The real problem with the new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks
The Palestinians should insist on several major concessions before upcoming peace talks
The Palestinians should insist on several major concessions before upcoming peace talks
Conjecture abounds as to whether the PM has entered peace talks to do business or to filibuster; but the commitment recently displayed by the U.S. means testing times ahead for Israel's coalition
Two years after the beginning of an uprising against President Bashar-al-Assad, Syria is gripped by an ever deepening civil war that is having a significant impact on the entire region.
The cynics may not believe it, but John Kerry's push to get Israelis and Palestinians talking could actually work. And even Europe is helping by ending Israeli impunity over settlements.
This is not a victory for freedom but for the old regime, or more precisely the Egyptian deep-state – a bureaucratic, military, and business elite, that never went away, is considered to be the real power in Egypt and that just reasserted its interests.
With no real case to make, the bullying opponents of the European Union's long-delayed plan to label produce from Israeli settlements in the West Bank are crying anti-Semitism, cheapening the term at a particularly inopportune time.
A rare moment of opportunity has emerged to renew diplomatic efforts to resolve the Syria conflict. The priority now must be de-escalating the level of violence and the reducing the threat of regional spill-over
As the prospects of a two-state outcome on Israel/Palestine fade, Europeans need to apply tougher love to both parties before it is too late.
Obama said all the right things in Jerusalem, but what next? The visit has offered nothing new on the programmatic side, no plan for going forward.
If Obama begins to grasp the tribal, fluid and divided nature of Israeli politics and how to impact Israeli voters and their leaders, then this visit might be worth something after all.