Israel’s changing demographics are always a touchy subject, with some Israeli politicians arguing that higher Arab birth-rates will result in Jews becoming a minority, while some researchers contend that Arab and Jewish birth rates are actually very similar. Regardless of whether the Jewish, Arab or other populations are on the rise, these people still need […]
President Barack Obama signed a proclamation today making Oct. 24 United Nations Day, but does that moniker then also make it anti-Israel day on Monday as well? The United Nations, in principle, is an exemplary organization that brings countries with often opposing priorities into the same forum where they can advocate ending world hunger, global […]
There are most certainly valid criticisms of Israel that have no roots in anti-Jewish sentiments. Unfortunately, many criticisms against Israel are simply veiled anti-Semitic remarks, and they are often times fairly direct. Israel was created in large part in response to the Holocaust, where anti-Semitism gripped Europe and led to the death of six million […]
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has, to say the least, been criticized fairly heavily in this blog, and I think it’s about to time to show the other side of this debate. Most recently, you likely remember dear reader, I said Lieberman is irrelevant and repeatedly circumvented by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. And that […]
It should be no surprise that some Islam advocacy organizations in the United States have more critical views of Israel than, say, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Today the Anti-Defamation League — an organization that fights bigotry and often focuses on anti-Semitism — released a list of the top ten anti-Israel groups in the […]
For all those interested, watch Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat during the briefing last week where he described his vision for the city, reforms over the last two years and his view that Israel’s capital must stay undivided. You can watch it here. Also, see my previous post for some analysis.
It appears that Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is becoming more amenable to a U.S. plan that would halt settlements for an additional two months and during that time negotiations on final borders would commence. This plan is interesting for two reasons. First, tieing the settlement freeze to metrics represents a clear timeframe that both […]
In every recent Israeli election, complaints abound that there is no qualified leader worthy of people’s votes and there is only one candidate that is barely good enough. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was the most recent good enough candidate for the right, while the left split their votes between then-Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and […]
The Obama administration has gotten into hot water over Israel and the level of pressure inflicted on the Jewish state. Pro-Israel groups in the United States and many Israelis have criticized the White House on several different fronts, including calls by the administration to end Israeli settlement construction. Similarly, when Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited […]
The White House is pushing back against a D.C. rumor that President Barack Obama sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu offering a slew of favors in exchange for a two month extension of the West Bank settlement freeze. The rumor originated from a blog written by researcher David Makovsky, who has ties […]
I’ve written time after time about the irrelevancy of Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Leiberman. Yet, he still manages to suprise, not with an artful mastery of politics to gain clout, but with providing yet another excuse to his colleagues to dismiss him. Let’s review Leiberman’s history. Instead of examining events years ago, how about just […]
The Israeli intelligence services and the IDF have suffered some set backs of late that many critics have suggested indicates Israeli clandestine operations are in a free fall. “What happened to the days where (future Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud) Barack snuck into PLO headquarters in drag to assassinate some of the world’s most […]
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Israel, and it appears that she did not pass up an opportunity to speak to the Israeli people. However, she used that opportunity to both say nothing and reaffirm what everyone knows — Israelis would prefer Clinton over Obama, hands down. On the saying nothing, in an interview […]
Anyone reading this blog knows that Israelis are becoming ever-more jaded by the peace process and more conservative by the day. Anyone reading also knows that I often take a very critical view of religious intervention in public policy, even in a religious state. Well, new interesting survey results are out, and it appears that […]
Jews and Israelis celebrated the new year Rosh Hashanah holiday last week, when families gathered and at sweet treats to shepherd in 5771. But, ten days later, Jews around the world fast for 25 hours to atone for their sins during the previous year and spend the day reflecting. As it so happens, Yom Kippur […]