Uri Dromi

It seems that everything wise has already been said about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, scheduled for March 3. Opponents, both in Israel and in the United States, claim Netanyahu harmed the interests of Israel by poking President Obama in the eye and by making the support of Israel — always a bipartisan issue — a partisan one.

Supporters of Netanyahu, on the other hand, claim that nuclear Iran is a life-and-death issue for Israel, and therefore it is Netanyahu’s right, indeed his duty, to raise his voice whenever he can against what he believes is a bad deal the administration is cooking up with Iran.…  Seguir leyendo »

In light of a ship caught carrying aggressive weapons, aimed at terrorizing his fellow countrymen, the leader delivered a firm message, warning that neither his country “nor the world community of nations can tolerate deliberate deception and offensive threats on the part of any nation, large or small. We no longer live in a world where only the actual firing of weapons represents a sufficient challenge to a nation's security to constitute maximum peril”.

He went on to explain to his worried viewers and listeners that the missiles which had just been found, once reaching their destination and being deployed, could have hit any target, including the nation’s capital.…  Seguir leyendo »

I have lived all my life in Israel, and I consider myself to be quite knowledgeable about Israeli matters. Yet last week, it was in New York that I found out how much I still have to learn.

The event I was invited to was The Israel Summit, the brainchild of Joseph Hyman, president of the Center for Entrepreneurial Jewish Philanthropy (CEJP). When I was asked by the officer at the passport control at Newark what was the purpose of my visit, being an Israeli and jet-legged, I mispronounced that long title, which almost got me into trouble.

Yet I remembered what Hyman had told me, and I managed to explain to the officer that the summit was a forum modeled after Venture Capital Investment Conferences, where philanthropists and foundations gathered to hear some outstanding pro-Israeli organizations showcasing their innovative work and financial needs.…  Seguir leyendo »

As these lines are written, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma for eight years, is fighting the last battle of his life. This time it seems the fearless warrior has met the one fight he is going to lose. Sadly for Sharon, and for us, this is a dead end indeed.

Until now, dead end was not something you could find in Sharon’s vocabulary. Maybe it was the robust farmer in him, toughened by rough weather and aggressive Arab neighbors; or the general, who always knew how to maintain the initiative and surprise the enemy; or the shrewd politician, who managed to turn temporary defeats into long-term successes.…  Seguir leyendo »

People in Beersheba, the major city in southern Israel, became used to harsh realities in the last several years, when rockets launched on them from Gaza disrupted their lives. Mayor Ruvi Danielowitz won a lot of respect then, when he led his city through the rough period, encouraging his fellow residents to remain calm.

Nobody, however, could remain calm last week in Beersheba or anywhere else in Israel. On Monday, death struck the southern city from totally unexpected direction, when a man named Itamar Alon entered a branch of Bank Hapoalim in Beersheba, killed four people and held one hostage, before killing himself.…  Seguir leyendo »

People who know something about Israel and the Israelis are often puzzled by this paradox: How come a country titled “Startup Nation,” famous for its innovative spirit, is so conservative when it comes to making peace with the Palestinians?

Recently, the world, through the U.N. General Assembly, expressed in no uncertain terms its support of a Palestinian state. In objecting to the move, Israel, together with its unwavering American ally, managed to mobilize the support of only a handful of small countries. Yet it was the same Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister who denounced the U.N. resolution, who in his speech at Bar Ilan University in 2009 had expressed his consent to a Palestinian state.…  Seguir leyendo »

Have you ever gone through the sad experience, when your old, beloved neighborhood is deteriorating? Neighbors become unfriendly, your house is frequently burglarized, your kids are harassed, and the police are worthless. What do you do then? Most people, those who can afford it, just leave.

Somehow, the recent eruption of violence in the southern part of Israel and in Gaza reminded me that we, Israelis, live in a bad neighborhood indeed. Except that we are not going to move out. And when there is no rule of law, and the City Council (U.N., for the sake of analogy) always rules against you, and you still insist on clinging to your home and defending your family, then you have to carry a big stick and once in a while use it.…  Seguir leyendo »

With summer drawing to its close, people here are wondering whether they have really managed to take a rest from the hectic Israeli pace, or, on the contrary, they come out of the vacation season more exhausted than before.

Speaking for myself, I have just returned from a heavenly vacation in Italy, where the tranquility of the countryside, the sublime music and the great food and wine all made me forget the mayhem at home. That is, until I boarded the El Al plane in Rome and was offered one of the Israeli newspapers. I took a look and my heart sank.…  Seguir leyendo »

Israel has become a prime travel destination for American politicians recently. Last week, Gov. Mitt Romney made a much publicized trip to Jerusalem, which left some people happier than others. He was preceded by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who had frequented us a week before him, and succeeded by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who has just concluded a visit this week.

Right now, many Israelis are vacationing abroad, and the miserable ones who have stayed at home are agonizing under the terrible August sun, their brains turning into jelly so they can’t anymore tell who is coming and who is going, and why.…  Seguir leyendo »