When the British diplomat Robert Ker Porter arrived in the Persian city of Ispahan, having ventured there from St. Petersburg in 1817 to explore the vestiges of ancient Babylonia, and then to follow the route of Xenophon’s Katabasis, he could…
What began as a good week for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ended in his indictment for corruption. It is the first time that a sitting Israeli PM has been indicted. Early in the week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo…
The name Benjamin literally means “man of the right,” and Prime Minister Netanyahu had nowhere left to turn. His only hope was to win a new election, but after holding two in one year that he could not win decisively,…
Remembrance: Lingering Hell and Remembered Heroism I learned two huge historical facts emerging from the horror of the Islamist terror atrocities of September 11, 2001: (1) the toll of premature deaths caused by the lingering toxins at Ground Zero is…
The final intrigues are being made behind closed curtains. Deals are brewing, but the hero is left to stew. Alone. The plot is afoot. A leader is about to be toppled. Suddenly. Instantly. To go from the world stage to…
In America we call it “Fake News.” In Israel, in Hebrew, it is called “Fehk Nooz.” The Hebrew translates into English as “Once again, the leftists of the media trying to deceive and convince people that their leftist lies bear…
This week’s Israeli elections proved one thing. Not only is Israel the only democracy in the Middle East, it is also a global democracy on steroids. The election results showed some benefits, but mainly the faults, of a multi-party electoral…
It is said that Jews are so opinionated that two Jews render three opinions. We see from this week’s elections in Israel, timed perfectly for Rosh Hashanah season, that it is not true. For nearly seven million Jews, only 30 (or so) political parties…
It was 42 years ago this August, in late summer 1977, that Egyptian President Anwar Sadat contemplated the unthinkable. Hero of the Arab world after his surprise assault on Israel in the Yom Kippur War four years earlier, Sadat considered…