יום שלישי, י״ב אלול תשפ״וTuesday, August 25, 2026
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For those of us with an abiding concern that a reelected Barack Obama, free of the fear of the dynamics of another political campaign, will revert back to his full-court press against Israel to make a deal with the Palestinians – even at substantial cost to its national and security interests – the president’s widely reported overheard comment the other day to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was anything but reassuring.
By Jason Maoz
Lawrence Hoffman is a politically liberal Reform rabbi who writes about his favorite Jewish books in his own recently released book, titled, not altogether unexpectedly, One Hundred Great Jewish Books.
The Midrash (Shemot Rabbah 18:12) describes “leil shimurim,” the “night of watching,” the night before the redemption, as one of the glorious nights in Jewish history.
Saudi Arabia is, to use a term the royals would, “greatly displeased” with the United States. Displeased with U.S. foreign policy regarding Iran and equally displeased with the decisions the White House is making about Syria.
Much of the Israeli Left – including cultural and political leaders, journalists and academics – has in recent months engaged in hyperbolic, defamatory claims that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to destroy Israel’s democracy through proposed legislation such as that aimed at modifying how Israeli Supreme Court justices are selected.
Is this what three thousand and three hundred years of Jewish tradition has come to, that a nation that has always dared to walk alone, with different ideals and values from the wider culture, should so fully capitulate to the most corrupt, misogynistic values, that we would advocate that our young women have plastic surgery in order to get married?
The question today is not whether Abbas is a peace partner or not. Rather, what Olmert needs to ask is whether the Abbas can deliver or not. The answer is very simple and clear: even if Abbas wanted to deliver a peace deal, he cannot. His term in office expired in January 2009, but he remained at the behest of the Obama administration. The result is that he is seen by many Palestinians as an illegitimate leader.
By Barry Rubin
To view government as a form of deity or an inevitable friend of the poor and downtrodden is an illusion. Government is not a magic box, but a can of worms. To see it as a player, with its own interests, that should be as distrusted as any bank or corporation is the purest form of common sense, the very triumph of common sense over ideology and dogma that made America great, its people free, and real democracy possible.
It is a familiar pattern. Whenever a terrorist commits an atrocity, his apologists start blaming society or, even worse, the victims. Hence, it was not surprising that after Mohamed Merah, a French jihadist of Algerian descent, killed a rabbi and three Jewish children in Toulouse last week, some immediately blamed the Jews.
By Soeren Kern
In country after European country, the post-modern charade of the bliss of multiculturalism -- the idea that all cultures can coexist peacefully side-by-side in any given country -- is unravelling.
Ahmed Qurei and those who are working to promote the "one-state solution" ignore the facts on the ground: that the Palestinians already have two separate "states" next to Israel - one in the West Bank and the other in Gaza. They also ignore the reality that the two Palestinian entities have been at war with each other since 2007.
The actual question has almost nothing to do with the Palestinian Arabs and whether they have a state. It has to do with whether the Jews can continue to have one. There is a huge amount of human energy and financial resources that are being wasted in support of the Palestinians. It wouldn’t be necessary if the world could simply get used to the idea of a Jewish state.
Recently, the court refused to accept the deal and annulled the Benny Begin agreement. In my opinion, this is a blessing that will lead to a better outcome for this community and for the future of other such communities in Judea and Samaria. Historically, the settlement movement in Judea and Samaria has always come out stronger when obstacles are put in its way.
By Barry Rubin
As the Turkish PM continues to undermine Turkish democracy, throw hundreds of moderates into jail, destroy the nation’s institutions, support Iran, throw hysterical tantrums about how much he hates Israel, promote Islamism in the region, and is fresh from yet another meeting with Hamas leaders, Obama continues to use Erdogan as his guru.
60% of Jewish Israelis also agreed with the statement that only military force could halt Iran's nuclear program, while 37% disagreed; and when asked if they believed that Israel's home front will suffer equally whether it is Israel that attacks Iran or the United States, 63% answered in the affirmative.
