יום חמישי, י״ז תמוז תשפ״וThursday, July 2, 2026
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It’s essential that everyone involved in relations between Israel and the Palestinians understand the real issues that underlie the conflict. And it would be a good thing if all parties could agree to use words the same way.
{Reposted from the Abu Yehuda blog} Here we go again. Another yawning gulf between Israelis and American Jews, “a rupture that threatens Jews everywhere, the trust between Jews in Israel and the Diaspora, and in the long run, Israel,” say Evan Morris and Dennis Jett. It’s not bad enough that the Israeli religious establishment does […]
Israel needs to realize that the pendulum of public opinion in the US, especially among the decision-making class, is swinging against the Jewish state. The Arab and Iranian strategy of introducing money and activists into Western universities has been hugely effective in changing the national perception of Israel for the worse.
Can any moral person seriously support the revolutionary Islamic regime in Iran? Two important lessons from recent Jewish history guide Israeli policy toward Iran: a) when they say they are going to kill you, believe them; and b) when they actually do try to kill you, almost nobody will come to your aid.
Can any moral person seriously support the revolutionary Islamic regime in Iran?
Obama's policy was to weaken Israel while pretending to help her, for example by phasing out the portion of the military aid that could be used to buy from Israel’s own military industry.
’m convinced that Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy on Iran is the only approach short of war that might have any chance of modifying the behavior of the Iranian regime
It may not matter what, if anything, Biden thinks, because he will be guided by unseen hands.
I devoutly hope the decision will be quick and unambiguous, but ultimately someone will win this election. So here is my advice to Americans about the aftermath...
The development of a Sunni-Israel bloc in the region would be a breakthrough that would fundamentally alter the balance of power, and reduce the need for the US to physically intervene to keep the peace
The development of a Sunni-Israel bloc in the region would be a breakthrough that would fundamentally alter the balance of power, and reduce the need for the US to physically intervene to keep the peace.
We didn’t invite the Coronavirus into the country. It may be manmade, but not by Israelis. On the other hand, the political wounds are entirely self-inflicted. They are the fault of almost all the actors in Israel’s political circus.
The abuses of political correctness, cancel culture, and the wide popularity of absurd, self-contradictory theories and ideologies are all epiphenomena of the ubiquity of social media.
On the other hand, if Biden wins it may become clear to Israeli planners that there is a very short window of opportunity to pursue a military solution to the problem of Iranian nukes.
Laws are upheld primarily by the willingness of citizens to obey them, with enforcement only needed for egregious violators. That mechanism is breaking down in Israel.
Issue isn't 'Black and White'
Though there was still no proof that Jews were responsible for this atrocity, it became part of the accepted narrative in almost all segments of Israeli society.
Israelis care too much about gaining international approval, especially by Arab and Muslim nations. So an official treaty of normalization of relations is almost impossible to resist.
Today the USA is a candidate for a radical change away from the republic that was created when its constitution became effective in 1789, and which gradually evolved into what it is today.
The land belonged to the State of Israel in 1967, and indeed in 1948. It belongs to us today. We are the aboriginal inhabitants of the land, we have never lost our connection to it, we have the imprimatur of international law, and we have (so far) successfully defended it.
I think the election will mark the inflection point at which the curve of civilizational decline turns sharply downward. When the US loses its dominant economic and military position, the effects will be felt everywhere. The crisis in the US will begin the sharp acceleration of the decline of the West.
The Prime Minister acts almost exclusively to protect himself, and not on behalf of the country. The evidence for this is the absurdly fat and expensive “unity” (one has to laugh) government with its 35 ministers and 8 deputy ministers. This structure exists so that Binyamin Netanyahu can continue to be Prime Minister. There is no other reason.
The 800-pound gorilla of American Judaism? Progressivism
Israel’s approach to the Corona has been very – Israeli. First, we tried to overcome it by brute force. Then we became overconfident. And now, hopefully, we’ll try to be smart.
Identity politics can be democratic in the sense that there can be elections. But it is inconsistent with what we know as “liberal democracy,” because the division of power, wealth, and rights in identity politics is based on group membership rather than ability, work ethic, or moral standing.
