Review of Yitzhak Rabin: Soldier, Leader, Statesman (Yale University Press 2017) pp. 304, £16.99 The Israeli novelist, Amos Oz, described Yitzhak Rabin as ‘not a charismatic man, but rather a logical, skilful captain’. Rabin was both a political dove and a military hawk, who never pretended to be a far-sighted intellectual, had no small … Read more
The latest rebuke to the ‘entry to Israel’ law barring entry to foreigners who call for a boycott of Israel or settlements has come from lecturers in Israel studies in the Diaspora. Although many of the leading lights of the Association of Israel Studies have struggled valiantly against the advocates of BDS on U.S. campuses, they may … Read more
Review of Neill Lochery’s The Resistible Rise of Benjamin Netanyahu Admiration and respect are not words usually attached to the persona of Benjamin Netanyahu by either friend or foe. Rather, it is his prowess as ‘the national goalkeeper’ and the guarantor of security that matters. In the eyes of many Israelis, the question of … Read more
In November, we will mark the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour opposition, said that this declaration was a mistake. How will he react this time? It was in 2013 that he offered his opinion on the Balfour Declaration. It arises from his lack of understanding of both … Read more
TOURISTS CAN expect their hotel room to be bugged and their every movement watched, but that has not stopped one Israeli travel agency from announcing group trips to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, starting in April. Rimon Tours said earlier this month it had secured an exclusive agreement to issue tourist visas for North Korea. … Read more
Image copyright REUTERSImage caption Donald Trump’s remarks broke with decades of US policy When President Donald Trump commented “two states and one state – I like the one that both parties like” about an eventual Israeli-Palestinian settlement, it suggested a rethink, and perhaps a downgrading, of the time-honoured “two-state solution” of past US administrations. But what are … Read more
By withdrawing its protection at the UN on the question of Israeli settlement expansion, the fading Obama administration has caused turmoil within many Jewish organisations. Despite a recent American $38 billion military aid package to Israel, many viewed the move as a wholesale betrayal and a deliverance into the hands of Israels enemies. Was the … Read more
Last Shabbat, the prayer for the state of Israel was recited in the main Havana synagogue. It was also the day when the announcement was made of the passing of Fidel Castro, who had broken off diplomatic relations with Israel in 1973. This symbolised Fidel’s individualistic approach towards Jews and Israel while remaining a … Read more
Review of Paul Bogdanor’s Kasztner’s Crime (Transaction 2016) pp. 323 Paul Bogdanor has penned a well-researched book on the contentious Kasztner affair – a controversy that commenced in wartime Hungary and has continued until the present day. In the summer of 1944, a minor Jewish figure, Rudolf Kasztner, negotiated with Adolf Eichmann in the … Read more
“The Egyptian has his thumb on our windpipe”. So muttered Prime Minister Anthony Eden in July 1956 on hearing that President Gamal Abdel Nasser had nationalised the Suez Canal. It led to a clandestine agreement with then Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion for a joint military intervention – and Israel’s subsequent move into Sinai … Read more