Ira Sharkansky

By Ira Sharkansky SAN DIEGO — I’ll say it again. Coping is the name of the game. No solutions appear on the horizon, even when standing on a high place. Israeli policymakers concerned with “peace,” “borders,” or however you define that cluster of issues have to cope with Palestinians, Americans, and Western Europeans, as well […]

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The Palestinians are betting the farm. Or–Muslim friends, forgive me– throwing a Hail Mary pass. They are doing everything they can to achieve world recognition of their state, with 1967 borders, a capitol in Jerusalem, and maybe something about refugees, without bothering to negotiate with Israel about what Palestinians might

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The analyst’s job is to make sense out of separate events that might be connected. If done well, it is better than a blind person trying to figure out what is that large, rough thing being felt. However it is done, there is a lack of certainty. It is best

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Prior to 1948, Morocco had the largest Jewish population of North African countries. It was not one community, but several that differed in history, tradition, socio-economic traits, and language. One component traced its heritage to Jews expelled from Spain in the 15th century. Another may have been there since migrations

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –“Until next time” is the theme heard from military officers and commentators wrapping up the weekend’s dust-up with Hamas and its allies/competitors in Gaza. That is also a summary history of Israel. There is no clear answer to the question, “How many wars?” insofar as some “operations” are hardly different from

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–I woke to the sound of the loud speaker at a nearby mosque calling my neighbors to prayer, then read of the IDF’s latest targeted assassinations in Gaza, the continued firing of mortars and rockets in our direction, and the success of the new anti-missile missiles to identify and destroy the heavy

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The Holocaust figured prominently in the migrations from Europe to Palestine and then Israel that began in the 1930s and continued after the war. Along with migrations under pressure from Arab countries, the Holocaust molded a population built on distrust of others. The movement of another million people from the former Soviet

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Some bad things are heading in our direction. The organizers of some 20 ships are planning to sail toward Gaza in May. They will bring back the Mavi Marmara in its second attempt to get through the Israeli Navy. A campaign is building to have the United Nations General Assembly

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Binyamin Netanyahu has been prominent since his service as Ambassador to the United Nations in the 1980s. I’ve compared him to Barack Obama on account of his fluency. He might also be compared to Richard Nixon (Tricky Dick) due to his reputation as a slippery politician, and his capacity to

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Judging a prominent politician who is also a skilled showperson is like putting on a blindfold and attempting to judge a beauty contest. One can ask for advice, listen to the contestants, maybe even touch their faces. Yet a lot will be missing. Any decision to be made will be risky in