Two weeks ago, Israel joined Iran, North Korea and Belarus in opposing a UN resolution which named and condemned Russia as the aggressor in the war in Ukraine. Its central reason in following these pariah dictatorships was because Donald Trump’s America had done so. This was how Netanyahu’s government commemorated the third anniversary of the … Read more
Prime Minister Netanyahu was only informed about Donald Trump’s ideas about relocating the Palestinians of Gaza on the day before his meeting with the president. It also came as a surprise to US Secretary of State Rubio and most of Netanyahu’s delegation. Even Netanyahu seemed bemused at this turn of events. As the Trump look-alike … Read more
Last month, Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Saar, ordered the closure of its embassy in Dublin. It followed an Irish proposal to join South Africa in the “genocide” accusation at the International Court of Justice at the Hague. Ireland, together with Spain and Norway, have formally recognised the State of Palestine. This was the … Read more
At the end of October, a conference was held near Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the kibbutzim which bore the bloody brunt of Hamas’ October 7 assault. It was attended by Itamar Ben-Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich and another ten government ministers, to support the (re)establishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza. Even Yitzhak Goldknopf of the non-Zionist, ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism attended. Last … Read more
Several Sundays ago, I returned from lunch with friends to read that three of Britain’s best-known and respected Jewish journalists, Jonathan Freedland (Guardian), Hadley Freeman (Sunday Times) and David Aaronovitch (The Times until 2023) had resigned from contributing to the Jewish Chronicle (JC). Freedland wrote that he needed to break his connection with the JC because “I no … Read more
There has been uproar in the Jewish world about the accusations of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which have been levelled at Israel and its call for the arrests of Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. The ICC was established in 2002 on the basis of the Rome Statute four years earlier. Its role was to … Read more
Chaim Weizmann: A BiographyBy Jehuda Reinharz and Motti Golan Brandeis University Press (pp. 820) Chaim Weizmann was a remarkable man who truly deserved the accolade of “a founding father of Israel.”This majestic work by Jehuda Reinharz and Motti Golani, Chaim Weizmann: A Biography is as absorbing as it is comprehensive. Both authors have written about Weizmann for … Read more
Following the killing of Hassan Nasrallah by the IDF, Jeremy Corbyn – the Labour party’s former and now expelled leader – commented, “Israel’s genocidal intent and violence in Gaza is being repeated in Lebanon. This is what Islamophobia, dehumanisation of brown lives and total impunity looks like” (Morning Star 30 September 2024). Corbyn’s words epitomised the … Read more
Many Israelis believe that Benjamin Netanyahu has blood on his hands. Since the release of 105 hostages through negotiations last November, the Israeli government has chosen the priority of destroying Hamas rather than securing the release of the remaining hostages. The families of the hostages have been calling for negotiations for almost a year – … Read more
At the beginning of this month, Victor Kara-Murza, a British-Russian dissident, was suddenly released from his Siberian strict-regime camp and flown out of Russia as part of a major prisoner exchange. Murderers and spies were taken to the East, free thinkers and human rights activists were taken to the West. When asked if this exchange … Read more