Opinion

• Opinion

  66 Years of Israeli Voting in 1 Cool Graphic

  If you want to see in one shot why many Israel observers are tearing their hair out in response to the country’s electoral process, feast your eyes on this cool infographic from the Economist. The chart shows the breakdown of each election since 1949 until the projected results of tomorrow’s vote. At the top are…

  By Gal Beckerman

  < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  When the Talmud Tells You Who To Vote For

  After voting many Israelis will have a picnic or go to the beach — no matter whom they vote for / Getty Images (JTA) — “Whom to vote for and whom not to vote for?” Thus begins page 17 of the Talmud’s Tractate Voters. It continues: “One should not vote for Likud or Zionist Union…

  By Hillel Kuttler Mar 16, 2015 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Voting Out Israel’s 1%

  A few days before the general elections in Israel, more than a few of my liberal friends are dispirited. Some of them have become embittered. Even if there is a good chance that this time a center-left bloc can beat Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, these hopeless Israelis argue, nevertheless, that the main reason for replacing…

  By Michael Karpin Mar 16, 2015 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz What I learned at a Holocaust survivors’ Purim party

  

• Rob Eshman Gavin Newsom isn’t waffling on Israel — he’s voicing sensible ideas in an era of outrage

  

• Dan Perry Is this Netanyahu’s Winston Churchill moment?

  

• Emily Tamkin We must rewrite the rulebook for fighting antisemitism — or conspiracists like Joe Kent will win the narrative wars

  

• Jay Michaelson Antisemitism is exploding on the right but the Jewish establishment is focused on the left

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Meet the Man Fighting Eruv ‘Terrorists’ in the Hamptons

  A still from The Daily Show’s segment on eruvs, showing an “eruv hat” If Jack O’Dwyer didn’t exist, Jon Stewart might have invented him. You might remember The Daily Show’s hilarious 2011 video report on the bitter controversy surrounding a proposed eruv (religious boundary) in Westhampton Beach, New York. Simply by venting to correspondent Wyatt…

  By Michael Kaminer Mar 15, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Swarthmore Hillel Puts ‘Open’ Status to Good Use

  Swarthmore Hillel students It was 5:25pm when I walked into the room full of murmuring college students. Swarthmore Hillel’s first event addressing the conflict in Israel and Palestine was about to begin. I took my seat among the 60 other students, who were all chatting amiably and nervously, waiting for the event to start. I…

  By Aaron Wagener Mar 15, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  How Zionist Union Could Build Ruling Coalition

  With four days left before Israelis go to the polls, the battleground is noticeably shifting from the fight for voters’ ballots to the fight over the shape of the next governing coalition. Specifically, the battle has begun for position within the expected Yitzhak Herzog government. And the way things are shaping up, the person in…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 13, 2015 | 6 min read
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  Opinion

  Echoes of McCarthyism in Smear Campaign Against New Israel Fund Backers

  Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin is a name that is infamous in American history. The senator hurled scurrilous innuendos and attacked the character of those he opposed. He routinely labelled them as “Communists” in an attempt to squelch all political views at odds with his own. In the spring of 1954, when his power was…

  By Deborah Lipstadt and David Ellenson Mar 13, 2015 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel’s Debates Creep (Back) Into Our Bloodstream

  Regardless of how Israelis vote on March 17, it will take weeks of coalition negotiations before we learn what the next government in Jerusalem will look like. Still, it’s not too early to start surveying what we’ve already learned from Israel’s political drama — what it’s taught us about our lives here as American Jews,…

  By J.J. Goldberg Mar 13, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Meet the Long-Lost Jews of Jedwabne

  Courtesy of Marcel Lozinski On July 10, 1941, the Polish villagers of Jedwabne engaged in a mad orgy of torture and murder, aimed at their Jewish neighbors. Anna Bikont, a Polish journalist and columnist, tells this horrifying story in her new book, “The Crime and the Silence.” Part history, part memoir, the book will be…

  By Donald Snyder Mar 13, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  5 Questions for Tim Kaine on Israel

  Sen. Tim Kaine is a moderate Democrat who boycotted Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. Nathan Guttman, the Forward’s Washington bureau chief, asks him about Iran and whether Democrats are drifting away from Israel. Nathan Guttman: Did you face any political cost for deciding not to attend Netanyahu’s speech? Senator Tim Kaine: I’m not dumb, I…

  By Nathan Guttman Mar 13, 2015 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Tzipi and Buji Go to the Market

  With only a few days to go until the election, Israeli co-leaders of the Zionist Union — Tzipi Livni and Isaac Herzog (aka Buji) — wanted to do a little last-minute politicking. So they visited Tel Aviv’s outdoor Carmel Market. They were really excited about it. REALLY excited. See, we eat pears! We’re personable! Could this…

  By Sigal Samuel Mar 12, 2015 | 2 min read