Gilad Shalit has made his first trip outside Israel since his release. He met President Sarkozy in Paris. It’s good to see him out and about. Nice scarf, too. Read More »

A couple of years ago I had an interesting meeting in Jerusalem with a senior IDF figure. Among many other topics, we discussed the Mavi Marmara incident. I asked her why on earth the IDF, knowing the true agenda of those on the ship, dropped those commandos into the mouth of the beast. Surely, I [… Read More »

A three-day snapshot of the media confusion over Israel’s intentions on the Iranian nuclear issue: The Times, February 3rd: ‘Israel will attack Iran in the spring’ The Times, February 4th: ‘Israel will attack Iran in the autumn’ The Sunday Times, Read More »

OyVaGoy is three years old this week. So let’s see how the blog looked at the beginning of February 2009: Sigh, I wish I still could look like I did in the photograph on the top-right of that page. But elsewhere on that page I see the Gilad Shalit campaign button and am overjoyed afresh [… Read More »

I have a meeting at Penguin Books in the morning. Following that I will be lunching with my father at Deli West One. Regular readers may recall my Jewish News column about how much I enjoy pastrami sandwiches and other deli foods. This will be my first visit to Deli West One – I’m looking [… Read More »

Ronen Bergman has written a superb, lengthy article for the New York Times entitled: Will Israel attack Iran? During his in-depth research he has interviewed senior Israeli politicians including Ehud Barak, as well as chiefs of the military and intelligence. His research sweeps back over the decades. Read More »

It is Holocaust Memorial Day on Friday. You can read more about this year’s theme here. On days such as this I am reminded of the words of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel who wrote the following: ‘What cannot help but astound us is that the Hasidim remained the Hasidim inside the ghetto walls, inside the [… Read More »

I had a marvellous time giving my speech at Kenton Synagogue last night. Thanks to everyone who attended and for all your generous comments and blessings. Particular thanks to Sharna for driving out to Windsor to collect me and then drop me off afterwards. Here are a few photos from last night. The first one [… Read More »

I will be speaking at Kenton Synagogue on Monday evening at 8.30pm. The theme of my talk will be ‘How I advocate for Israel – and why’. Read More »

Nick Clegg’s description of Israeli settlements as ‘vandalism’ was, even by the standards of his bonkers commentary on Israel, a moment of great farce. Whatever your view of the settlements, no definition of the word ‘vandalism’ fits the motivation or reality of even the most hardline West Bank settlers. Read More »

‘Hitbodidut-meditation – inner-directed, unstructured, active self-expression before God is the highest path of all. Take it.’ (Rabbi Nachman of Breslov) (I don’t know Violet, for whose birthday this video was made. I just thought it was a cool video. I hope she had a good birthday though. Read More »

Some LSE students face disciplinary action after participating in a Nazi-themed drinking game during a student union skiing trip in France last month. The game included swastika playing card formations and ‘salutes and respect’ to ‘the Fuhrer’, all of which continued in the presence of a deeply-offended Jewish student. Read More »

I just been perusing my blog statistics and I’m pleased that so many people come and read my thoughts. As I expected, most visitors come from England, with Israel a close second and America close behind. I was pleasantly surprised that lots of people from Iran pop-by every day. It was also interesting to see [… Read More »

From Brooklyn gangsters to South African prawns. District 9, film number four in my top-five countdown, is a science-fiction thriller that uses extra-terrestrial visitors – known colloquially in the film as ‘prawns’ – to deliver a potent statement about some of history’s injustices and outrages, including apartheid-era South Africa. Read More »

Haha! Read More »

I’m interested and excited to learn that Noam Shalit – Gilad’s father – aims to stand as a Labor Party candidate in the next Knesset elections. “Following years of a public struggle, during which I got to know Israeli society thoroughly – both its beautiful and ethical sides – I have decided to join public [… Read More »

Have you seen The Iron Lady? Chris and I saw it in Oxford yesterday and were both mesmerised. Meryl Streep plays a blinder as Margaret Thatcher, the story moves smoothly from era to era and the emotional conclusion had me blubbing into my Peanut M&Ms. I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve seen it, [… Read More »

‘Lovers of this Middle Eastern delicacy take their shawarma very seriously,’ begins a recent Haaretz article. Damn right we do, as this passionate discussion on my blog showed. The Ha’aretz article lists what it says are the top five shawarma outlets in Tel Aviv. I was pleased to see the inclusion my global favourite, Hakosem [… Read More »

The trouble with ‘favourite film’ discussions is that sometimes people are so keen to impress that they choose the film they’d like you to think is their favourite, rather than their actual favourite. I’ve never been one for ‘guilty pleasures’, or pretending I’m more cultured than I am, so you can rest assured that I [… Read More »

So, news reaches me that the kosher McDonalds branch at Ben Gurion Airport has closed. I’m gutted – I used to love a quick nosh there on my way home from an Israel trip! Can any Israelis reassure me that Burger Ranch – which is replacing McDs at Ben Gurion – is any good? If [… Read More »