Israel

I finally figured it out – I now know why the world wants to dictate the agreement they think we should reach with the Arabs, sorry – the “Palestinians”. It isn’t that the world really thinks that the “West Bank” (i.e., Judea and Samaria) is occupied territory. And it isn’t …

Over the past month or so Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Lieberman had cautioned members of their own government against making any rash statements or legislative proposals in anticipation of what President elect Trump might or might not give a green light to next year, in order to avoid …

By last Thursday, Egypt’s President Sisi had withdrawn sponsorship of Security Council Resolution 2334, which says that all “settlements” in the “Palestinian territory” including eastern Jerusalem constitute a flagrant violation under international law, and calls for cessation of all “settlement activities.”  Sisi was responding to pressure from Netanyahu and from …

The World against Israel or Israel against the World The question about whether Obama would deliver a last minute FU to Israel by abstaining on a United Nations Security Council vote has been answered. YES HE WILL That leads to two additional questions. The first is will he repeat the …

The US has served as a fig leaf for the UN Security Council (UNSC) for far too long. When the US would veto resolutions, the names of all those countries who voted in favour of the resolution would fade into the dungeons of unnecessary details that need not be filed …

 As we can find it… Motzei Shabbat – Saturday night – we light the first candle of Chanukah.  And so we begin today with mention of this celebration that marks the victory of the Maccabees over the destructive influences and power of the Syrian-Greeks in the Second Century BCE. We …

  The impending destruction of the Jewish community of Amona reflect failure of political will and ideo-intellectual bankruptcy of the elected government rather, than the inevitable culmination of a legal battle.  To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to the written law, would be to lose the law itself, …

I am sitting at my computer, trying to make heads or tails of various events here in Israel and elsewhere, and boy is it tough!  There’s not a whole lot of clarity right now. But I’m going to lead off with a good news piece. This one is a bit …

 In these tough times, I will start with the heavy news before moving on to what is good. The residents of Amona have decided not to take the final offer that was made to them by the government.  The basic outlines of that offer: They would have had to leave …

Fahed Al-Masri, an important Syrian opposition leader, released a video in which he promises that a new Syria will be a force for peace and stability in the Middle East and for Israel. He implores Israel to take sides in the Syrian civil war. Part of that video was shown …

In July I went on a life-changing trip to Israel. This was my fourth trip to Israel, but I have not been there for 17 years. I have written in the past about other aspects and experiences of this trip.  I have not focussed on Israelis themselves, Israeli society, and …

Once you utter the “magic password,” endorsing the two-state principle, you are immediately welcomed into ‘polite society’, invited to participate in prestigious events & expound on your “progressive perspectives” – no matter how detached from reality they may be.  While there is, at best, only a slim chance for a …

Lawfare Many New Zealanders would probably have thought about the threat terrorism poses to us, and how that threat can be managed.  The state of Israel has been at the forefront of the battle against terrorism for decades. That battle takes different forms: through diplomacy, intelligence, security forces, cyber security …

In July I went on a life-changing trip to Israel. This was my fourth trip to Israel, but I had not been there for 17 years. I have written in the past about other aspects and experiences of this trip. But I have not focussed on Israelis themselves, Israeli society, …

Oslo failed not because Israelis built crèches, kindergartens and schools across pre-1967 lines, but because Palestinian-Arabs blew up Israeli cafes, buses and malls inside those lines. Raise your hands… how many of you believe in a two-state solution, believe two states is critical? …Okay, it’s the vast majority of people …

 We’ve moved past the immediate trauma of the fires – which were at least 50% arson – and it would have been lovely to have had a respite, a time of ease, however short, in the nation.  But that is not the case, although I believe we are headed towards …

Since his election, Donald Trump has said remarkably little on Israel at all. Yet it is rather amazing to see how many people are certain he will do this or that based on whoever they choose to listen to of Trump’s family members, friends or advisors of the day – …

Haifa’s fire story, like Israel’s story, is one of renewal and rebuilding. The fire totally destroyed over 500 homes, leaving over 1500 residents with no place to return as the city got the all clear. But that is only where this story begins. The blackened patches of earth will not …

Last week’s fires did little to illuminate much of the unknown still shrouding another conflagration that flared up, almost a year and a half ago.  I feel a sense of shame, and even more, a sense of pain…at the murder of a small baby. Pain that from my people, there …

Gvirotai veRabotai – Mahapakh! Does anyone recall an election in a democracy which generated so many apocalyptic rants from the losers? I do. 1977’s Israel’s Mahapakh … and the more I think about it the more similarities I find. This follows from a brief conversation on Facebook (screen grab) with a Clinton …