War & Peace
In November, the Arabs Said “No”Monday, November 21, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
There are no uneventful months in the tortured history of the Arab-Israel conflict. November is no exception. It was on November 2, 1917 that British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour sent Lord Rothschild a letter—the Balfour Declaration.
Israeli Intransigence? Try Palestinian RejectionismThursday, November 17, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The conventional wisdom in diplomatic and media circles concerning the Israeli-Arab conflict is that Israeli intransigence—especially on the building of West Bank settlements—is the dead weight that prevents the achievement of a two-state solution.
Finally, a Palestinian “Peace Now”?Monday, November 14, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
What if a group of youthful Palestinian activists, fed up with Hamas and Fatah for leading the Palestinian Arabs over and over down bloody, self-defeating dead ends, were to emerge as a new political and social force—something like a Palestinian "Peace Now"?
Ladies in WaitingWednesday, November 2, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The winter session of the Knesset began this week and, in what is surely a sign of the times, two of its most closely watched stories involve female political leaders. One is a rising star; the other is struggling to stay alive.
Political ContrailTuesday, October 11, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
This month marks the 30th anniversary of an emotionally fraught and bitterly waged political confrontation between the Reagan administration and the organized Jewish community.
Career CorpsTuesday, October 4, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The United States has its military academies at West Point and Annapolis. The British put their officers through Sandhurst. But how will the Israeli Defense Forces, a citizen army, train its officers for the 21st century?
The Myth of Mideast StabilityMonday, September 26, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The U.S. Ambassador to Israel recently told the International Conference on Economic Regional Cooperation in Tel Aviv that unless Israel and the Palestinians resume negotiations, "the lack of peace will decrease stability dangerously" in the Middle East.
The Wages of DurbanWednesday, September 21, 2011 by Arch Puddington | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In the days just prior to the assault on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) was very much in the news, and for reasons that are altogether relevant to the mass murder that took place on September 11, 2001.
Settling for StatehoodMonday, September 19, 2011 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly has just begun. Unless a diplomatic miracle happens, that body will soon be asked to approve what amounts to a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood. Palestinian spokesmen say they had no choice but to make their end run around serious negotiations with Israel.
Building JerusalemFriday, September 16, 2011 by Hadassah Levy | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On the edge of Route 1 as that thoroughfare runs through eastern Jerusalem lies an Arab neighborhood by the name of Sheikh Jarrah. In one section of the neighborhood, an Israeli flag waves and Jews walk back and forth to the tomb of Simon the Just, who served as high priest in the Second Temple.
Editors' Picks
Yes, There is No Occupation Gil Troy, Jerusalem Post. Edmond Levy’s report, if adopted by the Israeli government, will give Israelis a legal right to settle in the West Bank. But there is a difference between “can” and “should.”
A Forgotten Hero Brad Hart, American Revolution Blog. Francis Salvador is remembered only as the first Jew to be killed in the Revolutionary War. But as a wealthy English Jew who became a patriotic American democrat, he epitomized the American dream.
And on the Seventh Day? Hillel Halkin, Wall Street Journal. A new book argues that Israel could have made peace after the Six-Day War; but three unfounded assumptions undermine the author’s claim.
Simmering Sinai Gershom Gorenberg, American Prospect. Clashes at the border coupled with the prospect of a hostile Egyptian government have led to defiant rhetoric in Israel on the Sinai. But for Israel’s security, rhetoric must not translate into military retaliation.
The More Deceived Alex Joffe, Middle East Quarterly. Palestinian rhetoric is not merely based on lies; it does not consider truth to be a value. And Western critical filters are more eroded than ever.
Memories of the Machalniks Andrew Esensten, Haaretz. Praised by Ben-Gurion as the Diaspora's most important contribution to the nascent state, the overseas volunteers in the War of Independence finally have an exhibit in their honor.
Dolphins from Deutschland Ronen Bergman, Spiegel. Angela Merkel thought Israel was going to freeze settlements in return for getting German nuclear-capable submarines. There's been no freeze, but Germany is sending the subs anyway.
Refugees Forever Asaf Romirowsky, Alexander Joffe, Haaretz. UNRWA says that grandchildren of Palestinian refugees remain "refugees." No other refugee group gets this treatment—but, then, no other group supplies the majority of UNRWA's staff.
The Other Olympics David E. Sanger, New York Times. The U.S. cyberwarfare program (likely working with an Israeli partner) has frustrated Iran's nuclear project for six years. But now that the virus is loose, America must be braced for retaliation.
The New Egypt Ariel Blumenthal, Jewish Journal. That Egypt's leading presidential candidates entertain the idea of annulling their country's peace treaty with Israel is chilling—but it's an annulment that 61 percent of their countrymen favor.