Daniela Brunner Six months ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party joined the centrist party Kadima to make a broad super-coalition that comprised 96 out of the 120 seats in Israel’s legislative body, the Knesset. The center-right coalition fell through within seventy days. On October 25, Likud joined forces with the hyper-nationalist Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel is Our Home) party in preparation for the upco...
photo for CPR The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, really wants Mitt Romney to be president. He’d probably wait a little to say it publicly, partially out of courtesy, and partially to cover his behind in case Obama is re-elected, but it is hardly a secret. Therefore, it was probably a good idea for Mitt Romney to announce that he would visit Israel later this summer. There are many more and less obvious reasons why both politi...
...el and not a righteous man of peace,” but had however reached the conclusion that the continuous hostilities between Hamas and Israel were detrimental to both parties and to Gaza’s people.” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conveniently chose a war just two months before the next Israeli election. According to Baskin, who had been negotiating with Jabari and the Egyptian government on the text of a truce, “Those who made the decision...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be wise to consider learning from the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat. On May 17, 1977 at 11:30 PM, Egyptian Vice President Hosni Mubarak learned that Menachem Begin had surprisingly won the Israeli elections. Mubarak woke President Sadat, saying, “Mr. President, I have bad news for you, Begin will be Prime Minister.” Sadat turned to Mubarak and surprisingly (but providentially) responded, “No...
...This handed President Mahmoud Abbas a precondition to force on the Israelis and stalled diplomacy before it could even begin. Settlements, while empirically an obstacle to peace, have never been the main obstacle. By the time Netanyahu adapted and initiated a full freeze on settlement building, Obama’s faulty premise, Abbas’s intransigence, and Netanyahu’s exasperation made the prospect for any fruitful peace talks hopeless. Any supporter of Isra...
From Wikimedia Commons Reworking the Strategy towards Iran. Netanyahu is becoming infamously impatient, and the reactors keep spinning (despite false claims to the contrary last week; I doubt we’ll ever really know what is actually going on in those nuclear plants). The current strategy cannot continue. The sanctions have become so harsh that Iranian patients no longer have access to Western medicine; it was reported in the last few days that...
Image Taken By Israel Defense Force Benjamin Netanyahu’s rather literal interpretation the concept of a “red line” at the United Nations last month puzzled many, but it should draw as much worry as it draws laughter. It is no secret that Israel and the United States would prefer an Iran without nuclear weapons. Yet, the Obama administration’s disapproval of a unilateral Israeli strike and its lack of interest in initiating its own strike leave...
...ooked forward to working with Obama on “ending the bloodshed in Syria…getting the Middle East peace process back on track… promoting sustainable development and tackling the challenges posed by climate change.” Benjamin Netanyahu stated, “I will continue to work with President Obama to preserve the strategic interests of Israel’s citizens.” As the president of Afghanistan was offering Obama his nominal congratulations, the Taliban iss...
...possess much political capital, as there has been a “slackening” of support from regional and international players, especially if the recent United Nations vote for Palestinian non-member observer status and the outcry about Netanyahu’s countermove for more settlements are any indication. Surely Israel can’t be a slave to international opinion, but to completely ignore it would also be unwise. Furthermore, Israel must now think twice before laun...
...ve,” Eliot mistakenly advocates engaging with Hamas, the extreme element, solely because the PA, the moderate element, is momentarily weak. Just a year ago the truly pragmatic Salam Fayyad was in a position to make peace, and Netanyahu spoiled that opportunity. But Hamas isn’t the new answer. And only the advocacy of something bold, that completely vilifies violence and recognizes the rights of both peoples, can bring the current reluctant Israel...
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