Egyptian military sources confirmed on Wednesday that missiles were launched from the northern Sinai town of Rafah at the Israeli kibbutz Kerem Shalom, Egypt Independent reported. Israel and Egypt will be forming a joint military committee at Israel's request to examine the circumstances surrounding the missile launch, the sources said. Israel's Channel 10 reported that […]
By Tzvi Fishman
Strolling around Tel Aviv and seeing how the words of our Prophets have come to pass in our generation, is as much of a spiritual experience as spending a day in the holy city of Tzfat.
Reuters is reporting that the New Israeli Shekel has hit a two-month low in the wake of Israel's assassination of Hamas Military chief Ahmad al-Jaabari. A dealer from Israel Discount Bank, Dan Biro, told Reuters that the drop was more than had been expected.
Palestinian terrorist group, The Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) has responded to the assassination of Hamas no. 2 Ahmad al-Jaabari, verbally at least, Palestinian news website, Ma'an reported. "With this assassination, Israel has opened the gates of hell," PRC spokesman Abu Mujahid told Ma'an. "Cowardly settlers had better flee to shelters where we will bury them and they will […]
By any measure, our newly reelected president has a great number of issues that will compete for his attention and among which he will have to prioritize. During the presidential campaign we repeatedly voiced concern that Mr. Obama might reprise the full-court press treatment he accorded the Israeli-Palestinian conflict early in his first term, and we can only hope he will focus elsewhere.
Egyptian Foreign Ministry demands that Israel immediately stop attacking Gaza, and warned Israel against the consequences of not stopping.
Palestinians report that the IAF took out 2 more terrorists in Beit Lahia that were about to launch a rocket at Israel.
Reports that the Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt is called for Egpyitan President Muhammed Morsi to sever all ties with Israel as a result of the Israeli operation against Gazan terror. Morsi's office to hold press conference within the hour. (Ehud Yaari, Channel 2 TV)
● The president of the United States, in the midst of a policy dispute with the Israeli prime minister, glared into the television cameras and angrily declared, “It is not the business of other nations to make American foreign policy.” Barack Obama? No, Ronald Reagan.
Mention the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the image of a blue tzedakah box likely comes to mind. Starting in 1904, Jews throughout the world dropped coins into these blue boxes, helping the JNF buy and develop land in Palestine on behalf of the Jewish people. Although the state of Israel was founded in 1948, the JNF continues to function, helping develop the country in a variety of ways. It has planted 250 million trees in its 108-year existence and still owns 13 percent of the land. The Jewish Press recently spoke with JNF CEO Russell Robinson.
If the UN accepts Palestine as a nonmember state, effectively recognizing its bid to become a state, Israel may cancel all or part of the Oslo accords according to reports, and may even go as far as working to oust Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas from his position.
Syrian rebel soldiers calling themselves “Eagles of the Golan” have taken over Beerajam and Bariqa in Southern Syria, in an area which serves as a demilitarized zone between Israel and the country to the north.
Dr. Roland Masse, a teacher of radiopathology at Percy Military Training Hospital, where PLO chairman Yasser Arafat was hospitalized before his death on November 11, 2004, has given the first interview related to Arafat’s death in eight years, telling The Times of Israel that there is “absolutely no way” the blood libel blaming Israel for poisoning the leader is true.
Caesarea Golf Club will host the 3rd Annual Ezer Mizion Golf Classic tournament on Wednesday, November 21. The popular event, which is due to attract serious golfers and philanthropists from the United States, Canada and Israel, will raise funds for Ezer Mizion's Bone Marrow Donor Registry, the global Jewish bone marrow donor registry. Ezer Mizion, […]
By Moshe Herman
Yishai and Malkah read listener emails, talk about rain in Israel, attacks on southern Israel, and raising children in the Land.
By Tzvi Fishman
Last week, I drove with my wife toward the coastline to do a little seaside touring. As we were driving there, she mentioned that someone in her family was going for a vacation to Austria. “Austria?” I blurted, nearly losing control of the wheel. “Why would any Jew in Israel want to go to Austria?”
There are a lot of Nazi comparisons being thrown around these days. Where might they be most accurately directed?
By Barry Rubin
The most important foreign policy effort President Barack Obama will be making over the next year is negotiating with Iran. The terms of the U.S. offer are clear: if Iran agrees not to build nuclear weapons, it will be allowed to enrich a certain amount of uranium, supposedly for purposes of generating nuclear energy (which Iran doesn’t need) and other benefits, supposedly under strict safeguards.
