Monthly Archives: June 2018

What drives anti-Israel politics?

Erdoğan and his party obtained a solid victory in the election this week, guaranteeing that relations between Turkey and Israel will get even worse. This is because the Turkish president has a history of anti-Israel rhetoric and actions whenever he … Continue reading

Posted in Europe and Israel, Israel and Palestinian Arabs, Jew Hatred, Middle East politics, US-Israel Relations | 2 Comments

Abolish the Rabbinut!

I have expended billions, perhaps hundreds of billions, of electrons attacking liberal strains of Judaism, particularly in the US but also in Israel, for what I perceive as a conflation of Judaism and Jewish ethics with liberal politics. Today it’s … Continue reading

Posted in Israeli Politics, Israeli Society, The Jewish people | 2 Comments

The Fires

It’s impossible to write about anything except the fires. Foreign media are concerned with other things, but in Israel only the arrest of a former government minister charged with spying for Iran has come close to dislodging the fires from … Continue reading

Posted in Israel and Palestinian Arabs, Israeli Society, War | 3 Comments

Why don’t we defend ourselves?

Great swaths of land in the Negev desert near the Gaza strip, agricultural land and nature preserves formerly the habitats of numerous endangered plant and animal species, have been reduced to ash and smoke by Palestinian fire-kites and balloon-borne incendiary … Continue reading

Posted in Europe and Israel, Israel and Palestinian Arabs, Israeli Politics, Terrorism | 2 Comments

Jewish peoplehood in Israel and America

I am an American-Israeli, an American-born Jew who has lived about 17% of his life in Israel. I made aliyah back in 1979, lived on a kibbutz for nine years, and then returned to the US for 26 years, before … Continue reading

Posted in American Jews, The Jewish people | 1 Comment

On Palestinians

I’m only going to write this post once, so pay attention. I use the word “Palestinian” a lot. It refers to those Arabs who call themselves that. It does not refer to Jews, who do not live in Palestine, because … Continue reading

Posted in Israel and Palestinian Arabs, The Jewish people | 2 Comments

What to do about the kites?

As you probably know, Gaza Arabs have been launching kites and helium balloons across the border with fiery payloads, and they have set huge blazes in nearby agricultural fields, nature reserves, and even the campus of Sapir College (just south … Continue reading

Posted in Israel and Palestinian Arabs, War | 3 Comments

Thank you, Mr. & Mrs. Bloomgarten

When we moved to our new home in Rehovot, one of the first things we noticed was how often we heard sirens. It turned out that we live down the block from a facility shared by the ambulance services Magen … Continue reading

Posted in Israeli or Jewish History | 2 Comments