Israel blog

By Robert O. Freedman, Johns Hopkins University As I write this blog, it is the eve of Tisha B’av, the Jewish holiday that commemorates the destruction of the first two Jewish temples and the Jewish kingdoms that supported them, first by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and the second by the Romans in 70 CE. According…

By Robert O. Freedman, Johns Hopkins University         The abortive coup undertaken by Yevgeny Prigozhin a week ago raises as many questions as it answers. Consequently, this essay will be divided into three parts. First, what is known about the abortive coup. Second, what is still unknown, and finally, the possible implications for Russia and…

By Robert O. Freedman, Johns Hopkins University INTRODUCTION Since the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948, it hashad, at best, a mixed relationship with the Soviet Union and, since thecollapse of the USSR in 1991, with the Russian Federation. Initially,under Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, the relationship was good as theSoviet Union provided diplomatic…

By Robert O. Freedman, Johns Hopkins University With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now in its third month, with more and more reports of Russian atrocities, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s clearly anti-Semitic comments resonating negatively in Israel, pressure has been growing on the Israeli Government led by Naftali Bennett to jettison its position of neutrality…