Columns

The list of non-Jews, non-Israelis and non-Palestinians who I won’t be taking guidance from about Judaism, Israel and anti-Semitism continues to grow. The newest addition: Melat Kiros. The Democratic nominee for Colorado’s Congressional District 1 joins a long list.

In most visitors, Alaska inspires wonder at its beauty, awe at its wildlife and admiration for the hardiness of those who make their lives in its vast backcountry, enduring some of the harshest conditions on earth. For Israelis, it can also inspire humility. Not because the Jewish state is smaller than Denali National Park, but because in Alaska one is reminded that the world neither revolves around Israel nor is obsessed with it.

It stopped me in my tracks. A yahrzeit candle perched on a stone plaque right by the Danube River. At the edge of a quiet, tiny town. A pit stop kind of a place, as you’re weaving through bigger cities. I’m not...

Penning a column due to be published on America’s semi-quincentennial is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I better do a darn good job, right? As an American turned dual American-Israeli citizen, I see America’s 250th birthday as an opportunity to reflect on some of the values implanted within me growing up. One of those is dialogue across divides, or sharing friendship despite different communal, political or religious affiliations.

Two hundred and fifty years. This July 4th carries an additional dimension of momentousness: a landmark birthday, officially called America’s semiquincentennial celebration. It’s been exactly a quarter of a millennium since the Declaration of Independence was signed.

In the UK, broadcasters are not permitted to report on elections on election day itself. What a contrast from here, where for weeks I’ve been receiving regular reports from the Secretary of State on how many primary ballots have been returned. Some are very detailed — for example how many Democratic or Republican ballots have been returned. It feels like there’s an undercurrent there.

Am I simply living on the wrong side of the tracks? Or is it cynicism? Perhaps I am seeing the present distorted by rose colored glasses from the good old days? Is it economic — society has robbed many of the good life? Maybe I never noticed before? Maybe nothing has changed?

Although I like to believe that last week’s signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is not the end of the story, but rather roughly equivalent to the Book of Esther’s chapter 3, when Haman’s power seemed elevated and formalized as he became the recipient of the king’s signatory ring. The story of the Megilla still has multiple chapters waiting to unfold before Haman’s downfall is final. The tension and uncertainty still weigh heavily.

I never understood people who said Trump was Israel’s best friend. One thing we know about Donald Trump is that he is unreliable. Suddenly, for Israel’s “best friend,” uranium enrichment by Iran, a 747 from Qatar and cutting Israel out of Saudi-US engagement — all red lines for Israel and its allies — are on the table. With a best friend like this, who needs enemies?

“Genocide” is an intent to exterminate an entire group, and an effort to actualize the intent. Israel has no such intent. It went to war in Gaza as a matter of self-defense. By definition, self-defense cannot constitute an intent to exterminate an entire group. When Israel declared war on Hamas after Oct. 7, it was not for revenge, not for retaliation, not tit-for-tat. It was for self-preservation.