Ari Shavit

Netanyahu understands that without renewing the Zionist narrative there will be no Zionist future.

Israel's intelligence agencies operate brilliantly, but they can't tackle historic challenges single-handedly.

No imminent breakthrough in Palestinian relations; a breakthrough with Syria must be initiated.

Had Mazuz not been forged of steel, both he and the entire law enforcement system would have collapsed.

Newspapers and journalists no longer have the right to remain silent when it comes to the goings-on in their own backyard. They have to get rid of the skeletons in their closets, which are threatening the future of a free press in Israel.

If the political system had worked properly, Netanyahu would be leading a moderate right-wing party, while Livni would be heading a moderate left-wing party and Barak a centrist party.

In Israel at the moment, neither an economic nor a diplomatic apocalypse is discernible. But if you can take your gaze away from the partying, with the help of a telescope, you'll see a distant bank of clouds.

On the first morning of the new decade there is no euphoria in Israel. The challenges are unprecedented − the Iranian nuclear project, the missile threat, the occupation, the loss of legitimacy, the social woes.

Under Livni, Kadima has become a strange hybrid that does not represent anything and does not fight for anything - a party without an ideology, achievements or principles.

Only naifs believe negotiations will extricate Israel from the trap set by Haniyeh and Abbas.

If Obama had any courage he would have refused the Nobel prize that was given to him prematurely.

Netanyahu has crossed Rubicon, both ideologically and practically, and reinvented himself as a centrist.

Gilad Shalit has become an obsession in Israel, a focus for a national pathology.

Netanyahu has done the right thing as far as the institution of attorney general is concerned - now he must follow suit when it comes to filling the post.

Ariel Sharon was not an ideologue, but he left a legacy behind him: the division of the Land of Israel.

While the Oslo process was quite flawed, Yitzhak Rabin's willingness to foment change and take risks to extricate Israel from its troubles turned him into a historic figure.

If we do not seriously deal with the settlements, we will become South Africa.

A national movement that began as 'legitimacy without an entity' is becoming 'an entity without legitimacy.'

Operation Cast Lead weakened Hamas and deterred it, at a terrible human cost. It strengthened the moderate Palestinians and enabled them to grow, at an intolerable moral cost.

A nuclear Iran means a nuclear Saudi Arabia, a nuclear Egypt, a nuclear Turkey and a nuclear third world. A nuclear Iran means the 21st century will be the century of terror.

Obama is right to denounce the stalling peace talks, but he has only himself to blame. To build a community you have to understand it; to this day, Obama hasn't shown that he understands the Middle East.

Obama is right to denounce the stalling peace talks, but he has only himself to blame. To build a community you have to understand it; to this day, Obama hasn't shown that he understands the Middle East.

U.S. commander-in-chief is directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of civilians in Iraq, Afghanistan.

The attorney general still has five months to go before his term ends, but this week he assured his place in history.