Jerusalem Post - Columnists

Poverty in Israel – and the PM’s expenses

By SUSAN HATTIS ROLEF05/19/2013 21:22

Think About It: OECD figures published last week indicate that among the 34 members of the organization, the rate of poverty in Israel is the highest.

The Region: Where does Israel’s greatest threat lie?

By BARRY RUBIN05/19/2013 21:18

Iran is still the greatest strategic threat in the region.

Reality Check: Israel’s modern-day royal family

By JEFF BARAK05/19/2013 20:49

It’s a shame Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spent the flight to London for Margaret Thatcher’s funeral asleep on the double bed that cost the taxpayer an extra half-a-million shekels.

Exposed: A devastating new Claims Conference scandal

By ISI LEIBLER05/18/2013 23:06

Candidly Speaking: It is now clear that, despite repeated previous appeals over many years by outside parties urging the Claims Conference to impose more effective supervision, gross negligence was the order of the day.

Washington Watch: Whose Israel is this?

By DOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD05/18/2013 22:52

It is one thing for the ultra-religious to practice their belief system as they wish among themselves, and something wholly different when they try to impose it on the majority of the society.

Into the Fray: Deciphering delegitimization

By MARTIN SHERMAN05/16/2013 22:38

For a secure Israel to regain legitimacy, the idea of a Palestinian state must be discredited as a possible means of resolving conflict.

My Word: The black hole of BDS

By LIAT COLLINS05/16/2013 22:30

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that Israel is under constant threat of missile attack.

Scales and yardsticks

By REUVEN BEN-SHALOM05/16/2013 22:18

Scales are essential to our situational awareness and serve as a reference for decision making, from the personal to the national level.

In tribute to Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein

By DAVID M. WEINBERG05/16/2013 22:08

Celebrating complexity: Rabbi Lichtenstein has taught the highest-level Talmud, Halacha and philosophy to his tens of thousands of students.

Savir's Corner: Humor in conflict

By URI SAVIR05/16/2013 22:00

A sense of humor is innate in all human beings; in situations of hardship, it serves as a mechanism to cope with it.

Another Tack: While we keep kvetching

By SARAH HONIG05/16/2013 21:53

Territorial swaps were already discussed by then-premier Ehud Barak in his near-desperate peace-drive of 2000-2001.

Parshat Naso: Biblical rehab

By SHMUEL RABINOWITZ05/16/2013 21:39

Jewish, moral and enjoyable lives can be lead by keeping our desires in check, setting moral boundaries for ourselves.

iEngage: Time to end the disgrace at the Wall

By YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI05/16/2013 21:20

US Jews should send message to Israeli gov't to create space for egalitarian prayer or protests will convene outside PM's office.

Column One: Obama and the ‘official truth’

By CAROLINE B. GLICK05/16/2013 21:12

Obama administration targets those who oppose, expose failure of president's policies.

Buy blue and white – and orange

By JOSH HASTEN05/15/2013 22:33

View From The Hills: Many pro- Israel hasbara (public diplomacy) organizations have gone on the offensive.

Israelis shouldn’t honor delegitimizers!

By GIL TROY05/15/2013 22:21

Center Field: Cliff May is justifiably threatening not to hold his organization’s annual policy summit at the Newseum.

Candidly Speaking: Déjà vu: ‘Peace in Our Time’

By ISI LEIBLER05/13/2013 22:57

We must not again jeopardize our security and lives by engaging in yet another “gamble for peace” with the odds stacked against us.

Borderline Views: Fighting on two fronts

By DAVID NEWMAN05/13/2013 22:38

Targeting scientists and academics, they are effectively targeting one of few spaces where Israeli-Palestinian collaboration and cooperation takes place.

American ambassadors: From untouchable to dead

By SHMULEY BOTEACH05/13/2013 21:55

No Holds Barred: Because even a monster as evil as Hitler, arguably the most dangerous man that ever lived, wasn’t going to mess with the American ambassador.

Stop spending like a drunken sailor

By MICHAEL FREUND05/13/2013 21:31

Fundamentally Freund: Instead of heaping a new round of tax hikes on the Israeli public, the gov't should get its own house in order and spend within its means.

iENGAGE: Time to End the Disgrace at the Wall

By YOSSI KLEIN HALEVI05/13/2013 18:03

Haredi men who threw garbage at women in prayer shawls behaved like pogromists; silence in the haredi community added to the disgrace.

