Tag Archives: Donald Trump

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 …

In recent weeks, rumours have been swirling as to the substance of the much anticipated “deal of the century”, billed by the Trump administration as a compelling blueprint for resolving the seemingly intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has plagued the region for decades.  Shrouded in secrecy, it has long been held …

In my recent piece, Democrats and Jews, I asked the following question at Israel Thrives: Why is it that of all the minority constituencies of the Democratic Party only the Jewish minority is thought to be morally obligated to sacrifice the well-being of their own children in deference to that …

Any lingering thought that the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) would have any role to play in President Trump’s soon to-be-released peace plan has vanished – after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that $165 million had been deducted from funding to the PLO because of its continuing “pay for slay” …

Don’t underestimate Trump’s deal-making ability to end what he himself has called “the war that never ends” Creating another Palestinian Arab state – in addition to Jordan – has been seemingly consigned to the garbage bin of history following Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s CNN interview on 28 September. President …

President Trump’s decision to close the PLO mission in Washington, cancel the visas of the Palestinian Ambassador and his family and order their bank accounts be closed – mark the PLO’s final humiliation for condemning Trump’s proposed peace plan before its contents have even been published. Strangely however the United …

As the experience of 2003 shows, Iran will only abandon its nuclear program if confronted by what it perceives to be a tangible military threat  In a large country with multiple facilities and ample experience in nuclear concealment, violations will be inherently difficult to detect. Devising theoretical models of inspection …

I have yet to speak out against Donald Trump.  One reason for this is that I do not so easily leap aboard thoughtless Bandwagons of Hatred.If the anti-Trumpeteers had not done such a terrific job of projecting their toxic racialized bullshit – and thereby throwing the United States into the …