By Evelyn Gordon The latest escalation along the Israel-Gaza border – which saw Palestinians fire more than 250 rockets at Israel since Wednesday after Israel, responding to days of only slightly less intensive rocket fire, assassinated a senior Hamas terrorist and destroyed most of Hamas’s long-range missiles on Wednesday – may yet be interrupted […]
How the Arab Spring emboldened Hamas Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Bibi isn’t what he sounds like. He is a fascinating mixture of the distasteful and admirable, a politician who remains on top of a contentious and highly competitive heap despite promising much more than he has delivered. What follows is not an endorsement, but an exploration of how his various
Bibi roars like lion yet is timid as a mouse Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Yaakov Lappin Israel is facing an unenviable challenge these days, to regain its deterrence in a chaotic neighborhood in which its enemies are feeling emboldened. As a direct result of the regional turmoil, Israel is dealing with the deterioration of security on two fronts simultaneously. In the south, the time bomb that is
Israel facing military challenges in Gaza and Golan Read More »
Middle EastBy Shoshana and Stephen Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. _- Most of the questions related to the Benghazi debacle are about the mechanics, both offensive and defensive. What did the White House know and when? What assets were available to the military? Did someone order a stand down, and if so, who? Why was “the video” blamed
Was there a Syrian arms connection to Stevens’ death? Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana Bryen, Stephen D. Bryen
By Rabbi Dow Marmur TORONTO — Though President Barack Obama will have many urgent challenges to contend with in his second term, it’s reasonable to assume that Israeli-Palestinian relations will be high on his agenda. During the election campaign he said he would visit Israel when “we’re actually moving something forward.” He seems to
Rabbi Melchior says some in Hamas ready for peace Read More »
Middle EastBy Evelyn Gordon As Syria’s civil war drags on, it is increasingly destabilizing its neighbors. First, hundreds of thousands of refugees poured over their borders; now, violence has as well. Turkey and Syria have repeatedly exchanged deadly cross-border fire; in Jordan, a soldier was killed in clashes with militants heading for Syria to join
Muslim rivalries — not Israel — main factor in Mideast turbulence Read More »
Middle East
By J. Zel Lurie DELRAY BEACH, Florida — J Street, the pro-Israel, pro-peace lobby in Washington and JStreetPAC endorsed 71 candidates for Congress and 70 were elected. J Street PAC raised a record 1.8 million dollars to help their candidates. “This is an incredible victory,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, the founder and president of the organization.
J Street chalks up amazing victory percentage Read More »
Middle East, USA
By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — A reminder to the administration: the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend. The friend of my friend is not necessarily my friend. And the friend of my enemy is not necessarily my enemy, but he may be not by my friend, either. Friends, in fact, are
No friends for U.S. in Syrian civil war Read More »
Middle East, Shoshana BryenBy Bruce Kesler ENCINITAS, California — A recent study entitled Israel and the Campus counted a disproportionate number of anti-Israel incidents occurring on University of California and other elite campuses. It said “the most serious problem faced on campus is not from student activities, but from faculty” who “habitually abuse their academic freedom and have
UCSD’s pro-Palestinian faculty: a case study Read More »
Middle East, Science, Medicine, & Education, USABy Jacob Kamaras and Alina Dain Sharon/JNS.org Capping a race that on a national level was largely defined by the economy but in the Jewish community turned into an extended debate over which candidate would steer the best course for the U.S.-Israel relationship, President Barack Obama defeated Republican challenger Mitt Romney to earn a
Obama re-elected; what now for U.S.-Israel relationship? Read More »
Jacob Kamaras, Middle East, USABy Sean Savage/JNS.org As the conflict in Syria continues to escalate, there are growing fears of an increasing radical jihadist role in the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad’s government—complicating options for the West and presenting new threats for Israel. Syria’s beleaguered Christian community, which comprises 10 percent of the population, is witnessing the growth of
Jihadists’ rise in Syria complicates options for West Read More »
Middle EastBy Maxine Dovere/JNS.org NEW YORK—For Levana Vidal Zamir, it was a “good childhood”—until May 14, 1948. At midnight, she recalls, Egyptian officers rampaged through her family’s house and destroyed everything. They denounced her uncle as a “Zionist,” arrested him, and held him in jail for almost two years. The Egyptian government confiscated the family’s business—the
Refugee-turned-activist seeks attention for plight of Egyptian Jews Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — Imagine a dance highly formalized, without emotion, between partners who don’t even like one another, never mind pleasure or lust. That’s what we’ve been seeing the last few days around an interview given by Mahmoud Abbas, a.k.a. Abu Mazan, a.k.a. President of the Palestine National Authority, but not recognized as such
Abbas interview praised by Israeli left, dismissed by right Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle East
By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel–Many people who read the front page of Haaretz one day last week while they were having their breakfast, including yours truly, suddenly felt sick to their stomach. In huge, black letters the main front-page headline read: ‘69% of Israelis Support Apartheid.’ The text of the article, which occupied
Debunking the Israeli apartheid myth Read More »
Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East