Opinion

• Opinion

  TV Host Shakes Up Israeli Politics

  Prior to his announcement that he was leaving Israel’s Channel 2 to run for the Knesset, Yair Lapid, a popular Israeli media personality and son of the late Yosef (Tommy) Lapid, must have been encouraged by a Geocartography poll that placed an unnamed, hypothetical party led by him second, with 20 seats, behind only a…

  By Liam Hoare

  4 min read
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  Opinion

  No Contest for Tiny New Hampshire Jewish Vote

  Republicans talked tough on Iran in the lead-up to today’s New Hampshire primary, but it wasn’t Jewish voters they were hoping to impress. At the January 7 Republican presidential debate, Rick Santorum called Iran “the most pressing issue we deal with today.” Frontrunner Mitt Romney accused President Obama of failing to demonstrate to the Iranians…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Jan 9, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Two Mideast Democracies, Side by Side

  Advocates of democracy in the Middle East have been deeply alarmed since December 29, when Egyptian security forces staged lightning raids on the offices of three American nonprofits that work to promote democracy and fair elections overseas. Egyptian officials say they seized the organizations’ books and computers because they suspect them of fomenting the unrest…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 9, 2012 | 4 min read

Columnists View All

• Alyssa Katz Class assignment: Get to know your murdered Jewish neighbors

  

• Rob Eshman ‘Remember the Liberty’ has become code for ‘Israel Is Evil’ 

  

• Dan Perry A new proposal to radically destabilize Israel

  

• Emily Tamkin Outrage over Nicholas Kristof’s op-ed on sexual assault of Palestinians is missing the point

  

• Jay Michaelson When it comes to Israel/Palestine, everyone is sure that everyone else is a bigot

  

The Latest

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  Opinion

  Why They Aren’t at the ‘Damn Table’

  The past 18 years of failed attempts to guide Israelis and Palestinians to a two-state solution have produced memorable clichés and even curses on the part of frustrated third-party officials. One of my favorites is, “The outlines of an agreement are known to all,” which I usually attribute to Tony Blair, though there are other…

  By Yossi Alpher Jan 9, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  Adelson Ponies Up for Pro-Gingrich Effort: Reports

  Casino mogul Sheldon Adelson has donated $5 million to a super political action committee that supports Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, the Washington Post reported. The donation to the Super PAC Winning Our Future could be part of a conservative effort to level the playing field as the GOP campaign moves to South Carolina and…

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Jan 8, 2012 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  Prisoners of Both Memory and Hope

  All the pastries and the fine wines cannot erase our tortured wisdom; though affluent, we are not comfortable. We are imprisoned both by our memories and by the world’s disorder. Our only remedy is to remain prisoners of hope as well, to remember not only yesterday but also tomorrow, the promised tomorrow. The notion that…

  By Leonard Fein Jan 8, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  ‘Fred Who’ Takes Shot at GOP Race

  Never heard of Fred Karger? He doesn’t mind. Most people haven’t — so few, in fact, that the slogan of his unlikely Republican presidential campaign, and the title of his campaign biography, is, “Fred Who?” As a GOP presidential candidate, Karger is an anomaly. Not only does he have zero name recognition, Karger is Jewish….

  By Josh Nathan-Kazis Jan 7, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Marwan Barghouti Speaks, Through Wife

  He is the Palestinians’ most famous prisoner and most popular politician. Now Marwan Barghouti is speaking to the American public, through the voice of his wife. Every 15 days, Fadwa Barghouti is allowed to visit her husband in an Israeli prison, where he has served 10 years of five consecutive life sentences for helping to…

  By Jane Eisner Jan 6, 2012 | 2 min read
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  Opinion

  Attack of the Super PACs

  Now that the election year has officially begun, we can take stock of something different about the landscape this time around. The momentous Supreme Court decision two years ago on campaign finance, Citizens United v. Federal Election Committee, has given rise to a new and potentially destructive player in this and future election cycles: the…

  Jan 6, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  When ‘Anti-Semitism’ Is Abused

  We were raised to be vigilant. We were taught to fight oppression, admonished to be New Jews — strong, muscular, defiant. We were told to look for the signs, the slogans and the double-speak. We learned at the knee of those with tattooed forearms; knelt at the feet of those who lost brothers and sisters,…

  By Sarah Wildman Jan 5, 2012 | 3 min read
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  Opinion

  The GOP’s Albatross

  The first votes in the 2012 elections have now been cast by the good people of Iowa, the beneficiaries of this quadrennial honor. And though the caucuses are often not the best indicator of what will happen as the primary contest proceeds — let’s not forget the triumphs there of Mike Huckabee and Pat Robertson…

  By Gal Beckerman Jan 5, 2012 | 3 min read