Opinion

• Opinion

  A Moment in Bil’in

  In hindsight everyone will be able to point a certain moment or event and say: “There, then, that is when it went off the tracks.” The incident will not necessarily be a large event, the place not always monumental or even memorable. It is only in hindsight, when it comes time to mourn or to…

  By Aryeh Cohen

  4 min read
• Opinion

  Making Reform Relevant

  The Reform movement has launched a series of public dialogues about its future, and the timing could not be more fitting. While Reform remains the largest of America’s four main streams of Judaism, overall membership in Reform synagogues has declined. The movement’s central institution, the Union for Reform Judaism, is still navigating the aftermath of…

  By Evan Moffic Jan 6, 2011 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Israel’s Top Military Brass Is Marching Away From the Prime Minister

  A year after Israel’s military brass was briefly jolted by scenes of banner-waving recruits protesting against settlement evacuation, there’s another round of political murmuring emerging from the ranks. This rebellion couldn’t be more different from the last one, though. These soldiers aren’t speaking out against compromise with Israel’s Arab neighbors — they’re endorsing it. And…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 5, 2011 | 4 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 How anti-Israel rhetoric led to the killing of 2 in Washington, DC

  

• Nora Berman How the Oct. 7 aftermath splintered the New York Dyke March

  

• Dan Perry It looks like Israel totally underestimated Trump

  

• Emily Tamkin Even if the Capital Jewish Museum shooter ‘did it for Gaza,’ his actions were antisemitic

  

The Latest

• Opinion

  The New Congress’s Task

  Republicans in Congress are entitled to a bit of gloating as they settle into their new positions of power and get down to work. They said the voters were unhappy with the way President Obama and his congressional allies were governing, and the voters backed them up. Perhaps it’s true, as Republicans say, that the…

  Jan 5, 2011 | 2 min read
• Letters

  What’s Your Beef With Avigdor Lieberman?

  Your January 7 editorial, “The Lieberman Question,” attacks Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for calling the Palestinian Authority illegitimate and for accusing Turkey’s prime minister of lying. Yet you haven’t told us why these were bad choices of words. The Palestinian president remains in office even though presidential elections were supposed to have been held…

  Jan 5, 2011 | < 1 min read
• Letters

  Goldstone Critics Have a Real Case

  Letty Cottin Pogrebin’s defense of Richard Goldstone is as factually inaccurate as the Goldstone Report itself (“The Un-Jewish Assault on Richard Goldstone,” January 7). Pogrebin’s thesis can be summarized in her own words: “Rather than discuss the contents of the report — which concluded that during the 2008-2009 Gaza war, Israel (as well as Hamas)…

  Jan 5, 2011 | 3 min read
• Letters

  CUFI’s Objection to U.S. Pressure Isn’t About Settlements

  I would like to thank you for your article recognizing a significant milestone: Christians United for Israel having crossed the half-million member mark (“The Biggest Pro-Israel Group in America? That’s Us, Says Christians United,” December 17). I would also like to elaborate on a few points. The article’s sub-headline asserts that “some” feel our “definition…

  Jan 5, 2011 | 2 min read
• Letters

  It Takes Teamwork To Harness the Sun’s Energy

  One of the great contributions of kibbutz life is the notion of collective struggle and accomplishment. Missing from your otherwise lovely December 10 article, “Solar Panels To Bloom in the Negev as Israel Embarks on a Green Revolution,” was any acknowledgment that the creation of the solar industry in Israel and the leadership of the…

  Jan 5, 2011 | < 1 min read
• 
  Opinion

  Britain’s Next Top Rabbi

  The announcement last month that the British chief rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, will retire in 2013 immediately set off a flurry of speculation about potential successors. For Anglo-Jewry, this is a crucial moment. The chief rabbi is considered the leader of the community, setting its tone and priorities, and is its most prominent face to the…

  By Miriam Shaviv Jan 5, 2011 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  Katsav Loses, and Israelis Finally Win

  Now that the euphoria that greeted the rape conviction of former Israeli president Moshe Katsav has started to subside, it is worthwhile to ask the question: Why was this such a big deal? Historically speaking, there are enough reasons to consider this a significant event: the worst crime for which an Israeli official has been…

  By Elana Maryles Sztokman Jan 5, 2011 | 3 min read
• Opinion

  Mirror Image

  The argument has long-since been familiar: If a two-state solution fails, dies from sheer exhaustion, then we’re looking either at a continuation of the status quo or at some form of one-state solution. The status quo is inherently noxious; it is also inherently unstable. It is folly to suppose that it can endure indefinitely, that…

  By Leonard Fein Jan 4, 2011 | 3 min read