Mideast Dispatch Archive
"A stronger Israel in a less stable world" (An interview with Tom Gross)
Above: Andrea Meza, the reigning Miss Universe, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem ahead of the Miss Universe pageant, scheduled to take place in the southern resort of Eilat on Dec. 12, the first time it is being held in Israel.
Meza, 27, has a successful career as a software engineer in her native Mexico in addition to being a model. In recent days she has posted many photos from around Israel to her 2.2 million followers on Instagram and announced she intends to return to Israel in two months from now on a private vacation.
Dozens of participants from around the world have begun arriving in Israel in advance of the Miss Universe competition. An increasing number of international events are being held in Israel, as I mention in the recording below.
-- Tom Gross
"A STRONGER ISRAEL IN A LESS STABLE WORLD"
You might be interested in listening to this discussion, posted yesterday afternoon, in which I pull together several of the themes in these dispatches:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leBb_qR4kPA
Tom Gross argues that despite the various threats and challenges it still faces, Israel has never been in a stronger position: diplomatically, economically, militarily, culturally, and in terms of personal safety for its citizens. Meanwhile, several Arab states are in a state of full or partial disintegration (Syria, Libya, Yemen, Lebanon, Iraq) -- and the wider world is in many ways less stable than at any time since the end of WW2.
Tom Gross is interviewed by Paul Gross (no relation) of the Jerusalem think tank, the Begin Center. (Nov. 25, 2021).
Also here:
The Begin Center writes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhRnbq2HHKM
Long-time journalist, Middle East expert and human rights advocate Tom Gross joins Begin Center Senior Fellow Paul Gross for a conversation about the significance of Israel and the Middle East in today's world, and how Israel's normalization with a host of Arab regimes has developed from many years of covert meetings - including some meetings which he himself attended. He also gives his perspective on wider global developments, as well as what can be done to affect the perception of Israel in the wider world.
Tom was formerly Jerusalem correspondent for the (London) Sunday Telegraph and the New York Daily News, and before that Prague correspondent for the Daily Telegraph. His opinion and commentary articles have appeared in a broad range of liberal and conservative publications, from The Guardian to The Wall Street Journal.
He has written extensively about human rights worldwide, and conducted various on-stage interviews with victims of oppression, including a French hostage kidnapped by Islamic State in Syria, a Nigerian schoolgirl kidnapped by Boko Haram, and the wife of imprisoned Saudi liberal blogger Raif Badawi.
You can see some of Tom's own recent "Conversations with friends about their lives," with lawyer Alan Dershowitz, NY Times columnist Bret Stephens, Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland, Nazi-hunter Efraim Zuroff, Iraqi Kurds, Palestinian academics and journalists, world renowned pianist Evgeny Kissin and others here:
https://tomgross100.wixsite.com/chatswithtom
* You can also find other items that are not in these dispatches if you "like" this page on Facebook www.facebook.com/TomGrossMedia
All notes and summaries copyright © Tom Gross. All rights reserved.