Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Paul Gross

Democracy or colonialism: What kind of Israel do you want Mr. Danon?

Paul Gross — Sat, 08 Jun 2013 23:53:34 +0000

Since he [Mahmoud Abbas] doesn’t speak Hebrew, and my Arabic isn’t great, I will turn to him in a language we both understand. I say: Give peace a chance… We are in favor of conducting negotiations without preconditions — immediately. –Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister, Leader of Likud Party, June 5th 2013 —- “…there was [...]

The post Democracy or colonialism: What kind of Israel do you want Mr. Danon? appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

On Yom Hashoah: Anti-Semitism and Europe’s responsibility

Paul Gross — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 20:37:05 +0000

I am currently reading Amos Elon’s wonderful book on the tragedy of German Jewry, “The Pity of It All”. A Jewish community that produced some of the greatest figures of the enlightenment, from Moses Mendelssohn to Albert Einstein, was betrayed in the most grotesque fashion imaginable. Its fatherland, a country that had become the heart [...]

The post On Yom Hashoah: Anti-Semitism and Europe’s responsibility appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

A courtroom triumph for anti-Semitism tells of something rotten in Britain

Paul Gross — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:42:08 +0000

I am not easily surprised by otherwise shocking news of anti-Semitism or anti-Zionism from the UK, where I lived for the first 29 years of my life. I was, for instance, disgusted but not astonished that a particular member of the House of Lords, Lord Nazir Ahmed, blamed his prison sentence on “Jewish friends who [...]

The post A courtroom triumph for anti-Semitism tells of something rotten in Britain appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

After the speech: Tough questions need to be asked

Paul Gross — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 20:45:15 +0000

JUST before the Israeli elections, I wrote an article for another news site in which I identified the “center-ground” of Israel politics, where the majority of Israelis find themselves: “In Israel today, a clear majority of the population believes two truths to be self-evident: First, that peace will ultimately be achieved only through the concession [...]

The post After the speech: Tough questions need to be asked appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

Time to cheer the ousting of the theocrats

Paul Gross — Thu, 14 Mar 2013 22:22:18 +0000

SO if I’m honest, I do complain a lot about the government. I’m not alone of course. Most of us contributing op-eds about Israeli politics are more likely to be spurred to write by anger, frustration or disappointment than by contentment and satisfaction with the status quo. But hey, we’re a Jewish and democratic state; [...]

The post Time to cheer the ousting of the theocrats appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

David Hartman and a morally driven Judaism

Paul Gross — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 11:40:03 +0000

I stood Monday morning with hundreds of other mourners, squeezed into the Beit Midrash of the Shalom Hartman Institute – with another couple of hundred or so overflowing outside – to hear moving, heartfelt eulogies delivered by Rabbi David Hartman’s children, students and friends. I did not know Rabbi Hartman personally. I spoke to him [...]

The post David Hartman and a morally driven Judaism appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

Israel’s Tea Party and how it helped Yair Lapid

Paul Gross — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:38:02 +0000

With the rise of the Tea Party in the US, and Mitt Romney’s frantic dash to the far-right in order to secure the Republican nomination, Americans are no strangers to the phenomenon of extremist elements hijacking a mainstream party and ultimately damaging its prospects of appealing to the wider population. It has long been known [...]

The post Israel’s Tea Party and how it helped Yair Lapid appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

Question for the center/left: what do you do if there really is no one to negotiate with?

Paul Gross — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 05:58:00 +0000

Now that Shelly Yacimovich has been dragged, kicking and screaming, into the diplomacy/security debate we at last have a picture of what the four center/left parties would do in the pursuit of peace. While Binyamin Netanyahu’s sole approach has been to offer Mahmoud Abbas negotiations without pre-conditions, we now know that Yacimovich, Tzipi Livni, Yair [...]

The post Question for the center/left: what do you do if there really is no one to negotiate with? appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

Tel Aviv and Jerusalem sirens will expand the already-crowded political center

Paul Gross — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 21:10:26 +0000

In politics, on most issues, there is a left, a right and a center. And in most countries, at most times, the majority of the people are in the center. This is where the votes are and where aspirant politicians have to aim much of their agenda. Case in point: the recent US elections. An [...]

The post Tel Aviv and Jerusalem sirens will expand the already-crowded political center appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

So most American Jews will vote Obama? Deal with it

Paul Gross — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 22:51:13 +0000

Many of us here in Israel have strong views about the upcoming US presidential election. It’s not so surprising. To a degree not true of any other country’s elections, what happens on November 6th will have consequences across the world – perhaps in the Middle East more than in most regions. The recent poll showing [...]

The post So most American Jews will vote Obama? Deal with it appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

The case for nuance in Israel education

Paul Gross — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:36:03 +0000

I serve as the director of the “Israel Government Fellows” program, a ten-month program for top Jewish graduates from around the world, run by the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem. The program combines work experience in the Israeli government and NGOs with weekly educational seminars where we bring speakers from, inter alia, the worlds [...]

The post The case for nuance in Israel education appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

So does either side actually want a two-state solution?

Paul Gross — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 14:17:26 +0000

IN his speech last week at the conference of the Institute for National Security Studies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his call for “peace between two nation-states – a demilitarized Palestinian state that recognizes the Jewish state, and Israel, the nation-state of the Jewish people.” At every opportunity, since his Bar-Ilan speech in 2009, Netanyahu [...]

The post So does either side actually want a two-state solution? appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.

It was fascism in Toulouse

Paul Gross — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:07:29 +0000

The original suspects for the cold-blooded murder in Toulouse of Jonathan Sandler, his young children Aryeh and Gabriel, and 8-year old Miriam Monsonego were three neo-Nazis. Police had linked the atrocity to the fatal shooting, a few days earlier, of three French off-duty paratroopers, who also happened to be Muslim. It did seem reasonable to [...]

The post It was fascism in Toulouse appeared first on Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel.