Monthly Archives: June 2014

Stick to summer camps, Rabbi Jacobs

A few days ago, I wrote a post about the former head of the Reform Movement’s lack of respect for the new President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin. I objected to the typically American mixture of “ignorance of Israeli security issues, … Continue reading

Posted in American Jews | Comments Off on Stick to summer camps, Rabbi Jacobs

Why the US supports Hamas, and why it may help Iran

The US has given the Palestinian Authority (PA) about $5 billion since the mid 1990s. From 2008 to the present, US aid has averaged about $500 million a year. Some of this money goes directly to training and equipping PA … Continue reading

Posted in Terrorism, US-Israel Relations | 1 Comment

The new President of Israel deserves respect

Reuven ‘Ruby’ Rivlin has been elected President of Israel, and it warms my heart to see an admirer of Jabotinsky replace the dangerous Shimon Peres, about whom the best I can say is “at least he’s not a convicted rapist.” … Continue reading

Posted in American Jews, Israeli Politics | 4 Comments

The rabbi has things backwards

Here is a snippet from a dvar Torah by Rabbi Laurie Rice, which the Reform movement sent to its “Ten Minutes of Torah” email list. The piece was about standing up for moral but unpopular positions, as Calev and Yehoshua … Continue reading

Posted in American Jews, Islam | 1 Comment

Game over

The establishment of a Palestinian Authority (PA) unity government that includes Hamas is the last inning of a ballgame which has been in extra innings far too long. The PLO and its Fatah faction which have controlled the PA since … Continue reading

Posted in 'Peace' Process, Israel and Palestinian Arabs, Terrorism | 1 Comment

Honor matters

Honor is a difficult concept, particularly for modern-day progressives. It is archaic, elusive, unquantifiable, profoundly personal, stubborn, indifferent to public opinion, beyond the grasp of economic incentives, social norms and government coercion. — Bret Stephens But honor matters. I think … Continue reading

Posted in Israel and Palestinian Arabs | 1 Comment

Hamas moves in, US shrugs

State Department briefing, today: QUESTION: What is the U.S. Government’s view of the so-called Palestinian unity government that was sworn in today by Palestinian President Abbas? MS. PSAKI: Well, at this point, it appears that President Abbas has formed an … Continue reading

Posted in US-Israel Relations | 2 Comments