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US & Iran: Necessarily a Choice Between Dishonor and Defeat?
Astarta usually writes from an Israeli-Zionist perspective; this document departs from that mandate. This time we set out to analyze the challenge in the Persian Gulf from the American point of view. Trump announced that he had called off the planned strike on Iran, after Iran and other states asked him to and after the broad outlines of a deal took shape - one that would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz and an arrangement to neutralize the nuclear threat. But we have s
2 days ago7 min read
Tablet Exchange: The Jewish World as the 5th Tribe
A few weeks ago, Eran Shayshon, founder of Atchalta, submitted an essay to Tablet magazine. As happens with any submission, an exchange developed between Eran and the magazine's editors, most notably Liel Leibovitz: notes, objections, rebuttals. Except this exchange kept evolving into a genuine intellectual debate, the kind you rarely see anymore. Then something unusual happened: Tablet's editors decided the exchange was every bit as interesting as the essay itself, and in th
Jul 162 min read
Tucker Carlson’s Interview in Israel: How To Get the Woke-Right Right
Jerusalem, We Have a Problem… Tonight, during prime time in Israel, Channel 13 will air an interview with American host Tucker Carlson, whom many accuse of being the standard-bearer of the assault on U.S.-Israel relations from the right, and who has made scandalous statements bordering on antisemitism. For many Israelis, this will be their first exposure to the depth of the challenge Israel is experiencing in its relations with the Republican Party as well. For years, Israel
May 197 min read
Israel Independence Day 2026: The Renewed and Essential Role of Diaspora Jewry in the Israeli Story
On Israel’s Independence Day, 2024, we wrote that: “After years of a growing gap, October 7th changed the approach of many critical Jews towards Israel, fostering a more natural connection to the State of Israel. This "Peoplehood 2.0" shift holds significant potential for enhancing Israel’s resilience, economy, international legitimacy, and political landscape.” Now, two years later, we seek to offer Diaspora Jewry an even deeper place in the Israeli story, not only as a supp
Apr 223 min read
US & Iran: Necessarily a Choice Between Dishonor and Defeat?
Astarta usually writes from an Israeli-Zionist perspective; this document departs from that mandate. This time we set out to analyze the challenge in the Persian Gulf from the American point of view. Trump announced that he had called off the planned strike on Iran, after Iran and other states asked him to and after the broad outlines of a deal took shape - one that would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz and an arrangement to neutralize the nuclear threat. But we have s
2 days ago7 min read
What Will Israel's National Security Look Like Without American Backing?
Originally published in Hebrew in Makor Rishon (see Hebrew) Israel needs to begin preparing for the day when the United States is no longer its special ally. Time magazine's revelation that Israel was running a paid influence campaign in the United States, operated by the Israeli Foreign Ministry, is a crisis on the scale of the Pollard affair. U.S. Vice President Vance attacked the campaign sharply, charging that Israel is trying to drag America into an escalation with Iran.
Jul 224 min read
The End of the Special Relationship
The emerging U.S. deal with Iran is not just another crisis in U.S.–Israel relations. It signals the end of the special relationship between the two countries, and the beginning of a new era in Israel’s national security. This is the endpoint of a trend that has been unfolding gradually but steadily for years — only it has arrived somewhat earlier than expected, while Trump is still in office. Israel’s status as a bipartisan consensus in the United States has been badly erode
Jun 213 min read
Israel Doesn’t Need a Healing Government. It Needs a New Mamlachti Bloc
In Israel, there is a Zionist majority that yearns for a fair sharing of national responsibilities and for the restoration of sanity to politics. Yet identity politics prevents this majority from coalescing into an effective political force. The war exposed the depth of the rupture: the Haredi refusal to enlist at a moment of existential crisis while the Haredi parties remain members of the government and benefit from its resources. is perceived as a betrayal of the Israeli s
Jul 283 min read
Mansour Abbas’s Model: Better Than the Haredi Model
Ra'am leader Mansour Abbas agreed to the unification of the Arab parties on the condition that each party could act independently after the elections, which would potentially allow him to join a coalition separately. The issue of Ra'am is a litmus test for Israel's ability to contain a civic partnership with the Arab minority. The ideological connection to the "Muslim Brotherhood" remains a heavy weight, and investigations have raised disturbing questions regarding the connec
Feb 43 min read
War-Life Balance between Resilience and Economy
Fitch has downgraded Israel's credit rating and added a negative outlook, joining Moody's and S&P, which had done so earlier. The main...
Aug 13, 20243 min read
Policy Papers
OCTOBER 8TH ‘CONCEPTSIA’ & THE PLAYBOOK TO FIGHTING ANTISEMITISM IN AMERICA
How Hamas Weaponized Progressive Discourse to Generate the Highest Wave of Jew-Hatred Since the Holocaust and What Needs to Be Done to Fight It Effectively DOWNLOAD AS PDF Founder's Note As these lines are written (August, 2025), antisemitism is rampant, and Israel’s international standing is likely at its lowest point ever. Images from Gaza have detonated decades of efforts to weaponize progressive language against the Jewish state and American Jewish communities. The purpo
Sep 19, 202549 min read
Humanitarian Challenge in Gaza: It's Time to Feed the Elephant in the Room
Policy Paper Recently, Hamas issued a proclamation stating it would execute anyone who distributes humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip...
Jul 7, 202414 min read
The strategy to counter the Iranian octopus
Policy Paper Prologue, About, and Acknowledgements ATCHALTA (atchalta.com) is a non-partisan, Zionist think tank and action-oriented...
Jun 24, 202428 min read
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