Ira Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science and public administration at Hebrew University.
His books, which are available on Amazon, include:
*Alternative federal solutions to the problem of the administered territories
*Ambiguity, Coping, and Governance: Israeli Experiences in Politics, Religion, and Policymaking
*Ancient and Modern Israel: An Exploration of Political Parallels
*Coping with Terror: An Israeli Perspective
* Governing Israel: Chosen People, Promised Land and Prophetic Tradition
*Governing Jerusalem: Again on the World’s Agenda
* Israel and its Bible: A Political Analysis
* Maligned States: policy accomplishments, problems and opportunities
* Policy Analysis in Political Science
* Policy and Politics in American Governments
* Policy Making in Israel: Routines for Simple Problems and Coping with the Complex
* Politics and Planning in the Holy City
* Politics and Policymaking in Search of Simplicity
* Public Administration: Agencies, Policies, and Politics
* Public Administration Policy Making in Government Agencies
* Public Administration (2nd Edition): Policy Making in Government Agencies
* Regionalism in American Politics
* Rituals of Conflict: Religion, Politics, and Public Policy in Israel
* Spending in the American States
* The Policy Predicament: Making and Implementing Public Policy
* The Political Economy of Israel
* The Politics of Religion and the Religion of Politics
*The Politics of Taxing and Spending
* The Routines of Politics
* The United States: A Study of a Developing Country
* The United States Revisited: A Study of a Still Developing Country
* Urban Politics and Public Policy [Robert Lineberry]
* What Makes Israel Tick: How Domestic Policy-Makers Cope with Restraints
* Wither the State: Politics and Public Enterprise in Three Countries
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It has not been a good couple of days for Barack Obama. Instead of celebrating the anniversary of his inauguration, he is pondering his party’s loss of a special election in what may be the most liberal state in the nation, and Iran’s rejection of a lead item on his […]
Obama's rocky few days, Netanyahu's household problems Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–You have heard the story of the nail that was lost, that hampered the horse, lost the battle and the empire. In both countries that I follow there is danger of a lost nail. Where they impact is too early to know, but they are cause for worry, or maybe only amusement.
The nails that may cause the undoing of Netanyahu and Obama Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–For those who doubt that Israel is a normal country, the arrest of a messiah with who knows how many wives and children should establish its credentials. The most complete report I have seen in English appears in the Times of London. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6988614.ece This puts us firmly in the league with the
For all its holy history, Jerusalem a city like many others Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–A New York Times article about “al Qaeda” terrorism directed against the United States could have been written about Palestinian terror against Israel. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/us/13intel.html?hp Rather than central planning and coordination by skilled Islamic evil-doers, the most recent spurt of events were largely the work of individual enthusiasts, inspired by extremist preachers or
Parallels between terrorist incidents against U.S., Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–A month with family and friends across the United States found health a lively a topic of conversation. Almost all are sufficiently correct politically to concede that it is time to improve service delivery, but virtually none are happy with the work of the White House and Congress. No surprise that in
Some ins and outs of the American health debate Read More »
Ira SharkanskyBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–This is the season for projecting a continuation of what has been. Some of you have accused me of cynicism. Some have called me a realist. No one should be surprised by what follows. Overseas observers will report on Israel’s military exercises in preparation for an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
An Israeli columnist's 2010 predictions Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Do no harm is a standard traditionally taught to medical students that modern physicians must violate. It will be violated as well by whatever health measure comes out of the Congress and White House. I know of no modern medication that is free from harm, or side effects. Some are serious,
U.S. health care bill–like most medicines–may have some side effects Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–We see in the health care bills that passed the U.S. House and Senate yet another indication that policy making is, most of the time, incremental. For me, that is another endorsement of a finding that helped establish me as a political scientist. Long ago I published a number of items showing
Incrementalism the political norm in U.S. and Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — There are times in politics, and they may be most of the times, when it is best to do nothing. Long ago I learned that the essential rule in policy making is: Don’t make things worse. At about the same time, I heard that America is safest when Congress is
There are times in politics when doing nothing is the best option Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–An American friend, who some time ago showed his disappointment with Israel, has sent another note that includes: “I scan three Israeli newspapers every day (well, actually, their web sites, in English). It’s less like visiting a foreign country than like visiting a foreign planet. The obsession with Iran’s supposed nuclear weapons
Is Israel overly preoccupied with Iran's nuclear goals? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–“How many troops has the Pope?” If you are old enough to remember that question, you know that the answer is somewhere between “None,” and “Not too many.” The modern equivalent is, “How many troops has world public opinion?” Same answer, to the great sorrow of the Palestinians. Israel has not responded
Winning battle for public opinion not the same as winning the real battle Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Will someone out there tell Mahmoud Abbas that he is the supplicant and not one who can make pre-emptive demands. Not that I expect the message to get through or to produce results, but it is appropriate for someone to say that he is on the border of irrelevance, and is
Abbas copies Syria in making unreasonable demands Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–An American friend shows his concern for Palestinians with several questions that deserve answers: 1. Why is there not much support, or any, for a Palestinian State composed only of territory on the West Bank? Wouldn’t it be better to take that incremental step and deal with Gaza (Hamas) later? 2. The
Middle East inertia the product of Palestinian intransigence, U.S. naivete Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Israel’s limited, 10-month settlement freeze is not working like a well oiled Swiss watch, assuming that metaphor still has validity in the digital age. Settlers have massed to demonstrate against what they call the abominable anti-Jewish doctrines of the prime minister many of them had supported, and they are sending their teen
Settlers demonstrate power of a religiously driven minority Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East