Let My People Go Photo: Speakers at Begin Heritage Center book launch, L-R: Australia’s Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma, Supreme Court Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, Isi Leibler, Natan Sharansky, and Ilan Greenfield, Gefen Publishing. Photo by Andres Lacko...
Rosh Hashanah: Confronting the challenges of 5776 The past year, like its predecessors, will once again be viewed by many as an annus horribilis. It has indeed been a bitter year on many fronts. Israel is an oasis surrounded by a sea of savagery which is reminiscent of the Dark Ages, with Islamic...
Passionate political conflict and civility The bitterness of the debate in the United States in relation to Iran has again raised questions concerning civil discourse when contentious and emotional issues arise. Israeli politicians are renowned for resorting to hyperbole and even outright...
Jews and the Lucky Country I have just returned from Down Under, Australia, the country that nurtured me prior to my aliyah. It remains one of the most delightful countries in the world, providing an unparalleled quality of life. Indeed, Australians remain so laid back that...
Abe Foxman’s retirement: End of an era I received a call recently from Abe Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, in which he castigated me for not consulting him in advance of my publishing strong criticism of his remarks. After a brief acrimonious exchange, he hung up...
A Disgrace: New York Attorney General Investigates Claims Conference Two years ago, at the annual Claims Conference board meeting, directors representing the World Jewish Congress, the Jewish Agency and others, failed in their efforts to introduce meaningful reforms to the organization. This week, the annual board...
Explosive new Claims Conference scandals revealed Almost a decade has passed since I began urging for drastic reform and change of leadership at the Claims Conference in the wake of successive scandals relating to the mismanagement of the organization entrusted to pursue justice on behalf of the...
American Jews are in “Galut” – Exile The exceptional response to my column, “American Jewish leaders fail to respond to Obama’s threats,” combined with further developments on the American scene, have brought me to the sad conclusion that when the chips are down and when faced...
American Jewish leaders fail to respond to Obama’s threats It is time to stop making excuses for American Jewish leaders and their failure to respond to U.S. President Barack Obama’s latest despicable efforts to turn the Jewish community against Israel. This time he employed a charm offensive, expressing...
Commemorate the heroic contribution of Soviet Jewish activists Last week, I was deeply saddened to learn that Volodya Slepak passed away. A week earlier another giant among the heroes of Soviet Jewry, Volodya Prestin, also died, preceded a few months ago by Yuli Kosharovsky. They were members of a group of a...
