President Joe Biden delivered his second State of the Union address last week. He spoke to a newly divided Congress and an electorate that polls indicate is generally unimpressed with his performance in office. He used the attention-grabbing State of the Union spectacle to make clear his int…
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The Jewish philanthropic sector is valued in the billions of dollars. It is, literally, a very big business. It is comprised of organizations and individuals dedicated to the highest forms of tzedakah and good works that together have significant impact and worldwide reach.
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against workers based on religion and other protected categories. That law also requires employers to make reasonable accommodation for a worker’s religious beliefs — so long as those accommodations don’t impos…
Turkey has long been a prickly ally. At the crossroads of Europe and Asia, it joined NATO, the West’s Cold War umbrella, in 1952 and served as a bulwark against the USSR in the Mediterranean. Today, Turkey has NATO’s second-largest army and hosts two of the alliance’s airbases. Turkey’s cont…
We have seen a steady rise in antisemitic activity domestically and around the world. The boldness of the physical and verbal attacks is chilling. While it has been comforting to hear words of support, commitment and promised action from government at all levels, we need more than soothing w…
According to new Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin, the plan presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to redefine the authority of Israel’s Supreme Court and to revamp the process for appointment of Supreme Court judges is part of a broad and orderly plan for “judicial …
The tumultuous process of the Republican Party’s effort to elect Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca.) as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives played out like a slow-motion car crash on a NASCAR racetrack. In a voting ritual that had largely been pro-forma for more than a century — with the party h…
In a 5-4 ruling last week, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the lifting of a Trump-era Title 42 order on immigration, which left in place the federal directive that has been used to prevent the entry of millions of asylum seekers at the southern border.
Before and during his recent campaign for office, incoming Republican Rep. George Santos of Long Island, N.Y., claimed to be “half-Jewish.” He also claimed to be a “Latino Jew.” He said that his maternal grandfather was originally from Ukraine and fled to Brazil to escape the Nazis. He also …
Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock’s victory over Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Georgia runoff election last Tuesday was significant. When it occurred, it sealed a 51-49 Democrat majority in the Senate, which was seen as a big deal. That’s because 51-49 would make it much easier fo…
Last week the White House hosted a roundtable meeting on antisemitism led by second gentleman Douglas Emhoff. Numerous administration officials and several representatives of Jewish organizations attended. The urgency for the meeting was clear and was reflected in the words of one of the att…
Our nation is suffering from what can best be described as a mass shooting epidemic. According to data from Gun Violence Archive, more than 600 mass shootings have occurred in the United States over the past 11 months. That’s a startling average of almost two mass shootings per day — defined…
Almost every country wants to host the World Cup. The competition for hosting rights, however, is corrupt. How else does one explain that this year’s World Cup kicked off last month in Qatar after more than a decade’s worth of controversy?
It wasn’t Armageddon. And it wasn’t a red tsunami, either. Last Tuesday’s election results reflected a thoughtful yet divided electorate focused on issues and candidate quality. In a historic departure from midterms shellacking the incumbent president’s party over the past several decades, D…
On Nov. 10, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) announced that it was opening a new front in the war against antisemitism through its “acquisition” of an organization called JLens — a Jewish values-based investor network that promotes socially responsible investing while aggressively advocating…
According to rapper and fashion designer Kanye West (aka “Ye”), he lost “2 billion dollars in one day” when Adidas, the Gap and Balenciaga cut ties with him over a series of very public antisemitic outbursts last month. On Oct. 8, Ye tweeted that he was “going death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE” a…
Israel is under mounting pressure to take a side in Russia’s war with Ukraine. And the complications Israel faces are largely of its own making.
The upcoming midterm elections on Nov. 8 are important. The outcome will determine control of the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives and leadership and control of state government. In our deeply divided and hyper-partisan political environment, the stakes couldn’t be higher. So, if yo…
As we brace for the frustration and uncertainly of Israel’s fifth national election in four years, to be held next Tuesday, and bemoan the frustration of an Israeli electorate so deeply divided on a host of political and social issues, it is worth taking a step back to marvel at the remarkab…
The U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia has always been complicated. With the recent decision by the Saudi-led OPEC Plus cartel to scale back oil supplies by up to two million barrels per day in order to bolster international oil pricing, the complicated relationship between the U.S. and Sau…
Members of Congress are privy to a lot of nonpublic information. And because they regularly introduce legislation or participate in closed-door committee investigations or inquiries, many members become aware of information, or a new regulation being considered or a law in the making, that c…
Iran remains in the headlines. And the theocratic regime is taking a beating. But instead of criticism focused on the politically divisive nuclear deal — which has generated fits and starts of possible agreement, only to fall victim to Iran’s intransigence and unreasonable demands — the focu…
In 1995, Israel and the European Union (EU) entered into an Association Agreement which called for ministerial-level meetings between EU representatives and Israel at least yearly, at which issues of mutual concern were to be discussed. For a number of reasons, it took almost five years for …
The recent, highly anticipated New York Times “expose” of Chasidic yeshivah education in New York State did not disappoint. The lengthy, front-page article painted a disturbing picture of a deliberately deficient secular education program in Chasidic schools, fraudulent misdirection of gover…
The long, complicated and tragic relationship between Jews and Germany was front and center last week. Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid made a brief, but intense, 24-hour visit to Germany as part of an effort to present Israel’s case against a renewed nuclear deal with Iran. But it was the …
Israel has a vexing problem. Under the uneasy status quo in place between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the PA has responsibility for oversight of portions of the West Bank, including responsibility for security issues, while Israel watches close by. But the PA under President Mahmou…
In the end, everyone was an Elizabethan. Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year reign ended quietly with her death last week. And with the accolades from across the globe came a sense of wonder that the 96-year-old monarch’s greatest contribution may have been her steadfastness in her role as wearer o…
We expect a public intellectual to take sides, frame arguments, articulate thoughtful analyses and help shape our thinking. Liberal journalist Peter Beinart is a public intellectual who fills very few of those expectations. Instead, he has shown himself to be overly focused on arguing agains…
President Biden’s announcement last month that the Department of Education would cancel up to $10,000 in student loan debt (and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients) for each borrower earning less than $125,000 has stirred mixed reactions.
