Ira Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science and public administration at Hebrew University.
His books, which are available on Amazon, include:
*Alternative federal solutions to the problem of the administered territories
*Ambiguity, Coping, and Governance: Israeli Experiences in Politics, Religion, and Policymaking
*Ancient and Modern Israel: An Exploration of Political Parallels
*Coping with Terror: An Israeli Perspective
* Governing Israel: Chosen People, Promised Land and Prophetic Tradition
*Governing Jerusalem: Again on the World’s Agenda
* Israel and its Bible: A Political Analysis
* Maligned States: policy accomplishments, problems and opportunities
* Policy Analysis in Political Science
* Policy and Politics in American Governments
* Policy Making in Israel: Routines for Simple Problems and Coping with the Complex
* Politics and Planning in the Holy City
* Politics and Policymaking in Search of Simplicity
* Public Administration: Agencies, Policies, and Politics
* Public Administration Policy Making in Government Agencies
* Public Administration (2nd Edition): Policy Making in Government Agencies
* Regionalism in American Politics
* Rituals of Conflict: Religion, Politics, and Public Policy in Israel
* Spending in the American States
* The Policy Predicament: Making and Implementing Public Policy
* The Political Economy of Israel
* The Politics of Religion and the Religion of Politics
*The Politics of Taxing and Spending
* The Routines of Politics
* The United States: A Study of a Developing Country
* The United States Revisited: A Study of a Still Developing Country
* Urban Politics and Public Policy [Robert Lineberry]
* What Makes Israel Tick: How Domestic Policy-Makers Cope with Restraints
* Wither the State: Politics and Public Enterprise in Three Countries
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Back to my homeland? I’m no longer sure what is my homeland. I did not flee the US, in contrast to relatives of earlier generations who felt they had to leave Eastern Europe or Germany, but to take a job that looked interesting. Over time, I became more Israeli and […]
Thoughts on America of a visiting ex-pat Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The comparison of Israel and South Korea is not as strange as it may seem. Both had historical periods of poverty and national disaster, and both have achieved military credibility and economic success. They are currently very close on the World Bank’s list of the most wealthy countries. And both
Israel, North Korea … and Donald Trump Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — We’re been in the week between the day to remember victims of the Holocaust, and the day to remember those who died in the defense of Israel or as the result of terror. Varda, who carries the Hebrew version of her Grandmother’s name, lights candles for that Grandmother, taken from
A country unites in sadness and resolve Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It’s pretty much the same across the 40 or so countries that can claim to be functioning democracies. Elected officials sit at the top, and claim to be running things, but they are dependent on professionals in the administrative departments to advise them on what is possible and wise, and
Sara Netanyahu may be indicted for public funds misuse Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — There’s always something to bother the Jews of Israel. Currently we’re smelling the preparations for a national election. Some may suspect that it wafts over the continent from Britain or France, but it comes from local pressures. The major responsibility may be those long-running police investigations into Sara and Bibi
Current tzimmis: Kahlon, Shabbat, Israeli KIA, Barghouti Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — We’re a long way from understanding the man who our American friends chose as their President, and just as long from being able to guess what he’ll do next. It’s both drama and mystery. We outsiders may lack some of the details about American politics. Americans who think they understand their
Trump from afar: unpredictable, inexperienced Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — There are both big and little issues in politics, and they compete to determine what we think and how we vote. The big things get the headlines: war, hopes of peace, economic crises, large scale migration, natural disasters, major projects that cost a great deal and promise huge benefits, and personal
The bubble machine at work near you Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — There is a lot that is hidden from view, but what we can see is not promising. The US Secretary of State and other ranking officials are overlooking the considerable Russian investment in Bashar al-Assad, and demanding that Putin et al abandon their ally and work with the US in
Russia abandoning Assad is a U.S. fantasy Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — I awoke Friday morning to the news of a significant American attack on Assad’s forces. It recalled the first bulletins about 9-11, George W. Bush talking about the fall of Saddam, pictures of the Libyan crowd killing Qaddafi, Barack Obama announcing the end of Osama bin Laden, and.watching John Kennedy
Questions abound in wake of U.S.’s strike on Syria Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It’s no surprise that Americans vote their interests. Most likely, citizens of all countries with a meaningful right to vote are parochial, i.e., most concerned about what’s close to them. For many, national political matters are less important that what they get from local authorities– whether their streets and parks are
American presidents typically lack foreign knowledge Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Politics is unlikely to be static, or even stable. Things change. The causes can be pressures from the economy, international events, domestic tragedies, or the maneuvers of political rivals. All this makes prediction risky, and usually foolish. Yet a snapshot is also helpful. Assuming that the description is reasonable, it
Despite all, Likud still best bet to lead Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It’s not a good sign when an op-ed piece in the Washington Post uses the terms incompetent, stupid, and a “cartoon version of a presidency” in connection with Donald Trump. The President’s supporters are already making their standard remarks about a left-wing press. Sure, the Washington Post along with the
Trump versus other presidents’ competence Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Israel’s vibrant democracy is at another testing point of holding itself together. However, these times have occurred often enough over the course of 70 years to suggest that the country will survive, more or less as is. The current uptick of political squabbles is occurring along with several police investigations into
Troubles, rivals multiply for Netanyahu Read More »
International, Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — There’s an unpleasant lesson in the enthusiastic homecoming provided to Ahmad Daqamseh, the Jordanian soldier who served a 20 year sentence for killing young Israeli girls at the “Island of Peace” on the Israeli-Jordanian border, and another unpleasant lesson in Dagamseh’s comments that Israel is a rotten place that must
Differences often vast between Arab street and leaders Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East