Ira Sharkansky

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — An Israeli should be careful in criticizing the United States. One reason is pragmatic. The United States–like all the rulers of empires in the past–holds our fate in its hands. True, the United States does not aspire to rule in the fashion of Rome or latter day Britain, but the […]

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It is pathetic that a film so bad could involve deaths and the likelihood of more turmoil and bloodshed. Spend a few minutes looking at the trailer of what is call the Muhammad Movie, or as long as it takes to conclude that it is no better than juvenile in

By  Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — You want irony? The most obvious problem on our horizon involves Iran seemingly intent on acquiring nuclear weapons, and the world’s greatest power claiming to have our interests at heart. but with a President and Secretary of State who are sounding like Neville Chamberlain. Another problem that may be equally

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The New York Times changes from moment to moment the stories at the top of its portion on my home page. If I had not seen an item on Gaza (“‘Forgotten Neighborhood’ Underscores the Poverty of an Isolated Enclave“) in that prized spot we could have spent this time on

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — It isn’t pretty. Israel did what it could to keep the photographers away. It doesn’t play well against the history of Jews having to move from place to place, and encountering borders closed against them. Jewish officials have problems with their own population, ambivalent about providing refuge and the prospect

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — My most recent column, asking if Israel and the United States are friends, brought forth some of the nasty stuff that is known to exist, but is disturbing when it comes to light. Among the comments sent to the Jerusalem Post blog section “WE ARE NOT FRIENDS. Get it through

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — How bad are the relations between Israel and the United States? It’s a question in our headlines, reflecting the latest blips in the ongoing disagreement between the Obama and Netanyahu administrations about the need to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities. Things have not been all that good between Israel and Barack

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM–The Haifa court’s decision about Rachel Corrie, and the California court decision on Apple vs Samsung provoke me to think again about my former homeland. The  Corrie decision received considerable attention in American media, at least for a day or two. Numerous Americans echoed the Corrie family litany of injustice, official cover-up,

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — David Ben Gurion once said,  “We will know we have become a normal country when Jewish thieves and Jewish prostitutes conduct their business in Hebrew.” A more up to date indicator of Israel’s normality, taken from recent news, is young Jews terrorizing Arabs. Are these occasions for “oy gevalt,” or simply

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM– Israeli courts dealt with two separate cases on Tuesday that touched related features central to the country’s history and–perhaps–to its future. In one, a lower court in Haifa dismissed a suit by the parents of Rachel Corrie, seeking to force Israel to admit responsibility for her death on a battlefield in Gaza

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM –The status of nuclear weapons in Israel bears some tantalizing resemblance to the status of the Almighty in Judaism. Those concerned with the history and role of God can click here, and continue further for as many years as the interest or life continues. It is risky in the extreme to summarize

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — In all the noise coming out of the White House and key spots in other governments, it is hard to know what is serious, and what is meant to soothe an audience of greater or lesser importance.   The latest mystery concerns a warning from Barack Obama himself against Syria’s