When it comes to Iran, today’s meeting between Netanyahu and Trump could prove fateful. In my media interviews, I am always being asked what Trump is thinking and what he is going to do about Iran. The questions are more pressing today, as Prime Minister Netanyahu holds his seventh meeting with President Trump in the…
Now that the remains of our final hostage have been repatriated, the country’s eyes are fixed on either Iran or Gaza. It’s easy to forget one of the most fateful issues still facing us: the north. During the war, as many as 100,000 residents of the north were either evacuated from their homes by the…
Columbia University was once my dream school and has since become my nightmare. I was sixteen years old and had just read Making It by Norman Podhoretz, who passed away at age 95 last month. His memoir was about a Jewish kid from Brooklyn who went to Columbia and became a major intellectual figure. I…
Episode Description October 7 didn’t just change Israel. It exposed the end of an era. In this episode of Echoes of Jewish History, I sit down with Ambassador Michael Oren—historian, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, IDF veteran, and one of Israel’s most consequential strategic thinkers—to map the world that is emerging in the…
The Lavon Affair remains a stain on Israel’s intelligence record and a lesson for Israeli leaders today. The end of this month, January 31, will mark seventy-one years since Egypt’s execution of Israeli agent Moshe Marzouk and six decades since his death resulted in an Israeli prime minister’s resignation. Why do both anniversaries remain acutely…
With Israel’s main enemies significantly downgraded, the failure to assert our sovereignty poses the greatest threat to Israel’s long term survival. At first glance, the tragic death of the Haredi teenager Yosef Eisenthal during an anti-government demonstration in Jerusalem last week seemed totally unconnected to the shooting, by Israel police, of a Bedouin man, Muhammad…
Maduro’s capture is outstanding news for the democratic world. President Trump’s audacious action in capturing Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in downtown Caracas and airlifting him to prison in America is outstanding news for the democratic world and especially for Israel. The operation follows many years that the United States turned its back on South America.…
Tensions between Iran and the US following Trump’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Key Points: Nuclear Concerns: The discussion centers on Iranian nuclear capabilities. While the US intelligence has not confirmed Iran’s missile or nuclear facility rebuilding, Israeli intelligence has suspected such activity—which is not unusual, as Israeli intelligence often detects developments before US intelligence.…
2025 was a year of war–in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran. It was a year of loss and trauma but also of victory and, for the hostages, redemption. 2026 promises to be a pivotal year of breakthroughs in relations with several of Israel’s long-term foes. Beyond that, 2026 for Israel could be a year of recovery,…
Rather than a departure from standard practice, recent actions by the United States continue its longstanding commitment to protect vulnerable religious communities abroad. President Trump’s decision to intervene militarily to defend Christians from ISIS attacks in Nigeria has been criticized by left and the right-wing commentators alike. Progressives denounced the operation as the product of…
