The Day After: Bibi Doing Away with Election Promises
It's taken less than a month for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scrap at least three election promises.
Top 5 Dos and Don’ts of Facebook Etiquette
I've been using Facebook since 2005. While over the initial seven-eight years of being hooked on the Father/Son/Holy Spirit combo of Social Media, I gathered no more than 700 Friends, I'm currently at 1,308.
Will 2015 be the Second Time an American President Forces Netanyahu out of Office?
Photo credit: http://www.bloombergview.com Benjamin Netanyahu, a brilliant MIT-educated diplomat who served as a commander in the elite Sayeret Matkal IDF unit, speaks excellent English and has earned the privilege to lead a nation at its most critical moments was ushered into office in a close call over Shimon Peres in 1996 after Rabin's premiership was cut short by Yigal Amir's ...
U.N. Anti-semitism and Seinfeld Elections in Israel–a message from Steve Toltz
Shalom Friends and Family, UN Anti-semitism. Picture credit: jewsnews.co.il I know it's been a while since I've written, but I've been busy with work and, despite what you may hear at home, there hasn't been much new going on here lately. That may sound like a strange comment with Palestinian terror attacks claiming the lives of innocents, the West playing the ...
ISIL Poses Long-term Threat to Israel, West
The Islamist terrorist group ISIL has taken over large swaths of land in Syria and Iraq. Just to place things in perspective, it now controls of an area roughly 10 times the Masked ISIL gunmen take Jordanian pilot Mu'ath Safi Yousef al-Kaseasbeh whose plane was shot down in Raqqa, Syira prisoner. Photo credit: presstv.ir size of Israel. This is just to ...
Prominent Minority Activists Lead Panel Discussion at Tel-Aviv University on Intl’l Human Rights Day
Yesterday (Tues, 11/12), the Im Tirzu movement held two panel discussions related to the international celebration of 'Human Rights Day.' Prominent activists from the right attended and made it clear that the left doesn't have a monopoly on issues of human dignity, freedom of speech and human rights. First panel discussion First Panel Discussion: Social Activists for Jewish Rights Opening remarks were ...
Could Anett Haskia be a Game Changer in the Next Election?
Original article by: United with Israel Staff; editing mine. Muslim Zionism has Capacity to Swing Israeli Election From R-L: Anett, myself, and Y. Anett Haskia is an Arab Muslim Zionist. By serving as a role model for young Arab Israelis, she hopes to influence change and help bring about a lasting peace. At first glance, Anett Haskia appears to be your typical Israeli ...
Top 7 Job Sites in Israel
Photo credit: Haaretz.com I'm looking for a new career opportunity after a Copywriter position in Tel-Aviv ran its course. While I have 10+ years of experience, speak fluent English, Hebrew and Russian, am a talented writer/journalist who knows his way around the social media/SEO world, it's been a rough go lately. And yes, I've turned down a number of offers where ...
Taking Stock of 2014: Giving Back but not Giving in
Israel’s population grew by almost 200,000 individuals in 2014 according to the Central Bureau of Statistics. Photo credit: listenisrael.com Some-176,230 babies were born in the Jewish year 5774 which culminated on Sept. 25th, 2014. This covers three fourths of the calendar year, so we can assume the 2014 total will reach upwards of 221,000 newborns. Aliyah helped boost the population figure, ...
Israeli Hockey Player Makes IDF History
The IDF has recognized a hockey player as a “top athlete” for the first time. The military sports board has decided to present Yuval Rosenthal (19), an ice hockey phenom, this honor. This will allow him to postpone army service in favor of his sports career. Rosenthal, a native of Kfar Saba, joined Israel’s professional ice hockey league when he was ...
Don’t be afraid to live in Jerusalem so long as you aren’t a Jew!
Following a month of bloodshed in which Arab terrorists have run over pedestrians, gunned down a Temple Mt. activist at a political conference, stabbed people to Bus for Arabs only in Jerusalem death and gone on shooting sprees in Israel's capital, 'Palestinian' civilians are leading more comfortable, safer lives than local Jews. It comes down to us being a generous people ...
Why the preoccupation with Israel?
Photo: JewsNews.com I'm an avid sports fan, so it goes without saying that I check in to the latest sports scores from the myriad of American leagues every morning when my hometown teams have finished up their daily ritual of flattening each others' faces and satisfying their appetite for blood. Every time I tune into Yahoo or any other major ...
Can’t We All Just Get Along? …Because Politics are Important but Friendship Comes First!
