Rafi Gassel

Jerusalem

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Apr 15, 2025, 8:29 AM

The Southern Sanctuary: A Renewed Vision for the Temple Mount

Rediscovering Sacred Space For centuries, the longing to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem has stirred theological devotion, halachic caution, and geopolitical friction. But a growing body of architectural, halachic, and mystical evidence points to a location for the ancient...

Apr 6, 2025, 5:25 AM

Is Zionism Colonialism? Myth, Memory, and Reconciliation

In discussions of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, one question often surfaces with polemical weight: Is Zionism a form of colonialism or settler-colonialism? On its face, this question seems to carry a moral judgment, suggesting that if Zionism is indeed colonial,...

Feb 12, 2025, 11:16 PM

Israel should offer to buy the Golan Heights

A Historic Opportunity for Regional Stability Recent geopolitical shifts in the Middle East present Israel with a rare opportunity to redefine its relationships with Syria and Lebanon. The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the rise of new Syrian leadership...

Feb 19, 2024, 11:52 AM

A Hamas-Israel Agreement?

In this article, I am going to explore the question of a possible agreement between Israel and Hamas for the release of hostages and a ceasefire. Many people on the Israeli side I know were hoping for the possibility...

Jan 17, 2024, 10:34 PM

The war in Gaza and possible openings for peace (part 2)

So, what is going on here? Why is the presence of an embattled terrorist group holding onto a rather small territory of 365 km2 destabilizing the Palestinian Israeli conflict and in fact much of the middle east? The answer...

Jan 16, 2024, 9:10 PM

The war in Gaza and possible openings for peace (Part 1)

In the week leading up to the war I spent a lot of time with my family, it was sukkot vacation and I spent most of it in a hotel up in northern Israel. I had many conversations with...

Dec 4, 2023, 6:44 PM

Holot Haluza, temporary refuge for Gaza residents

While watching the continuing conflict with Hamas in Gaza continue I find myself increasingly worried about the safety of everyone involved, everyone except Hamas to be honest, don’t really care about them. But I see everyday images of utter...

Oct 30, 2023, 12:51 AM

How to Defeat Hamas while Minimizing Casualties

Usually I like to think of myself as a peace advocate, some who usually follow my blog may find this entry a little different, here I will try and contemplate how to win a war. Recently in an interview...

Nov 10, 2022, 2:17 PM

Israelis and Palestinians are both indigenous and why that matters

Both Palestinians and Jews have thousands of years of history in the Levant region, this is an objectively true historical fact that is often denied by advocates of the Jewish and Palestinian people in order to try to win...

Sep 18, 2022, 4:53 PM

Israel is a Multinational State

In Israel, all public signage; street signs, exits, etc. are in Hebrew, Arabic & English (photo by Diane Hutcheson)

The discourse regarding the future of the state of Israel or the region of Israel-Palestine in relation to a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict often presents a dichotomy of two main options, the two state solution or the Binational...

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About Me

Rafi is a biotechnology professional living in Jerusalem with his wife and three children. Rafi immigrated to Israel from the USA. He now manages a biotechnology business in the field of genetic sequencing located in Jerusalem. Rafi is also a peace activist in the Israel-Palestine space promoting federalism and reconciliation.

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