Straight from the Jerusalem Boardroom #171
By Robert Klein
An American orthodox rabbi in Monsey recently wrote a response on Facebook to a post about the importance of living in the Land of Israel. His response was as follows: "You're in exile, too. Last I checked, there is still a mosque on the temple mount, with Arabs shooting rockets [at you].” This is my response to him and to every orthodox Jew who shares that mistaken view.
The Palestinians believe Arafat was poisoned by Israel. Now they plan to exhume his body to prove it.
Hamas called the meeting to try and avoid further casualties.
By J. E. Dyer
Attacks from Gaza on Israel have ramped up significantly in the last several days. An Israeli patrol was hit by what was thought to be a roadside bomb on Tuesday (three were wounded), near the border fence with Gaza. On Saturday, terrorists in Gaza fired an anti-tank missile at an Israeli jeep with four infantrymen in it, as the patrol operated in the area of the roadside bomb attack. The four soldiers were wounded, one severely. More than 80 rockets have been launched from Gaza into Israel since the attack on the jeep on Saturday, 10 November. At least three Israeli civilians were injured in the rocket attacks. Geography is beginning to rear its head again, as Israel has also sustained incursions into the Golan from Syria in recent days.
By Tzvi Fishman
Before Shabbat, the Heavens opened with a symphony of thunder and lightning, and the great blessing of rain washed over the Land of Israel in answer to our prayers. Like I do every year with the very first rain, I hurried outside and danced in joy, laughing happily as the raindrops splashed on my face.
Who is Alex Clare? He is a British pop singer with a top ten single entitled Too Close. He is the ex-boyfriend of Amy Winehouse. And he is an observant Jew. How - one might ask - does an Orthodox Jew hook up with someone like Amy Whitehouse, a mega popular Grammy award winning Jewish singer who was anything but observant? And who had a history of drug addiction and alcohol abuse that eventually caused her death?
Late Monday afternoon, Israel time, a mortar shell hit an open area in the vicinity of an IDF post in the central Golan Heights, as part of the internal conflict inside Syria, causing no damage or injuries.
For hundreds of thousands of Israelis living in the south, yesterday was tumultuous in the worst way. Unstemmed rocket attacks have been conducted by one or another of the terrorist groups based in Hamas-controlled Gaza at all hours of the day and night. While it's tempting to look at the absence of deaths on the Israeli side, the reality is any one of these rockets and mortars can easily have exacted the heaviest of prices. It's our great fortune that this did not happen today.
Angry and frightened Israeli civilians in southern Israel are imploring Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to unleash an IDF military strike against Hamas and its terrorists allies in the Gaza Strip in response to the recent spate of rocket and mortar attacks emanating from there. Those attacks have caused damage to commercial and residential structures and have sent thousands of residents to local trauma centers.
By Barry Rubin
With President Barack Obama reelected there is every reason to believe that he will continue the tax, regulatory, and economic policies of his first term. That means the U.S. economy is unlikely to improve quickly, steadily, or even at all during the next four years. The problem is not just Obama’s own strategy on these issues but also the lack of business confidence in his plans.
When something outrageous goes on for a long time, people stop being outraged. It is boring to hear or read about things like genocidal wars in Africa, Europe’s collapse into poverty, or the complaints of Israelis about being the targets of thousands of rockets, day in and day out. I’m in Israel now, so a few words about the rockets. Everyone I talk to says the same thing: how can this be allowed to continue?
Given President Obama's win and victories of many of their candidates, a reasonable morning-after position for J Street would be quiet satisfaction, or even – why not? – gleeful rejoicing. But J Street, which has rarely met a critic of Israel it didn't like, instead tried to promote itself as an integral part of the campaign, a driving wind propelling Democratic victories. So eager to claim a starring role, J Street released details of several exit polls they commissioned which, upon examination, tell far more about how little J Street matters.
Chairman of the Knesset State Comptroller’s Committee MK Uri Ariel reacted to the deteriorating security situation in Southern Israel, saying: “Israel’s weakness in the face of the escalating terrorism against residents of Southern Israel must end. It’s about time to let the IDF win again, to stop allowing the fear from the International Community’s reaction […]
Israel’s gross domestic product is expected to grow at a much higher annual rate than the United States for the next 48 years, according to a report by the OECD.
