Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law, declared yesterday that a script for a “new Middle East” is currently being written. This is not a freshly-minted expression. It was coined by the late Shimon Peres after the Olso accords were signed in August 1993. Peres, Israel’s former defence minister, foreign minister, prime minister […]
A few days after the United States announced that Israel and the United Arab Emirates would normalize relations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu triumphantly spoke of a new spirit in the Middle East that would break down barriers between Israel and Arab states and eventually lead to an Israeli accommodation with the Palestinians. The new doctrine, […]
In 1999, the Israeli government approved a master plan to build thousands of housing units in the strategically important E-1 area of the West Bank. Twenty one years on, the ambitious project continues to languish due to the objections of Israel’s chief ally, the United States. A succession of U.S. presidents have come out against […]
Hermann Goring, the commander of Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe and one of Adolf Hitler’s chief lieutenants, would surely be spinning in his grave if he knew that the German and Israeli air forces are currently conducting their first joint exercise in Germany. German pilots have trained in Israel twice before, but this is the first time […]
The Democratic Party’s 80-page platform on foreign and domestic policy devotes only three paragraphs to Israel, a major U.S. ally. But their inclusion in the official party program received final approval only after an impassioned debate pitting progressives against mainstream Democrats at their national convention, which ended yesterday in Milwaukee. The committee that produced the […]
Turkey’s reaction to Israel’s landmark peace treaty with the United Arab Emirates is a telling commentary on the misguided policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On August 14, a day after the historic agreement was announced by U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington, Erdogan disclosed he had instructed his foreign minister to either suspend […]
Israel’s historic peace treaty with the United Arab Emirates, its third with an Arab country since 1979, shatters what was long regarded as a sacrosanct convention. In plain language, Israel can enjoy the fruits of peace with an Arab state without having to cede territory it conquered during the Six Day War or agree to […]
France has circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations Security Council calling for the extension of the mandate held by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Ideally, it should be renewed because that international peacekeeping force has played a fairly useful and constructive role in southern Lebanon since its formation in 1978. […]
China’s ambitions in the Middle East are laser sharp, driven by economic interests, a policy clearly reflected in its burgeoning relationship with Iran, the preeminent Shi’a power in the region. Unlike the United States or Russia, China has little or no desire to project its political or cultural influence in the region. China regards Iran […]
The ripple effects of the catastrophic explosion that levelled the port of Beirut on August 4 have shaken Lebanon to its core. The blast killed 158, wounded about 6,000 and left upwards of 300,000 homeless. Causing $10 billion to $15 billion in damage, it was felt 150 miles away in Cyprus, and was the biggest […]