Category Archives: Israeli Society

“Who’s a Jew?” Hits the Headlines, Again

Posted on March 4, 2021 by Victor Rosenthal

Israel’s Supreme Court decided a few days ago that conversions to Judaism by the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel must be recognized by the state for the purposes of the Law of Return. Until now, the state has somewhat … Continue reading →

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

The Bedouins and the Jewish State

Posted on February 18, 2021 by Victor Rosenthal

Bedouins are tribal, nomadic Arabs, tracing their ancestry to the Arabian peninsula, who today live all over the Middle East and North Africa. Today there are at least 200,000 Bedouins in Israel, and the population is growing rapidly. They are … Continue reading →

Posted in Israel and Palestinian Arabs, Israeli Society | 1 Comment

But What About the Palestinians?

Posted on January 14, 2021 by Victor Rosenthal

This morning I received a robo-call from the Rehovot city government to tell me that, as a senior citizen, if I had trouble getting an appointment for my Coronavirus vaccination, they would help me, and here is how to contact … Continue reading →

Posted in Information war, Israeli Society, Media | 1 Comment

Israel’s Awful Electoral System

Posted on December 27, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

Recently I’ve struggled with some technical issues on one of my computers. It’s always a similar process: there is a small problem, but there is supposed to be a solution. Unfortunately the solution doesn’t work, but there is a solution … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Politics, Israeli Society | 2 Comments

Which is Worse, Influenza or Affluenza?

Posted on October 25, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

What do I read during an epidemic? What else but books about epidemics, like John M. Barry’s “The Great Influenza,” about the catastrophic 1918 pandemic that killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide. The 1918 disease, incorrectly called “Spanish flu,” … Continue reading →

Posted in American society, Israeli Politics, Israeli Society, The Future | 1 Comment

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 Corona Disaster

Posted on September 24, 2020 by Victor Rosenthal

This morning (Wednesday) Israel’s Health Ministry announced that in the past 24 hours there were 6,861 new cases of Covid-19 detected in 59,169 tests, an 11.5% positive ratio. This ratio has been steadily increasing, which is an indication of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Israeli Society | 2 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