Last Sunday, representatives of Neturei Karta participated in the annual memorial service in Ramallah marking the day of the passing of PLO Chairman Yassir Arafat.
As rocket barrages assault southern Israel, Iran launched its own air operations Monday, in the form of massive air defense drills.
As Israel’s border with Gaza heats up, Israeli officials from the highest echelons have declared that the State will defend Israeli citizens.
A barrage of rockets eight hours after an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has brought a quick end to the quiet, with Israel ramping up preparations for possible ground reprisals to end attacks from Gaza on civilians in Israel’s south.
By Anav Silverman, Tazpit News Agency
It was a daunting, dismal weekend for Israel’s south, particularly for Israelis living in communities bordering the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Along with the rain, more than 100 Gaza rockets struck the south, wounding four Israelis and sending countless others into shock and trauma, while damaging homes, businesses and vehicles.
By David Wilder, Tazpit News Agency
Toward early mid-afternoon the tents start popping up on the lawn in the park across from the Cave of Machpela.
By Hadar Sela
Machane Yehuda market in Jerusalem has its roots back in the late nineteenth century when it was known as Shuk Beit Ya’acov after the nearby neighbourhood of the same name which was established in 1885. Two years later, the Machane Yehuda neighbourhood was built and the market continued to grow. Under British Mandate rule the market was given a make-over, permanent stalls and roofing were built and the new name caught on.
DowJones Newswire reports that Delek Drilling Partnership and Avner Oil Exploration announced Sunday that the Karish prospective offshore gas field may hold as much as 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. A survey said the field may contain as much as 3.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. Delek and Avner own 26.47% of the field, and […]
The notion of the “Reagan Democrat” is one cliché that should be permanently retired.
By Tzvi Fishman
We spent Shabbat in Ashkelon, visiting my wife’s parents. On Motzei Shabbat, my wife stayed in Ashkelon (in the red glare of the rockets fired from Gaza) so that she could take her mother for a medical treatment in the morning. I drove back to Yerushalayim with my children. Along the way, we passed a stretch of fertile farmland. The heavenly rains that had fallen during Shabbat seemed to have awakened the earth, and the pungent aroma of fresh cow manure wafted into the car. My younger boys started gagging and making jokes, the way children do about such things.
This picture has criss-crossed the blogosphere and Twitter network like crazy last night. It pretends to be an image of children who, along with the man lying on a stretcher next to them, were allegedly targeted today by Israel's forces for being terrorists. In reality, the picture is four years old. It has nothing to do with anything that happened in Gaza last night.
On Tuesday, three IDF soldiers were wounded by a bomb planted near the border fence between Israel and the Gaza strip. On Thursday when soldiers were trying to repair the fence, a huge explosion occurred when a tunnel packed with explosives was detonated. Luckily only one soldier was lightly injured, but it could have been catastrophic. Then last night an IDF jeep in the area was struck by an antitank missile. Four soldiers were wounded, at least two seriously (reports vary), and Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
Dr. Aryeh Bachrach, chairman of the Almagor Bereaved Parents Forum, said: “The terrorism switch may be in the hands of Ismail Haniyeh and Hamas, but Netanyahu and Barak are able to influence them to turn it off. At the very least they should switch off the power to Gaza—immediately. Yet Netanyahu and Barak never do. […]
I have to much I want to write about...but my mind is filled with two numbers - 30, and 9. Thirty is the number of rockets fired at Israel last night, hours after an Israel armored jeep was hit with an anti-tank missile, critically injuring two, lightly injuring two other soldiers. Nine is the number of rockets that had been fired at Israel by 9:00 this morning...schools in some areas are closed; people again ordered to stay near shelters.
At least 20,000 Jews from all across Israel, and some coming in from around the world, converged on the biblical city of Hebron this shabbat to honor the memory of the Matriarch Sarah, whose burial in the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron - Maarat HaMachpela - was chronicled in this week's Torah portion.
A campaign by a group of 12 French imams to portray themselves as friendly to Jews is set to take place on Sunday when they arrive in Israel for a five-day visit.
At the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said terrorists would be “hit hard” in response to attacks on Israeli soldiers on civilians over the weekend. “The world needs to understand that Israel won’t just sit by… we’re ready to heighten our response,” Netanyahu said. “The IDF is acting, and will act, with force in Gaza.”
The Bahá'í Shrine in Haifa has been voted Israel’s most beautiful building by 40,000 readers of Yedioth Ahronoth.
