The single issue that unites most of Israeli society and will influence the next Israeli election. Amid the rising number of our soldiers who have fallen, the unbearable suffering of the hostages and their families, the endless international condemnations, and…

My ani ma’amin—about the connection between creativity and limitations, between freedom and law I am committed, as always, to bringing you the most up-to-date and clear-eyed insights into the fateful issues facing Israel and the Jewish people today. Occasionally, though,…

There is no cost-free way to bring this war to an end. In English, one says that a leader or a government has “climbed up a ladder” while in Israel the expression is “climbs up a tree.” Either way—a ladder…

SAPIR Journal invited me to write this article at the end of March, 2025, shortly after much of the world blamed Israel for breaking the Gaza ceasefire and for unleashing one of the deadliest-ever bombing campaigns on the Strip. Hardly a…

The leader of Hamas bet that the West’s oldest hatred would obscure Hamas’s atrocities. He was right. Growing up as the only Jewish kid in an Irish and Italian neighborhood, and then later as an Israeli soldier and diplomat, I…

In Judaism, we have a traditional period of mourning—the Nine Days culminating on Tisha B’Av. On that day we recall our people’s suffering during the destruction of our Temples, our expulsions, and the many massacres at the hands of our…

A Hopeful Deja Vu The radical changes that took place in the Middle East as a result of the Six-Day War did not happen immediately. Will the region once again be transformed? Michael Oren Jul 29, 2025 The situation might…

The IDF announces decision to act “to prevent the entrenchment of hostile elements beyond the border, protect Israeli citizens, and prevent harm to Druze civilians.”   Supporters of Israel worldwide, including a great many Jews, have little notion of who…