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Ira Sharansky[/caption]
Ira Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science and public administration at Hebrew University.
His books, which are available on Amazon, include:
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*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
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By Ira Sharkansky SAN DIEGO — I’ll say it again. Coping is the name of the game. No solutions appear on the horizon, even when standing on a high place. Israeli policymakers concerned with “peace,” “borders,” or however you define that cluster of issues have to cope with Palestinians, Americans, and Western Europeans, as well
Israel practices the art of coping Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The Palestinians are betting the farm. Or–Muslim friends, forgive me– throwing a Hail Mary pass. They are doing everything they can to achieve world recognition of their state, with 1967 borders, a capitol in Jerusalem, and maybe something about refugees, without bothering to negotiate with Israel about what Palestinians might
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–French Hill is a largely secular Jewish neighborhood, with families who are religious and ultra-Orthodox, as well as a few Arab families and Arab plus East Asian singles and young couples who are students at the nearby university. The neighborhood synagogues are one Ashkenazi, one Sephardi, one mixed Ashkenazi-Sephardi, one Conservative, and
Passover, French-Hill style Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Jewish ReligionBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The analyst’s job is to make sense out of separate events that might be connected. If done well, it is better than a blind person trying to figure out what is that large, rough thing being felt. However it is done, there is a lack of certainty. It is best
Will U.N. endorse a government of terror? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Prior to 1948, Morocco had the largest Jewish population of North African countries. It was not one community, but several that differed in history, tradition, socio-economic traits, and language. One component traced its heritage to Jews expelled from Spain in the 15th century. Another may have been there since migrations
Ethnic politics in Israel: Moroccan and Russian Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–In case you haven’t heard, the world may end on May 21. Or it will be a new beginning. I have never been able to puzzle my way through the claims and calculations of those who are certain about these things. From what I do understand, the prediction means that just about
On those end-of-the-world predictions for May 21 and Sept. 29 Read More »
Ira SharkanskyBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –“Until next time” is the theme heard from military officers and commentators wrapping up the weekend’s dust-up with Hamas and its allies/competitors in Gaza. That is also a summary history of Israel. There is no clear answer to the question, “How many wars?” insofar as some “operations” are hardly different from
What passes for ‘macho’ in the Middle East Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–I woke to the sound of the loud speaker at a nearby mosque calling my neighbors to prayer, then read of the IDF’s latest targeted assassinations in Gaza, the continued firing of mortars and rockets in our direction, and the success of the new anti-missile missiles to identify and destroy the heavy
Enemies and a ‘friend” who cross the line Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The Holocaust figured prominently in the migrations from Europe to Palestine and then Israel that began in the 1930s and continued after the war. Along with migrations under pressure from Arab countries, the Holocaust molded a population built on distrust of others. The movement of another million people from the former Soviet
Holocaust’s effects traceable in Israel’s demographics Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Current events invite consideration of a prayer said by religious Jews three times each day. The subject of Richard Goldstone came up in a conversation with a religious friend, and he responded with the opening of the 12th chapter of the Amidah. וְלַמַּלְשִׁינִים אַל תְּהִי תִקְוָה The first word (malshinim) may be
How Judaism views Jewish slanderers Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Jewish ReligionBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Some bad things are heading in our direction. The organizers of some 20 ships are planning to sail toward Gaza in May. They will bring back the Mavi Marmara in its second attempt to get through the Israeli Navy. A campaign is building to have the United Nations General Assembly
Blockades, independence votes, and Goldstone Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Binyamin Netanyahu has been prominent since his service as Ambassador to the United Nations in the 1980s. I’ve compared him to Barack Obama on account of his fluency. He might also be compared to Richard Nixon (Tricky Dick) due to his reputation as a slippery politician, and his capacity to
Israel debates whether Netanyahu family lives too high Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Judging a prominent politician who is also a skilled showperson is like putting on a blindfold and attempting to judge a beauty contest. One can ask for advice, listen to the contestants, maybe even touch their faces. Yet a lot will be missing. Any decision to be made will be risky in
Bibi’s politics: feint, bluster and maneuver Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — For many Americans, the notion of a tribe may mean nothing more than what they (or their grandparents of my generation) used to see for 25c yelling and fighting the good guys on Saturday afternoon at the local cinema. More sophisticated are studies of contemporary Africa, where some social scientists
As in Libya today, tribalism an important factor in intra-Arab politics Read More »
Ira Sharkansky