Big Pharma and Big Money
News headline this week: “TEVA leaps after announcing opioid painkiller settlement in U.S.” Investors felt they could relax after it was made public that the Israeli pharmaceutical giant had reached a $4.35 billion settlement with the majority of the States, Counties and Cities in the U.S. that were suing TEVA for its role in the […]
Religious Freedom in the Jewish State
Last Friday it was “Rosh Hodesh”, the first day of the new month of “Av”, in the Jewish calendar, and, as has been the case for months now, the ceremonies held by the “Women of the Wall” organization were violently disrupted by hundreds of Ultra-Orthodox men and women. The religious ceremonies held for the beginning […]
An Israeli “Hero” in Saudi Arabia
Last week, a commercial Israeli television channel proudly broadcasted a report filed by one of its journalists, from Mecca in Saudi Arabia. A story with no journalistic value except to provoke and embarrass. The city of Mecca, and the adjacent Mt. Arafat, the holiest places of Islam, are off-limits to non-Muslims and this rule is […]
Israel doesn’t need Imported Sex Offenders, even if they are Respected Rabbis
Most people will never have heard of Baruch Lanner unless you were one of his victims. Baruch Lanner has for years been considered one of the brilliant and charismatic educators in the National Conference of Synagogue Youth, which is part of the Orthodoxy Union and has within that organization for many years worked with and […]
Tales of a Hospital Visit
So last Sunday morning, the man wakes up at 5 am, as he does every day, takes his morning walk and prepares for the day. After breakfast, he leaves for work and everything seems fine. But in the office, around noon, our man starts to feel bad and develops a fever. After consulting with his […]
From the protocol of the Israeli Cabinet meeting this morning:
The Minister of Internal Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, has ordered the complete closure of the Temple Mount to Muslim prayers and the closure of the El Aqsa mosque. Extra Border Police units have been brought in to maintain order and security. In a memo to the police and the Army, Transportation Minister Bezalel Smotrich ordered […]
Another Night in the Knesset
Israeli politics reached a new level of absurdity this week when the Knesset was asked to vote on the renewal of the Emergency Regulations for the Occupied Territories. Far-left members of Meretz, who have fought for years to bring the occupation to an end, voted in favor of legitimizing it for at least another five […]
More Jewish, Less Democratic
Almost a year has passed since the new Israeli government was sworn in, and despite the predictions to the contrary, it is still functioning and not going anywhere. The pessimism, or maybe the wishful thinking of some, about the demise of the Bennett coalition of course stems from the revolutionary nature of this coalition government. […]
Politics gone Astray
This week in the Knesset it again became clear that there are politicians who have completely lost the importance and purpose of their mission as member of the Israeli Parliament. The coalition brought to a vote a bill that will give soldiers that complete their army service a partial grant to pay for the tuition […]
A Killing, a Funeral and the curse of Occupation
It has been more than a week since the Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed while reporting on a violent clash between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp, and it will most likely never become clear who shot the fatal bullet that hit her in the head and killed her. And […]
