Middle East
Suleimani’s Assassination Could Inflame The Mideast
Major General Qassem Soleimani lived and died by the sword. Killed by a U.S. drone strike in the early hours of January 3, shortly after landing at Baghdad International Airport, he was head of the Quds Force, the offensive arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, which aggressively advances Iran’s military and political objectives in […]
Netanyahu Is Not Above The Law
The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu, appears to think he’s above the law. On January 1, as widely expected, he shamelessly asked the Knesset to grant him immunity from prosecution. Netanyahu dropped this bombshell about five weeks after Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit indicted him on criminal charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust. […]
Israel’s Quest To Normalize Relations With Arab States
Shortly after defeating Gideon Sa’ar decisively in the Likud Party’s December 26 leadership race, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined his major strategic objectives. Apart from “finalizing” Israel’s borders and lobbying for U.S. recognition of its sovereignty in the Jordan Valley, the northern Dead Sea and the Jewish settlements of the West Bank, he would work for […]
Israel And The International Criminal Court
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s response to the announcement by the chief prosecutor of The Hague-based International Criminal Court that there is a basis for investigating possible war crimes by Israel in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip was high on rhetoric and low on substance. Netanyahu could have attempted to refute her assertions point by […]
Israel Awash In Uncertainty
Israel is in limbo. Bereft of an elected government after two inconclusive elections within the past five months, Israel is awash in uncertainty as it heads into a third election next year. As this unprecedented crisis unfolds, Benjamin Netanyahu, the first sitting Israeli prime minister to be indicted on criminal charges, continues to remain in office […]
Can Israel Rely On The United States?
Could Israel rely on the United States in a crunch? That was the burning question Israelis doubtless asked themselves after a series of recent events in the Middle East. President Donald Trump has hewed to a strong pro-Israel policy since his election three years ago. But the Israeli government was unnerved by Trump’s unwillingness to […]
Canada Reaffirms Its Support For A Two-State Solution
Canada’s endorsement of a United Nations General Assembly resolution on November 19 calling for Palestinian statehood and the end of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank has been deplored as “ill-advised” by a major Canadian organization, the Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs, that claims to represent Jews in Canada. Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to […]
Israel’s Corrupt Prime Minister Must Resign
Call him, if you will, Mr. Asterisk. Within a period of only four months, Benjamin Netanyahu has earned two asterisks next to his name, one of which he would dearly like to delete from the record. Last summer, he surpassed David Ben-Gurion as Israel’s longest-serving prime minister. Netanyahu won his first election in 1996 and […]
New U.S. Policy On Settlements Detrimental To Peace
Nothing good can come out of the announcement by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on November 18 that the United States no longer considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be in breach of international law. Washington’s shift, the latest in a series of announcements by President Donald Trump’s administration reconfiguring U.S. policy on […]
“Foggy Weather” In Turkey’s Ties With the U.S.
Prior to his meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on November 13, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan explained that the purpose of his visit was to “start a new era over common security issues” with the United States. “We are in agreement with Trump to solve problems and develop our ties despite the […]
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