David Rubin

After last week’s horrific terrorist attack in Jerusalem, Hamas spokesman Hossam Badran announced on official Hamas television: “This is a natural response to the crimes of the occupation and invasion of our land by the Jews …” Such an obscene statement by a sick Islamic extremist, with absolutely no basis in historical fact, is usually

We are all influenced by our backgrounds. With the 2008 election of Barack Obama, who has fundamentally attempted to change America’s orientation in the world, thereby impacting Israel in very negative ways, I began to explore my relationship with the USA as one who was born and raised there. I fully identify as an Israeli—I

It’s quite rare to hear a comment about Israel from U.S. President Barack Obama that I can actually agree with, but that comment was certainly made in yesterday’s interview published in the New York Times. In the story he said: “It is amazing to see what Israel has become over the last several decades. To

November 2012 proved to be a humiliating spectacle for Israel. All of Israel, not to mention the thousands of reservist soldiers amassed along the Gazan border, waited anxiously for the IDF ground offensive that would stop the Hamas rocket fire once and for all. But, an unexpected press conference was held at which Prime Minister Benjamin

While Israel has been absorbed in the Palestinian terrorist kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers, including one who is also an American citizen, the attention in the United States has been focused on the crisis in Iraq. A public debate has been raging in the U.S. over the best way of responding to the ISIS offensive,

After the resounding defeat of Republican Eric Cantor after seven terms in the United States Congress, there are now no remaining Jewish Republicans in Congress. Is that a problem for the GOP? More importantly, is it a problem for Israel? We can certainly expect the Democrats to pounce on this vacuum to score political points.

There has been a great deal of fuss about U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s comments implying that Israel risks becoming an “apartheid state” if a deal is not reached with the Palestinian Authority. While the comments sparked outraged comments from Israeli government ministers, such as Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz, the question needs to be

How many of you have heard of the terrorist organization, “Baptist Jihad”? Most likely you haven’t, and that’s because there is no religious justification provided for such an organization. Yet we have heard of Islamic Jihad (Islamic Holy War), Hamas, Fatah, Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, and assorted other Islamic terrorist organizations. How do we explain this “flooding

Israel and the Palestinian Authority were back in Washington last week as the long-dormant peace talks resumed, prompting some observers to ask, “Why are these peace talks different from any other peace talks?” I think it can be fairly stated that no people have spoken about peace so often, written about it so extensively, but

For several years now, we have been told by Israel’s leaders that Iran has been aggressively engaged in research to develop a nuclear bomb. True, the Iranians have often claimed that it really is a peaceful program to supply the Islamic nation’s energy needs. They have continued to assert their right to decide about what

December 2010. The excitement in the air was palpable, and its shouts echoed around the world at the speed of light on every television, on every computer and in every home. The Arab world, having long suffered under the yoke of ruthless dictators and not-so-benevolent kings, was rebelling, calling for freedom and democracy. Anyone watching

When I was growing up in the United States, when someone would try to stop someone from doing something that they didn’t think was hurting anyone, the standard response would so often be, “Leave me alone. It’s a free country!” The value of freedom was so ingrained in American culture that the children absorbed it

As a longtime resident in the re-established Israeli town of Shiloh, in the hills of Samaria (the northern part of the West Bank), I am often asked by visitors about the verse in Genesis that speaks about Shiloh in rather mysterious terms: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a scholar from among his

With the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama to Israel only two months ago and the follow-up visits by Secretary of State John Kerry, in which he has revived the Arab Peace Initiative, the time has come to re-examine the very premises on which that peace process has been based. It’s been reported that Obama

With the current heavy pressure on Israel to freeze all building permits for Jews in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), we need to once again ask the question why. Why is Israel, the Jewish state, the only country that, in a most unusual paradox, is expected to discriminate against Jews? The fact is that