Notwithstanding what has been commonly discussed, if the Netanyahu government moves on its plan to annex nearly 30 percent of the West Bank, which will include the Jordan Valley and Israeli settlements, it would precipitate major adversarial repercussions for Israel. To begin with, violence between Israelis and Palestinians will substantially increase and potentially lead to…
Artwork by Michael Anderson and Sam Ben-Meir The recent violation of Israel’s air space by an Iranian drone and Israel’s retaliation against Syrian and Iranian targets prompted many observers to suggest that the growing regional tension resulting from such incidents may precipitate a war between Israel and Iran/Hezbollah, and perhaps inadvertently with Syria as well….
President Trump remained true to his customary flip-flopping on just about every issue when he stated during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu that he is “looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both parties like… I can live with either one.” By stating so, Trump gave Netanyahu what…
Recent developments in connection with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict demonstrated the huge gap between the Israeli government and the international community’s position about the settlements in the occupied territories and the prospect of a two-state solution. United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, followed by Secretary of State John Kerry’s speech condemning the Israeli settlements and characterizing…
The negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 over Tehran's nuclear enrichment activities have failed to reach an agreement, and Iran is much closer to mastering the technology of nuclear weapons.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been riddled with many intractable problems whose solutions have eluded both sides for more than 60 years. None, however, has been as politically and emotionally charged as the Palestinian right of return to the land they inhabited and lived in prior to the war of 1948.
With the changing political and demographic dynamic between Israel and the Palestinians and the advent of a new American administration, a new government in Israel and Palestine and a renewed push of the Arab Peace Initiative, an Israeli-Palestinian peace can be reached. The question now is will all these forces coalesce to drive for a peace agreement now which has eluded them for decades.
One of the most momentous declarations to come out of the
Arab world since Israel's inception in 1948 is the Arab Peace Initiative, launched in March 2002 in Beirut, Lebanon, and re-adopted by the Arab League in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in March 2007. It would be tragic to allow the Initiative to languish as it offers a solid promise for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.
In the wake of last week's resignation announcement from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, much of the Israeli media and public have welcomed his decision to step down in September amid charges of corruption.