Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain just signed the “Abraham Accords” establishing full diplomatic recognition between the Jewish State and two Persian Gulf nations. President Trump can wear this particular feather in his cap. But as with all agreements, questions arise. Establishing embassies, exchanging ambassadors and doing business deals are good. Yet Israel, the…

Read More

The Syrian Kurds fought alongside Americans and suffered 11,000 dead. American troops hailed their bravery. So what did Generalissimo Donald Trump do? After a phone call with Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Trump ordered the withdrawal of 50–100 Special Forces advisors from Kurdish-held territory in northern Syria and 1,000 troops elsewhere in Syria. Turkey attacked…

Read More

Benjamin Franklin wrote, “…nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.” Mark Twain repeated that. But the real author was Englishman Christopher Bullock in 1716. Recent decades have supported Bullock and Franklin (and Twain) with the dictum that the only certainty is change. Look around. The President of the United States fills…

Read More

Israelis have given Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu a fifth term. Last Tuesday, his Likud party won 36 of the Knesset’s (parliament’s) 120 seats, main rival Blue & White 35. President Reuven Rivlin will call on Bibi to form a coalition government. So? Bibi was all about security and Israel as a Jewish state. Last…

Read More

Ten days ago, I and several members of Congregation Sherith Israel met to determine how to present programs on Israel. Regarding the Palestinians, we face a challenge. A January 19 New York Times  column by Michelle Alexander demonstrates the issue’s difficulty. Our synagogue—and we as individuals—support Israel’s right to exist. But the question of Israeli…

Read More