Israel is becoming increasingly isolated, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned on Sunday, on the eve of his arrival there for talks with his Israeli counterpart, Defense Minister Ehud Barak. The — perhaps unconscious — subtext of that warning, of course, is that Israel’s isolation in the Middle East accelerates the decline of …
Palestine
After a U.N. Moment of Truth, Obama Will Struggle to Restore a Broken Mideast Peace Process
Perhaps nobody told President Barack Obama that last week’s United Nations showdown over Palestinian statehood was the proverbial “Emperor’s New Clothes” moment for his Mideast peace effort. U.S. officials are, this week, once again trying to herd the Palestinians back into the same unconditional talks that President Mahmoud Abbas …
Back from the UN, Mild-Mannered Abbas Hailed as Man of Steel
The man who lives in Yasser Arafat’s shadow returned from New York to a reception that suggested a measure of newfound respect from a Palestinian public that likes its leaders to show some steel.
Abu Mazen, as Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is known here, always had the respect of the population that elected him in …
Watching Abbas in Ramallah: A People Tired of Waiting
At one end of Ramallah, Israeli riot police line up behind barricades, stubby tear gas rifles leveled at shoulder height toward the few dozen young Palestinian men who reliably emerge from the Qalandia refugee camp when Israeli soldiers emerge from the checkpoint of the same name two blocks away. Camera crews set up between them, …
U.N. Security Council: Is It Time to Veto the Veto?
The fitful Palestinian approach to the U.N. Security Council will be, as all have known for a long time, stillborn. The near certainty of a U.S. veto in defense of Israeli interests has made the Palestinian gambit for statehood recognition more about ritual symbolism than any real process. This when, according to a BBC poll, the majority …
Will the Palestinians Settle for a Rain-Check at the United Nations?
Move along, there’s nothing to see here.
The much vaunted September fireworks between Israel, the U.S. and the Palestinians at the United Nations is turning out to be a rather soggy squib. As things stand, by virtue of the choices made by President Mahmoud Abbas in the face of considerable pressure from his longtime sponsors in …
Were Egyptians the Perpetrators of Last Month’s Terror Attack in Southern Israel?
Comes now a report in the Israeli press that purports to solve the mystery stubbornly trailing the unusual Aug. 18 terror attack on a desert highway in the far south of Israel — but the answer suggests even deeper problems for Israel: Though Israel bombed the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the attack that left eight Israelis dead, an …
Why Obama’s U.N. Speech Won’t Raise U.S. Credibility in the Middle East
In a U.N. General Assembly address to which the world looked for a meaningful response on the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, President Barack Obama delivered a pretty good domestic reelection campaign speech. Pro-Israel voters and donors in the U.S. will have been reassured by the President’s passionate assertion of …
Ahmadinejad’s Words Aren’t Taken Seriously at the U.N. But Are Obama’s?
NBC may have been seduced into doing a credulous exclusive “Day in the Life of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad” special — as if the embattled Iranian president was sufficiently relevant to world events as to warrant interest in his workout routine — but no decision-makers will set much store by what he says when he turns up for his annual …
Netanyahu to Abbas: Why Not Kibbitz in New York?
“Let’s use New York for negotiations,” Israel’s minister for intelligence suggested to a roomful of journalist and diplomats bright and early Monday morning. And before the witching hour Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was making it official:
“I call on the chairman of the Palestinian Authority to launch direct …
Can a Palestinian Authority Rooted in an Untenable Status Quo Survive the U.N. Clash?
Quiz question: Who is applying to the United Nations for membership of a Palestinian state not-yet-born? Is it
a) the Palestinian Authority, or
b) the Palestine Liberation Organization?
Much of the media reporting treats the two as if they were interchangeable labels for the same thing — hardly surprising, perhaps, given …
Palestinians’ Political Calculus: Would Obama Take a Stand Against the Arab Spring?
Behind the bold decision by Palestinian leaders to press for full membership in the United Nations – with its risk of a U.S. veto in the Security Council – is the Palestinians’ calculation of another risk: All the Obama administration stands to lose by conspicuously denying the aspirations of a moderate, democratic national …
Why Palestinian Leaders are Doing Obama a Favor By Taking Their U.N. Bid to the Security Council
Friday’s announcement by President Mahmoud Abbas that he will next week present the U.N. Security Council with a formal request for U.N. membership of a sovereign state of Palestine may be better news for Israel and the U.S. than it might appear, even if it confirms the failure of the Obama Administration to stop the …