Paul Gross

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May 15, 2025, 4:15 PM

It’s Trump’s Middle East now

US President Donald Trump speaks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman before posing for a family picture with Gulf leaders during a gathering of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh on May 14, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP)

Israel's leaders have failed to understand who they're dealing with: The US president sees Netanyahu as an obstacle to progress

Mar 20, 2025, 1:29 PM

In a Deep State of Denial and Deceit

With his tweet yesterday, Benjamin Netanyahu doubled down on his efforts to tie his battles against Israel's "Deep State," with President Trump's sweeping moves against the civil service and the judiciary in the United States: In America and in Israel,...

Mar 10, 2025, 10:15 PM

No more conspiracy theories, we need a State Commission of Inquiry

The Likud Party has come a long way since Menachem Begin insisted on "the Supremacy of the Law". Today's Likud has a leader giving a histrionic address to the Knesset, replete with paranoid conspiracy theories about the 'Deep State' trying...

Feb 10, 2025, 11:32 PM

For Israeli liberals, Trump’s a double-edged sword

The tweet by Vice President J. D. Vance was startling.Vance is a lawyer. He must know that this is not a serious argument. The judiciary is a co-equal branch of government and is literally mandated to act as a...

Feb 5, 2025, 11:32 PM

Trump’s lack of clarity; his critics’ hypocrisy

Four thoughts on Trump's bombshell yesterday. 1) Most important. My initial thoughts - like everyone else's - might look very stupid in a few days or weeks. Judging Trump's proposals when they're still at the stage of "Trump's shock announcement!"...

Jan 13, 2025, 5:06 PM

Israel’s patriotic pro-democracy movement won the first round

I'll start with the good news about the new proposal for judicial reform put forward by Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar. It represents a real victory for the pro-democracy protest movement. It is less far-reaching than...

Nov 3, 2024, 12:28 PM

An Israeli Case against Trump

Bret Stephens's most recent New York Times column was provocatively entitled "A Conservative Case Against Trump." Provocative of course because conservatives are supposed to support Trump. Another group that are supposed to want Trump to win Tuesday's election are Israelis. And, according...

Oct 7, 2024, 8:38 PM

One year on from the end of illusions

The Jewish people are no stranger to illusions; to false hopes and false prophets. The Jews of western Europe believed that the Enlightenment, which had opened up so many doors once firmly shut, would spell the end of persecution...

Sep 8, 2024, 9:49 AM

An open letter to FIFA

Hapoel Jerusalem flags on display at the funeral of Hersh Goldberg Polin.
(Photograph taken by the writer.)

Gianni Infantino, President of FIFA Dear Mr. Infantino, Last week I was one of thousands who attended the funeral in Jerusalem of Hersh Goldberg Polin. Hersh was 23 years-old, and kidnapped from a music festival by Hamas after they had blown...

Sep 4, 2024, 2:05 PM

Israel’s Gaslighter-in-Chief

There's no denying the man's talents; Benjamin Netanyahu is a supreme political operator. A master of what to say, and what not to say. Take Monday night's press conference. His attempt to respond to the mass protests in the wake...

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About Me

Before moving to Israel from the UK, Paul worked at the Embassy of Israel to the UK in the Public Affairs department, and as the Ambassador's speechwriter. He has a Masters degree in Middle East Politics from the University of London. He lectures to a variety of groups on Israeli history and politics and his articles have been published in a variety of media outlets in Israel, the UK, the US and Canada.

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