Israel
Minorities in the IDFWednesday, July 27, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Recently, while driving by the Israeli settlement of Nokdim (where Avigdor Lieberman lives), I picked up a hitchhiking soldier. We started chatting, and I asked the soldier his name. "Mustafa," he said. "You're a Muslim?" I asked. "Yes," he answered, "from Haifa."
The State of the Arab StateTuesday, July 26, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
From the Mashriq to the Maghreb, one end of the Arab world to the other, people are contemplating where the six-month-long upheavals that began with the Arab Spring are fated to deliver them. Those with longer memories may recall an earlier experiment at reshaping the political contours of Arab governance.
The New Biblical ArcheologyMonday, July 25, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Every summer, the Israel Antiquities Authority holds a reception for foreign archeological teams excavating in Israel. This year's reception was attended by over 200 archeologists, who are investigating sites ranging in age from the Paleolithic through Islamic periods.
The Loyalties of the SephardimFriday, July 22, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
In a recent Haaretz column, Gideon Levy, the radical leftist polemicist, sounded the warning that Israel's religious Zionists—"the knitted skullcaps"—have joined hands with the ultra-Orthodox and the Sephardim to form "a united tribe of zealots."
Fueling Israel’s FutureThursday, July 21, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Are abundant natural resources a blessing, or a curse? Israel, thus far burdened with a crippling dependency on imported oil and gas, has had astonishing success in developing its human resources—so much so that it has flourished economically even in the current global recession.
The Good FenceWednesday, July 20, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Just about anything that makes Israel more secure is opposed by someone: either by its enemies and their enablers, or by its fair-weather friends in the international arena, or by dissident elements within the Jewish community—and sometimes by all three. A case in point is Israel's West Bank security barrier.
David Mamet’s HomecomingMonday, July 18, 2011 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
A new book by the playwright, director, and author David Mamet is by definition a significant literary event—but to judge from its critical reception, The Secret Knowledge is not only a bad book but possibly an evil one. Why such heat?
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?
The Bible and the Good LifeThursday, July 14, 2011 by Aryeh Tepper | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
What manner of work is the Hebrew Bible? The 17th-century freethinker Baruch (Benedict) Spinoza had an answer. As part of his war to emancipate philosophy from the influence of religion, he reduced the biblical message to, in effect, one word: obedience.
The Reluctant RenegadeTuesday, July 12, 2011 by Elliot Jager | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Since its founding, Conservative Judaism in the U.S. has defined itself in sharp contrast to Reform, pursuing a more religiously centrist and Zionist middle course. Its UK parallel, Masorti ("traditional") Judaism, was born as a secession movement from Orthodoxy—inspired by theologian Louis Jacobs.
Editors' Picks
Broken Accords Barry Rubin, Rubin Report. By seeking and winning UN observer status, the Palestinians abrogated the terms of the Oslo Accords. So, why should Israel be expected to uphold them?
What Crisis of Zionism? J. J. Goldberg, Forward. For American Jews under 35, the decline in attachment to Israel seems to be reversing itself—but not the decline in trust toward Israel’s government.
Not So Fast Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Now that the dust has cleared after the Palestinians’ recent UN status upgrade, it is clear that they remain in no position, politically or morally, to declare statehood.
Cooking the Culture Talya Halkin, Jewish Review of Books. A new food culture has emerged in Jerusalem, celebrating not authenticity but new taste syntheses. Would that the same were true of the city’s politics.
The Problem of Proportional Response Yaacov Lozowick, Israel State Archives. Fifty years ago Ben-Gurion faced the problem of finding a proportional response to Syrian attacks on Israeli fisherman. The answer was—as it remains today—targeted military attacks.
Facts on the Ground Nadav Shragai, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Every Israeli prime minister since Yitzhak Rabin has supported urban contiguity between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem—and a planned road will ensure Palestinian contiguity as well. (2009)
Reading Kant to Kissinger Shlomo Avineri, Jewish Review of Books. In 1976, Shlomo Avineri met with Henry Kissinger to discuss Syria and Lebanon. But they ended up talking about Kant and Hegel—to the confusion of any Soviet eavesdroppers.
Balfour and the Bolsheviks Eddy Portnoy, Sh’ma. History remembers 1917 for the Balfour Declaration’s support of Zionism. But Jews in 1917 were more interested in another event of that same week: the October Revolution.
Arendt and the Arabs Richard L. Rubenstein, New English Review. Hannah Arendt feared that Zionism would create a “Jewish island in an Arab sea.” But her Eurocentrism kept her from seeing just how hostile that sea would be.
Does Klal Yisrael Work Both Ways? Stephen G. Donshik, eJewish Philanthropy. When European or Israeli Jews are in crisis, American Jews send money. So where is the aid from Israeli and European Jews for the Jewish victims of Hurricane Sandy?