Middle East

  By Evelyn Gordon   When massive protests forced Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon in 2005, it seemed that Lebanon had finally been liberated from foreign domination. But the liberation proved illusory: The country remained in thrall to Hezbollah, which took its orders from Iran and Syria. Hezbollah’s dominance was dramatically demonstrated in

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Netanyahu and his supporters received an unexpected gift from Hollywood: neither of the two Israeli documentaries got an Oscar. Both are highly critical of Israeli government policies as the films testify to the country’s commitment to democracy that allows such open and explicit criticism of its government

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM –Purim is in the air and with it countless opportunities for Purim-shpiels of one kind or another. The most watched spectacle at the moment in Israel is the effort to form a new government. The humor is particularly biting because we still remember the promises the various parties made before

By Alan Eisner WASHINGTON, D.C –   After years of diplomatic deadlock, peace – or at least talk of peace – is in   the air again for Israel and the Palestinians. Last month’s Israeli   election, which moved the country back toward the political center, following   President Obama’s re-election and his appointment of

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — In addition to the weekly portion, a second text will be read in synagogues this upcoming Shabbat. It’s about remembering Amalek, the arch-enemy of our Israelite ancestors and the epitome of all our enemies through the ages. The implication is that though the Biblical Amalekites lived a long time

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — The Arab village of Beit Safafa is more than 400 years old. Over time it has grown from a few hundred residents as late as a century ago to 12,000 today, according to the locals. Nevertheless, it has tried to retain something of its old character and still elects

By David P. Goldman       The possibility of state failure in Egypt is now widely discussed in the foreign policy community. Largely ignored by major media for most of the past two years, Egypt’s economic crisis now commands the attention of foreign policy analysts. I have argued that the structural deficiencies of Egypt’s economy are so

By Yaakov Lappin   On January 30, just before dawn, according to international media reports, the Israel Air Force struck a target (or targets) in Syria. While many details of this attack remain shrouded in mystery, since then a number of facts have come into focus. The strike followed months of warnings from Jerusalem that Israel

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — I’ve come to realize why the political parties, especially those that hoped to be in the next government, didn’t have much to say about the peace process during the election campaign. They may have realized that every proposed solution is bound to be too difficult for the voters to

LOS ANGELES (Press Release) – Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones on Wednesday, Feb. 13, provided an update on the success of the Department of Insurance’s Iran Divestment Program. Jones announced that only eight insurance companies, of the 1300 insurers licensed to do business in California, continue to decline to divest from holdings in the energy, military,