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First-past-the-post vs. proportional representation

Chris Medlock used to make the point that in America, coalitions are formed before the election, while in countries with proportional representation, they happen after the voters have had their say. Giles Fraser considers the UK's decisive December election alongside Israel's third election in a year and explains why this...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 2, 2020 12:15 PM

The Israel Bible

A little break from the political: I was intrigued a couple of months ago to receive an email announcing a new study edition of the Scriptures with notes highlighting the relationship between the land and people of Israel. The Israel Bible, published by Israel365 and Menorah Books (an imprint...

Posted by Michael Bates on August 24, 2018 11:44 PM

Battle of Beersheba: 100 years

I'll get back to the charter amendment proposals in a couple of days, but we have some historical commemorations that deserve our attention. There's the big one -- the semimillenial celebration of Luther's 95 Theses and the commencement of the Protestant Reformation -- but 100 years ago today there...

Posted by Michael Bates on October 30, 2017 11:13 PM

Benjamin Netanyahu wishes you a Merry Christmas

A message from the Prime Minister of Israel from the courtyard of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem: To all of our Christian friends around the world, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I send you these greetings from Jerusalem. I'm standing in the courtyard of this magnificent International...

Posted by Michael Bates on December 24, 2016 2:48 AM

Israel 2015: March 7-8: The journey there

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great;...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 28, 2015 2:10 PM

Back from Israel

By now, the loyal readers that have bothered to hang around will not be surprised by long gaps between blog entries. Work and family obligations have been preempting time and energy to write for publication here or anywhere The most recent silence was about family, but much more joy than...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 24, 2015 4:58 PM

Israel 2015 elections

Polls in Israel closed about two hours ago, 3 p.m. Tulsa time. Actual vote counts are trickling in, but, as in the United States, the focus is on exit polling, which shows the current leading party, Likud, and their left-wing rivals, Zionist Union (which includes the Labor Party), each winning...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 17, 2015 4:44 PM

Democratic National Convention: The ayes have it?

In case you missed it, here's the video of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, serving as Democratic National Convention chairman last week, presiding over a vote to amend the Democratic national platform on two controversial points -- the restoration of a reference to God and to Jerusalem as Israel's capitol...

Posted by Michael Bates on September 9, 2012 10:56 PM

Daniel Elazar, federalism, and federal theology

I was trying to find out who came up with the threefold classification of American political cultures as moralistic, individualistic, and traditionalistic. (For moralistic, think English Puritans and Norwegian Lutherans -- think Minnesota and the upper Midwest. For individualistic, think Scotch-Irish, frontiersmen, and the Southwest. For traditionalistic, think big cities...

Posted by Michael Bates on March 3, 2009 10:59 PM

Crosshairs City

Dawn Eden has been posting extensively of late about the under-reported story of the eight years of rocket attacks by Palestinian terror group Hamas against civilian targets in southern Israel. She has a special interest in the story: Her brother, his bride, and their unborn child live in Beer-Sheva. 40...

Posted by Michael Bates on January 16, 2009 11:38 PM