Archive for the 'Israel' Category

Netanayahu’s “new” demand

Howard Schneider reports in the Washington Post on Netanyahu’s Peace Stipulation (h/t Backspin)
I suppose what’s disturbing about the article is its portrayal of Netanyahu’s demand as “new.”
The documents accepted by Israeli leaders during breakthrough peace talks with the Palestinians in Oslo in 1993 said nothing about their country’s status as a Jewish state or homeland [...]

Turning The Screws: Obama Expands Arms Freeze On Israel

While President Obama has made a real career out of alienating our traditional allies, he appears to have a special place in his warped heart for Israel.
It started with top administration official snubbing Israel’s Chief of Staff on a special trip here or to discuss Iran. and with special new Pentagon rules put in place [...]

I’ve previously been skeptical of the Lebanese claims that Israel has an extensive spy network in Lebanon. The NY Times today, has a more extensive report on the story.
Mr. Homsi, 61, was the deputy mayor of Saadnayel, a town in the Bekaa Valley. According to a report in the Lebanese newspaper Al Safir, which has [...]

Has Smart Diplomacy Outsmarted Itself?

If newspaper reports are to be believed, the United States and Israel are on a diplomatic collision course. The Obama administration has decided that “smart diplomacy” means mollifying enemies and pressuring an ally. If this is what’s happening, then it would appear that Israeli public opinion is turning suspicious of American intent.
But has the smart [...]

What’s A Jewish State Got To Do With It?

Isabel Kershner of the NY Times reports that “moderate” Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas refuses to acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state.
The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, on Monday dismissed a demand by Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, underscoring the considerable gaps between the sides. “I do not accept [...]

Obama Endorses The Saudi Peace Ultimatum

Well, you knew it was coming:
US President Barack Obama reiterated his support for the Saudi Mideast peace initiative in a meeting with King Abdullah on Thursday night, the White House said in a statement.
The February 2002 initiative calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from all territories taken in the Six Day War, including east Jerusalem, [...]

The Palestinians Throw A Tantrum: “Netanyahu Does Not Believe In Peace”

It’s to be expected of the Palestinians, but they’ve set a new record in self-defeating rejectionism today.
The Netanyahu government has just been sworn in today and Fatah’s capo del tutti Abbas and his assorted thugs are already kicking and screaming:

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas charged on Wednesday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not believe [...]

Extremism In Plain Sight

New Israeli FM Avigdor Lieberman has the Middle East cognoscenti up in arms. Helena Cobban writes:
He said he considered Israel was still bound by the Road Map provisions from 2003– but stated very clearly that the Palestinians must fulfill their side of the Road Map before Israel needed to do anything. … The positions articulated [...]

Iran and hamas, partners in peace

In an editorial, the New York Times questions whether Binyamin Netanyahu can be trusted to make peace. There is so much wrong with “Being a partner for peace“, I could spend all day critiquing it. But one point stood out:
If Mr. Netanyahu is serious about being a partner for peace, he will not get in [...]

What Netanyahu Should Say About Peace To The Arab World

It should be obvious to anyone who looks at the matter with a shred of honesty that the Middle East peace process as it now stands is a dead issue.
To show how futile it really is, let’s take a look at the facts as they stand.
We now have a situation where the West’s only [...]