6 Takeaways from Trump’s Victory with Parallels to the Politics of Israel
In this space last week, I correctly predicted a decisive win by Donald Trump in the US presidential elections and warned of a perilous transition in US-Israel relations in the lame duck days of the outgoing administration.
Trump Will Win and Biden Will Bash Israel
In its dying days the Biden-Harris administration will be chomping at the bit to act on its most “progressive” impulses: To clobber insolent Israel and to reset US Mideast policy away from Israel.
Mideast Political Quiz for 5785
Which of the following Mideast-related events can be expected this coming year? Take this quiz and calculate the 5785 future you need to be prepared for. (My answers are at the bottom of the article.)
YES! to Schadenfreude
The feelings of triumph are justified, healthy, and very moral.
A Civility Elegy
What better moment than the eve of Tisha Be’Av – ten months distance from Israel’s contemporary national catastrophe of Tisha Be’Av magnitude – to remind oneself of the Biblical warnings against the politics of defamation?
Putting Israel’s Economy and Society on Emergency Footing
It is time to raid the high schools, university campuses, and senior citizen homes for manpower; to press the entire Israeli public, young and old of all hues and stripes, into industrial and emergency service.
Protecting the Eternal
Israel must act to halt Palestinian destruction of Jewish archaeological sites in Judea & Samaria.
Judea and Samaria are on Fire – Literally
Escalating Palestinian terrorism, surging illegal Palestinian construction in zones of strategic importance to Israel, and wildly out-of-control arson attacks must be stopped.
Israel Needs a Strong Spine
Israel has no choice but to stiffen its spine; and in some matters to grow a spine. More than ever before, Israel must reject impossible international dictates and demands.
The Ultra-Orthodox “Vacation Draft” Plan
Everybody knows that the rapidly growing and politically muscular Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Israel can no longer altogether avoid military and/or national service. But haredi leaders will not relinquish their rigid communal structure of full-time and lifetime-long Torah study. And nobody can draft haredi Israeli Jews against their will – no matter what the Supreme Court rules or the Knesset legislates. So here is my national service plan for haredi men during “bein hazmanim,” their long semester breaks.
Targeting the “Head of the Octopus”
The tectonic threat of Iran to Mideast and global stability must be countered head-on.
The Big Chill–Again
Israel must resist America’s fantasy framework for a swift, dangerously indecisive, end to the Gaza war.
The Myth of Escalating Settler Violence
An ugly, fringe phenomenon being falsely puffed up to "balance" the crimes of Hamas.
Rosh Hashanah 5784: Prophesies and Prayers
Take this Rosh Hashanah political-security quiz and prognosticate on the future for the Jewish new year. (My predictions are recorded at the bottom of the article.)
Weapons, Weapons Everywhere – Why?
Oslo is the root cause of today’s terrible epidemic of terrorist and crime shootings.
Give Saudi Peace a Chance
Chances for a deal are high, the risks manageable, and the value overwhelming. The doubters and naysayers, as well as those who actively are trying to sabotage such an agreement, are wrong.
The ‘Refusal-to-Serve’ Festival
Lost in the anti-Netanyahu netherworld are manifold affirmations of commitment to IDF service despite the judicial reform juggernaut.
Tribute to Rabbi Sholom Gold of Jerusalem: The Most Passionate of Zionists
Rabbi Gold, who passed away this week at 88, was known for feisty and infectious Zionist passion and for biting witticism. He understood God’s love for all Jews in absolute terms (which he sought to emulate absolutely), and he understood God’s grant of the Land of Israel to the Jewish People in absolute terms, in a totality wrapped with kedusha, holiness. These are not gifts that one can simply fritter away.
Iran’s War on Israel
The only real power standing in the way of Palestinian terrorism and Iranian hegemonism is Israel.
No Moral Equivalence
There is no moral equivalence whatsoever between Palestinian terrorists and Israeli troops. Falsely balanced diplomatic formulations like those that “call upon all sides to end the cycle of violence” must be rejected. This is prattle that covers for Palestinian extremism and rejectionism, and retards the cause of peace.
Beware: Another US Sellout to Tehran?
Alas, coming soon: More American goodies for Iran in exchange for more pious and empty Iranian pledges.
Honoring Henry Kissinger at 100
Dr. Kissinger is most consequential figure in US foreign policy of the past century. His record regarding Jews and Israel remains controversial, but I think that on balance Kissinger deserves respect.
Seeking Jerusalem
We are obligated to be doresh Yerushalayim, to spiritually refine ourselves and draw closer to He who truly owns Jerusalem; to long for God’s revealed presence, seeking to encounter Him with the tools at our disposal. Already today, the Divine Presence peeps at us through the cracks of the Temple Mount retaining walls, there to be seen and experienced, if we only seek it.
Celebrating Cynthia Ozick at 95
The illustrious Jewish-American novelist is a penetrating and courageous critic of contemporary society and its attitudes to Jews and Israel.
Can Israel be Unified?
Israel’s future depends more on repairing a modicum of national unity and even global Jewish accord than it does on countering Iran
Israel at 75: The Sun is Shining
On the 75th Yom Haatzmaut, focus on the brilliance bursting forth from the nation of Israel in realms galore.
Reawakening to the Iranian Threat
A comprehensive picture of Iranian belligerence and its tectonic threat to Mideast and global stability.
Biden Spares Iran and Scolds Israel
The US president is neighing about Israeli democracy and stiffing Netanyahu to counter Israel’s insistence on acting against Iran.
Only 38% in U.S. Say Patriotism is Important
This is what national suicide looks like.
Zionist Strategy for Israel
I do not believe that the Saudi-Iran agreement closes the door on Saudi-Israeli entente, nor on a renewed pro-Western regional alliance involving Israel and the Saudis
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