The chutzpah (gall, insolence) belongs to many of the Arabs inside of Israel and beyond. The stupidity can be attributed to those of our purported leaders who condone or tolerate that chutzpah. What prompts this description (in this instance) is what happened in recent days with regard to the Damascus …
Read More »From Israel: “A Vile Penchant for Making It Up!!”
New Year’s Eve is on the secular calendar. My usual comment is that I pay scant attention to it – other than making sure I change the date on my postings. For me, new year is Rosh Hashanah, marked by contemplation and prayer. But this year I am paying attention. …
Read More »Political demise has turned into a Greek tragedy. Opinion piece: June ’21
Tragically for Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister and who will undoubtedly be remembered for many very significant achievements – including his statesmanlike behaviour on the international stage – his political demise has turned into a Greek tragedy. It may be too soon to write Netanyahu’s political obituary – but there …
Read More »From Israel: Madness, Disaster and Promise!!
Wednesday night and Thursday are Tisha B’Av – the day that marks many catastrophes that have befallen the Jewish people, most significantly the destruction of our Temples. It is a time of mourning. Tisha B’Av calls for contemplation, and this year is particularly difficult. Not only for us, as a …
Read More »Prime Ministers – “Chalk & Cheese” : Opinion piece June 2020.
It would be hard to find two more contrasting leadership styles than those of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister/Prime Minister in waiting, Benny Gantz. One highly visible almost 24/7 and the other, unseen and publicly at least, almost silent. And at the same time, two people whose political fortunes, …
Read More »From Israel: Badly Flawed, a Bit Scary!!
It’s official. Israel’s 35th government was sworn in on Sunday after a full 500 days of angst that included three elections and the problems of an interim government. The Knesset approved the new government by a vote of 73 to 46. People are celebrating the fact that a fourth election …
Read More »From Israel: Can This Mess Be Unscrambled??
The “mess” I am referring to is the electoral situation, and, quite frankly, I do not see the possibility of unscrambling it and making reasonable sense of the situation. This comes as an interim report, setting out the relevant parameters; final resolution is expected by the end of this week. …
Read More »INTO THE FRAY: Netanyahu and the “Art of the Possible”
Otto von Bismarck, (1815-1898) the German statesman, credited with the unification of Germany (1871,) and who served as its first Chancellor until 1890, famously defined “politics” as “the art of the possible” This is certainly true in the dizzyingly volatile kaleidoscope realities of Israeli politics. Indeed, only few days ago, …
Read More »Three election attempts: Opinion piece April 2020.
When people discussed the need for Israel to finally form some sort of unity government after three election attempts in order to deal with real matters of government, almost no-one imagined that as Bill Gates had predicted already in 2015 – the next danger facing mankind would not be something …
Read More »From Israel: Miracles Do Happen!!
Sometimes, when we no longer expect things to get better – when we are already resigned to the fact that they may get worse, the situation shifts. And that is what happened yesterday, when the news broke – in leaks at first – that Gantz was going to join Netanyahu …
Read More »From Israel: Beneath Contempt!!
Not our government’s response to the coronavirus danger, certainly: That has been most exemplary. And I want to look at this first, before I describe the contemptible situation we have also been dealing with. Israel, as it turns out, responded more quickly than other countries to the impending threat of …
Read More »Election number three: Opinion piece March 2020.
Election number three. What was different? Exit polls, having twice underestimated Prime Minister Netanyahu and his block’s number of Knesset seats in April 2019 and September 2019, now overestimated them. Only by a small number. But a very critical one. Despite predictions of voter fatigue – turnout has steadily increased …
Read More »The ‘Deal of the Century’ : Opinion Piece – Feb. 2020.
Some observations: – There has been a consistent pattern to the “peace process” for 100 years from when the Palestine Arab Executive Committee met in 1921 and declared – “Either us or the Zionists. There is no room for both” Some form of partition is proposed, the Jewish people go with …
Read More »From Israel: “The People Deserve Better!!”
Benny Gantz has only until Wednesday until he must form a government or return the mandate. It’s anyone’s guess what is going to happen. And here I was, just days ago, thinking that maybe it would go well and we would have a unity government in very short order. But …
Read More »From Israel: “Politics? Phooey!!”
Hey, I know politics are a fact of life, necessary for civil governance. But it happens that a consideration of the political situation here is neither inspiring nor uplifting these days. In fact, it is depressing. I face the prospect of writing once again about our political situation, my friends, …
Read More »From Israel: Where Are We???
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday night received the mandate for forming a new government from President Ruby Rivlin. That the president acted so quickly was a surprise: he had indicated that he would likely wait until next Wednesday, the last day that it was legally possible for him to …
Read More »Into the fray: A strange thing happened on the way to the polling booth.
Arguably, Netanyahu’s gravest strategic miscalculation was not to call elections in May 2016 rather than capitulate to Liberman’s demand to be given the Defense portfolio. Earlier this month, I wrote a column with the interrogative title: Sept. 17: Will the Right snatch defeat from the jaws of victory…again? Judging …
Read More »Really only two candidates running in Israeli election. Opinion piece: March.’18.
These elections are perhaps the most interesting in recent times, even though there are really only two candidates running. Prime Minister Netanyahu and Bibi. Which side of Netanyahu will figure more prominently in the eyes of the Israeli electorate – the statesman also known as ‘Mr Security’, or the person …
Read More »From Israel: Pulling Ourselves Out of the Quagmire!
About a week ago, a reader wrote to me that we should have good cheer: things were looking so bad, politically, that they were bound to start looking up. I appreciated the optimism, for I try to hold on to that attitude myself. The problem, however, is that things have …
Read More »From Israel: Who Could Have Imagined This??
Not I. In all of the many years during which I have tracked Israeli pre-election campaigns, I have never encountered a campaign season like this one. I’ve been writing about the multiplicity of new parties, and perhaps that was a clue that I missed: an overt sign of divisiveness. And …
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