Why tribes?
“We cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass,” declared the just-inaugurated President Barack Obama in January 2009, “that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve,”
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Michael Oren is an American-Israeli diplomat, essayist, historian, novelist, and politician. He is a former ambassador to the United States.
Israel’s current crisis is a necessary step in the process of state-making
There’s no time that Israeli parents and grandparents hate more than late August. Summer programs have ended, school has yet to begin, and people still have to work. It’s then that the national cry goes up: “What are we to do with the kids?”
Essay | Remembering the Yom Kippur War in a Divided Israel
Fifty years ago this month, the Jewish state survived a surprise attack by its Arab neighbors. Some conflict veterans see the country’s current political divisions as no less dangerous. By Michael Oren Sept. 28, 2023 at 10:00 am ET Recently, while walking in a Tel Aviv park, I was approached by a well-dressed, elderly man…
Israel at the Crossroads
On this Rosh Hashanah, perhaps more than any previously, Israel stands at a crossroads. In one direction lay chaos and conflict, and on the other, possible reconciliation and peace. Whether it turns away from the former path and follows the latter will depend on Israeli leaders within and outside the government. Can they overcome their…
Can the Two-State Solution Be Saved?
Dangerous Delusions Michael Oren Anyone seeking to understand why U.S. policy in the Middle East keeps failing—especially on the Israeli-Palestinian issue—need only read “Israel’s One-State Reality” (May/June 2023) by Michael Barnett, Nathan Brown, Marc Lynch, and Shibley Telhami. The essay suffers from the same refusal to face facts that led the United States to launch…
Our Many Holocausts
In the aftermath of the Shoah, different nations embraced different narratives of the tragedy. Today, though, the world needs to hear all of these complementary messages. Almost inconceivably, the two most acclaimed Holocaust writers were imprisoned in the same Auschwitz sub-camp, Monowitz, at the same time. Some survivors even remembered them occupying the same block.…
Israel Is Preparing for Open War
The Coming Middle East Conflagration Israel is bracing itself for war with Iranian proxies, as Tehran escalates its provocations. But what will the United States do if conflict comes? This article was updated on Monday, November 4, at 7:35 pm. The senior ministers of the Israeli government met twice last week to discuss the possibility…
The Case Against the Iran Deal
Reviving the JCPOA will ensure either the emergence of a nuclear Iran or a desperate war to stop it. Proponents of the Iran nuclear agreement are sounding the alarm. In 2018, the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and since then, Iran has increased the quality and quantity of its uranium…
Iran-Deal Myths Are Pervasive
The Three Myths of the Iran Deal Any solution to the current crisis will require a clear-eyed understanding of the challenges posed by the regime. The Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—the nuclear deal with Iran—and its renewal of sanctions, the rise of Iran’s provocations in the Gulf and Iran’s enrichment…