Flawed campaign

Flawed strategy and faulty polling combined to produce a surprise outcome for many in Israel’s elections last week. While 10 parties carved out seats in the parliament, there were only two contenders for prime minister: incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud and Isaac Herzog of Labor. … Polls revealed that some 65 […] Read more »

Sorry Congressman King, Jews Are Mostly Liberal

Recent tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United States President Barack Obama have caused some confusion about the general political leanings of American Jews. In a recent interview with BuzzFeed, conservative firebrand and House Republican Steve King claimed that many liberal Jews “no longer have ties to Israel,” […] Read more »

Do the Democrats and Israel Have a Future Together?

… While a deepening polarization among American Jews about Netanyahu puts Obama’s potential successor, Hillary Rodham Clinton, in a politically uncomfortable position, it is the transformation of Israel into a partisan issue that fills Democratic Jewish officials with dread. Clinton’s advisers can always take solace knowing that the Democratic base […] Read more »

On Iran, Obama Is Ignoring Public Opinion at His Own Peril

Throughout the contentious debate between the White House and Congress over the Iran nuclear negotiations, one important piece of the equation has been largely overlooked: American public opinion. If voters were confident that President Obama was striking a good deal with Iran that would prevent Tehran from getting nuclear weapons, […] Read more »

How Israel’s Exit Pollsters Missed Right-Wing Rally For Netanyahu

The headlines Wednesday said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu swept to a surprising and convincing victory in the Israeli election Tuesday after his Likud party won at least five more seats in parliament than its chief rival. But the victory wasn’t really that overwhelming because of the subtle nature of the […] Read more »