Israel

It’s been a while since I’ve written one of my Good News Weekend posts, but I think it’s time to attempt a return to normal programming. My first item is about yet another treatment, if not actual cure, for Type 2 diabetes, that has been developed by an Israeli team: …

Please, be sure to read this to the end. I turn first today to President Trump’s State of the Union address, delivered on Tuesday night. I found it to be brilliantly executed. But what resonated most strongly for me were the values he espoused. I have been mourning big-time for …

Launching IED balloons on January 18, 2020 by the Sons of al-Zawari unit, in the eastern part of the  al-Maghazi refugee camp (central Gaza) Facebook page of Imad Ibn Palestine Janaury 18, 2018. Overview The launching of balloons is only one aspect of the pressure Hamas continues to exert on …

How quickly things can change. Last week, after President Trump unveiled his “Deal of the Century,” there was euphoria, both here in Israel and abroad, expressed by those committed to Israel’s legitimate rights to the Land. It was considered a “Wow!’ moment:  For the first time, an American president had …

As promised, this is my follow-up posting on the “Deal of the Century.” I think it likely that there will be a follow-up #2, at some point. The situation is highly complex and still in flux. In fact, the further the situation is exposed, the more complex it seems – …

I am a strong supporter of President Trump, as my readers know.  Starting with cancellation of the Iran agreement, he has taken bold and constructive stands on many issues. But the “Deal of the Century”—which he undoubtedly considers to be bold and constructive and which has major good points—also has …

The world of politics: It would be wrong to say that there is never clarity of purpose inspired by high ideals. But it is rare. Much of the time there are shifting scenarios, and complex, conflicting motivating factors at play. Rivalries, certainly. We find pretence (allegedly, for good reason). And …

It was Vice President Mike Pence, a speaker today at the Fifth World Holocaust Forum gathering – “Remembering the Holocaust, Fighting Antisemitism” at Yad Vashem – who brought tears to my eyes. “The world can only marvel at the faith and resilience of the Jewish People,” he said: “Three years …

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 …

As the rain is pouring down while I sit at my computer, I begin with this. Year after year Israel suffers drought. Last year was a good year, and this year, with torrential rains, is turning out to be even better: We have broken a 50 year record and there …

It’s cold outside. The rain beats on the windows and thunder rumbles in the distance. Night is approaching and the warm bed beckons with the promise of a cozy embrace. The closeness of comfort seems so utterly wrong, knowing that he is outside, alone, in the dark, setting off for …

Enno Raschke is a researcher and historian for Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Center in Jerusalem.  I am happy to say that we occasionally cross swords, but I respect the guy.  It is, after all, difficult for me not to respect a historian with Yad Vashem. On Facebook, I recently put …

Time to touch base on Israel’s political situation. I have studiously avoided writing about it for many weeks because the situation has been so in flux that whatever I wrote would probably have changed by the time most of my readers read my posting. More to the point, perhaps, I …

Fact: Most Palestinians who adopt terror in the hope of either “ending the occupation” or destroying Israel do so because they freely choose murder over any other option.  Palestinian terrorists also use children, however, to do their dirty work. On March 15, 2004, Israeli security forces caught an eleven-year-old boy …

A very wet and cold week has passed by and has brought us huge amounts of rain.  So huge in fact that the Kinneret rose 23 cm in one day! When you consider the size of the lake the amount of water that has fallen is almost unbelievable. In the …

 Whatever the operational efficacy of targeted assassinations may be—or not be—the conscience of every decent individual should rebel at the thought that arch-purveyors of terror should be permitted to pursue their deadly profession with impunity. Last week’s assassination of the commander of the Quds brigades, the overseas arm of Iran’s …

Press Release Left-Wing Activist Detained Overnight by Police Left-wing activist and former head of “Rabbis for Human Rights,” Arik Ascherman, was detained overnight by the police last Thursday after refusing to agree to the terms of a police-sanctioned restraining order against him. Ascherman was issued a 15-day restraining order following …

Despite his remarkable success, Netanyahu has been ceaselessly assailed by his political adversaries. Indeed, it is perhaps his very success that has generated such raw rancor against him. I would have preferred to have devoted this week’s column to some other topic—such as the ascendance of blatant antisemitism around the …

I begin with a report on the Likud primary that took place last Thursday: As expected, Binyamin Netanyahu defeated his challenger Gideon Sa’ar.  And he did so in a landslide, with 72.5% of the vote. Out of 106 Likud polling stations across the country, Netanyahu won 99 and Sa’ar seven. …

There are 193 countries in the world, about 50 are Muslim.  And then there is one tiny speck of land, Israel, the only Jewish state, that takes up all the time of the UN.  The UN does not like Jews.  They never miss an opportunity to try and shake down …