David Lehrer

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Oct 9, 2024, 4:09 PM

We need an adult in the room II

This week marked the one-year anniversary of the October 7th, 2023, Hamas attack on Israelis in the Gaza Envelope. It takes place at a particularly poignant time in the Jewish Year, the week between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur,...

Oct 5, 2024, 4:15 PM

We need an adult in the room

Israel is now embroiled in a multi-front war with no clear strategy to reach an end. Netanyahu has claimed that Hamas can be completely defeated through militarily action. Many, including myself, disagree but even Netanyahu has not claimed that...

Sep 9, 2024, 11:03 PM

Do we love our children more than we hate Hamas?

Golda Meir infamously said that “When peace comes, we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill...

Aug 7, 2024, 2:51 PM

Where has our humanity gone?

Children are dying. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have lost their homes and their livelihoods. They must fight for tents, food, and water. They have no electricity, no sewage treatment and no garbage collection. They have no medical treatment,...

Jun 19, 2024, 4:59 PM

The new conception is alive and well

Since October 7th, Israeli politicians, press and the public in general have condemned those in Israel who created and promoted the “conception.” Many politicians who are now condemning the conception, are desperately pointing their fingers at other politicians, blaming...

May 4, 2024, 1:50 PM

Make Love Not War

My daughter is a master’s student at Columbia University School of Social Work. She began studying in September. Since October 7th, Ariana has been engaged with fellow students, faculty and the school administration about the protests, the fear felt...

Apr 23, 2024, 5:39 PM

The Israeli response, last Thursday, to the unprecedented Iranian missile attack, two weeks ago, seems to have been measured, restrained and within the tolerance range of our US and regional allies. The purpose seems to have been, to demonstrate...

Mar 18, 2024, 6:35 PM

Why should we care?

For the rest of the world, October 7th took place last year. For Israelis, October 7th is still going on. Every day, through evening news interviews with survivors, family members of the kidnapped, the announcements of the fallen soldiers,...

Feb 25, 2024, 12:19 AM

The Most Important Thing

From the outset of the current war in Gaza, the Israeli government and its head Binyamin Netanyahu have stumbled over clearly defining the goals of the war. In Netanyahu's early war declarations, he stated that the goals were to...

Jan 26, 2024, 6:45 PM

End the war now

If a deal is put on the table which says return the hostages, end the war and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, we should take it. Even if the price includes emptying the prisons. Such a deal would leave Hamas...

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About Me

Dr. Lehrer holds a PhD from the Geography and Environmental Development Department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a joint Masters Degree in Management Science from Boston University and Ben-Gurion University. Dr. Lehrer was the Executive Director of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies from 2001 until August 2021 and has now become Director of the Center for Applied Environmental Diplomacy. Dr. Lehrer has been a member of Kibbutz Ketura since 1981.