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Evelyn Gordon

The deal involved changes to Basic Laws that may have been necessary in these political circumstances. But any country tinkers with longstanding constitutional arrangements at its own peril.
Jewish tradition links the Jews’ continued presence in their land with their moral conduct. But nowhere does it require national suicide.
They may actually make war with Iran less likely because they send the vital message that if Tehran attacks Israel, Jerusalem will hit back—and hard.
The center-right’s support plunged between April and September partly because Benjamin Netanyahu, for the first time, adopted undemocratic tactics. Treating all Israeli Arabs as enemies also didn’t help.
Without it, many rightists would have felt that April’s election was stolen from them. That would have undermined their faith in the democratic process.
It’s time for the world to choose: Either admit that the Palestinians aren’t actually refugees or finally start treating them as real refugees by granting them the basic right of resettlement.
Letting U.S. Reps. Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar enter would have sent the opposite message—that their desire to erase Israel isn’t beyond the pale, but merely a legitimate political disagreement. That’s why Israel had to bar them.
Most Israeli Arabs shun violence. Indeed, just last month, defense officials reported that terrorist activity among Israeli Arabs—never high to begin with—has dropped sharply.
On the fundamental issue that has preserved the Jewish people for millennia—the binding nature of “halachah”—the Conservatives are formally on the Orthodox side of the divide. In a world where personal autonomy increasingly reigns supreme, that’s no small thing.