Gary Rosenblatt, editor of the New York Jewish Week, tackles what he sees as Israel’s biggest problem: “Israel’s greatest worry,” he writes in his latest column, “is not over its military, diplomatic or political strength, but its serious loss of brainpower, which effects every aspect of society.” (more…)

The Israel Policy Forum has published an article heralding the recent arrival in Washington of a delegation of security experts consisting of three Palestinian women (Amal Jadou, Enas Nazzal, and Haitham Arar) and three Israeli women (Israela Oron, Eynat Gepner-Goldstein, and Etty Yevnin).

An all-female joint delegation consisting of an Israeli general and two colonels alongside officials of the Palestinian interior ministry is unusual enough. But what made this group stand out was not gender, but the message—from a group of established security professionals—that military means alone will not bring security to Israelis or Palestinians.

They maintained that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not one where victory is decided on the battlefield between uniformed soldiers, but rather it is a dispute fought within civilian communities.

Memebrs of the delegation stressed that women are “often on the first line of defenses for families and the first victims of failures in security.” In addition, they assume formal security roles.

Israeli women have always been required to serve in the military or an auxiliary service, while the first group of Palestinian police women only recently completed their training. …

Greater participation of women is one fundamental aspect of making sure that security concerns are not only handled by military forces, but involve civil society as well. Just as women are more likely to admit when they need to ask for directions, former Brigadier General (ret.) Israela Oron said in a talk she gave in Cambridge, they are also more likely to say when a new approach is necessary. That approach is negotiating toward peace. And “Peace,” Oron said “is the only way to achieve security.

Ha’aretz’s Amir Oren argues that Imad Mughniyah, the Hezbollah leader allegedly killed by Israel, is irreplaceable.

Mughniyah’s assassination has a substantive side but also a psychological one. Both challenge the myth commonly disseminated by those who fear (because they know why) that they will be targeted for assassination. It is the myth that “everyone can be replaced.” This myth aims to keep Israel and other countries from targeting senior figures in terrorist organizations. The theory is that there is no point in taking such action if every assassination only further enrages the masses and stokes their determination to rally to the cause. Moreover, sometimes the successor is more effective and worse for Israel than his predecessor.

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Hamas bunny vows to eat the Jews (watch out, Kibbutz Gezer)…

Authors David Grossman and Daniel Gavron offer competing portraits — one sad, one happy — of where Israel stands as it prepares for its 60th birthday.

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Flash90

Miriam Shaviv, of London’s Jewish Chronicle, offers her take on a growing trend:

In the past few months, reports have emerged of more than 100 Orthodox Israelis who have taken to wearing a Muslim-style burka, in the belief this will bring about redemption. They can be seen in Orthodox areas of Tiberias, Safed and even Jerusalem, and are mostly followers of Rabbanit Bruria Keren, a mother of 10 from Ramat Beit Shemesh.

According to the newspaper Ha’aretz, she rarely leaves her home and speaks only for four hours a week to offer “alternative therapy” to her followers.

Some wear more than 10 layers of clothing, including dark socks, with the ends cut off, over their hands. They never wear heels, lest the noise attracts attention.

What to make of this?

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Going through some old emails and found this about Bush’s trip to Israel. A little late, but still…

What does the Winograd Commission’s final report on Israel’s 2006 war in Lebanon mean for Ehud Olmert’s future? JTA Jerusalem correspondent Leslie Susser speaks with JTA Associate Editor Uriel Heilman about the war, the report and Olmert’s political prognosis.

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This post should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the International Solidarity Movement nor the cameraman’s take on the land dispute in question. But rather a hope that if the day of turning swords into plows and spears into pruning hooks is not around the corner, then at least the Israelis and Palestinians could make progress by dropping their drawers instead of picking up their guns.

In other words, what many of you may see as boorish, I call progress.