Israel and its chief ally, the United States, appear to be on a collision course over Washington’s plan to reopen its consulate in Jerusalem. U.S. Secretary State Antony Blinken announced the decision on May 25 following a meeting with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah. Blinken described it as a measure […]
Israel has contravened international law by building settlements in the occupied West Bank and populating them with Jewish settlers, says prominent Israeli human rights lawyer Michael Sfard. Through such methods since the 1967 Six Day War, Israel has “reengineered” the demography of the West Bank, which many Israelis regard as their ancestral homeland and which […]
It was a bolt out of the blue and it fizzled spectacularly. On September 24, 300 Sunni and Shi’a Muslim Iraqis attended an unprecedented conference in northern Iraq during which they called for peace and reconciliation with Israel, Iraq’s longtime enemy. It took place in Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region, which has […]
Progressives in the Democratic Party in the United States are turning out to be a real thorn in Israel’s side. In the past few years, this pro-Palestinian group has lambasted Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and denounced Israel as an apartheid state. Of late, they have escalated their campaign by trying to deny military aid […]
With a little more than 100 days having elapsed since he succeeded Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel’s prime minister, Naftali Bennett has hewed to the status quo with respect to two major interrelated issues — the Palestinians and Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Bennett leads an extremely diverse coalition consisting of eight of the 13 […]
A few days ago, at a Zoom event marking the first anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords at the White House in Washington, D.C., Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid invited yet more Arab nations to normalize relations with Israel. “The Abraham Accords club is open for new members as well,” said Lapid in […]
Judging by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s meeting yesterday with President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in the Sinai Peninsula resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Israel’s mercurial relations with Egypt are improving. Describing it as an “important and very good meeting,” Bennett said it “laid the foundation for deep ties” in the future. He did not elaborate, but the […]
Judging by Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz’s meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on August 29, Israel may well be turning a new page in its often troubled and tumultuous relationship with the Palestinians. In the first high-level face-to-face between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in 12 years, they discussed a wide range […]
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, in his first direct meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on August 27, predictably advanced a hardline approach toward Israel’s most deadly enemy, Iran. Like his predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, Bennett tried to convince Biden that the best way forward is to impose a credible military threat […]
A little more than two months after succeeding Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister, Naftali Bennett will have his first opportunity to meet U.S. President Joe Biden. They will confer at the White House on August 26. Biden’s press secretary, Jen Psaki, said the visit would “strengthen the enduring partnership between the United States and Israel, reflect […]