Categories
Commentary

Mamdani Gets Off To A Rocky Start

Who could have known? New York City, home to the largest Jewish population in the Diaspora, is now governed by an anti-Zionist Muslim mayor, a possibility that seemed inconceivable only a few months ago. A former New York assemblyman from Queens, Zohran Mamdani defeated Andrew Cuomo, the ex-governor of New York, in last November’s municipal […]

Categories
Commentary

Politics Has No Place In Eurovision

At its general assembly meeting in Geneva last week, the  European Broadcasting Union judiciously came down on the side of fairness and justice. It allowed Israel to continue participating in the Eurovision Song Contest, the next one of which takes place in Vienna in May. Some members, having denounced Israel’s conduct of the war in […]

Categories
Commentary

A Pardon For Netanyahu?

In an unprecedented request, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked President Isaac Herzog for a pardon. If granted, it would absolve him of criminal charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust in three separate but related cases. Netanyahu claims that a positive response from Herzog would have a beneficial effect on healing divisions in […]

Categories
Commentary

Palestinian School Texts Need To Be Revamped

The Palestinian Authority hopes to supplant Hamas as the governing power in the Gaza Strip and play a central role in the second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-point peace plan. This may be a bridge too far as matters stand today. The Israeli government opposes the participation of the PA in the future […]

Categories
Commentary

The Conservative Movement In The U.S. Struggles With Antisemitism

The conservative movement in the United States, which is exemplified by President Donald Trump’s administration these days, is being buffeted by a growing debate over the U.S.’ alliance with Israel and accusations that some of its supporters are unfriendly toward the American Jewish community. The rift on the right between pro and anti-Israel conservatives exploded […]

Categories
Commentary

Toronto’s Mayor Fails The Jewish Community

Throwing around barbs falsely accusing Israel of committing genocide during its two-year war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip is an exercise in insensitivity and ignorance. Politicians, in particular, should be careful to reject this vile slander, which has been largely disseminated by Israel’s enemies. If they act recklessly, it may cost them votes in […]

Categories
Commentary

Mamdani’s Watershed Victory

You never know what lies around the corner. Zohran Mamdani was an obscure New York assemblyman six months ago. Today, he is famous, his name splashed across newspaper headlines. Mamdani is now poised to become New York City’s first Muslim mayor, having won a watershed election on November 4. He roared to victory by trouncing […]

Categories
Commentary

Yitzhak Rabin’s Assassination Thirty Years On

Some dates in history are seared into the consciousness of a nation and remain indelible. Thirty years have elapsed since Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination on November 4, 1995, but many Israelis remember it as if it had happened yesterday. I heard the awful news on the radio on that grey autumn day in Toronto. When I […]

Categories
Commentary

Emigration From Israel Reaches New Heights

Gilad Kariv, the chairman of the Knesset’s Immigration and Absorption Committee, minced no words. “This is not a wave of emigration,” he said last week. “It’s a tsunami of Israelis choosing to leave the country.” He was referring to the jolting news that roughly 125,000 Israeli citizens emigrated between 2022 and mid-2024, the largest ever […]

Categories
Commentary

Turkish Troops Should Not Set Foot in Gaza

Turkey, a key Middle East state, seeks to play a significant role in postwar Gaza. Turkey’s aspirations are understandable. Its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was instrumental in coaxing Hamas to accept the U.S.-brokered ceasefire, which seems to have ended the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, but which is still very fragile. And Erdogan attended […]