Colin ShindlerOn hearing of the terrible explosion in Beirut, the first fear for many was that an Israeli operation to hit a Hezbollah arms dump had gone disastrously wrong. Israel denied any involvement as did Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah — although Hezbollah has stored supplies of Ammonium Nitrate in London and other European cities in the … Read more
For British Jews of a certain age, Alfie Bass, David Kossoff, Warren Mitchell and Lionel Bart were household names in the world of popular music and theater. They were also children of London’s Jewish East End who aspired to make it in the wider world, felt very Jewish, but at the same time were perplexed by … Read more
“Israel can be a partner, a junior partner, but a perfect partner for China in the development of a variety of technologies that change the way we live, how long we live, how healthy we live − in every area.” So spoke Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to China in March 2017. He then went … Read more
Review of The Room where it Happened: A White House Memoir by John Bolton Published by Simon and Schuster, pp. 577 price £25.00 John Bolton is the hawks’ hawk, a maximalist who takes no prisoners — someone who even worried Trump by his views. A neo-con veteran of the Reagan, Bush père and Dubya administrations, … Read more
Eighty years ago on 16 July 1940, Hitler issued Führer Directive No.16 which instructed his forces to prepare for an invasion of the United Kingdom. The Nazis had conquered France and on a clear day could see the white cliffs of Dover — they readied themselves to launch Operation Sealion. A few weeks before, David … Read more
“IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY of an Israeli ambassador to maintain intimate links with his fellow Jews, in whatever country he serves. If you have a Jewish heart and soul, how can you not want to be an integral part of a Jewish community when you are representing the Jewish state?” So spoke Yehuda Avner, a much-respected … Read more
Suppose you were given two tomatoes of equal size, quality, taste and price. Suppose you were told that one was from an Israeli kibbutz and the other from a West Bank settlement. Would you choose to eat one and not the other? Some would undoubtedly be indifferent and choose either — a tomato is a … Read more
Vladimir Jabotinsky’s Russian Years 1900-1925 by Brian J. Horowitz, published by Indiana University Press 2020, pp.271 The surprising interest in Vladimir Jabotinsky, the so-called ‘Father of the Israeli Right’ during the last twenty years is due less to his well-known Zionism, but more to the mystery of his inner beliefs and outward contradictions. For some … Read more
Review of From Antisemitism to Anti-Zionism: The Past and Present of a Lethal Ideology ed. Eunice G. Pollack Published by Academic Studies Press 2017, pp.426 This book is a collection of essays which looks at the transition of anti-Zionism into antisemitism in our time. There are some excellent essays in this collection such as David Hirsh’s … Read more
Do British Jews, committed to Israel, have a right to criticise a policy of its government? An old question which has been around since 1948 – but have we moved from a time when there was never a scintilla of criticism to a more open approach? Is this linked to a new generation which does … Read more