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Matti Friedman
Matti Friedman is a Jerusalem-based columnist for The Free Press. He’s the author of four nonfiction books, including his most recent Who by Fire: Leonard Cohen in the Sinai.
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Matti Friedman: Israel’s Prisoner’s Dilemma
To free its people, Israel negotiates with terrorists and releases murderers. Is that a strength or a weakness?
Matti Friedman
Matti Friedman: As America Votes, Israel’s Crisis Deepens
Bibi’s ouster of his defense minister, Yoav Gallant, sent Israelis pouring into the streets in protest. The opposition leader called the move an “act of…
Matti Friedman
Sinwar’s Death Will Hasten the End of the War
The Hamas leader started this fight. Now Israel can finish it.
Matti Friedman
Can Israel Win Back What October 7 Took?
The choice to clear out an entire part of the country will be remembered as one of the most fateful decisions of this war. Matti Friedman reports from…
Matti Friedman
Is This Mysterious Text the Most Ancient Hebrew Book Ever Discovered?
Found in a cave in Afghanistan, the parchment dates to between 660 and 780 CE. Soon, it will be on display at the Museum of the Bible.
Matti Friedman
Matti Friedman: When We Started to Lie
I watched as the goal of mainstream journalism shifted from describing reality to ushering readers to the correct political conclusion.
Matti Friedman
Among the Mourners of Zion and Jerusalem
Here in Hersh Goldberg-Polin’s neighborhood, the bewildering events of the past year were reduced to one human face. Matti Friedman writes from…
Matti Friedman
Matti Friedman: Whiplash in Israel
Is Israel a shambolic society torn by internal dissent—or a superpower capable of stupendous military feats? This week it’s both.
Matti Friedman
Twelve Murdered Children—and a Middle East on the Brink
By doing everything possible to avoid conflict with Iran, the White House has emboldened the Iranian proxy system now attacking Israel from all…
Matti Friedman
We Misunderstood the Nazis
Learning about the Holocaust was supposed to prevent any of this from happening—or at least help us understand it when it did. Why didn’t it work?
Matti Friedman
Matti Friedman: Bibi-Trapped
After October 7, the Israeli leader’s memoir offers insights he might not want you to read.
Matti Friedman
Matti Friedman: Northern Israel Is on Fire
While all eyes are on Gaza, Hezbollah is redrawing Israel’s border with Lebanon.
Matti Friedman
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