Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Gedalyah Reback

Even if Hawking is Wrong, You Won’t Beat Him in a Debate

Gedalyah Reback — Wed, 08 May 2013 08:30:34 +0000

Do we have to respond to everything? As tempting as talking back to Hawking and his decision to join an academic boycott of Israel is, and maybe as appropriate as this particular instance of response will be, I’m a little disturbed at how much of a given everyone assumes to to be that we need [...]

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A Government of the People – too many People

Gedalyah Reback — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 20:02:36 +0000

As I’ve gotten older, and hopefully wiser, I’ve gotten to appreciate efficiency. I’m sure every country has its fun bureaucracy moments, but Israel is especially gleeful with its celebrating redundancy and uselessness. It’s really a culture that loves clutter and complicated rules – people here expect it. You’d think of all people that would see [...]

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Eli Yishai: Slander and Unemployment

Gedalyah Reback — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 14:58:58 +0000

To his credit, he sounds like someone who knows how to talk from the opposition, but he is wrong on everything Orthodox: Modern and Ultra. His words against Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid (and their parties) are piercing precisely because they come from a place of resentment and jealousy. This isn’t some refined halachah coming [...]

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Hezbollah’s Drugs and Blood Diamonds in Europe

Gedalyah Reback — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:50:46 +0000

Hezbollah trafficking in drugs and conflict diamonds should be reason enough for European Union sanctions. Europe would only be strengthening its own position in Lebanon, not giving Hezbollah a reason to grab total power. But if Hezbollah does make a move, it wouldn’t have been possible if the EU hadn’t been so permissive about their [...]

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A Stronger Negotiating Position

Gedalyah Reback — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 21:33:51 +0000

It might not be popular with a lot of voters, but Israel might be snared into a situation it has to enter talks with the Palestinians. It needs But no matter what the next government looks like, it should take a tougher stance in negotiations than in the past in order to get the better end of a [...]

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I’m not an extremist. I want the 3rd Temple.

Gedalyah Reback — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:54:18 +0000

It’s extreme to want to have a the Third Temple built? That’s what Tzipi Livni’s rhetoric is saying. Her attack on Jeremy Gimpel is exaggerated and shows more about her than about Gimpel. She’s saying the mere demand for a Third Temple is extreme in and of itself. It’s this that’s extreme. This alienates religious [...]

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Diplomatic Retaliation

Gedalyah Reback — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 00:28:31 +0000

I hear a lot of Israeli anger. I can hear their teeth grinding and nostrils flaring. Barack Obama isn’t in touch with Israelis. We don’t like how he characterizes our problems. I don’t hear many solutions though. I hear a lot of scoffing at Obama, but not a lot of evaluation. Israel is shooting itself [...]

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A Religious Zionist Foreign Policy

Gedalyah Reback — Sun, 30 Dec 2012 22:05:20 +0000

It bothers me that much of the Religious Zionist world has turned inward. “The world will never care about our needs.” “Such and such will always hate us.” “We need to fend for ourselves.” Personally, I see us as in a better position than this, even with an obligation over us to act inversely [...]

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I Get It, He’ll Annex Area C…

Gedalyah Reback — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 12:11:00 +0000

I’ve gotten a bit of a crash course in the way Israelis advocate for their political favorites during election season. It’s essentially different than the way Americans do it. Sure, there’s some irrational faith in the positions the leading candidates take and then some bitterness, but it’s not as eviscerating as it is in Israel. [...]

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Good Riddance to Avigdor Lieberman

Gedalyah Reback — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 07:39:36 +0000

Israel definitely needs some attitude in its Foreign Ministry, but it needs to be assertive, not belligerent. Lieberman characterizes the way a lot of Israelis feel about the rest of the world right now, but that’s not the job of the Foreign Minister – his job is to keep pushing the diplomatic way and the [...]

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Bethlehem: Occupied by Palestine

Gedalyah Reback — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 11:27:16 +0000

It’s not something we normally think about, that the Palestinians might actually be occupying territory illegally under international law, but it’s technically true. The fact is ignored by international bodies, particularly the United Nations, which actually would be the party claiming the territory as its own. How does this all work? Referring back to West [...]

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Israelis won’t take UN seriously if it won’t Recognize West Jerusalem

Gedalyah Reback — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 16:54:56 +0000

It confounds me just what the hell sort of legs some people think they have the right to stand on in this world. I’m not the only one that gets that attitude when it comes to politics in the Middle East, and certainly not the only one who feels that way when it comes to [...]

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Recognition of the West Bank at the UN, not Gaza

Gedalyah Reback — Fri, 30 Nov 2012 10:59:06 +0000

Israel should never have opposed the vote. The Foreign Ministry annoyed European allies to vote “no.” Netanyahu wasted political capital blocking a symbolic measure from passing. The mere campaign against a benign resolution just makes us look bad – plain and simple. And what did Mahmoud Abbas get out of it? NOTHING. Supposedly Palestine can [...]

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Circumcision: The rite so nice, I did it twice

Gedalyah Reback — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 10:24:00 +0000

Years back, an ex of mine joked with me that, post-conversion, they’d make a big scene of slicing the bottle caps off the soda bottles at my party. But as thematically (in)appropriate as such a scene is, accurate it ain’t: I’d already had my circumcision. I was only going through the ceremonial version, before jumping into the [...]

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The Simchat Torah War: Egyptians Celebrate 1973 Loss to Israel

Gedalyah Reback — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 08:26:44 +0000

Hubris is a challenge for all of us. Arrogance can really distract us; it can make us careless, overlook details and get caught up in our fantasies. It’s a distraction and robs of us of our focus. Had it not been for Israelis’ remarkable tenacity, they would not have pulled off the best combat comeback [...]

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