Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will unequivocally attempt to prevent the launching of a third intifada, a prospect bolstered by recent polls that showed a stark improvement in his popularity among Palestinians. Abbas, speaking in a 60-minute interview with the Wall Street Journal, promised that no intifada would erupt under his watch, saying he prevented […]
I haven’t read Dan Fleshler’s new book Transforming America’s Israel Lobby, but I have read a review (think belated Hanukkah gift…anyone?). And the book sounds interesting, particularly because it seems to serve as a moderate counter-part to previous so-called exposes on the Israel lobby, such as the highly controversial book The Israel Lobby by John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. […]
Prisoner swap negotiations continued today with Israeli ministers reportedly finalizing deliberations and additional details on Hamas’ demands emerging. Notably, some reports indicate that Hamas no longer seeks the release of former Fatah official and beloved Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti who is currently held in Israeli prisons. If true, this development has far-ranging impact. Most notably, Barghouti would […]
A few weeks ago, advocates for a prisoner swap with Hamas seemed optimistic that abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit would be reunited with his family. As the weeks drag on and the media reports apparent Israeli government reluctance on the swap, the prospects of a prisoner exchange by the end of the year continues to […]
Overview: The year started with a bang, or many bangs to be precise. The events of late December- mid January one year ago set the stage for relations between Israel and the rest of the world. Israel launched Operation Cast Lead on the Gaza Strip to attempt to end the incessant rocket fire into southern […]
The latest anti-Israel film comes out of Egypt, and this one’s garnering significant attention throughout the Arab world. The film, Welad Ela’am, depicts an Egyptian woman who falls in love with an Israeli Mossad agent in disguise. He then drugs her and their children to transfer them to a Tel Aviv suburb against their will. […]
The biggest economic news in Israel these days has nothing to do with the following post. Just clarifying. The Bank of Israel is revamping the country’s money to include images of former Prime Minster and peace process visionary Yitzhak Rabin and former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who spearheaded peace efforts with Egypt. The inclusion of […]
The latest collection of bitterlemons essays focuses on Israeli views of settlers. The Obama Administration initially focused on a settlement freeze as the crux to resuming the peace process between Israel and Palestinians. The United States backed off its demands and Israel announced a partial and temporary settlement freeze that did not satisfy Palestinian leadership, […]
The controversial decision by the State Department to participate on the United Nation’s Human Rights Council will be transparent (an Administration key word) with the launch of a new Web site on the development of the Universal Periodic Review, an evaluation of the human rights record of all 192 UN member states. Israel previously protested the participation […]
The normally quiet Israel-U.K. relationship faced two fairly substantial hurdles in the past week- the potential arrest of a visiting Israeli official and an impasse requiring labeling of Israeli products sold in British stores. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni cancelled a trip to a speaking engagement in London after a British court issued an arrest warrant […]
The oft-talked about settlers are a small percentage of the Israeli population. Of that minimal number, a small subset of extremists manages to give Jews and Israelis a bad name, all while evoking religion as the root cause. This weekend, a group of settlers torched a mosque in the West Bank and scrawled racist slogans […]
In the beginning, the Arab world was ecstatic with the prospects of President Barack Obama changing the dynamic between the West and the Middle East. His background and willingness to sit down with Arab and Muslim leaders sparked optimism that finally, after eight years of demonization, the Arab world would have a fair hearing by […]
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