For a full five hours, the Israeli security cabinet discussed the topic of Iran, a nut that commentators have been trying in vain to crack. The commentators wonder whether Netanyahu is inventing a security problem, or whether we are indeed…
Category: Talking politics
Netanyahu’s wake
Binyamin Netanyahu lost the second round of elections big time, and yet his opponent could not manage to win. The imbroglio created in the first round only became more complicated following the second. Netanyahu lost not only because his number…
Burning, but nothing urgent
The heat in Israel reached an all-time high. I stood at the Beit Rimon Junction in the middle of the day, waiting for the air-conditioned bus to save me from dehydration. My thoughts drifted to my 12-year-old granddaughter, located a…
On the agenda: a unity government
Even if a coalition against Bibi takes power, it will not rule well. Hatred of him cannot be the basis for cooperation between parties whose ideological distance is greater than that between carnivores and vegans.
Trump’s questionable gifts to Israel
“I did not conclude that the President committed a crime, but I also did not exonerate him,” said special counsel Robert Mueller, citing the results of his investigation into President Trump, which lasted two years and covers more than 400…
The magician unmasked: A funny thing happened on the way to a coalition
The people had its say, selecting Netanyahu as prime minister, acquitting him of all guilt and providing him with a right-wing bloc. Yet the omnipotent Bibi failed miserably to form a government. The last elections were a referendum on the…
“Sign, you dog!” The withering of the Palestinian Authority
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has adopted the strategy of Donald Trump: Instead of military power, use economic force! From the moment of Trump’s election in 2016, he turned economic sanctions into his main tool to achieve what he wants in…
Israeli democracy and the demographic threat
The following piece was first published in Hebrew on April 15, 2019, a few days after the elections in Israel. Benjamin Netanyahu is set to serve a fifth term as Israel’s prime minister. His government will be like the previous one.…
Zehut: The legalization of cannabis and apartheid
Leftists and liberal Jews in the US are outraged by the anticipated entry of the far-right Kahanist fringe group “Otzma Yehudit” (Jewish Power) into the Knesset. Meanwhile, under the radar, another new party “Zehut” (which translates as Identity), headed by…
New wave of Arab popular revolt undermines Israel’s strategy to ally with Arab regimes
Waves of popular protest are challenging Israel’s partners in the “moderate Sunni axis” and bringing back the Arab Spring in full force. There is a consensus in the Israeli establishment, including the Labor Party and Benny Gantz’s new party, about…