TO A foreigner, like myself, the US election system looks cockeyed.The president is elected by an “electoral college”, which does not necessarily reflect the will of the people. This system, rooted in the realities of the 18th century, has no connection with the conditions of today. It easily leads to the election of a president … Read more
EVERYBODY IN Israel knows this story. When Levy Eshkol was Prime Minister, his assistants rushed up to him in panic: “Levy, there is a drought!”“In Texas?” Eshkol asked anxiously.“No, in Israel!” they said.“Then it doesn’t matter,” Eshkol assured them. “We can always get all the wheat we need from the Americans.” That was some 50 … Read more
THERE WAS this young Israeli who was captured by cannibals. They put him in the cooking pot and were about to light the fire, when he expressed one last wish: “Please box my ears!”When the cannibal chief obliged, the Israeli jumped up, leveled his Uzi and mowed down his captors. “If you had the Uzi … Read more
SO WE have two election campaigns in the next three months – one in the USA and one in Israel. I don’t know which of them is more important for our lives.In many respects, the two elections are very different. But in some others, they are strikingly similar.It may be interesting to make some comparisons. … Read more
MY FIRST reaction to Binyamin Netanyahu’s exhibition of comics at the UN General Assembly was shame.Shame that the supreme elected representative of my country would stoop to such a primitive rhetorical device, bordering on the childish. (One Israeli commentator suggested putting him on a rug with a lot of paper and Indian ink, and letting … Read more
I AM sitting here writing this article 39 years to the minute from that moment when the sirens started screaming, announcing the beginning of the war. A minute before, total quiet reigned, as it does now. No traffic, no activity in the street, except a few children riding bicycles. Yom Kippur, the holiest day for … Read more
ONCE UPON a time, President Richard Nixon wanted to appoint a certain lawyer to the US Supreme Court.“But the man is a complete moron!” one senator exclaimed. “So what,” answered another, “There are a great many morons in the US, and they have a right to be represented in the court as much as any … Read more
VISITING RAMALLAH after an absence of several months, I was again amazed by the ongoing building activity. Everywhere new high-rise buildings are going up, and many of them are beautiful. (Arabs seem to have an innate talent for architecture, as any world anthology of architecture affirms.) The building boom seems to be a good sign, … Read more
VISITING RAMALLAH after an absence of several months, I was again amazed by the ongoing building activity. Everywhere new high-rise buildings are going up, and many of them are beautiful. (Arabs seem to have an innate talent for architecture, as any world anthology of architecture affirms.) The building boom seems to be a good sign, … Read more
NOTHING COULD be more scary than the thought that this duo – Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak – is in a position to start a war, the dimensions and outcome of which are incalculable. It’s scary not only because of their ideological fixations and mental outlook, but also because of the level of their intelligence. … Read more