The midterm elections are now a little more than nine weeks away. What was once predicted to be a resounding Republican recapture of the House and the Senate is no longer quite so clear. But there are some interesting trends that were reinforced in recent primaries: Republicans are voting f…
As Israel heads toward elections in November, it is hard to ignore a new reality: The country’s domestic political agenda has practically disappeared. Very little of the public debate in today’s Israel revolves around traditional domestic issues which helped define the differences between th…
Former President Donald Trump is facing a wave of civil and criminal investigations. The American people are not accustomed to such probing, public inquiries of the business and political dealings of their former presidents. Yet, in light of the almost daily drumbeat of allegations and taunt…
Israel’s brief air campaign against Islamic Jihad in Gaza, called Operation “Alot Hashacher” (Breaking Dawn) in Hebrew ended in a ceasefire brokered by Egypt. By now, the outbursts of violence along the Gaza border are nearly routine. This event lasted three days. We hope the ceasefire holds.
There’s a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Jewish Agency for Israel office in Moscow. Here is what we know: Last month, Russia’s Justice Ministry called for the Jewish Agency to end operations in that country. Last week, a Russian court held a preliminary hearing on the Justice Ministry’s …
Last month, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and reversed 50 years of abortion rights jurisprudence, the dissent predicted that the court’s reasoning could be used to challenge other cases involving individual freedoms, including the right to use contraception and the right to m…
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska was in Washington last week, where she worked to reawaken awareness about Ukraine’s plight in its ongoing efforts to defend against an unprovoked, brutal Russian attack. She asked Congress for additional defense systems to block Russian missiles and spoke …
President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel last week, for the first leg of his four-day visit to the Middle East, reflected the remarkably strong bonds that have developed between Israel and the United States. Israel rolled out a warm and embracing welcome for their returning “brother Joseph,” an…
When Yair Lapid became the caretaker prime minister of Israel on July 1 — a position he will hold at least until the next round of elections scheduled for November — he offered a simple yet profound statement of his vision for Israel: “Jewish, democratic, liberal, big, strong, advanced and p…
Reports indicate that one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s reasons for invading Ukraine was to prevent Ukraine from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), a military alliance that the West had mostly forgotten about. If those reports are correct, Putin’s NATO calculation…
There is a school of thought that promotes a practical approach to problem solving: Once you identify the problem, skip the hand-wringing and recriminations and move directly to possible solutions.
Israel’s Knesset is expected to dissolve itself this week. Under the governing coalition’s rotation agreement, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will become the acting prime minister, and current Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will become the alternate prime minister. New elections — the country’s…
Why is President Joe Biden going to Saudi Arabia next month?
The current Israeli coalition government led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has exceeded everyone’s expectations. But it is now on the brink of collapse. With just 60 seats in the Knesset, and threats of resignation from members on both the right and left, …
Could Israel’s rightward-leaning parties — who have historically been the strongest advocates for the settler movement — find themselves in the position of causing Israelis who live in the West Bank to be under martial law? That actually might happen, as another politically challenging dilem…
Ghost guns are unserialized, unregistered and untraceable firearms that are bought in pieces and can be assembled at home. They are a worrisome addition to the growing arsenal of killing machines that plague our country. They are legal in 40 states. As crime rates soar, the quick spread and …
We have had enough. We struggle to find the right words. We simply cannot understand the insistence by gun advocates that civilians need access to automatic weapons fortified by high-capacity magazines, with the ability to kill dozens of people in seconds. Nor can we accept the argument that…
For decades, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) seemed like a relic of the Cold War era. Created in 1949 by the United States, Canada and several Western European nations, NATO was designed to provide collective security to member countries against the perceived threat of the Sovi…
We struggle to contain our indignation. The story is upsetting. The video is chilling. The apology was milquetoast. Lufthansa Airlines blew it. But very few seem to care.
Like the rest of the Western world, Israel wants to support Ukraine, in its fight to defend its democracy and right to self-determination against an unprovoked invasion from its more powerful neighbor Russia. But because Russia has a significant presence in Syria and has allowed Israel to co…
Across the globe, developed countries are experiencing decreasing fertility rates and aging populations. People marry later than in earlier decades, delay childbearing until later in life and have fewer children. One result is an aging population with fewer younger people to support the cost…
