Is bipartisan support for Israel in the U.S. Congress slipping? This appears to be the case, judging by a series of recent events. A festive ceremony in Jerusalem on May 14 marking Israel’s 70th anniversary of statehood and the opening of the American embassy in Jerusalem attracted a small delegation of Republicans from the Senate […]
The British playwright, composer and singer Noel Coward wrote in jest that only “mad dogs and Englishman go out in the midday sun.” His amusing lyrics came to mind during my last visit to Masada, the ancient Jewish rebel fortress conquered by a Roman army in 74 CE. Under a broiling sun in the Judean Desert, […]
Once again, Recep Tayyip Erdogan is shooting from the hip, creating a diplomatic crisis with one of Turkey’s most important neighbors. The volatile and authoritarian Turkish president did it again this week when he denounced Israel as a “terror state,” reiterated his allegiance to the Palestinian cause and downgraded Turkey’s loveless relationship with Israel, at […]
Zoe Leigh Hopkins celebrates Canada’s wilderness and its indigenous native culture in Kayak To Klemtu, a purebred Canadian movie opening in theaters on May 25. This is an old-fashioned film in the best sense of its meaning. No violence. No sex. No nudity. No pyrotechnics. In short, no gratuitous distractions. So refreshing. The plot is […]
Tellingly enough, Russia refrained from condemning Israel after it carried out massive air strikes in Syria against Iranian and Syrian targets on May 10. Russia, which has cordial relations with both Israel and Iran and a special relationship with Syria, issued an innocuous statement rather than a condemnation after Israel’s ferocious attack. Its deputy foreign minister, Mikhail […]
It was a day of jubilation and bloodshed, a surrealistic commingling of events. As the United States officially opened its embassy in Jerusalem on May 14, thereby fulfilling President Donald Trump’s campaign promise, Israeli troops, acting in self-defence, killed 60 Palestinians and wounded more than 1,300 from the Gaza Strip who had charged toward Israel’s […]
Shimon Redlich and Gabriel Shapiro immigrated to Israel as young men. Both have written engaging memoirs about their experiences in the Jewish state, which marks its 70th anniversary on May 14 by the Gregorian calendar. Redlich, a Ukrainian Jew, arrived in Israel in 1950 by way of Poland. In A New Life in Israel (Academic Studies […]
As a lawyer and as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been a force for constructive change in the United States since the 1970s. “She created a legal landscape,” says one of her admirers in RBG, an upbeat and bracing documentary by Julie Cohen and Betsy West due to open […]
Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams taste the sweetness of forbidden fruit in Disobedience, a dark yet illuminating film by Sebastian Lelio set in London’s Orthodox Jewish community. Ronit (Weisz), a professional photographer who lives in New York City, and Esti (McAdams), a teacher at a local Jewish day school, are old friends who haven’t seen […]
It was a momentous moment in the Middle East, a dangerous turning point fraught with uncertainty. On May 9, a day after the United States withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Moscow on one of his periodic trips to Russia to discuss current Middle Eastern issues with Russian President Vladimir […]