Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will arrive in Israel March 3, one day after attending a Gaza rehabilitation conference in Cairo. During her visit, though, she may influence coalition building and the priorities of the next government.
Hamas intends to include the exchange of captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit for 1000 Palestinian prisoners in a peace deal slated for finalization by next Wednesday. Previous reports indicated that Israel would include Fatah icon Marwan Barghouti in the exchange.
Coalition building nears finalization with religious party Habayit Hayehudi backing Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu for Prime Minister, increasing the likelihood that President Shimon Peres will accept a Likud-led coalition. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, after obtaining a plurality of votes in Tuesday’s election, has yet to decide on either joining the government to obtain a highly-coveted portfolio or lead the opposition. She plans to announce a final decision on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Obama Administration appears confident that Iran intends to pursue nuclear weapons capability regardless of their claims to the contrary. Leon Panetta, nominee for CIA director, stated “”From all the information I’ve seen… I think there is no question that they are seeking that capability.”
Meanwhile, a Turkey-brokered Israel-Syria peace deal nearly took off with direct talks between the two nations’ premiers before the initiation of Operation Cast Lead, according to Turkish officials. However the operation, which ignited a heated debate between Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and Israeli President Shimon Peres at last month’s Davos conference, postponed any such talks and left Turkish officials baffled. “Nobody imagined that Olmert would go behind Erdogan’s back like that and not even hint that he intended to start fighting in Gaza,” a Turkish official said.
In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Arthur Herman cautions President Obama from pursuing the same paradigm for Middle East peace as Jimmy Carter. He claims that Carter reluctantly pursed Camp David and former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat deserves credit for the success of the accords. He also states that “The Palestinian issue is the doom, not the starting point, for lasting stability in the region.” On one hand, Herman’s correct. Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and General Moshe Dayan neglected the Palestinian cause in order to secure an agreement on the Israeli withdrawal from Sinai. Sadat understood that he needed to place Egypt’s needs, returning the Sinai, ahead of any Pan-Arab desires. However, with additional national identity obtained by the Palestinians in the last twenty years, direct negotiations and statehood could stabilize the region and serve as another springboard for democracy as opposed to autocratic regimes.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
