It was the understatement of the new year. Benjamin Netanyahu described U.S. President Donald Trump’s long-awaited peace proposal, unveiled in Washington, D.C. on January 28, as a “great plan for Israel.” As he sang its praises, he called Trump “the greatest friend that Israel has ever had in the White House.” Netanyahu, the caretaker Israeli […]
The much-maligned 2015 Iran nuclear agreement may be imperilled, but this does not necessarily mean that the Iranian government intends to withdraw from it any time soon. Last July, about a year after the United States unilaterally pulled out of the deal and reimposed economic sanctions on Iran, Tehran began to scale back its observance […]
On the eve of his impeachment trial in the U.S. Senate, President Donald Trump has come under fire for having claimed that the assassination of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani was necessary because Iran posed an “imminent threat” to U.S. interests in the Middle East. Trump, in particular, claimed that Iran had targeted four U.S. […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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’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 […]