Gidon Ben-Zvi, Author at J-Wire

Waiting for War in Haifa

Gidon Ben-Zvi — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 07:25:25 +0000

Metula. Shlomi. Kiriyat Shmona. Margaliot. These were small, quaint towns before October 7, 2023. Today they are virtual moonscapes, where abandoned farms are inhabited only by livestock and chickens. The people are almost all gone. Since October 8, the Iranian proxy Hezbollah has been attacking Israeli communities and military posts along the border on a near-daily […]

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On Jewish powerlessness

Gidon Ben-Zvi — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 07:56:41 +0000

While Israel’s military brass and political leadership dither about whether and how the country responds to Iran’s attack, the Israeli public has seemingly made up its mind. According to a poll released this week by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 74% of the Israeli public opposes a counterstrike ‘if it undermines Israel’s security alliance with […]

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A soldier’s tale: The parakeet in the abandoned school on the Gaza border

Gidon Ben-Zvi — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 06:02:09 +0000

Sderot is located less than a mile from the Gaza Strip. Some ninety per cent of the town’s 30,000 residents fled on October 7 after Hamas invaded southern Israel. My wife’s cousin, Ilan, is currently stationed with his infantry unit in what was, until recently, a Sderot elementary school. The happy, high-pitched yelping of children […]

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Wrath of God II: To win, Israel must assassinate Hamas leaders everywhere

Gidon Ben-Zvi — Sun, 17 Dec 2023 05:33:39 +0000

Israel’s military achievements against Hamas are impressive. As part of its campaign to destroy the terrorist group, Israel has reportedly struck over 22,000 targets in the Gaza Strip and has killed some 7,000 fighters since the war broke out. Since Israel’s land campaign began, the IDF has discovered over eight hundred tunnels, many of which were located […]

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Becoming Israeli again

Gidon Ben-Zvi — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 04:36:43 +0000

Before October 7, living in Israel could leave you battered, bruised, and needing a stiff drink. Sky-high housing prices, exorbitant childcare costs, heavy regulations, relatively low median wages that translate into a lack of purchasing power, and an overdependence on imports for food and other essentials are the bare-bone basics of life here. When you […]

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Never again is now: Why Jews must take back the Holocaust

Gidon Ben-Zvi — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 05:58:41 +0000

As Jewish communities gather to mark Kristallnacht (‘Night of Broken Glass’), the 1938 pogrom across Nazi Germany that many consider to be the start of the Holocaust, ‘never again’ is resounding. The phrase, long associated with the Final Solution, is now spoken repeatedly as a vow by world leaders in the context of the October […]

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Dark laughter: How Israelis are using humour in a time of war

Gidon Ben-Zvi — Thu, 02 Nov 2023 03:51:40 +0000

“They’re cockroaches. Instead of Iron Dome we need a big Iron Shoe to stomp out every one of them,” the mild-mannered pediatrician grinned at me after he had examined my daughter’s ailing foot. “Give her Nurofen for three days after meals. That should do the trick.” As my nine-year-old was putting her sneakers back on, […]

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Image is nothing, moral clarity is everything

Gidon Ben-Zvi — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 03:05:37 +0000

It is the most natural human reaction after someone experiences trauma, loss, and heartache to reach out, to want love, sympathy, warmth, and comfort from friends, family – even strangers. We all need people to reassure us that they feel our pain and that they care about us. But that most basic of human needs, […]

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Fiction: The Ido

Gidon Ben-Zvi — Mon, 25 May 2020 06:39:44 +0000

Let me tell you about a different kind of hotel no tell. The Ido, pronounced e-DOH, in downtown Jerusalem is a charming nook that doesn't pop up on any hotel review website or generate any buzz, on or offline.

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The unbearable cost of a unity government

Gidon Ben-Zvi — Thu, 26 Sep 2019 00:03:55 +0000

Gidon Ben-Zvi: Ever since Israel’s snap election drew to a close on September 17 the country’s chattering class has ginned up its campaign to convince Israelis that what they really want is a national unity government.

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