יום חמישי, י״ד אלול תשפ״וThursday, August 27, 2026
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In anticipation of the historic Presidential elections being held today, the Egyptian Independent offered a survey of the foreign policy platforms of the candidates. Despite their differences, they speak in one voice about the need to restore Egypt to its rightful place of primacy in the Arab world and their hostility towards Israel.
While we share the belief of most Americans that candidates for office should run on a level playing field, we are not naïve enough to believe incumbency doesn't matter. There are perks that come with political office, particularly the highest political office in the land. For example, presidents running for reelection are allowed to use Air For One, with all its attendant trappings of power, when traveling to and from campaign events – though their campaigns are required to reimburse the public treasury for expenses incurred.
Imagine if the NAACP had responded with skepticism to the passage of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and urged African Americans to exercise their civil rights cautiously under this law. Title VI was landmark legislation when it was passed in 1964 to remedy racial and ethnic discrimination in programs receiving federal funding.
We’ve been hearing a lot from Jewish Democrats and the administration itself that Barack Obama is the best friend Israel has ever had or, as in Joe Biden’s fractured fairy tale version of history, “has done more for Israel’s security than any president since Harry Truman” – a president who actually did nothing for Israel’s security.
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Saturday shows Mitt Romney getting 50% of the vote while President Obama received only 42%. This was the third time to date that Republican challenger crossed the 50% threshold against the president in Rasmussen’ Poll.
By J. E. Dyer
When Romney speaks of the US auto industry recovering, he is speaking in the language of big, dirigiste government, accepting at face value the short-term effect of a bailout process that has served mainly to perpetuate unprofitable but politically entrenched conditions. It guarantees that more subsidies will be needed down the road.
By Tibbi Singer
Not related to the image above which is just my treat to you, the same-sex story reminds me of the joke about a guy sitting in the park, starting a light chat with a young woman. After a while, the conversation kind of dies down and the two drift into silence. So the young woman […]
What a difference a year makes. Last year I praised President Obama for not wanting to “spike the football” by releasing gruesome death photos of Osama bin Laden. But this year, forget spiking the football – the president is doing an end-zone dance.
By Sarah Stern
The Koby Mandell Act created the Office of Justice of Victims for Overseas Terrorism in the Department of Justice, to ensure that all American citizens, irrespective of where they were killed or maimed, would get the justice under American law they deserve. I naively thought that the 54 American citizens who had been killed by Palestinian terrorists and the 83 who had been wounded would finally get a crack at the American justice they so richly deserved.
By JTA
Jewish reaction was mixed to the election of the Socialist Party’s Francois Hollande as the president of France while Jewish leaders in Greece expressed concern and disappointment after the fascist Golden Dawn party was poised to enter the Greek parliament for the first time.
Following his victory Sunday, the 57-year-old François Hollande shouted himself hoarse, as he had done so often during the campaign, thanking his supporters for electing him president and promising to unite the whole country. But Richard Prasquier, President of the Jewish-French organizations, says one of the changes the Hollande presidency brings is a boost to the anti-Israel left.
I have long felt the holiest Jews are members of the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces. At countless rallies I’ve called out from the heart, “Blessed is the nation that has as its army the Israel Defense Forces.”
The Jewish Press urges readers to sign a circulating petition that calls on Shimon Peres to do all he can, in advance of accepting the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama, to persuade Mr. Obama to free Jonathan Pollard, the Israeli spy serving a life sentence in a federal prison. (President Obama announced last month that he would be awarding the Medal to Mr. Peres, the president of Israel, in June.)
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday declared May “Jewish American Heritage Month”. In a ceremony kicking off the month, the president praised Jewish Americans for bearing “hardship and hostility” with the “deep conviction that a better future was within their reach”.
By Tibbi Singer
A major faux pas involving non-kosher hen's meat is rocking the Presidential Residence in Jerusalem. According to Ma'ariv, the event's caterer purchase a large quantity of meat on Thursday morning to replace meat that had been spoiled. The new meat came from a non-kosher butcher shop in the Arab village of Abu Gosh, which stays open on Shabbat and sells sea food.
By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org
A brief review of Jerusalem's police blotter for recent days looks like this: * April 2: Haredi man, 55, is axed by Arab terrorist near Shaar Shechem (Damascus Gate); lightly wounded. * April 15: Seven Molotov cocktails are hurled at Jewish homes in Maaleh Zeitim, causing a fire in one of them. * April 19: Young worshipper on his way from Shimon HaTzaddik to Meah She'arim is stabbed by two Palestinian terrorists (moderate wound).
On recent occasions we have noted that several of President Obama’s public actions reflect a disdain for the traditional American view of the governmental process. Most stunning perhaps was his threat to the Supreme Court that it had better come out his way on Obamacare, or else. Having steamrolled the legislation through Congress (urging, it will be recalled, violations of longstanding procedures if necessary) he issued his challenge to the Supreme Court despite its constitutional duties to pass on the law’s constitutionality.