According to the IDF Spokesperson, in response to recent events, overnight IAF aircraft targeted a weapons manufacturing facility, two weapons storage facilities, and two rocket-launching sites in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as a weapons storage facility and a terror activity site in the southern Gaza Strip. Direct hits were confirmed. The Ma'an Palestinian news agency reported that Israeli tank shells killed 4 Palestinians and wounded 30 in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, according to medics and other witnesses.
AP reports that Western diplomats announced that the long planned meeting of the NPT (Non Proliferation Treaty) countries has been cancelled because Israel, not a signatory on the NPT treaty, has declined to show up. The Arab states and Iran (yes, that's right), all signatories of the NPT want Israel to sign the NPT and […]
Latest rocket launches and alarms [Editor: Sorry, we're having trouble keeping up with all of them.] Trivia: As of 11:03 PM 858 rockets were launched at Israel from Gaza in 2012. More than 60 rockets this evening. 4 injuries reported, and 25 Kassams just on Sderot alone between 8:00AM-9:00AM Sunday morning. 8:50 AM Shaar HaNegev […]
The Palestinians are reporting that the IDF his a 4 man terror cell in Northern Gaza. The terrorists are being transported to a Gazan hospital. 11:49 PM Israel TV reporting that Israel killed 1 terrorist and injured 4. 12:31 AM Palestinians reporting that IDF Apache helicopters hitting targets in Jibalya.
10:44PM: The two suspected terrorists who were seen crossing near the security fence, near Be'eri, have been captured. They have been taken in for interrogation. 10:40 PM: Two suspected terrorists were seen crossing into Israel from Gaza between Be'eri and Re'im near the Gaza border. The army has closed down Road 232 as it searches for them.
The "Red Alert" missile siren has been going off in cities and towns around Gaza for the past half hour. Residents have reported hearing explosions. Ten rockets have been launched at Israel so far, including at Ashkelon and Gan Yavneh. No one has been injured from the strikes. Islamic Jihad has been taking credit for […]
Coming to Kever Rachel one cannot help but recall the traditional domed structure that once stood as a humble memorial to the greatest of women. Unfortunately a fortress like edifice of towering large concrete slabs has now replaced that familiar picture. It was here, at this holy site, that I first met Evelyn Haies, an American mother, grandmother, and globetrotter.
Some of you are looking at the title of my column and wondering two things - why I am writing about B'nai Brith Canada – arguably Canada’s version of the Anti-Defamation League and why would it be of interest to anyone who does not live in that country - as most of you don't.
By Tzvi Fishman
As part of our effort to attract our beloved, Diaspora readers with honey, rather than to smash them repeatedly over their heads - in the next few blogs, we will travel the length and breadth of Eretz Yisrael, just like our forefather Avraham did in obeying God’s command, “Arise, walk about the Land through its length and breadth! For to you I will give it!”
By Anav Silverman, Tazpit News Agency
The 12-person delegation will be offering rescue, rehabilitation, and communal resource services to New York residents of Far Rockaway and Long Beach, as well as the Atlantic City-Margate area along the Jersey Shore. They will also be identifying areas with vulnerable populations and allocating resources to older people and families with young children who have suffered significant damages to their homes and have no power.
By David Wilder, Tazpit News Agency
The present Jewish community of Hebron tries to continue walking in the footsteps of our illustrious Forefathers, learning from their deeds, and acting accordingly. Therefore, when Rabbi Shalom Alkobi, then director of the Machpela authority, realized he had an opportunity to seek a blessing from one of our generation’s most righteous people, he did so, without thinking twice.
By Moshe Herman
Yishai is joined by Tamir Druz, the CEO of Israel CNG to discuss massive natural gas fields recently discovered in Israel. They talk about the discovery of the fields along with the potential uses for clean natural gas including its use in cars and buses throughout Israel.
By Adam Levick
Imagine if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced a 10-month partial freeze on incitement and antisemitism in the West Bank in a bid to restart stalled peace talks with Israel.
Somewhere between 68 and 70% of American Jewish voters went for Obama, depending on whose exit poll you believe. Israelis that I talk to are mystified. “Are they crazy? What were they thinking?” they ask. It’s not really mystifying. Here are some general facts about non-Orthodox and secular (the large majority) American Jews.
In an interview published on November 7 by Israel’s Globes online business magazine, Ha’aretz editorial board member Gideon Levy spoke frankly and openly about his “hatred” of Jews making their lives in Judea and Samaria.
