Tag Archives: Prime Minister Netanyahu

First order of concern: We must stay in touch with news of significance, even – or especially – if it is unsettling or worse. There is no way I will ignore the situation in the US; I will continue to deal with it going forward, as I see the need. …

So we’re into election campaign mode. This does not, by any stretch of the imagination, mean that matters will now go smoothly: We’ve got a long and winding road ahead of us before election day. One factor seems reasonably certain: this election will play out for the most part on …

Tonight we kindle the first light of Chanukah.  And it strikes me that this year the messages and themes of the holiday are especially important: It is hardly an easy time. Not here in Israel, and certainly not in the US.  We struggle with corona and the concommitant economic difficulties. …

Direct Etihad passenger flights to Israel; the formation of Kosher Arabia which will apparently make it easier to get kosher food in Abu Dhabi and Dubai than in Sydney or Melbourne; a public sukkah in front of the world famous Burj Khalifa Tower; and normalisation with Sudan around the corner. …

That was the title of a Broadway musical which first made it to the stage almost sixty years ago. This provocative title came into my mind now because of the current state of the world. I don’t really want to get off, my friends. I’m too much of a fighter …

So much, so much to deal with! Prime Minister Netanyahu had indicated on July 1 – the first date on which he would have been able to bring decisions about application of sovereignty in Judaea & Samaria to the Cabinet – that there would likely be news next week. But …

There is fog on two continents, actually. And unless we penetrate it, we are not able to comprehend what is going on. We begin with what is happening in the US. As an American citizen, born and raised in the US, I suffer with my American friends as reports come …

It appears that we are a “go” for the unity government.  For now: I have yet to speak with anyone who believes that the new government will last anything near its full term. —– Last Thursday, the High Court – in a unanimous vote by the expanded panel of 11 …

Our first battle is against the coronavirus, which is being fought not just in Israel, but around the world.  It preoccupies everyone, so that political news here is not necessarily even front page any more. I write from my Jerusalem apartment: I am well, thank Heaven, but following the rules …

Oh, and these are tough times. But Purim begins Monday night (and a day later in Jerusalem, where Shushan Purim is celebrated).  And so, today children went to school in their Purim costumes, and I happened to be running an errand when they were coming out of school. All those happy …

Perhaps we truly are on the verge of significant positive changes.  But then again, we may be facing only frustration and stagnation.  It’s difficult to call on several counts. I am speaking, first, about the election which is now – yikes! – less than two weeks away. It’s difficult to …

It is such an enormously tangled time. I want to begin by sharing something that is a source of enormous pride.  It bolsters us as we face that tangled state of affairs. Last week I wrote about a terror attack – the car ramming of IDF recruits not yet sworn …

I begin with a report on the Likud primary that took place last Thursday: As expected, Binyamin Netanyahu defeated his challenger Gideon Sa’ar.  And he did so in a landslide, with 72.5% of the vote. Out of 106 Likud polling stations across the country, Netanyahu won 99 and Sa’ar seven. …

Former Justice Minister, ‘Tommy’ Lapid: “…the legal system in Israel is being undermined by an over-zealous State Prosecutor’s Office, that is losing esteem and credibility with each additional trial…”    This week was a tumultuous one for Israel’s legal establishment—and rightly so. Perversion of the democratic process. For almost a …

The election is upon us now – only two days away – and the situation is not substantially different from what it was when I last wrote.  Neither camp has a clear majority in the polls. Likud and Blue & White are reasonably neck-in-neck.  Maddeningly, each poll is somewhat different, …

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 …

We are seeing a rerun of the April 2019 Israeli elections but with one big difference, this time round we will have a government formed. The question is, what government? In the main, the issue in April was whether the people wanted to elect the statesman Prime Minister Netanyahu, or …

Today I begin with a piece – “No, it’s not about ‘race’” – by Vic Rosenthal, writing as Abu Yehuda, because I think this marvellously forthright post should be seen by all and shared broadly (all emphasis added): “Americans need to take a vacation from using the word ‘racist,’ at …

This will be my last posting before Pesach begins on Friday night. This year, the Pesach themes of redemption and evil resonate for me with special power.  The Almighty redeemed us when he took us from Egypt but that redemption was not complete:  it is an on-going process. In the …

If we care about what’s going on around us, in the end there is no choice but to open our eyes and look hard. The situation is difficult. I did my good news posting and was very glad for it. ~~~~~~~~~~ By the end of last week, I was giving …