Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont has been a vocal critic of Israel’s ongoing military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. A democratic socialist who regards himself as an independent, Sanders has criticized Israel’s tactics and has expressed concerns about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. These critiques have been thoughtful. But his recent sponsorship of […]
Despite public relations efforts to burnish their image, banks are hard-pressed to refute allegations that they are greedy and heartless. This issue grabbed the headlines in Israel about a decade ago, when a persistent social activist named Barak Cohen launched a “non-violent resistance” campaign to shame major banks into modifying their policy regarding debt payment. […]
With Israel fighting a two-front war in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox partners are demanding draft exemptions for yeshiva students and other members of the haredi community. This impudent demand was presented by United Torah Judaism and Shas, two ultra-Orthodox parties in his coalition government. They have a total of […]
I did not discover hummus until my first trip to Israel in the summer of 1967, shortly after the end of the Six Day War. Having been raised in a home where Polish-style food was king, I was oblivious to hummus and the rich assortment of Middle Eastern appetizers I have since come to love. […]
The Israeli government is elated with Donald Trump’s reelection as president of the United States. The reasons are crystal clear. During his first term in office, Trump compiled a strong pro-Israel record. And in the past few days, he has nominated pro-Israel figures as ambassador to Israel and to key foreign policy, defence and intelligence […]
Yesterday, a month after the United States warned Israel it faced a cutoff of military assistance unless it allowed a substantial increase of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip within 30 days, the issue was essentially settled in Israel’s favor. The United States, having announced that Israel had fulfilled some of the conditions it had […]
German scholar Matthias Kuntzel provides readers with a ground-breaking theory about Arab/Muslim hostility to Israel and Jews in his penetratingly incisive book, Nazis, Islamic Antisemitism And The Middle East: The 1948 Arab War Against Israel And The Aftershocks Of World War II (Routledge). A political scientist and historian, he argues that antisemitism in the Arab […]
With Jews in Europe poised to mark the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht on November 9, mobs attacked Israeli soccer fans in Amsterdam following a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax the night before. The violence immediately brought to mind an ugly incident that occurred in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, late last October. Shortly […]
As he toured Israel’s northern border on November 3, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would restore security there “with or without” an agreement with Lebanon. What he meant is clear. Israel is determined to facilitate the return of some 60,000 displaced Israelis through either diplomacy or military means. Ordered to evacuate their homes […]
It was, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed in a message to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on November 6, “history’s greatest comeback.” Netanyahu, the first world leader to congratulate Trump, may have been indulging in hyperbole, but he was not too far off the mark. Trump’s triumph over Vice President Kamala Harris in yesterday’s […]