WHAT WOULD history look like if it were written in the style of the “Solid Cliff (a.k.a. Protective Edge) operation? For example: Winston Churchill was a scoundrel.[*] For five years he kept the population of London under the unceasing fire of the German Luftwaffe. He used the inhabitants of London as a human shield in … Read more
BOMBS ARE raining on Gaza and rockets on Southern Israel, people are dying and homes are being destroyed.Again. Again without any purpose. Again with the certainty that after it’s all over, everything will essentially be the same as it was before. But I can hardly hear the sirens which warn of rockets coming towards Tel … Read more
THE ARAB world is in turmoil. Syria and Iraq are breaking apart, the thousand-year old conflict between Muslim Sunnis and Muslim Shiites is reaching a new climax. A historic drama is unfolding around us.And what is the reaction of our government? Binyamin Netanyahu put it succinctly: “We must defend Israel on the Jordan River, before … Read more
ONE SIDE’S terrorists are the other side’s freedom fighters. That is not simply a matter of terminology. It is a difference of perception, which has far-reaching practical consequences.Take prisoners, for example. For the freedom fighter, achieving the release of imprisoned comrades is a sacred duty, for which he is ready to sacrifice his life. One … Read more
IF THERE is a God, he surely has a sense of humor. Thecareer of Shimon Peres, who is about to finish his term asPresident of Israel, is clear evidence. Here is a life-long politician, who has never won anelection. Here is the world-renowned Man of Peace, who hasstarted several wars and never done anything for … Read more
THE EXISTENCE of the army in a truly democratic state represents a paradox. The army is supposed to obey the elected government. This obedience is unconditional. But the army (including land, sea and air forces) is the only potent armed force in the country. It can carry out a coup d’etat and grab power at … Read more
HOW DOES a football club choose its team?The simple way is the usual one: each side has a manager, who chooses his team. No problem.Now the Israeli government has hit on a new way: Our manager appoints both our team and the adversary’s team. Simplifies the matter. I wonder if this method could not be … Read more
DURING HIS short visit to Israel, Pope Francis laid a wreath on the grave of Theodor Herzl.That was not a usual gesture. Foreign heads of state are obliged to visit Yad Vashem, as did the pope, but not the grave of Herzl. It is not like the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Paris. So … Read more
ACCORDING TO press reports, President Barack Obama has decided to let Binyamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas “stew in their own juice.” That sounds fair. The United States has tried very hard to make peace between Israel and Palestine. Poor John Kerry has devoted almost all of his considerable energies to getting both sides to meet, … Read more
YEARS AGO I was invited to a UN conference on the Palestinian refugees in Paris. I was to open the debate as an Israeli, after the Palestinian representative, Salman Abu Sitta, a refugee from a Bedouin tribe in the Negev, had opened as a Palestinian. Before the debate I was warned that Abu Sitta was … Read more