יום שישי, ד׳ תמוז תשפ״וFriday, June 19, 2026
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Dr. Martin Sherman spent seven years in operational capacities in the Israeli defense establishment. He is the founder of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a member of the Habithonistim-Israel Defense & Security Forum (IDSF) research team, and a participant in the Israel Victory Initiative.
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Israel cannot rely on regime change to ensure its security. It must aim at dismantling Iran into separate ethnic entities to ensure that, in the future, it will not become the grave menace that it was in the past.
Macron is using the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the Iran-Israel standoff not out of genuine concern, but as tools to pander to the Muslim world
The only way to prevent a civil war in Israel is to acknowledge its impending outbreak, so that steps can be taken to forestall it.
The Trump proposal comprises a point of singularity reflecting a sharp break from past trends, and a sober recognition of the futility of the past pursuit of some mythical Palestinian “peace partner.”
On the world stage and promoted by the legacy media, the Palestinian issue is relentlessly and often callously exploited by ruthless jihadist Islamists and their sympathizers, despite the immense suffering of many innocent civilians from both parties to the conflict.
The Trump administration should factor the unique model of Judeo-Muslim collaboration between Israel and Azerbaijan, which transcends prevailing geopolitical divisions, into its foreign policy aimed at engendering enhanced international stability.
The election of Donald Trump and the collapse of the Assad regime in Syria will compel a recalibration of recalibration of France’s past policies.
Sadly, the discussion of the fate of Gaza in general, and of the “Day After” in particular, is taking on an eerily familiar look—ominously reminiscent of the discussions of yesteryear.
France's adversarial attitude towards both Israel and America has regrettably been long brewing.
While France is the origin of the principles of modern democracy, it has also shown a disturbing affinity for tyranny.
Some of Kamala Harris’s supporters constitute yet another ominous omen in the perturbing accumulation that the prospect of her victory portends.
The entire existence of Hamas is nothing but a litany of gruesome war crimes.
There is no act of treachery or meanness of which a political party is not capable…- Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) British Prime Minister
The French Foreign Ministry advanced two claims as the rationale for its decision to support the ICC—both equally risible and ridiculous
A perverse inversion of victim & victimizer
Israel seeks to minimize civilian casualties, while Hamas seeks to maximize civilian casualties and use them as a propaganda tool.
When Israeli voters next go to the polls, over what led to the grim events of Oct. 7, their choices must not be driven by uninformed rumor, ill-informed speculation, and misinformed emotion.
Under Biden, important foreign policy interests are being sacrificed domestic ones
While the current coalition is far from unblemished, things could be worse—and have been, recently.
By MARTIN SHERMAN The historical record bodes ill for initiatives to engineer a Pax Israeliana (an Israel induced peace) between Israel and its Arab adversaries.
What once was unthinkable is now moving to the center of mainstream thought
One of the reasons that the conflict with the Palestinian-Arabs in general and Gazan Arabs in particular, has dragged on for years, is that Israel has failed to conceptualize the conflict correctly
The political rationale of the Gaza conflict can be mirrored in the inexorable logic of an almost mathematical algorithm—studiously ignored by Israel's policy-making echelons
Past deeds of heroism are no justification for present acts of subversion
The opponents of the proposed judicial reform are not defending liberal democracy, but promoting Orwellian dystopia
The raising of the issue of a constitution as a potential way out of the political impasse over the future of Israel's legal system is nothing but a red herring on the part of the opponents of judicial reform
When the official reasons given for the Oct. 2022 gas deal with Lebanon unravel, who can be blamed for allowing "heretical" alternative explanations to creep into one's mind
Typical of the deluge of the Orwellian gobbledygook opposing the proposed judicial reform is a recent video by virulent anti-Netanyahu activist, Mika Almog, granddaughter of the late Shimon Peres
If the so-called "champions of democracy" succeed in obstructing the judicial reforms, democratic rule will be replaced by mob rule—and Israel will be teetering on the brink of an Orwellian dystopia
The last vestige of the left’s undemocratic power is threatened, a prospect it views with a mixture of horror and disbelief.
The Palestinian flags, on unabashed and unhindered display at recent demonstrations against the proposed reform of Israel's legal system, tear off the facade of hypocrisy that masks what really motivates them.
The initiative by the newly elected government to enact a far-reaching reform of the legal system is an inevitable result of the ongoing process of erosion of public trust.
By its reticence to engage in a decisive offensive against its despotic adversaries, Israel is continually backing away from conflicts that it can win, while risking backing itself into a conflict that it cannot…
Why do professed liberals persist in support of an entity that would comprise the utter negation of all the values they allegedly cherish?
Do the Palestinian-Arabs genuinely wish to establish a state for themselves? Or do they really wish to dismantle the state of the Jews?
The Zionist narrative has demonstrable validity over the counter-narrative of the Palestinian Arabs, and thus the Zionist narrative must prevail.
