When the third round of U.S.-mediated Israel-Lebanon talks ended at the State Department in Washington on May 15, the United States announced a 45-day extension of the April 16 ceasefire in Lebanon. State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott sounded an upbeat note, describing the two-day talks as “highly productive.” “We hope these discussions will advance lasting […]
Benjamin Netanyahu, the leader of the Likud Party, is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having held his post, on and off, for 18 years now. First elected in 1996, he went down to defeat in 1999, only to regain his job in 2009 after serving as foreign and finance minister. Swept out of office in June […]
The United States and Israel appear to have reached diametrically opposed conclusions regarding the outcome of the still unsettled war in Iran. The conflict erupted on February 28 when the U.S. and Israel jointly attacked Iran, targeting its leadership and military assets in daily air strikes. The war wound down on April 8 following a […]
Iran was decisively defeated by the United States and Israel in the 40-day war that broke out on February 28. Yet the Iranian regime has not only survived the onslaught, but has seized control of the vital Strait of Hormuz and is implicitly daring U.S. President Donald Trump to restart the war. Not exactly what […]
The 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon, which was due to expire on April 26, has been extended by three weeks until May 17. That is the good news. The bad news is that this tenuous truce has already crumbled. U.S. President Donald Trump was instrumental in prolonging the April 16 ceasefire during the second round of […]
Under cover of Israel’s wars in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Iran since 2023, the Israeli government has consolidated its control of the West Bank immeasurably. Existing settlements have been expanded. New ones have been built. Unauthorized outposts have been legalized. Evacuated settlements have been reestablished. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition government, which assumed […]
There has never been an American president like Donald Trump regarding his relationship with Israel. No less a figure than Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel who has worked closely with Trump during his two presidential terms, has repeatedly hailed him as the most pro-Israel president in history. This is quite a claim, but […]
Israel’s protracted conflict with Lebanon may well be easing, judging by the most recent developments. On April 14, Israel and Lebanon conducted preparatory talks in Washington ahead of what may be more substantive negotiations in the near future. A day later, the Israeli security cabinet met to consider a short-term ceasefire in Lebanon to pause […]
On April 8, shortly after the United States and Iran accepted a Pakistani proposal to abide by a two-week ceasefire in the war in Iran, Israel carried out a massive wave of air strikes aimed at Hezbollah sites in Lebanon. These attacks, the deadliest in decades, complicated the peace talks between the United States and […]
High-level U.S.-Iran talks are due to begin in Islamabad on April 11, four days after the United States and the Iranian regime accepted a two-week ceasefire proposal brokered by Pakistan to pause the war in Iran. The fighting erupted on February 28 after the United States and Israel launched joint air strikes in Iran. These […]