The Haggadah’s four architypes of “sons” uncannily correspond to models of political engagement with Israel today. One is wise, one is wicked, one is simple, and one does not even know how to become part of the conversation…

I offer here a historical review of Israeli government attitudes towards the phenomena of anti-Semitism, and take a critical look at this week’s meeting of the Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism, held in Jerusalem. The Forum needs focus.

Are any of Israel’s critics daring to ask what type of Palestinian state they are seeking to create? Might the PA be pressed-upon to return to the path of diplomacy with Israel, instead of intensifying its campaign to criminalize Israel – before it is coddled with more cash?

Might more be done to advance an Iranian counter-revolution? Israeli diplomat Uri Lubrani certainly thought so, and he was not naive. Pushback against Tehran’s gains in Syria would help, as would a tidal wave of sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards.

To mark Purim in Jerusalem today, I offer my semi-annual guide to good drinking of current kosher Israeli wines. Read about some great/favorite Israeli wines from Arza, Teperberg, Tabor, Covenant, Tura, Bat Shlomo, Shilo, Gvaot, Netofa, Psagot, Binyamina, and Castel. Also: Tzafona icewine from Canada!

Recent political scandals, terrorist murders, and hostile military moves against Israel – juxtaposed this coming week with Purim – have me reflecting on existential realities: The capriciousness of life should teach us humility. The ephemerality of power should give us strength.

With the weakening of ISIS, the growing strength of Russia in Syria, and the continuing retraction of American involvement in the region – Iran apparently feels emboldened enough to escalate its confrontation with Israel.

Investment in eastern Jerusalem is the core of sovereign political action that will keep Jerusalem whole and make it prosperous for all.

Two momentous speeches in the Knesset plenum – by the Canadian prime minister four years ago and the US vice president this week  – may have transformed the course of history. Harper and Pence offer moral and spiritual leadership for the world.

There are between competing narratives about Israel: that it is flying-high, or that it is heading towards disaster. Wise and important actors around the world are coming to the conclusion that the first assertion is true. Israel is an anchor of sanity and a source of ingenuity in an unruly world. Israel’s strategy of vigilance, patience, and looking over the horizon for new partnerships is working.

It is no longer acceptable just to sit back and sigh that “Israel’s hands are tied” in response to terrorism and lawfare. Israel should build massively in strategic consensus settlement zones.

A diplomatic and political forecast for the year: No war, no elections, no division of Jerusalem, no European support for the protesters in Iran. Perhaps a real Arab-Israeli peace process, with Saudi women driving… to Israel.

Is this country’s leadership hardening the home front for the resilience needed going into our next confrontations? Is the fighting spirit of the IDF all that it needs to be? Not so much, according to experts I heard from this week.

Trump’s new US national security document is a robust statement of American strategic realism; a necessary corrective to Obama-era enfeeblement and self-flagellation. There are enemies out there and the US has to lead in confronting them.

After recognizing Jerusalem, America’s next move should be banishing the EU from regional diplomacy.