For me, Israel is personal. I was born as Israel’s War of Independence raged, just weeks after the state’s miraculous birth. As I lay in the hospital room with my mother, the windows shattered with the relentless attacks of those who sought, once again, to destroy us – this time not on their bloodstained soil but on our own sacred land. Once again, by God’s hand, we prevailed. The few against the many. The weak against the so-called strong.
For several days the media seized on the furor unleashed by comments made by Hilary Rosen – described rather vaguely in news accounts as a Democratic Party strategist and White House adviser, though she has visited with the president on at least 35 occasions, more frequently than the heads of key government agencies – about Ann Romney, wife of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
By Ron Kampeas
The Republican primaries are effectively over, and gone with them is the sharp-edged rhetoric and departures from past U.S. policy on the Middle East.
By Barry Rubin
Romney must respond to attacks like Gingrich or New Jersey governor Chris Christie would. A gentlemanly, gloves-on strategy will not win this election. This does not mean Romney should call Obama a socialist or Marxist. Instead, he should show that he’s the mainstream candidate while the Obama administration is out of step with historic, successful American practice.
By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org
Who said Arabs lack imagination? Take the one who is in charge of thinking up new ways to perpetuate anti-Jewish sentiment, especially regarding Jerusalem. Here's what he came up with just last month: Accusing Israel of planning to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque atop the Temple Mount via artificial earthquakes.
By Irwin Cohen
The 2012 baseball season should be a most interesting one. Every game is important. No longer can a team just play for the Wild Card spot and have an equal shot with the three division winners at participating in the World Series (as St. Louis did last year).
Much attention has properly been paid to President Obama’s unprecedented remarks about the Supreme Court, which, he worries, may find his signature health care law unconstitutional. It will be recalled that the president spoke after the oral argument in the case in which the justices asked many highly critical questions about the constitutionality of the law and comments from many legal observers that the law is in trouble.
The Palestinian news agency Ma'an reprts that Islamic Jihad leader Sheikh Nafeth Azzam on Monday urged PA President Mahmoud Abbas to walk out on negotiations with Israel. Addressing relatives of detainees at a demonstration outside Red Crescent headquarters in Gaza City, Azzam said it made no sense for Abbas to be sending a letter to […]
President Obama’s extraordinary public broadside on Monday against the Supreme Court, in reaction to questions posed by the justices during the course of three days of oral argument in the Obamacare case, is further confirmation that liberal supporters of Obamacare, including the president himself, are beginning to panic.
Title: When General Grant Expelled the Jews Author: Jonathan Sarna Publisher: Schocken
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.
Reuters reports that on Saturday the U S drone attacks killed at least 25 al-Qaida fighters, including one commander, while a Yemeni air force raid killed 20 more in the south, sources said on Saturday. These were the biggest air strikes since Yemen's new president took office. Al-Qaida forces have increased their operations in southern […]
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may no longer be as popular with Iran's powers that be as he used to be. The Majlis, Iran's parliament, has approved a proposal calling for the removal of the President from the general assembly of representatives of shareholders of major companies affiliated with the Oil Ministry, including the National Iranian Oil Company. Meanwhile, the President will appear before the parliament to answer questions on March 14 about irregularities in his administration.
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.
David Silverman, president of American Atheists, responds angrily: “The Jews have stopped the billboard. It’s really ugly bigotry. As a former Jew, it’s repugnant to see Jews act like this.”
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor: Romney "by far the right man for this historic election and the only one in the race who has put forward these kind of solutions and I believe he can beat Barack Obama."
In an hour-long interview with American broadcaster Charlie Rose, conducted before a large audience at New York’s 92nd Street Y, Peres said that he does not want to interfere in American politics, but he is stating his opinion that US President Barack Obama is "a great president and a great friend of Israel, because it’s […]
By dvora
Rabbi Norman Lamm wrote and preserved the hundreds of eloquent and inspiring sermons he had delivered as a pulpit rabbi in Manhattan for 25 years prior to becoming president of Yeshiva University,
There is something off-putting about President Obama’s having announced in a video that his reelection campaign was launching a movement called “African-Americans for Obama.” The unease is not over an appeal to a particular ethnic group, which is a hallmark of American political campaigns.
There certainly are many reasons to look forward to Purim. It is a time of feasting, joy, and merriment. We celebrate an important victory over our enemies, which was a precedent for many other such victories over the course of our history. We read one of the most moving stories in our entire tradition, and we have good fun while we’re doing it.
By Mati Wagner
The Supreme Court’s interventionist approach was pioneered by Aharon Barak, who served as the court’s president from 1995 till 2006. Dorit Beinisch, who is retiring from the court this week after serving as president since her mentor's retirement, upheld the tradition of judicial activism, keeping the court at the center of Israeli public debate and making it a lightning rod for Orthodox and right-wing critics. That could change as Beinisch is replaced by Asher Grunis, a conservative justice who has made a name for himself as a supporter of judicial restraint.