I am not particularly interested in writing another post excoriating the UNHRC or the UN itself, which is a vile institution, far less than worthless. Rather, I want to summarize some important issues about ‘West Bank settlements’ — that is, Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria — and why I support them.
The population of Africa is involved in a series of disputes with a tribal background, where the Islamist and ethnic components play an important, and sometimes critical, role. Saudi Arabian money, Wahhabi propaganda, the presence of terror organizations, and wide distribution of weapons do not contribute to a calming of tensions between the various demographics in Africa.
By Barry Rubin
In the past, the mass media could be expected to present a debate on how to interpret this event but now all too often they give a monopoly to the whitewashers and the apologists.
Israel’s economic growth during the last five years (21%) is higher than all OECD countries, besides Turkey. Israel’s economy grew 270% over the last 20 years, while Israel’s population grew 145%. Israel’s unemployment is its lowest ever – 5.4%.
There is certainly much to be learned from the events of 1970 and the nightmare that followed in 1973. Much that is extremely relevant to our own times. Israel paid dearly in 1973 for accepting the Egyptian violation of the 1970 agreement. And the Jewish State may yet again pay dearly if it continues to accept the ongoing security violations of Oslo in the Gaza Strip.
By Hani Abbas
The West Bank's Palestinian Authority government, headed by Salam Fayyad, has appealed to donor countries to increase financial aid to strengthen the Palestinian economy, especially in the Gaza Strip. But before the donors make any decisions, they really should ask Fayyad and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas about the $7 billion they have already spent on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip over the past four years: Where is it?
By Soeren Kern
Livingstone's appeal to Muslims may, on May 3, propel him into the mayor's office. Either way, London appears headed for an Islamic future.
It has been widely reported that Merah, the young Islamist terrorist who killed three French soldiers two weeks ago, and four Jews at the Otzar HaTorah school in Toulouse, murdered Jews “to avenge the deaths of Palestinian children.” But NPR went one better, reporting — in the words of “All Things Considered” host Robert Siegel — that “the gunman told officials that he killed his victims in part to avenge slain Palestinian children.”
It is impossible to rely on defense alone, because Israel simply isn’t big enough to absorb the damage when the defensive systems are not 100% effective. More importantly, a strictly defensive posture has zero deterrent ability. Why not fire rockets at Israel if the worst that can happen is that they will get shot down?
As the U.S. election season enters into high gear, an important Gallup poll released earlier this month offers Israel and its supporters much reason to cheer.
By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org
The fight for Jerusalem continues, on a number of quiet fronts. And if "want of a nail" can lose an entire war, as per Benjamin Franklin's poem, Yerushalayim can certainly be won via our close attention to issues that may not appear decisive or crucial.
It would be unreasonable for Israel to draw any comfort from an argument that Iranian intentions are effectively harmless. Rather, such intentions could impact capabilities decisively over time. Backed by appropriate nuclear weapons, preemption options must somehow remain open and viable to Israel, augmented, of course, by appropriate and complementary plans for cyber-defense and cyber-warfare.
By Dov Gilor
While in Las Vegas, my wife, Barbara, fed several quarters into a machine that really cleaned us out. She then fed more quarters into another machine that dried all of our clothes.
80% of all 2010 UN resolutions criticizing specific countries for human rights violations were directed at Israel. Only six other UN members faced human rights criticism at all, one of which was the United States. The HRC subjected the USA to harsh criticism – by Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, Iran and Russia – for, supposed, human rights violations. The HRC criticized the elimination of Bin-Laden and Israel’s defense against PLO, Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists.
The annual number of schoolchildren visiting Israel's capital from 200,000 to 500,000 under Minister Gideon Sa'ar's leadership.
The one-state solution that the extreme left and extreme right seek is completely different: the left wants yet another Arab state in place of Israel; the right wants a Jewish state that encompasses what is now the West Bank, in place of any Palestinian state. Both are prescriptions for undemocratic disasters and for the ultimate delegitimation of Israel as the democratic nation-state of the Jewish people.
