The Pianist And ‘Palestine’ (First of Two Parts)
On the surface, “The Pianist” is “merely” the true tale of a talented Jewish musician, Wladyslaw Szpilman, caught up in the unfathomable depths of Nazi occupation and terror. More profoundly, of course, it is a disturbing visual microcosm of the generic human struggle between good and evil, a titanic contest that is sometimes utterly clear but at other times distressingly “gray."
Project Daniel: Israel, Sun-Tzu And The Art Of War (Part Three)
My previous column on Project Daniel considered the dire consequences of a nuclear war in the Middle East, an almost unimaginable scenario of devastation and suffering that Israel must carefully avoid. It was the spectre of precisely such a scenario that first gave rise to Project Daniel.
Prioritizing Existential Risk: Israel’s Need to “Stay Focused” on Nuclear Threats
Although Israel continues to face multiple and often intersecting security threats, including terror, its core operational focus should remain on existential perils, especially nuclear attack and nuclear war.
Switzerland And The Jews: A Realistic Assessment
My parents arrived as Austrian Jewish refugees in Switzerland almost exactly sixty years ago.
Empathy, Suffering, And Human Survival: A Jewish Perspective
According to ancient Jewish tradition, one that certain Talmudists trace back to the time of Isaiah, the world rests upon thirty-six just men, the Lamed-Vav tzaddikim.
Obama’s Flawed Advice To Israel (Second of Two Parts)
A fundamental inequality is evident in all expressions of the Middle East peace process.
Syria (Today) and ‘Palestine’ (Tomorrow) II
Easily misrepresented or abused, international law can generally be manipulated to serve virtually any preferred geo-political strategy.
Markets, Politics, And The True Legacy Of Adam Smith
We wonder about the endlessly volatile markets and also (not often enough) about plainly unequal distributions of national wealth, but are the nation’s official policy responses based on correct views of classical economic theory? In particular, what about Adam Smith and his oft-quoted arguments for “free market capitalism”? More than any other classical theorist, Smith has been embraced by conservatives.
After Yeshiva Mercaz HaRav Kook: Understanding The Horribly Human Face Of Arab Terror
Pain can sometimes be sanitized by language, but it can never be truly anesthetized.
American Democracy as Masquerade
Once upon a time in America, every adult could recite at least some Spenglerian theory of decline.
Understanding Israel’s National-Security Policy
Needed changes in Israel's decision making process have simply not kept up with the growing complexities and synergies of Israel's always-hostile external environment.
Releasing Terrorists as a ‘Gesture for Peace’
A core element of international law is the basic rule of nullum crimen sine poena, or "no crime without a punishment."
The Way It Really Was: George W. Bush Pushed For A Palestinian State
Today, conventional wisdom maintains that the George W. Bush administration had been a good friend to Israel and, unlike the Obama administration, had fought mightily against the creation of a Palestinian state. With this “wisdom” in mind, I ask readers to consider the following column of mine that originally appeared in The Jewish Press in August 2007.
Justice And Jewish Slavery: Daimler-Chrysler’s Final And Inevitable Collapse
On its face, it would surely be foolish to blame Daimler-Chrysler's extraordinary woes on the very dark history of Daimler-Benz. On its face, the combined company's deep decline is manifestly a function of bad economic judgments. After all, from the very start, the 1998 decision by Germany's Daimler-Benz to merge with Chrysler simply made no financial sense.
A Memory Of Justice – Chrysler’s Decline And The Third Reich
There can be no justice without memory. In 1998, Chrysler entered into an ambitious merger agreement with Germany's Daimler-Benz. Since that time, its economic well-being has generally and persistently deteriorated. Most recently, Chrysler's woes of falling stock prices and shrinking cash reserves have been aggravated by widening product deficiencies and burgeoning vehicle recalls.
Irony and Intuition: Understanding Israel’s Best Philosophy of Survival
For states, as for individuals, fear and reality go together naturally.
Israel’s Strategic Options at the Eleventh Hour
Still facing an effectively unhindered nuclear threat from Iran, Israel will soon need to choose between two strategic options.
A Palestinian State Is A Greater Threat To Israel Than An Intifada
A "Palestine” could become another Lebanon, with many different factions battling for control.
Nuclear Posture And Israel’s Survival
Nuclear weapons and nuclear war. This is not a new subject for my column in The Jewish Press. What is new is the urgent need to confront, head on, an expanding international movement to eviscerate Israel's nuclear posture – and at precisely the precarious moment when this critical posture should actually be made more visible, and hence, more compelling.
Israel, ‘Palestine,’ And The Law Of War (Second of Two Parts)
Historically, viewed against the background of extensive and unapologetic terrorist perfidy in both Gaza and Lebanon, Israel has been innocent of any alleged disproportionality. All combatants, including all insurgents in Gaza and Lebanon, are bound to comply with the law of war of international law.
What If Israel’s ‘Peace Partners’ Actually Prefer War?
At this point in Israel’s problematic diplomatic agenda, there is really only one overriding policy question: Can any form of negotiation with the Palestinians,...
Preparing for a Primal Struggle
Within Israel's decisional boundaries, diplomatic processes that are premised on assumptions of reason and rationality may soon need to be reconsidered.
Justice And Jewish Slavery: Daimler-Chrysler’s Final And Inevitable Collapse
On its face, it would surely be foolish to blame Daimler-Chrysler's extraordinary woes on the very dark history of Daimler-Benz. On its face, the combined company's deep decline is manifestly a function of bad economic judgments. After all, from the very start, the 1998 decision by Germany's Daimler-Benz to merge with Chrysler simply made no financial sense.
Syria (Today) and ‘Palestine’ (Tomorrow)
Now more than ever it is apparent – incontestable, in fact – that the Arab/Islamic world has long been preparing to destroy itself.
If You Liked the Arab Spring, You’ll Love ‘Palestine’
What, exactly, can we expect from 'Palestine'?
Israel, ‘Palestine,’ and the Law Of War (First of two parts)
For the moment, at least, a state of Palestine does not exist. Historically, of course, such a country has never existed. Nonetheless, current supporters of Palestinian statehood (sometimes Jews as well as Arabs) have discovered substantial practical benefit in persistently referring to Israel and "Palestine" as if there were some existing legal equivalence between them. Indeed, repeated again and again, ritualistically, as if it were an incantation, such propagandistic usage is already transforming "Palestine" into a jurisprudential fait accompli.
France and the Jews
Many readers have probably seen the film “Sarah’s Key,” a powerful 2010 movie that reminds its viewers of overwhelming French collaboration with the Nazis. Even today it seems widely believed that France carried on more or less heroically under the German occupation, and that the 1942 roundups of Jews in occupied France must have been carried out by the SS or Gestapo directly. In fact, however, as “Sarah’s Key” instructs in understated yet utterly hideous detail, these roundups were executed, more or less enthusiastically, by the regular French police.
On Targeted Killing and International Law
It is, after all, difficult for any civilized people to acknowledge self-defense imperatives that could allow killing as remediation.
Israel’s Strategic Options at the Eleventh Hour (II)
Specific strategic lessons from the Bar Kokhba rebellion.
Learning From Ancient Chinese Military Thought: Israel And Sun-Tzu’s Art Of War
Despite altogether unimagined transformations of weapons technologies, some ancient principles of warfare remain entirely valid. Founded upon the essentially persistent nature of human behavior in organized conflict, these principles can be ignored only at great strategic risk. For the always-imperiled state of Israel, there is especially much to be learned from certain elements of past thought. This includes the unchanging requirements of national survival.
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