Who shall live and who shall die? The lessons of Syria

The centerpiece of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur liturgy is the “Unetaneh Tokef” prayer: “Let us tell how utterly holy this day is.”…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

25 years of illusions about Oslo

When the Trump administration announced that it was ending its funding of the United Nations Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) last week, the protests from the foreign-policy establishment were loud and anguished. Read more

Why we still need heroes like John McCain

Even in this era of cynicism, honoring heroism and national service remains essential. Without it, the ideas that bolster America and Israel suffer…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

Leonard Bernstein’s century

Throughout the last year, American cultural institutions have been celebrating the life of Leonard Bernstein. The celebrated composer, conductor and educator who died at the age of 72 in 1990 would have turned 100 on Aug. 25, and his centennial has produced a torrent of retrospective praise and appreciation for one of the musical giants of the 20th century. Read more

‘Fauda’ and the two-state scenario

In the international hit Israeli TV series “Fauda,” the head of the Palestinian Authority security service is a fictional character named Abu Maher. Read more

A belated obituary for the world’s conscience

If personal dignity and good intentions are enough to justify a long career, then Kofi Annan deserves all of the plaudits that he’s received in the wake of his death at the age of 80. Read more

What Palestinian flags reveal about Israel’s nation-state law

For the second consecutive week, Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square was the site of a Saturday-night protest against Israel’s nation-state law. But the difference between the two demonstrations speaks volumes about the nature of the debate over the controversial legislation…writes Jonathan S. Tobin. Read more

Social media and the hate-speech slippery slope

Someone I know once told me that if his elderly mother ever wound up on Facebook, it would mean one of two possible things had happened: Either the social-media giant had become passé or literally everyone on the planet would have acquired a Facebook account…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

Is Trump being tricked into war with Iran?

According to Fox News prime-time star Tucker Carlson, the mainstream media is characteristically missing the big story…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

When a rock falls in a plaza . . .

In ancient times, people looked to portents involving the heavens and earthbound events in order to try to understand the baffling world in which we live, as well as to discern the will of their Creator…writes Jonathan S. Tobin. Read more

A Gaza problem without a solution

U.S. President Donald Trump’s belief in his negotiating skills was so great that at one point, he claimed that achieving peace in the Middle East wouldn’t “be as difficult as people have thought”…writes Jonathan S. Tobin. Read more

What do we expect from a Jewish state?

When the sun rose over Israel the day after a new basic law officially designating it as the “nation-state of the Jewish people,” the country was no different than it was the day before…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

Welcoming Orbán doesn’t betray Israeli democracy

For those who like neat political theories with straight lines connecting the people they don’t like, the upcoming visit of Hungarian President Viktor Orbán to Israel provides some potent ammunition…writes Jonathan S. Tobin.JNS. Read more

Why Israel wants Trump to get along with Putin

As far as much of the American public is concerned, the timing for U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn’t be worse…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS Read more

‘Pay to slay’ and why the ‘occupation’ continues

To Israel’s critics, there really is only one issue to discuss with respect to the conflict with the Palestinians: the “occupation”…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

Must Jews and Poles keep fighting about the Holocaust?

It’s never wise to get into an argument about the Holocaust with Yad Vashem…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

Learning the lessons of Gaza

In the view of many Israeli security experts, the results of the 2014 Gaza war were decisive…writes Jonathan S. Tobin, Read more

Anti-Semitism at the United Nations can’t go ignored

It was just another day at the office for U.N. officials. As it has done innumerable times in the last 50 years, on June 12, the General Assembly devoted an entire day of debate, procedural wrangling and voting to an effort to condemn Israel. As was the case with almost every previous effort of this kind, it succeeded…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

Michael Chabon’s ideas about inclusion are killing liberal Judaism

When novelist Michael Chabon took the lectern to give a commencement address at the Hebrew Union College-Institute of Religion in Los Angeles earlier this month, the Pulitzer Prize-winning writer clearly intended to create controversy…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

Let’s abolish Jewish celebrities

Like any embattled minority that needed positive role models, early- and mid-20th-century Jews  embraced celebrities with any sort of tie to the tribe…writes Jonathan S. Tobin. Read more

Peace plan? Netanyahu has nothing to worry about!

It’s the sort of thing that could potentially topple his coalition government, but there’s no sign of panic from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu…writes Jonathan S. Tobin. Read more

Netta beats ‘nakba’

The results of the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest and the reactions to it were as disturbing to foreign Israel-haters as they were to some of the nation’s most fervent domestic critics…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

The significance of the embassy move

For decades, it was a consensus issue. Israel’s supporters of all political stripes agreed that the refusal of the United States to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital was an anachronistic outrage…writes Jonathan S. Tobin. Read more

Did Trump endanger Israel?

While the government of Israel and most of its people cheered when U.S. President Donald Trump announced U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, others worried that the Jewish state would be the first suffer from the decision…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

Wrong man? Right decision!

It took him 16 months to get around to it, but U.S. President Donald Trump finally kept another campaign promise and pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

Abbas isn’t the real problem

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas shocked The New York Times with his latest speech…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

Iran’s lies matter

To Obama administration alumni and other detractors of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there was nothing all that new or noteworthy in his presentation of a treasure trove of Iranian nuclear intelligence obtained by the Mossad…writes Jonathan S. Tobin. Read more

The Portman factor

That so many Jews care so deeply about what an actress has to say about the State of Israel and its prime minister tells us a lot about Jewish insecurity in 2018…writes Jonathan S. Tobin. Read more

The universalist impulse and Anne Frank

In what must be considered a public-relations coup of epic proportions, the New Israel Fund announced this week that it would be benefiting from the sales of copies of Anne Frank’s diary…writes Jonathan S. Tobin/JNS. Read more

The futility of ‘never again’

On Wednesday evening, Jews in Israel and around the world marked the annual commemoration of Yom Hashoah, the day of remembrance of the Holocaust…writes Jonathan S. Tobin. Read more

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