The United Nations has a long history of, what some have called, anti-Israel bias. Many factors contributed to that, including several lop-sided human rights conferences that disproportionately condemned Israel and a high profile report on Israel’s operations against Hamas in the winter of 2008-2009. That report was subsequently delegitimized after its chief author, Richard Goldstone, admitted that […]
The following was taken from Jspace.com. The article was written by Jspace Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Rob Lattin, who also blogs about Israeli and Middle Eastern foreign policy for Foreign Policy Blogs. With all of the turmoil and uncertainty going on in the Middle East right now, the state of Israeli-Turkish relations has largely been under-reported and under-analyzed. While […]
For all his “democratic shortcomings”, there is one very “Western” thing about Vladimir Putin: he is the most pro-Israeli Russian ruler since Stalin (for all his anti-Semitism, Koba the Dread actually supported founding the Jewish state, and the US and USSR were the first countries to recognise it). Putin’s position is odd for two reasons: […]
Understanding Israel is a video-interview series created by Rob Lattin for the Foreign Policy Blogs. By speaking to the people on the inside and on the ground, each episode seeks to intimately expose viewers to the important and controversial topics affecting Israel today. Evangelical Christians make up one of America’s largest sects of Israel […]
Last week, a photo was published that showed two male Israeli soldiers, in uniform, holding hands. The picture was taken from behind, thus the viewer only sees their backs. But the two look very comfortable together. It quickly came out that the photo was staged. One of the men was gay, the other was […]
Israel is one of the world’s science powerhouses. With ten Nobel Prize winners, more than 4,000 technology startups, and high-tech companies reportedly comprising 45% of Israel’s exports, Israel is undoubtedly a technology hub. Despite statistical data identifying the country’s technological superiority, Israel is faced with the threat of its scientists and startup mavens seeking educational […]
Following up on the controversial Guenther Grass poem discussed in a previous post, Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine published last week a very long article addressing the question of whether the six sophisticated submarines Germany supplied Israel are being equipped with nuclear weapons. Co-reported and co-written by eight people, the very long article contains a lot […]
The following piece was originally published in on the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. by R. Scott Kemp R. Scott Kemp is an associate research scholar with the Program on Science and Global Security at the Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. Before this, he was science advisor in the Office […]
Jump-starting Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations with unilateral declarations of statehood have long been considered a highly controversial and dangerous step that could ignite the conflict even further. Generally, a unilateral declaration of statehood from the Palestinians has been expected to emerge from West Bank leadership and not Jerusalem. That dynamic might be turned on its ear, […]
The following interview was conducted by Foreign Policy Blog’s Rob Lattin with the Syrian American Council’s (SAC) Communications Director Rashad Al-Dabbagh. The SAC is a non-partisan, non-sectarian grassroots organization devoted to promoting educational, civic, economic, and human development, as well as advancing civil liberties and human dignity in Syria. It also seeks to build bridges […]
Obama’s Endorsement is Already Creating New Political Realities NEW YORK – Engaged gay couples are the newest group to be courted in the Mid-East Conflict. A massive outdoor mural in Manhattan’s West Village depicts two men holding hands while looking at scales that weigh the gay rights enjoyed in Israel versus the homosexual persecution in […]
What can you do in fifteen seconds? It takes a Keurig machine 30 seconds to brew a cup of coffee. This is the combined time two people have to make it to a bomb shelter in Sderot, a southern city in Israel. Imagine fifteen seconds being the difference between life and death. On May […]
Since the beginning of the Arab Spring, pundits, politicians, and casual observers have all wondered and speculated what the effects of the uprisings will mean for Israel. Will the peace-treaty with Egypt hold? What will happen on the Syrian border? What is going on with Israel’s own Arab population? In this episode of Understanding Israel I speak […]
Peter Beinart’s newest book “The Crisis of Zionism” has garnerd significant controversy in the American-Zionist community, earning both praise and criticism. The book is a personal reflection on what it means for the senior Daily Beast editor and CUNY professor to be a Zionist, the current state and future possibilities of democracy in Israel, and […]
It is with great pleasure that I announce the addition of two highly professional bloggers to our Iran page at Foreign Policy Association Blogs: Ms. Azadeh Pourzand and Ms. Allison Kushner. When it comes to Iranian geopolitical and socio-economic affairs, Azadeh and Allison bring an impressive track record in personal, professional, as well as academic experience to share […]