Right now Israel is facing a momentous decision to do something that is practically nothing.
“If you want to change Black Lives Matter Israel agenda, you need to show up for them,” says Mazzig. He has it backwards. If they want our help, they need to stop supporting those who want to kill us.
If 9/11 was the beginning of the decline, it accelerated even more rapidly after February 4, 2004, although no one was immediately aware of it. That was the date that Facebook came into being, and social media, the most powerful weapon of cognitive warfare ever created,
To say you support Israel’s security and right to exist yet reiterate as a mantra “two-state solution” is self-contradictory.
As a citizen of Israel, my concern is that the EU also has a foreign policy, a very active one, and I don’t like it at all.
Jews have a right not to be bombarded with attempts to persuade them to abandon their own faith
Israel is a small country. An equivalent number, adjusted for population, would be over 1 million Americans. Every Israeli knows someone who has lost at least one family member to war or terror.
What’s truly wrong is that portfolios are given out as bribes and rewards for political support.
Despite the accusations against Bibi, he is not in politics for the money. There is no doubt that he has devoted his life to his, and my, country.
The process of forming the government has so far been enormously expensive, with three elections at an estimated cost of 12 billion shekels. Keep in mind also, that for the past year the legislators have done essentially nothing, while drawing their salaries.
Will fear of Coronavirus do what years of negotiations and attempts at compromise have not, and make the Haredim cooperate with the state?
When the rules were first announced, many people felt that PM Netanyahu and his advisors in the Health Ministry were overreacting, but as the number of cases grows, most Israelis have come around to the idea that tough measures are needed.
The system is what is preventing us from having a functional democracy, not Bibi Netanyahu.
There are many unknowns. Will the virus die out or slow its progression during the summer, as happens with the flu? If so, will it come back next winter? There are at least three laboratories in Israel on the verge of testing a vaccine. Will there be an effective one and when will it be ready? Are there other possibilities for treatment?
There are many unknowns. Will the virus die out or slow its progression during the summer, as happens with the flu? If so, will it come back next winter?
The degree to which the key people in Blue and White – as well as their partner Avigdor Lieberman – have both personal and political animus against Binyamin Netanyahu can’t be overemphasized. But the fact that they appear to be ready to become indebted to and wholly dependent on anti-Zionist parties in order to accomplish their goal of forcing him out is shocking.
Those liberal or progressive American Jews that still feel themselves a part of the Jewish nation will have to choose: Make aliyah or work in the diaspora to support Israel,.
We are sick of politicians. We are sick of the way their selfishness has prevented us from getting a government that could deal with the many issues facing the nation today, including the most important strategic ones. If there were a button to push that would remove all of our politicians, we would push it.
The status quo is unacceptable. It is expensive, it prevents the development of Judea and Samaria – despite what the Left says, there is almost no actual Jewish construction across the Green Line – and it leaves us vulnerable to terrorism. And no other proposed “solution” is practical.
Then there are those Jews, both in the diaspora or Israel, who simply see a profit in signing up with the forces of misoziony- the extreme and irrational hatred of the Jewish state.
By Forest Rain
New plants will cover the ugly scars terrorism left behind. Tu B’Shvat should not have to be used in this way but it is fitting that it was. Ours is a love story between a people and their land, between a land and its people.
What’s true for Jews goes triple for their state. I won’t repeat the depressing statistics about the number of UN resolutions condemning Israel that pass every year, and the fact that it is consistently attacked there for crimes that it did not commit while countries that do engage in murder, aggression, and oppression are never mentioned.
Zionism is a form of ethnic nationalism, and in today’s intellectual climate, forged by the European wars of the 20th century, nationalism is considered incompatible with liberal democracy. However, Israel is a special case, because the Jewish people are a special case.
if you get caught in a lie, no big deal. Just move on. It's the Palestinians' way.
Trump may have cut the Gordian Knot in the Middle East. If the American voters give him time to follow through, he may be able to prevent Iran from going nuclear and might even end the Arab war against Israel, after some 100-odd years.