Three mortar shells landed in Israel’s Golan Heights on Thursday morning, in what security officials are saying is an accidental firing as part of the bloody battle between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and a growing militant opposition.
By Moshe Herman
Yishai is joined by Lt. Col. Yedidya Atlas to share wisdom gathered from fighting for the Land of Israel for 40 years. Yedidya also discusses studying at Merkaz HaRav under Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook and the roots of Arutz Sheva, the radio station where Yishai was formerly the Programming Director.
The Jerusalem Post's Gil Hoffman told this college audience that Iran is the issue Israelis care most about. He also told them that war is the last approach Israel wants to take.
According to the RJC, there was an increase by nearly 50% of the number of Jews choosing the Republican candidate to run this country.
The ritual of rockets that periodically pummel Israel’s southern communities includes numerous media interviews with the important people. The journalists attempt to extract from anybody who thinks he is somebody some piece of a resolution for this crazy situation that is unparalleled anywhere in the world.
All things move in the midst of death, even nations and civilizations. From 1948 to the present day, certain of Israel's prime ministers, facing war, terrorism, or even genocide, have been deeply reluctant to admit core national vulnerabilities. Indeed, rather than acknowledge the plainly exterminatory intent and (increasingly) the corollary destructive capacity of determined enemies, these leaders have sometimes opted for (1) so-called terrorist exchanges; 2) utterly inexcusable deals of land for nothing; and (3) endlessly assorted surrenders of power.
"And the servant said to him…" (Genesis 24:5). The biblical portion of Chayei Sarah comprises two chapters in the Book of Genesis. The first (chapter 23) deals with the death and burial of Sarah and the second (chapter 24) deals with the selection of a suitable wife for Isaac.
Two recent experiences served to drive home the point to me that – with apologies to the popular Disney musical boat ride “It’s a Small World” – it really is a small Jewish world.
While Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc on East Coast Jewish communities, another storm eleven years ago made serious political waves in the Jewish world.
Once again I find myself congratulating the man I did not vote for. Barack Obama has been re-elected for a 2nd term as President of the United States. As I said in my endorsement of his opponent, the President is a good and decent man. I don’t think he has been a bad President. He just hasn’t been a great President.
JERUSALEM – More than 100,000 American voters in Israel cast their ballots for a presidential candidate, with nearly 80,000 of them having submitted a ballot provided by iVoteIsrael, a local non-profit organization that spent the past few months aggressively encouraging American expatriates living in Israel to register and vote. The remaining registered voters cast their ballots via the absentee route.
By Tzvi Fishman
I know that I promised to lay the sledgehammer aside for awhile, but a few of yesterday’s news items made me batty. In one of them, the UJA-Federation of New York announced it was earmarking ten million dollars in emergency hurricane relief to its local network agencies and synagogues. Chevre! Chaval al hakesev!
By Adam Levick
Placing innocent Palestinian children in potentially dangerous situations, cynically hoping for a media coup stemming from any overreaction by IDF soldiers, is indeed shameful. However, such provocations by the Tamimis pale in comparison to an antisemitic Palestinian political culture which consistently sends messages to their youth that martyrdom – dying, or even murdering Israeli Jews, to advance the Palestinian cause – is one of the most important political values they should aspire to.
By Jacob Kamaras and Alina Dain Sharon
Capping a race that on a national level was largely defined by the economy but in the Jewish community turned into an extended debate over which candidate would steer the best course for U.S.-Israel relations, President Barack Obama defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney on Tuesday to earn a second term.
By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org
Mahmoud Abbas, chairman of the Fatah wing of the Palestinian Authority, was forced last week to retract some controversial remarks and in the process only succeeded in thoroughly confusing much of the Israeli public.
There it is: four more years of Barack Obama. What does it mean for Israel? The bilateral talks with Iran run by Valerie Jarrett will continue. One can hope for the best, but it is very unlikely that an agreement will be reached that will include the effective dismantling of Iran’s bomb-building capability. It’s not at all comforting to think that Israel’s security will be in the hands of Jarrett, Obama’s Chicago fixer. One can speculate what Romney might have done differently, but that is not an option now.
America has spoken. Obama has been given and has claimed his victory. America will get the government and the leaders it elected and cannot now cry over the results that will come in the next four years. Some of us can and do regret the results, but we will live with them, no weaker than we were yesterday, no less aware of what this so-called victory will mean for Israel and for the US.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu congratulated re-elected President Barack Obama.
