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.” [...]
Tag Archives | Middle East
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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Bibi’s Two-State Tap Dance
One has to wonder where Roger Cohen gets his courage, but you’ve got to hand it to the guy. His latest column is a beauty, complete with calling out Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic for being a willing “stenographer” to Netanyahu in his recent interview. It’s not as if Bibi didn’t know Jeffrey would publish [...]
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Gates on Defense Cuts
Congressional members will weigh in on cuts, because of the jobs side of what Gates is proposing, to name one issue. As everyone knows there’s a lot of politics in defense spending. Winslow Wheeler weighs in, as do others over at the National Journal: …Of course, if even a few of the Gates “cuts” are [...]
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Prime Minister Netanyahu
A tale of headlines and backdrops. The Atlantic: Netanyahu to Obama: Stop Iran—Or I Will. Even the Weekly Standard‘s Michael Goldfarb judges that Mr. Netanyahu “hypes the threat” in the interview while concluding: If Netanyahu thinks a nuclear-armed Iran is really that bad, then he must do everything in his power to prevent the country [...]
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J Street Isn’t There Yet
There is a terrific article in The Jewish Week by James Besser on “Bashing J Street” that comes at almost the one-year anniversary of the pro-peace, pro-Israel group that’s meant to push back against the behemoth stealth power of AIPAC. So why J Street? Why all this fury? More to the point, why do so [...]
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Bye-bye Labour, Hello Livni
Daniel Levy pegged this one last week when he said Barak was “crawling on all fours” to be defense minister for Netanyahu. That is after relegating the Labour party to a dismal fourth place in Israel. Via Haaretz: Labor Chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak drafted the deal with Netanyahu. But half of the party’s [...]
A Conversation on the Middle East
On Friday I attended a “bloggers breakfast session” on the Middle East, as Steve Clemons named it (around here called a new media session), which was over at the New America Foundation’s new digs and was co-hosted by Mark Schmitt. A quick aside before continuing. I was sent a review of Juan Cole’s new book, [...]
Twitter, Tapper, this and that
Jake Tapper is blocking people from following his Twitter feed? Seriously. Now, this may not matter to some of you, but I use Twitter a lot, including following others and I find it useful. Like this morning at the breakfast at the New America Foundation, which was on the Middle East, but also other events [...]
A Word About the Blog
Now that I’m finally settled in D.C., I’d like to talk about what’s going on around here, which actually started after the primaries last year. Big changes, good changes, with more to come. There has been a change in the community, too, and that’s not over either. First, I made a risky decision to focus [...]
Harrowing Confessions of Israeli Soldiers Killing Palestinian Civilians
From Haaretz: [...] During Operation Cast Lead, Israeli forces killed Palestinian civilians under permissive rules of engagement and intentionally destroyed their property, say soldiers who fought in the offensive. … According to the squad leader: “The sharpshooter saw a woman and children approaching him, closer than the lines he was told no one should pass. [...]
Bibi’s NSA Barred From U.S. – Will it Stick?
Well, well, well, yet another report about Uzi Arad being denied entry into the United States, which is really going to throw a wrench into Mr. Netanyahu’s plans if it sticks, though I doubt it will, frankly. Uzi Arad, who is expected to serve as national security adviser in the next Israeli government, has been [...]
U.S. Military Confirms Iranian Drone Downed
First reported by Danger Room, the story has been confirmed. Multi-national Forces – Iraq spokesman Col. Scott Maw tells Danger Room that coalition fighters intercepted an Iranian unmanned aerial vehicle over Iraqi airspace on Feb. 25. The UAV, an Ababil-3 (pictured here), was “tracked as it crossed the border.” Coalition aircraft were sent up to [...]
In the News
A.I.G. is big, but this is bigger: Government spending on most domestic programs is growing at its fastest pace in nearly 30 years, and a lot of worried Democrats are seeking ways to rewrite and reduce the size of President Barack Obama’s budget proposals. [...] The Senate is likely to consider the budget the same [...]
Engaging the Muslim World
Nice title for Juan Cole’s new book. It’s something we’ve done a horrible job doing since 9/11. But the timeliness takes on new importance when looking through the prism of the Freeman withdrawal for NIC. Cole’s assessment on President Obama is stark, the review devastating: Israeli Apartheid will continue unabated under Obama. – Juan Cole [...]
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