No, I'm not talking Jews and Arabs or Israelis and 'Palestinians', or the nations of the world. I'm talking about Israelis among themselves. I'm also not evoking lofty concepts like ahavat Yisrael (fraternal love among all Jews), or national unity. I'm talking about on the personal, everyday, friendship level. I make no secret of where I stand. I believe that G-d ...
By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!!!
The above quote was said by a fictional character, but these are the very words that must be proclaimed from the mouth of the President of the US or one the prime ministers of Europe or even Israel. However, we will not hear these words, not from any of the leaders the free world. The west has become paralyzed and ...
Interview with Baruch Mordechai: IDF Soldier in Need
Baruch approached me yesterday and asked if I could help him with his wedding. Having loyally served his people and the country he loves, he now finds himself in difficult financial straits. Here's an interview I conducted with Baruch:
New Poem–“Night”
Still up, More thoughts to drown out the brain noise, More unexpected emotions to blend in with everything around, Dark, chill Jerusalem night, Moves in, To claim another day, It’s dark—not simply dim! I want to tell the world about my life, Want to share hidden secrets, Night. R’ Nachman’s tikkun hatzot: The time for it has long passed, Another squandered chance? Or a newly-discovered opportunity for tshuva? Whichever way, I yearn sleep, Night. More people come ...
An Interview with Chaya Chertok
It was a breezy night in Jerusalem. People from around the world were dining in fancy restaurants in the city center. Chaya Chertok, a close friend of mine from Chicago, and I were meeting at a café just off Ben Yehuda, the most popular tourist destination in this part of the Holy City. As sounds of conversation in a bevy ...
Avigdor Lieberman: the Putin Model Israel is in Dire Need Of
It’s no secret that I’m not a fan of Putin. At the same time, there’s something to be said for his policy of disregarding world opinion in favor of the best interests of his Photo: blogs.forward.com people. Putin has gained international acclaim for placing the interests of Russian nationals in the Ukraine, the Baltic States, Georgia and other former Soviet republics ...
“Only in Israel:” Praising the Land in the holy month of Elul
Photo: www.etzion-bloc.org.il- I've gone more than a month with no blogposts. Not a good feeling when before I was posting once a day or at least a few times a week, but that just happens sometimes. It's Elul; a time for introspection, forgiveness, and repentance out of free will and an innate desire to become better people heading into a new ...
The Land
Photo: Wikipedia The Land lay still, As if in a summer night’s dream, Its shallow valleys, Could not be seen, For years it tried, And tried again, To gather strength, To understand. What folly had it undertaken? Why were its people dying? How had it happened so quickly? Was this a sign? When it remembered, It suddenly awoke, It stretched out its hand and then it spoke: “Give me another chance,” “Don’t let me whither,” “I’m broken, ...
Operation Protective Edge: Don’t Take Jewish Ingenuity for Granted
When Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants started raining rockets on Israeli cities and towns nine days ago and the Israeli Air Force responded by targeting terrorist cells Photo: Haaretz and rocket launching sites, the reaction from the world community was one of rage and condemnation. In Morocco, a Rabbi was brutally attacked and subsequently hospitalized and in France, local Muslims rioted ...
Gypsy Jazz in Israel
Impromptu Gypsy Jazz Jam with the prosphoto: Gayla Goodman It is no secret that Israelis love music. Besides Jacob’s Ladder Folk Festival for Irish, bluegrass and folk music enthusiasts, there are festivals for lovers of jazz, guitar, oud and klezmer. One genre that has taken off in Israel of late is gypsy jazz, which is a style developed by Django ...
Shadchanim Giving Singles False Hope
As a precursor to this here expose, here's a link to an article covering the Top 5 Jewish dating sites that I've seen many people taking interest in. As someone who's been out on the prowl for some time now, I can tell you that the search for you beshert can be both upsetting and extremely draining. But then there are ...
My Response to the Suggested Forced Feeding of Terrorists: Why Not Let them Starve?!
Miri Regev has been busy trying to pass a measure that would allow medical staff at Israeli prisons where 'Palestinian' terrorists are being held to force feed the prisoners on hunger strike. Efforts to pass this bill have mounted and one of the leading religious Zionist organizations, Tzomet, has joined the Knesset push. I'm at odds as to why we need ...
Olso and the Two-Staters: the Useful Idiots
In a recent Jerusalem Post article by Martin Sherman, the author puts the fallacy of the 'Two-State Solution' and the suicidal left's willingness to compromise their own lives for the world to feel a little better about us on display. Sherman quotes Prof. Paul Eidelberg in his The Fixation of Israel’s Elites on “Land for Peace”, 2007: 'The fixation of Israeli governments on ...