Opinion

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  Israel Faces Extremists, U.S. Ignores Them

  The dog days of August brought serious wakeup calls for Israel and the United States in their respective struggles against terrorism. Both nations were shaken by violent attacks coming from a direction they hadn’t been watching: racist, right-wing nativists. The similarities between the crises are instructive, and disturbing. So are the differences. For Americans, the…

  By J.J. Goldberg

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  Conservatives Howl Over Veep Debate Moderator

  Conservatives are inflamed over a report that the moderator of the upcoming vice presidential debate is the former wife of a high-level Obama appointee. The moderator is ABC senior foreign correspondent Martha Raddatz, who is scheduled to moderate an Oct. 11 debate between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden. Her ex-husband is FCC chairman Julius Genachowski,…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Aug 23, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  Israelis Fear Iran, But Don’t Want Solo Strike

  Listening to Israel’s political leaders, it sounds like the country might be at war by the time this piece goes to press. The government is counting on profound levels of fear in Israel to buoy its policies. Indeed, in January a survey of mine showed that Jewish respondents chose nuclear Iran as the top threat…

  By Dahlia Scheindlin Aug 23, 2012 | 3 min read

Columnists View All

• Jodi Rudoren This is my last column as editor of the Forward

  

• Jay Michaelson I supported Israel’s actions in Gaza in October 2023 — not anymore

  

• Rob Eshman The staggering hypocrisy behind Trump’s deal to free the last living American hostage

  

• Nora Berman She’s a titan of Israeli architecture. Her story contains troubling lessons for her country

  

• Dan Perry It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump

  

• Emily Tamkin This week proved it: Trump’s approach to antisemitism at Columbia is horribly ineffective

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Whither Occupy Judaism?

  Whither Occupy Wall Street? And whither Occupy Judaism? September 17, the one-year anniversary of the launching of the movement/mood/fracas, has been declared the Occupy National Day of Action. September 17 — or #S17, as it has inevitably been hashtagged — also happens to be Rosh Hashanah. And so, inevitably, Occupy Judaism has announced that there…

  By David A.M. Wilensky Aug 23, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Jewish Innovation Needs Collaboration

  The Jewish innovation economy is booming. One study from 2010 claimed that about 600 new initiatives had been launched in the previous decade. These Jewish startups represent millions of dollars in investment on programs that reach thousands of American Jews. But despite this proliferation, another recent study, conducted by the organization Bikkurim, declared that “the…

  By Darren Kleinberg and Jerry Hirsch Aug 22, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Obama Rolls Out His Rabbis

  Obama’s reelection campaign launched its list of Rabbis for Obama, which includes some 600 rabbis of all denominations pledging their support for the president. The campaign takes pride in the number of rabbis on the list. In 2008 only 300 rabbis signed on, now the number has doubled. “Their ringing endorsement of President Obama speaks…

  By Nathan Guttman Aug 21, 2012 | < 1 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘Lynching’ in Zion Square

  On August 17, a mob of several dozen Israeli Jewish teenagers — some reports say as many as 50 — assaulted four Palestinian youths in the center of Jerusalem in an attack that the Jerusalem police have labeled an attempted “lynching.” The young people shouted “death to Arabs” as they chased down and beat the…

  By Jill Jacobs Aug 21, 2012 | 4 min read
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  Opinion

  Ignoring Anti-Semitism Is Sometimes Best

  Nearly 100 years ago, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously coined the phrase “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants” in praise of transparency and honesty in public policy. Not long after, Jewish communal organizations (within which Brandeis was an active supporter of the Zionist cause) appropriated the phrase for their own purposes,…

  By David Bernstein Aug 21, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The Debate We Need

  The selection of U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney’s running mate has been heralded by those who wish to see this year’s tedious, tendentious presidential campaign elevated to a genuine national debate on the size and scope of government. Who can object to that? But if this election is truly going to be about…

  Aug 20, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Bibi’s Iran Plan Rests on Shaky Ground

  Israel’s leading television news program, Channel 2 News, now informs us that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak are “on the brink” of approving an Israeli military attack on Iran. Their thinking, as reported, hinges on two very iffy assumptions. The first is about America’s intentions. The Israeli leaders, we’re told, do not believe…

  By Leonard Fein Aug 19, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Taking Ownership of Our Talmud

  No Jewish tradition is more revered, more popularly identified with Judaism than learning. And yet, strangely, the commandment to study Torah appears nowhere in the Torah. It actually originates in the Talmud. The sages inferred it from the biblical commandment to “teach it (the Torah) diligently to thy children” (Deuteronomy 6:7). They figured you can’t…

  By J.J. Goldberg Aug 19, 2012 | 4 min read