Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently voiced optimism that his proposal to annex the Jordan Valley and Jewish settlements and outposts in the West Bank was virtually a fait accompli. Expressing confidence that the United States would recognize his plan, which would give Israel a permanent eastern border for the first time in its history, […]
Israel’s decision to annex the Jordan Valley later this year has drawn widespread condemnation, particularly in the Middle East. The Arab League has said that annexation would be considered a “new war crime.” King Abdullah of Jordan has warned it would lead to a “massive conflict” with his country, while Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz has […]
On July 31, 2015, an Israeli settler in the West Bank named Amiram Ben-Uliel walked into the Palestinian village of Duma under the cover of night and proceeded to carry out a macabre plan. Intent on seeking vigilante vengeance against Palestinians for the fatal driveby shooting of Israeli civilian Malachy Rosenfeld one month earlier, Ben-Uliel, […]
Israel finds itself in uncharted territory. For the first time in its history, Israel faces an unprecedented situation in which the state is pressing criminal charges against an incumbent prime minister. On May 24, Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in the Jerusalem District Court, charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Much to his chagrin, he […]
Just days after the Israeli media reported earlier this month that Iranian military forces were being withdrawn from Syria, Israelis learned that Iran had sprung a nasty surprise on Israel. Iran, Israel’s most formidable enemy, had launched a cyberattack on Israel’s water and sewage facilities. Channel 12 broke the news on May 9, but the actual […]
Twenty years ago today, Israel withdrew unilaterally from its self-declared security zone in southern Lebanon, ending a lengthy occupation that the then Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, described as a “tragedy.” Under cover of darkness, Israeli armored personnel carriers, trucks, jeeps and tanks rolled into Israel, accompanied by several thousand troops from the South Lebanon […]
Israel’s year-long political crisis, the worst in its statehood, officially ended on May 17 when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national unity government was sworn in. Netanyahu will retain the premiership for 18 months, until November 17, 2021, and then switch roles with Benny Gantz, the alternative prime minister and defence minister. The formation of a power-sharing […]
Reports emanating from Israel of late suggest that Iran, Israel’s arch enemy, is gradually withdrawing its forces from Syria and that pro-Iranian militias there are also pulling out. If these reports are true, a major source of tension in the Middle East will have been removed and Israel will have scored a major victory over Iran, […]
Much to its credit, Germany has finally cracked down hard on Hezbollah. Seven years after branding its armed wing as a terrorist organization and banning it in Germany, the German interior minister, Horst Seehofer, went one step further by effectively outlawing its civilian wing and prohibiting all its activities inside Germany. Seehofer made this announcement […]
One hundred years ago this month, the map of the Middle East was radically redrawn by the major powers at a long-forgotten summit in a pretty resort town in northwestern Italy. The San Remo Conference, which took place in 1920 between April 19-26 at the Villa Devachan, officially ratified the breakup of Turkey’s Ottoman Empire […]