Opinion

• Opinion

  J Street Loses Its Focus With Peace Process Dead

  What is J Street doing? Why has it begun to act in concert with unambiguously right-wing Zionist organizations such as AIPAC and StandWithUs in their efforts to kill the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement while offering no alternative for ending the occupation? Because the truth is that J Street offers no alternative anymore; now that…

  By Larry Derfner

  3 min read
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  Opinion

  It’s Time To Destigmatize Mamzers. Here’s How.

  I think it’s high time we deal with the issue of mamzerut. I was exposed to the subject as a result of my work as a rabbinic advocate in Israel, working with women who were denied divorces and agunot, women chained to dead marriages. Through this work, I became familiar with a host of issues…

  By Rivkah Lubitch Jun 8, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  44% of Jewish Israelis Say They Don’t Need U.S. Cash

  An Israeli observes the Iron Dome system in action / Getty Images Almost one in two Jewish Israelis think that their country could withstand a substantial decrease in American support. In a new poll by the nonpartisan Israel Democracy Institute, conducted in the light of U.S.-Israel tensions over the end of the peace process, 44%…

  By Nathan Jeffay Jun 8, 2014 | 2 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 There’s a shocking new report on civilian deaths in Gaza. If only it were accurate.

  

• Nora Berman Is Netflix’s new show the most Jewish cartoon ever?

  

• Dan Perry Israel’s new gift to the far right could help end the Gaza war

  

• Emily Tamkin Entering motherhood — and an obsession with the works of an Italian Jewish literary hero

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Israel Earns Red Card at Soccer’s World Cup — Again

  You will not hear “Hatikva” at the World Cup that opens on June 12 in Brazil. The last and only time Israel participated in the tournament was 1970. Yet even countries not famous for their soccer prowess, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Honduras, get to play on this enormous stage. Israel, which has a proud professional…

  By Adi Gold and Yoav Sivan Jun 8, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Knesset Big Sees ‘Plot’ in President Race Scandals

  The speaker of Israel’s Knesset dropped a bombshell Saturday night into the country’s closely watched presidential race, saying he suspected political sabotage behind the sudden eruption of scandals that destroyed two of the lead candidates in the past three weeks. And the stepson of one of the tarred candidates is using the furor to reopen…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 8, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Which Side Has No One To Talk To?

  Among the Israeli government’s favorite mantras is the allegation that “we have no one to talk to.” Alas, that stance is faulty on two grounds: It implies both that the “other side” — that is, the Palestinians — do have someone to talk to and that the Palestinians themselves have nothing constructive to say. Do…

  By Leonard Fein Jun 7, 2014 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Diaspora to Israel: We Need You To Change

  Just a few hundred yards separate the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and cabinet room from the Jerusalem headquarters of the Jewish People Policy Institute, the clumsily-named think tank set up in 2002 by the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency for Israel. Judging by a pair of recent blue-ribbon reports from the two offices on Israel’s relationship with…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jun 6, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  How Many Gay Haredim Are Married to Women?

  An Israeli lesbian dressed up as an ultra-Orthodox Jew at the annual Gay Pride event / Getty Images What do you do if you’re ultra-Orthodox and gay? You almost certainly hide. On Thursday, Israeli daily Yediot reported new figures released by religious-gay support group Hod indicating that “two-thirds of ultra-Orthodox homosexuals [in Israel] have chosen…

  By Emily L. Hauser Jun 5, 2014 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Intermarriage Is Us

  Samson and Delilah, a cautionary tale against mixed marriage, by Rubens / Haaretz (Haaretz) — On Shavuot, Jews around the world read the Book of Ruth, which tells the story of how the heroine – a Moabite woman – married her way into Judaism. Later rabbis adopted the story as a model of how a Jew…

  By Elon Gilad Jun 5, 2014 | 5 min read
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  Opinion

  The Talmudic Case for Conversion

  The 2013 Pew Research Center report underscored the fragility of the Jewish future in North America and has led to anguished discussions and debates about how to reduce the number of Jews relinquishing Judaism and Jewish identification in favor of other options. But as dramatic as the 2013 Pew report was, it may be that…

  By Zvi Zohar Jun 5, 2014 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Big (Jewish) Money Can’t Buy Our Votes — So Far

  A new book details how a handful of extraordinarily wealthy Americans are manipulating our political system, and how a few Jews play an outsized role in the narrative. This could be a point of pride if the civic consequences weren’t so disastrous. “It’s not just that the total sums pouring into our politics are greater…

  Jun 5, 2014 | 2 min read