At the core of the Trump peace initiatives is creative chaos; replacing hoary assumptions with new bridges and highways – literally and figuratively

Keep the settlement issue in proportion. Settlements are not the bane of local or world peace nor necessarily an obstacle to peace. They neither explain Palestinian unwillingness to make peace with Israel nor are they the cause of traffic jams in Tel Aviv.

Even an interim Israeli government can clean-up the city, stop dithering on construction, rebuff deleterious foreign pressures, and invest in all sectors of Israel’s national capital. It can reestablish forward Zionist momentum – for the greater good of both Arab and Jewish residents, and to secure the national goal of a united, livable and luminous Jerusalem.

Avigdor Liberman cynical use of the haredi draft issue to torment Netanyahu has nauseatingly forced Israel into another utterly unnecessary election campaign; a campaign that means months more of deadlock in government policymaking and tons of hateful election rhetoric and divisiveness.

A new national security plan for the Israeli government by fellows of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS) says: Avoid risky diplomatic escapades and prepare for war.

The legacies of Rabbis Yeshayahu Hadari and Aharon Lichtenstein serve as a cultural counterpoint to the doltish Eurovision festivities.

Reasonable disagreements are degenerating into demonization and double standards applied to the prime minister.

He has cornered himself into a situation where he has zero credibility and zero leverage on Israel, the US, the international community, and even the Sunni Arab world. He and the so-called Palestinian “Authority” in the West Bank are obstructionist and kleptocratic in every way.

The drafting or exemption of haredi men from military service is back as the super-stumbling block before Netanyahu’s new government. Here are two possible solutions.

The core cause behind Netanyahu’s fifth electoral win is contempt for the failed Oslo Accords and the disastrous Gaza disengagement.

Campaign mistakes and takeaways, and my suggested line-up of 20 ministerial postings for a possible unity government.

Trump’s landmark Golan decision asserts the law of diminishing returns: Arabs who refuse to make peace with Israel lose rights and assets as time goes forward. Mahmoud Abbas: Take notice.

A look at the dangerous intellectual trends in America that have catapulted Ilhan Omar and “American Corbynism” to prominence.

The unpredictability, exaggerations and enigmas of this Israeli election campaign…. and some predictions too.

Israel must administer Area C effectively and with much more authority, whether it wishes to either hold the territory as an effective card for future bargaining or it intends to annex the lands to Israel.