WHO IS the ruler of Israel?Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, of course.WRONG. The real ruler of Israel is one Sheldon Adelson, 81, American Jew, Casino king, who was rated as the world’s tenth richest person, worth 37.2 billion dollars at the latest count. But who is counting? Besides his casinos in Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, Macao and … Read more
EVERYBODY KNOWS what the Israeli elections are about. The choice is stark: on the one side, the dream of a Greater Israel “from the sea to the river”, which would in practice be an apartheid state; on the other side, an end to the occupation and peace. Some would add a social choice: on the … Read more
MANY TIMES people ask me: “Are you a Zionist?”My stock answer is: “Depends on what you mean by Zionism.”This is quite sincere. The term Zionism can mean many different things. Like the term socialism, for example. Francois Hollande is a socialist. So was Joe Stalin. Any resemblance? WHEN I was young, there was a joke … Read more
THERE USED to be a joke about a sadist and a masochist. “Hit me! Beat me! Kick me!” the masochist pleads with the sadist. The sadist smiles a cruel smile and slowly answers: “No!” THAT, MORE or less, reflects the situation on our northern border at this moment. Two Israeli drones have bombed (or missiled) … Read more
THE THREE Islamic terrorists could have been very proud of themselves, if they had lived to see it. By committing two attacks (quite ordinary ones by Israeli standards) they spread panic throughout France, brought millions of people onto the streets, gathered more than 40 heads of states in Paris. They changed the landscape of the … Read more
THE SHAS party has split into two. Opinion polls show that both parts are hovering around the 3.12% threshold which is now necessary for entering the Knesset, after the minimum was raised by the last Knesset.Many people in Israel would be glad if both parts do not make it, and Shas would disappear once and … Read more
Opening speech at the Kinneret College conference on the connection between Archeology and Ideology.[*] FIRST OF ALL, let me thank you for inviting me to address this important conference. I am neither a professor nor a doctor. Indeed, the highest academic title I ever achieved was SEC (Seventh Elementary Class). But like many members of … Read more
WHEN I was 15 years old and a member of the Irgun underground (by today’s criteria, an honest-to-goodness terrorist organization), we sang “(In the past) we had the heroes / Bar Kochba and the Maccabees / Now we have the new ones / The national youth…” The melody was a German military marching song. Why … Read more
ALMOST A thousand Israeli personalities have already signed an appeal to European parliaments for their governments to recognize the State of Palestine. I am honored to be among the signatories, which include former ministers and members of the Knesset, diplomats and generals, artists and businessmen, writers and poets, including Israel’s three outstanding writers Amos Oz, … Read more
ON MONDAY, the 19th Knesset voted to dissolve itself, less than two years after its election. For many of its members it was a sad day, a kind of political hara-kiri. They have no chance of re-election. Some of them are so forgettable, that I do not recognize their names or faces. The day after, … Read more