Shoshana Bryen

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — As a U.S. senator, Chuck Hagel went to great lengths to assure people he was not the “Senator from Israel,” and he seemed surprised when people objected to his remark, “The political reality is … that the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here.”  It was never

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — Almost lost in the terrible events in Boston is the Obama administration’s dire warning last week that the window for diplomatic success in the Middle East is closing — not on Iran’s quest for nuclear capability; not on the Syrian war; not on sectarian violence in Iraq; not on

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — If countries were people and Israel was an American, it would begin to collect Social Security in nine months. It would be eligible for a reverse mortgage and only a few years from mandatory withdrawals from its 401k. We’d be talking retirement and watching the grass and the grandchildren

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. –A maxim in the United States Army is, “Don’t tell a soldier to do something; tell him what you want done.” President Roosevelt didn’t tell General Eisenhower to cross the English Channel; he told him to obtain the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany. A counterexample can be found in the

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C– Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to “suspend unilateral action” against Israel for some indefinite period of time. It is, his spokesman says, to “give a sufficient chance for [US Secretary of State John] Kerry’s efforts to succeed.” By this, Abbas apparently means he will not make any additional

By Shoshana Bryen WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Obama’s visit to Israel, and particularly his speech to 500 university students, was a winner at many levels including one he probably had not even considered. In how many countries can the President of the United States call forth the passions of the local people and have confidence