Editor's Pick ·
Israelis Are Happy Because of a Shared Sense of National Purpose
A lesson in good tribalism.
Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky was a political prisoner in the Soviet Union and a minister in four Israeli governments. He is the author of Fear No Evil, The Case for Democracy, and Defending Identity.
Latest Content
Editor's Pick ·
Western Countries Prioritize the Existence of International Institutions over the Integrity of International Law
Banning the Israeli prime minister from a Holocaust commemoration.
Editor's Pick ·
America and Israel at a Fateful Hour
Half a century of fighting for freedom.
Editor's Pick ·
The Soviet Union’s Most Famous Jewish Dissident Discusses Alexei Navalny, Freedom, and Anti-Semitism
Along with Israel’s current crisis.
Editor's Pick ·
How Natan Sharansky Encouraged and Inspired Alexei Navalny
A correspondence from the revived gulag.
Editor's Pick ·
Jews Should Be True to Their Values, and Not Demand Inclusion in the Ranks of the “Oppressed”
The radical left is not an ally.
Editor's Pick ·
The Moral Challenge of the Current War
Every innocent Palestinian killed is a victim of Hamas.
Editor's Pick ·
The First Political Prisoner Released by Mikhail Gorbachev Reflects on His Legacy
One cheer for the former dictator.
Editor's Pick ·
Placing Israel’s Position on Ukraine in Context
Understanding Israel’s moral dilemma.
Editor's Pick ·
How a Year in Israel Could Transform Diaspora Jewry
The best preparation for college?
Editor's Pick ·
Babi Yar, Site of One of the Holocaust’s Biggest Massacres, Is a Reminder of Both Nazi and Soviet Anti-Semitism
“Even when you walk through the valley of death, you are still making moral choices.”
Editor's Pick ·
Like Many Who Came Before Them, Today’s Jewish Anti-Zionists Want to Rid Judaism of Its Particularity
The un-Jews and their forebears.
Editor's Pick ·
From Freedom from Egyptian Slavery to Freedom from Soviet Tyranny—and Freedom from Anti-Semitism
Seder in the gulag.
Editor's Pick ·
Some Lessons about Cancel Culture from a Former Refusenik
So long as you engage in doublethink, you can’t be truly free.
Editor's Pick ·
A Former Soviet Dissident Observes a Current Russian One
Alexei Navalny doesn’t seek to avoid prison, but to defeat Putin.
Editor's Pick ·
Religion, Family, and Civil Society Are the Best Weapons against Tyranny—Whether in China or in the USSR
There is no compromise between freedom and slavery.
Response ·
The End of the New Jew
By Natan Sharansky, Gil TroyThe final line—“Israel can no longer be understood without its Russian component, and Israel’s ‘Russians’ can only be understood as a type of Israeli”—of Matti Friedman’s fascinating essay about Israe...
Editor's Pick ·
Remembering a Heroic Rebel against Soviet Tyranny
Yuri Orlov refused to hide.
Editor's Pick ·
How the Jewish Experience Can Help America Defend Itself against the War on History
Jews shouldn’t join the mob by renaming St. Louis or “cancelling” Dostoevsky.
Editor's Pick ·
The Movement to Boycott, Divest from, and Sanction Israel Puts a New Spin on Old Anti-Semitism
Its aim is the destruction of the Jewish state, and its result will be bloodshed.
Editor's Pick ·
In Praise of John McCain—from One Former Prisoner to Another
The prisoner of Zion remembers his first meeting with the senator.
Response ·
The Weakest Link
By Natan Sharansky, Gil TroyWe appreciate the generous, thoughtful, and challenging responses to our essay , “Can American and Israeli Jews Stay Together as One People?” To begin with, we note that all four respondents—Allan Ar...
Monthly Essay ·
Can American and Israeli Jews Stay Together as One People?
By Natan Sharansky, Gil TroyLong-festering strains between the world’s two largest communities jeopardize the prospects of a shared Jewish future. Here’s a way forward.
Editor's Pick ·
Standing with the North Korean People Will Advance America’s Interests
A lesson from the experience of Soviet dissidents.
Editor's Pick ·
Western Governments Should Stop Dithering and Give Their Wholehearted Support to Iranian Protesters
Don’t repeat the mistakes of 2009.
Editor's Pick ·
Why the Western-Wall Compromise Is Important to the Jewish Future
To jettison it would cause lasting damage.
Editor's Pick ·
The Accomplishment for Which Elie Wiesel Most Wanted to Be Remembered
Giving a voice to the living and the dead.
Editor's Pick ·
The Soviet Dissidents Who Used a Non-Binding International Accord to Fight for Freedom
Lessons of the Helsinki movement.
Editor's Pick ·
The Passover Sacrifice, Soviet Refuseniks, and the Promise of a National Future
During two exoduses, defiance proved better than comfort.
Editor's Pick ·
American Jews Should Stand Firm against the Iran Deal as They Did 40 Years Ago against a Deal with the USSR
A lesson from the refuseniks.