Foreign Policy Blogs

Israel

Israel’s Bedouin and the Prawer Plan

Israel’s Bedouin and the Prawer Plan

Credit: Jewish Telegraphic Agency On Monday, June 24, a new law that would regulate Bedouin settlement in Israel’s Negev region passed its first reading in the Knesset with a slim 43-40 margin. The bill, commonly referred to as the Prawer plan, provides a comprehensive solution to the issue of Bedouin villages in the Negev by […]

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A Coalition Conflicted

A Coalition Conflicted

In 1967, in the wake of the Six-Day War, the Arab League convened in Khartoum and issued their Three Nos: No peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel. Thirty-five years later, in 2002, they met in Beirut and offered their solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict: The Arab Peace Initiative (API). The […]

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Israel, Palestine, and Justice

Israel, Palestine, and Justice

Amidst all the news reports and speculation about a renewed push for a two-state solution to end the Arab-Israeli conflict, many have been very vocal about why the two-state solution is simply not the right way to end the conflict. These critics lament that the two-state solution is a crying injustice to either the Palestinians, […]

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The Obama Administration’s Push for Arab-Israeli Peace, 2.0

The Obama Administration’s Push for Arab-Israeli Peace, 2.0

Credit: Jim Young/AP, Pool Much attention has been paid to United States Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories. As Kerry shuttled back and forth between officials on both the Arab and Israeli sides, reporters have scrambled to provide details about the meetings. Yet the only concrete thing that […]

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Beyond the Amended Arab Peace Initiative

Beyond the Amended Arab Peace Initiative

Credit: Ali Yenidunya/enduringamerica.com Although the Arab-Israeli peace process has been and continues to lie in a coma, a few weeks ago a notable attempt was made to jolt it back to life. On April 29th, Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani of Qatar, representing the Arab League, publicly announced an amendment to the Arab […]

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Warnings

Warnings

This week, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu flew to Russia in an attempt to dissuade Putin from selling Syria the S-300, a long range surface-to-air missile system. While Netanyahu was en route, Moscow leaked that the missiles had already been delivered. During a three hour meeting with Netanyahu, Putin went further, warning him against future Israeli […]

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Respecting Prayer in Jerusalem

Respecting Prayer in Jerusalem

A turning point may have been reached in Jerusalem with the development of a recent plan to offer a sacred area each to two separate groups. Alas, even before implementation of that plan could occur, though, a riot and violence erupted. That paradigm has torpedoed peace processes between Israel and the Palestinians time and time again. Whether […]

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Combatants for Peace

Combatants for Peace

In Israel, Yom Hazikaron, the country’s Day of Remembrance, commemorates the lives of fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. At eleven in the morning a siren sounds throughout the country. For two minutes life stands still as people stop to remember those who died as a result of violent acts. Drivers stop cars and emerge […]

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The Amira Hass Stone-Throwing Debacle and Public Discourse on the Arab-Israeli Conflict

The Amira Hass Stone-Throwing Debacle and Public Discourse on the Arab-Israeli Conflict

On April 3, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published an opinion piece by its (Israeli-Jewish) reporter Amira Hass which discussed Palestinian stone-throwing in the West Bank. In her article, Hass proclaimed that “throwing stones is the birthright and duty of anyone subject to foreign rule” and  proceeded to suggest that Palestinian schools teach classes in this […]

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Israel and the U.S. Working in Concert Against Iran

Israel and the U.S. Working in Concert Against Iran

For years, the U.S. has seemed determined on preventing an Israeli attack on Iran. Both Presidents Bush and Obama stood firm in their opposition to Iran becoming a nuclear state. But Bush outright vetoed Israel’s request in the final months of his presidency, and Obama has stood resolutely opposed to green lighting a military option […]

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Repurposing Anonymous’ #OpIsrael

Repurposing Anonymous’ #OpIsrael

The hacker collective Anonymous this week launched a massive cyber attack against thousands of Israeli webpages–including sites for the Prime Minister’s Office and the Holocaust memorial museum Yad Vashem. Despite the efforts of hackers around the world to deface Israeli websites and the social media accounts of the country’s citizens, the cyber onslaught was largely […]

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Hate Feeding Hate

Hate Feeding Hate

  The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a global Jewish human rights organization that confronts anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism, promotes human rights and dignity and among other things, stands with Israel and defends the safety of Jews worldwide. For the past three years, the SWC has been putting together an annual list of the “Top Ten […]

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Israelis Show the Truth about Obama

Israelis Show the Truth about Obama

Up until President Obama touched down in Tel Aviv earlier this week, the headlines roared for years about new tensions between the United States and Israel, not to mention the sour relationship between bout countries’ head of state. During the last U.S. election, Republicans and their sympathetic pundits branded the incumbent president as one of […]

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The 19th Knesset is Formed, at Great Cost to the 20th Knesset

The 19th Knesset is Formed, at Great Cost to the 20th Knesset

  This week Benyamin Netanyahu built a coalition, securing himself a third term as Israeli Prime Minister. He will shortly become the longest serving Prime Minister of Israel since David Ben Gurion. While his retention of this top spot was all but assured going into the election, it was also widely assumed that he would […]

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A Coalition of the Unwilling

A Coalition of the Unwilling

After weeks of negotiation, and, predictably, right before his already-extended deadline was set to expire, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced the formation of a majority coalition in the Knesset (Israeli legislature).  The coalition, in addition to including the pre-election alliance between Likud, the main right-wing party, and Yisrael Beiteinu, the Russian immigrant-oriented party headed by […]

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