Opinion

• Opinion

  What ‘Dead Poets Society’ Taught Me About Living Deliberately

  Robin Williams was not John Keating, the teacher he portrayed in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society. Keating was a character, made richer by Williams’ own improvisatory genius, but a character nonetheless. Williams, as we now all know, was all too human. Yet their fates, for me, are intertwined. Keating is a preacher of sensitivity….

  By Jay Michaelson

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  How To Talk to a 10-Year-Old About Gaza

  I was recently sitting at a hotel when my 10-year-old daughter Lila called my attention to the television. As part of the coverage of Israel’s incursion into Gaza, the news showed a child covered in bandages, limbs missing. It was one of the boys who had been caught in bombings on the beach. “He’s just…

  By Leigh Shulman Aug 12, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel, Hamas Near Long-Term Deal on These Terms

  Israel and the Palestinians are said to be near agreement on the terms for a long-term cease-fire for Gaza, following a day of talks in Cairo under Egyptian mediation. The Israeli team was reported by Yediot Ahronot’s Ynet news site to be heading back to Israel this evening to present the tentative agreements to Israel’s…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 12, 2014 | 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 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

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  Opinion

  Defeating Hamas Will Not Solve Israel’s Problem

  Naftali Bennett, Israel’s minister of the economy, wants to defeat Hamas. “Hit Hamas without mercy,” Bennett said. “Day and night. On weekdays and holidays. Without respite and without rest. Until they are defeated.” And Bennett is not alone. In a new poll, 41% of Israelis say they want to topple Hamas. Benny Morris, the noted…

  By Jeremy Pressman Aug 11, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  A Left-Wing Argument for Supporting Israel’s War

  This is perhaps the single most important, and most widely misunderstood, point about the Gaza war: The strategic aim of Hamas rockets is to perpetuate, not to end, Israel’s military rule over the West Bank. Many, within and outside Israel, assume that Hamas aims primarily at ending the so-called siege of Gaza. But this is,…

  By Gadi Taub Aug 11, 2014 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  4 Ways Gaza War Costs Israel

  (JTA) — After the missiles have stopped, after the troops have come home, even after most of the wounded are out of the hospital, Israelis will still be feeling the burden of Operation Protective Edge – this time in their pockets. With the recent expiration of a temporary cease-fire, the operation may not be over. (Another…

  By Ben Sales Aug 11, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Israel’s Moral Dilemma in Waging Gaza War

  The far-reaching implications of the war in Gaza was recently driven home to me when I observed Israeli paratroopers preparing to take out missiles hidden in homes — in Lebanon. On June 11 I was part of a group of students of international affairs who were invited to an Israel Defense Forces base, Eliakim, near…

  By Amitai Etzioni Aug 11, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Orwell Would Ask Where ‘Pro-Israel’ Leads Us

  “Thought can corrupt language,” George Orwell wrote in the 1943 essay I referred to in my column, “but language can also corrupt thought.” Gil Troy’s response to my piece offers a concise portrait of this process. But his critique is more than a helpful example of the rhetorical phenomenon I wrote to challenge. In form…

  By Daniel May Aug 10, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Liberman Shuffle Leaves Bibi with No Knesset Edge

  In a scarcely noticed series of political maneuvers, Bibi Netanyahu’s Likud party lost its primacy as the largest party in the Knesset last Wednesday. It’s now equal in size to Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party at 19 seats each. Moreover, don’t be surprised if the prime minister finds himself dropping to 18 in the fall….

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 10, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Palestinians Ease Truce Terms as Livni Airs New Peace Bid

  Conflicting reports from the Egyptian-Palestinian negotiations in Cairo: The Israeli news site Mako-News10 reported Saturday evening that the factions comprising the Palestinian cease-fire negotiating team — the Palestinian Authority, Hamas and Islamic Jihad — had made some significant concessions on their demands for renewing the Gaza cease-fire. They agreed to permit Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 10, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  ISIS Aimed at Ideals When They Destroyed Jonah’s Tomb

  I The Sunni extremists of ISIS who recently in Mosul destroyed the shrine that is believed to mark the tomb of the prophet Jonah knew what they were doing. What they almost surely did not know is the special poignancy that attaches to their deed. Jonah was not a run of the mill prophet, if…

  By Leonard Fein Aug 9, 2014 | 3 min read