Little analytical acumen is needed to grasp that a Palestinian state will comprise a multi-dimensional threat to Israel. Whether one considers height, width, length, or depth, such a state would entail existential dangers for Israel
Israel must forgo the forlorn hope of winning Arab amitié. and pursue different strategic goals. The most it can hope for is to be grudgingly accepted; the least it must achieve is to be greatly feared
International agreements involving the abdication of strategic assets in exchange for vague 'assurances' of future support are not worth the paper they are written on
One of the reasons the conflict with the Palestinian Arabs has dragged is that Israel has failed to conceptualize the conflict accurately.
As the Biden administration continues to bring executive incompetence to yet unplumbed depths, any fair-minded person must feel increasingly compelled to question the authenticity of the 2020 poll
The simmering conflict between Egypt and Ethiopia over the construction of a massive dam could have grave ramifications
Legal proceedings are being carried out with scant regard for the law. In some cases, the law is blatantly disregarded; in others, factual evidence is ignored; in yet others, infractions are invented to fabricate charges. All cases have been approved by the courts.
There are only two possibilities regarding Finance Minister Liberman's involvement in what has become known as the "Yisrael Beiteinu affair"; neither bodes well for Israel.
There may well be things more depraved than an Israeli minister soliciting funds for a self-declared mortal foe, but none comes readily to mind
It will take a long time to repair the damage that the machinations used to ensconce the current coalition have wrought.
While it may be inappropriate for someone under criminal indictment to be a candidate for or serve as prime minister, it is far more inappropriate for him/her to be precluded from doing so by abuse of the legal system.
If difficult socioeconomic conditions in the haredi community have not produced the rampant crime that afflicts Arab society, why should poverty be assumed to be the culprit among Israel’s Arab citizens?
Israel must prepare for a daunting situation, in which, along its eastern frontier, it could face a huge expanse of hostile territory, controlled by radical Islamist warlords, stretching from the fringes of Greater Tel Aviv to the border of Iraq — and beyond.
Lapid’s recent Gaza policy proposal is just one more display in an appalling catalogue of his imbecility-cum-ignorance, which, in light of his electoral success, is—in itself—a grave indictment of the Israeli voter
In a single act of rash duplicity and deceit, Naftali Bennett provided the left with a plumb prize, from which it has been precluded for years: Broad access to positions of governmental control and influence.
The problem of Gaza was created by the belief that land could be transferred to the Palestinian Arabs to provide them a viable opportunity for self-governance.
The situation that has arisen can no longer be seen as one centering on the question of individual rights but of collective survival—and it must be treated as such.
This week--despite the resounding failure of the “land-for-peace” formula—3 former IDF generals penned an Op-Ed, urging the Biden administration to “keep open a path to an eventual two-state solution”
The Palestinian-Arabs’ claim for sovereignty over what they now insist is their long yearned-for homeland arose only after 1967—i.e. when it came under Jewish administration
Dispassionate analysis of the political deadlock in Israel will reveal that this state of suspended political animation is the result of nothing more than what the Jewish sages designated as “baseless hatred” among Jews.
But no matter how gullible or skeptical over the electoral outcome one might happen to be, the die has now been cast. The ominous trajectory for the American people—and for much of the world—has been set.
The contour lines of an approaching scenario in which Biden, exposed as both frail and mendacious, is forced to step down & concede the presidency to his radical Vice President, are gradually coming into focus.
Arguably, the most galling reaction to the targeted killing of Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh came from John Brennan, director of the CIA under the Obama administration.
'Republicans play badminton; Democrats play pro football'—Former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich
The policy preferences of much of US Jewy seem even more paradoxically perverse—as they are undeniably lending support to political regimes that comprise the diametric opposite of the enlightened liberal values the purport to cherish
The recent release of taped telephone conversations underscores the bitter irony that the politically motivated initiative to indict Netanyahu on contrived charges will end up by undermining precisely those who launched it & were complicit in conducting it.
There is a bitter & infuriating irony in the fact that it was the Democrats themselves, who committed the very transgressions they endeavored to attribute to their Republican adversaries
For the Labor Party, the fall from the heights of political hegemony to the depth of political oblivion is a fitting fate for the perpetration of the Oslo Accords, which ran counter to every prevailing Zionist norm of the time
While the normalization with the UAE could definitely entail significant benefits for Israel it is still somewhat premature to celebrate the onset of lasting amity—rather than enmity—in the region.
Although it has ostensibly been in power for much of the post Oslowian era, it is clear that the “Right” has not internalized the exigencies of political warfare.
Despite all the potential payoffs Israel-UAE normalization may entail, the agreement is really a prop in the choreography for a much bigger drama.
Even a cursory analysis of the “Commanders for Israel’s Security” plan, perversely titled “Security First,” will reveal that it is not a security plan composed by military experts, but a political manifesto drafted by amateur politicians.
Israel should be a source of pride for all Jews—but particularly for Jews who espouse liberal values of tolerance and pluralism, of individual liberty and of human advancement.
