Monthly Archives: February 2020

Bernie the Jewish Fool

Posted on February 27, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

As Purim approaches, Bernie Sanders, the Jewish front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, said: [Moving the US Embassy back to Tel Aviv is] something we would take into consideration … I am very proud of being Jewish. I actually lived … Continue reading →

Posted in American Jews, American politics | 1 Comment

Anger, not Apathy

Posted on February 23, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

The media say that Israeli voters are apathetic. They aren’t – they are furious. About a third of them aren’t expected to vote at all in the March 2 election, an unprecedented third in 11 months. And polls show that … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics | 4 Comments

Seminary of Fools

Posted on February 20, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

I belong to a Masorti (Conservative) congregation in Israel. Although most Israelis don’t believe this, the movement is theologically much closer to Modern Orthodoxy than to Reform Judaism. There is a commitment to halacha, albeit somewhat more lenient than in … Continue reading →

Posted in 'Peace' Process, Israel and Palestinian Arabs, Israeli Society | 6 Comments

Donald Trump and Ice Nine

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Kurt Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle” is an interesting book in many ways, but what stuck in my scientifically-oriented and disaster-fascinated mind was what he called “Ice Nine.”  Ice Nine is a form of water that is solid at room temperature.* The … Continue reading →

Posted in 'Peace' Process, American Jews, American politics, Israel and Palestinian Arabs | 1 Comment

Take the Deal

Posted on February 13, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

There is something practical that can be done to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that is to grant limited autonomy to a limited Palestinian entity in Judea and Samaria. In other words, to adopt something like the Trump plan. It … Continue reading →

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What is it about Jews?

Posted on February 9, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Is there anything worse than European misoziony?* How about the Jewish version? I dislike the expression “self-hating Jew” because Jewish antisemites and misozionists generally think a great deal of themselves. They see their own Jew-hatred as a moral position, made … Continue reading →

Posted in American Jews, Israeli Society, Jew Hatred, Post-Zionism | 1 Comment

Our European Enemy

Posted on February 6, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Our state is tiny, in size and population. The Nations didn’t want it to exist at all, and when they couldn’t stop it they did their best to keep it small. There aren’t so many Jews in the world, anyway; … Continue reading →

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How Zionism Keeps us in the Game

Posted on February 2, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Anshel Pfeffer, a very smart guy and one of the few writers that regularly appears in Ha’aretz who is worth reading, does not believe in Zionism. He doesn’t oppose it, he just thinks talking about it is a kind of … Continue reading →

Posted in Zionism | Comments Off on How Zionism Keeps us in the Game