Mr. Obama Has Made Up His Mind

Posted on: March 20th, 2013

The Obama administration, from Mr. Obama on down, has made every effort to assure that the agenda for the president’s Israel trip and discussions with Prime Minister Netanyahu would center around burnishing the U.S.-Israel relationship and the issues of Iran and Syria.

Unanswered Questions About Susan Rice

Posted on: March 13th, 2013

Ambassador Rice touted the notion of a spontaneous mob action for several days after the event despite the evidence to the contrary. On what basis did Ms. Rice promote the false storyline?

Judge To Nanny Mayor: Not So Fast

Posted on: March 13th, 2013

What intrigues us most about Justice Milton Tingling’s decision invalidating New York City’s ban on large sugary soft drinks is that his opinion contained nothing we all hadn’t heard before. The judge said the ban was “arbitrary and capricious” – a judicial no-no that is the legal equivalent of “it makes no sense” – and was improperly adopted by a non-elected Board of Health.

Erdogan’s Latest Outrage

Posted on: March 6th, 2013

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has made no bones about his disdain for Israel. Soon after assuming office he gave a speech at the 2009 World Economic Forum at Davos in which he harangued Israel and its policies and publicly insulted President Shimon Peres.

Has Iran Already Won?

Posted on: March 6th, 2013

The Obama administration's various policies have signaled to the mullahs that they ultimately have nothing to fear from Washington.

Abbas’s Scenario?

Posted on: February 27th, 2013

When the White House announced some weeks ago that President Obama would be visiting the Middle East with the goal of burnishing U.S.-Israel relations rather than offering any new proposals for restarting the moribund negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, we assumed it would only be a matter of time before a new intifada broke out.

When All Else Fails, Are Drones The Answer?

Posted on: February 27th, 2013

In his State of the Union speech two weeks ago, President Obama seemed to echo his predecessor’s extravagant “Mission Accomplished” declaration respecting the war in Iraq when he announced that in light of the substantial gains in the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan, some 34,000 U.S. troops will return home by this time next year.

Rabbi Herbert Bomzer, Z”L

Posted on: February 20th, 2013

The Jewish Press notes with sorrow the recent passing of Rabbi Herbert W. (Chaim Zev) Bomzer, a leading personality in the American Jewish community who served for forty years as the rav of the Young Israel of Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn and for fifty years as a maggid shiur at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.

Hagel Controversy Picks Up Steam

Posted on: February 20th, 2013

The controversy over Chuck Hagel’s nomination as secretary of defense continued to roil this past week with the revelation that he did not provide the Senate Armed Services Committee information concerning several of his speeches to controversial pro-Arab and Iran advocacy groups.

Congressman Nadler Disappoints

Posted on: February 20th, 2013

Last week the House of Representatives approved, by a vote of 354 to 72, a bill that would specifically permit the use of federal money to rebuild synagogues, churches and mosques damaged by Superstorm Sandy.

The President’s Trip To Israel

Posted on: February 13th, 2013

It should not be forgotten that in the immediate run-up to President Obama’s May 19, 2011 speech at the State Department in which he delivered his “ ‘67 lines” scenario for Middle East peace, the informed buzz among Beltway pundits was that the president would break no new ground with his remarks. So much for informed buzz.

Academic Freedom Is Not A One-Way Street

Posted on: February 13th, 2013

Now that the forum co-sponsored by the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and the Brooklyn College political science department has come and gone, it is incumbent on Brooklyn College and Mayor Bloomberg to vindicate their claim that the event had to be allowed to take place in the interests of academic freedom.

A Larger Than Life Mayor

Posted on: February 6th, 2013

Ed Koch’s ebullient personality and can-do attitude provided a much-needed shot in the arm to a city that had barely dodged bankruptcy under the dour and ineffectual Abe Beame, and his willingness to buck the city’s liberal establishment was a balm for New Yorkers, particularly those in the outer boroughs, fed up with the accelerating social experimentation that characterized city governance for decades.

Israel, Academic Freedom And Free Speech

Posted on: February 6th, 2013

An editorial in Tuesday’s New York Times provides an important perspective on how Israel is viewed by our country’s liberal elites.

Obama Rules

Posted on: January 30th, 2013

Some recent developments fuel speculation as to what President Obama has in mind for the next four years in several areas.

Open Season?

Posted on: January 30th, 2013

This past Sunday – on International Holocaust Memorial Day – Britain’s Sunday Times ran a cartoon that depicted a burly and menacing Prime Minister Netanyahu, wielding a blood-covered trowel, in the process of building a wall using the blood and limbs of trapped, writhing Palestinians. It carried the caption, “Israeli Elections – Will Cementing Peace Continue?”

Sen. Schumer’s Unseemly Haste

Posted on: January 23rd, 2013

We were dismayed by the sudden announcement last week by New York’s senior U.S. senator, Charles Schumer, that he would support President Obama’s nomination of former senator Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense.

The Storm Brewing In Northern Africa

Posted on: January 23rd, 2013

As it now appears, the recent terrorist attack on the American consulate in Benghazi was not an anomaly but rather the tip of a growing iceberg.

The Israeli Election

Posted on: January 16th, 2013

The right-wing parties in Israel have been gaining traction in the run-up to next week’s election, and to our mind that is a good thing. It is crucial that the world come to appreciate the broad resurgence among Israelis of the notion of a vibrant and dynamic Jewish state in the land of its biblical patrimony.

The President And Gun Control

Posted on: January 16th, 2013

We certainly agree with Vice President Joe Biden that the massacre last month in Newtown, Connecticut, that took the lives of twenty elementary school children “touched the heart of the American people so profoundly” that it “requires immediate, urgent action.” And we would hope Congress and the president can avoid the partisan bickering that has caused so much gridlock in Washington and reach a solution to the problem of firearm violence in America.