Everyone agrees President Obama made a gutsy political call when he ordered the Navy Seals team to take out Osama bin Laden. There would have been a fierce backlash if the mission had failed. But he’s not getting credit for demonstrating even more political courage by calling for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement based on Israel’s […]
Benjamin Netanyahu
Is there a shred of hope for a renewed Israeli Labor Party? Sure…
Today, two days after I posted a lament about the rightward tilt of Israel’s Labor Party, Ehud Barak announced that he was quitting Labor and forming a new party, “Atzmaut,” that would be “centrist, Zionist and democratic.” He took four Knesset members with him. Good riddance. While this blog obviously doesn’t keep track of the […]
Myths and facts about Jerusalem
Americans for Peace Now has posted an excellent summary of the situation in Jerusalem by Hagit Ofran, the head of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch program. It has been on their web site for awhile but is worth repeating here in the land of realistic doves. It is a scathing critique of the tenure of Jerusalem […]
Obama should not be afraid of AIPAC
Despite recent tension with Israel, President Obama’s approval ratings have remained consistently high among American Jews, according to a new J Street poll. He was viewed favorably by 62% in March compared to 64% in October, 2009. That is true even though Americans as a whole are less enamored of him than they used to […]
U.S.-Israel relationship will survive, but what about Abbas?
This current tiff between Israel and the U.S. over settlements in East Jerusalem will probably blow over soon. The bonds between Israel and the U.S. are too tight to be unravelled. But Israel’s provocative behavior might be weakening Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Anyone who wants an end to this […]
The “Heritage Trail” need not be exclusively Jewish
Netanyahu’s decision to include two religious sites in the West Bank in a national Heritage Trail has provoked a predictable political firestorm. This gesture, involving Rachel’s tomb in Bethlehem and the burial place of the patriarchs in Hebron, is more than just another attempt by Netanyahu to placate his right wing. It also reveals something […]
Michael Oren hurts Israel by snubbing J Street
Michael Oren, Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S, is the Jewish state’s highest ranking envoy to the American government and, by extension, to the American people. One of his principal responsibilities is to ensure that, when push comes to shove, Americans –including American Jews– will support U.S. efforts to protect Israel’s core security interests. That is […]
Where are the “moderate” settlers?
The Israeli media are filled with dire warnings of escalating, violent resistance to the construction freeze proclaimed by Netanyahu. A recent, on-line headline in Haaretz announced: “Settlers Ready for More Clashes With Police.” Much of the buzz concerns a “Day of Rage” in two days, in which predictable passions will come to a head and […]
Will the Americans drive Bibi “crazy?”
Troll around the Web and you will find many, distinctly different ways of looking at Bibi Netanyahu’s recent announcement of a ten-month settlement freeze. Here are four that interest me: 1) IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE, GREATER ISRAEL FANS. Netanyahu has been telling the right wing that the freeze is only temporary and that construction […]
Gilo construction part of larger settlement expansion plan
Netanyahu willfully engineered a confrontation with the U.S. over announced plans to build in the West Bank town of Gilo, according to Lara Friedman of Americans for Peace Now and Danny Seidemann of Ir Amin. They make a persuasive case that the plans were a deliberate provocation of the U.S., as Netanyahu had many other […]