David Swift

David Swift is a writer whose books include The Identity Myth. He is currently writing a history of Liverpool.

The schism that could tear Israel apart

Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is looking increasing precarious as international opposition grows. When I went to Friday night dinner at my in-law’s last week, everyone was gripped by the Israeli Supreme Court’s decision to remove state funding from Orthodox Yeshivas, unless they break their 76-year practice of refusing to enlist in the military. The court ruled

Hope is not yet extinguished in Jaffa

When I first heard of the 7 October attacks, I feared it would be the beginning of a war on several fronts: in Gaza, in northern Israel, and in the West Bank. My biggest concern was that the high casualties from the retaliatory Israeli airstrikes would cause violence within Israel itself, as Palestinians in mixed

How Oxbridge PhDs became the preserve of the super-rich

Oxford and Cambridge have gone to great lengths over the last few years to increase the number of admissions of state-school educated students at undergraduate level – to varying degrees of success. As Robin Harman reported in Spectator Life recently, there’s still a worrying disparity between the number of offers made to disadvantaged pupils and