Israel
May 24, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Dartmouth President Phil Hanlon recently named Bruce Duthu to the exalted position of Dean of Faculty from his position as associate dean and professor of Native American Studies. In his professional capacity Duthu had co-authored an extremely distasteful organizational statement supporting a boycott of Israel academic institutions. He is a supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement that conflicts with Dartmouth policy. Professor Alan Gustman eloquently dissented from Duthu’s
»
May 18, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
In March 2016, addressing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, Donald Trump said that, as president, he would move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Trump called that city “the eternal capital of the Jewish people.” Now, however, President Trump has decided to keep our embassy in Tel Aviv. A senior White House official explained: “We don’t think it would be wise to [move] it at this time”
»
May 14, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirms that, as previously reported, President Trump is re-thinking his campaign pledge to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Israel’s capital, Jerusalem: President Donald Trump is assessing whether moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem would help or hurt prospects for clinching an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, revealing Trump’s criteria for a decision that could
»
May 9, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Dartmouth’s prospective Dean of Faculty Bruce Duthu has responded to the furor his appointment has created in light of his support of the BDS movement. We posted Professor Alan Gustman’s message to the Dartmouth board and faculty here over the weekend. Dean Duthu has now circulated a letter to the faculty. Algemeiner has posted a blurry PDF of the letter here along with this summary: “I continue to believe in
»
April 28, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Anti-Israel groups on college campuses have come up with a new tactic in their effort to pass BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) resolutions. They are manipulating the voting to exclude Jews from the process. At Tufts, a group called Students for Justice in Palestine decided to place an anti-Israel divestment resolution on the school senate’s agenda on the evening before the Jewish holiday of Passover, at a time when many Jewish
»
April 23, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The Israel Defense Forces struck a base controlled by a pro-Syrian government militia on Sunday killing three and wounding two others, according a statement by the militia — the Syrian National Defense Forces. This militia fights alongside the Syrian army in support of Assad. The Israeli attack occurred in the province Quneitra. Rebels hold portions of Quneitra; the army and pro-Assad forces control other portions. The Sunday attack by the
»
April 19, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Our friend Hugh Hewitt invited Michael Oren to appear his radio show this morning to discuss the New York Times op-column by Marwan Barghouti that I noted yesterday in “How low can the Times go?” Oren is the Israeli historian, author, politician, former ambassador to the United States, and current member of the Knesset for the Kulanu party as well as the Deputy Minister for Diplomacy in the Prime Minister’s
»
April 16, 2017 — Scott Johnson
Lee Smith is a Weekly Standard senior editor and Hudson Institute fellow. He also writes a weekly column for the online site Tablet. He is a sober and serious analyst of the foreign policy scene and related matters. Smith’s April 5 Tablet column hasn’t gotten the attention it deserves. In it Smith asks: “Did the Obama administration’s abuse of foreign intelligence collection start before Trump?” Smith argues that the Trump/Russia
»
March 28, 2017 — Scott Johnson
AIPAC’s annual Policy Conference opened Sunday in Washington, D.C. and concludes today. The conference home page is here. AIPAC has posted videos here. The posted videos include speeches by Prime Minister Netanyahu, Vice President Pence, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Senate Majority Leader McConnell, House Speaker Ryan and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy as well as leading Democrats. AIPAC promotes American support of Israel on a bipartisan basis. Yesterday
»
March 25, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The news obviously wasn’t good for conservatives this week on the Obamacare front. On the spy vs. spy front, the news was mixed and confusing. However, there was plenty for conservatives to be happy about. First and foremost, Neil Gorsuch was terrific at his Senate hearing, and the Democrats seem determined to maximize the damage his confirmation will inflict on them. In addition, President Trump’s approval of construction of the
»
March 3, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Eliana Johnson reports that some White House officials are opposing the selection by James Mattis of Anne Patterson for the position of undersecretary of defense for policy. The opposition reportedly stems mainly from Patterson’s actions as U.S. ambassador to Egypt in the Obama administration. Eliana explains: Patterson worked closely with former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and his Islamist government. She came under fire for cultivating too close a relationship with
»
February 17, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post claims that President Trump’s remarks about Israel have led to confusion about how he views the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. Reporters William Booth and Anne Gearan say that Israelis are confused, and they cite conflicting interpretations of Trump’s several statements. But Israeli Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, whom the Post also quotes, gets to the bottom of the alleged confusion. She says “everyone interprets this as
»
February 15, 2017 — John Hinderaker
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington meeting with President Trump. Prior to their meeting, they conducted the usual dual press conference. No major news was made, but several interesting points emerged: 1) I’ve rarely seen Netanyahu look so happy. He must be almost as relieved to see the end of the Obama administration as we are. 2) President Trump indicated that he was open to alternatives to the two-state
»
February 3, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
A month ago, liberals were claiming that Donald Trump would be a tool of the Russians. After all, they hadn’t brought about his election, via WikiLeaks, for nothing. To be fair, it wasn’t just liberals who expressed concern about what Trump’s Russia policy might be. As a candidate, Trump took a softer line on Vladimir Putin than many, including me, liked. But it was the left that claimed something sinister
»
January 16, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Great Britain has refused to sign a joint agreement supporting negotiations for a two-state solution for Israel-Palestine. Its representatives at a “peace” conference in Paris said the Foreign Office has “particular reservations” about the process, given that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas failed to show up and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the event “the last twitches of the world of yesterday.” We have particular reservations about an international conference
»
January 14, 2017 — Paul Mirengoff
Woodmont Country Club is located in a Maryland suburb of Washington, D.C. Its membership is predominantly Jewish owing to the fact that when it was formed, Jews were excluded from most, if not all, clubs in the area. President Obama has played golf at Woodmont several times. There is speculation that he would like to join the club now that he intends to grace our area with his continued presence.
»
January 13, 2017 — Scott Johnson
President Obama must have placed his betrayal of Israel at the United Nations at the top of his “rhymes with bucket list.” University of Paris Professor Guy Millière turns to the subject in a timely column full of useful links. Here are the column’s bullet points provided by the Gatestone Institute: • President Obama’s decision not to use the US veto in the UN Security Council and to let pass
»
