Opinion

• 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…

  < 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

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

• 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
• Opinion

  Disaffection Row: Pro-Israel Journalists Giving Up on Defending Israel

  Now that we’ve all had a couple of days to enjoy the prospect of a sunny 2011, it’s time to get back to the worrying. In that spirit, here’s a thought to start us off: Some of Israel’s staunchest supporters in the American media are beginning to wonder openly how much longer they’ll be able…

  By J.J. Goldberg Jan 3, 2011 | 4 min read
• Opinion

  A Haredi Essayist on Finding Beauty Where You Least Expected It

  Rabbi Avi Shafran is the public affairs director of Agudath Israel of America, the Haredi advocacy and social service organization. On the side he writes a weekly column that goes out by email and appears in various publications and websites. I get it in my mailbox and I almost always open it up to see…

  By J.J. Goldberg Dec 30, 2010 | 2 min read
• Opinion

  The Lieberman Question

  What are Diaspora Jews to make of Avigdor Lieberman? In his latest outburst before 170 of Israel’s senior diplomats, the pugnacious, rebellious foreign minister called the Palestinian Authority illegitimate, the Turkish prime minister a liar, and ridiculed the central policy of his own government. This is nothing new, of course. In September, Lieberman delivered such…

  Dec 29, 2010 | 2 min read
• Letters

  Edgar Bronfman’s Tent

  Edgar Bronfman’s December 17 opinion article, “Opening Our Tent,” perfectly reframes the issue of intermarriage. Jewish survivalists continually preach from a defensive and guilt-ridden posture that unless our Jewish children marry other Jews, Jewish identity is headed toward extinction. But Jewish outreach can no longer follow the old model because younger Jews are no longer…

  Dec 29, 2010 | 2 min read