Ehud Barak, the National Tranquilizer
Discussing Barak and the Oslo Summit – And why it failed to inspire.
The European Union and the Middle East Peace Process
Europe, both in terms of the individual states and collectively through the 15-member European Union, seeks to play an active role in the Middle East peace process. There are many reasons for this – substantive, political, and symbolic.
A New Agenda for the Jewish People
The development of new frameworks, changing cultures, and major avenues of Jewish identification throughout the world.
The Islamic Movement in Israel
On the eve of the High Holidays in Israel in September 1999, just days after the Sharm al-Sheikh accord was signed by Israel and the Palestinians to relaunch the peace process between them, two car-bombs exploded in the northern cities of Haifa and Tiberias, injuring innocent passers-by. Within days, the Israeli security authorities had arrested six Israeli Arabs, all affiliated with the northern faction of the Islamic Movement in Israel.
The Ultra-Orthodox Community and Environmental Issues
Classical Jewish texts refer to a substantial number of the dispersed issues which in recent decades have been consolidated within the framework of the environmental discipline. If one were now to group all "environmental halakhot" in existence at the beginning of the nineteenth century — before Jewish emancipation fragmented observance — they would add up to a sizable codex.
The Role of Politics in Contemporary Russian Antisemitism
In recent months, since shortly after the collapse of the Russian ruble in August 1998, an upsurge of antisemitism in Russia has generated a startling increase in emigration of Russian Jewry. Among Jews in Israel and many diaspora countries, concern has grown about the fate of those Jews remaining in Russia, the largest of the post-Soviet states.
Israel-Arab Peace Negotiations: A Long and Winding Road
A discussion of advances and stalemates between the end of the British Mandate and today.
Wartime and Postwar Dutch Attitudes Toward the Jews: Myth and Truth
The myth that the great majority of the Dutch people had a highly positive attitude toward the Jews during World War II, identified with their suffering, and took risks to help them has gradually been unmasked in The Netherlands itself over the past decades.
From Sword into Ploughshare – Regional Arrangements for Israel and the Palestinians?
The reality of globalization and the beginning of cooperative arrangements between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Partnership 2000: A New Model for Diaspora – Israel Relations
Israel reaching out to non-traditional partners in Diaspora and looking to a changing future.
Barak’s Complex Foreign Policy Agenda
Prime Minister Ehud Barak will not get a period of grace or a post-election honeymoon. Immediately upon taking office, he faces a number of pressing issues. Many of these are domestic – including religious-secular relations and economic concerns. However, the most urgent items are in the realm of security and foreign relations.
The Jews of Miami
Miami Beach today, and one of the largest and strongest Jewish communities in the world.
Re-Thinking Jewish – Latino Relations in Los Angeles
Changing dimensions of inter-group relations and the future of the Los Angeles community are presented.
Israel’s 1999 Elections: The Results
Discussing election results, the failure of the center, and the decline of both left and right.
Netanyahu’s Economic Record
Blaming “the other guy” for current problems is a human frailty, but there are cases where there is substance to the allegation. I believe that the widespread criticism of Netanyahu’s economic record lacks, at the very least, a sense of fairness and balance.
