Political Thought
Biblical PoliticsTuesday, October 23, 2012 by Alan Mittleman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Michael Walzer is a pivotal figure in the recovery of the Jewish political tradition. From his early book, Exodus and Revolution, which traced the impact of the Exodus story on Western politics, through his editorship, with Israeli colleagues, of the projected four-volume Jewish Political Tradition, Walzer is almost unrivalled as a scholar of Jewish political thought.
Strategic Investment in Israel’s New WarWednesday, October 10, 2012 by Ronen Shoval | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Foreign governments, acting thoughtfully and strategically, fund dozens of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that form a flourishing anti-Israel movement within Israel itself.
Adorno, Butler, and the Death of IronyFriday, September 28, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Irony cannot exist in isolation; something is ironic only in relation to a larger pattern of events or behavior. Every three years, the city of Frankfurt awards its Adorno Prize to honor scholarly achievement in philosophy, music, film, and theater.
At Last, ZionFriday, September 21, 2012 by Charles Krauthammer | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Milan Kundera once defined a small nation as "one whose very existence may be put in question at any moment; a small nation can disappear, and it knows it." Israel is a small country. This is not to say that extinction is its fate. Only that it can be.
The Hebrew Bible and the Human MindMonday, September 10, 2012 by Diana Muir Appelbaum | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Yoram Hazony has a bone to pick with Tertullian, the second-century Christian theologian who asked, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?”
The Jewish Left, between History and RevelationMonday, June 11, 2012 by Alex Joffe | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
The association of Jews with leftist ideas and movements has been a fixture of Western politics for the past 150 years. But is the relationship logical and necessary, or is it historical and contingent?
The Six-Day War: Day FiveOnce Dayan decided against a limited attack in the Golan and opted instead to take the entire Heights, Israel's air force pounded the Syrians. The Syrians had supposed the Israelis to be tired and intimidated by their incessant shelling . . .
Day Four: “Attack! Attack!”Friday, June 8, 2012 by Allan Arkush | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
On June 1, 1967, when Prime Minister Levi Eshkol yielded to public pressure and turned over the portfolio of defense minister to former IDF chief of staff Moshe Dayan, the mood in Israel changed overnight.
On the Eve of the Six-Day WarForty-five years ago today, on June 4, 1967, Israel and the Jewish world were in suspense. Today, we recall the Six-Day War as a stunning martial victory by the Jewish state; but on the war's eve, this outcome was wholly unforeseeable. Indeed, the odds appeared firmly stacked against Israel.
Peter Beinart, I Quit.Monday, April 2, 2012 by Yoel Finkelman | Jewish Ideas Daily » Daily Features
Peter Beinart's new blog on the Daily Beast titled Open Zion (formerly Zion Square) is dedicated to an "open and unafraid conversation about Israel, Palestine, and the Jewish future." But after several weeks of Open Zion, one writer has concluded that its conversation is not, in fact, open—and is not one in which he can continue to take part. Here, he resigns his position.
Editors' Picks
Exit, Voice, and Loyalty Robert Kuttner, American Prospect. Refugee scholar and political economist Albert Hirschman, who died this week, taught that consumers must do more than vote with their feet if they want a civil society.
The Razor’s Edge Dan Ephron, Daily Beast. How might war between Iran and Israel begin? Former Mossad chief Ephraim Levy says the flash point could be the Iranian soldiers now in Syria helping the Assad regime.
Two Rabbis, Two Philosophies Daniel Treiman, Times of Israel. At the recent political conventions, Rabbi David Wolpe and Rabbi Meir Soloveichik each spoke powerfully to the contrasting political ideologies of the parties that they were addressing.
History Repeats Itself David Ignatius, Washington Post. The U.S. and its allies are moving in Syria toward a program of covert support for the rebels that looks very much like what America did in Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Support for Israel Lite Daniel Halper, Weekly Standard. As in years past, the 2012 platform of the national Democratic Party affirms its unwavering support for Israel’s security interests, right? Well, not exactly.
In Search of a Cultural Arab Spring Salman Masalha, MEMRI. In the images of Syrian violence an Israeli Druse sees the brutality of modern Arab regimes: “Every one of them is based on tribal and religious tyranny.”
The EU Friends of Hizballah Walter Russell Mead, Via Meadia. Q: What do you call something if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck? A: A political wing.
And on the Seventh Day? Hillel Halkin, Wall Street Journal. A new book argues that Israel could have made peace after the Six-Day War; but three unfounded assumptions undermine the author’s claim.
Disunited Synagogue David Cesarani, New Statesman. While some at the New Statesman may still believe Jews to be a powerful enemy within, Anglo-Jewry has never agreed on anything—whether religious practice, Zionism, or the admittance of Jewish refugees.
Apathy and Anti-Zionism Seffi Kogen, Times of Israel. With their relentless scaremongering about anti-Zionism on campus, Jewish educational institutions have raised a generation apathetic not only to activism but to Israel itself.