You may notice that I say “the regime” and not “Iran.” This is because while the regime in Teheran pumps out anti-Jewish propaganda every day, the Iranian people are arguably the least antisemitic in the Middle East!
{Originally posted to the Abu Yehuda website} The targeted killing of Iranian war leader Qassem Soleimani, in response to attacks on Americans in Iraq and in order to interrupt plans for further attacks, unleashed a flood of reactions from almost every corner of the world and all over the political spectrum. American reactions were sharply […]
I have been searching for a coherent statement by an assailant. Most of them don’t get past “f- you, Jews.” But it seems to me that they blame Jews for something, and feel justified in hurting them. The consequences of doing it are not great, so why not?
he fact that Netanyahu managed to accomplish anything at all in his last three years as PM – and actually he accomplished quite a lot – despite the harassment tells much about his competence. But this is no way to run a country.
Israelis were shocked by Jersey City. Not so much by the attack, but by the response of the local community, captured in a video which appears to show local residents blaming the Jews themselves for the attack, and expressing vicious hatred of them.
Everything we do in Israel either adds to the sum total of respect we get or subtracts from it. .. So it is very important for us to not only win wars, kill terrorists, and in general crush our enemies as viciously as possible, but our messaging must project strength, competence, and even aggressiveness. We must avoid the image of victimhood
So if the partition resolution does not constitute a justification in international law for the establishment of a Jewish state in the territory of the former British Mandate, what does?
It’s been suggested that Trumps' pro-Israel acts are all cheap, merely “symbolic,” and have little effect on the ground. But if this is so, then why didn’t previous presidents act?
What is Palestinism? It is the belief that the Palestinian Arabs were unfairly victimized, dispossessed, colonized, raped, punished, expelled, murdered, degraded, castrated, etc. by the Zionist Jews who created the State of Israel, which continues to do all these things to them.
Maybe the best approach is for Americans to work on fixing things there, while allowing Israelis to concentrate on solving their unique problems here.
While Israel has great military power at hand, it keeps squandering its honor.
Like a broken record that plays the same phrase over and over and over: Bibi, Gantz, Lieberman, Lapid: get your acts together. It is a matter of life and death
Kahane’s conclusion was that Jewish survival demanded the emigration of most of the Arabs from the area between the Jordan and the Mediterranean. And I believe that he was right about this. That doesn’t mean that they should be expelled violently
Kahane was absolutely right about one thing, and it is a big thing: Jews and Arabs cannot coexist as equals in Eretz Yisrael (by which I mean the land between the river and the sea). The Land of Israel must be the exclusive property of the Jewish people.
The national feeling about Na’ama is a complicated story, involving the commandment to redeem captives (pidyon shvuim) and the echoes of history, including the Holocaust. It’s often said that our soldiers are “everybody’s children” and she falls into that category.
The “reimagining” of Judaism in terms of leftism is an act of enormous arrogance.
Regarding a third election, know that if – God forbid – it should happen, the results will be even worse for both of you. Many Israelis won’t vote in protest, some will vote for smaller parties, and the Arabs, who have gotten a taste of the power that it can give them, will vote for Arab parties in even greater numbers.
I conclude that when the smoke clears, we will have a unity government including at least Likud and Blue and White, and possibly a few others
Weiss wants to fight antisemitism by being honest, liberal, proud, and enlightened. All those qualities are useless against enemies that are precisely the opposite in all respects, and that is the case with antisemites. There is only one way to deter your enemies, and that is to be more powerful than them – and to demonstrate this whenever the occasion arises.
The more Netanyahu associates himself with Trump, the more Trump’s enemies become our enemies. And when they ultimately gain power, they will attempt to reverse Trump’s policies, including – especially – his pro-Israel ones.
The flight of several hundred thousand Arabs in 1948 was primarily a consequence of decisions made by Palestinian leaders and elites, as well as the leaders of the Arab states. We don’t have anything to do tshuva for.
And, thanks to postmodernism, facts don’t matter.
Trump is comfortable with nationalism, which American liberals have long since rejected, and it makes sense to him that members of a people would naturally want to stick up for their ancestral homeland, even while preferring to live somewhere else.
