Tag Archives: Lebanon

We here in Israel are dealing with shifting international scenarios that are a bit unsettling;  For there is no certainty as to how they will play out. I allude, of course, to the evolving détente with various nations – primarily Aran and Muslims nations that Israel has long been accustomed …

Much has been written about the Palestinian refugees, but little attention has been paid to nearly one million Jewish refugees forced to flee their Arab homelands in North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant and beyond. Between 1948-1972, approximately 586,000 Jews from Arab countries were resettled in Israel, while 200,000 …

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 …

What I am eager to offer here is a different perspective on some of the matters confronting us. It is not my intention to suggest that all is well.  We know it is not, not even remotely. Yet information that provides hope of better times going forward is out there. …

For some time now, Israel has been at the edge of war. Or, to put it another way, Israel has been and continues to be engaged in an ongoing, low level, multi-faceted shadow war that has potential to erupt into something major.   The post that follows is filled with …

First order of concern: I have learned from Chaim Silberstein, father of Shira Ish-Ran, that she has had extensive surgery on the site where the bullet entered her abdomen during the terror attack outside Ofra. She is in a lot of pain and facing a long recovery and rehabilitation. He …

Israel is approaching a point when it must decide to destroy enemy capabilities, rather than attempting to deter the enemy from using them.  To remain at peace when you should be going to war may be often very dangerous…Let us attack and subdue…that we may ourselves live safely for the …

We begin with more information regarding the lead story in my last posting, about Deputy Minister Tzipi Hotovely, who was uninvited at Hillel House in Princeton. It was Rabbi Eitan Webb, director of the Princeton Chabad House, who had stepped in. He greeted the overflow audience with these words: “We …

Are “Commanders for Israel” aware of the deadly defects in their ill-conceived program, but persist in promoting it anyway; or they are unaware of them, and are promoting it out of sheer ignorance?  [After Gamal Abdel Nasser’s death] the ability of the Arabs to coordinate their political and military activities …

Benjamin Netanyahu – A synopsis: The good the bad…and the remarkable When you compare his [Netanyahu’s] lack of actual achievements compared to Ben-Gurion, whose record he’s eclipsed, it’s embarrassing – Jeff Barak, An empty record, Jerusalem Post, November 20, 2016 Last Tuesday Benjamin Netanyahu chalked up an unbroken stint of …

What is apartheid ? According to Wikipedia, Apartheid (which is an Afrikaans word meaning “apartness”) was a political and social system in South Africa while it was under white minority rule (meaning white people ruled the country, even though there were not as many of them as there were black …

Reply to Ruby Hamad’s Don’t ask athletes to set aside politics ‘in the spirit of the Olympics’ Is there even one Palestinian in the Lebanese Olympic team? There are few things more hypocritical than Lebanese claiming to snub Israel because of what we allegedly do to the Palestinians.  If there is …

  Sometimes looking at relationships in the Middle East is like watching Game of Thrones (without the gratuitous nudity). One needs a guide. This isn’t it. There are enough dubious facts and Israel obsessions in Owen Bennett-Jones’ Middle East map carved up by caliphates, enclaves and fiefdoms for this to be the ‘official’ …

 And that hardly begins to say it all. But then, I’m speaking about Obama, so what else would we expect?  I’m sorry I cannot start with good news today: I must begin with the outrage.  Israeli investigative journalist Ilana Dayan has just done an interview with President Obama for Israel’s …

Towards a New Law of War  is the subject of a conference currently being held by Shurat Hadin, the Israeli Law Center, founded and run by the amazing Nitsana Darshan-Leitner. Current laws of warfare are outdated, she explained in her introductory remarks.  The Geneva Conventions never envisioned the asymmetrical warfare that …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described Israel as “a small country, one of the smallest”. That is true, but only part of the story. As Bibi added “Israel is strong, but it’s much more vulnerable [than the US].” Size: Israel is about 20,000 square kilometers, using the 1949 Armistice Lines, or 22,000 …

All is quiet in the north now. There are those who think it’s just a matter of time until we are attacked again, and that we are certainly closer to major hostilities than we were before this most recent attack.  That something major is coming down the road, at some …

Yesterday, four rockets were launched from a Syrian-held position roughly seven kilometers inside of Syria; two of the rockets landed in the Israeli Golan Heights.  They landed in open areas and there were no casualties.  Military sources identified this as a joint effort of Hezbollah and Syrian forces; the IDF …

Yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu said, with regard to his speaking to Congress: “In coming weeks, the powers are liable to reach a framework agreement with Iran, an agreement liable to leave Iran as a nuclear threshold state. “As prime minister of Israel, I am obligated to make every effort to …

  Sukkot. “v’samachta bechagecha”: and you shall rejoice in your festival. This is it, Sukkot, our season of rejoicing.  My very favorite holiday.  The spirit is in the air, here in Jerusalem.  I look forward to meals in the Sukkah (much larger than the illustration here!), and sleeping in the …