One of the starkest memories I have of coming to Israel for the first time in the ’70s and moving here in 1981 was the seeming absence of any urban planning in the cities or in the national transportation grid. Growing up in Portland, going to university in Seattle, working in San Francisco and having…
My mother-in-law, Tamar, was born in Shiraz, Iran. Along with her parents and siblings, she made the long and dangerous journey to Israel in 1951, arriving at the age of 12. Although she rarely has the opportunity to speak her native Farsi, she is still fluent and follows Iranian events closely, both in the mainstream…
This column is not about the Israeli skepticism of the current Iranian/American romantic interlude that I planned to write about. And despite the next few paragraphs, this column also is not about the Israeli film industry. We are proud of the profound transformation in Israeli cinema. Over the last decade, four Israeli films have been…
Yom Kippur is always a challenging day, although I am not sure that all the reasons I find it challenging are the traditional ones. The rigors are many: fasting, going to the neighborhood shul for Kol Nidre, Yizkor and Ne’ila while trying to keep an eye on my kids, who, like most other secular children,…
This column on the renewed negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians might seem somewhat detached because I am writing as all of us are preoccupied figuring out if America will attack Syria – and whether Assad, Hezbollah or even Iran will take out their frustration on Israel. The rush that overwhelmed the civil gas-mask distribution…
The greatest 20th century leader, who looked eye to eye with the greatest evil of the world at that time and did not blink, understood very well the tactical and strategic danger of lies to open democratic societies. In his typical fashion, Winston Churchill said, “A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth…
Two important stories recently emerged simultaneously. There was no connection between them other than timing. This illustrates the unique, even bizarre and somewhat disconcerting reality we live with here: fighting for survival against our external enemies while fighting internal battles against ourselves. The top news item was the controversial budget passed by the government and Knesset and the resulting populist…
When word of the Boston Marathon bombing hit the news, it riveted me and a majority of Israelis to the TV and Internet. Beyond the fact that it was clearly an important story and one that needed to be understood, the fact it occurred in the United States, in a location that many Israelis have…
Two interesting events took place the first week of March as I wrote this article. They were hardly noticed internationally, but they offer a compelling view of Israel’s modern-day reality. Negotiations to form a new governing coalition dominated the headlines in Israel. But two other events should be remembered: two Israeli films were finalists at…
