Mitchell G. Bard is a foreign policy analyst in Maryland. He is currently editing two books on the Nuremberg Trial. He is the author of Myths and Facts - A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict. He is also the webmaster for the Jewish Virtual Library.

Israel and the Diaspora: a Humpty-Dumpty relationship
By Mitchell G. Bard March 18, 2005

The Left in Israel and in the American Jewish community finds itself on the verge of at least partial realization of its dream of dismantling Jewish communities in the West Bank and Gaza. Ironically, the instigator of this dramatic policy shift is not any of the Labor Party doyen, but their bete noire, the "father" of the settlement movement, Ariel Sharon.

And yet on the brink of triumph, they face the disturbing prospect that Israeli soldiers may refuse to carry out the evacuation orders. In typically hypocritical fashion, the left is in high dudgeon at the undemocratic, unpatriotic, and destructive notion of soldiers disobeying orders. Substantively, they are correct; however, they did not feel the same way just a year ago when they were enthusiastically supporting "refusenik" soldiers whose consciences told them to refuse service in the territories.
full article..

Does the Media's anti-Israel bias matter?
April 8, 2005
We all know the cliche that for every two Jews there are three opinions. Well, American Jews are unanimous about at least one thing: the conviction that the media is irrevocably biased against Israel. This perception is partially correct, but almost completely irrelevant.

...while the media may play a role in shaping the views of future decision makers, a more neglected influence is the academy. For at least two decades the Arabs have funded anti-Israel chairs and Middle East centers that have created a hostile campus environment and distorted teaching about Israel. Many policymakers, journalists, and other political elites have received their education about the Middle East from these biased sources. Students and advocates come and go, but faculty remain for years and shape the campus environment and the minds of students. This is the most insidious danger to Israel's standing on the campus and beyond. full article..