For decades now I have been active in shaping the moral face of Israel, the democratic nation-state of the Jewish people. I have been involved in writing the codes of ethics for the IDF, the Knesset, the government, several ministries as well as numerous major organizations and professions.
It’s a revelation that’s shaking up Israel’s political and media worlds as intensely as reports of a proposed secret deal between Donald Trump, CNN and Fox News would rock the United States.
A quantitative and qualitative review of John Kerry’s speech, given in response to U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334, shows that from the very beginning, Kerry was clearly making the case for Israel.
153Last month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued two public statements. When the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution criticizing settlements, Netanyahu attacked it for not condemning Syria. When Secretary of State John Kerry defended the Obama administration’s decision to let the resolution pass, Netanyahu attacked him for not sufficiently condemning the Palestinians.
544There’s something appealingly quaint about parsing the subtle sexism in these remarks.
You thought we were chumps to believe that separation and sacrifice would ensure Israel’s future. So what’s your plan?
379As the 50 year anniversary of the Six Day War and the ongoing military Occupation that followed it approaches, it is about time we on the Left act with the same audacity as our political opponents, argues Avner Gvaryahu.
President Obama’s stinging December 23 refusal to veto a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements as a “flagrant violation of international law” did more than just excite enraged claims that America abandoned Israel or stabbed it in the back. In departing from the custom of every American administration of the last four decades, Obama provoked the larger question: Does his decision promote U.S. national security interests?
That one can legitimately question whether the Palestinians are ready partners for peace, however, provides no excuse for foreclosing the possibility of the only option that is in Israel’s interest. As a lifelong Zionist, that the implementation of the two state policy poses a difficult challenge is simply another obstacle to be overcome. Ben Gurion would be ashamed by the failure of Israel’s current leadership to find an innovative solution.
90The obstacle to peace is the refusal of Palestinians to accept the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their homeland. It’s not David Friedman.
226It probably feels good to sit in the comfort of your Long Island living room and send money to expand Beit El. But your children weren’t among the Israeli soldiers and police officers who faced Beit El settlers throwing rocks and burning tires during last year’s demolition of two illegal buildings there.
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