A few days ago I found myself in Caesarea, sitting in a restaurant and looking out over the sea. The sunbeams were dancing on the little waves, the mysterious ruins of the ancient town arrayed behind me. It was hot, but not too hot, and I was thinking about the...
Jabotinsky and Greater Israel
The spectacle is almost bizarre: a political party refuses to accept new members. And not just a few individuals, but tens of thousands. And not just any party, but the Likud ("Unification"), the main force in Israel's governing coalition. Strange? But there...
For a Palestinian Federation
I don't know when the wheel was invented, or who invented it. However, I have no doubt that it was invented again and again, with many happy inventors sharing the glory. The same is true for the Israeli-Palestinian Confederation. From time to time it appears in public...
The Fall of Benjamin Netanyahu
The vultures are circling. They can see the wounded man on the ground, and are waiting for his end. So are the human carnivores – the politicians. They sing his praises, swear to defend him with all their heart – but in their heads they are already...
Will Netanyahu Bring Back Executions?
The whole world watched with bated breath while the days passed. Then the hours. Then the minutes. The world watched while the condemned man, Muhammad Abu-Ali of Qalqiliya, waited for his execution. Abu-Ali was a convicted terrorist. He had bought a knife and killed...
March of Folly to Crisis on Temple Mount
My late friend, Nathan Yellin-Mor, the political leader of the LEHI underground, once told me that a certain politician is "not a great thinker and not a small fool." I remember that sentence every time I think about Gilad Erdan, our Minister of Public...
Israel’s Endless Fake Victimhood
The whole thing could have been a huge practical joke, if it had not been real. All of Israel was taken in. Left, right and center. All the newspapers and TV networks, without exception. There it was: UNESCO has declared that the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron is a...
Eyeless in Gaza
I have a unique confession to make: I like Gaza. Yes, I like this faraway corner of Palestine, the narrow strip on the way to Egypt, in which two million human beings are crowded, and which is closer to hell than to heaven. My heart goes out to them. I have spent...
The Bizarre Case of Bashar al-Assad
Conan Doyle, the creator of the legendary Sherlock Holmes, would have titled his story about this incident "The Bizarre Case of Bashar al-Assad". And bizarre it is. It concerns the evil deeds of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian dictator, who bombed his own people...
Peace Is a Four-Letter Word
When a Briton or American speaks about a "four-letter word", he means a vulgar sexual term, a word not to be mentioned in polite society. In Israel we also have such a word, a word of four letters. A word not to mention. This word is "Shalom",...