By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — The U.S. weakness in countering Iran and other radical forces in the Middle East is beginning to bear poisoned fruits. Jordan is already moving toward getting on Iran’s good side; Lebanon has been captured by the Iran-Syria camp; Turkey has moved into its orbit, becoming an ally of Iran […]
U.S. influence on the wane throughout Middle East Read More »
Middle East, USANEW YORK (Press Release) — No matter which government is in power, or whether it is a time of relative quiet or conflict, newspapers across the Arab and Muslim world consistently portray Israel’s prime ministers with outrageous, hateful, and at times anti-Semitic caricatures. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) documents this decade-long assault by political cartoonists against
ADL: Arab media makes practice of demonizing Israeli prime ministers Read More »
Middle East
By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Athens and Jerusalem are the two code words that describe the poles of Western civilization, viewed by some as being in perennial conflict, by others seen in fruitful dialogue. The Jewish version of the ongoing struggle between Hellenism and Hebraism in whatever guise, under whatever name and in whatever time period
As Israel’s relations with Turkey freeze, those with Greece warm Read More »
Middle EastBy Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — There’s a lot of interesting material in the Pew Foundation’s latest poll of the Middle East, a survey that focuses on attitudes toward Islamism and revolutionary Islamist groups. The analysis that accompanies the poll, however, is not very good, so here is mine. For example, in evaluating attitudes toward
What Pew Poll shows about Middle Eastern support for terrorist groups Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Fifty years ago Adolf Eichmann was on trial in Jerusalem. The proceedings took place in a building which today is the Gerard Behar Center.Monday night several hundred mostly young Israelis came together in the same place, not to commemorate the trial but, as one of the speakers put it dramatically, to
Rally in Jerusalem protests racism in Israel Read More »
Middle EastJERUSALEM – The Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University will inaugurate the Aharon Barak Center for Interdisciplinary Legal Research this week on December 22. The event will be attended by the former President of the Supreme Court, Prof. Aharon Barak, President of the Supreme Court, Justice Dorit Beinisch and Dean of the Faculty of Law
Hebrew University to inaugurate legal center named for Aharon Barak Read More »
Middle EastBy Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — The headline is upbeat: “Palestinian Leader Has 60 Israelis to Lunch.” The picture features Mahmoud Abbas alongside Amram Mitzna, a former head of the Labor Party. Both seem pleased. The article mentions individuals concerned with the Geneva Initiative, “a group of Israeli and Palestinian figures who negotiated an unofficial blueprint
A Palestinian lunch to launch a new Israeli peace party? Read More »
Ira Sharkansky, Middle EastBy Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — The French news agency AFP is reporting that France is giving the Lebanese army 100 anti-tank HOT missiles in February to be used by the military’s Gazelle helicopters. There are no conditions attached to their use. Israel is concerned about the deal. In November, the U.S. government lifted a
France reportedly selling anti-tank missiles to Lebanon Read More »
Middle EastBy Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–In the closing decades of the last century, the complaints I used to hear in Progressive/Reform/Liberal Judaism circles in Israel had to do with the dangers inherent in the secularization of the Jewish state. Religiously and politically liberal Jews were urged to articulate viable alternatives and create institutions to promote them.
In Israel, Reform must focus on providing alternative to Orthodoxy Read More »
Middle EastBy Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — Here’s a good report on Israel’s amazing intelligence activity along its northern border, with new types of information-gathering and targeting equipment concealed in rocks: And here’s a good report on the heating up of terrorism activity along Israel’s Gaza border: Note that something very important is happening here–unnoticed [surprise!]
By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM — A friend provoked this column by sending me a video clip of a speech by Professor John J. Mearsheimer before a gathering of the Jerusalem Fund. Mearsheimer is a University of Chicago political scientist best know for his publications with Stephen Walt (Harvard) on the Israel lobby in the
How John Mearsheimer and other leftists actually help Israel Read More »
Middle EastNEW YORK (Press Release)– The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations called on Thursday for countries to vote against a 10th anniversary commemoration of the infamous World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in Durban in September 2001. That conference, which began with lofty goals, deteriorated into an orgy of hatred,
Conference of Jewish presidents urges U.N. to reject call for Durban III session Read More »
Middle EastBy Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel –Here’s an old joke that applies to the contemporary Middle East. The Lone Ranger was a Western lawman who chased bad guys with his friend, a Native American named Tonto. One day, they were surrounded by dozens of Native American warriors. The Lone Ranger turned to Tonto and said, “Don’t
JERUSALEM (WJC)–Israel’s Foreign Ministry wants to ensure that Jews who were forced to flee Arab countries after 1948 are included in international discussions about the refugee issue, Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon has told the ‘Jerusalem Post’. He called it “vitally important to return this issue to the international agenda. It is a matter of
Israel reminds international community there were many Jewish refugees from Arab lands Read More »
Middle East