Think About It: Confronting sexual harassment

By SUSAN HATTIS ROLEF05/12/2013 21:35

For well over a decade there were rumors of a “senior television personality” who was sexually harassing women co-workers.

The Region: The Israel card has been overplayed

By BARRY RUBIN05/12/2013 21:30

The fact is that Syria is wrecked for years to come; Iraq is not in good shape due to internal battles; and Egypt is on the verge of disaster.

Time for Arab League to take the plunge

By DOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD05/11/2013 22:29

Washington Watch: Both sides have agreed on swaps in principle, and while they remain far apart on the details, the gap is bridgeable.

Former PM Ehud Olmert and Stephen Hawking meet in Jerusalem on December 10, 2006.

Stephen Hawking endorses Iranian, Chinese repression

By ALAN M. DERSHOWITZ05/10/2013 23:15

Prior to the cancelation of his academic talk in Israel, it might have been argued that his visits to Iran and China reflected not support for the regimes but rather a neutral approach to academics.

Rebut or retract: A public challenge to Dershowitz

By MARTIN SHERMAN05/09/2013 23:14

Alan Dershowitz’s response to his derisive reception at 'Post' conference in New York late underscores bankruptcy of “The Case for Two States”.

My Word: The China conundrum

By LIAT COLLINS05/09/2013 23:03

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu encounters doubled headed beast this week on his official visit to the People’s Republic of China.

Savir's Corner: National priorities

By URI SAVIR05/09/2013 22:37

"A state budget should reflect the priorities of the state; policy planning should come before budget planning".

Another Tack: The inconvenient truth

By SARAH HONIG05/09/2013 22:31

The only constructive course of action for Obama is to tone down his insincere anti-Assad rhetoric and to quit sounding the identical refrain for both Syria and Iran.

Parshat Bamidbar: Division of the tribes

By SHMUEL RABINOWITZ05/09/2013 22:23

There could be no greater period than this one for internalizing the message of the division of the nation among the 12 tribes.

First Person: All’s normal on the Golan

By DAVID BRINN05/09/2013 22:04

Family visits North amid reports of IAF strikes into Syria, steady drone of far-off artillery fire, large volume of IDF routine maneuvers.

Lapid’s slippery slope

By BEN CASPIT05/09/2013 21:55

"While Lapid is pummeling middle class exemplar Ricki Cohen and friends, PM is protecting Israel from high up on the Great Wall of China."

Column One: NGOs vs those who serve

By CAROLINE B. GLICK05/09/2013 21:48

Support for those who serve in IDF, national service without reference to their religion, race or gender stymied by some NGOs.

iENGAGE: The Middle East exchange rate

By TAL BECKER05/09/2013 15:26

The reality of our regional predicament is relevant in assessing how we best advance our values in the face of such danger and hostility.

Jonathan Pollard, up close and personal

By PESACH LERNER05/09/2013 15:14

Pollard’s character remains intact and has not been tainted in any measure by the persistent lies that have been used to defame him to cover for the lack of evidence against him. He is a victim of a serious miscarriage of justice which if not resolved soon, threatens to end his life in prison.

Washington Watch: Arab League to take the plunge

By DOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD05/09/2013 08:37

It’s time for the Arab League to put up or shut up; the future of Middle East peacekeeping may depend on it.

‘Price tags’: Morally bankrupt, politically foolish

By GIL TROY05/08/2013 21:37

Center Field: Last month, when we celebrated Yom Ha’atzmaut, we talked mostly about Israel’s “atzmaut,” independence.

Media Comment: Israel’s impotent media council

By YISRAEL MEDAD AND ELI POLLAK05/08/2013 21:06

The media treats not only women with disdain but also the nationalist camp.

View From The Hills: Is resilience the answer?

By JOSH HASTEN05/08/2013 21:02

The power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity

Encountering Peace: Truth, lies and legitimacy

By GERSHON BASKIN05/08/2013 20:58

Jerusalem Day marks the reunification of Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

Defending ‘red lines’ and ‘green lines’

By DAN DIKER05/07/2013 22:24

The world from here: Israel’s determination to enforce its red lines and “defend itself by itself” also extends to Judea Samaria/West Bank and Israel’s eastern front.

