China’s global rivalry with the United States has reached Saudi Arabia. Late last week, Chinese leader Xi Jinping spent three days in the desert kingdom in a landmark visit during which he signed a myriad of agreements with his Saudi counterpart, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, a key […]
While Benjamin Netanyahu and his allies won 64 seats in the 120-seat Knesset in last November’s election, breaking the impasse that had paralyzed Israeli politics through four elections since 2019, he has been unable to form a government and present it to parliament for approval. On December 9, Israeli President Isaac Herzog granted him an […]
When the Israeli government announced that its citizens would be permitted to fly to Qatar to attend the World Cup and that a team of Israeli diplomats would offer them consular services for the duration of the competition, there was a fleeting moment of euphoria in Israel. Israel basically negotiated the arrangement with the International […]
Itamar Ben-Gvir, the leader of the far-right Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party, demanded the public security ministry in Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet and got it. Yesterday, slightly more than three weeks after Israel’s fifth election in a little more than three years, Netanyahu’s Likud Party and Otzma Yehudit announced that Ben-Gvir would be the national […]
Until quite recently, Holocaust denial was a depressing and unchanging staple of Arab and Muslim political culture, with some public figures hewing to the mantra that recognition of the Shoah bolstered Israel’s claim to sovereignty and statehood. This attitude trickled down to the grassroots level in countries ranging from Syria and Jordan to Iran and […]
President Joe Biden has consistently lambasted Saudi Arabia, a major U.S. ally, since his run for the presidency. But in recent days, his administration has had second thoughts and backtracked, underscoring the persistence and importance of Realpolitik in international relations. While campaigning for the presidency, Biden adopted a demonstrably unfriendly position toward Saudi Arabia’s prime […]
Bezalel Smotrich, the leader of Israel’s far-right Religious Zionism Party, is an extremist by any reasonable yardstick, yet the incoming prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will likely appoint him to a senior position in his cabinet. Netanyahu, a secular nationalist, could not have reclaimed his old job without the 14 Knesset seats amassed by Smotrich and […]
If Israel’s fifth election in a little more than three years was regarded by some Israelis as a kind of referendum on Benjamin Netanyahu’s fitness to govern the country, this burning question has now been answered definitively. Netanyahu, who is currently on trial on criminal charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, roared back […]
Russia’s burgeoning alliance with Iran is an increasing source of concern to Israel, particularly after the appearance of Iranian kamikaze drones over Kyiv in support of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. The latest development confirms the supposition that Russia and Iran, both of which regard the United States as their foremost foe, have formed a […]
Prime Minister Yair Lapid of Israel recently blasted the second report issued by the United Nations’ Commission of Inquiry, which was set up following last year’s cross-border war between Israel and Hamas. Presented to the UN General Assembly on October 27, the 28-page report, with which the Israeli government has refused to cooperate, charged that Israel’s […]