Middle East

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The amorphous agreement of Israeli and Palestinian leaders to begin talking has pushed other items–that might otherwise be grabbing all the headlines–to the margins of national attention. One is the impending election of two Chief Rabbis (Ashkenazi and Sephardi), after a campaign with nastiness that makes Knesset elections seem like the most […]

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Anyone wanting a full description of what John Kerry has achieved, praise or condemnation for one of the parties, must look somewhere else. I am currently impressed with the variety of reports, couched as coming from one or another unnamed participant in Israeli or Palestinian governmental forums, with the additional reservation that

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — There has been a bad couple of days for Israelis living in settlements beyond the 1967 borders, including those of us in the new neighborhoods of Jerusalem. The European Union formally announced a ban on the funding of Israeli entities beyond those borders. While the actual impact is not clear,

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Recent events suggest the hypothesis that Israel is no longer at the top of Muslims’ agenda for revenge or liquidation. It has been replaced by other Muslims. The thought is tentative, and not appropriate to guide Israeli policy with respect to its own security agenda, or to justify overseas Jewish

By Ira Sharkansky   JERUSALEM — Two issues from the extremes of Judaism are disturbing the peace of Israel, and raising yet again the hoary queries about what is Judaism, and who are the Jews. One of the current issues is the hot button issue of drafting the Haredim. Another is the much quieter issue

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — This column is about smoke and mirrors. In other words, it’s an effort to understand what may really be happening in the fog of Israeli politics. It’s not something that I usually do. I generally scoff at stories of conspiracy, hidden meanings, the secret Torah within the Torah, gematria or

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Chaos in Syria and now in Egypt, with instability in Lebanon increasing as Hezbollah is deeply involved in Syria. Hamas in Gaza is most likely planning its response to the problems of its patron in Egypt. Jordan’s king may be even more worried than usual about threats to his regime,