By Rafi Harkham
The 9th president of the Supreme Court of Israel, Beinisch presided over an active term, in which she wrote landmark decisions like the 2005 ruling against the IDF’s use of “human shields,” the 2007 ruling that Israel's separation fence route must be modified, and the 2009 ruling declaring private prisons unconstitutional. But the most memorable ruling of her legacy may be her penultimate one – the High Court's revocation of the Tal Law.
By Barry Rubin
It is now conceivable that the two leading presidential candidates will be Islamists and thus Egypt will have an Islamist president. That would mean the timetable for turning the country into an Islamist Sharia state could be vastly accelerated.
A young teacher described this episode that occurred early in her teaching career: “One beautiful spring morning when I arrived at school, I was surprised to see a youngster waiting at the door. ‘It’s locked,’ he said sadly. His expression brightened as I began to fumble for my keys. ‘You’re a teacher!” he exclaimed in obvious delight.
By Lee Habeeb
There are two kinds of Arabs in this world. Those who hate Jews, and those who don’t. And in my life, I have met more of the former than the latter.
By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org
Over the past year, KeepJerusalem has been keeping you informed in these pages about developments in Jerusalem that are likely to affect its Jewish future, for better or for worse. We strive to educate readers regarding the importance of a United Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty.
Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, founder and president of Hineni, the Jewish outreach organization, addressed an overflow crowd recently at Congregation Shaarei Tefila in Los Angeles.
By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org
While Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich vie with each other in expressing ever-stronger support for Israel, polls show Romney has a better chance of unseating President Obama in the November election. It is for this reason that many Israel supporters would like contender Rick Santorum to withdraw from the Republican race to ensure Romney is chosen over Gingrich.
By Shalom Bear
Asher Grunis, who nearly missed his chance to be named Supreme Court President due to his age, was named today as the replacement for retiring president Dorit Beinisch.
By Irwin Cohen
Sixty years ago and fifty years ago. 1952 and 1962. They were memorable years for many of us.
According to a statement released by the president's office, Sarkozy saluted Shalit for his exemplary courage.
By Rafi Harkham
Mahmoud Abbas and Khaled Mashaal came to an agreement on an interim unity government on Sunday. Mashaal: We are seeking unity "to resist the enemy and achieve our national goal."
By Jason Maoz
Americans never seem to tire of Richard Nixon, the man who strode the nation’s political stage for three decades, as congressman, senator, vice president and president, only to see his career come crashing down when his involvement in the Watergate scandal led to his resignation – the only U.S. president to so step down – in order to avoid certain impeachment.
Dan Gillerman makes comments at a women's Zionist conference.
By Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON – Barack Obama won’t show up on the vote tallies after polls close in Florida’s Republican primary on Jan. 31, but the president’s supporters already are waging a fight for the Sunshine State.
Andrew Adler proposed 'taking out' president deemed unfriendly to Israel.
Khaled Mashaal recently announced that he would not seek reelection as politburo chief.
Arab League has decided to extend its observer mission.
Every Friday evening, in Jewish homes across the world, the question is asked, "Eishet chayil mi yimtzah – The woman of valor, where can she be found?"
By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org
In a city of Jewish symbols, the Mount of Olives is perhaps the most symbolic of all: With a theatrical view of the Temple Mount and the Old City, it was the last stop for the Divine Spirit before the destruction of the First Beit HaMikdash and will be its first stop when Mashiach arrives.
By Jason Maoz
The Monitor often is asked for an example of a news story that exhibits such blatant bias it astounds even a jaded observer of the mainstream media. Such a story appeared in the March 29, 2006 edition of The New York Times, on the occasion of the passing of Lyn Nofziger, longtime aide to Ronald Reagan.
Eighty-five prominent Holocaust scholars last week criticized President Obama for failing to respond to Libya’s hosting of a Darfur war criminal.
By Irwin Cohen
Craig Breslow and Jason Marquis will be wearing different uniforms this season. The two pitchers also share a unique trait among those labeled “Jewish players” by the media: Breslow and Marquis both have two Jewish parents.
We do not mean to denigrate the impressive military support and cooperation the Obama administration has directed toward Israel.
By Ron Kampeas
WASHINGTON – President Obama on Monday announced that Jack Lew, his director of the Office of Budget and Management – a Cabinet-level position – would replace William Daley as White House chief of staff.
By Hillel Fendel and Chaim Silberstein / KeepJerusalem.org
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, elected three years ago on a strong "Jerusalem will never be divided!" platform, has changed colors.
By dvora
Obama will eliminate Welfare by requiring all poor people to move in with rich people.
August 21, 2026 
