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Israel


Religion and State in Israel Religion and State in Israel
Wednesday, July 3, 2013 by Moshe Koppel | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

I want to make an argument for limiting the role of the Israeli state in maintaining Jewish institutions. I do so, however, as one who wishes to see an expansion of the influence of traditional Judaism in the Israeli public square. Read in full on Mosaic.
God the Economist God the Economist
Monday, May 13, 2013 by Joshua Berman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

The Occupy rallies of 2011 were the largest Israel has ever seen.  As I looked at the young couples in Tel Aviv protesting the inaccessibility of housing they could call their own, I thought of the land tenure reforms of Leviticus. 
Beyond the Giants Beyond the Giants
Friday, May 10, 2013 by Robert Nicholson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Strange as it may sound, my idea of Israel did match reality.  I’ve never imagined it to be some spotless utopia where everybody knows your name.  It is a land haunted by terror and tragedy, fear and doubt.  And yet it’s the land where God has chosen to reveal Himself to man. 
Menachem Begin: A New Life Menachem Begin: A New Life
Friday, May 3, 2013 by Asaf Romirowsky | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Ensuring that another Holocaust would never take place was Menachem Begin's paramount concern, even when he was Prime Minister of Israel, pursuing Yasir Arafat in his Beirut bunker.
The New Rosh Hashanah The New Rosh Hashanah
Wednesday, April 17, 2013 by Elli Fischer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

The Jewish New Year is characterized by an uneasy combination of stock-taking and solemn celebration.  Yom Ha’atzma’ut, as the birthday of the Jewish state, is beginning to acquire a similar character.
The Challenge of Sovereignty The Challenge of Sovereignty
Tuesday, April 16, 2013 by Michael B. Oren | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

On the eve of Israel's independence, David Ben-Gurion sat alone, questioning whether a people so long accustomed to being the victims of sovereign power could take responsibility for themselves.
On Silence On Silence
Monday, April 15, 2013 by Anita Shapira | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

Eschewing Jewish expressions of mourning, Israel's founding generations shaped a national ethos of silence and self-restraint, which found expression in the words of poet David Shimoni: “Don’t mourn, don’t cry/ at a time like this./ Don’t lower your head,/ Work! Work!”
Israel’s Gatekeepers Israel’s Gatekeepers
Thursday, April 11, 2013 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

The Gatekeepers is not a history of Israel's security service, its operations and directors, but a political plea for the evacuation of the West Bank, the creation of a Palestinian state, and the suppression of Israeli’s religious settler movement.
The Outstretched Hand The Outstretched Hand
Wednesday, April 10, 2013 by Motti Inbari | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

My family and I celebrated Passover in Lumberton, North Carolina. We are the only Israelis in town and, as far as I know, the only Jews.  But it’s not as lonely as it might sound, thanks to our Evangelical Christian neighbors.
The Mad Zionist The Mad Zionist
Wednesday, April 3, 2013 by Ran Baratz | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features

British Major-General Orde Wingate, who fought in theaters from Palestine to Burma, was a military genius.  He was also a Zionist's Zionist.  A new Wingate biography tries to explain why.
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Editors' Picks
Where Does the Buck Stop? James Cartwright, Amos Yadlin, Atlantic. While its military capabilities enable the U.S. to be patient with Iran, for Israel the window for military action is rapidly closing.
Delegitimizing the Delegitimizers Anne Bayefsky, Jerusalem Post. "The poisonous role of the UN human rights world in demonizing and isolating Israel cannot be overestimated"; but it can be combated.
Israel's Talmudic Turn Sid Slivko, Jewish Week. Educators reaching out to young secular Israelis in the hope of introducing them to the Talmud have discovered a willing audience.
Are the Settlements Illegal? Michael Curtis, American Thinker. The Geneva Convention provides no clear determination as to who has rights of sovereignty over the West Bank.
Waiting for Abbas Ehud Olmert, The Tower. "I completely gave up on having an Israeli presence in the Jordan Valley. . . . I proposed a compromise on sovereignty over the Temple Mount." (Interview by Avi Issacharoff)
An Overdue Marriage Proposal Michael Freund, Jerusalem Post. Reforms to Israel's religious bureaucracy, announced this week, will force rabbis to compete for clients.
Israel's Interests in Syria Efraim Inbar, Begin-Sadat Center. "Israel would be better served by having a failed state next door than by having a strong, Iranian-backed entity there."
Listening to Israel's Arabs Alexander Yakobson, Fathom. The claim that the Arab citizens of Israel are essentially and fundamentally alienated from the state is plain wrong.
Hanging in the Balance Lee Smith, Weekly Standard. Facing hostile actors on nearly every border, Israel aims to preserve the regional balance of power—a task made all the more delicate by American indifference.
Fatah’s Two Faces , MEMRI. On Nakba Day, Mahmoud Abbas endorses a two-state solution even as his party refuses to recognize the Jewish state and claims a right, which “never expires,” of return to Israeli land.