Gershom Gorenberg

Barack Obama should address the need for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement sooner rather than later.

I was getting so many questions from friends and neighbors about how Obama stacked up on foreign policy, particularly as it concerned Israel, that it seemed time to sit down and review the facts.

The Jerusalem mayoral race speaks to the sharp divisions within the city, and the lead candidate’s culture-war appeal is a reminder of how ugly politics can get.

A liberal mosque in Cape Town is a reminder of Islam’s complexity and a promise that change can come from the Islamic periphery.

The impending indictment of Ehud Olmert for bribery and corruption points to a larger leadership vacuum in Israel.

Travel is so broadening. It shows you other nations’ narrow-mindedness, so that when you get home you can see your own more clearly.

In his new documentary Waltz With Bashir, filmmaker Ari Folman explores his own inability to recall the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon as a means of considering how nations go to war, and how we judge what leaders do.

The trip that future president Obama needs to take to Israel is not the one that candidate Obama can risk.