Bush Administration

The peace process, Iran and the law of unintended consequences

Wednesday, December 12th, 2007

At a luncheon panel on Israel and Iran at the Century Foundation yesterday, I was taken aback by some thoughts shared by Trita Parsi, author of the new and highly regarded Dangerous Alliance -The Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran and the United States, and Daniel Levy, the former Israeli negotiator who is now Director […]

A diplomatic tool: the “freyer” factor

Monday, December 3rd, 2007

So just how much pressure can and should the U.S. apply to both Israelis and Palestinians after the Annapolis conference? The “P word” -pressure– still sends chills down the spines of too many mainstream American Jewish leaders, including those who know full well that, at times, Israeli Prime Ministers have desparately needed American pressure […]

Will Olmert actually do something about the settlements? Maybe!

Tuesday, November 13th, 2007

There are glimmers of hope out there, suddenly… Am I the only reader of Middle East news reports who feels that way? A few hours ago, both Y-net news and Haaretz.com ran stories about the possibility of a settlement freeze. Both tell us that Olmert informed the heads of the YESHA Council (i.e., the […]

Mainstream American Jews should stand up to the preemptive war hawks

Saturday, October 20th, 2007

For all of its many flaws, the new book by Mearsheimer and Walt makes a vitally important point about the invasion of Iraq that has been obscured in the ongoing war-for-Israel debate: “There was hardly any opposition to the war among the major American Jewish organizations,” they write. That is, sadly, true.
Those who […]

“Jewish Neocons Are Dead Wrong, Not Disloyal” –My piece in the Huffington Post

Tuesday, October 9th, 2007

Please check out my new screed in Huffington Post, in which I find myself objecting to one (just one, I promise) of the accusations that are commonly hurled at Doug Feith and his fellow preemptive war fetishists. I spent a long time trying to figure out how to say what needed to be said, […]

Whom should we trust on Syria? The Bushies…or the experts?

Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007

Ameinu’s web site has some informative pieces on Syria that stand in stark contrast to the don’t-trust-Assad-under-any-circumstances pablum that is available from most American Jewish groups.
What follows is a tidbit from Gershon Baskin, a very wise Israeli Jew who for decades has carried out “Track 2″ dialogue on the toughest issues with Arab counterparts, […]