Is Italy’s Giorgia Meloni a friend or a foe of the Jews?
September 29, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
The latest parliamentary elections in Italy have sent many in the chattering classes in both Europe and the United States heading for their smelling salts. Read more
America’s Holocaust failure through the lens of 21st-century politics
September 18, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
Every generation views history through the prism of its own experiences and interests. So, it was probably inevitable that when Ken Burns, America’s great documentary filmmaker, took up the story of the Holocaust, it would be told primarily in terms of ideas that resonate with the PBS audience for which it was produced. Read more
Do religious Jews have a right to reject basic secular education?
September 14, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
After more than a century of biased reporting about Israel, contempt for Zionism, and a lack of interest in reporting about anti-Semitism, readers are right to regard any coverage of the Jewish community by The New York Times with scepticism, if not justified suspicion, of ill intentions. Read more
Celebrate Gorbachev’s failure to save the Soviet Union, not his heroism
September 1, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
Mikhail Gorbachev is being hailed as the man who ended the Cold War, broke up the Soviet empire and freed Soviet Jewry. Read more
Zionism won. So why is it still under attack 125 years after Basel?
August 30, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
The Zionist movement is throwing itself a party. This week marks the 125th anniversary of Theodor Herzl’s convening of the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland. Read more
An end to the delusions about Biden, Iran and Israel?
August 28, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
Like any gambler who is willing to seize on any glimmer of hope that irresponsible betting will be rewarded with an unexpected reversal of fortune, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid was sounding hopeful this week. Read more
‘CNN’ gets it partially right about anti-Semitism
August 22, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
Can a documentary on a low-rated network broadcast at a time when few were watching make much of a difference? Maybe not. That’s especially true when you consider that the program aired directly opposite one of the most ballyhooed shows of the year—the premiere of the new “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon”—on an evening of the week when all cable-news programs get terrible ratings. Read more
Why the world won’t care about Abbas’s ‘Holocaust’ lie
August 18, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
There’s something almost pathetic about the outrage generated after the latest comments by Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas. Read more
Gaza fighting changes nothing about Israel’s image struggle
August 9, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
If a ceasefire holds, the latest fighting between Israel and Palestinian terrorists in Gaza won’t have changed much in a conflict that’s already lasted a century. Read more
Judaism deserves as much respect as Islam
July 25, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
It turns out that some stunts in the era of clickbait journalism really do go too far. Read more
Drawing the wrong conclusions from a Western Wall outrage
July 13, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
If anyone was looking to create an incident whose principal aim was to help alienate more Jews from Israel, the attack on bar mitzvah ceremonies being held at the egalitarian prayer area at Jerusalem’s Western Wall (Kotel) certainly fit the bill. Read more
Biden will do everything he can to help Lapid
June 23, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
The latest developments in Israeli politics provided President Joe Biden with a good excuse to postpone his visit to Israel next month. Read more
The UN’s antisemitism problem won’t be solved by ignoring it
May 11, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
For decades, supporters of Israel have debated what to do about the United Nations. Read more
Prioritise the defense of living Jews while honouring the six million
April 29, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
As Jews around the world commemorate the Holocaust at annual Yom Hashoah ceremonies, the topic on the minds of many of those present will be the dwindling number of survivors present. Read more
Freedom isn’t possible without a nation
April 15, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
It’s the most popular Jewish holiday of the year. Though the fastest-growing and perhaps soon to be the largest sector of American Jewry is the one demographers call “Jews of no religion,” Passover is still the one holiday that is widely observed. Read more
Don’t reward Palestinians for a new wave of terror
April 1, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
After a week of terror attacks that took the lives of 11 people, Israelis are wondering whether they are on the brink of a third intifada. Read more
Must Bennett wave the white flag on a new Iran deal?
March 24, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
As far as Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is concerned, there’s no point in getting into a fight you can’t win. Read more
Why does the world care what Israel does about Ukraine?
March 16, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
It has long been axiomatic that Israel—a tiny country whose people comprise a tenth of a percent of the world’s population and whose landmass is an exponentially smaller fraction of a percent of the planet’s landmass—gets the sort of media attention that would be appropriate for one of the largest nations. Read more
Why we should care about the fate of Ukraine
February 16, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
It’s difficult to know where exactly the crisis over a potential Russian invasion of Ukraine will end. Read more
The ‘genocide Olympics’ gives the lie to human-rights rhetoric
February 8, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
On his Facebook page last week, Elisha Wiesel—the son of the late Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel—had a poignant accusation for the world, and especially for those who revered the lessons his father tried to impart about the importance of speaking up against atrocities and totalitarian regimes. Read more
Why the Amnesty ‘apartheid’ smear of Israel can’t be ignored
February 4, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
Say this for Amnesty International, its outrageous report alleging that Israel is an “apartheid state” has brought nearly all of the Jewish world together to condemn the organization. Read more
The Holocaust Remembrance Day rule that proves everyone loves dead Jews
January 27, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
It was a great day for Israeli diplomacy. For the first time, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution sponsored by the Jewish state and it received nearly universal support. Read more
Plea bargains should not be for prime ministers
January 20, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
It’s the sort of story that makes you wonder about who is doing the leaking and why. Read more
Politics and combating antisemitism don’t mix
January 11, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
At a time when antisemitism is on the rise around the globe, the office of the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy for Combating and Monitoring Antisemitism ought to be filled. Read more
Harry Potter and the search for fake antisemitism
January 7, 2022 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
Jon Stewart tells us he was just kidding. The former star of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” who now has a popular podcast, is involved in entertainment projects as well as supporting various philanthropic causes. Read more
Archbishop Tutu and the disturbing power of intersectionality
December 28, 2021 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
Desmond Tutu will primarily be remembered by posterity for his role as a leader in the struggle against South African apartheid. Read more
The non-Orthodox get another lesson in Israeli electoral maths
December 24, 2021 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid may have put together a coalition without any ultra-Orthodox religious parties earlier this year, but they still fear the power of the haredim and their allies. Read more
Why the double standard on West Bank violence?
December 19, 2021 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
To the casual observer of news from the Middle East, it would appear that the biggest story coming out of Israel lately is what some outlets are describing as a surge in settler violence against Palestinians. Read more
Iran: A test of Biden’s strategic vision and character
December 7, 2021 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
For Biden administration officials, their inability to achieve their top foreign-policy priority is both frustrating and puzzling. Read more
Biden gives a clinic on how not to negotiate with Iran
November 21, 2021 by Jonathan S. Tobin - JNS.org
It’s hard not to sympathize a bit with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his coalition partner Foreign Minister Yair Lapid. Read more






