An Unforgettable Rosh Hashanah

Posted on: November 12th, 2011

Last Rosh Hashanah 5771, I walked with a heavy heart to the small synagogue in the hospital at Tel Hashomer. Two and a half months had passed since my son David’s terrible accident, and he was still unconscious. The doctors remained split. Some tried to explain that this type of injury did not leave room for optimism. The days, weeks and months that passed seemed to wither our hope.

It’s Not About Shalit

Posted on: November 2nd, 2011

Polls taken just prior to Gilad Shalit’s release show that the main opposition to the deal was in the national religious sector. How can we explain this? Are national religious people heartless?

Regards From The Past: Royal Gardens In Jerusalem

Posted on: November 2nd, 2011

Reach out and touch the kingdom of King David; transcend time and jump headlong into the biblical accounts of King Solomon and those who succeeded him as Kings of Judea.

Learning From The Past: Some Current Implications Of An Earlier Indifference To Israel’s Basic Rights Under International Law

Posted on: October 26th, 2011

At a moment when Israel is under new daily assaults from the international community, especially from the Palestinian Authority and its oddly eager mentors at the United Nations, it is worth noting that there is a discernible and continuous pattern here of legal double-standards.

My UN Speech

Posted on: October 26th, 2011

Honorable representatives of the nations, I chose to come here today to tell you the truth. Since the miraculous war in which the God of Israel led us to redeem Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and Israeli territory until the Jordan River, a strange costume ball has been taking place in this building.

Hidden Truths, Deeper Meanings And Jewish Endurance In The Modern World

Posted on: October 18th, 2011

Israel, in the fashion of every nation, positively shrinks from annihilation. How could it be otherwise?

Saying No To ‘Palestine’

Posted on: October 18th, 2011

As the Palestinians press forward in international forums with their plans for statehood, a growing chorus of countries has expressed support for the move.

Saying No To ‘Palestine’

Posted on: October 18th, 2011

As the Palestinians press forward in international forums with their plans for statehood, a growing chorus of countries has expressed support for the move.

Israel and Palestine: Critical Intersections of Law and Strategy (Part II)

Posted on: October 16th, 2011

Generally, the Israeli is despised in the Islamic world because he or she is a Jew, a condition of presumed infirmity that can never be "remedied." Consider the following facts:

Reclaiming The Land

Posted on: October 16th, 2011

Editor's Note: This installment of Keeping Jerusalem was written by Hillel Fendel, who interviewed Chaim Silberstein, the usual co-author of the column.

Israel And Palestine: Critical Intersections of Law and Strategy (Part I)

Posted on: October 5th, 2011

Oddly enough, even Shimon Peres, the unrelenting Israeli champion of a "two state solution" in the Middle East, initially identified Palestinian statehood as an existential threat to Israel. In his book, Tomorrow is Now (1978), Peres had warned: "The establishment of such a state means the inflow of combat-ready Palestinian forces into Judea and Samaria (West Bank); this force, together with the local youth, will double itself in a short time. It will not be short of weapons or other military equipment, and in a short space of time, an infrastructure for waging war will be set up in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip . In time of war, the frontiers of the Palestinian state will constitute an excellent staging point for mobile forces to mount attacks on infrastructure installations vital for Israel's existence ."

What Threatens Israel’s Media?

Posted on: October 5th, 2011

The main item on State Radio Channel 2's agenda recently was Channel 10's apology to Sheldon Adelson. Some background: A few months ago, Channel 2 News broadcasted a lengthy report accusing the billionaire founder of the pro-Netanyahu newspaper Yisrael Hayom, Sheldon Adelson, of illegally gaining rights to build a casino. The report turned out to be false and the station was forced to broadcast an apology. The media claimed that the Channel 10 stockholders, who feared financial repercussions by Adelson, coerced the staff to apologize. Karen Noibach also devoted precious airtime to performer Yehudah Pollicker. Israel Army Radio featured the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Afterwards, the two stations switched stories.

What Threatens Israel’s Media?

Posted on: October 5th, 2011

The main item on State Radio Channel 2's agenda recently was Channel 10's apology to Sheldon Adelson. Some background: A few months ago, Channel 2 News broadcasted a lengthy report accusing the billionaire founder of the pro-Netanyahu newspaper Yisrael Hayom, Sheldon Adelson, of illegally gaining rights to build a casino. The report turned out to be false and the station was forced to broadcast an apology. The media claimed that the Channel 10 stockholders, who feared financial repercussions by Adelson, coerced the staff to apologize. Karen Noibach also devoted precious airtime to performer Yehudah Pollicker. Israel Army Radio featured the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Afterwards, the two stations switched stories.

What Threatens Israel’s Media?

Posted on: October 5th, 2011

The main item on State Radio Channel 2's agenda recently was Channel 10's apology to Sheldon Adelson. Some background: A few months ago, Channel 2 News broadcasted a lengthy report accusing the billionaire founder of the pro-Netanyahu newspaper Yisrael Hayom, Sheldon Adelson, of illegally gaining rights to build a casino. The report turned out to be false and the station was forced to broadcast an apology. The media claimed that the Channel 10 stockholders, who feared financial repercussions by Adelson, coerced the staff to apologize. Karen Noibach also devoted precious airtime to performer Yehudah Pollicker. Israel Army Radio featured the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Afterwards, the two stations switched stories.

Obama, Netanyahu And Palestine: A Partnership In Futility And Dishonor

Posted on: September 27th, 2011

Bettelheim, like the Greek poet Homer, understands that the force that does not kill, that does not kill just yet, can turn a human being into stone, into a thing, even while it is still alive. Merely hanging ominously over the head of the vulnerable creature it can choose to kill at any moment, poised lasciviously to destroy breath in what it has somehow "graciously" allowed, if only for a few more moments, to breathe; this force indelicately mocks the fragile life it intends to consume.

UN-Holy City?

Posted on: September 27th, 2011

With the world's eyes directed toward the United Nations, the most salient issues in the Israeli-Arab dispute in the Holy Land have been sharpened:

Acknowledging National Mortality: Israel’s Ironic Imperative

Posted on: September 21st, 2011

Jorge Luis Borges, the very special Argentine writer and philosopher, sometimes quite happily identified himself as a sort of Jew. Although lacking any apparent basis in halacha, he nonetheless felt himself to be a deeply kindred spirit: "Many a time I think of myself as a Jew," he is quoted in Willis Barnstone's Borges at Eighty: Conversations (1982), "but I wonder whether I have the right to think so. It may be wishful thinking."

History, Crowds, And The Slow Death Of America

Posted on: September 14th, 2011

Sometimes, as I have asserted from time to time in this column, seeing requires distance. Now, suffocating daily in political and economic rants from both the Right and the Left, we Americans must promptly confront a critical need to look beyond the historical moment, to seek both meaning and truth behind the news. There, suitably distant from the endlessly adrenalized jumble of current fears and concerns, we could finally understand the timeless struggle of individual against mass, of the singular person against the "crowd."

Int’l Jerusalem Alliance To UN: Don’t Touch Jerusalem!

Posted on: September 14th, 2011

An international non-Jewish pro-Israel organization has declared: The UN must "reject any resolutions and actions that would violate Israel's legitimate sovereignty over all of Jerusalem."

Changing Public Opinion One Book At A Time

Posted on: September 14th, 2011

The onslaught against the Jewish state has begun.In just the past few weeks, Turkey expelled Israel's ambassador, an Egyptian mob stormed the Israeli embassy in Cairo and ransacked the premises, and the Palestinians reaffirmed their insistence on seeking UN approval for a unilateral declaration of statehood.