By Barry Rubin
The street thugs, fanatics, and mentally-twisted may be pulling the trigger, but the distinguished, the powerful, and the honored are providing the ammunition.
By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org
Rabbi Porat oncesaid that his proudest parliamentary achievement was having sponsored and ensured the passage of a law entitled “Do Not Stand by Your Neighbor’s Blood”—rendering it a legal duty to offer assistance to someone in mortal danger. Based on a verse in Vayikra, Rabbi Porat’s law ensures that sanctity of life is a national value not only in word, but in deed.
Defense systems are important, just as tank shields are vital. But that is true only when we are on the offensive and focused on victory. In defensive-defeatist mode, these systems draw the end near. They are like aspirin for cancer.
The Jewish Press joins Klal Yisrael in mourning the death of Rav Moshe Yehoshua Hager, the Vishnitzer Rebbe in Bnei Brak since 1972 and a major Torah personality for more than sixty years.
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton’s condemnation of the murders in Toulouse, France, on Monday was symptomatic of the problem facing Israel in the international community.
It has largely passed under the radar screen, but Stephanie Rose, who was the deputy chief of the criminal division in the U.S. attorney’s office in northern Iowa at the time of the Agriprocessors immigration and Rubashkin prosecutions, has been nominated by President Obama to be a federal judge.
A new book by foreign policy pundit Peter Beinart, The Crisis of Zionism, seems certain to reignite the debate over President Obama’s feelings toward Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the focus will be a little different this time around. It will be not on his exposure to the likes of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, William Ayres or Rashid Khalidi but rather on the prominent members of the Chicago Jewish community who took him under their wing.
In July 1993, I joined a group of Jewish leaders on a visit to Israel with then-Mayor David N. Dinkins. One morning as we had breakfast at the King David Hotel terrace overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, Dinkins confided, “I wish Ray Kelly were in charge before Crown Heights blew up.” By this time, Ray Kelly had become police commissioner and had made a clear impact on the mayor.
The study of Jewish history teaches us that throughout the ages, numerous edicts and decrees have prevented the practice of Jewish traditions and religious observance. Yet it has gone almost completely unnoticed that in recent weeks, Jewish rights and freedoms in the Land of Israel, of all places, have once again come under attack.
Let us employ a bit of fantasy and assume that Muslim states were intent on assailing the Netherlands. They would claim in the United Nations Human Rights Council that the hundreds of cases every year of euthanasia in the Netherlands, in which the patient is not asked his or her permission, constitutes a severe breach of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These states could easily muster a majority to have the UNHRC appoint a commission of inquiry into this matter.
There is no one definition of the term “pro-Israel.” It does not require anyone to be a cheerleader for Netanyahu or any other Israeli leader or party. But there are some things one cannot do and still claim to be within the pro-Israel camp. One of them is to adopt rhetoric that apes the efforts of Israel-haters to delegitimize supporters of Israel and which adopts the classic themes of anti-Semitism.
Like other chassidic dynasties, Bobov was not immune to one day experiencing a schism. When Rabbi Naftali Zvi Halberstam, the fourth Bobover Rebbe, died in 2005, a dispute arose over who would succeed him. Some chassidim sought to appoint his younger half-brother, Rabbi Ben Zion Aryeh Leibish Halberstam, as the next rebbe; and others sought out the fourth rebbe’s sons-in-law: Rabbi Mordechai Dovid Unger as the rebbe, and Rabbi Yehoshua Rubin as the Bobov rav (serving as head of the bet din and as the posek).
What made the deportation of more than 80,000 Jews from Slovakia during World War II unique? It was this striking fact: In contrast with other countries, the Slovak government actually appealed to the Germans to enact deportation.
