The Lancaster heavy bomber was probably the most feared British airplane during World War II. Swift and responsive, this iconic aircraft bombed military and civilian targets in Nazi Germany, helping the Allies turn the tide of the war and defeat Adolf Hitler’s despicable Nazi regime. Lancaster, a stirring documentary by David Fairhead and Anthony Palmer, […]
Shortly after Germany’s defeat in World War I, a Munich-based Jewish socialist/journalist named Kurt Eisner toppled the venerable Wittelsbach dynasty, formed the short-lived Free State of Bavaria, and became the first Jew ever to govern a German state. On February 21, 1919, three months after his accession to power, he was assassinated by an antisemitic […]
If Israel’s fifth election in a little more than three years was regarded by some Israelis as a kind of referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu’s fitness to govern the country, this burning question has now been answered definitively. Netanyahu, who is currently on trial on criminal charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, roared back […]
One of Hollywood’s first anti-Nazi feature films, The Mortal Storm was released in June 1940, nine months after the outbreak of World War II. A black-and-white Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer production featuring an accomplished cast, it was directed by Frank Borzage and starred James Stewart as a German who opposes Adolf Hitler’s new Nazi regime. Hollywood moguls, many of […]
Michael Mayer, the director of Happy Times, an extremely dark Israeli comedy, hews to an incredibly pessimistic view of mankind. His quirky feature film, now available on the ChaiFlicks streaming platform, implicitly subscribes to the philosopher Thomas Hobbes’ grim maxim that human beings are “nasty, brutish and short.” Mayer zeroes in on Israeli expatriates who meet […]
Russia’s burgeoning alliance with Iran is an increasing source of concern to Israel, particularly after the appearance of Iranian kamikaze drones over Kyiv in support of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. The latest development confirms the supposition that Russia and Iran, both of which regard the United States as their foremost foe, have formed a […]
Prime Minister Yair Lapid of Israel recently blasted the second report issued by the United Nations’ Commission of Inquiry, which was set up following last year’s cross-border war between Israel and Hamas. Presented to the UN General Assembly on October 27, the 28-page report, with which the Israeli government has refused to cooperate, charged that Israel’s […]
Israeli commandos and Shin Bet agents scored a tactical victory on October 25 when they killed Wadee al-Houh, the 31-year-old leader of the Lion’s Den, and four of his followers in a clash in the West Bank town of Nablus. Formed only a few months ago, the Lion’s Den sprang into prominence by attacking Israeli army […]
A little more than two weeks after Iran was convulsed by a new round of nation-wide protests which have yet to subside, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, finally broke his silence. Condemning the “rioting” as “abnormal” and “unnatural,” he accused the United States and Israel of instigating the protests, which entered their 40th day […]
A locomotive belching white smoke pulls into a train station in Budapest carrying the decorated coffin of Gyula Gombos, the prime minister of Hungary from 1932 until his death four years later. An honor guard and a solemn crowd greet the train. So begins Eva Gardos’ Budapest Noir, a moody, fast-moving Hungarian-language film with English subtitles […]