What the Palestinian victory celebrations mean By Ariel Beery Hamas et al presented its terrorists as victims, and the world felt pity. But – spoiler – victims don’t celebrate victory. Here’s what Israel must do to defeat the evil next door

Rachel Sharansky Danziger Waiting for the deal, I ask: What is my job in this moment? The outcome of this war and our national future are not predetermined – the way we act right now has the power to affect them

Nadav Tamir The tail that wagged the dog Blinken was right to present his plan for the ’day after’ in Gaza, but Bibi wouldn’t hear of it. Maybe Trump’s administration will actually manage to implement it

The politicization revolution in judicial selection By Guy Lurie The Sa’ar-Levin proposal would inevitably lead to appointing judges based on their political loyalties rather than professional merit

Yedidia Stern The promise and pitfalls of the latest judicial reform outline The proposed changes in the selection committee for Supreme Court appointments could lead to a partisan ’race to the bottom’

Mordechai I. Twersky To YU’s Rabbi Ari Berman: The inauguration is not your stage Is Yeshiva University sacrificing its chartered values or will it use the moment in Trump’s limelight to call for reflection and redirection?

Why a map caused an outbreak of ‘historo-phobia’ By Shawn Zelig Aster Emirati and Jordanian anger over a map showing ancient Israelite control of Transjordan suggests a phobia of pre-Islamic history

Barbara Aiello What’s a rabbi doing at the nativity scene? A mock synagogue at a Christmas festival in an Italian mountain village offered a surprising opportunity for Jewish outreach

Sarit Silverman Cameras alone won’t keep our children safe in daycare With enhanced care comes improved safety: Early childhood educators and staff need training, supervision, and support

HUMOR Exercise is not for me By Jo Sugarman But my husband is a pro, so I go out to cheer him through his triathlon, gel-packs and all (no, I don’t know how we last as a couple)

more choice voices

Sarah Tuttle-Singer A prayer for firefighters and first responders Blessed are the ones who run toward the danger, who wade into the waters, who carve paths through the wreckage   Hussain Abdul-Hussain Lebanon’s Aoun could move toward peace – if Hezbollah lets him The Iran-backed militia is bowed but not broken – and it could still find a way to hijack Saudi funds for its own rehabilitation