Yoram Ettinger
ARTICLES BY: Yoram Ettinger
Rosh Hashanah Guide for the Perplexed, 2017
1. Rosh Hashanah (“the beginning of the year” in Hebrew) is celebrated on the first day of the Jewish month of Tishrei (תשרי). Tishrei was...
Antisemitism in US Superseded by 400-Year-Old Civic Foundations
Contrary to European antisemitism, the recent episodes of antisemitism in the US -- such as hundreds of white supremacists bearing torches and giving the Nazi...
Why Are Arabs Allowed to Exploit the Palestinians?
The Al-Aqsa Mosque controversy has exposed, once again, the non-centrality of the Palestinian issue in the overall Arab order of priorities. Contrary to Western media headlines, Arab policymakers and the...
The Ninth of Av: A Guide for the Perplexed, 2017
Here are nine thoughts on the Ninth of Av: 1. Forgetfulness feeds oblivion; remembrance breeds deliverance. According to a legend,Napoleon was walking one night in the streets of Paris,...
The US-Iran Syndrome: Leverage or Squander?
Western leaders tend to sacrifice long-term, complex national security strategic goals on the altar of short-term, easily-grasped tactical gain -- a strategy resulting from the realities of...
US Pressure on Israel? No Need to Panic
In recent weeks, commentators and others have been worried about the prospect of US pressure being applied to Israel. Can Israel afford, they ask, to...
Shavuot Guide for the Perplexed, 2017
1. Liberty. The Shavuot holiday reflects the 3,500 year old trilateral linkage between the Land of Israel (pursued by Abraham), the Torah of Israel (transmitted through Moses)...
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s Political Correctness
While the election of President Donald Trump represented a setback to political correctness, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's interview on the May 14 episode of NBC's...
Convergence of US-Israel National Security Interests
In 2017, the national security interests of the US and Israel have converged in an unprecedented manner, in response to the anti-US Arab Tsunami; anti-US...
Passover Guide for the Perplexed, 2017
1. According to Heinrich Heine, the 19th-century German poet, “Since the Exodus, freedom has always spoken with a Hebrew accent.” 2. Moses’ “Let my people go”...
Purim Guide for the Perplexed, 2017
Purim’s historical background 586 BCE: Babylonian Emperor Nebuchadnezzar's destruction of the First Temple on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, and his expulsion of Jews from Judea and Samaria, triggered a wave...
A Palestinian State Is Not in America’s Interest
In 1948, the conventional "wisdom" at the US State Department was that the reestablishment of a Jewish state would damage US interests because the Jewish state would be aligned...
President Trump vs. the State Department
In order to avoid the failed Middle East track record of all US presidents, since 1948, President Trump should refrain from -- rather than repeat -- the...
Secretary Kerry’s Suspension of Disbelief
The term “suspension of disbelief” refers to the intentional subordination of critical thinking, documented fact and common sense to one’s zeal and wishful-thinking; one sacrifices realism at the...
