Opinion

• Opinion

  Better Safe Than Sorry for Candidates on Israel

  Let’s play make-believe: Imagine that the candidates for the presidential nomination, Democrat and Republican, are asked for their views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (So far, that hasn’t happened.) And imagine that in addition to the familiar formulas regarding Israel — America’s valuable ally, the only democracy in the Middle East, entitled to live in security,…

  By Leonard Fein

  4 min read
• Opinion

  Dangerous Talk

  Israel got a rude reminder last week of just how deeply it is divided on the question of what to do with the West Bank. A popular rabbi, Shalom Dov Wolpe, declared publicly January 2 that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his top ministers ought to be hanged for considering withdrawal. Israelis across the spectrum…

  Jan 11, 2008 | 3 min read
• Letters

  January 11, 2008

  Rabbi’s Visit in 1980s Helped Open Belmonte A January 4 article reports: “Until the 1990s, the Belmonte conversos kept their history to themselves” (“After 500 Years in Hiding, Jews Bring Prosperity to Iberian Town”). In 1985, however, Rabbi Joshua Stampfer of Portland, Ore., visited Belmonte and made numerous contacts within the Judeo community. Robert Reed,…

  Jan 11, 2008 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson American Jews were played — now what?

  

• Rob Eshman There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel is not deliberately killing journalists in Gaza. But it does bear responsibility for their deaths

  

• Emily Tamkin Trump’s attack on George Soros is ludicrous. It also endangers Jews (and everyone else)

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  The Stevenson Complex

  The Democratic presidential contest is beginning to take on a seesaw quality, as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama trade the mantle of frontrunner back and forth between them. Unless something shifts dramatically in the very near future, the race could continue unresolved for a long time. The two main rivals could even split the prizes…

  Jan 11, 2008 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Keeping Faith With American Voters

  With Iowa’s caucus and New Hampshire’s presidential primary votes now cast, it’s time for secularists to get used to something inherent in American political life: Faith-speak works. In Iowa, the two most faith-based public speakers won. Mike Huckabee is a former preacher, and Senator Barack Obama might as well be one. Both men epitomize the…

  By Noam Neusner Jan 9, 2008 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Bush Brings Little More Than Gridlock to Jerusalem

  For a couple days this past week, I sat at home — was confined to it, actually — waiting for Friday to arrive. Why? Because President Bush was visiting Jerusalem. New Yorkers can surely understand what I’m talking about. When heads of state raid your city with their endless motorcades, appropriating the streets and tearing…

  By Uri Dromi Jan 9, 2008 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  I Danced at the Wedding of Sharansky’s Daughter

  It was a dream come true. There beneath the chupah stood Rachel Sharansky, daughter of Natan and Avital Sharansky, with her beloved, Micha Danziger. The hills of Jerusalem encircled us, like a wedding ring around the whole city. Jerusalem’s chilly winter days took a respite as the sun shone brightly; even the weather knew it…

  By Avi Weiss Jan 9, 2008 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  America Helps Best When It Helps Itself

  As presidential candidates are winnowed and left for chaff, we can confidently expect the return of the quadrennial Jewish question: “Who’s best on Israel?” I set aside here the issue of how central the answer to that question ought to be in determining how a person votes. That’s a debate and a half in itself….

  By Leonard Fein Jan 9, 2008 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  The Highest Bidder

  A flurry of protest is rippling through the Jewish community over last month’s decision by the Jewish Agency for Israel, the venerable, Diaspora-funded social-service agency, to appoint a spokesman for evangelical Christian donors to its executive committee. Some of the opposition arises from a bigoted, anti-gentile impulse that too often lurks somewhere inside even the…

  Jan 4, 2008 | 3 min read
• Letters

  January 4, 2007

  All Jews Have a Share in Jerusalem The Orthodox Union has not, as a December 28 editorial argues, said that the Israeli government “has no right” to negotiate the fate of Jerusalem, nor would we ever suggest that “Israelis must continue waiting — and continue dying — until Jews in Baltimore and Las Vegas approve…

  Jan 4, 2008 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Voting Our Hopes, Voting Our Fears

  Maybe it’s the weakness of the candidate field. Maybe it’s old habits dying hard, or unfamiliar threats flaring up. Whatever the cause, there seems to be a sharp increase in talk among Jews, some in the most unaccustomed circles, who plan to cast their votes this year on the basis of Israel’s security needs. The…

  Jan 4, 2008 | 3 min read