Ira Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science and public administration at Hebrew University.
His books, which are available on Amazon, include:
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Politics and its close cousin policymaking appear in a few big issues, and lots of little ones that can be very upsetting but don’t amount to much more than excitement. Big issues may include pressing an adversary in a way that may produce serious military conflict, and opening one’s borders […]
Policy issues big and small roil Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Take your pick. Should we begin with Sara Natanyahu, Mahmoud Abbas, or Donald Trump? A prominent good government activist, Eliad Shraga, has been quoted in The Jerusalem Post. “The truth that nobody wants to say must be spoken . . . That woman is probably not mentally fit to stand
Nuttiness at the top Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It isn’t easy responding to the threats of kites and balloons that carry home made fire bombs and explosives, when children as young as 8 are used by Hamas to send them toward Israelis fields and towns. So far, Israelis have decided to accept the damage, rather than escalate into
Israel ambivalent about reprisals against Gaza Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It’s not easy writing about the American President. Intellectual honesty requires the admission that there are some plusses among many minuses, or at least some aspects of his behavior that might merit praise, depending on one’s perspective. His recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his criticism of Palestinians compares
Weighing Trump from an American- Israeli’s perspective Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The concept of a lone soldier refers to someone serving in the IDF without a family to provide support, comfort, and a place to rest. Most of them are Jews who have come from overseas in order to serve in the IDF. The military makes provision, by virtue of assuring that
Lone Soldiers strengthen Israel- Diaspora relations Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Those who aren’t friendly to Israel, including some Jews, think that a country for the Jews goes against the trends of integration and accommodation across religions, races, and ethnicity. Extremists, including some Jews, say that Israel should remove its designation as being Jewish, should become “a country for all if
Many cultures honored in Germany, Israel Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Politics can be as cheap, demagogic, and seemingly stupid here as elsewhere. Americans living under Donald Trump shouldn’t claim oneupsmanship. His Israeli equivalents can be just as hard to understand, or shameful. One recent fiasco concerns manipulations by the Minister of Culture and Sport, Meri Regev. According to reports, she
Israel also has its political foolishness Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Despite a claimed agreement to be quiet, Gazans continued to send kites and balloons on the prevailing winds to burn fields on the Israeli side of the border. They managed to blacken thousands of dunams (each a quarter acre) of farm land or scrub plus a third of a nature
Israel so far hasn’t responded to Gaza fire kites Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The sitting Israeli Knesset has 24 MKs of Zionist Union, which is basically the Labor Party plus Tzipi Livni and a few associates, and 5 MKs of Meretz. That’s the parliamentary representation of the Jewish left. The Labor Party, in one manifestation or another, has not led an Israeli government
The crumbling Israeli left Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It’s good that American Jews still concern themselves with Israel. One can hope for better information among them, and more sanity at the extremes. Being Jews, however, those are probably hopes to be frustrated. The range of what we hear isn’t all that different from what Israelis express. Likewise, the
Fix it! say American Jews; like Israelis, they differ how Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Jewish Religion, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Limited violence is less than limited war. There were 130 or so dozen rockets and mortars fired toward Israel, with limited damage and a few injuries, all less than critical. It took a hour or two for the government and IDF to decide on the response. As expected, it was
Why Israel limits its response to Gaza rockets Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — In the aftermath of a messy afternoon when some 40,000 Gazans were sent to do havoc on, and if possible over the border into Israel, and IDF personnel killed some 60 and wounded a thousand or two, we’ve been flooded with commentary all over the intellectual map. My Israeli perspective,
Is a genuine ceasefire with Hamas possible? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — There was pomp and ceremony on Jerusalem Day, celebrated here according to the Hebrew calendar, followed by more pomp and ceremony for the opening the US Embassy in Jerusalem. Some days later were the lesser ceremonies for the new Embassies of Guatemala and Paraguay. The government also decided on major
Haredim and Arabs are growing Jerusalem blocs Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — How many times have we seen it? Abba Eban said that they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Here from the eastern edge of French Hill (and Jerusalem), we often see the black smoke of Palestinians burning tires. It’s most likely a protest against Israel’s existence or what
Gazans’ protests did them more harm than good Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East