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Commandoes against Demonstrators? Israel Shoots Itself in the Leg–Again

May 31st, 2010 · 20 Comments · Politics and Policy

Haim Watzman Why send a crack naval commando unit to quell a political demonstration? We don’t know all the facts yet, but on the face of it Israel has again overreacted and, in doing so, gotten itself into a situation much worse than it would have been in had it not responded to this pr [...]

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A Call for Morality

January 19th, 2009 · 16 Comments · Politics and Policy

As the Gaza war winds down, and as the extent of the death and destruction becomes evident, many critics of Israel are charging that Israel was wrong to attack the Hamas regime at all. It is important to distinguish between the conduct of the war and the circumstances that made Israeli action inevitable and necessary, [...]

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No Wimps in SoJo

January 1st, 2009 · 26 Comments · Politics and Policy

Haim Watzman I would really like to punch Ismail Hanieh, the Hamas prime minister of the Gaza Strip, in the face. I would derive great pleasure from seeing every Hamas facility in Gaza reduced to rubble and every fanatical Islamic Jew-hater there blown to smithereens. I just want to put that on the record for [...]

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Fight Fire With a Cease-Fire

December 31st, 2008 · 10 Comments · Politics and Policy

Haim Watzman by David Grossman NOW, after the heavy blow that Israel has dealt to the Gaza Strip, we would do best to halt, turn to the leaders of Hamas and tell them: Until last Saturday, we restrained ourselves in responding to the thousands of Qassam rockets fired at us. Now you know how severe [...]

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No Happy Endings in Gaza

December 30th, 2008 · 13 Comments · Politics and Policy

Haim Watzman I’ve got war refugees in my home today. I mean my daughter’s fellow second-year students from the animation program at Sapir College, located right next to Sderot. The campus is under fire and has shut its gates, so these budding cartoonists are unable to work on their projects or attend their classes. The [...]

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Golan On The Table, Gaza In The Sights

May 26th, 2008 · 4 Comments · Politics and Policy

In the past, when the press has reported that Israel’s leaders were talking to Syria about returning the Golan Heights for peace, I was skeptical. First Yitzhak Rabin, then Binyamin Netanyahu, then Ehud Barak signalled to Syria that they were willing to contemplate a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights in exchange for a peace [...]

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