World

We, like you, treasure democracy, humaneness, justice, and civil and human rights. We are not asking for sympathy. But a lot more empathy and understanding would sure be in order.   Sometimes our “Aha!” moments come when we least expect them or when they were least intended. Such a moment …

When the judge in the trial of Bruce Lehrmann for the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins dismissed the jury and ordered a retrial, it was to uphold a cardinal principle of justice – those standing in judgement of others must be unimpeachable in their neutrality, free from bias and exhibiting …

FACT This argument is rooted in the traditional concept of the “dhimma” (“writ of protection”), which was extended by Muslim conquerors to Christians and Jews in exchange for their subordination to the Muslims. Yet, as French authority Jacques Ellul has observed, “One must ask: ‘protected against whom?’ When this ‘stranger’ …

Less than a year ago, Israel presented evidence that the Palestinian organization Al-Haq is a terror supporting organization.  As a result, the European Union cut off funding to the organization. A week ago, the EU suddenly announced that it had found no evidence to support Israel’s argument and announced that …

Next week will mark 21 years since my Aliyah, and I am forever filled with gratitude to be here (yes, even on the bad days).  That said, I remain an American as well: I pay taxes in the US and vote in US elections.  And I care deeply about what …

One of those supposedly immutable laws of war is that you do not mess with Russia. Napoleon learnt this in 1812.  He invaded with 450,000 men, captured Moscow, but was eventually repelled, limping out with little more than 50,000 men ravaged by hellish combat, mad with hunger and rife with …

Interestingly, the two most dominant politicians in Australia and Israel in recent times, Scott Morrison and Benjamin Netanyahu, now both find themselves in opposition. What they have in common is that they are generally both held to be the major reason their respective parties are no longer in government. What …

As the Biden administration continues to bring executive incompetence to yet unplumbed depths, any fair-minded person must feel increasingly compelled to question the authenticity of the 2020 poll.     Man can believe the impossible, but man can never believe the improbable. – Oscar Wilde, “Intentions”, 1891. As the Biden …

  We, the Jewish people are the Light Unto the Nations. We bend the knee to no one. We gave the world the ethic of freedom, without which we all would be serfs serving a pharaoh. I don’t know about you, but I have had enough Jewsplainin’. Explaining my right …

According to a story that went up on JTA [Jewish Telegrapic Agency], the AIPAC  [Political Action Committee] (PAC) is what we would expect from a lobbying group whose stated mission is “to encourage and persuade the U.S. government to enact specific policies that create a strong, enduring and mutually beneficial …

Some years ago, I heard the head of an Israeli think tank say, that Jewish life is a constant tension between two, often clashing, narratives. The continuity of Jewish values – and the value of Jewish continuity. This construct left a deep impression and has stayed with me ever since. …

There are times when information that reaches us is unsettling, disturbing. But then, there are other times when the information becomes so incredible, so ghastly wrong, that we find ourselves headed towards a state of apoplexy. That is where I am now, my friends: and for multiple reasons. It is …

Rarely are crisis situations on the international scene simple to grasp. There are always different versions, different perspectives. Not to mention unsubstantiated rumors and propaganda. That said, I am finding the crisis situation in Ukraine more difficult to deal with than most others.  I take seriously the need to get …

The horrendous Russian attack on Ukraine continues… Credit: CNBC I remain focused on what is going on in that part of the world and how it impinges upon Israel and Jews. Many of the images we are seeing evoke a very uneasy sense of déjà vu: It’s almost as if …

Everything else I had intended to write is set aside, as I examine the Russian invasion of the Ukraine and the multiple ways it affects us here in Israel.  It goes without saying that what I put out now may change within hours. The situation is enormously complex as it …

Amnesty International has released the latest report in a co-­ordinated non-government organisa­tion campaign to associate Israel with apartheid. Following a process set down by Human Rights Watch, the report redefines apartheid to little resemble the crimes in South Africa and disfigures Jewish-Israelis into a familiar stereotype of greed, cruelty and …

America is deeply divided, split in half between the political left and right.  It is particularly alarming when such polarization blinds American Jews to antisemitism. It makes them oblivious to it if the hatred is coming from a political sphere that they concur with.  That is exactly what is happening …

A few weeks before the surrender of Nazi Germany in May 1945, a group of survivors of the Holocaust met in Bucharest to mark Passover, the Jewish festival of freedom.  Among the group was Abba Kovner, who had escaped the Vilna ghetto and led a partisan campaign that struck at …

Along with many of you, I have been watching the unfolding of the situation in Afghanistan with a sense of pain and horror: The shocking, alarming failure of the Biden administration: The abandonment of American citizens and Afghan allies, the emerging terror. But we must not fashion this as an …

American Jews are decoupling, not only from their brethren and the idea of a coherent Jewish people, but also from reality itself Anyone looking for conclusive evidence that the American Jewish community is in a dangerous tailspin might just have found his smoking gun. A recently released survey by the …