Events
Apologia for Ben-GurionTuesday, December 27, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
At this year's yahrzeit ceremony in Sde Boker for David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973), Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Iran clearly on his mind, emphasized—eight times—Ben-Gurion's capacity for making hard decisions.
LoofThursday, December 22, 2011 by Micah Stein | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
For the millions of Israeli citizens drafted into the Israel Defense Forces over the past 60 years, military service has involved patriotism, community, self-sacrifice—and Loof, Israel's kosher Spam. But a new generation of soldiers is about to experience military service without the familiar pink meat.
Full Court PressWednesday, December 14, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Israel Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch, equivalent to the Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, recently called the Court's critics in the Knesset "robed Cossacks" waging a "campaign of delegitimation" and "incitement."
Terror Out of ZionTuesday, December 6, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
There is no love lost between the British Foreign Office and Israel. In a report to parliament last month, Foreign Minister William Hague condemned Israel for building in Jerusalem, being in the West Bank, and treating the present Gaza regime like the enemy it is.
Love, Marriage, and the Israeli RabbinateMonday, November 28, 2011 by Elli Fischer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The organization Tzohar is fighting for the right to perform its popular "alternative" weddings in Israel. A recent dispute with the Ministry of Religious Services was apparently resolved after a media war, frantic mediation, and a high-level Knesset meeting.
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.
On the Road AgainWednesday, November 16, 2011 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The chronically tense relations between the Israeli government and Bedouins in the Negev—where unrecognized villages are built, razed, and built again—are certain to grow even more tense with the Israeli Cabinet's recent approval of a plan that will recognize about half these villages but demolish the other half.
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.
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.
Editors' Picks
Refugees and Resolutions Lyn Julius, Haaretz. Israel is afraid to champion restitution for Jews expelled from Arab countries because of the assumed link to the Palestinian refugee issue.
1948: Palestine Betrayed Efraim Karsh, Elliot Jager, Jewish Ideas Daily. Zionist Jews were not interlopers in Palestine. The creation of the Jewish state was not an "original sin" foisted upon the Arab world. The tragic flight of the Palestinian refugees was overwhelmingly not the fault of the Zionists. To the contrary, at every momentous junction the Zionists opted for compromise and peace, the Arabs for intransigence and belligerency. This, in summary, is how most people once understood the Arab-Israel conflict. Today, however, as Israel marks its Independence Day, an entire generation has come to maturity believing a diametrically opposite "narrative" . . .
War Diary Matti Friedman, Times of Israel. "Arab Legion reported to be trying to smoke out the Haganah who had entered underground channels . . ." Excerpts from a British clergyman's 1948 journal.
Breaking up Monopolies Reuters. Israel just passed legislation that, over time, may dramatically reduce the cost of living by increasing competition. And nobody noticed.
A Myth for the Misbegotten Tom Gross, Tom Gross Media. Ten years after the Jenin massacre-that-wasn't, what has the press done to correct its fabrications, and to guard against further calumnies?
Fantasy Diplomacy Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, Phillip Smyth, Haaretz. In the wake of the Arab Spring, many Israelis are hoping for a regional alliance between Israel and repressed minorities in Arab countries. But a hope it will remain.
Philanthropy Nation? Suzanne Last Stone, Hartman Institute. For a philanthropic culture to develop in Israel, the traditional American-Israeli partnership model requires serious retooling.
The End of the Sharon Dynasty Noam Sheizaf, +972. Shaul Mofaz's victory in the primaries to become leader of Kadima in place of Tzipi Livni will take the party out of the shadow of Ariel Sharon—and into coalition with Likud.
Wingate's War Matti Friedman, Times of Israel. For the British military establishment in Mandate Palestine, Orde Wingate's disdain for uniform—indeed for clothes in general—was highly unorthodox. Small wonder, then, that he also supported the Haganah.
J Street: A Dead End? Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post. With minimal—and falling—support in the U.S. coupled with complete divergence from Israeli public opinion, J Street looks irrelevant. But it may yet find an audience in the White House.