Morality and Politics in Israel: Mutually Exclusive?
This week saw a heated debate erupt around the bill that was introduced by Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar, which would prevent criminals from becoming prime minister in Israel. The bill has been contemplated several times over the past years but never reached the stage where it was submitted but now will most likely be voted […]
From Kashrut to Conversion: On our Way to Religious Coercion?
With the formation of the new Israeli government, all kinds of promises and statements were made regarding reforms in the way the State will deal with religious issues, in particular, Kashrut certification and conversion. And now, just over a hundred days after its establishment, Religious Affairs Minister, Matan Kahana is formulating concrete proposals. Not to […]
Do Arab Lives Matter?
The answer to that question would depend on who you ask it seems, but the whole issue of the violence in the Israeli Arab community is much more complicated than that. And, with the number of murders this year passing 95 people (and some claim a hundred), the question definitely needs to be asked and […]
Digging Tunnels and Sleeping Guards: The Gilboa Prison Escape
After two weeks, the prisoner escape that kept Israel in its ban came to an end with the capture in Jenin, on the Occupied West Bank of the last two escapees. Four others were caught within days of their escape and returned to their cell. The story of their escape fired the imagination of many. […]
When will the Israeli Government deal with the Palestinian Issue?
In the past couple of months, Israel has gone through the most significant changes almost since the establishment of the State. Slowly but surely, democratic principles and procedures are being restored and the State and its government are step-by-step, returning to how a State and a government should work in a democratic environment. After years […]
Education in Israel
The Israeli education system was subject of three stories in the news this week and they should have every parent with school-age children worried, both from an educational as well as a moral view. The first two stories describe the worries and protests of parents at two different schools in the Tel Aviv area. In […]
The Sephardi-Ashkenazi Divide in Israel
The Zionist dream was born in Europe more than a hundred years ago under the cloud of increasing anti-Semitism. The dream of a country where Jews could live as Jews, in freedom and prosperity, without the fear of being prosecuted, denigrated and discriminated against for the simple reason that they are Jewish. The flow of […]
Democracy or Politics?
Oded Goldreich. A name that probably doesn’t mean anything to most Israelis.Either because they never heard of him or have already forgotten. But Oded Goldreich, a professor in mathematics and computer science at the Weizmann Institute of Science, has become a symbol of how politics has taken over democracy as well as most aspects of […]
Corona, Again!
Just when we thought we had won. Just when we believed we had beaten it. Just when we went back to “regular” routine, the “delta” variant of the Corona virus appeared and reshuffled the cards and showed us that we may have won one battle, but the war is still on. While in June the […]
Artem Dolgopyat, Olympic Hero but Second-Class Citizen
With the Olympics in Tokyo dominating many television screens the world over, also in Israel the hopes are high for success and the medals that come with. And with only one gold metal ever won in the past, the gymnast Artem Dolgopyat became an instant hero, and his name became a household word after his […]
