Uri Avnery's Column

	The False Torch YA’IR LAPID, the freshman parliamentarian and Treasury Minister, has declared that from now on he will deliver all his important speeches outside the Knesset, confining his Knesset appearances to... • 01/06/13 • More...

	The State of Whom? CAN A law be both ridiculous and dangerous? It certainly can. Witness the ongoing initiative of our government to enact a law that would define the State of Israel as “The Nation-State of the... • 25/05/13 • More...

	Women of the Wall THERE WAS this Israeli man who from time to time put a slip of paper in the cracks between the stones of the Western Wall, asking God for favors - as Jews have been doing for centuries. They... • 18/05/13 • More...

	The Donkey of the Messiah “THE TWO-STATE solution is dead!” This mantra has been repeated so often lately, by so many authoritative commentators, that it must be true. Well, it ain‘t. • 11/05/13 • More...

	No, We Can’t! AN AMBASSADOR is an honest man sent abroad to lie for the good of his country, a British statesman famously wrote some 400 years ago. That is true, of course, for all diplomats. The question is... • 04/05/13 • More...

	The Russians Came WHEN THE huge immigration wave from the Soviet Union arrived in 1990, we were glad. First of all, because we believe that all immigration is a good thing for the country. This, I believe, is... • 27/04/13 • More...

	In Praise of Emotion IT WAS a moving experience. Moments that spoke not only to the mind, but also – and foremost – to the heart. • 20/04/13 • More...

	“Around Us the Storm is Raging…” “AROUND US the storm is raging / But our head will not be bowed…” we sang when we were young, before the State of Israel was born. • 13/04/13 • More...

	In Their Shoes OBAMA IN ISRAEL: Every word right. Every gesture genuine. Every detail in its place. Perfect. Obama in Palestine: Every word wrong. Every gesture inappropriate. Every single detail misplaced... • 06/04/13 • More...

	Idiocracy SO, FINALLY our Prime Minister has apologized to Turkey for “operational mistakes” that “might have” led to the death of nine Turks during the attack on MV Mavi Marmara, the ship which tried to... • 30/03/13 • More...

	The Speech that was Not Delivered Note: This text was written on Wednesday, a day before President Obama made his historic speech in Jerusalem. It appears that my text came much closer to his actual speech than I had dared to... • 23/03/13 • More...

	To the Victor, the Spoils IN THE days following the recent Israeli elections, Ya’ir Lapid, the major winner, let it be known that he wanted to be the next Foreign Minister. • 16/03/13 • More...

	“Ich bin ein Bil’iner!” THIS DOES not happen every day: a Minister of Culture publicly rejoices because a film from her country has NOT been awarded an Oscar. And not just one film, but two. • 09/03/13 • More...

	The Third Intifada? IS THIS the third intifada? This question was raised this week by a number of Israeli security experts. And not only by them – their Palestinian colleagues were almost as perplexed. • 02/03/13 • More...

	Peace and Watermelons ONE OF the most interesting and prolonged private debates I have had in my life was with the brilliant Dr. Nahum Goldmann. The subject: American peace initiatives. • 23/02/13 • More...

	`Equal burden` - a disaster for the IDF • 21/02/13 • More...

	The Zuabis THE SOLE contribution of Ya’ir Lapid to Israeli folklore so far is his saying that he would not join a move to block Binyamin Netanyahu, since this would mean joining forces with “the Zuabis”. • 16/02/13 • More...

	Can Two Walk Together? “COMPARED TO the Knesset it could have been, this is a very good Knesset!” I heard this, in so many words, from at least ten former Knesset members and others, as we were drinking orange juice in... • 09/02/13 • More...

	Woe to the Victor “VAE VICTIS!” was the Roman cry. Woe to the vanquished. I would alter it slightly: “Vae Victori”, Woe to the victor! • 02/02/13 • More...

	A Move to the Center IT WAS the night of the optimists. Tuesday at 10.01 pm, a minute after the ballot boxes were sealed, the three TV news programs announced the results of their exit polls. • 26/01/13 • More...

	Who to vote for? THE ELECTIONS will take place in three days, and they are boring, boring, boring. So boring, indeed, that even to think about their boringness (if there is such a word) is boring. • 19/01/13 • More...

	Welcome, Chuck I FIND Chuck Hagel eminently likeable. I am not quite certain why. Perhaps it’s his war record. He was decorated for valor in the Vietnam War (which I detested). He was a mere sergeant. Since I... • 12/01/13 • More...

	Weird Elections IN A few hundred years, a professor looking for an especially esoteric subject will ask his students to research the Israeli elections of 2013. The students will come back with a unanimous... • 05/01/13 • More...

	A Person Called Nobody SUDDENLY, I realized that a new star had appeared on the political firmament of Israel. Until yesterday I did not even know of its existence. • 29/12/12 • More...

	The Sea and the River “Palestine, from the Jordan to the Sea, belongs to us!” declared Khaled Meshal last week at the huge victory rally in Gaza. • 15/12/12 • More...

	Cold Revenge “Revenge is a dish that is best eaten cold,” is a saying attributed to Stalin. I don’t know if he really said that. All the possible witnesses were executed long ago. Anyhow, a taste for delayed... • 08/12/12 • More...

	The Strong and the Sweet IT WAS a day of joy. Joy for the Palestinian people. • 30/11/12 • More...

	Once And For All! THE MANTRA of this round was Once And For All. • 23/11/12 • More...

	Another Superfluous War • 17/11/12 • More...

	Goodbye to a War BINYAMIN NETANYAHU and his patron, Sheldon Adelson, betted on Mitt Romney, with the State of Israel as their chip. They lost. For Adelson, the betting tycoon, that doesn’t amount to much. Some... • 10/11/12 • More...