Despite what the critics say, Netanyahu’s decision doesn’t seem to have been ideological – although I think it should have been – but rather a simple balancing of the likely consequences of the options available.
Tikkunism is a radical departure from traditional Judaism. Reform Judaism deemphasized the “ritual” commandments like observance of kashrut and Shabbat, while emphasizing the “social” commandments like concern for strangers, widows, and orphans, and the political vision of the Prophets. Tikkunism goes even farther and redefines the social commandments and in terms of progressive politics.
The idea that Mizrahim are “Arab Jews” is wrong. It is also insulting, suggesting that they lost sight of their ancient heritage during their time in exile, and assimilated to the surrounding culture. And it is pernicious
The best way to picture our position in the cognitive struggle is that of a nation besieged. Our objective is to relieve the pressure so that we can continue with our normal lives. We are not interested in conquering and holding “enemy territory,” but we do want to destroy our enemies’ stock of cognitive weapons and crush their will to fight.
The Arabs and Europeans are not forcing us to clean streets on our knees like the Nazis, but by ignoring our sovereignty over the land, especially in our capital, they are reaffirming their belief – both the Muslim and Christian versions – that Jews do not have the same rights as others.
With all due appreciation for my former country, which I still love and care about, increasing Israel’s dependence on the US is not in Israel’s interest.
If you won’t eliminate the Diaspora – the Diaspora will eliminate you. – Ze’ev Jabotinsky, 1936
We do need to take the complaints of the Ethiopian-Israeli community seriously. At the same time, they should stop calling what happened last week “murder.” They need to understand that the police have a job to do, an essential job to maintain a secure society. The anger on both sides needs to be replaced by rational problem-solving.
I suppose that “opposition” means opposition to everything Trump does and says, regardless of its merit. And it fits with the anti-Israel wind blowing from the left in America, where the Iranian threat is seen as an Israeli problem, not an American one.
American Jews are caught between armed and murderous neo-Nazis, a “progressive” Left which is becoming progressively more anti-Jewish (especially on campuses), and a growing Muslim population which is seeded with Imams who preach violence against Jews.
War, it’s well-known, is hell. This one will be, too. But we must ensure that it will be a bigger hell for our enemies than for us.
Gideon Levy is an antisemitic misozionist* who is paid for his poison by an Israeli newspaper. He is a truly despicable human, but sometimes he’s useful as an exemplar of the extremist Israeli please-cut-my-throat Left.
What’s the problem? It seems to me that we have taken the gift that was given to us by Hashem and the IDF and little by little, through ignorance and weakness of will, squandered it.
The author provides a perfect example of how some progressive Jews have combined a new religion – they insist that it is Judaism, but I think it is sufficiently different to deserve a new name, Tikkunism – with some historical distortions, in order to claim that Judaism and Zionism are incompatible
expects that the position of the Jews – caught between the Right, the Left, and the Muslims – in America will worsen quickly, as it has in Europe, and they will have no place to go except Israel. And he expects that the tepid reaction to antisemitic expression on the Left in the public sphere will send a message that it’s acceptable
Today there aren’t numerous one and two-seat factions in the Knesset, but the extortion problem still exists. And the high cut-off harms the medium-size parties because it impels voters to choose the biggest parties out of fear of having their votes neutralized.
We Jews were shown that Muslims would protect us, assuming of course that we were properly subservient; and we saw that the goyishe authorities could not be depended on. Not strong enough to protect ourselves, we were at our enemies’ mercy.
Can there be a constitutional crisis without a constitution?
Sharpton, styles himself a version of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., but he does not deserve to have his name mentioned in the same sentence as the nonviolent civil rights leader.
There is no shortage of hatred here in our region, but it is not racism. And it is mostly Jew-hatred on the Arab side. There are some Jews that hate Arabs, usually because of a bad experience, such as experiencing terrorism, but the government, media, and cultural establishment have sent a message of peace and tolerance since the beginning of the state and especially since the Oslo period of the 1990s
June 26, 2026 