In my own write: Meeting and mating

By JUDY MONTAGU05/07/2013 21:57

There is something appealing about the idea of women strong enough to deal with possible rejection and move on, their egos intact, to more fruitful relationships.

Anti-Jewish text will shame the Church of Scotland

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN05/07/2013 21:30

Terra Incognita: This is not the time of the Crusades; no church has a right to tell the Jews where they may live.

Bayit Yehudi: Choosing religious moderation or extremism

By ISI LEIBLER05/06/2013 22:44

Candidly speaking: Bennett has rejuvenated the moribund Bayit Yehudi party, which was on the verge of extinction.

Borderline Views: Investing in the humanities

By DAVID NEWMAN05/06/2013 22:12

One only has to look at the lack of focus on the humanities and social sciences at the many board of governors’ meetings of Israeli universities, which start this week, to see how critical this problem is.

The lies we tell ourselves about moderate Islam

By MICHAEL FREUND05/06/2013 22:05

Fundamentally Freund: President Barack Obama and much of the Western press seem to have difficulty saying in close proximity to one another: ‘Islamic’ and ‘terror.’

Reversing the corrosive message of commencements

By SHMULEY BOTEACH05/06/2013 21:59

No holds barred: Misguided messages are what have led to the contradiction in US life where we are the richest society in the world but also the most depressed.

Reality Check: Hitting the voters in their pockets

By JEFF BARAK05/05/2013 22:20

Even though his focus must be on balancing the country’s books, Lapid must not make the mistake of not keeping his eye on opportunities for furthering the peace process and prodding an unwilling prime minister into action.

Ongoing crises in Knesset-government relations

By SUSAN HATTIS ROLEF05/05/2013 22:16

Think About It: Lapid was constantly heckled, and wasn’t given the opportunity to finish a single sentence.

The Region: Syria: The empire strikes back

By BARRY RUBIN05/05/2013 21:25

US strategy, and that of the West and international organizations, has been based on two ideas that have proven to be wishful thinking.

The two-state psychosis: The Oslo Syndrome revisited

By MARTIN SHERMAN05/02/2013 23:02

People under siege end up blaming themselves for their enemies’ hatred toward them, delude themselves about the malicious intentions of their foes.

Only multiple chief rabbis ensure religious freedom

By DONNIEL HARTMAN05/02/2013 22:34

iEngage: "Next month we do not need to vote on the identity of the next Orthodox chief rabbi,but on the identities of the next chief rabbis".

One last flight

By REUVEN BEN-SHALOM05/02/2013 22:17

I will always be proud of serving in the Israeli Air Force, and flying alongside extraordinary people in one the most amazing aircrafts ever built.

S. Daniel Abraham’s message of peace

By BEN CASPIT05/02/2013 22:02

American Slim-Fast billionaire invests time and money toward strides for Middle East peace.

Another Tack: A convenient untruth

By SARAH HONIG05/02/2013 21:31

Kerry would do well to learn and memorize Chaim Weizman’s wake-up call to Anthony Eden after Krystallnacht.

Column One: Dershowitz and tragedy

By CAROLINE B. GLICK05/02/2013 20:51

Tendency in the West, pointedly among liberals, to dismiss realities of Islamic world, Palestinians and direct focus solely on Israel.

Claims Conference issues remain unresolved

By ISI LEIBLER05/01/2013 22:23

Candidly Speaking: Elderly Holocaust survivors are denied elementary needs such as food, medicine and other basic services to enable them to live out their remaining years with dignity.

Media Comment: The journalists’ ‘omerta’

By YISRAEL MEDAD AND ELI POLLAK05/01/2013 22:17

Media personnel, from producers to editors to reporters, view everything as fair game – except their own environment or professional activities.

Obama’s dilemma: No good options in Syria

By DOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD05/01/2013 22:02

Washington Watch: Going to war on faulty – and probably intentionally misleading – intelligence about weapons of mass destruction had to weigh on Obama’s mind.

Encountering Peace: The Israeli economic breakout

By GERSHON BASKIN05/01/2013 21:59

Despite the global financial threats, the Israeli economy is still in the black and more healthy than the economies of Greece and Cyprus.

