Lawrence Rifkin

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May 19, 2025, 5:33 AM

It’s one, two, three, what are we fighting for?

I ask because, unlike Country Joe McDonald (he of Woodstock fame), I do give a damn Dean Martin, a very un-Country Joe: Keep those letters coming in! The letters have kept coming. No, not “Gimme an F! Gimme a U!....” Fabled...

Apr 2, 2025, 11:19 PM

Pay no attention to the war and dysfunction

With the country burning, Nero Netanyahu and wife are taking a taxpayer-funded jaunt on a long, cozy weekend far from the threat of arrest Putting his best face forward (though he'd prefer you not see it at all in these...

Mar 13, 2025, 6:19 AM

I am Bibi, the great and powerful!

Don’t waste all your attention on that man behind the courtroom door. He wants to divert our gaze from what's just as important – if not more so Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his trial on corruption charges at...

Feb 9, 2025, 2:22 PM

Captain Renault, meet President Herzog

It’s time to go beyond being merely shocked – but not for a stroll into the foggy night with a non-existent friend Isaac Herzog, Israel's entirely ceremonial president, took to X after Hamas released three more hostages on Saturday. "This is...

Dec 19, 2024, 3:11 AM

Ferris Netanyahu’s day off

A little side-trip for some badly needed self-promotion was reason enough to further delay an endless corruption trial Benjamin Netanyahu enters the Tel Aviv courtroom on December 10, the first day of his testimony in his trial on corruption charges. Israeli...

Dec 6, 2024, 6:48 PM

Lili von Shtupp? Israel would truly exhaust her

‘Tired’ does not begin to describe the fatigue that I and so many others here are feeling these days Protesters gather in Tel Aviv on November 30 to demand that Israel strike a deal for the hostages held in the...

Nov 26, 2024, 5:20 PM

The incredible airfare mindset change

A strange thing happened when my decaying joints could no longer tolerate Cattle Class: I began springing for more expensive airline seats. My body continues to thank me An El Al Boeing 787 in retro livery. Retro prices would be...

Nov 17, 2024, 4:04 PM

A 10 for Bibi? No setting is high enough

I’m not lazy. I’m just a big believer in recycling. So in this age of leaks, theft, pilferage and whatnot, I’ll revisit a column I once wrote and say Bibi, the good times are over I heard it’s about to...

Nov 9, 2024, 8:49 AM

Shirley Valentine’s wall had it easy

Hostages rotting in tunnels, defense ministers switched mid-war over politics, still no clear plan for the day after or a mea culpa from the top. My wall has got it much tougher than Shirley’s I have come to feel...

Nov 3, 2024, 4:26 PM

You want unity? Okay. Whose?

People are telling those of us desperate for a way out of an ever-worsening imbroglio to suffer in silence. Well, tough luck. (But we can still be friends)

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About Me

Lawrence Rifkin is a retired Israeli journalist.