Foreign Policy Blogs

Coalition, PA Negotiator, Iran Subterfuge

Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman may recommend the formation of a Likud-Kadima-Yisrael Beiteinu coalition later this week amidst concerns that an ultra-right coaltion would not appropriately represent the Israeli people and respond to foreign criticisms. Another article questions the working relationship between a Likud-led or Kadiam-led coalirion with the United States, declaring a right wing government to be ona  “collision course” with the Obama Administration. U.S. Jewish professors are apparently making the same claim.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority will resume with a new PA negotiator. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas replaced Ahmed Queria with PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat. Abbas’ office did not release an official statement nor provide an explanation for the decision. However, future elections for PA chairman could have influenced the decision, with Abbas potentially refusing to run and attempting to give Erekat additional viability. Similarly, an oped in the Middle East Times discussed the panic of new leadership within the PA and Palestinian politicians as a whole. Meanwhile Israel continued attacks on smuggling tunnels while rockets from Gaza landed in the Negev.

Instead of planning an air-strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, the Israeli government may be assassinating Iran’s nuclear scientists instead. The article in the British paper The Daily Telegraph, citing Western sources, indicates that the sabotage can only retard progress on the development of nuclear weapons. The Mossad, alongside the CIA, used other forms of subterfuge to disrupt the program, including the impairing of power lines.

Relations between Israel and one of its only Middle East allies, Jordan, could strain due to the Jordanian Parliaments lawsuit against Israel for war crimes in Gaza. One Israeli official declared the lawsuit as hypocritical claiming Jordan also killed Palestinians prior to the 1967 war.

A new website run from Jerusalem publishes news articles on the Arab-Israeli conflict in Arabic. The website, edited by former Israeli ambassador and research fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Zvi Mazel, focuses on displaying Israeli actions in a positive light while targeting Arabic speakers.

 

Author

Ben Moscovitch

Ben Moscovitch is a Washington D.C.-based political reporter and has covered Congress, homeland security, and health care. He completed an intensive two-year Master's in Middle Eastern History program at Tel Aviv University, where he wrote his thesis on the roots of Palestinian democratic reforms. Ben graduated from Georgetown University with a BA in English Literature. He currently resides in Washington, D.C. Twitter follow: @benmoscovitch

Areas of Focus:
Middle East; Israel-Palestine; Politics

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