The closing of the academic mind in Ireland

By BARRY SHAW05/01/2013 21:52

Original Thinking: When asked who they were freeing Palestine from, a trio of bright young faces answered, “From the Jews.”

Institutionalized harassment of women

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN04/30/2013 22:50

Despite understanding that sexual harassment is unacceptable, institutions seems to be living in the past.

‘The Gatekeepers’: Speaking spooks’ coup d’etat

By GIL TROY04/30/2013 22:42

Controversy over Oscar-nominated documentary continues; criticism over distortions, retired Shin Bet heads' legitimate.

No Holds Barred: One strike and you’re out

By SHMULEY BOTEACH04/29/2013 20:52

The growing American and Jewish culture of “one strike and you’re out” is tragic and disturbing.

The Region: The situation is looking better

By BARRY RUBIN04/29/2013 20:45

What often seems to be the world’s most slandered and reviled country is doing quite well.

On my Mind: The Syrian morass

By KENNETH BANDLER04/29/2013 20:38

Security Council impotence has been the standard for the Syria crisis. Previous appeals from the UN’s own humanitarian agencies have been ignored.

Think about it: Lapid and the haredim

By SUSAN HATTIS ROLEF04/29/2013 08:30

Problem is not hatred of haredim, but unwillingness of Yair Lapid to continue to let them make a mockery of some of the basic obligations of citizens.

PM Binyamin Netanyahu with USA Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel, Jerusalem.

Is eating crow kosher?

By MARC R. STANLEY04/28/2013 22:02

Hagel’s tenure to this point has done more than enough to rebut these malicious and false charges leveled by his fellow Republicans.

Hezbollah and the Syrian Civil War

By MOSHE DANN04/28/2013 21:52

The international community can and must take responsibility for removing all WMD from Syria.

Column One: Time to confront Obama

By CAROLINE B. GLICK04/28/2013 12:25

To a degree, all of Netanyahu’s seemingly unjustifiable actions can be justified when weighed against the need to avoid a confrontation with America.

Out there: Work watchers

By HERB KEINON04/27/2013 21:55

There are three things man can sit and watch for hours on end: water, fire, and another man working.

Stupendously stupid or surreptitiously sinister

By MARTIN SHERMAN04/25/2013 21:12

Into the fray: The unilateral two-state initiative endorsed by INSS this week is clearly not a ‘creative’ pro-peace measure but a demonstrably anti-settler one.

My word: The price and value of openness

By LIAT COLLINS04/25/2013 20:56

No wonder Israeli airline staff fear being thrown out of a job without a golden parachute or a handy first-name-term relationship with the owner of a bank.

Savir's Corner: Understanding through listening

By URI SAVIR04/25/2013 20:22

We must listen to the voices of peace and moderation; Palestinians to Shimon Peres, the ultimate Israeli nation-builder with empathy for the Palestinian cause, and Israelis to Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), a life-long leader in the PLO, and a man of peace.

Column One: Time to confront Obama

By CAROLINE B. GLICK04/25/2013 19:53

To a degree, all of Netanyahu’s seemingly unjustifiable actions can be justified when weighed against the need to avoid a confrontation with America.

Another Tack: The lesson of April 26

By SARAH HONIG04/25/2013 18:35

One single episode of dogged determination can overturn all gloomy forecasts and literally change the course of history.

Thomas Friedman a columnist for ‘The New York Times

Media Comment: Israel’s journalists abroad

By YISRAEL MEDAD AND ELI POLLAK04/24/2013 22:37

As long as there has been media, there has been media criticism.

Encountering Peace: Buy Palestinian

By GERSHON BASKIN04/24/2013 22:26

No one can argue with the logic that says hungry, unemployed neighbors are dangerous neighbors.

Iranian nukes: Insurance or invitation to attack?

By DOUGLAS BLOOMFIELD04/24/2013 22:20

Washington Watch: North Korea’s latest round of nuclear bellicosity is a huge wild card in the high-stakes US-Israel game.

Inside Out: Lessons from the budget buzz

By JONATHAN ROSEN04/24/2013 22:16

For weeks now, Finance Minister Yair Lapid has come under fire for the anticipated tax hikes.

Lag Ba’omer lessons: From Bibi to Bieber

By YONATAN SREDNI04/24/2013 21:51

During the time of Rabbi Akiva, 24,000 of his students died from a divinely sent plague during the counting of the Omer. The Talmud goes on to say that this was because they did not show proper respect to one another, befitting their levelץ

Should Jordan be Palestine?

