Tag Archives: Putin

It is Hol Hamoed Sukkot – the intermediate days of the week-long holiday. The skies are blue here in Israel, and inside the sukkah there is an extraordinary sense of peace. How lovely it would be to shut out the world during this time, but, almost inevitably, the world impinges …

Yom Kippur, in all its weight and power, has passed. We have heard the last blasts of the shofar for this year. Hopefully it has awakened in us a stronger sense of who we are and where we need to go. ~~~~~~~~~~ The outpouring of grief over the terrorist murder …

My, how the world has changed. I woke up and looked at the news. It’s an Israeli thing, especially because of nights like last night. Amazing things can happen in the night. This was the headline: https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5256257,00.html TWENTY rockets were fired at Israel. Big ones that go far and cause …

Ani Ode Chai! The English translation—I am still alive!—doesn’t quite have the same impact. It is Yom HaShoah here in Israel today: The Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Day. Last night, the official ceremony was held at Yad VaShem. Every year I write about this ceremony, and the stories of …

These are hardly quiet times, and there is much to attend to. The trick is to focus on those issues that have genuine import, and to pass over the shtuyote (the nonsense) that masquerades as news. Otherwise we drown in a barrage of “events,” and run the risk of paying …

No one ever said it would be easy. When something turns out as we hoped it would, we might murmur “Fantastic!” and allow ourselves a momentary sense of ease or satisfaction. But in no time at all – bang! – we are likely to confront a stumbling block. Then we …

Before I get to the malice, which sure stares us in the face, let’s start with some good news, which sets matters into a very broad context. This week, the Bible Lands Museum in Jerusalem unveiled an enormously exciting new exhibit – “In the Valley of David and Goliath” – …

Persisting with its declared willingness to establish a Palestinian state while being unable to make the perilous concessions this calls for, makes Israel looks disingenuous and devious. Al-Aksa [Mosque on the Temple Mount] is ours… they [the Jews] have no right to defile it with their filthy feet. We will …

ead on for article The 2014 APEC Conference in Beijing this past week has been and gone and the G20 Conference in Brisbane is taking place in Brisbane this weekend. If the APEC Conference is any guide the world leaders assembled in Australia will have little to say about the …

ead on for article The possibility of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott shirt-fronting Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Brisbane next month over the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH 17 in Ukrainian sovereign territory with the loss of all on board – including 38 Australians – …

President Obama’s sudden about face in deciding to attack ISIL in Syria on 21 September – without express approval of Syria or a resolution of the United Nations Security Council – has provoked a strong response from Russia and Iran – President Assad’s main supporters in his three years struggle …