Published in: The Jerusalem Post   On the eve of Yom Kippur, when the Jewish people gather in synagogues to recite Kol Nidrei, they repeat three times in unison: “With the approval of the Omnipresent and with the approval of the congregation; in the convocation of the Court above and in the convocation of the Court below, we sanction prayer…

What could be more natural and appropriate than full and complete realization of Jewish sovereignty over the Temple Mount—the tiny strip of land, just a few hundred square meters large, which has been at the center of the collective Jewish consciousness for generations? How can we, the fortunate generation that redeemed the Land of Israel and gathered in the exiles,…

Published in: Yedioth Ahronoth How closely should the Chief Rabbinate be scrutinizing the plates of Israel’s citizens? That is the question the Ministerial Committee for Legislation will have to answer when it considers the proposed amendment to the Kashrut Fraud Prevention Law, which would cover everything from soup to nuts. According to rough estimates, the kosher supervision industry in Israel…

Since the interim framework deal between the US led 5+1 and Iran was announced in April, Israel has come out strongly against what it views as a “bad deal,” one that grants international legitimacy to Iran’s nuclear program. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remarked time and again, Israel is not against a diplomatic solution. In his speech in March to Congress, Netanyahu noted that “the alternative to this bad deal is a much better deal” and that “no country has a greater stake than Israel in a good deal that peacefully removes this threat.” Rather, Israel sees in the emerging deal a capitulation to Iranian bargaining tactics when the US position was at its strongest, and a grave misunderstanding of the Iranian regime’s intentions.

Published in: The Marker To the Honorable Minister David Azoulay, As Israel’s Minister of Religious Services, you have been given a golden opportunity to bring great honor to Jewish tradition, with relative ease. Following are a few recommendations for ways in which you can do this: Increase efficiency: Religious services, like all other services, must be efficient and friendly; today,…

Published In: Ynet English Israel’s coalition negotiations are being conducted far from the public eye. On the face of it, everything is still wide open—the makeup of the coalition, the distribution of portfolios, the basic principles of the government—except for one thing that has already been determined and is set in stone: the cancellation of the criminal sanctions for ultra-Orthodox…

“It is essential that Bibi and Buji unite forces with President Rivlin in the name of pluralism and democracy.” On the eve of the election a group of prominent Americans met with President Reuven Rivlin in his office. He tried to avoid politics, but in response to one of the more sophisticated questions he set his mouth free. “Sometimes you…

Originally posted in The Jerusalem Post As were many who care one way or another about US-Israel relations, I was apprehensive in the runup to the Iran speech Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered to Congress this past week. Yet what initially looked like it would be either a diplomatic blunder or even a cynical pre-election move turned out to be anything…

Published in: Ynet English There is an elephant in the room. It is filling the entire space, yet appears to be calm. If it makes the slightest move, however, it will cause major damage to its surrounding. Everyone is tiptoeing quietly around the elephant. Professional rabble-rousers—politicians from the left and right, people with special interests seeking their cut, members of…