Steve Kramer

Steve Kramer

Steve Kramer grew up in Atlantic City, graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1967, adopted the hippie lifestyle until 1973, then joined the family business for 15 years. Steve moved to Israel from Margate, NJ in 1991 with his family. He has written more than 1100 articles about Israel and Jews since making Aliyah. Steve and his wife Michal live in Kfar Saba.

OpEd: What Will Netanyahu’s Legacy Be?

Some view Netanyahu as the consummate statesman while others see him as a power-mad autocrat. Objectively speaking, he is the first premier of Israel to be born after Israel’s independence, the only premier to have spent years in the US as a student, and the youngest man to have reached the pinnacle of Israeli political power. By the same token, Bibi is the only sitting Prime Minister to be charged with criminal offenses. [Steve Kramer]

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Israel, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer

OpEd: The Iranian ‘Ring of Fire’ Around Israel Has Been Doused

There was a time, not so long ago, when the Iranian mullahs seemed to be on top of the world. Their vision of an Iranian Caliphate stretching from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea was succeeding. Iran, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon – all were lined up and ready with Gaza to activate Iran’s “Ring of Fire” circling Israel. Israel’s destruction by the “axis of resistance” would have made Iran the preeminent power in the Middle East, eclipsing both Turkey and Egypt. [Steve Kramer]

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Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, USA

Visiting the Gaza Envelope

Recently we followed in the footsteps of many Israelis and traveled south to the “Gaza envelope” (the area of Jewish communities adjacent to the border). We were on one of two buses sponsored by the ESRA organization going to the area where 1,269 Israelis (and some others) were killed, thousands were wounded, and 250+ were kidnapped. In addition to our bus there were many other busses and private cars visiting the area. [Steve Kramer]

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Israel, Jewish History, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food

Diverse days in Israel

How were Jews supposed to celebrate Simhat Torah (simcha means joyous) on the anniversary of the massacre? At our synagogue, ordinarily we would go outside and take turns dancing with the Torah scrolls. This year, in a more sedate manner, we stayed inside and made do with circling around the sanctuary. This was done to denote the subdued atmosphere and for safety reasons, because of the daily rocket attacks, mostly from Lebanon, which attack many areas of Israel. [Steve Kramer]

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International, Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food

5785: A good year for the Jews? 

Will the new year be better than the previous horrible one? It’s hard to believe that it won’t be, given the last year’s continuous warfare. At this juncture, Israel has ruptured Hamas in Gaza and killed its leader Yahya Sinwar, leaving the major problems returning our hostages and eliminating the remnants of the Hamas fighting forces. [Steve Kramer]

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Israel, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer

OpEd: Biden Administration Ties Israel’s Hands Behind Its Back

Never mind that many of the “innocents” were terrorists, many more were supporters of Hamas, and any civilians who were killed were human shields, a diabolical war crime that ensures many civilian casualties. This is the atrocious Hamas strategy of making the Gazans into the first line of defense for Hamas terrorists (human shields). [Steve Kramer]

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Israel, Middle East, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, USA

‘Careful, Beauties Ahead’ Probes Lives of Haredim

Tuvia is an expat Israeli born to a Yiddish-speaking rabbinical family in Bnei Brak, Israel’s largest majority ultra-Orthodox city. He has lived in Germany, the US, and elsewhere for many decades, working as a journalist and author. Holding multiple academic degrees and speaking several languages, Tuvia is also a playwright, essayist, and the founding artistic director of the Jewish Theater of New York. [Steve Kramer]

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Books, Poetry & Short Stories, Israel, Jewish Religion, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, USA

Cooking with Ingredients from Gaza Border Farms

About 75 per cent of Israel’s vegetables came from the Gaza border area, known as the Gaza envelope (Otef Aza in Hebrew), as do many fruit and dairy products. Since the October 7 attack, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, 89 per cent of Israeli farmers have been negatively impacted by this war. [Michal Kramer]

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Israel, Lifestyles, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, Travel and Food

OpEd: U.S. Prevents Israel from Winning War with Hamas

Increasing the risk to our soldiers and prolonging the war, Israel has had to coordinate much of its strategy and tactics with the US State Department; reduce its offensive attacks, especially airborne ones; use less potent munitions; and limit the IDF’s efforts to destroy all the hundreds of tunnels underground in Gaza. [Steve Kramer]

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Israel, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, USA

Jews are an Eternal People — So Far!

What makes the Jews “eternal?” First of all, genetics: “A team led by geneticist Harry Ostrer of the New York University School of Medicine concludes today that all three Jewish groups—Middle Eastern, Sephardic, and Ashkenazi—share genome-wide genetic markers that distinguish them from other worldwide populations.” [Steve Kramer]

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International, Israel, Jewish History, Middle East, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer

OpEd: Mass and Social Media Promote Anti-Israel Bias

You hardly need to lift a finger to get the latest on Israel, most often from the “social justice” viewpoint. But is the “news” objective, or does it follow the new journalism dictum that pushing a narrative is preferred to straight forward, objective reporting? [Steve Kramer]

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Antisemitism, International, Israel, Middle East, News Media, Opinion, Staff and Bylined Contributors, Steve Kramer, USA