The law states that the Rabbinical Court must determine a court date for a Get within 45 days of a divorce sentence. If the Get is not given within that time, the court will issue a restriction order and hold another hearing within the following 45 days. The court will meet within 90 days of giving a restriction order to discuss it and decide if it must be extended. The court will be able to use these extensions as they see fit.
It would appear to be ironic that when it comes to Iran, so-called "doves" favor a mutually assured destruction policy that threatens the deaths of millions over a preventive policy that targets military nuclear facilities. But it is not at all ironic, since such doves would be against actually carrying out the threat that is central to any credible policy of deterrence. For them, deterrence is a bluff—a hollow threat and the Iranians would see right through it.
By Barry Rubin
In 2012-2013, the vultures in the Middle East are coming home to roost. Of course, the main cause of developments in the region is the long, failed legacy of radical Arab nationalism which is now being replaced by what we’ll be calling in 20 or 30 years the long, failed legacy of revolutionary Islamism. But the secondary cause is the mistaken policy of President Barack Obama.
By Barry Rubin
True, sanctions are hurting Iran but this regime is hardly delicate and gives every appearance of using negotiations only as a stalling tactic. Anybody who thinks the Iranian regime will crack under sanctions is living in wishful-thinking world. No matter how many chances Obama gives Iran, it’s still going to go full-speed ahead toward obtaining nuclear weapons and matching them up to long-range missiles.
The Dutch government is on a collision course with the EU over Israel, and some critics warn that the position of the Dutch will isolate their country in Europe. It is, however, also possible that the Dutch are pioneers, whose example will soon be followed by others.
From time immemorial, security fences have been built around the world - often in disputed territories to disrupt terrorists, drug smugglers, and illegal immigrants from entering. No doubt, these fences often cause difficulties for native populations in the vicinities they are built. Yet it is only Israel's barrier that arouses the conscience of sanctimonious hypocrites around the world.
If Syria and Egypt have nothing to fear from the President of the United States, what will Iran fear?
Turning Jordan into Palestine would mean the loss of a moderate and rational Arab leader at a time when Islamists are rising to power in Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Libya.
Shalit announced that he would talk with them if they agreed to it, and he would even shake the hands of Gilad's kidnappers, also saying he would kidnap Israeli soldiers if he was a Palestinian. He insisted that PM Binyamin Netanyahu was not solely responsible for the release of Gilad, and charged that the PM only released his son because the polls showed that 70-80% of the public supported the deal.
When this farce began, only a limited rural area near the Gaza Strip was being hit. Each time the range was extended there was talk that a red line had been crossed. But it is now clear that these lines in the sand had no meaning. Today over a million Israelis are in range of the weapons already launched from the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip is no different from the rest of the Arab world, so tribal culture is alive and kicking there. Ever since the Hamas movement took control of Gaza trip in 2007, it has transformed itself from a gang of jihadists into a ruling government, a standard Arab state. The minor movements - Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Resistance Committeess - function like tribes, challenging the authority of the state. Today, these groups are doing to Hamas what Hamas did to the PLO twenty years ago when it was in power.
A war between Israel and Iran is not something that may or may not occur in the future. It is in progress now.
By Barry Rubin
Reality: Those who are, or will soon be, governing Egypt view themselves as being at war with Israel for all practical purposes. It matters relatively little that there is still a peace treaty. In Cairo, there are no thoughts of peace.
The threat and the ominous effects of an air attack against Iran is the pull and tug of sovereignty versus suzerainty. Is Israel an independent nation free of American influence? Does the president of the U.S. have a veto over Israeli military actions? Or is Israel free of outside influences, a state enjoined by what it believes to be its self interest?
In our Palestinian culture, it is much more important if one "graduates" from an Israeli prison than from the most prestigious university in the world.
I oppose the proposed Biometric Law because of how easily it can chip away at a citizen's liberty, without him feeling a thing.
For forty years I have studied the stunningly complex problem of enemy rationality, especially in certain earlier published writings concerning the particular nuclear threat from Iran.
