Category Archives: Israeli Politics

Closing Israel’s Political Circus

Posted on October 11, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Today the State of Israel is squeezed between a public health emergency and political paralysis. All we’re missing is a security crisis. We’d better hope we don’t get one. In the past few days the number of new Coronavirus cases … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics, Israeli Society | 2 Comments

Israel’s PM and Government Should Resign Today

Posted on August 27, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

I’m not looking forward to writing this, or to reading the responses that I will surely get from various quarters. But here it is. The Breslov Hasidim venerate Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (1772-1810), a kabbalist, scholar, and founder of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics | 3 Comments

Who on Earth is Dana Ron, and the Beirut Explosion

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

The longer I live here, the more I understand how different Israel is from my former home, the USA. There are elements of Middle East culture, unsurprising since about half of all Jewish Israelis are descended from immigrants from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics, Israeli Society | 1 Comment

The Government Fiddles while the People Burn

Posted on July 16, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

There is reason to believe that the present government of Israel is not only bloated and venal, but that it is staggeringly incompetent. The Prime Minister acts almost exclusively to protect himself, and not on behalf of the country. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Iran, Israeli Politics, Israeli Society, War | 1 Comment

Interesting Times

Posted on July 9, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

It’s been an interesting week for Israelis, mostly in the bad sense of the word. The news about the application of civilian law (not “annexation”) to parts of Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley is that there is no news. … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics, Israeli Society | 1 Comment

Corona Days in Israel

Posted on July 2, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Recently the European Union announced that it would reopen its borders to visitors from some other countries. Israel was not on the list (neither was the US). Many Israelis reacted indignantly, but objectively our Coronavirus situation is not good. On … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics, Israeli Society | 1 Comment

Ministers of Silly Walks

Posted on April 26, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

I’ve complained several times (here and here) about the number of ministers and deputy ministers in the planned unity government and their cost. But this is only the symptom of the real problem. What’s truly wrong is that portfolios are … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics | 1 Comment

The Bibiad

Posted on April 19, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

The idea of a hero with a tragic flaw echoes throughout Western literature. It’s found in Homer, in classical Greek tragedy, and of course in the Bible. The tragic flaw is sometimes a character defect, a particular weakness in an … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics | 2 Comments