Israel
Iran is playing a dangerous game
A drone exploded in a sleepy Israeli seaside town yesterday. The target of the attack was Benjamin Netanyahu. By luck,…
The Iranian diplomat trying to stop Armageddon
‘The embassy is being invaded. The ambassador has had to lock himself in his office upstairs, and there are people…
Where does Lebanon go from here?
Israel’s overt ground intervention into Lebanon is now entering its third week. So far, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have…
How I keep Question Time audiences under control
Philadelphia is the city of brotherly love – or it’s supposed to be. William Penn, good Quaker that he was,…
Israel’s Iron Prime Minister
At home, the left sees him as cynical, conniving and corrupt; while the right sees him as tired, weak and…
Portrait of the week: Iran fires missiles into Israel, Rosie Duffield resigns and Mount Everest gets taller
Home The Conservatives at their party conference examined the four surviving candidates for leader – Robert Jenrick, Kemi Badenoch, James…
Israel was right to ignore the West
There are sources in the Jewish tradition that warn against exultation at the downfall of one’s enemies. But I am…
Voices from Gaza, historic city in ruins
Accounts of the current bombings and the daily search for fuel, food and water are by turns heartbreaking, terrified, resilient and defiant – and cling to the hope of a peaceful future
Is Israel trying to drag America into a war with Iran?
The American general David Petraeus famously asked of the invasion of Iraq: ‘Tell me how this ends.’ That’s the question…
Sky News has lost its way
Occasionally I am told that I go too hard on the BBC. It is an understandable gripe which I sometimes…
How to evacuate a country
As fighting continues between Israel and Hezbollah, planning for a potential evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon has seen troops,…
Is Israel ready for a ‘new phase’ of war?
The toll wreaked from the events of 17 and 18 September has been extensive. According to the best estimates, more…
The BBC’s strange silence
In the long and illustrious history of race chancing, there must have been many more egregious examples than that of…
An outcast among outcasts: Katerina, by Aharon Appelfeld, reviewed
A peasant girl flees her abusive home, to find happiness working for Jewish families in the lush Carpathian countryside – until anti-Semitic pogroms change everything irrevocably
The joy of our deluded politicians
There are a number of joys in life that do not get enough attention. One is the sheer, unadulterated pleasure…
Starmer’s double standards
Sir Keir Starmer’s readiness to do ‘whatever it takes’ to support Ukraine seems to be qualified by his fear of…
What’s gone wrong at the National Theatre?
Now we have a Labour government, it would be nice to feel repertory will return to the National Theatre. It…
Portrait of the week: UK cancels Israel exports, Grenfell fire report released and AfD victory in Germany
Home The government cancelled 30 out of 350 export licences for arms to Israel on items that it said could…
No one will change their mind about Hamas
Earlier this summer, my son and I biked over to fashionable east Hackney where it’s normal to pay £4.20 for…
Iran and Hezbollah don’t want a war with Israel
Hezbollah’s response to the killing of senior official Fuad Shukr, when it finally came, was a more minor event than…
Labour’s outrageous attack on academic free speech
In an extraordinary outburst, a government source has described the new Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act, introduced by the…
Israel’s strikes on Lebanon bring Jerusalem one step closer to regional dominance
As the dust literally settles across southern Lebanon in the aftermath of the Israeli airstrikes, we are starting to see…
Can anything stop a full-scale conflict in the Middle East?
The fact that the Middle East stands on the brink of a catastrophic war can be explained by a scene…
What will Iran do next?
Following the killings of Hezbollah’s Fuad Shukr and Hamas’s Ismail Haniyeh, Israel and the Middle East are poised and waiting…
Portrait of the week: Stabbings in Southport, a £22bn ‘black hole’ and Tory leadership nominations
Home Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said she had found a £21.9 billion hole, and a black one…