This past summer, Israel made headlines for something other than the peace process or fighting terrorism when hundreds of thousands of its citizens took to the streets to protest social inequality and rising living costs.
The Jewish Press urges its readers in the 27th Senate District to vote for Lew Fidler in the special election on Tuesday, March 20. As New York City Councilman representing Marine Park, Mill Basin, Sheepshead Bay and Madison, Mr. Fidler has ably represented the interests of his Orthodox Jewish constituents and deserves their support.
The current New York State Senate redistricting map championed by the Republican majority calls for the establishment of what has been characterized as a super Jewish district.
The New York Times recently threw a hissy fit over what it felt were overzealous efforts by Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly to defend NYPD anti-terrorist surveillance programs the Times opposes.
By Jason Maoz
A little research – on the Internet or at a good public library – will yield a rich harvest of facts and quotes buttressing Israel’s case and highlighting Palestinian dishonesty and double talk.
By David Solway
In Genocidal Liberalism: The University’s Jihad Against Israel & Jews, published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, Dr. Richard Cravatts pulls no punches, relentlessly anatomizing the pedagogic bias currently in place, which is neo-Marxist in its orientation and undeniably anti-Jewish in its expression.
In a world where nuclear weapons could soon be in the hands of a rogue nation like Iran, an Israeli preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities would be fully justified.
The riots and violence in Afghanistan over some accidentally burned Korans followed a script that by now is all too drearily familiar.
By Rachel Weiss
Just last week we experienced the crowning point of the month of Adar by commemorating the extraordinary events that unfolded in the ancient Persian Empire. We read the scroll of Esther, enjoyed a hearty feast, and traded gifts of goodies with each other.
By J. E. Dyer
A solution in which the Syrian people are empowered to operate more freely in a true multi-party government, under the aegis of multinational protection against both Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood, would be the most desirable, achievable outcome. It is not possible to broker this outcome while ignoring Russia.
By Barry Rubin
While war with Iran might eventually be inevitable and necessary, that’s not true at this moment - when Iran is far from being able to build nuclear weapons, much less deliver them on missiles. And such an operation does genuinely pose serious problems for Israel and also - even if it does not participate directly in any way - for the United States.
By Rafi Harkham and Ariel Harkham
The Iron Dome is another, hi-tech manifestation of the siege mentality that guides Israel's cultural and political narrative. From media to academia to politics, Israel’s celebration of this so-called “strategic” weapon system - that neither neutralizes its threats nor enhances Israel's geo-political position – is an indictment of the degree to which Israel has accepted this siege mentality, and of its resignation to a permanent defensive posture.
In the past, Hamas has proven that when it wants to, it can prevent attacks on Israel. It would be a mistake to allow these governments to have it both ways -- on one hand claiming they are legitimate and sovereign governments, while on the other hand avoiding responsibility for terror attacks.
Planning timelines of days and weeks are very comforting for policy-makers seeking to avoid costly decisions. But the purpose of the exercise is not to indefinitely postpone what is best done today. The decision-makers owe it to their constituents to look beyond the next weeks and even months.
The war on terrorism cannot be won by defensive – but only by offensive – means, notwithstanding the impressive performance of the Iron Dome missile defense system.
Israeli intelligence authorities need to assess the threats coming from Iran. This is not a public relations issue. Obama and the other world leaders can support or oppose our actions, but Israel will have to do what is best for the future and well-being of the Jewish State. No one else will do the heavy lifting for us. While we cannot diminish the possibility that Iran actually has the technology and the motivation to strike Israel, we also cannot afford to overlook other real and obvious threats to Israel.
By Barry Rubin
The difference between the Muslim Brotherhood and “Salafists” is purely tactical. The Brotherhood has learned how to maneuver politically, an advance similar to what Lenin instituted for the Marxists of his day. You can’t just declare a revolution and change everything overnight. And just as Lenin planned to get the capitalists to sell him the rope with which to hang them, the Brotherhood plots the same course with the infidels.
