Israel
June 6, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Israel has announced that it will move ahead with the construction of approximately 1,500 housing units in settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem. In addition, it will proceed with the planning of 1,800 more units. All of the construction will take place in areas Israel insists it will retain in any future deal with the Palestinians. In addition, as I understand it, the latest construction bids would have been
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June 2, 2014 — Scott Johnson
Mahmoud Abbas serves in the ninth year of his four-year term as president of the Palestinian Authority. Having engineered the formation of a unity government that enlists the support of Hamas, he now brings to an apparent end the seven-year civil war that severed Gaza from his jurisdiction and placed it under the control of Hamas. Here is the beauty part: no members of Hamas itself participates in the newly
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June 1, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
A federal judge ruled last week that discovery in a lawsuit challenging the IRS’s scrutiny of the pro-Israel group Z Street may proceed. The judge in question is Ketanji Brown Jackson, an Obama appointee. Judge Brown Jackson is, from all I can tell, a down-the-line liberal. But she rejected in no uncertain terms the government’s attempts to short-circuit this lawsuit against the IRS. Z Street alleges that the IRS gave
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May 31, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
On Monday, it becomes official: Fatah and Hamas will announce the formation of a Palestinian unity government. Fatah is Israel’s alleged “peace partner.” Hamas is openly dedicated to the destruction of Israel. Where does this leave the “peace process”? Israel has been clear on the subject. It will not negotiate with a Palestinian government backed by Hamas. What about the Obama administration? It too is clear in its own way.
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May 11, 2014 — Steven Hayward
When Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the life-long bitter foe of Communism Winston Churchill got on the phone right away to Joseph Stalin, and, while never forgetting what Stalin was, offered Britain’s help in staving off Germany. A few days later Churchill said that he “would unsay none of his criticisms” of Communism, but that if Hitler invaded Hell, he would at least make a favorable reference
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May 10, 2014 — John Hinderaker
Scott wrote this morning about Paul Pillar, the now-retired senior CIA official who was a friend of mine, and a roommate of Paul’s, in college. At the CIA, Pillar was one of the bureaucrats who carried on a six-year war against the Bush administration and thereby became something of a hero on the Left. In The National Interest, Pillar writes on a topic unrelated to his government service. Called “The
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May 5, 2014 — Scott Johnson
In “Kristol connects” I wrote about Bill Kristol’s presentation to the Minnesota chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition this past Monday. I noted that Bill connected Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem the day before with columns by former IDF chief of intelligence Amos Yadlin and former Netanyahu national security adviser Yaacov Amidror. Bill had had the benefit of an advance look at the then
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May 4, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
The Times of India reports that Pakistani intelligence services were planning a terrorist attack against the Israeli mission in Bengaluru (also known as Bangalore) and the American consulate in Chennai (both are cities in Southern India). The reported plot was thwarted when Indian security officials interrogated a Sri Lankan national who allegedly was hired by a Pakistani agent to conduct reconnaissance of the two diplomatic missions. The Sri Lankan, Sakir
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April 30, 2014 — Steven Hayward
In my post over the weekend about the arrest of Paul Weston over in the UK for reading Churchill’s infamous passage about Islam from The River War, I wondered whether Weston might have been arrested for violating some kind of hateful “hate speech” law or perhaps on the narrower charge of violating the UK equivalent of a “time, place, and manner” restriction. It ominously appears it was the former, as
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April 30, 2014 — Scott Johnson
Bill Kristol spoke to an overflow crowd of our small local chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Minneapolis on Monday night. Under the leadership of chapter president Mark Miller, our chapter has grown from the 38 members at the time of our first event (former Senator Rudy Boschwitz was the speaker) to some 700 today. I would like to think that the growth of the chapter is a straw
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April 28, 2014 — John Hinderaker
On Friday, John Kerry suggested in a speech to the Trilateral Commission that Israel risks becoming an “apartheid state,” a comment that sparked an immediate backlash. The disgusting claim that Israel practices apartheid is a staple on the left and should be repudiated by everyone. But the more important point, I think, is that while Kerry’s statement was badly phrased–he has sort-of-apologized for using what Paul calls the “A” word–he
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April 28, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
First, John Kerry invoked the “B” word against Israel. He warned the Jewish State of dire economic consequences from a boycott if it didn’t reach an accord with the Palestinians. Now, Kerry has invoked the “A” word. He claims that Israel risks becoming “an apartheid state” in the absence of a peace deal, Both comments, of course, drew sharp criticism. And in both cases Secretary Foghorn’s response was the same:
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April 28, 2014 — Scott Johnson
Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke yesterday evening at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum in Jerusalem. The occasion was Holocaust Remembrance Day. In his free weekly newsletter (sign up for it here), Bill Kristol puts it this way: “[B]y contrast with the delusional Kerry and the feckless Obama, here’s a world leader who understands the gravity of the moment…It’s well worth reading.” Netanyahu gave the speech in Hebrew, so I’m foregoing
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April 27, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Last week, as was widely reported, rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah announced that they had agreed to reconcile and will begin discussing the formation of a unity government. The announcement caused Israel to pull out “peace” negotiations, to the relief, no doubt, of all concerned except for John Kerry and a few stray Obama administration members. The Hamas-Fatah reconciliation has potential implications beyond the demise of “peace talks” that
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April 1, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
John Kerry often seems like a man who can’t be discouraged, especially when he sniffs a Noble Peace Prize. But Kerry can’t be pleased by his latest humiliation. With talks between the Secretary of State and Mahmoud Abbas scheduled for today, the PA president abruptly moved to join 15 international agencies, a move vigorously opposed by both Israel and the U.S. The Kerry-Abbas meeting was, accordingly, cancelled. Abbas said he
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April 1, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
The word is that, in order to keep John Kerry’s Middle East “peace talks” from collapsing, the United States is talking about releasing Jonathan Pollard, the Israeli spy. I hope the Israelis don’t take the bait. More significantly, Pollard reportedly hopes they don’t take it. According to Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel, Pollard has told him that he opposes being released as part of such a “disgraceful deal.” To
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March 19, 2014 — Paul Mirengoff
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon has walked back his harsh statements about the Obama administration’s foreign policy. Ya’alon had declared that Israel cannot rely on the U.S. to thwart Iran’s nuclear program, accused the administration of broadcasting weakness throughout the world, and warned that its perceived weakness was inviting further terrorism against U.S. targets. Ya’alon told his U.S. counterpart Chuck Hagel that his comments “were not intended to express opposition,
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