Opinion

• Opinion

  How Can We Support Israel’s Ideals — but Not Bibi’s Ugly Rhetoric?

  Benjamin Netanyahu’s surprising and decisive victory in the Israeli elections has created a wrenching dilemma for many American Jews: how to continue to love Israel while a government that violates many of our community’s values is in place. This may not be an issue for those who unequivocally support Netanyahu’s aggressive, nationalistic stance, and cheer…

  2 min read
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  Opinion

  What’s an Israel Advocate To Do?

  Illustration by Lior Zaltzman Years ago, I was on the National Executive of the National Union of Students in Britain, elected ostensibly to defend Israel against rabid anti-Zionists. I have also trained Israel advocates on Birthright tours and on yearlong programs in Israel. I am an Israel advocate, and I remain dedicated to defending Israel…

  By Samuel Lebens Mar 19, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  We Might Have Lost — But We Were Right About Bibi

  Obviously, the Israeli election was a disaster for Jews everywhere who favor making peace with the Palestinians. But as much as we lost, and lost badly, we should also learn to say three words. We were right. We were right when we said that Har Homa, the East Jerusalem neighborhood, was built there to block…

  By Jay Michaelson Mar 19, 2015 | 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 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

  What Benjamin Netanyahu Sacrificed for Election Victory

  In the end it wasn’t even close. Pre-election polls had Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud trailing the Zionist Union of Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni by four Knesset seats, nearly 4% of the popular vote. Analysts around the world were falling over each other to write Bibi’s political obituary. Then came election day. Exit polls found he’d…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 19, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Why I Don’t Regret Sitting Out Israel’s Election

  Illustration by Lior Zaltzman “Will you be writing a regret post about the election?” A few months ago, I wrote about how I was debating whether or not to go home to Israel for the elections. Well, spoiler alert: I didn’t. Like many Israeli friends with families and jobs and New York rents to pay,…

  By Lior Zaltzman Mar 18, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Israeli ‘Olive King’ Who’s Also a Political Expert

  “Hag sameach!” Vendors at Mahane Yehuda, Jerusalem’s legendary vegetable market, wished each other happy holiday Wednesday morning when they learned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party had swept the election. Mahane Yehuda is considered a Likud stronghold, and shop owners were worried in the weeks leading up to the election. “They believed the polls,”…

  By Naomi Zeveloff Mar 18, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  We’re All Letting Bibi Off the Hook for Racism

  Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed everyone’s worst fears about him when he launched a last-minute fear campaign on Tuesday, warning that “Arab voters are coming out in droves to the polls” — and proving that he is perfectly happy to win an election using racism. Depressingly, predictably, Bibi’s “the-Arabs-are-coming” bugaboo worked like a dream on the Israeli…

  By Sigal Samuel Mar 18, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Trouble Ahead for Bibi. Plus: Why Herzog Lost

  In the end it wasn’t even close. Pre-election polls had Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud trailing the Zionist Union of Yitzhak Herzog and Tzipi Livni by four Knesset seats, nearly 4% of the popular vote. Analysts around the world were falling over each other to write Bibi’s political obituary. Then came election day. Exit polls found he’d…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 18, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Election Spotlights Israel’s Broken Electoral System

  Israeli voters are now officially exhausted by too many elections. Twice in two years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has failed to pass the state budget, and by calling early votes he threw the country into chaos. We now alternate between one year needed to dissolve the Knesset and government and reconstitute them, and another year…

  By Sergio Della Pergola Mar 18, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Live-Blogging Israel’s Election Results

  Getty Images J.J. Goldberg and Nathan Guttman analyze Israel’s exit polls as they come in, bouncing ideas off one another to figure out what’s next for the government. This post will be updated frequently, so check back soon. Nathan Guttman (7:00 PM) Isaac Herzog put on his best face and told his supporters that it…

  By J.J. Goldberg and Nathan Guttman Mar 17, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  In Jaffa, Israeli Arabs Get Out the Vote

  Silan Dallal, a Jewish activist with the Joint List / Naomi Zeveloff This morning, Wael Mahamid received a mass text message from the Likud party with the warning to its right wing base that Israeli Arabs were going to the polls in record numbers. But Mahamid only laughed at the message, which was sent out…

  By Naomi Zeveloff Mar 17, 2015 | 3 min read