By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Israel had a party on Election Day. The weather was beautiful and people went to the beach and the parks by the tens of thousands. They were in a very good mood. And why not? For all the gloom and doom about Israel, its neighbors and its neighborhood, Israel […]
Youth and females emerge from Israel’s election Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –Thirty four parties were officially in the running. Polls indicated that 11 were certain of winning enough votes to enter the Knesset, two others were close to the minimum required, and four of the others attracted my attention as curiosities. It will be another day before the ballots of Israelis
‘No’ to Palestinians among trends in Israel election Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — I’m pleased that I was wrong about the expected meteoric ascendance of Naftali Bennet and his party Habayit Hayehudi; my pessimism got the better of me. But I still see Bennet as Netanyahu’s natural successor. He and his party are most likely to be in the government as
Netanyahu may need parties on left for his coalition Read More »
Middle EastBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — For days now, the twittersphere and even the mainstream media have been agog at the anti-Semitism spewing in a now-viral video by Mohammed Morsi in 2010 when he was head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. He called President Obama a liar as well, but the administration is doing
Morsi an unrepentant Jew-hater Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen(JNS.org) JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud-Beytenu list won 31 Knesset mandates, followed by Yesh Atid at 19, exit polls broadcast by Israel’s three leading television stations showed on Tuesday night. Final results will be published by the Central Elections Commission Wednesday. At 22:17 Israeli time, Netanyahu declared victory with a message on his
Netanyahu triumphs in election Read More »
Middle EastBy Yaakov Lappin The past two months have seen a sharp rise in the number of violent disturbances in the West Bank. Flashpoints have included Hebron, and multiple locations in the northern West Bank. The upsurge has included fire-bomb attacks, rock throwing at Israeli vehicles and IDF positions, and sporadic shootings. The Shin Bet,
Is another intifada already in the works? Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — There are at least three ways of getting it wrong on Israel’s election day. One: Israel rightly prides itself on its democratic structure. As the country isn’t divided into ridings where the first past the post candidate is elected, in theory every vote counts. That’s why today, election day,
3 ways to get it wrong on election day Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — The good news about 92 year-old Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef – whom the Shas party describes as its spiritual leader but who acts more like its sole owner – is that he has made a complete recovery from his mini stroke. The bad news about him is that he continues
Will Bennet succeed Netanyahu as prime minister? Read More »
Middle EastJewish man who helped Sandy Hook children harassed (JNS.org) Gene Rosen, a Jewish man who found and sheltered six terrified children who had run away from the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary school on December 14, 2012, is being harassed by phone and email by conspiracy theorists who believe that the Newtown shooting was
JNS news briefs: January 18, 2013 Read More »
Middle EastBy Alan Eisner WASHINGTON, D.C. — The furor that has surrounded the nomination of former Sen. Chuck Hagel to be President Obama’s Secretary of Defense has shed a searing light on the way some political lobbies operate these days in Washington. Some seem to take their cue from a classic Monty Python sketch,“Nobody Expects the
Has opposition to Hagel backfired on Israel supporters? Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — There is news about another chapter in the Crusade of Western democracies against what they refuse to label as a problem of Islam. The French have taken on the task of attacking–from the air and with ground troops–a northern Mali “army” of assorted Islamic groups that have threatened to overtake
‘Politically correct’ West turns eyes from Islam’s excesses Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Much of the Palestinian-Israeli Oslo “peace process” mythology is grounded in the idea that if “the Palestinians” were treated as a single, responsible partner, they would behave like one. If “the Palestinians” got enough foreign aid, they would spend it to alleviate the poverty of their people. If “the
Hamas sentences a Fatah bombmaker Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — One of the most interesting young thinkers in Israel today is Dr Micha Goodman. His books (in Hebrew) on Maimonides’ Guide for the Perplexed and, recently, on Yehuda Halevi’s Kuzari – the two most important Jewish philosophic works of the Middle Ages, perhaps of all time – are still
Universalist or particularist? That’s the debate in Israel Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Israel’s election is a bit more than a week away. Some pundits are sure it will produce more of the same, while others are either pleased or fearful about changes they anticipate. Most certain is that Netanyahu will continue as Prime Minister, and most likely with his core of support being
As election nears, likelihood of change recedes Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East