Americans seem swept up in a movement bent on jettisoning a paradigm that brought resounding success, while embracing one that wrought failure wherever implemented.
Excessive judicial intervention into what is seen as the purview of the legislature is likely to have some unintended consequences: Energizing the drive to extend Israeli sovereignty over Judea-Samaria—and sparking far-reaching judicial reform.
Perhaps the most disturbing issue, raised by the cloud of doubt, enveloping the Duma-related legal proceedings, is the tangible possibility that the real perpetrators of the gruesome murders may still be roaming around free—secure in the knowledge that someone else will pay for the atrocity they committed
It is imperative to restore the judiciary to its duly assigned place in a properly functioning democracy—to that of adjudicating, not legislating
History has shown beyond any reasonable doubt that the Palestinian-Arabs will not be swayed from their aggressive intent by any display of Israeli goodwill, generosity or concessions—however far-reaching.
In the past, Daniel Pipes has been scrupulously strict in being “policy agnostic”, avoiding any action-oriented prescriptions to achieve his prescribed “Israeli Victory”; yet in his NYT piece, he robustly negates specific measures---such as annexation—to achieve precisely that goal
There is a growing sense that the aura of infallibility accorded the Supreme Court, that forms the basis of its almost limitless power, so assiduously (some might say insidiously) cultivated by Chief Justice Aharon Barak, is beginning to dim
The recent diatribe by Haaretz’s Rogel Alpher against Israel Prize laureate, Miriam Peretz, must have crippling commercial repercussion; not only cancellation of reader subscriptions but dramatic reduction in advertisers/advertising revenues
By its unflagging support of the establishment of a homophobic, misogynistic Muslim-majority tyranny (a.k.a. a Palestinian state), America’s allegedly “progressive” Jewry reveals that it is, in fact, profoundly regressive
Edelstein drew a much-needed line in the sand against judicial intrusion into the sphere of the legislature and thwarted yet another attempt at the usurpation of both its autonomy and authority
Politics may be the art of the possible, but it certainly makes for strange bedfellows.
The false façade of Blue & White was even more friable and fragile than anyone imagined; under the assault of recalcitrant reality, even the fast-drying Bibiphobic glue proved unable to hold things together.
In stark contrast to Netanyahu, Ehud Olmert was indicted on existing interpretation of the law, no “creative” legal precedents were needed to prosecute him, there were no claims of selective prosecution, or allegations of police investigatory misconduct.
There is—and should be--a qualitative difference (i.e. a structural inequality) between votes cast for parties that wish to undermine the Jewish nation-state and those who wish to protect and preserve it
There seems no rational explanation for Blue and White's manifestly irrational behavior other than that Netanyahu’s rivals’ seemingly pathological ad hominem hatred for him has totally unhinged them from any reasonable and responsible political action.
Even a cursory perusal of the official platforms of the alliance reflects a stark rejection of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.
An in-depth interview with Maj. Gen. (res.) Gershon Hacohen, on the significance of territory in modern warfare and on his disagreements with his IDF colleagues, who endorse far-reaching territorial withdrawal by Israel.
Whether or not it is actually implemented, the “deal” cannot effectively address Israel’s demographic menace, but only perpetuate it.
Whatever the operational efficacy of targeted assassinations may be—or not be—the conscience of every decent individual should rebel at the thought that arch-purveyors of terror should be permitted to pursue their deadly profession with impunity
Despite his remarkable success, Netanyahu has been ceaselessly assailed by his political adversaries. Indeed, it is perhaps his very success that has generated such raw rancor against him
It’s been more about a pursuit of power than a pursuit of justice.
Despite its many undoubted merits, democracy has one glaring detriment. There is never a dictator to blame for the fate that befalls the people. They alone are responsible for whatever befalls them.
“There is something sick in the State Prosecutor’s Office; Shai Nitzan is not fit to be the State Prosecutor” - Judge Hila Gerstel, former Commissioner for Prosecutorial Oversight
“Such a missile would pulverize a house to dust. It blasted a crater that is impossible to describe… There is no protection that defend us in the case of missiles like this.”-Gaza-border resident
Delaying the inevitable does not make it less inevitable—only more costly
The obdurate resistance of Gaza to any type of resolution has led to such overriding exasperation that it has begun to undermine the quality of the public debate on the issue.
Former Justice Minister, ‘Tommy’ Lapid: “…the legal system in Israel is being undermined by an over-zealous State Prosecutor’s Office, that is losing esteem and credibility with each additional trial…”
The current situation in Gaza—and the accompanying misery—are the direct result of the misguided attempt to foist statehood on the Palestinian-Arabs.
He who comes to kill you, rise up early and kill him first – The Talmud
“…a military defeat of Israel would mean the physical extinction of a large part of its population and the political elimination of the Jewish state. To lose a single war is to lose everything” – Yigal Allon, 1976.
