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Sep 9, 2026, 8:28 PM

Rosh HaShanah in the Shadow of Spengler

Created by Gemini AI 2.9.26

On Rosh HaShanah, Jewish tradition turns its gaze outward. It is Yom Harat Olam - the Day of Judgment not just for the Jewish people, but for all humanity (kol ba’ei olam). Liturgy reminds us that on this day,...

Raphael Cohen-Almagor

Sep 9, 2026, 3:43 PM

Israel Election: Who are the Major Players?

Gadi Eizenkot , former Israeli minister without portfolio and the 21st Chief of General Staff of the Israeli army, speaks during the Herzliya Conference at Reichman University in Herzliya on June 24, 2024. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP via Getty Images)

The lists for the upcoming Knesset elections are closed now. Thirty-eight political parties have submitted candidate lists to the Central Elections Committee. Many of those parties have little realistic chance of passing Israel’s 3.25 percent electoral threshold. The most...

Sep 8, 2026, 8:53 AM

Jews vs. Jews: From Rome to the Jewish State

I recently heard historian Barry Strauss discuss his new book, Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire, on the TRIGGERnometry podcast. Intrigued, I bought the book and just finished reading it. Published in 2025,...

Gulaid Yusuf Idaan

Sep 5, 2026, 9:55 AM

The Doolow Strike: Türkiye’s Intervention in Somalia

The reported drone strike in Doolow targeting former Somali Custodial Corps commander General Mahad Abdirahman Shub has brought a much larger strategic question about Turkey's role in Somalia into sharp focus. The reported strike on General Mahad Abdirahman Shub's residence...

Joseph P. Rhinewine

Aug 31, 2026, 12:29 AM

Israel Needs a Left

The Left's purpose extends far beyond peace. Israel still needs a movement for ordinary life. I have spent several essays telling the Israeli Left that our peace policies failed. This one contains good news: the Left has always had a...

Aug 30, 2026, 5:15 PM

Altalena Was the Moment Israel Chose to Become a State

A state rarely loses sovereignty in one dramatic act. It loses it by granting exceptions: to armed factions it sympathizes with, civilians it trusts, institutions a government mistakes for its own, and private initiatives born of good intentions. Altalena’s...

Yochanan Schimmelpfennig

Aug 25, 2026, 8:23 AM

The Match Has Hands

The West Bank is not approaching ignition by itself. Every “match” has a hand that strikes it—and an institution that sees the flame, possesses the power to intervene, and chooses whether to act. Major General Avi Bluth, the IDF’s Central...

Aug 24, 2026, 5:07 PM

The Lessons of the Altalena for Israel in 2026

The Altalena burning off the coast of Tel Aviv in 1948. Photo ©️ GPO, 2026

News of the rediscovery of the Altalena was headline news across Israel this week. Seventy-eight years ago, as the Altalena burned on the beachfront of Tel Aviv, the Jewish people were poised on the brink of civil war. In today’s polarizing times,...

Kelsey Maurine Brickl

Aug 24, 2026, 11:01 AM

The Stories Nations Must Tell About Themselves

Many Israelis, or members of their families, arrived in modern Israel under terrible, complicated, or what must have felt like impossible circumstances. Tens of thousands of Teimanim, Yemenite Jews, were brought to Israel through Operation On Wings of Eagles,...

Yochanan Schimmelpfennig

Aug 21, 2026, 5:39 PM

The Jewish Question in the 21st Century

The modern Jewish political imagination has long been organized around a seemingly unavoidable question: what political space is available to Jews in the modern world? For generations, the principal answers appeared clear. Jews could become equal citizens within democratic...

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