Herb Keinon

Israel has always wrestled with questions of motivation, service, and sacrifice. Yet when tested, the country has rediscovered its resolve.

The idea of establishing a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria is one that a majority of Israelis once entertained, but no longer.

Sunday’s strikes, roadblocks, and protests - though they disrupt life in Israel - are unlikely to move Hamas toward releasing anyone; if anything, they encourage Hamas to dig in further.

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: For Netanyahu, the calculation is now straightforward: win the war quickly, and the rest will sort itself out.

'The nerves of even the most adoring grandparents can get shot. I understand that now. I didn’t understand it then.'

NATIONAL AFFAIRS: Whether this is chaos by design or simply dysfunction on full display, talk over reoccupying Gaza have led to a critical inflection point.

Sa’ar said the right things, but in a world where Hamas’s word is often trusted and Israel’s is doubted, there's no guarantee it will matter.

Herzog’s visit to these three small EU states, with a combined population of 6.1 million, reflects Israel’s effort to secure dependable allies as its standing in Western Europe declines.

Israel’s international standing is being battered from both ends of its political spectrum. The far Right undermines it with reckless belligerence; the far Left corrodes it with moral preening.

Disengagement was sold not just as a diplomatic move, but as a security one. Pulling out of Gaza, Ariel Sharon argued, would save lives.