Steve Kramer

[caption id="attachment_134553" align="alignright" width="150"] Steve Kramer[/caption]

Steve Kramer grew up in Atlantic City, graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1967, adopted the hippie lifestyle until 1973, then joined the family business for 15 years. Steve moved to Israel from Margate, NJ in 1991 with his family. He has written more than 1100 articles about Israel and Jews since making Aliyah. Steve and his wife Michal live in Kfar Saba.

The Street of the Prophets

To celebrate coming out of our third lockdown we recently went to Jerusalem for an urban exploration. We drove to our friends’ apartment, only the third time in a year we’ve been to Israel’s capital. Before our tour, we had lunch with Sarah Lynn (formerly of Ventnor, NJ) and her husband Ami, a Persian-born Israeli who once taught at Margate’s Hebrew Academy and later was the rabbi of Binghamton NY’s Orthodox synagogue. Among other things, Ami is a registered guide. He wanted to take us to Hanevi’im Street. We were his “guinea pigs” for leading a tour there. (Steve Kramer)

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food

How Hanukkah Is Regarded in Israel

We just received a note from a dear friend and longtime reader. She wrote: I know you once told me Hanukkah is a minor holiday in Israel but, so, just in case you feel like lighting a menorah, enjoy!  Wishing you as much joy as is possible at this moment in time.  Stay well and safe. My reply:  For sure we’re lighting candles and celebrating the holiday. I’ll clarify my previous comment: Minor doesn’t mean Hanukkah isn’t celebrated here. It’s minor only in the sense that the story of the Maccabees isn’t mentioned in the Bible. Here it isn’t among the most holy holidays. Presents are exchanged mostly around Rosh Hashanah or Passover, not so much during this holiday. Fried foods, such as doughnuts and potato pancakes (latkes) are a big thing. Hanukkah “gelt” (money) is often the gift of choice, along with chocolate “coins” and plain or fancy dreidels for games. … [Steve Kramer]

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Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Steve Kramer

Trump is a good friend of Israel. We’ll see about Biden

In the recent election, American-Israelis voted 70%-30% for President Trump, the converse of how American Jews voted. That tells you Israelis value the president’s accomplishments abroad, feats which are not high priority for most Jews in the US. Under Trump, the US moved its embassy to Jerusalem, quit the Iran nuclear deal, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, declared that Israeli “settlements” beyond the 1949 Armistice lines are not illegal, endorsed, in principle, an Israeli annexation of up to 30% of the West Bank, and brokered normalization agreements with three Arab states under the Abraham Accords Peace Agreement. All of these accomplishments deal with reality in the Middle East, not some tired, fanciful panacea about the necessity for a State of Palestine to allow peace in the Middle East.  [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

Israel’s Ultra-Orthodox Conundrum

Israel is described as a racist country by its detractors. A sizable sector of Israel’s population currently lives in small, crowded apartments in poor, segregated, urban neighborhoods, where their extended families, synagogues, and institutions are located. They constitute about 12% of Israel’s population and most are counted below the poverty line. About half of the men are unemployed. Most of the families are dependent on government aid to supplement their meager incomes. They are prone to riot when they feel threatened by laws promulgated to the general population, often causing police intervention. They are the ultra-Orthodox, known here as the Haredim. Mainstream media coverage of this sector generally depicts them in negative terms. [Steve Kramer]

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Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Middle East, Steve Kramer

Viewing the U.S. 30 years after making aliyah

Today, it’s a totally different story in the US and probably everywhere in the West. People who still watch television news expect to hear opinions which are in line which they share – the echo chamber effect. There’s much opinion and subjective (slanted) reporting with very little objective reporting. It’s the same whether on TV, cable, or social networks. The news is no longer something that is subject to debate. It’s this or it’s that, and never shall the twain meet. There is no doubt about the facts. The fact is absolutely this to one group, and it is absolutely that to the opposing group. Therefore, there’s nothing which allows a differing opinion. Put another way, anyone with a differing opinion doesn’t know the facts. [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, Theatre, Film & Broadcast, USA

5781: A year with great potential

It was only in the past year that a number of Arab countries decided that the failure of the Palestinian Arabs to come to an agreement with Israel was dangerous for those selfsame countries. With an expansionist Shia-Muslim Iran threatening them, two Sunni-Muslim Arab states decided to put their citizens first and ally themselves with the most powerful state in the neighborhood, Israel. No longer would the security of the Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain (by “allying” with Israel) be vetoed by Palestinian Arabs, whose demand is NO normalization with Israelis. [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer

A Mini-Vacation in Jerusalem

Like many of you, Michal and I haven’t visited anywhere overnight since March. Regardless, we didn’t want to celebrate our significant wedding anniversary at home in our apartment. Besides that, the anniversary occurs this year on the eve of Yom Kippur; obviously, no celebration then. After considering a vacation at various locales in Israel’s Galilee or Golan regions during the early part of September, we followed the example of another anniversary couple and booked two nights in Jerusalem, where we always have a good time. [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food

Stopping Iran, the world’s foremost terrorism sponsor

The US has now twice failed to trigger a “snapback” mechanism in the UN Security Council to reimpose sanctions against Iran. Indonesia’s UN Ambassador Dian Triansyah Djani dismissed the move that could have ended the 2015 Iranian deal, under his authority as president of the Council for the month of August. He said, “There is no consensus in the council and thus the president is not in the position to take further action. [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

Many benefits to Israel-UAE agreement

It’s “early days,” but the surprise “Abraham Accord” announced by Washington has been a stunner. Against all odds, nothing leaked from any of the governments involved: Israel, the United Arab Emirates (Emirates or UAE), or the US. The Emirates-Israel peace agreement is the first one in which a non-contiguous Arab country has reconciled with Israel and which can be characterized as “peace for peace.” [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

The revival of Jew-hatred in the U.S.

The rise in terrorism perpetrated by Islamists around the world is blamed on Israel, as are the problems of the Middle East. Even blood libels against Jews are common again, such as Jews having spread the current pandemic to make money. Media personalities – athletes, rappers, actors, and other “celebrities” – make/spread atrocious comments about Jews with little or no backlash. To top it off, younger, Jewish, so-called intellectuals, writers, entertainers, and others have taken to disparaging Israel and undermining their co-religionists for the sake of – what? [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

Is it opinion or is it the news?

The “news,” which reporters “report,” should be as objective as possible. This is often not the case today. I object to newspapers’ front pages which have been turned into op-ed pages. Because The New York Times is the American “newspaper of record” and is widely read by liberals, its front page bias needs to be considered because it’s often duplicated. [Steve Kramer]

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Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA

Jew-hatred, then and now

Jew-hatred (politely termed anti-Semitism) has returned to the US and the West, jolting some Jews but befuddling others who fail to recognize the phenomenon. We baby boomers grew up in era of acceptance of the Jewish community. But this ancient hatred has reverted to the mean as the shock of the Holocaust has receded and Israel has become a powerful nation. [Steve Kramer]

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International, Jewish History, Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA