Tag Archives: Donald Trump

It is no less than a tragedy: We are watching a once great nation unravel. ~~~ But this unraveling didn’t start last week or last month. And it would be altogether too facile to account for this it by focusing solely on what transpired last Wednesday, with the horrendous breaching …

Currently, it looks as though Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States.  If Biden comes into office, it will be bad news for Israel.  The normalization with Arab and Muslim countries that Trump worked so hard to achieve will dissolve, and the new administration will re-embolden …

Not long after Donald Trump assumed the presidency of the United States, he made overtures to the Palestinians in the hopes of brokering a peace deal. He invited the acting-President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to the White House on May 3, 2017. They discussed tackling terrorism and building …

Editor’s note.  Please share this important article. “Justice, justice shall you pursue!” (tzedek, tzedek tirdof) the Torah tells us in the book of Deuteronomy (Devarim) 16:20. But justice is in painfully short supply in the US these days. For anyone who cares about justice, this is cause for immeasurable sadness. …

I wish to begin by paying a heartfelt tribute to Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, who died of cancer last Saturday at the age of 72. Former chief rabbi in the U.K., Rabbi Sacks was a brilliant thinker and a moral teacher.  During the lonely days of the lockdown, I was …

People are going to say that I am a broken record.  They will say that almost nobody really cares about the Taylor Force Act.  They will argue that it is ridiculous to think that a Biden administration will finance the murder of Jews in Israel, despite “pay-for-slay” or the “Martyrs …

Writing after the US election, I believe it’s necessary to look backward in order to understand what is going on now. Many of us – who care deeply about the soul of America – have been watching and grieving over the weakening of the fabric of America for some time …

Much has been made of the tectonic shift driving apart the Jews of Israel and America. If one were looking to encapsulate that mindset split in one salient fact, it might be this: Recent polls show that 63% of Israelis favor Donald Trump over Joe Biden, while 70% of American …

I am eager to return to a focus on Israel.  In fact, I keep telling myself that that is what I’m going to do. I know there are readers waiting for this.  But…while I will do it very soon, I find I cannot do it yet: What is happening in the …

I watch what is going on in the US and I see the outlines of a nightmare, unimaginable only a year ago. The drama is unfolding in urban streets, as America is torn apart by violence and hatred. There are many areas where putative political “authorities,” such as they exist, …

Never has there been such a focus on the selection of a vice presidential candidate as there has been with regard to Biden’s announcement this past Wednesday of Kamala Harris as his running mate in the presidential election. The reason, of course, is one we can all understand: Biden doesn’t …

The news was startling and in some respects very exciting: On Thursday, first President Trump and then Prime Minister Netanyahu made the announcement: United Arab Emirates (a Sunni Gulf state that is a federation of seven sheikdoms) has agreed to normalize ties with Israel. In coming weeks, delegations will be …

In recent years, I have struggled to absorb the painful reality of what has been unfolding in the US.  At this point the situation seems incredible. But it is real, and needs to be dealt with.  What is greatly worrisome is that many Americans persist in keeping their blinders on. We …

There are numerous lamentations about the negative implications for Palestinians and the manifest injustice being paid to them. One of the less remarked upon, but nevertheless most painful series of reactions to President Donald Trump’s long awaited “Deal of the Century” has been the response of the organized American Jewish …

The Trump administration put forward a new Middle East Peace Plan as the latest instalment of a series of frameworks over the years to try to find an enduring peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.  Like every proposal before it, it was declared dead on arrival. The Israelis had made …

It looks like a civil revolution is taking place in Iran, where the people are rising up against the regime of the Mad Mullahs. The courage, the sheer bravery of the Iranian citizens is awe-inspiring. They face arrest, torture and death and yet are not giving up. It is clear …

Despite the dramatic physical, societal and political differences between Israel and the US, in both countries a very similar—and disturbing—assault on the fabric of democracy is taking place.    Israel and the US are very different in many ways. Geographically, they are separated by the width of an ocean and …

History was made on Monday evening when US Defence Secretary Mike Pompeo made the historic announcement that the US refutes the concept of the illegality of the settlements – otherwise known as Jewish homes and factories in Judaea and Samaria. He said that this was not an issue of international …

I have been advised by a highly reliable inside source that a phone call from Prime Minster Netanyahu to President Trump has a good chance of achieving the release of Jonathan Pollard from his parole restrictions and making it possible for him and his wife to come to Israel at …

For many American Jews it is a source of profound discomfort and embarrassment that Jews actually carry weapons and fight. In a deliciously ironic move, the same folks who loathe the president of the United States are beseeching him to restrain his best friend in the Middle East, Israeli Prime …