Ira Sharkansky

  By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Politics does not operate like a Swiss watch. The image is outdated, but remains useful. The overwhelming majority of watches are electronic, run by batteries and tiny programs rather than by springs and cog wheels made and assembled by skilled craftsmen (or craftspeople) in Swiss villages. Word is that

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –Signs are not auspicious for Barack Obama’s coming visit. The front page of Friday’s Ma’ariv headlined a poll showing more Israel’s viewing him as antagonistic to Israel (38%) than as supportive of Israel (33%), and substantially more Israelis opposing a gesture toward the Palestinians in connection with the visit (51%) than

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Politics is not for nice people. Sure, there are required smiles, and even hugs for those current with the fashions. Hand shakes and back slaps have been around for a long time. But the demonstrations of warmth are not likely to be genuine. The work is too hard, and most

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — As I begin to write this column the latest news is that coalition negotiations are stuck on the highly nonprincipled issue of which party will get to name the Ministers of Education and Interior. That may be solved by the time I’ve done my final editing and clicked on Send.

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Nervous Jews are worrying if Barack Obama is intent on forcing Israel into a peace process. Leaving aside the issue that being nervous is a chronic condition of being Jewish, an appropriate response to Obama and all the others who think that Israel is not doing enough to make peace

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Money is not everything, but it buys most of the things that are. Values are also important in politics, but the important ones have something to do with money. For that reason, whoever controls the purse is somewhere near the top of the heap. In the United States system of

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The fighters who seized a patrol of UN Peacekeepers across the border on the Golan Heights explained their actions by the assertion that the UN as well as Bashar al-Assad and his soldiers are agents of Israel. In the eyes of some, made important at least momentarily by their weapons and putting

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Two separate issues are telling us something about the status of Israel in international perspective. One is the visit of President Barack Obama, which has triggered hopes and fears of what he will do when he gets here, up to and including a timetable for the withdrawal of a half

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Bibi has finished the four weeks provided by the President to create a government, and has received the two-week extension allowed by law to the President’s discretion. Prospects are not good, with the two contentious camps of the Haredim and anti-Haredim cursing and threatening one another. Bibi says that he

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Maariv is one of Israel’s two centrist Hebrew dailies, along with Yedioth Aharonoth. They are between Haaretz to the left and Israel Hayom to the right. While no editorial board may be free of subtle or not so subtle intentions, one doesn’t read Maariv prepared for the most obvious of

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Palestinian unrest is competing with domestic unrest about the Haredim as the principal items in Israel’s media. Has the third intifada already started? Is it only a matter of time? It appears that the Palestinian leadership on the West Bank has no desire for a full blown rebellion. They know

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Bibi currently has 37 MKs in his coalition, but maybe not. The candidate who presented herself as highly principled, i.e., Tsipi Livni, signed on, but in the process threw her number #2 under the bus and may have provoked a split in her new party, “The Movement.” Amram Mitzna expected