U.S. President Donald Trump announced this week that, if “the circumstances were correct,” he would “certainly agree” to meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani within weeks. Disclosing he would seek a “very simple” deal focusing on Iran’s nuclear weapons program and its stockpile of ballistic missiles, Trump said his administration is “not looking for regime change in […]
Israel has reportedly opened a new front in its concerted campaign to thwart Iran’s military buildup in the Middle East. It would seem that the long arm of the Israeli armed forces has reached Iraq. This is the first time in nearly four decades that Iraq has been targeted by Israel. In 1981, Israeli aircraft […]
Donald Trump barked and Benjamin Netanyahu caved in. One may be excused for wondering whether Israel is a banana republic, doing the bidding of its master. Israel’s decision to ban U.S. Democratic congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar from entering the Israeli-occupied West Bank on a four-day fact-finding trip to examine the conditions of Palestinians […]
Much to Israel’s discomfort, two of its staunchest foes, Iran and Hamas, have upgraded their bilateral relations. Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip for the past 13 years, dispatched a high-level delegation to Tehran late last month, when tensions between Iran and the United States were on the rise and an outbreak of fighting […]
Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing ahead with his counter-productive election campaign promise to extend Israel’s sovereignty over the West Bank and thereby demolish the two-state solution. On August 8, the Israeli prime minister yet again reiterated his pledge to annex parts of the West Bank during a cornerstone-laying ceremony for 650 new housing units in the […]
It could be one of the shortest political comebacks in Israel’s history. Ehud Barak, the former prime minister of Israel, has returned to politics after a seven-year hiatus. He hopes to play a starring role in unseating Benjamin Netanyahu, the current Israeli premier and his former boss, in the September 17 general election. It’s questionable, […]
The Israeli municipality of Ramat Gan recently passed a resolution permitting public bus service on the Sabbath. It’s a long overdue and welcome development, to say the least. Common sense prevailed when Carmel Shama-Hacohen, the mayor of Ramat Gan — a suburb of Tel Aviv — succeeded in convincing city council to approve a resolution allowing two bus lines […]
Benjamin Netanyahu marked a historic milestone on July 20 amid speculation whether he will still be Israel’s prime minister after the September 17 general election. Having held office for 4,876 days, or slightly more than 13 years, he surpassed David Ben-Gurion — Israel’s first and probably greatest leader — as its longest-serving prime minister. Netanyahu, a […]
Turkey’s troubled relationship with the United States took another hit on July 12 when the Turkish armed forces received the first components of the vaunted S-400 Russian air defence system. Just days after acting U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper warned Turkey that it would face economic sanctions if it went ahead with the controversial $2.5 […]
Israel’s bilateral relationship with Russia today is generally cordial. Certainly, it is far better than it was during the Cold War, when Russia unilaterally severed diplomatic relations with Israel twice, first in 1953 and then during the 1967 Six Day War. Nonetheless, given Russia’s close ties with Israel’s arch enemies, Syria and Iran, Israel must […]