In Haaretz, Moshe Arens has accused the Israeli left of not accepting, first, that Israeli democracy is working fine, and second, the specific “verdict of the electorate.” Arens’ framing of Israeli democracy is flawed because he leaves several important points out of his description. To begin with, the Israeli left doesn’t wonder why the system…
(JTA) — As I stood as one of the few Americans among the masses of protesters at Kiev’s Independence Square, the frigid cold reminded me that this was my fourth year trying to survive a harsh Ukrainian winter. The crowd seemed be warming up thanks to the incessant chants – and hot breath – that…
Suddenly, there’s a torrent of data — polls of American Jewish opinion (Pew), of Israeli public opinion (Israel Democracy Institute) and illuminating reports on sundry aspects of life, here and in Israel. One such report, one that has lamentably garnered less attention than the public opinion results, is a report published by Peace Now, an…
At the start of President Barack Obama’s presidency, he announced a “pivot towards Asia” after years of American military and political resources being bogged down in the Middle East. Obama’s speech Tuesday at the United Nations General Assembly shows how clearly the pendulum has swung back. Although he referred to Iran, Syria Israel, and Palestine…
“… whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.” —U.S. Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 It’s funny how watching the news can take you to new places and remind you how alike we are under the skin. Take this…
An Israeli lawmaker on Monday submitted a highly controversial proposal that would make Judaism superior to democracy in the State of Israel, amending a previous bill that was tossed by the Knesset before the last general election. Coalition Chairman MK Yariv Levin (Likud) presented his formulation for a new Israeli basic law, one that obligates…
Two years ago, as the fragile beginnings of free expression swept through the Arab world, Arab media was compelled to reinvent itself. Messages sent through Twitter and other social media, videos uploaded to YouTube, blogs and photographs produced by “citizen journalists” — all served to bring energy and populist force to the uprisings and challenged…
Palestinians voted in local elections in the Israel-occupied West Bank on Saturday, their first vote for six years and one with little choice, out of step with democratic revolutions elsewhere in the Arab world. The results were expected to largely reaffirm the Western-backed, mainly secular Fatah party, which runs a de facto government in the…
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