It was a real crowd pleaser, greeted with thunderous applause. Mr. Gingrich knows his audience. A large majority of Israeli Jews support military action aimed at destroying Iran’s nuclear facilities, according to a survey sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League. – Haaretz Mr. Gingrich’s speech is quite a stem winder. Watch it if you have the [...]
Tag Archives | diplomacy
Round the World, and a Saudi Demand
Nobody really pays enough attention to our relationships with the Saudis. But if we want anything done in the Middle East, especially since Egypt and Hamas don’t exactly play well together, according to all the experts I’ve been listening to recently, the Saudis will have to play, perhaps, the major role, beyond the U.S. It’s [...]
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No Daylight
I wonder how many people are depressed that President Obama and Secretary Clinton are not only getting along, but the boss is showing his game while his Secretary of State is doing a little of that on her own. It wasn’t supposed to be this way according to the black cloud crowd. I still get [...]
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Gen. James Jones: ‘Bad News Doesn’t Improve with Age’
As if on cue, today I get an answer to my piece yesterday, with the revelations in David Ignatius scoop sure to send chills down the neoconservatives over in Netanyahu land. Jones is an activist on the Palestinian issue, which he lists as a top priority for the new administration. He wants the United States [...]
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Avigdor Lieberman: ‘We are not talking about a military attack’
“I am certain it is possible and certainly necessary to act with all our might to achieve peace even before I turn 70, which will be in three years,” said Defense Minister Ehud Barak in his first extensive interview since joining the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. – Via Haaretz We simply cannot fall [...]
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Liveblogging U.S./Saudi Relations Void Equilibrium
*This is a live Twitter feed.* –updated – more here – 9:03:14 AM: Chuck Hagel just arrived, gttng ready to speak. Traffic was murder this morning. 9:06:51 AM: Dr. Zbig just walked by w/ Clemons, who stopped, introdced me: “one of the great blogs.” Z nto blogs. 9:22:07 AM: Hagel: BO n office less than [...]
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US-Saudi Relations in a World Without Equilibrium
I’ll be at a symposium all day long, which will stream live on Steve Clemons’ blog. Here’s a partial lineup: Under Secretary of State WILLIAM BURNS Former Saudi Ambassador to US Prince TURKI AL-FAISAL International Peace Institute Chair RITA HAUSER Financial Times Washington Bureau Chief EDWARD LUCE Saudi Minister of Finance IBRAHIM AL-ASSAF Former National [...]
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Clinton v. Netanyahu?
Roger Cohen delivers another beauty. The criticism of the center-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has come from an unlikely source: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She’s transitioned with aplomb from the calculation of her interests that she made as a senator from New York to a cool assessment of U.S. interests. These do [...]
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Exceptions to Iraq Pull Out Surface
–updated– When I read this report (excerpted below), all I thought of was the debate where Obama and Clinton (as well as Edwards) said they couldn’t promise to be out of Iraq by 2013. Obama stating that we “should” have them out, but that he wouldn’t make promises “not knowing what the situation’s going to [...]
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CLINTON MAKES SURPRISE VISIT TO IRAQ
“Are there going to be bad days? Yes, there are… If you look at the evidence, overwhelmingly the progress that’s been made has been positive.” – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Surprise. Surprise. After bombings and killings all week, Clinton lands in Iraq today. “We want to display and reinforce our continuing commitment to the [...]
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Middle East Gamesmanship, and Michael Oren
“For Israel to get the kind of strong support it’s looking for vis-a-vis Iran it can’t stay on the sideline with respect to the Palestinian and the peace efforts, that they go hand-in-hand.” – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Clinton’s response to Bibi’s ultimatum was clear and cutting. Though this is often like tea leaf [...]
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Obama: ‘I am a strong supporter of a two-state solution.’
In case anyone is listening. Like the new Israeli government. But there’s another piece of news today, with Netanyahu announcing he won’t attend AIPAC. But the JPost is spinning (one reason I rarely link to them) the reason why: “after it became clear that US President Barack Obama would not meet him during the conference.” [...]
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Hissy Fit Over a Handshake
“I thought Pres. Obama did an excellent job of expressing the values and priorities of the United States of America. He allowed a dialogue to take place and a good spirit to animate the room, which I thought made the meetings productive. I think made the United States– took the United States to a higher [...]
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Obama’s Move to Change Middle East Policy
This has real potential. M.J. Rosenberg explains. From CQ: The administration is looking for a way to keep aid flowing if the Palestinians form a government that includes elements of Hamas, the militant anti-Israel group that controls Gaza. Obama wants to alter language in the fiscal 2009 catchall spending law (PL 111-8) that makes the [...]
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Rahm’s Whispers
Amidst the dug in nature of the Netanyahu-Lieberman government in Israel comes a tale from M.J. Rosenberg about signals being sent from Obama’s consigliere. Very interesting: Rahm Emanuel told an (unnamed) Jewish leader; “In the next four years there is going to be a permanent status arrangement between Israel and the Palestinians on the basis [...]
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