InDepth

Operation Pillar of Defense will only buy Israel a few months of quiet.

This strategy has often worked against a Western adversary or Israel.

The Orthodox Jewish world continues to seesaw back and forth about the pros and cons of the Asifa on Technology at Citifield in New York. Debates abound about on the best Internet filters, blocks and technological band-aids to which will surely repair the dangerous environmental influences of the outside world. Let’s ban or block the Internet and suddenly our children will be less distracted, our communities more heimish and our learning and davening more for the sake of Heaven instead of rote blabbering to get it over with.

Once upon a time it was the objective of the military to win wars. Now the objective of the military is to avoid incidents.

So long as we obsess over abortion, gay marriage, and contraception to the exclusion of any other values, we cannot fix our problems.

Terrorism cannot be contained, only destroyed.

Originally published at Rubin Reports. A lot of people have asked the purpose of Israel’s defensive war against Hamas. Some, including those supposedly expert on...

Israel and the world have become one dysfunctional family, with the crazy member being the Gaza Palestinians.

I will also work towards being your “Congressman” in the Knesset, with the level of connection and accountability that Anglos are accustomed to.

There will be no “permanent end” to this rocket war madness or all of the other varieties of madness that are getting worse in the region.

If Hamas knows it cannot defeat the Israel Defense Forces and will get a bloody nose for its efforts, it obviously has motives other than victory in mind.

Obviously, the Palestinians have been radicalized to a point where they are not ready to hear about any concessions to Israel or tolerate the presence of an Israeli businessman in a Palestinian city.

Morsi's power today unquestionably brings major short-term benefits for himself and the Brotherhood.

Not long after Qatar's leader paid a visit to Hamas, this latest war began.

Despite the possibility of disappointing an Israeli populace eager for a massive blow to Hamas, Netanyahu might prefer the less costly ceasefire.

Tofu. For most of us, the word conjures up images of a spongy white unpalatable mass that is best left on the shelf of our local health food emporium. But for New Jersey resident David Mintz, tofu is a magical substance that holds endless possibilities, particularly for the kosher consumer.

Can Israel sustain this situation? Of course, that is basically the framework in which it has been living and prospering for 64 years. Is it preferable? Of course not. What is the world going to do to make it better? Nothing.

Neither side takes U.S. policy very seriously.

No summary of today’s events would be complete without mentioning the backstory on the IDF’s operation name.

On the Shabbat when we read the portion of Chayei Sarah, Chevron residents are joined by thousands of people from all over Israel and around the world in celebrating Father Abraham’s purchase of the Cave of Machpelah and its surrounding fields as a burial place for Sarah Imeinu.

Israel, with an understandable desperation, still seeks to discover some discernible correctness and reassuring clarity in the theatre of world politics. However, the polite diplomatic meanings with which it is pressed to "make peace" remain squalid and elusive. Ominously, these meanings continue to seethe menacingly.

It is morning and my car glides down the mountains of the Shomron into the smog of greater Tel Aviv. Another crazy day of running in the primaries is about to begin. My cell phone rings. A young, determined voice is on the other end.

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By any measure, our newly reelected president has a great number of issues that will compete for his attention and among which he will have to prioritize. During the presidential campaign we repeatedly voiced concern that Mr. Obama might reprise the full-court press treatment he accorded the Israeli-Palestinian conflict early in his first term, and we can only hope he will focus elsewhere.

There are some fascinating questions that come to mind regarding the current controversy concerning Gen. David Petraeus, and in the coming weeks and months many of the blanks will doubtless be filled in. To be sure, the personal dimension to the story will continue to draw much attention – infidelity and personal failure in high places will always have a certain allure. But there are some serious public issues involved that we hope will be pursued.

● The president of the United States, in the midst of a policy dispute with the Israeli prime minister, glared into the television cameras and angrily declared, “It is not the business of other nations to make American foreign policy.” Barack Obama? No, Ronald Reagan.

It was William Shakespeare who posed the question "What's in a name?" These days, if someone calls you "Shakespeare" it probably means he or she thinks you are pretty bright, or at least can write well.

As the dust settles and the fog lifts from this tumultuous year of political campaigning, we are left to wonder how our country will evolve. Will the economy bounce back? Will our schools make progress? And how about U.S. relations with Israel? Will they grow weaker or stronger? Will the administration support an Israeli strike on Iran?

For most of the past two years, if not the past four, many conservatives and Republicans assumed that Barack Obama could not be reelected. A poor economy, an unpopular liberal agenda shoved down the throat of the country, and a largely uninspiring presidential leadership style combined to create a widespread belief on the right that the 2012 election would be a lay-up for them.