The families, friends and supporters of the hostages held by Hamas have implored Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to widen the war in the Gaza Strip. “The expansion of military operations puts every hostage at grave risk,” the families said in a recent statement. “We implore our decision makers: Prioritize the hostages. Secure a deal. […]
The Houthis, Israel’s ferocious enemy and Iran’s proxy, struck a raw nerve on the morning of May 4, forcing Israel to respond almost immediately. They fired a ballistic missile from distant Yemen that crashed into an orange grove perilously close to Ben Gurion Airport, one of Israel’s most strategic sites. The projectile left a big […]
Al Jolson was in a class all by himself. From about 1912 until 1934, he was the most highly paid entertainer in the United States. What Enrico Caruso was to opera, Jolson was to popular song. Jolson’s friend, the comedian George Burns, once said, “There was nobody as good as Jolson. When he got through, […]
The late Herberts Cukurs, a Nazi collaborator in German-occupied Latvia, had blood on his hands. As a commander of the Arajs Kommando, a Latvian police unit under the authority of the German occupying force, he played a critical role in the mass murder of local Jews. Latvian historian Andrew Ezergailis, the author of The Holocaust […]
The Liberal Party won Canada’s federal election on April 28. Judging by the profusion of Liberal campaign placards planted on the lawns of homes in the mid-town district of Toronto-St. Paul’s, the Liberals were heading for a fourth consecutive victory. St. Paul’s, where I live, is a bellwether constituency whose neighborhoods range from upper-class Forest […]
Foreign volunteers flocked to kibbutzim before and after the 1967 Six Day War. Hailing primarily from Europe, the United States, Canada and South Africa, they were eager to experience the novelty of collective living. By one estimate, 6,000 foreigners arrived in Israel within a six-week period following the end of hostilities. I was one of […]
Donald Trump, in a geopolitical betrayal of seismic proportions, appears to have switched sides in the three-year-old Russia-Ukraine war. Until Trump’s return as president on January 20, the United States backed Ukraine unequivocally. Joe Biden, Trump’s predecessor, condemned Russia’s brazen invasion of Ukraine in the winter of 2022. He provided Ukraine with economic and political […]
Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to fire Ronen Bar, the director of the Shin Bet internal intelligence agency, discredits the Israeli prime minister, leaving him open to legitimate concerns that he values political survival more than democracy and the rule of law. At the behest of Netanyahu, the cabinet voted on March 20 to dismiss Bar, a […]
Israel’s longest war since its creation drags on interminably, with no end in sight. Speaking of the 18-month-long conflict in the Gaza Strip a few days ago, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has no intention of finishing it any time soon. Acknowledging that indirect talks with Hamas on ending the war and freeing the […]
After two rounds of mostly indirect talks in Muscat and Rome over Iran’s controversial nuclear program, the United States and Iran have expressed optimism that progress is being made. The “constructive” atmosphere is such that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sounded upbeat following the last session on April 19. He told reporters that negotiations were […]