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Simon Kupfer

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May 28, 2026, 2:35 PM

I wrote for Haaretz, but now I know better

Haaretz publisher Amos Schocken speaks at a conference in Tel Aviv on February 17, 2015. (Amir Levy/Flash90)

On 21 April last year, I published a piece in Israeli left-wing newspaper Haaretz questioning whether the British legal system could handle Gaza war crime allegations against British IDF soldiers. Four months later, on 20 August, I published a second,...

May 21, 2026, 11:00 PM

Why Palestinian leaders keep saying no to statehood

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas speaks as he meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, March 27, 2022, in the West Bank city of Ramallah. (AP/Jacquelyn Martin)

The roots of Palestinian rejectionism reach back far more than the establishment of the State of Israel. It has hovered at the centre of Middle Eastern politics for more than a century, been invoked in countless speeches at the...

May 12, 2026, 2:59 PM

Where does US aid to Israel actually go?

US President Donald Trump speaks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset, October 13, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via AP)

The billions sent to Israel do not disappear overseas — they circulate through American factories, weapons labs and strategic interests

May 8, 2026, 6:21 PM

How Britain failed its Jews – twice over

A police forensic officer works inside a cordon set up near Kenton United Synagogue in Harrow, northwest London, on April 19, 2026, the scene of an overnight arson attack. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)

One of the only questions I have been asked by both Jew and gentile alike is how much of an impact I believe the left will have on Jewish life in Britain. It is, on reflection, the wrong question;...

Apr 29, 2026, 9:55 PM

Two Jews were stabbed – where is our government?

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a press conference at Downing Street in London, April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)

In the wake of murders, stabbings, and arson – UK leaders needs to do more than express 'concern' for British Jews to feel safe again

Apr 23, 2026, 1:17 PM

Why Zack Polanski’s rise should worry British Jews

Green Party leader Zack Polanski, center, and former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn (far left) join protesters holding placards and waving flags as they take part in a march against the far right in central London on March 28, 2026. (Henry Nicholls/AFP)

Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green Party, may say that he is proud of his Jewish heritage, but his actions differ from his words. Just last month, his own relatives said that his politics have left them alienated from...

Apr 5, 2026, 9:55 AM

Israel has the right to execute terrorists

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir celebrates the passing of the death penalty law for terrorists in the Knesset, March 30, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

The ink was barely dry on the Knesset’s vote when the communiqués began to flood through the letterbox. Eight Islamic nations - the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar and Pakistan - issued a joint condemnation of...

Mar 31, 2026, 5:18 PM

Did Israel get the death penalty right?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arriving at the Knesset plenum, 30 March 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

A long-sought answer to terror arrives at last, but the new law raises uneasy questions about justice, equality, and what kind of state Israel wants to be

Mar 26, 2026, 10:23 PM

The United States is Israel’s useful idiot

President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One, Monday, March 23, 2026, at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

There is a very particular sort of cognitive dissonance that only money can clearly produce. In the weeks and months following 7 October 2023, American Jewish donors gave and gave. The Jewish Federations of North America raised over $650...

Mar 25, 2026, 2:27 AM

Meet the people between the river and the sea

Standing outside their Hebron home before leaving for Holon to receive treatment from Save a Child's Heart, (from left), Lubna Abu Danash holding her daughter Shuruk, Mahmoud Abu Danash holding Muath, and his older brothers. (photo credit: Ilan Ben Zion/Times of Israel staff)

There is a phrase that has become almost a battle cry among the far-left anti-Israel base. You have heard it on the street at protests and read it on placards: ‘from the river to the sea.’ Now, what river and...

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About Me

English writer exploring Zionism, diaspora, and what makes a democracy. Contributor to the Times of Israel, Haaretz and other platforms.

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