Fireworks went off over the Tel Aviv skyline this week as thousands of flag-waving Israelis marked the 65th anniversary of their country’s founding. At the same time, a smaller group of Israeli activists explored the other, most often ignored, side to their country’s...
Countries frequently define themselves by what they believe to be true. When reality and belief conflict that definition might well be referred to as a "national myth." In the United States many believe that there exists a constitutionally mandated strict...
A remarkable event took place on Dec. 8, 2011, at the National Press Club in downtown Washington. It was a Jewish-Gentile forum on Israel, Palestine, Zionism, anti-Zionism, anti-Semitism, and the imminent threat of war. At the heart was presentation of a new book,...
On Yom Kippur eve last week, when real Jews were praying for their lives, I sat on the seashore of Tel Aviv, thinking. I was thinking about our state, the State of Israel, in which I have, so to speak, a founder’s share. Will it endure? Will it be here in another 100...
Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister, appears to have driven the final nail in the coffin of the Zionist Left with his decision to split from the Labor Party and create a new “centrist, Zionist” faction in the Israeli parliament. So far four MPs, out of a total of...
JERUSALEM - Rightwing Israeli groups financially supported by Jewish and fundamentalist Christian groups from abroad are on a campaign to undermine free thought in Israeli universities. Collaterally, a move is under way by right-wing parties in the Knesset, Israel's...
A fascinating debate is entering Israel's political mainstream on a once-taboo subject: the establishment of a single state as a resolution of the conflict, one in which Jews and Palestinians might potentially live as equal citizens. Surprisingly, those advocating...
There's one big difference I've noticed between the political Left and Right. Even in the worst of times, lefties have a sense of humor. So I wasn't surprised to see the grand old man of the Israeli Left, Uri Avnery, sum up his government's galling attack on the Gaza...
Israel is a Zionist state. Everybody knows that. There is no (Jewish) politician in Israel who misses an opportunity to repeat this. Last week, when we celebrated the 62nd Independence Day, we were flooded by a deluge of patriotic speeches. Each of the Ciceros,...
