On Israel-Diaspora “distancing”: Nothing short of a deep commitment to traditional Jewish ritual practice is likely to lead to a revitalization of Jewish life in America and subsequently create a solid basis for recovery in Diaspora-Israel relations.

It is time to stop defending the lame “status quo” in Jerusalem. Primarily, this means three controversial things: Israel should give full citizenship to all 300,000 Jerusalemite Arabs; it must embark on a grand-scale home building campaign in the Jerusalem environs; and it should insist upon Jewish prayer rights on “Har HaBayit,” the Temple Mount…

It is unmitigatedly maddening to see Western leaders and media succumb with equanimity to Hamas’ obvious criminal stuntsmanship on the Gaza border. What is Western support for “Israel’s right to exist within secure and recognized borders” worth if those borders cannot be defended?

President Trump is acting to restore America’s credibility as a world power after eight years of diffident presidential leadership. He is not frightened by the mobs of the Arab or Persian world or by their effete champions in the West. He doesn’t quake in his boots at the possibility of upsetting Mahmoud Abbas or Ali Khamenei….

The JCPOA was based on Western charity for Iranian lies. After Israel’s intelligence coup, the question becomes this: Will JCPOA boosters continue to deny reality and accuse Israel of being alarmist? Will they continue to pretend they didn’t know, and to accept Iran’s naked denials? Can they possibly continue to defend the weak verification regimes and early sunsets of this inadequate accord?

An ideologically bankrupt A.B. Yehoshua wants to replace the Jewish state with an Israeli-Palestinian federation of some sort. This is the inevitable end result of a long process of loss of Jewish-Zionist identity that afflicts the hard Left. Having despaired of the “two-state solution,” Yehoshua is now dumping the idea of Israel all-together. Ugh!

Despite military threats and other challenges, the State of Israel is winning on all fronts. Israel is stronger and healthier than all its enemies combined. At Israel’s 70th, it is important to emphasize and re-emphasize this perspective: The Heavens are shining, not collapsing, upon Israel.

Nobody in the world has the right to criticize Israel’s defensive actions on the Gaza border, even if Israel had used significant force against the Hamas mobs – which it didn’t.

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.