Shalom Goldman

By bringing young Haredi men into contact with the permanent emergency that is Israeli civil society, volunteer organizations and the Israeli Army have brought these young men into contact with the world of physical violence, aggression, and gun use. Hitherto protected by their insularity and separateness from Israeli society, these ultra-Orthodox males are becoming socialized to Israeli norms. And they and their community are paying a heavy price for that socialization.

New Yorkers may be grappling with conflicting ideas about how best to honor the sacred real estate around Ground Zero, but they got nothing on Jerusalem, where a California-inspired Museum of Tolerance is being constructed on what is said to be the site of an ancient Muslim cemetery.

Sasha Polakow-Suransky reported last month in The Guardian that he had found evidence that Israel planned to sell nuclear warheads to South Africa in 1975, prompting the Israeli government to issue an official denial. Polakow-Suransky’s new book, “The Unspoken Alliance” is a history of Israel’s military alliance with apartheid South Africa.