Ben Cohen
Ben Cohen writes a weekly column for JNS on Jewish affairs and Middle Eastern politics. His writings have been published in Commentary, the New York Post, Haaretz, The Wall Street Journal and many other publications.
Iran’s ‘death corridor’ is open for business
Iran thrust its way back into the news cycle last week as U.S. President Joe Biden embarked on a four-day tour of the Middle East beginning in Israel, but arguably, the most significant event...
Banning anti-Zionism: Feasible? Desirable?
One of the main differences between the American and European systems of democratic government is the absence, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, of a First Amendment-style guarantee of free speech. In...
The ‘Judensau,’ then and now
Two major news stories to hit the headlines in Germany this month focused rather strikingly on negative depictions of Jews in works of art, raising once more the question of whether these visual displays...
Qatar’s blood-stained World Cup
There was another significant announcement from an Arab capital last week about relations with Israel when Qatar—the wealthy Gulf nation that provides Hamas with financial and political support—confirmed that Israeli citizens would be permitted to...
‘Say yes to the world’ but no to the Jews: Lufthansa’s anti-Semitic scandal
It took several days, but eventually, the world’s media grasped why the scandal at Frankfurt Airport last week, when more than 100 Orthodox Jews were prevented by the German airline Lufthansa from boarding a...
The apology that Russia won’t make
Did Russian President Vladimir Putin really apologize to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for the atrocious remarks on the Holocaust uttered by his Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov?
There is no way of knowing for sure....
A revived Iran deal is bad news for democracy
Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine is a salutary reminder of the lack of restraints facing authoritarian regimes when they decide to go to war, as well as the inability of the democratic nations confronting...
Say goodbye to Russian oligarchs
The International Luxembourg Forum on Preventing Nuclear Catastrophe is the perfect example of an organization with an imposing name and an illustrious advisory board that you’ve still never heard of.
The forum’s board gathers such...
America has to remain a leader in the fight against anti-Semitism
In a departing interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in October 2012, Hannah Rosenthal—on her final day as the U.S. State Department’s Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating anti-Semitism—concluded by saying that “there will...
On Putin, the Jews and the Future of the World
Jews and dictators normally don’t get along. History is replete with examples of strongmen who reviled the Jewish communities in their midst. Many of their names spring easily to mind, like Hitler, Stalin and...