Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Haviv Rettig Gur

Of smoke and mirrors

Haviv Rettig Gur — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 17:33:00 +0000

Amir Mizroch responds to my response to his blog post arguing that “there are two distinct trends which [he] see[s] that are coalescing into one unmistakable reality: Israel is not going to be either a Jewish or Democratic state down the line.” In a piece that colorfully asks — in the headline — what I’m smoking, [...]

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As Jewish as ever, and as democratic

Haviv Rettig Gur — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 05:00:45 +0000

If you haven’t read Amir Mizroch’s latest blog post, you should. It’s a heartfelt warning that Israel is becoming, to quote the title, “not Jewish, not democratic.” Amir Mizroch is a friend and a good journalist. I say that to put in context my next sentence. I don’t think he could be more wrong. I [...]

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A good day for religious liberals

Haviv Rettig Gur — Thu, 25 Oct 2012 17:45:57 +0000

Benjamin Netanyahu and Avigdor Liberman have joined forces for the coming elections. Needless to say, this has sent shock waves through the Israeli punditocracy. Most commentators insisted it was either “good for the right” — Likud and Yisrael Beitenu are expected to garner more seats if they run together than separately — or “bad for the right,” because it supposedly [...]

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iPhone 5 makes me happy…that I switched to Android

Haviv Rettig Gur — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 17:22:55 +0000

Great news! The new iPhone 5 is still not as good as my Samsung Galaxy S III. A couple weeks ago I took the plunge into Android territory, instead of waiting for the new iPhone that was announced today. I’ve been a faithful iOS user for three years now. But now that the iPhone 5 [...]

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The obscenity that is NBC’s new reality show ‘Stars Earn Stripes’

Haviv Rettig Gur — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 22:49:53 +0000

“Stars Earn Stripes” is NBC’s new reality show about war, with “real missions,” “real ammunition” and “real danger.” A group of B-list celebrities will pretend to train for and execute pretend missions in pretend combat situations, while patting themselves on the back for surviving the grueling experience. I don’t have anything against televised explosions. I loved [...]

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October looms large on Iran

Haviv Rettig Gur — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 19:29:46 +0000

This past week both former Mossad head Ephraim Halevy and former head of the IDF Military Intelligence Directorate Maj.-Gen. (res.) Aharon Zeevi Farkash publicly warned that Israel seems to be planning to strike Iran’s nuclear program by October: “It seems to me,” said Aharon Zeevi Farkash, former head of Military Intelligence in the IDF, “that [an [...]

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When a haredi rabbi encourages adultery

Haviv Rettig Gur — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 15:39:47 +0000

Our press and social networks are abuzz with yet another scandalous example of haredi extremism and misogyny. Here’s the story, as reported in Israel Hayom: The Chief Judge of the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court, Rabbi Eliyahu Abergel, has ruled that in cases where a man has not fathered any children, and his wife cannot or does not want [...]

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Light rail woes

Haviv Rettig Gur — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 15:10:35 +0000

Dear Citypass, the company that built and operates Jerusalem’s new light rail, you’re doing a terrible job. Some years back, Jerusalem’s plucky and not-at-all-corrupt elected leaders decided to construct a light rail for the crowded, dirty, divided city. Better public transportation would spruce up downtown and help unify the disparate parts of the city, it [...]

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Who’s afraid of separating church and state?

Haviv Rettig Gur — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 12:54:19 +0000

If you don’t read Adi Arbel’s weekly column in Makor Rishon, you’re doing yourself a disservice. It’s a short but very smart commentary from the Israeli religious right on topics that make their way into the public discourse each week. Alas, much of the Israeli right’s serious work on economics, security policy, cultural critique, etc., is [...]

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No time to celebrate

Haviv Rettig Gur — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 12:06:44 +0000

The celebrated decision by Attorney-General Yehudah Weinstein to allow state funding for Reform and Conservative rabbis may be a blow to Israel’s liberal Jewish movements from which they will be hard-pressed to recover. The decision does little to grant non-Orthodox streams any meaningful rights, such as the power to marry or convert. At the same [...]

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Arabs should not have to sing ‘Hatikvah,’ say Israelis

Haviv Rettig Gur — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:07:12 +0000

What would we do without the Israel Democracy Institute-Tel Aviv University Peace Index, a monthly poll of Israeli Arabs and Jews, dealing with questions of identity, war and peace, that has been tracking opinions and trends since 1994? This month’s study offers a significant contribution to the debate about Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah.” The anthem speaks of [...]

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Why Israel will strike Iran in October

Haviv Rettig Gur — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:07:47 +0000

It’s a foolish business, predicting when Israel might attack Iran’s nuclear program. Get it wrong, as most people do, and you’re left looking silly. And the only thing more foolish than a speculating pundit is the reader who believes him. As the Israeli saying goes, those who know don’t talk and those who talk don’t [...]

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Before you go changing Hatikvah

Haviv Rettig Gur — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 16:54:12 +0000

There is something admirable about the effort to make Hatikvah, Israel’s national anthem, more inclusive of Israel’s minorities. It’s a beautiful gesture on the part of some American Jews to Israel’s Arab population. “The Israel we believe in,” it says, “is your home too.” But these good intentions reveal remarkable myopia and a worrying disconnect [...]

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Proud to be (Arab) Israelis

Haviv Rettig Gur — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 14:29:46 +0000

Last month, I wrote about the remarkable good news coming out of the haredi sector based on growing employment and greater access to higher education. Now I’m happy to report some good — even shockingly good — news coming out of Israel’s Arab minority as well. This news centers on the most contentious of all [...]

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Confusing Israel

Haviv Rettig Gur — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 19:05:44 +0000

Sometimes a small news story can highlight a deep and widespread reality. Yesterday, Haaretz published a short piece about the growth of gay and lesbian clubs in the major political parties. Headlined, “Israel’s gay community making inroads into political mainstream,” the piece dwelt briefly on the apparent dissonance between the gay rights agenda and right-wing politics. [...]

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