The Forgotten Rachels (Video)

Posted on: August 27th, 2012

A short video to remember all the other Rachels who were murdered by Palestinian Terrorists.

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Romney Bad, Obama Good, for Israel

Posted on: August 26th, 2012

Ironically, the much maligned Obama administration has been the perfect antidote to Israeli capitulation to American whims. President Obama exudes an open hostility towards Israel, and real favoritism towards the Muslim Brotherhood and their ilk. The average Israeli can sense this new distance between the US and Israel and this has resulted in a an unusual feeling around here, a feeling that scares many - the feeling of independence.

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Why Gush Katif Still Matters

Posted on: August 25th, 2012

The expulsion of 10,000 Jews from their homes five years ago was not a localized event in the Gaza Strip. It was a national implosion, a national disgrace. It caused enormous physical, psychological, social, cultural, military and strategic damage to the entire nation - and it still does. Like an ecological disaster, its foulness still seeps through our foundations, and continues to poison us.

Is ‘Gotcha!’ A Jewish Value?

Posted on: August 22nd, 2012

Earlier this month, a pricing error in El Al's reservations system resulted in tickets to Israel being sold online for prices as low as $325, all included.

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Granting Tuition Reductions In Day Schools: A New Approach

Posted on: August 22nd, 2012

Many American parents are passionate about providing their children with opportunities to participate in sports and develop as great athletes. A recent article in the Financial Post posed the question “Are your kids’ athletic dreams worth breaking the bank for?” For parents of elite athletes, the costs can be astronomical. Such parents designate “tens of thousands of dollars of their household budget to help their child’s athletic career blossom, a sacrifice that impacts everything from daily spending to retirement.”

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Don’t Be Fooled By BDS Campaign’s Failures

Posted on: August 22nd, 2012

For more than a decade, anti-Israel activists have sought to shoehorn Israel into the nomenclature of apartheid-era South Africa through the use of a tactic named BDS (boycott, divestment, sanctions). Apartheid was a universally decried racist system. BDS activists argue that Israel is the second coming of apartheid South Africa and must be treated the same.

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Incitement Underscores Palestinian Unwillingness To Make Peace

Posted on: August 22nd, 2012

When Barack Obama entered the White House, he promised to make Israeli/Palestinian peacemaking his priority from "day one." And, indeed, in his own way he did. He pressured Israel into freezing Jewish construction in the West Bank for ten months in a bid to entice the Palestinians to negotiate.

Can Obama Admit His Iran Diplomacy Failed?

Posted on: August 22nd, 2012

White House spokesman Jay Carney recently reiterated the administration’s mantra about Iran, saying there was still “time and space” for a diplomatic solution to be found to resolve the impasse over its nuclear threat.

A Compendium of Recent Iranian Foreign Policy Proposals

Posted on: August 21st, 2012

Yigal Palmor of the Israeli Foreign Ministry sent me a compilation of recent Iranian 'foreign policy proposals'. Useful to have them all in one place. I don't know about you, but to me, they just don't sound reasonable.

Whose SImcha Is It Really?

Posted on: August 21st, 2012

The focus of a wedding and its source of simcha changes as one ages.

The Center of Jewish Culture is Already in Israel

Posted on: August 20th, 2012

The center of Jewish culture — spiritual, scientific, entrepreneurial, artistic — is today, as it should be, Israel. This was not the case in 1948 or 1967, but it is true now, and I can only expect it to become more true as time goes by.

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Moral Behavior and Jewish Rights

Posted on: August 16th, 2012

Israel can theoretically negotiate a compromise with the Arabs in which it gives up land for an end to belligerency. There is a flavor of extortion here, but nevertheless Israel has a position from which to negotiate. But if Israel begins negotiating from the position that it is occupying someone else’s land, then the only thing there is to negotiate is the timetable for withdrawal.

Tears For Shavel

Posted on: August 15th, 2012

Recently, my wife Clary and I traveled to Lithuania to experience what remains of one of Judaism’s most magnificent centers of learning. My journey, organized by Zvi Lapian of Israel and led by the eminent historian and distinguished scholar Dr. Shnayer Leiman, took me to what was once the world’s center of Torah learning.

And The Gold Medal For Lying Goes To…

Posted on: August 15th, 2012

If there were an Olympics for lying, the winner of this year's gold medal for prevarication would be Egypt’s president, Mohammed Morsi. Of course heads of state lie, but rarely do they display it with such chutzpah. The recent sleight-of-hand involving a president-to-president exchange would shock even cynics.

Candid Camera, Egyptian Style

Posted on: August 15th, 2012

I never watched “Candid Camera” when I was a kid. We only watched The Wonderful World of Disney” and “Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom.” My parents enforced strict TV rules. But as an adult, when I can watch whatever I please, I really enjoy those old shows and have made up for lost time when it comes to shows like “Candid Camera.”

The Future Of Young Israelis

Posted on: August 15th, 2012

When Israelis say, “I worry about my grandchildren’s future,” it has a radically different dimension than similar concerns expressed in many other countries.

Eternal Love Story

Posted on: August 15th, 2012

Parents know each child is different. Similarly, each month is different; each has a different “personality” and a different function. What is the nature of the month of Elul?

Obama, Not Israel, ‘Outrageously Cynical’

Posted on: August 15th, 2012

Right now the Obama administration is being very, very careful about saying what it thinks about Israel, not wanting to upset the electoral applecart. But the New York Times isn’t afraid to let it all hang out, as it did in today’s editorial on Israel and Iran. The Times is important because its positions are so closely correlated with those of the administration. At least on foreign affairs, the Times is Obama’s Pravda.

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My Interview with Marvin Hamlisch

Posted on: August 14th, 2012

As the lights dimmed on Broadway for 60 seconds last night in memory of Oscar-winning composer Marvin Hamlisch, who died on Monday, I took a moment to reflect on the moment in 1976 when I interviewed Hamlisch.

The Greatest Misconception

Posted on: August 13th, 2012

Focusing on the relations between Israel and the Palestinians turns the conflict inside out. In fact it is driven by the absolute rejection of a Jewish state in the Middle East by all the Muslim nations in the region, which dates back to the beginning of Zionism, before the founding of the state of Israel, before the development of specifically Palestinian nationalism, and long before the 1967 war.