Israel
A hero of our time
I have met Dr Kissinger, properly, only three times. First, in Cairo, in 1980, when, as a junior diplomat escorting…
Chekhov by numbers
Chekhov so dominates 19th-century Russian drama that Turgenev doesn’t get much of a look-in. His best known play, A Month…
Mission near impossible
Operation Thunderbolt was, Saul David contends in this gripping book, ‘the most audacious special forces operation in history’. In June…
High life
I have signed an affidavit for a hearing in the High Court stating that Janan Harb was, to my knowledge,…
Why I still have a deep attachment to the BBC
After I failed my O-levels and decided to leave school, my father suggested I go to Israel to work on…
Jews against Miliband
Labour’s leader would be the first Jewish prime minister since Disraeli – so how has he alienated so many Jewish voters?
Monky business
We ballet-goers may be the most self-deceiving audiences in theatre. Put a ‘new work’ in front of us and half…
A family at war
Bad Jews has completed its long trek from a smallish out-of-town venue to a full-scale West End berth. Billed as…
Migrant muddle
For a long while, the Conservatives have been puzzled about their lack of popularity among immigrants. In theory, the Conservative…
Portrait of the week
Home In a Budget intended to have ‘no gimmicks, no giveaways’, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, offered pensioners…
It’s not Netanyahu’s fault that Jews in Europe are afraid
Have you seen the prices for houses in Israel? Astronomical, mate. You wouldn’t believe it. An arid and perpetually embattled…
Daring to think the unthinkable
Tony Judt was not only a great historian, he was also a great essayist and commentator on international politics. Few…
The hate that dare not speak its name
For some left-wing men, the misogyny of the Islamic State is part of the appeal
O Jerusalem!
Unchosen is the journalist Julie Burchill’s account of how she — a bright and bratty working-class girl from Bristol —…
High life
Next time you read about an auctioneer’s gavel coming down on a $150 million painting bought by some flunkey representing…
Diary
Wellington, Ontario A British visitor to this village might be disoriented by the flags. They look almost exactly like the…
Stand up for Britain’s Jews
What our political leaders would say if they really cared about halting anti-Semitic attacks
High life
Gstaad I am looking out of my window at the green landscape and forested mountains rising beyond, as peaceful a…
The Spectator’s notes
Peter Clarke’s powerful report on the Trojan Horse affair in Birmingham schools is confirmation of the weakness of David Cameron…
What to do about Putin
Sanctions won’t help. One thing might
High life
One event I regretted missing on my last visit to London was a party at the Polish Club, which has…
Under fire in Israel
The anti-Semitic West almost seems to want Israelis to suffer
… and in Gaza
Gaza The main entrance to Al-Shifa Hospital was crowded with what seemed to be journalists. This wasn’t unusual. They…
Portrait of the week
Home Theresa May, the Home Secretary, ordered a review, taking perhaps ten weeks, by Peter Wanless, the head of the…
Why don’t any of my friends own holiday homes?
Hugo Rifkind 9 August 2014 9:00 am
This is to be one of those columns that makes the writer faintly wish there wasn’t an internet. It would…