History & Politics
A Tale of Two Nation-StatesFriday, July 15, 2011 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
What made Greece, long a pro-Arab country with a history of anti-Semitism and a notoriously soft line on terrorism, stop political activists from sailing a flotilla to Gaza? What led Greece to rush fire-fighting helicopters to the Mt. Carmel fire?
A Two-Day Weekend in Israel?Friday, July 8, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
With July 4th behind them, Americans can look forward to closing out the summer season with Labor Day on September 5th. All told, they will enjoy ten national holidays. And, of course, they have the leisure of weekends.
Getting Birthright WrongWednesday, July 6, 2011 by Philip Getz | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In mid-June, The Nation magazine, which for decades has provided a special platform for Jewish critics of Zionism, published an article by a young alumna of Birthright Israel, the organization that since 1999 has sent 260,000 young Diaspora Jews (including this writer) on free ten-day tours of the Holy Land.
Capital Crime. Capital Punishment?Tuesday, July 5, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Since its founding, the only person ever to be executed by the state of Israel has been the notorious Nazi, Adolf Eichmann. But the brutal murders of Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their young children this past March has the IDF weighing the possibility of seeking the death penalty for the Fogels' murderers.
In the Wake of the AltalenaThursday, June 30, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Ships and their comings and goings have lately been a fixation over at Haaretz, Israel's chief left-wing newspaper. One of the paper's advocacy journalists has been writing enthusiastically about joining up with a pro-Palestinian flotilla that intends to smash Israel's naval blockade of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
One Woman ArmyMonday, June 27, 2011 by Daniel Johnson | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Andrei Sakharov, the great nuclear physicist and human-rights campaigner, had been dead for two years by the time I came to his Moscow apartment in the early summer of 1991. Elena Bonner, his widow, was there, still defiantly at war with the faceless foe that had slaughtered her family, exiled her and her husband, slandered her Jewish name, and lied about it all.
Following the Strong HorseFriday, June 24, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
A Druse physician from the Golan Heights, who works at an Israeli hospital, was one of 24 members of his community arrested for pummeling IDF troops with rocks during so-called Naksa Day protests. Just where do Druse loyalties lie?
The Osirak PrecedentThursday, June 23, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In May 1981, eight Israeli fighter jets were on the runway waiting for the go-ahead to execute the most daring operation ever undertaken by the Israeli air force: flying more than 1,000 miles east over enemy territory to destroy Osirak, Iraq's nuclear reactor.
Is Israel’s Labor Party Finished?Tuesday, June 21, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
What has become of Israel's left-wing Labor Party some five months after its leader, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, abruptly defected to establish his breakaway Atzmaut (Independence) Knesset faction?
No Ford in Israel’s Future?Thursday, June 16, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
With little fanfare, the Ford Foundation has initiated a phased withdrawal from its long, largely behind-the-scenes campaign to influence Israeli politics.
Editors' Picks
Morsi's Media Circus Richard Behar, Forbes. In a recent TV interview, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi branded Jews "descendants of apes and pigs." Not one major American media outlet covered the story.
Another Ceiling Broken Yair Rosenberg, Tablet. Treasury Secretary nominee Jack—Jacob—Lew is currently White House Chief of Staff and already the highest-ranking Orthodox Jew ever to serve in the federal government.
Europe's First Jewish President? Dinah Spritzer, JTA. The Czech Republic is Israel's staunchest ally in Europe—and, if Jan Fischer wins in the coming elections, will be the first European country to have a Jewish president.
Was Hitler Insane? Yvonne Sherratt, Times Higher Education. A new book thoroughly examines Hitler's medical records. There is no doubt, the author says, about Hitler's mental health—and criminal responsibility.
Hagel: The View From Nebraska Elliott Abrams, Weekly Standard. Activists and officials have called Hagel hostile to Jews in his home state of Nebraska. No one among his supporters has come forward to dispute the allegation.
Martin Gilbert's Legacy Michael Pinto-Duschinsky, Standpoint. With his monumental works on the Holocaust, Zionism, and Winston Churchill, Martin Gilbert deserves to be celebrated as not only a great Jewish historian but a great English historian.
There’s Occupied and There’s Occupied Dore Gold, Israel Hayom. Northern Cyprus, conquered by Turkey and ethnically cleansed of Greek Cypriots, is clearly “occupied territory.” But Europeans, far from boycotting it, are buying homes there in droves.
Hugo Chavez and the Jews Ben Cohen, JNS. Before Chavez’s assumption of power in 1999, Venezuela had no tradition of anti-Semitism. But his relentless attacks on Jews have driven over 20,000 of them to leave.
Righteous Among the Nations William Doino, First Things. Yad Vashem's recognition of Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa, who recruited rescuers and sheltered Jews in the cardinal’s palace, shows the complexity of the wartime role of the Catholic Church.
I Led Three Lives Karin Assmann, Felix Bohr, Gunther Latsch, Klaus Wiegrefe, Spiegel. Former neo-Nazi and PLO collaborator Willi Voss was prosecuted for his role in the Munich massacre. He went on to become a valuable CIA informant in Lebanon.