Author: Uri Avnery

Ben-Gurion said about her: "The only thing Golda knows how to do is to hate!"

Golda Meir did not hate me. That would be an understatement. She detested me.

The way I speak, the way I dress, the way I look. Everything.

Once, in the middle of a speech in the Knesset (I believe it was about allowing the Beatles to appear in Israel) I interrupted myself and said: "Now I want to answer MK Golda Meir…"

"But MK Meir has not said anything!" the chairman objected.

"I am not answering an interjection," I explained. "I am answering her grimaces!"

And indeed, Golda was grimacing, every muscle of her face proclaiming her detestation.

Continue reading “Uri Avnery on Golda Meir’s Destructive Reign”

One day the Israeli Labor Party felt that it needed a new leader.

That happens to this party every couple of years. The party is in bad shape. It looks more like a political corpse than a living organism. Wanted: a new leader, charismatic, energetic, enthusiastic.

So they found Avi Gabbay.

Why him? Nobody is really sure.

Avi Gabbay has no visible qualities of political leadership. No charisma at all. No special energy. No enthusiasm himself and no ability to inspire enthusiasm in others.

Continue reading “Israel’s Labor Party: A New Start?”

Today is the last day of the 93rd year of my life. Ridiculous.

Am I moderately satisfied with my life until now? Yes. I am.

If by a miracle I could be returned to, say, 14, and travel all this long way again, would I like that? No, I would not.

Enough is enough.

In these 93 years, the world has changed completely.

A few days after my birth in Germany, a ridiculous little demagogue called Adolf Hitler attempted a putsch in Munich. He was put in prison, where he wrote a tedious book called Mein Kampf. Nobody took any notice.

Continue reading “A Confession: Uri Avnery Turns 93”

When I was young, there was a joke: "There is no one like you – and that’s a good thing!"

The joke applies now to Donald Trump. He is unique. That’s good, indeed.

But is he unique? As a worldwide phenomenon, or at least in the Western world, is he without parallel?

As a character, Trump is indeed unique. It is extremely difficult to imagine any other Western country electing somebody like that as its supreme leader. But beyond his particular personality, is Trump unique?

Continue reading “Where Is Israel’s Anti-Establishment Leader?”

In any list of Israel’s 100 most important women, Ilana Dayan would occupy a prominent position.

Dayan (no relation to the late general with the eye patch) is the host of one of the most prestigious television programs. While Israeli TV in general is slowly sinking into a morass of stupid "reality" entertainment, her program, named "Uvdah" ("Fact"), stands out as a beacon of responsible investigative journalism, of the kind my late weekly news magazine was known for.

In general, Dayan has always been considered as mildly "leftist" – since uncompromising criticism of the powers that be is generally identified with the Left.

Now she is being accused of serving the extreme, near-fascist Right. Shocking.

In the furious debate that ensued, Dayan quoted me for support. For 40 years, my magazine carried on its masthead the slogan "Without Fear, Without Prejudice". Dayan claimed that was acting according to this motto.

This compels me to get involved in the dispute – against my better judgment.

Continue reading “Uri Avnery on The Widening Gap”

And what if the whole drama was only an exercise of deception?

What if the wily Persians did not even dream of building an atomic bomb, but used the threat to further their real aims?

What if Binyamin Netanyahu was duped to become unwittingly the main collaborator of Iranian ambitions?

Sounds crazy? Not really. Let’s have a look at the facts.

Iran is one of the oldest powers in the world, with thousands of years of political experience. Once they possessed an empire that spanned the civilized world, including our little country. Their reputation for clever trade practices is unequaled.

They are much too clever to build a nuclear weapon. What for? It would devour huge amounts of money. They know that they would never be able to use it. Same as Israel, with its large stockpile.

Continue reading “Uri Avnery on The Iran Treaty”