Yakov M. Rabkin

At its root, the assault on Iran is inseparable from the question of Palestine Much of the discussion surrounding the current war on Iran focuses on its potential outcome for the United States. One of the most frequently asked questions…

Mysh cartoon‘They tried to kill us, we won— let’s eat’. This is the way the legendary American comedian Alan King characterized Jewish holidays. Indeed, Purim, as recounted in the Book of Esther, celebrates deliverance from genocide. But how should one…

The return of Donald Trump to the White House has caused a shift in long-established patterns in the conduct of international relations. Many countries around the world have been grappling with this challenge. For Canada, the issue is particularly acute…

Many people, both Jewish and non-Jewish, blame Israel for violating Jewish ethics. More erudite critics quote the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud and even codes of Jewish law to prove their point. This is a mistake. David Ben-Gurion, who directed the…

In March 1896, William Hechler, the Anglican chaplain at the British Embassy in Vienna, came across a book titled Der Judenstaat (The State for Jews). Hechler belonged to a centuries-old Protestant movement that aimed at gathering Jews in Palestine and converting them…

With missiles flying across West Asia, I am reminded of my trip to Iran in 2016, when I discovered a fascinating country and a vibrant Jewish community. Every day, I ask about the safety of friends and loved ones in both…

A historian reviews new books by Peter Beinart, Avi Shlaim and Pankaj Mishra on the project that animates Israel’s violence During a sabbatical I spent in West Jerusalem in the late 1980s, my 7-year-old daughter was enrolled in an Israeli…

With missiles flying across West Asia, I am reminded of my trip to Iran in 2016, when I discovered a fascinating country and a vibrant Jewish community.* Every day, I ask about the safety of friends and loved ones in…

The genocide in Gaza continues unabated as I write these lines. Belatedly, a few Israelis have begun decrying the starvation and mass murder that their army—a people’s army—has perpetrated since October 2023. These acts, supported by the majority of the…

In the context of the ongoing debate about freedom of debate, there is a proverbial «elephant in the room» that many are reluctant to name explicitly. Recent measures such as revoking visas, detaining students and scholars, suppressing protests, restricting academic…