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…

Published In: Ynet If there is anything we should avoid saying right now, when the Danish people are grieving over the terrorist attack and mourning its victims, it is remarks of the sort that have often been typical of us Israelis: “Now you’ll finally understand what we have been going through all these years, what we are experiencing, and why…

This week, my 11-year-old son, Ishay, was supposed to take part in a school activity, in which kids his age, who are part of the Democratic School educational network, learn about and promote democratic values.

Published in: The Jewish Week    The Defense Minister and Chief of Staff recently expressed cautious reservations about the religion-infused letter that the commander of the Givati Brigade wrote to the officers under his command at the outset of Operation Protective Edge. The commander letter defined the mission of his troops in religious terms: defeating a blasphemous enemy who defames…

Published in: Haaretz  The closer we get to the end of Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein’s term in office, the more discussion there is of who should replace him. The attorney general wears two hats: He is chief prosecutor, enforcing criminal law in the country, and he is the executive branch’s legal adviser. When I was a candidate for this office,…