Middle East

Latest peace agreement between P.A. and Hamas worrisome for Israel

By Rabbi Dow Marmur  JERUSALEM–On the face of it, the latest agreement between Hamas and Fatah, signed in Qatar by Khaled Mashaal (who left Damascus presumably because of what’s going on in Syria and announced his impending retirement as the leader of Hamas) and Mahmoud Abbas (the President of the Palestinian Authority) could be a […]

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Middle East

Caucus formed to teach Knesset members about American Jews

 By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Members of the Knesset are discovering America, Jewish America to be precise. Prompted by Jay Ruderman of the Ruderman Family Foundation a dozen or so Israeli parliamentarians came together recently to form the Israel-American Jewish Knesset Caucus. The visit was preceded by a comprehensive US visit by six MKs

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Middle East

Normal Arab-Jewish coexistence in Israel goes unreported by media

  By Dorothea Shefer-Vanson MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — Despite rumors to the contrary, Israel is a normal country at least as far as retail therapy is concerned. Shopping malls are popping up with ever-increasing frequency wherever one looks. They incorporate many advantages for both vendors and shoppers, and the ambience in them varies from quiet

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Dorothea Shefer-Vanson, Middle East

For Israel, anti-Iran sanctions far better than attacking

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–The website of the British tabloid the Daily Mirror shows a detailed diagram of how Israel would attack Iran using sophisticated fighter planes, drones and missiles from its five ultra-modern submarines. It also predicts when: not later than April. The why is there, too:Iran could make four nuclear bombs within a

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Middle East

World should accept impossibility of ‘peace process’ in Middle East

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –The current round of Israeli-Palestinian meetings in Jordan ended with a Palestinian decision to leave. “The Israelis brought nothing new in these meetings,” said one official, without bothering to note the obvious — neither did the Palestinians. The talks were the result of a Quartet plan to have Israelis and

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Middle East, Shoshana Bryen

Netanyahu’s continuation as Likud’s leader may lead to increasing isolation for Israel

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–In this week’s Likud party primaries Binyamin Netanyahu got some 75% of the votes cast by card-carrying members. The rest went to Moshe Feiglin, an extremist with considerable nuisance value but, mercifully, not much political clout. Even though more credible contenders and reputed critics within the party didn’t stand against him,

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Middle East

Are Egypt’s domestic problems so bad that war with Israel will be a welcome distraction?

By Evelyn Gordon  WASHINGTON, D.C. — Last month, Victor Davis Hanson published a fascinating article on why Iran might nevertheless decide to start a war it can’t win. In it, he analyzed several cases in which countries did exactly that, including the Korean War in 1950, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the 1982 Falklands War and

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Middle East

Is Israel giving up its right to be called democratic?

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — The usual complaints about the inadequacy of democratic governance are about the majority that disenfranchises a minority. InIsrael, it seems to be the other way around. Often it’s relatively small groups that hold the rest to ransom – democratically. Today’s examples: two minority groups, the settlers (probably around 5%

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Middle East

PM’s administrator accused of harrassing woman on staff

By Ira Sharkansky  JERUSALEM–The headlines are about a couple of issues roiling close to the Prime Minister. They do not concern the big stuff that will attract people around the world who look to Israel for the excitement of threat, promise, personal or collective salvation. Insofar as the Prime Minister is the Prime Minister, however,

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Ira Sharkansky, Middle East

Israel, U.S. differ over strategy for stopping Iran’s nuclearization

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –The kerfuffle over the postponement of the highly touted “Austere Challenge 12” joint US-Israel military exercise is over. Officials in both countries are now on the same page: it was a “joint decision” having nothing to do with finances, Iran or politics, just “technical issues.” Regardless of the lid they’ve

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Middle East, Shoshana Bryen