By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM– According to Israeli media commenting on the by now annual PR gimmick called The White House Seder, President Obama suffers from multiple personality disorder. He has been cast in the role of each of the four sons of the Hagadah. He’s wise. By putting pressure on Israel he’s winning the hearts […]
Obama watchers compare him to each of the four sons at a seder Read More »
Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–This is the season sacred to both Jews and Christians. Passover and Easter are arguably the formative events of both communities. To this skeptic, there is no chance that the Easter story of resurrection is historically accurate. There may have been some historical incidents behind the biblical story of the Exodus, but
Something of a holiday lull descends over Israel Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–One of the arguments against electing Shimon Peres as President of the State of Israel was that he wouldn’t be above the fray, as is expected of a titular Head of State, but deep in it. However, after the embarrassment of his predecessor having to leave office before his time was
Shimon Peres speaks out on Jerusalem crisis Read More »
Middle East, USAJERUSALEM–It’s too early to panic, I hope. President Obama returned to his sweeping demand that Israel stop construction in post-1967 neighborhoods of Jerusalem, extend the construction freeze in settlements outside of Jerusalem beyond the ten months agreed, and take other steps to bring the Palestinians to negotiations. Comments at a high tone have come from
U.S-Israel rift may cool over Passover holiday Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USAJERUSALEM–Now when he’s about to get a Jewish son-in-law, Bill Clinton moves to Israel, converts to Judaism, forms a political party and is elected Prime Minister with acclamation. I cannot have the same fantasy about Barack Obama whose popularity in Israel is now in single digits. But unlike Clinton, Obama may want to be involved
Watching Israeli reactions to Obama-Netanyahu rift Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–It may be time for Barack Obama to visit the Knesset. Anwar Sadat’s visit in 1977, and his opening words “In the name of God, Mr. Speaker of the Knesset, ladies and gentlemen . . .I come to you today on solid ground to shape a new life and to establish peace.
Should Obama make a Sadat-like visit to the Knesset? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO — Okoronkwo Umeham and his wife, Gail Feurzeig Umeham, have heard rumors that the Mexican government may apologize for his wrongful incarceration in a Tijuana Federal Detention Center earlier this month, but so far that is all that the reports have turned out to be – rumors. To my
Schmooze and News for all us Jews Read More »
Donald H. Harrison, Middle East, USABy Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C.–Sometimes it takes a while for a story to come full circle. Last week, we reported on a ForeignPolicy.com blog that said American military officers in CENTCOM blamed U.S. relations with Israel for American weakness in the region. The ForeignPolicy blog went viral on the web, attracting other “authoritative” statements blaming
General Petraeus sets record straight on Israel Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, USABy Carine Chitayat and Iris Pearlman SAN DIEGO–The Adopt A Family Foundation (AAFF) is an organization which matches Israeli terror victim families with an American contact family. This program sets into motion an unprecedented partnership of Jewish souls. This valuable contact enables the terror victim family to begin to rebuild their traumatized lives with added
Israeli victims of terror find support in San Diego Read More »
Middle East, USA
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Things are not happy on the US-Israel front. Ha’aretz has taken the unusual step of putting a cartoon in the upper middle of its first page. It shows Bibi pushing a wheelbarrow full of construction material to his meeting with a scowling Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. There were two meetings in
U.S.-Israel relations decline as Jerusalem apartment units climb Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USABy Lloyd Levy LONDON–This week, Britain expelled an Israeli diplomat, because they suspect that Mossad used forged British passports to kill a Hamas terrorist in Dubai. It needs to be pointed out that there is no definite evidence that Israel carried out the attack, and thus the issue was a very public way of attacking
UK's expulsion of Israeli diplomat a domestic election ploy Read More »
Lloyd Levy, Middle East, USABy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–A Likud member of the Jerusalem city council said in a TV interview that he was very upset with the news concerning the 20 apartments for Jewish settlers to be built in the midst of an Arab neighborhood in the city. He didn’t think it was wrong – on the contrary
Two views of latest Jerusalem apartment controversy Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–This hasn’t been an easy week for J Street, the American-Jewish lobby that claims to be an alternative to the Jewish establishment in the United States. The AIPAC convention with its record attendance, belying the contention by David Remnick I cited the other day that it represented primarily old and rich
Do American Jews welcome U.S. pressure on Israel? Read More »
Middle East, USABy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–Politics moves by symbols and slogans. Policymaking operates under an umbrella of politics, but gives more weight to the details of reality. Examples of the symbols and slogans that have moved American politics are war on drugs, war on terror, and–in the words of a Washington observer with a fancy title– “the
Is White House moving past symbols? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East, USA