Opinion

• Opinion

  A Plea To My Israeli Brothers And Sisters, From A Palestinian Who Can’t Vote

  In his latest, brazen campaign promise on Tuesday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that, if elected, he would annex the Jordanian Valley. This action, which would cede about 30% of the West Bank to Israel, would essentially render the peace process moot, with a viable Palestinian state being virtually impossible under such conditions. The…

  By Muhammad Shehada

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Can My Jewish Culture Survive My Intermarriage?

  I’m reading Tzivia a book about Rosh Hashanah, about a community pitching in to help a little girl experience her favorite holiday tradition. “Max told Abby, who told their teacher, who told the principal, who told the rabbi — ” “Wait, what’s a rabbi?” My Jewish five-year-old doesn’t know what a rabbi is? “Oh, you know…” Her…

  By Darcy Reeder Sep 11, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Netanyahu Just Promised To Annex The Jordan Valley. Good.

  On Tuesday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that if reelected, he would annex the Jordan Valley and perhaps “other areas” of the West Bank. Good. Critics will say that by calling for annexation, Netanyahu is killing the two-state solution. But he’s been doing that for a decade. He’s been doing it by subsidizing…

  By Peter Beinart Sep 10, 2019 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

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

  

• Jay Michaelson I supported Israel’s actions in Gaza in October 2023 — not anymore

  

• Rob Eshman The staggering hypocrisy behind Trump’s deal to free the last living American hostage

  

• Nora Berman She’s a titan of Israeli architecture. Her story contains troubling lessons for her country

  

• Dan Perry It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump

  

• Emily Tamkin This week proved it: Trump’s approach to antisemitism at Columbia is horribly ineffective

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  What Bernie Sanders Is Saying When He Won’t Talk About Being Jewish

  You might think that as American Jews are suffering the worst anti-Semitic violence in the history of the United States, they would be taking comfort in the fact that, for the first time, there is a Jewish candidate for president with a non-negligible chance of success. They’re not. It turns out that Jews don’t like…

  By Batya Ungar-Sargon Sep 10, 2019 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  To Counter Israel’s Racism, Every Israeli Jew Should Vote For The Arab Joint List

  It happens in every election cycle: After beating the drum of the threat Iran poses to Israel, and after attacking the media, flying to Ukraine and England, and touting his special relationship with President Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his nationalist Likud Party always finish off their campaign with one final, racist push…

  By Etan Nechin Sep 10, 2019 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  The Idea That Christian Love For Jews Is About Rapture Is A Paranoid Conspiracy Theory

  'There is simply no evidence suggesting that large numbers of Christians harbor a terrifying desire for Jesus to slaughter innocent people'

  By Jarvis Best Sep 9, 2019 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  New York And Bill DeBlasio Are Working Hard To Fight Anti-Semitism. I’m The Proof.

  Dear Editor, In her recent op-ed, Avital Chizhik-Goldschmidt was right to express outrage over the escalation of anti-Semitism directed at Orthodox Jews. The examples of prejudice and discrimination she cites should disturb all New Yorkers who care about religious freedom and pluralistic democracy. The spate of anti-Jewish hate crimes over the past two years is…

  By Deborah Lauter Sep 9, 2019 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  How High Does The Body Count Have To Get Before Congress Shuts Down 8chan?

  2019 will be remembered as a year of mass shooters targeting minorities. This year alone, Muslims, Jews, and Latinos were targeted by murderers in El Paso, Poway, and Christchurch, New Zealand. Though they targeted different groups in different places, these three men had something in common: 8chan. At its core, 8chan, an image-based message-board, is…

  By Oren Segal Sep 9, 2019 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Don’t Believe The Haters. Israeli Democracy Is Still Robust.

  The tempest over Israel’s travel ban on two congresswomen and the year-long roller coaster of back-to-back elections has unleashed an avalanche of misplaced condemnations and hand-wringing about the health of the country’s democracy. Yet democratic life in Israel remains remarkably strong and resilient. For starters, democratic and liberal norms continue to predominate. Voter turnout, contestation,…

  By Scott Lasensky Sep 6, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  This Elul, It’s Time To Do Teshuva For American Racism

  When I arrived at the Whitney Plantation in Louisiana earlier this summer, a staff member handed me a card with a photo of a statue of a young girl wearing a yellow dress. A quote on the back of the card explained that before this girl, Carlyle Stewart, was freed at the age of seven,…

  By George Altshuler Sep 4, 2019 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  It’s Time To Admit It: The U.S. And Israel No Longer Have Shared Values

  I’ve always believed that the friendship between Israel and the United States is based on deep, shared values between their respective peoples. It’s a thought that has offered me some comfort as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump seem so committed to proving me wrong. The two seem to labor tirelessly to make…

  By Dany Bahar Sep 4, 2019 | 3 min read