Apartheid in Israel does not exist, however gender apartheid, apartheid against gays, as well as slavery and racism against blacks, Palestinians and non-Muslims are all commonplace in the Muslim world.
The Knesset's Jewish Home faction is in danger of splitting, following the internal political maneuvering that has taken place in the National Union.
Two polls - one commissioned by Maariv, the other by Haaretz - paint drastically different pictures of the current political frontrunners, leading to heated debate in the halls of the Knesset
A survey released two weeks ago, titled “The American Mosque 2011,” revealed a tremendous growth in the number of mosques across the US since 9/11, and claims that Islamic radicalism in the US is on the wane. But Islam expert David Yerushalmi says that many of the numbers presented in the survey don't add up, and in fact contradict similar surveys conducted in recent years.
Would it be prudent for Israel to launch now the kind of unilateral initiative proposed by former Yesha Council Director Naftali Bennett, or is it best to leave well enough alone?
On March 7, the PA President convened yet another urgent meeting of PLO and Fatah leaders in Ramallah to discuss the content of this "mother of all letters" which he intends to send to Israel. The meeting, which came less than 48 hours after Obama's speech, reflected the increased concern of the Palestinians over the world's fading attention to their problems.
The Jewish homeland guarantees Jews their security -- which is why every attempt to rob them of this homeland, or endanger its existence, is an anti-Semitic act endangering the entire Jewish community.
By Moshe Herman
Pollard release, Syrian torture, Second day Purim in Jerusalem, the secret criminal mind of Amalek, Bibi no-nonsense speech, and the Klezmer music of Chilik Frank.
The winter session, which started October 31, 2011, will end on March 21, 2012. The summer session will begin April 30, 2012, and end July 25, 2012. The fifth sitting of the 18th Knesset will start on October 15, 2012. * The May 28th session will be cancelled because of Shavuot. The Spring/Passover Break/Recess will […]
By Dov Gilor
We left Santa Fe on our way to visit the Painted Forest and the Petrified Forest in Arizona. Part of our day was spent traveling on the historic Route 66 and we stopped at the state visitor's center as we entered Arizona. At each state visitor’s center, we stopped to gather information about interesting sites and to request coupon booklets with reduced entry coupons.
It is impossible not to make a connection between the intentional running over of the policeman this Friday night by an Arab car thief and the Shahar Mizrahi story.
The "Arab Spring" is anything but a "great revolution." It is a spring of massacres, destruction and violence, as Patriarch Beshara al-Rai, the head of Lebanon's Maronite Church, put it. "We are with the Arab Spring but we are not with this spring of violence, war, destruction and killing," he told Reuters. "This is turning to winter. We cannot implement reforms by force and arms. How can it be an Arab Spring when people are being killed every day?"
Since its establishment, the Kingdom of Jordan has suffered from a split personality between two identities, the Jordanian and the Palestinian, that are intertwined like a pair of Siamese twins who hate one another, but cannot part from each other. The source of the problem is the fact that most of the citizens of the Hashemite Jordanian monarchy define themselves as "Palestinians", but their state is "Jordanian". So how should they relate to it - as their country or as a foreign interloper?
As only a distinctly last resort, Israel needs nuclear weapons for nuclear war fighting.
While the personal relationship between President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu thankfully seems to have taken a turn for the better, and on several issues they had a meeting of the minds – it seemed almost like a minuet – there is no escaping the reality that sharp policy differences remain on some fundamental issues.
Several weeks ago it was reported that Robert “Bud” McFarlane, President Ronald Reagan's national security adviser at the time of the Pollard arrest and obviously someone privy to all the information known to the government – wrote a letter to President Obama asking that Mr. Pollard’s sentence be commuted to time served.
We can be justly proud of all the media coverage revolving around a group of Orthodox Jewish students at Houston’s Beren Academy who had decided not to participate in a prestigious basketball competition if it conflicted with the requirements of their faith.
August 21, 2026 
