Michael Oren is an American-Israeli diplomat, essayist, historian, novelist, and politician. He is a former ambassador to the United States.
Ever since the 1970s, the entrances to many American Jewish institutions have boasted a single bust. It is not of Theodore Herzl, founder of the Zionist movement, or of Israel’s preeminent leader, David Ben-Gurion, nor even of any prominent American…
Read more “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,”
Read more 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…
Read more 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,…
Read more 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…
Read more 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…
Read more 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…
Read more 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.…
Read more 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…
Read more 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…
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