Category: Israel
"It's hard to see the awkwardness of Biden's visit so far having a broader political impact. But it does contribute to the impression, fair or unfair, that President Obama is presiding over an era of diminished American influence, in which allies and rivals alike feel comfortable thumbing their noses at a White House focused above all else on its domestic priorities."
"Consider the following remarks from one of Britain’s leading 'moderate' Muslim journalists, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, writing about Israeli actions in Gaza: . . . "
"The vice president is off to Israel to play kissy-face with hosts who are in no mood to pucker up. And for good reason: There's abundant evidence that President Obama is no friend of the Jewish state, and the Israelis must decide whether to believe Joe Biden or their own eyes and ears."
"For liberals and conservatives the Tea Party movement is a politically polarizing topic, but for the pro-Israel community it is a great unknown. With Tea Party activists focusing on domestic issues more than on foreign policy, and with views on Israel running the gamut from staunch support for right-wing Israeli positions to calls for a total reversal of American support for the Jewish state, pro-Israel activists are left guessing as to how the new movement could affect their cause."
"Syria has defied Israel's caution that handing over new strategic weapons to the Lebanese Hizballah would compel Israel to strike targets inside Syria. . . . Damascus has just smuggled across the border a number of Russian-made IGLA-S surface-to-air missiles capable of intercepting low-flying F-16 warplanes, drones, helicopters, cruise missiles, transports and surveillance aircraft in all weather conditions, by day or night."
"Jimmy Carter . . . . mentioned criticisms that 'stigmatize Israel' but omitted his own contribution: the implication that Israel is, like the racist South Africa of old, an 'apartheid' state. . . . What can be said about others who apply the term to Israel in general?
"Arab nations gave the green light Wednesday for Palestinians to enter indirect negotiations with Israel for a preliminary four-month period, a decision that likely breaks the months-long deadlock over resuming Mideast peace talks. . . . The Arab approval gives Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas the political cover he needed to accept the offer."
"A Fox News poll released Tuesday finds that 60 percent of voters think force will be required to stop Iran, while 25 percent think diplomacy and sanctions alone will work."
"Iran moved nearly its entire stockpile of low-enriched nuclear fuel to an above-ground plant. It was as if, one official noted, a bull’s-eye had been painted on it. Why take such a huge risk? That mystery is the subject of fervent debate among many who are trying to decode Iran’s intentions."
"US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday compared the showdown with Iran over its nuclear program to the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war."
Ahmadinejad, Syrian President Assad, and Hizbullah leader Nasrallah met Thursday about Israel and the US "colonialists." Ahmadinejad declared Israel "doomed. Read more »
