Opinion

• Opinion

  After This Election, Americans Have Lost Faith in Polling. Should Jews?

  One casualty of the election: people’s faith in surveys. We relied on polls to help us understand the election and they seemingly failed us. Although pre-election polls came within 1-2% of predicting the national popular vote, state polls that were the basis for Electoral College predictions were far less accurate. Whether and how to use…

  By Janet Krasner Aronson, and Leonard Saxe, and Matthew Boxer

  3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Why You Need the Forward in the Age of Donald Trump — and We Need You Even More

  Dear Forward Reader: If you’re like me, you’ve been experiencing a whirlwind of emotions over last week’s political earthquake: Fear. Anger. Confusion. Here at the Forward, we’re feeling those feelings too. But we’re also feeling something else: Drive. Purpose. Resolve. At this critical time, independent journalism matters more than ever. If you’ve been waiting for…

  By Samuel Norich Nov 14, 2016 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Donald Trump, Support a Two-State Solution. It’s the Only Way.

  On January 20, Donald Trump will assume the presidency of the United States, and his administration will undertake the immense responsibility of shaping American foreign policy. It is difficult to ascertain precisely what Trump’s approach will be to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, given the disparate statements that he and his advisors have made during the course…

  By Susie Gelman Nov 14, 2016 | 4 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 I have the answer to Jon Stewart’s toughest question about Israel

  

• Nora Berman ‘Eddington’ is full of conspiracy theories but it’s not about Jews. Or is it?

  

• Dan Perry Recognizing a Palestinian state is a great way to doom Palestinians

  

• Emily Tamkin Is starvation in Gaza really Israel’s fault? The facts are clear

  

The Latest

• 
  Opinion

  Spare Me the Terrified Jewish Sermons About Steve Bannon

  American Jews have a new reason to be concerned about a Donald Trump presidency. There was already a major outcry over the anti-Semitism coming out of Trump’s campaign and his supporter base, and that concern has skyrocketed with the selection of Steve Bannon, a hero of the “alt-right” and former CEO of Breitbart, as a…

  By Bethany Mandel Nov 14, 2016 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Steve Bannon Signals Coming Storm for Jews in Age of Donald Trump

  Those were the best of times, arguably, but these may be the worst of times. That’s the way most American Jews must feel as they wake up with a massive hangover from the shock election results and the reality that Donald Trump will soon be President of the United States. Whatever differences American Jews may…

  By Chemi Shalev (Haaretz) Nov 14, 2016 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Marc Gafni Told His Side of the Story. Now His Accuser Responds.

  Editor’s note: Earlier this month, the Forward published Marc Gafni’s own words defending himself against accusations that he sexually abused Sara Kabakov when she was 13 and he was 19. Here is Kabakov’s response. I struggle with the impulse to respond to Marc Gafni’s letter regarding my January 2016 article about him sexually abusing me….

  By Sara Kabakov Nov 14, 2016 | 2 min read
• 
  Opinion

  The Israeli Right Wing Is Delighted by Trump’s Win — and Why That’s So Dangerous

  The Israeli government has expressed elation in reaction to Donald Trump’s electoral victory. Likud MK Yehuda Glick invited Trump to visit the territories to “see with his own eyes that settlements are the way to peace.” Ayelet Shaked, Israel’s justice minister, expressed hope that the president-elect would fulfill his promise to move the U.S. embassy…

  By Joshua Schreier and Mira Sucharov Nov 13, 2016 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Why the Golem Is a Perfect Metaphor for Donald Trump

  In September 2016, in the heat of the American presidential campaign, a new exhibit titled “Golem” opened at the Jewish Museum in Berlin. In Jewish mysticism, a golem is an artificial creation, an anthropoid usually made of clay and animated through combinations of Hebrew letters. One of the items on display in Berlin is a…

  By Maya Barzilai Nov 13, 2016 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Jewish Federations, Don’t Change Your Policy on the Green Line

  I have often joked (only partly in jest) that my gravestone will say, “Is it good for the Jews?” That shouldn’t be surprising. I am a Jewish philanthropist and an activist who loves Israel; I have lived in Israel and I visit multiple times a year. Jewish tradition is important to me as well. It…

  By Sally Gottesman Nov 13, 2016 | 4 min read
• 
  Opinion

  We Have To Congratulate Trump. He’s Too Important To Be Treyf to Us.

  It was 1:30am on election night and it was clear that Donald Trump was on the threshold of a stunning electoral victory. This was not the night I had been expecting. I plugged in my laptop, took a deep breath, and wrote the first words that came to mind: the “Jewish Council for Public Affairs…congratulates…

  By David Bernstein Nov 13, 2016 | 3 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Jewish Leaders, Don’t Congratulate Trump! Normalizing Him Endangers Us All.

  After America elected a man I consider a proto-fascist, a man who used blatantly anti-Semitic tropes in his closing campaign ad, I wish mainstream American Jewish organizations had paused to think before cozying up to his incoming administration. Yet the Jewish Federations of North America penned a letter congratulating Donald Trump, appreciating in particular his…

  By Isaac Luria Nov 13, 2016 | 3 min read