DAVID BEN-GURION, ISRAEL'S FIRST PRIME MINISTER, ONCE SAID: "IN ORDER to be a realist, you must believe in miracles." I didn't see any miracles during a five-day visit to the country, my first, early in July, but Israel did look like it could use some.
The country I got a glimpse of was under intense pressure. The day after I arrived, Israel Defense Forces raided a Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin in the West Bank, a move that put the country on edge and triggered Hamas reprisal attacks. Meanwhile tension was building over the proposed overhaul of the country's judiciary by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Despite large, angry protests, part of the overhaul aimed at limiting the power of the Israeli Supreme Court passed the Knesset on July 24.
I'm a London-based journalist and went to Israel as part of a group organized by ELNET, the European Leadership Network, a pro-Israel nongovernmental organization, founded 15 years ago, in the words of its website, to strengthen relations between Europe and Israel "based on shared democratic values and strategic interests." They promised me a warts-and-all trip to different parts of the country and the chance to meet a wide range of people, including politicians, soldiers, academics, policy experts and local journalists. Newsweek paid my expenses. The following are some snapshots from my visit.
'A Tough Neighborhood'
Denne historien er fra August 18 - 25, 2023 (Double Issue)-utgaven av Newsweek Europe.
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Denne historien er fra August 18 - 25, 2023 (Double Issue)-utgaven av Newsweek Europe.
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Falling for Romance
A new book, Nora Ephron at the Movies, celebrates the writer/director best known for her iconic rom-coms and strong female characters
Cracking the Norse Code
Walrus DNA has shown that Vikings were likely the first to have encountered Indigenous North Americans
Monumental Shift
The discovery of 165-million-year-old crystals Easter Island has upended the longheld notion of how the Earth's \"conveyor belt\" moves
'OUR FOREIGN POLICY AND DOMESTIC REFORMS ARE TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN'
It is a well-known fact across the globe that the North Korean regime is irrational and unpredictable, but we have been consistent in strengthening our defense posture against the threat from North Korea since the Korean War, and I believe that their conventional capability is much inferior to that of the Korean military.
'They Read My Eulogy As I Lay in an Open Grave'
Like Paris Hilton, Natasia Pelowski claims she was subjected to abuse at a teenage therapy program
Russian Economy Faces 'Burnout'
Vladimir Putin admits difficulties” as the country’s key interest rate reaches a historic high
China's 'Silent Chemical War'
The U.S. must investigate Beijing's role in the manufacturing of fentanyl that is killing Americans, says one mom whose daughter died after accidentally taking the illicit substance
HARSH HEADWINDS
President Yoon Suk Yeol's BATTLE to reform a South Korea beset with structural problems under the specter of an increasingly aggressive neighbor to THE NORTH
Bridget Everett
BRIDGET EVERETT NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE THE LEAD OF A TV SHOW. \"I come from the downtown world in New York, a cabaret singer, and these things just don't happen, you don't find yourself with three seasons of HBO.
Amber Ruffin
A LATE-NIGHT COMEDY SHOW ON CNN? YES, and it's a game show, too.
