undoubted merits, democracy has one glaring detriment. There is never a dictator to blame for the fate that befalls the people. They alone are responsible for whatever befalls them. Israel is now hurtling towards its third national election within a year. Not Force Majeure  This was not …

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 did not have to be this way, but it is.  Israel is headed to the third election in less than a year. I point a finger of accusation, first, at Avigdor Lieberman, head of Yisrael Beitenu. He fomented the electoral instability and took some perverse satisfaction in refusing to …

On Friday, the US House of Representatives passed a non-binding resolution supporting the “two state solution.” https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/US-House-approves-resolution-supporting-two-state-solution-610125 This caused considerable consternation among supporters of Israel. But, in fact, it is not terribly surprising: The House is controlled by the Democrats. And they are responding to the very appropriate and long-overdue …

It’s the shortest Shabbat of the year and time is running short, but there is just time for a few items for Good News Weekend. My first item is the discovery of a rare 3rd century synagogue in the Golan Heights which has a beautiful mosaic floor (via DavidinPT): Fragments …

It’s natural for us to want to close our eyes to much that is going on the world today. Yet I would suggest that we do not have that luxury. It is our business, our obligation, to know what is happening. What is more, if our eyes our closed, we …

The 29th November, or as it is known in Hebrew “Kaf Tet beNovember”, a very significant date in Israeli history, fell last week.  It was the date of the UN Resolution, Resolution 181, to partition then-Palestine into two states, Israel for the Jews and Palestine for the Arabs.  As we …

It has been maddening – nothing less. There has been no solid ground in the political sphere. And so I begin today with a piece by astute commentator Daniel Greenfield, writing as Sultan Knish (emphasis added): “’It is important for me to emphasize that the only ones who determine who …

FACT: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on September 10, 2019: “Today I’m announcing my intention, with the establishment of the next government, to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea. This is our essential safety belt in the east” (Ben Sales, “Netanyahu’s push to annex …

Last Thursday (Nov. 21, 2019), Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit dropped a long-awaited bombshell on Israel’s political system. Emotions erupt After months of speculation, he announced his intent to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000 (the Bezeq-Walla Affair);  for breach of trust in …

Im Tirtzu Press Release. In Ramallah Speech, Israeli Prof. Accuses Israel of Robbery, Violence and Oppression. “Robbery, violence and oppression have become the norm” in Israel, said Israeli professor Dr. Yaela Raanan this past Thursday during a speech in Ramallah. Raanan, who teachers in Sderot’s Sapir College, was one of …

Indictments, political logjams, intensifying drum beats of potential conflicts on multiple borders: we are awash in confusion, uncertainty and the potential for paralysis. It is exactly because we are in unprecedented, uncharted and therefore frightening waters that we need to take a collective deep breath, step back and employ the …

It is terribly sad. And more still, infuriating. How did we get to this place? Last Thursday, November 21, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced that he had made the decision to indict Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust with regard to Cases 1000, 2000, and …

Press Release. Bereaved Families Protest Against EU: Your Money Is Murdering Our Children A group of bereaved families staged a protest today (Sunday) against the European Union over its funding of Israeli NGOs that defend terrorists and their families in Israeli courts. Families from the Choosing Life Forum of Bereaved …

This post is not going to be a regular Good News post though it will contain what I consider several good news items.  In any event the news keeps overtaking me before I can get around to writing a post.  The one thing I am not going to write about …

“Such a missile would pulverize a house to dust. It blasted a crater that is impossible to describe… There is no protection that defend us in the case of missiles like this.” – Gaza-border resident    I have written on Gaza in my last two columns—one just before the latest …

Benny Gantz, failing to put together a governing coalition, returned the mandate to the president, this evening, Wednesday. The next step is a period of three weeks during which any member of the Knesset who can garner the support of 61 MKs will be given two weeks to put together …