The impasse in the protracted civil war in Syria is so profound that even the prospect of successful peace talks to end the nearly five-year-old conflict seems outlandish and unrealistic. On February 3, after two days of preliminary discussions in Geneva, United Nations mediator Staffan de Mistura threw up his hands in utter despair and […]
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has tabled a bill that may well stifle, if not delegitimize, a precious gift — political dissent in Israel. The bill, known as the NGO Law, should be permanently shelved for the sake of Israeli democracy. Sponsored by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, it would require non-governmental organizations in Israel to […]
The American ambassador to Israel and the secretary-general of the United Nations have both issued no-nonsense warnings regarding the pitfalls of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. Call them inconvenient truths. To no one’s surprise, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has responded harshly to their collective words of wisdom, thereby confirming the widely-held assumption that […]
A new phase in Iran’s often contentious relationship with the West unfolded a few days ago when the United States and European countries lifted economic sanctions against Iran. They were withdrawn following the release of a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency that the Iranian government had fulfilled its promise to curb its controversial […]
A year ago this month, France was profoundly shaken by two jihadist rampages in Paris. The incidents underscored an alarming phenomenon — the extent to which a minority of European Muslims have fallen under the baneful and destructive spell of radical Islam. It’s a grave problem which is far from resolved. Last November, jihadists launched […]
Israel is one of the most advanced countries in the Middle East, its high-tech economy a model of brain power, innovation and efficiency. Out with the old, in with the new. For a country with precious few natural resources, Israel has fared reasonably well thanks to its can-do, entrepreneurial spirit. If you take a walk in […]
Israel and Turkey, two of the most important powers in the Middle East, appear to be moving closer to a rapprochement that could end five years of mutual recrimination, bitterness and estrangement. But is it another false start? Nearly two years ago, after Israeli negotiator David Meidan appeared to have reached a breakthough reconciliation agreement […]
During the waning hours of 2015, the Israeli government made one of its most important decisions of the year, belatedly approving an ambitious development plan to close the lamentable and inexcusable economic gap between Jews and Arabs in Israel. It was long overdue, to say the least. If fully implemented, the five-year plan will upgrade the […]
Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon has disclosed that Israel’s security services have adopted stringent measures to ensure that a despicable incident like last summer’s firebombing of a Palestinian family’s home in the West Bank village of Duma will never happen again. “We have taken draconian steps to prevent another terror attack,” he said on December 26 […]
Is war-torn Syria finally on the cusp of peace? That’s the burning question following the unanimous passage of a United Nations Security Council resolution supporting a political solution of the nearly five-year-old civil war in Syria, which has claimed the lives of more than 250,000 civilians and soldiers. The resolution, adopted by a 15-0 margin […]