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.
By Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — A few of my readers recently asked me to explain the difference between “Palestinians” living inside and outside of Israel’s borders. Who are the “Palestinians” anyway? First, see below: “Palestine” does not exist today as a nation-state, but at multiple times in history, including the present, it has […]
A brief history of ‘Palestine’ Read More »
Middle East, Steve KramerBy Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — Long before the mid-7th century CE Muslim/Arab Conquest of the eastern Mediterranean coast, known as the Levant, the Jews inhabited the area known today as the Golan Heights. Modern-day Ramat ha Golan (Golan Heights or the Golan) is the western section of the Biblical region of Bashan, dating
Capsule history of the Golan Heights Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, USABy Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel –I’ve just finished watching the Netflix hit, Fauda, on my iPhone. This gritty Israeli series has Hebrew and Arab dialogue with English subtitles. Fauda is a realistic portrayal of the intelligence services’ activities in Israeli and Arab towns to prevent terror attacks or to apprehend or “liquidate” terrorists. Fauda’s pace
Are Democrats going way of British Labour? Read More »
International, Middle East, Steve Kramer, USABy Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — On April 9, the citizens of Israel will return to the polls nearly four years after the previous election. Voting for the 22th Knesset in Israel’s short, 71-year history, Israelis hope that the new government will last the full four year term, which the current one, unlike most
An Israeli election primer Read More »
Middle East, Steve KramerBy Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — Politically speaking, do you consider yourself a liberal, a progressive, a conservative, a libertarian, left wing, right wing, none of the above? Regardless, are you a supporter of Israel? If so, do you support or “follow” one organization or another that is involved with Israel, whether it be
Op-Ed: Some ‘pro’- Israel groups aren’t Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA
By Steve Kramer MT. ARBEL, Israel — I joined the ESRA (English Speaking Residents Association) hike to Mt. Arbel, one of Israel’s most beautiful treks. We began at Moshav Migdal, near Lake Kinneret, popularly known as the Sea of Galilee. We first walked about one mile to the start of the Arbel ascent. Once on
Sightseeing: A hike up Israel’s Mt. Arbel Read More »
Middle East, Sports & Competitions, Steve Kramer, Travel and FoodBy Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — The vaunted two-state solution is defunct, because the Palestinian Arabs want to annihilate Israel, not “live alongside of Israel in peace.” The one-state solution has its own insurmountable problems. So, what is the best alternative other than continuing the status quo? Jordan as the State of Palestine. When
Should a democratic Jordan become the real Palestine? Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer
By Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — Michal and I recently returned from a visit to Vienna. We had as good a time as Jews can have there. (More about that later.) Vienna is the capital of Austria, one of several Central and Eastern European countries which have established close governmental ties with Israel. In
Six days in Vienna Read More »
International, Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Steve KramerBy Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — Of course, Israel should be governed by its indigenous people. Isn’t every country? Not really. In the Merriam-Webster dictionary, indigenous means produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally in a particular region or environment. According to http://www.indigenouspeople.net, indigenous people are people defined in international or national legislation as having a
No, wait, it was the Jews! Read More »
Jewish History, Jewish Religion, Middle East, Steve Kramer
Story and photos by Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — Succot is probably Israel’s favorite Jewish holiday. Many Israelis take advantage of the reduced workweek and school vacation to go abroad. But even more use the time to travel throughout the country, attending the many festivals and entertainment activities. During the “middle days” of the
Touring Israel during the Succot holiday Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, Travel and FoodBy Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — Dana Milbank, an American author and political op-ed columnist for The Washington Post, has horrified me by his latest article for his newspaper: “America’s Jews are watching Israel in horror” (washingtonpost.com 9/21/18) There’s been much talk about American Jews pulling away from Israel, which has undeniably occurred as
Are American Jews really horrified about Israel? Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, USABy Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — The Palestinian Arabs have turned refugee status into a profession, according to Middle East expert Mordechai Kedar. If nothing is done to change this, by the end of the 21st century, Palestinian Arab “refugees” may number about 100 million! How’s that possible? UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works
Palestinian Refugee- ism must end Read More »
Middle East, Steve KramerBy Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — According to britannica.com, nationalism is, “… an ideology based on the premise that the individual’s loyalty and devotion to the nation-state surpass other individual or group interests … it [is] one of the great, if not the greatest, single determining factors of modern history.” Zionism, the need of
A brief history of Zionism Read More »
International, Jewish History, Middle East, Steve KramerBy Steve Kramer KFAR SAVA, Israel — American Jews are wondering what’s happened to Israel and why is it straying so far from its original principles, especially as evinced by the recently-passed Nation-State Law of the Jewish People. I wondered whether to write about this law and whether Jews in America even knew about it.
Why is Israel losing American Jews? Read More »
Middle East, Steve Kramer, USA