When most people consider volunteering, they think about sacrificing one’s time to to help others without the expectation of personal gain, except for a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. Nope. Not Israelis. A new organization in Israel is touting volunteerism, claiming success in organizing groups of individuals to refurbish a synagogue and preparing meals for […]
I wonder what Hezbollah Chief Hassan Nasrallah has to say about this. An ongoing feud between Israeli and Lebanese chefs ratcheted up another notch this week, with a new world record broken outside of Jerusalem for the creation of the largest tub of hummus. The dish, created in Abu Gosh in Israel, comes months after […]
Operation Cast Lead -the Israeli strike on the the Gaza Strip one year ago- continues to dominate Israeli foreign relations, particularly with the United Nations. Some of Israel’s air strikes damaged UN facilities, including schools and a UN Relief and Works Agency facility. Israeli officials said Hamas terrorists were harbored in some of these compounds. […]
Alright. I know that’s a cheap Star Trek reference. That said, I did get the Star Trek movie for Christmas, err, Hanukkah. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel allegedly told an Israeli diplomat the administration would reduce its involvement in the peace process unless serious progress is made in the coming months. Emmanuel allegedly blamed […]
Gaza smuggling tunnels are usually stigmatized as aiding the transfer of weapons from Egypt into Gaza for use in terror attacks. On a near-weekly basis, reports emerge of Israeli air strikes on these tunnels to prevent the additional weapons entering the Strip. However, some of the tunnels in and out of the Gaza Strip are used […]
The recently failed airline Christmas terror attack led to significant revisions in Transportation Security Administration travel guidelines and turned all eyes toward Israel as a model for security. Due to the multi-pronged threats facing Israel, security officials in the country use strict personal and baggage screening systems that led Ben Gurion Airport outside of Tel […]
U.S. efforts to bolster the peace process have traditionally considered the status of Jerusalem as one of the final pieces of the puzzle. Critics of this approach point out that the holy city’s status remains a critical controversial aspect of negotiations that would risk negating any previous compromises obtained in negotiations. Even though Israel agreed […]
Mickey Mouse caused quite a stir, particularly in his starring role from a 2006 photograph of the effects of the second Lebanon War. The New York Times revisits this image that previously obtained significant criticism for a perceived one-sided view of the conflict. Without giving any context on the origins of the doll, the photograph […]
The 2010 fiscal year omnibus appropriations bill signed into law last month coupled with the supplemental appropriations bill from last summer mark a slight boost in foreign operations funding and imposes some interesting limitations on the use of funds for Israel and the Palestinian Authority, Israel receives $2.78 billion in FY2010 for Foreign Military Financing, […]
Regardless of you’re political views on Israel, the settlers, the two-state solution, and any other highly politicized issue, there rarely is there such a blatant example of the difference in values and tactics between Israel and its enemies. The IDF has been accused of certain questionable tactics (ie. Goldstone report) but the military still attempts […]
Israelis and Palestinians alike generally exhale a sigh of relief as news reports, often citing undisclosed official sources, indicate Israel and Hamas are finalizing a prisoner swap and Fatah and Hamas are prepared to agreed to a reconciliation deal. Foreign officials, particularly Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, regularly insert themselves into the drama and use both situations to […]
The FPA Israel blog person of the year was abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. You can vote on the Ha’aretz Web site for your top choices on the person of the decade. Selections include: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu PA President Mahmoud Abbas Jordanian King Abdullah II Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad The Obama Team Former President […]
The Israeli government, settlers, the IDF, Palestinians, the Palestinians Authority, and terrorists all have diferent narratives and motivations on the events of the past few days that left one Israeli killed and six Palestinians dead. This situation brings to light some challenges and problems with the status quo of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Fact: An Israeli […]
In an op-ed in todays New York Times, Alan Kuperman, director of the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Program at the University of Texas at Austin, outlines the reasons that negotiations with Iran to thwart its nuclear program have not and will not work. Instead, he calls for precision, aerial strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. And instead of […]
A new poll indicates a majority of Israelis would pay almost anything for the return of abducted IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, an issue currently stalled on whether certain terrorists held in Israeli prisons would be deported outside Israel and the territories. The poll, conducted jointly by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement […]