David Weinberg

My first “aliyah” this week to “Har HaBayit” was scary, emotional, fascinating, and infuriating. And necessary.

The only real power standing in the way of Palestinian terrorism and Iranian hegemonism is Israel.

Take this Rosh Hashanah political-security quiz and prognosticate on the future for the Jewish new year. (My predictions are recorded at the bottom of the article.)

President Biden should not come to the Mideast without a useful agenda that includes truly confronting Iran.

Israel seems to exist in two parallel, contradictory worlds. One is a false, hackneyed, out-of-date, and threatening universe where recalcitrant and violent Palestinian leaders are venerated, and admirable Israeli leaders are criminalized. The other universe is real, promising, forward looking, and stabilizing, and is marked by a peace dynamic that runs from Jerusalem to Dubai, Manama, Rabat, Cairo and Amman; and from Jerusalem to the most important leaders in the world.

Israel must resist America’s fantasy framework for a swift, dangerously indecisive, end to the Gaza war.

One would think that Jordan’s “special role” means it has a responsibility to maintain the site as a place of prayer, brotherhood and tolerance.

… the tough get going. When this country is under attack, Israel’s friends need to be more determined than ever to defend it.

Tisha Be’Av, the mournful commemoration of Jewish national destruction and self-destruction which falls this weekend, hasn’t quite reached the status of Yom Kippur as a day of reflection and repentance. But it should.

PALESTINIAN-JORDANIAN IMPUDENCE and ISRAELI INFIRMITY.

Rabbi Gold, who passed away this week at 88, was known for feisty and infectious Zionist passion and for biting witticism. He understood God’s love for all Jews in absolute terms (which he sought to emulate absolutely), and he understood God’s grant of the Land of Israel to the Jewish People in absolute terms, in a totality wrapped with kedusha, holiness. These are not gifts that one can simply fritter away.

I do not believe that the Saudi-Iran agreement closes the door on Saudi-Israeli entente, nor on a renewed pro-Western regional alliance involving Israel and the Saudis

Wakey, wakey! Time for a course reversal. Consider the grand drama of Israel reborn, and don’t go weak-kneed on Iran.

I'm less concerned about the direction of the emerging direction of the new government than I am about the hysterical reactions to it from foreign governments and hard-left observers.

The tectonic threat of Iran to Mideast and global stability must be countered head-on.

Consider one of the lesser-known parties running for election to Knesset. They serve as an antidote to widespread cynicism about Israel’s political system.

The illustrious Jewish-American novelist is a penetrating and courageous critic of contemporary society and its attitudes to Jews and Israel.

In grand perspective, see how many benefits and blessings the Heavens have showered upon Israel! It enjoys a strong economy, coronavirus and political stability (at least for the past year), diplomatic and security heft, renewed Aliyah, national resilience that stems from faith, and global Jewish support.

The world knows only how to criticize and demonize Israel. What a shame. But at least Jews should know and appreciate Israel’s humanity. On Yom Haatzmaut, we can all add this to our calculations of kevod shamayim and kiddush Hashem (the glorification of G-d’s name in the world) that has been wrought by the State of Israel.

WHAT WE REALLY NEED, MUCH MORE THAN A COMPTROLLER’S REPORT ON POLICE FECKLESSNESS, IS A NATIONAL PLAN TO ROOT OUT THE SOURCES THAT ARE FUELING EXTREMISM AND VIOLENCE IN PARTS OF THE ISRAELI ARAB COMMUNITY.

A comprehensive picture of Iranian belligerence and its tectonic threat to Mideast and global stability.

An ugly, fringe phenomenon being falsely puffed up to "balance" the crimes of Hamas.

This is what national suicide looks like.

Israel’s future depends more on repairing a modicum of national unity and even global Jewish accord than it does on countering Iran

Oslo is the root cause of today’s terrible epidemic of terrorist and crime shootings.

Chances for a deal are high, the risks manageable, and the value overwhelming. The doubters and naysayers, as well as those who actively are trying to sabotage such an agreement, are wrong.

Compared to the ongoing Palestinian terrorist mega-pogrom against Israeli Jews, the Huwara rampage must rank as one the weakest pogroms in the ugly history of pogroms. So where is the anguish over Israeli Jews continuously murdered by Palestinian terrorists?

In Washington and other capitals, an ungenerous spirit has set in.

There is no moral equivalence whatsoever between Palestinian terrorists and Israeli troops. Falsely balanced diplomatic formulations like those that “call upon all sides to end the cycle of violence” must be rejected. This is prattle that covers for Palestinian extremism and rejectionism, and retards the cause of peace.

Which of the following political, security, and domestic events can be expected in Israel, the Mideast, and around the world this coming year? Take this quiz and calculate the 5783 political future you need to be prepared for. (My answers are at the bottom of the article.)