Opinion

• Opinion

  5 Things We Can Do About the Western Wall Impasse — and One We Shouldn’t

  Now that the long-awaited plan to create a proper egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall has been put on hold, again, here are five actions that American Jewish leaders can take — and one course of action that they should not, under any circumstances, follow. Option 1: Lay low. This is the Israeli option….

  By Jane Eisner

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  Jerusalem Day and the Misuses of Religion

  On the eve of the June 1967 war, Rabbi Tzvi Yehudah Kook uttered the audacious (and unwittingly prophetic) lament that Israel did not yet rule over all the former Mandatory Palestine: “Have we forgotten those parts of Eretz Yisrael which are not in our hands? Where is our Jericho? And where is our Hevron? And…

  By Michael Lesher Jun 5, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  The Broken Guardrail of Democracy That Let Donald Trump Get This Far

  How did we get here? How did it happen that voters in the world’s greatest democracy are forced to choose a president from the two most disliked candidates since modern polling began? Our question, how we got here, is actually two separate questions. For Democrats: Why is Hillary Clinton so disliked by so many Americans?…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 3, 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 Americans keep getting killed in the West Bank. Here’s how the US could fight that awful trend

  

• Nora Berman First Camp Auschwitz, now Alligator Alcatraz — why the right is obsessed with commodifying brutality

  

• Dan Perry What exactly is going on between Israel and Syria — and is the prospect of peace dead?

  

• Emily Tamkin Zohran Mamdani’s victory proves it: The ‘gotcha’ mode of fighting antisemitism has to go

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Don’t Apologize for Being Jewish — to the Left or the Right

  There should be a conversation in the Jewish community about the conversation that is being had about us. If you’ve missed it, here’s what it sounds like. On the hard left, populated largely by fans of Bernie Sanders, the Jews are too powerful, too privileged and too white to deserve any protections against bigotry, ad…

  By Noam Neusner Jun 2, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Did Bernie Sanders Choose the Wrong People To Push Democrats for Shift on Israel?

  George W. Bush paved the way for Republicans and Democrats alike to recognize Palestinian statehood. In June 2002, Bush introduced his Road Map to Peace, becoming the first American president to officially endorse an independent Palestinian state. In 2004, for the first time in their history, both parties incorporated Bush’s new stance in their official…

  By Chemi Shalev (Haaretz) Jun 1, 2016 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  Why the New York Times Owes Us All a Big Explanation on Israel ‘Occupation’ Blunder

  When I saw the headline of the New York Times article, “A split over Israel threatens the Democrats’ hope for unity” I was immediately drawn to read the story. It sounded ominous. What exactly is it about Israel that is crushing the Democratic Party’s hopes and standing in the way of their unity? Just two…

  By Mairav Zonszein Jun 1, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Jonathan Sacks Calls for Morality Along With Economics in Templeton Prize Speech

  After 40 years, the jury is still out over the worth of the Templeton Prize. Most people have never heard of this Anglo-American award that goes to someone who has made “an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension.” But its prestige is inarguable. Presented by a high-ranking member of the British royal family —…

  By Dan Friedman May 30, 2016 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Could Sins of Sara Netanyahu Force Bibi’s Downfall (He Wouldn’t Be the First)?

  Twenty years to the day Benjamin Netanyahu won his first election, scraping past Shimon Peres by less than 30,000 votes, he received an anniversary gift: the police recommendation to press charges against his wife for misuse of public funds for the upkeep of their private residence in Caesarea. Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit, Netayahu’s former cabinet secretary…

  By Anshel Pfeffer (Haaretz) May 30, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  From Donald Trump to Israel and Europe, Why This Lurch to the Right?

  To quote Donald Trump, “What the hell is going on?” The global rise of right-wing populism — in the United States, across Europe and now in Israel — is clearly the leading news story of 2016. Each week, Trump says something outrageous that hasn’t been said by a mainstream politician in half a century. And…

  By Jay Michaelson May 30, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Those Rapping Bais Yaakov Girls Are Not Weird — Or Even Surprising

  Jewish media outlets were surprised and delighted by a recent viral video of two Bais Yaakov girls rapping about Dor Yesharim, a genetic testing organization. I was delighted, too. Surprised? Not at all. While there was nothing shocking to me about two Orthodox teenage girls rapping, the responses to the video have been both surprising…

  By Leslie Ginsparg Klein May 29, 2016 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Right-Wing Critics Who Slammed My Book Proved Its Point on Israel

  My recently published book, “Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict over Israel,” is not a polemic. It is not a critique of Israel. In fact, it is not really about Israel at all. It’s about how American Jews relate to Israel and increasingly fight over Israel — an argument that says much more…

  By Dov Waxman May 29, 2016 | 3 min read