“First as tragedy, second as farce.” It’s Karl Marx’s line about history repeating itself but, per the Jonathan Pollard trial balloon of recent days, the line could just as easily apply to America’s foreign policy. We need not debate the merits of Pollard’s release, for which supporters and detractors each can mount a compelling case, …
Continue reading “U.S. Can’t Bribe Israelis, Palestinians To Make Peace”
The U.S. focus on Ukraine has shifted attention away from this week’s remarkable set of exchanges, direct and indirect, between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that speaks additional volumes about Obama’s take on prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace. That Obama has an unbalanced perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is hardly a …
Continue reading “Barack Obama’s Got A Rosy Take On Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas”
Rare is the moment when an unscripted comment from a Secretary of State symbolizes all that’s wrong with America’s foreign policy, but it appeared the other day in the context of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Asked at the Munich Security Conference about prospects for peace, John Kerry expressed hope and discussed the implications of failure, focusing …
Continue reading “John Kerry’s Comments On Israel-Palestine Encapsulate U.S. Foreign Policy”
Peace – true peace – is more than the absence of war, more than a temporary respite from continual conflict. True peace rests on trust between parties, and it’s rooted in on-the-ground conditions that ensure its viability. That’s true whether one side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in this case Israel, has deep-seated ties to the …
Continue reading “Strong US ties to Israel are the key to a lasting peace in Palestine”
Ever wonder about the European Union, a sometimes unwieldy body of 28 nations, each of which sacrifices some measure of its national sovereignty in order to help make continent-wide policy? The EU certainly can leave heads a-shaking, as it did recently in announcing two major policies related to the Middle East that, together, showcase its …
Continue reading “European Union Clearly Confused About Middle East”
The International Criminal Court (ICC), which began operating in 2002, is charged with focusing on “the most serious crimes of concern to the international community,” listed in particular as “the crime of genocide,” “crimes against humanity,” “war crimes,” and “the crime of aggression.” In its 11 years, the ICC has brought cases related to such …
Continue reading “The International Criminal Court Is Mulling An Absurd Case Against Israel”
I suspect that I’m like many of you. I want to believe Israeli-Palestinian peace is coming, that the two sides will soon agree to borders, Palestinian terrorists will stop launching rockets from Gaza, and ultra-right Israelis will abandon dreams of absorbing the West Bank into a “Greater Israel.” In that spirit, I want to share …
Continue reading “John Kerry’s Palestinian Investment Plan Sidesteps Central Truisms”