Middle East

Study finds terrorism does not demoralize the victim society

JERUSALEM (Press Release) — Israelis recall the Second Intifada, which   began in September 2000 and lasted half a decade, as a bleak period of   terrorism and suicide bombings. Yet new research from the Hebrew University  of Jerusalem finds that surprisingly, the terrorism had almost no impact on  Israelis’ self-reported life satisfaction levels in surveys conducted at […]

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Middle East

Criticism of Arab Justice for not singing Hatikvah an excuse for bigotry

By Rabbi Dow Marmur  JERUSALEM — Despite attempts by some politicians to compromise Israeli democracy, the Supreme Court, with its commitment to the rule of law and the rights of individuals and minorities, always made sure that they wouldn’t succeed. Those on the reactionary far Right have, therefore, often regarded the judges as thorns in

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Middle East

Changing of chief justice ceremony laden with symbolism

By Ira Sharkansky Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–This week the leaders of Israel gathered to honor the retirement of Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch, and the installation of her replacement, Justice Asher Grunis. The ceremony provided several insights into the nature of Israeli government and society. It touched the Holocaust as well as the rights of Israeli Arabs.

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Continued Egypt-Israel peace precondition for new treaties in Mideast

By Evelyn Gordon     WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid the din of debate over a possible Israeli strike on Iran, perhaps it is unsurprising that Israeli Intelligence Minister Dan Meridor’s press conference on February 20 attracted so little international attention. But in a world that claims to view an Israeli-Palestinian deal as a top priority, it should

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Middle East

Jerusalem railway strengthens Israel’s ‘united city’ claims

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–To mark the latest heated exchanges about Jerusalem between the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas and the Prime Minister of Israel Binyamin Netanyahu, I decided to make my first trip on the city’s new light railway (streetcar). It took me to the Arab villages – now Jerusalem suburbs –

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Middle East

Israel, U.S. must find common ground on Iran’s nuclear threat

By James Colbert WASHINGTON, D.C. — Israel, the United States, and Europe share grave concern over the Iranian theocracy’s politics and its serial use of violence in pursuit of its goals. The Islamic Republic formally declared war on the west and is the major state sponsor, funder, and trainer of terrorism, including plotting terror in

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Middle East

UNRWA sacrifices life, truth, to anti-Israel political goals

By David Bedein JERUSALEM — Flashback to 1976. I was then escorted with a delegation of social work professionals to visit UNRWA facilities in Gaza. There, Dr. Eli Lasch,then the head of the Israel Civil Administration’s Gaza health department, explained that his life’s mission was to eradicate infant mortality in the teeming UNRWA Gaza facilities

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Middle East

Netanyahu likely to circumvent court ruling on military exemptions for haredim

By Rabbi Dow Marmur Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM –Unfortunately, it’s not as exciting as it’s being presented in the media.Israel’s Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision may have made an historic ruling when it refused to allow the extension of the law that exempts ultra-Orthodox (haredi) Jews from military service. However, in order not to

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Middle East

High court strikes down yeshiva students’ military exemption

JERUSALEM (WJC)–The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that a law that exempts Jewish religious students from the mandatory military service is unconstitutional and can therefore not be extended after it expires next August. With six justices in favor and three against, the controversial law, called ‘Deferral of Service for Yeshiva Students for whom Torah is

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Middle East

Interpreters of Iran-Israel nuclear confrontation in many analytical camps

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The current uncertainty is profound, but presents opportunities as well as threats.   Most of the attention is on Iran, widely assumed to be moving toward nuclear weapons, against the background of its leaders’ obsession with the destruction of Israel, raising the possibility of an Israel attack meant to avoid

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Calls to Israel to delay attacking Iran a ‘good cop’ p-r ploy?

 By Yaakov Lappin      WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senior officials from the Obama administration have begun descending on Israel once again to ensure that Jerusalem holds off on an attack on Iran. That, at least, is the message the White House is seeking to generate. “The national security advisor [Tom Donilon] and the American intelligence head [James

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Middle East