By DANIEL TAUBER04/23/2013 23:21

In fear of an uprising, the King of Jordan has his private airplane running 24 hours a day, seven days a week to whisk him away in case of a revolt.

Palestinians celebrate UN statehood in Ramallah

A bold voice is needed

By TAL HARRIS04/23/2013 23:16

What hasn’t been said by now of denial, apathy and despair in Israel? We were all born into this impossible reality.

In my own write: Visceral response

By JUDY MONTAGU04/23/2013 23:06

Extra-sensitized, perhaps, by the proximity of Holocaust Remembrance Day, I asked myself, uneasily, “We’re buying a German oven?”

Zionism: Of the Jews, or for the Jews?

By SETH J. FRANTZMAN04/23/2013 22:57

Terra Incognita: The way Israeli Zionist supporters abroad talk about the Haredi problem is like the way Americans once spoke of Manifest Destiny.

Jewish Ideas Daily: Tithing and taxes

By SHLOMO M. BRODY04/23/2013 05:50

Ultimately, no obligatory obedience to your government, no matter how just or beneficent its actions may be, can exempt one from this higher duty.

American Jewish leaders: Stop the rot now

By ISI LEIBLER04/22/2013 23:35

CANDIDLY SPEAKING: Many consider it a wake-up call and believe that alarm bells should be ringing at major Jewish organizations.

The language of terror

By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER04/22/2013 22:49

The Boston Marathon attack, the first successful terror bombing in the US since 9/11, was designed for maximum effect.

No Holds Barred: And hate the sinner, too

By SHMULEY BOTEACH04/22/2013 22:38

Tragedies like the outrageous terrorist bombing in Boston this week, continue to take place is because it doesn’t have enough hate.

Borderline Views: Remembering the Soviet refuseniks

By DAVID NEWMAN04/22/2013 22:30

The refusenik movement sprang to life following the Six Day War.

Czech Republic plans to boycott Durban III.

Cyprus ‘Czech-mated’

By MARIOS LEONIDA -EVRIVIADES04/22/2013 22:10

A sovereign state was bullied into accepting a diktat – in the case of Czechoslovakia the loss of a third of its territory to Nazi Germany.

The Region: The prophet Micaiah teaches me my job

By BARRY RUBIN04/21/2013 22:26

Micaiah (not to be confused with Micah) could be the patron saint of political analysts, so to speak.

Think About It: Celebrating Independence Day

By SUSAN HATTIS ROLEF04/21/2013 22:15

"Independence Day itself was this year, as in previous years, a rather ambivalent experience".

Israel’s new politics tests the waters

By JEFF BARAK04/21/2013 22:05

Reality Check: Knesset summer session begins; will see if new politics promised by Lapid, Bennett comes to fruition.

Dangerous decoy: Ignoring human rights abuses

By ROZ ROTHSTEIN AND ROBERTA SEID04/20/2013 23:44

“Honor killings” – the barbaric murder of women who “shame” their families are the most egregious example of women’s oppression.

The coming canard: ‘Constructive unilateralism’

By MARTIN SHERMAN04/19/2013 00:42

Into the Fray: Does Aussie philanthropist Frank Lowy realize he is helping promote a South Lebanon-like reality on the fringes of Greater Tel Aviv?

My Word: Singing Israel’s praises

By LIAT COLLINS04/18/2013 22:03

There was a point on the country’s 65th Independence Day when I thought everybody – Israel’s friends and Israel’s foes alike – must be smiling, if not laughing out loud. Actually, there were two such moments.

iEngage: In praise of uni-tasking

By TAL BECKER04/18/2013 21:53

A few days ago, I watched as my teenage daughter instant messaged with multiple friends, listened to YouTube clips, and did her homework – all at the same time.

Savir's Corner: National security

By URI SAVIR04/18/2013 21:28

We need a better framework of regional cooperation in the areas of shared infrastructure, water, energy, environment and tourism, and also security and anti-terrorism.

Another Tack: Amira, daughter of Rosa

By SARAH HONIG04/18/2013 21:23

Rosa Luxemburg’s spirit is alive and well in 21st century Israel. It thrives among her assorted homegrown doctrinal descendants.

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