Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Tal Ofer

From Kingmaker to a King

Tal Ofer — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 19:42:03 +0000

Mazel Tov, after lots of speculations, spins, threats and sleepless nights, Israel has a new government which will be consisted of Likud-Beitenu, Yesh Atid, Jewish Home and Hatnua. The clear winners from the negotiations are Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid who stood their ground and forced Netanyahu to accept most of their demands. The pact [...]

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New Labour in Israel?

Tal Ofer — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:33:29 +0000

All the talk after the recent election is on Yesh Atid and the unprecedented achievement of Yair Lapid, who formed his party a year ago and entered the Knesset with 19 seats. However, what misses from the analysis is the performance of the Israeli Labour Party (Avoda) led by Shelly Yachimovich, which gained 15 seats. [...]

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Hooray to Batsheva’s Hora at Edinburgh International Festival

Tal Ofer — Tue, 28 Aug 2012 19:39:28 +0000

I remember the magnificent 1998 Jubilee celebration of Israel’s independence. One of the reasons that it will be remembered is because of the planned performance of Batsheva which didn’t take place, because it was perceived to be provocative and offensive towards the religious and orthodox population in Israel (the performance included music from the Hagada [...]

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Yes to Culture, No to Censorship

Tal Ofer — Sun, 27 May 2012 18:39:24 +0000

On Monday and Tuesday, Israel most famous theatre company, Habima, will perform ‘The Merchant of Venice’ at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. I will be there to watch the show and also to participate in a counter-demonstration in support of Habima and the Globe Theatre, who stood up and resisted the boycott demands made by [...]

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Unity of Opportunists

Tal Ofer — Wed, 09 May 2012 06:11:03 +0000

Just hours before the Knesset had to make the final vote on its dissolution, Israel’s biggest opportunists, Benjamin Netanyahu and Shaul Mofaz cut a deal to bring Kadima into the government. Lots of commentators told us how brilliant this manoeuvre is and how it can benefit the State of Israel, however I strongly disagree with [...]

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EU sanctions are key in preventing a nuclear Iran

Tal Ofer — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:51:10 +0000

This Saturday in Istanbul, Catherine Ashton, the EU Foreign Policy chief, will lead the P5+1 talks with Iran over its nuclear program – more than a year after the last negotiated attempt failed because Iran wasn’t prepared to discuss its nuclear program unless the P5+1 removed all sanctions and recognized its right to enrich uranium. [...]

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