European Union is the problem, not the solution

It is a measure of the EU foreign policy establishment’s timidity that Lebanese terror group and Iranian proxy, Hizbollah, has for so long evaded designation as a terrorist organisation.

More..

Israel will miss Fischer who kept the economy stable

The list of Stanley Fischer’s achievements over the eight years he served as Governor of the Bank of Israel is long and varied but they can be summarised in one line — Professor Fischer was both the responsible grown-up and respectable face of Israel’s economy, and the man who should take the credit for shielding the country from the global recession.

More..

Belgian school’s demise symbol of a Euro disease

The likely closure, in coming months, of the Maimonides Jewish school in Brussels — as reported earlier this week in the Times of Israel — comes as no surprise to those familiar with the local Jewish community and its vicissitudes.

More..

Playtime is over — US and Israel must get real

President Obama was not waiting for the polls to close on Tuesday evening. While Israelis were still voting, his spokesman reiterated that the United States “will continue to make clear that only through direct negotiations can the Palestinians and the Israelis… achieve the peace they both deserve”.

More..

Deputies’ dilemma: on or off the microphone?

A compromise agreement which allows speakers at Board of Deputies meetings to “opt-out” of appearing on live internet streams of discussions has been widely criticised.

There was confusion among deputies at Sunday’s plenary meeting when Board president Vivian Wineman and technicians operating the live stream attempted to explain the broadcasting process.

More..

Why polls got it so wrong

On Tuesday night, Israeli voters rewarded politics addicts with the joy of a real shock. Not a single pre-election poll, among the scores conducted, predicted the scale of Yesh Atid’s success. What the published surveys were hiding was the very high number of undecideds among likely voters, with the pollsters unable to predict where those votes would end up.

More..

Lapid’s rise made history, now he must beat history

Even in the volatile environment of Israeli politics, the achievement of Yair Lapid and his party Yesh Atid is unprecedented.

More..