Ilan Ramon was the first Israeli astronaut. He was aboard STS-107, the 28th mission of the space shuttle Columbia. Upon re-entry into the atmosphere, Columbia disintegrated and exploded killing all seven crew members on board. Ramon was a great achiever.…
It has been nearly six months since the conclusion of Operation Guardian of the Walls, the latest round in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. On the surface, things have been quite calm since then. But nothing is ever…
Last Wednesday, Israel marked the 35th Ben-Gurion day, commemorating David Ben-Gurion, the leader of the Jewish community in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel, and the first prime minister of Israel after its establishment. He was not…
About ten days ago, the UN General Assembly voted 160-1 in favor of a draft resolution to renew funding for UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine. Hidden within the six items of the resolution were clauses stating…
Next week we will celebrate Hanukkah, the festival that celebrates the victory of the Jews over the Greeks. This is the story that we tell ourselves each year. It is not the truth. The truth is that the Greeks (actually,…
Today, seventy-four years ago, the United Nations decided to adopt the proposal suggested by the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) and create two separate states in Palestine—one for the Arabs and one for the Jews. The proposal, known…
It has been clear from the get go, but after the latest round of talks, everyone understands that Iran has no intention to stall its nuclear arms program. Even before the talks began, Iran’s former head of the nuclear program,…
A few days ago, the United Nations General Assembly passed a (yet another) resolution denying Jewish ties to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Instead of referring to it by its Jewish name, Temple Mount, after the Temple that King Solomon…
As I wrote some three weeks ago, last Thursday the UN passed the final resolution regarding its support for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA). The tally, in a record vote, was 164 in favor of the…
“I can see very strong antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment, and it’s beginning to be ‘okay,’” said Professor Israel Aumann, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Economics, in a recent interview with local newspaper Israel Hayom. I share his concern and “great sorrow,…
Come December, we start thinking about the year that has passed and what we can look for in the coming year. When 2020 was coming to a close, people were optimistic that with Covid and all, 2020 was the worst…
We, the people of Israel, need to construct ourselves according to what made us the people of Israel to begin with: that our connections to each other will be based on the tenet “Love your friend as yourself,” and that…