Waiting for War in Haifa

Metula. Shlomi. Kiriyat Shmona. Margaliot. These were small, quaint towns before October 7, 2023. Read more

On Jewish powerlessness

While Israel’s military brass and political leadership dither about whether and how the country responds to Iran’s attack, the Israeli public has seemingly made up its mind. Read more

A soldier’s tale: The parakeet in the abandoned school on the Gaza border

Sderot is located less than a mile from the Gaza Strip. Some ninety per cent of the town’s 30,000 residents fled on October 7 after Hamas invaded southern Israel. Read more

Wrath of God II: To win, Israel must assassinate Hamas leaders everywhere

Israel’s military achievements against Hamas are impressive. As part of its campaign to destroy the terrorist group, Israel has reportedly struck over 22,000 targets in the Gaza Strip and has killed some 7,000 fighters since the war broke out. Read more

Becoming Israeli again

Before October 7, living in Israel could leave you battered, bruised, and needing a stiff drink. Read more

Never again is now: Why Jews must take back the Holocaust

As Jewish communities gather to mark Kristallnacht (‘Night of Broken Glass’), the 1938 pogrom across Nazi Germany that many consider to be the start of the Holocaust, ‘never again’ is resounding. Read more

Dark laughter: How Israelis are using humour in a time of war

“They’re cockroaches. Instead of Iron Dome we need a big Iron Shoe to stomp out every one of them,” the mild-mannered pediatrician grinned at me after he had examined my daughter’s ailing foot. “Give her Nurofen for three days after meals. That should do the trick.” Read more

Image is nothing, moral clarity is everything

It is the most natural human reaction after someone experiences trauma, loss, and heartache to reach out, to want love, sympathy, warmth, and comfort from friends, family – even strangers. We all need people to reassure us that they feel our pain and that they care about us. Read more

Fiction: The Ido

Let me tell you about a different kind of hotel no tell. The Ido, pronounced e-DOH, in downtown Jerusalem is a charming nook that doesn’t pop up on any hotel review website or generate any buzz, on or offline. Read more

The unbearable cost of a unity government

Ever since Israel’s snap election drew to a close on September 17 the country’s chattering class has ginned up its campaign to convince Israelis that what they really want is a national unity government. Read more

Are International Human Rights stifling people’s freedom?

What’s striking about the international community’s reaction to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent pledge to apply sovereignty to Jewish communities in the West Bank and the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to revoke the autonomy of Indian-administered Kashmir is the sound of crickets. Read more

The Curious Case of Israel’s Invisible Election

With the great election redo of 2019 less than two weeks away Israelis across the political spectrum are meeting up in living rooms, pubs and coffee shops around the country to discuss the great issues of the day…not. Read more

Israel announces August BDS Ambition Tour (one true satire)

In response to the furore unleashed by the Israeli government’s decision to block entry to two U.S. congresswomen, a hastily produced tour of the Jewish state has been announced. Read more

 AOC, his name was Dvir Sorek

Freshman  U.S.Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently revealed her true feelings about Israel. During a radio interview, AOC concurred wholeheartedly with the program’s host that “…what’s going on with Israel and Palestine…is very, very, criminal, and it is very, very unjust.” Read more

Gay Conversion Therapy: should some thoughts be a fireable offence?

Israeli Education Minister Rabbi Rafi Peretz’s recent comments about gay conversion therapy have unleashed a firestorm. Read more

Israeli helicopter parents send instructions

Dear Sheila,

How’s Melbourne? The girls can’t wait to spend a whole two weeks with you. I receive daily updates about all they’ll be seeing and doing during their upcoming August adventure. Read more

Tolerance Museums: A Failing Franchise? 

The monumental US$250-million building for the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem (MOTJ) is scheduled to open sometime in 2020. Read more

Raging at Rabbis: When rights collide in Jerusalem

This week, the Jerusalem municipality authorized the naming of five alleyways and narrow streets within the Baten Al-Hawa neighbourhood of Silwan after rabbis. Read more

Obi-Wan Kenobi’s guide to an evaporating Israeli government

“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.”

– Obi-Wan Kenobi, referring to the lawless desert planet of Tatooine                              (Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope) Read more

Why apologize? The danger of driving antisemitism underground

The Harvard Lampoon student-run magazine recently published a photoshopped image of Anne Frank’s face on the body of a woman wearing a bikini. Read more

Who are the Palestinians in Gaza protesting against?

U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar has unleashed a firestorm of controversy for empathizing with the plight of an oppressed people. Read more

Top 10 Plagues of Passover 2019: A father’s journey into and out of Egypt

Passover. The Jewish holiday of freedom. You know the story of how the Israelites, led by that beau hunk Moses, threw off the shackles of bondage, faced off with Pharaoh, unleashed 10 plagues on Egypt and were finally allowed to return to Las Vegas…I mean the Promised Land. Read more

Israel: Confronting Fake News, One Camera at a Time

While today’s widespread use of the term fake news can be traced to Donald Trump’s first press conference as President-elect, Israel has long had to grapple with the phenomenon of media outlets bending the truth for political gain. Read more

Job to the left of me, crazy girls to my right: Israel Festival blends artistic lines

The Israel Festival, taking place from June 1st to June 18th, 2017, is a sensory delight..writes Gidon Ben-Zvi. Read more

Schizophrenic: An American Zionist in Israel

The Jewish Agency, Nefesh B’Nefesh, Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and other organisations charged with convincing world Jewry that its destiny is intertwined with that of Israel fail to mention, on their glossy websites and in their slick public relations toolkits, the single greatest sacrifice one makes when embarking on an open-ended Zionist adventure: cultural DNA…writes Gidon Ben-Zvi. Read more

Israel’s First World Problems: On Aerosmith and security prisoners 

Israel’s much touted economic miracle, given official sanction when the country joined the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 2010, has brought with it a slew of first world injuries…writes Gidon Ben-Zvi. Read more

Art of the Deal: Is Trump’s Bestseller the Secret to Peace in the Middle East?

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The Bible: The Folly of Quote Mining, The Virtue of Fact Finding

What gets lost in the din of competing narratives between Jewish and Arab claims to the land currently known as Israel is the historicity of the holy books these groups cite as evidence that God is on their side…writes Gidon Ben-Zvi. Read more

Israel up in smoke: middle class myths about marijuana use

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An American resits his driving test in Israel

It’s akin to déjà vu on acid, being a 43-year-old driver’s student. The last time I sat through a lesson on defensive driving, the Los Angeles Police Department was caught on video behaving badly – firing a taser into Rodney King’s spine and beating him down with batons for good measure…writes Gidon Ben-Zvi. Read more

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