By Tzvi Fishman
A few readers have written me lately, saying that my blogs are too hard-hitting, and that I would have better results with honey than with smashing people over the head with a sledgehammer. I am not totally convinced
By Adam Levick
The legal impunity Jamal Zahalka will continue to enjoy – the rights of citizenship, and special rights as an MK, afforded him by the very state whose existence he incites against – represents stubborn proof attesting to the continuing vitality of Israeli democracy.
Israel is a land that was, according to the Bible and logic, very fertile. I believe I read somewhere that when the Romans conquered Judea and sent the Jews into exile, they salted the earth to prevent our return. I googled it...yeah, google is now a verb... and there are more than 50,000,000 references to it. I didn't click on them to see if it was true or not. The bottom line is still the same.
By JTA
Israel's government approved the immigration of the Bnei Menashe, an Indian tribe that claims Jewish ancestry.
By Barry Rubin
The story was broken by Alex Fishman, defense correspondent of Yediot Aharnot, Israel’s largest newspaper. Fishman is considered to be a reliable reporter with good sources in the Israeli government.
Anyone who remembers life in Israel in the 1980s will cringe at the sound of the word inflation. Remember the soaring prices and the dramatic falls in the value of inflation? But what is inflation, and how does it affect the average investor? Listen to Doug Goldsteins interview with Zane Brown, partner and fixed income strategist […]
By Anav Silverman, Tazpit News Agency
The company’s employees are mostly immigrants who have come to Israel from places like the United States, Syria, Iraq and Ethiopia. The Levys’ business philosophy is firmly rooted in social responsibility and philanthropy.
Despite the verbal confrontation between Israel and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, Israeli and Iranian officials participated this week in secret talks in Brussels, Belgium, on dismantling both countries' arsenals of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.
Haveil Havalim is a great idea (I'm not going to post the normal shpiel here - just let me say it's our way of sharing a whole bunch of interesting blogs and blog posts that were posted this last week in the Jewish-Israel blogsphere.
By Tzvi Fishman
Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda HaKohen Kook said it was like a girl who was set up on a shidduch with a guy whom she knew wasn’t for her. But she didn’t want to embarrass him. So she dressed up in dirty, smelly garments so that he would feel turned off. While he thought that he was rejecting her, in truth, she was rejecting him... Surely, aliyah is the most difficult and challenging mitzvah – the true test of a Jew’s faith in God. But hundreds of thousands of new olim have made it, and so can you.
Recently, we wrote here about the great landmass on Israel's southwestern border that "given its physical proximity to Israel, Sinai is not only an Egyptian challenge. That it gets such a small degree of media attention is a puzzle." Since then, there has been a new set of Sinai developments to absorb
The family: Uri & Hadassa DeYoung and 5 children: Avigayil (16), Noa (14), Beruria (10), Tsuriel (8) and Devora (2). Background: My husband and I are both from New Jersey. We met and married in Israel. My husband always lived along the New Jersey shore and when he discovered that he didn't have to give up the beach in order to live in an ideologically motivated community he was very excited.
"If Israel is attacked" is a phrase heard often by mostly well-meaning politicians from both American parties when they are out on the campaign trail, or even while holding office, to express their intent to come to the aid of the Jewish state. But as anyone who both follows current events and has any semblance of logic knows, not only is the phrase trite, but it reveals a certain unfamiliarity with the Middle East today and is even dangerous as pertains to Iran.
By Barry Rubin
Once upon a time, Arab nationalism ruled the Middle East. Its doctrine saw Arab identity as the key to political success. Some regarded Islam as important; others were secular. Yet there was no doubt that national identity was in charge. All Arabs should unite, said the radical nationalists who ruled in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Iraq, and elsewhere, to destroy Israel, expel Western influence, and create a utopian single state in the region. Instead, of course, the period was characterized by battles among the radical Arab states for leadership. The less extreme ones sought survival through a combination of giving lip service to radical slogans, paying off the stronger regimes, and getting Western help.
While Obama's proposed budget decreased funding for Israeli anti-missile systems, it was Congress which, in the end, nearly doubled the funding.
Just ten days after the launch of Windows 8, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer arrived in Jerusalem to discuss a memorandum of understanding between his company and Israel’s Finance Ministry to form a strategic partnership to develop and promote technology.