Israel
May 14, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Josh Gerstein at Politico reports that the same Internal Revenue Service office that singled out Tea Party groups for extra scrutiny also challenged Israel-related organizations, at least one of which filed suit over the agency’s handling of its application for tax-exempt status. The group in question is called Z Street. It alleges that one of its attorneys was told that its application for tax exemption was delayed and sent to
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May 5, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
In the aftermath of Israel’s attacks on Syrian weapons facilities, I’ve seen reports that Israel fears a response from the Assad regime. In such a response, Syria would target nearby areas in Northern Israel — the same ones that were pounded in the 2006 Lebanese War. But according to the Jerusalem Post, residents of Northern Israel are not worried that Assad will bomb them. They see Assad as too weak
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May 4, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
It turns out that those Israeli air strikes inside Syria were directed at a shipment of advanced surface-to-surface missiles from Iran that was intended for Hezbollah. Iran and Hezbollah both back Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war. But the weapons shipment may have been as much or more about strengthening Hezbollah in a post-Assad Syria as about helping Assad retain power. In any event, Israel was not about to
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May 3, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Israeli planes reportedly entered Syrian air space today and bombed Syrian targets. The targets are said to be one or more weapons facility. It isn’t clear whether, assuming the veracity of the reports, the targets were chemical weapons facilities. But if the Syrian government has used chemical weapons, bombing chemical weapons facilities is an appropriate response, for it diminishes the chemical weapons capability of both the Assad regime and its
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April 21, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
The Washington Post reports that Secretary of Defense Hagel is taking his “charm offensive” to Israel. At first blush, this seems like a difficult task. Most of the few people Hagel has ever been able to charm (the Steve Clemons’ of the world and, to be fair, apparently Barack Obama) seem to have been won over in part by his anti-Israel barbs. But we shouldn’t forget about handwritten thank-you notes.
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April 15, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Over the weekend, I wrote about how the Palestinian Authority blew off John Kerry’s efforts to keep Salam Fayyad in power as Prime Minister. Kerry’s failure, I believe, “demonstrates once again the lack of U.S. influence over the PA” and the futility of our efforts to cause it to make any concessions to Israel. As for Fayyad, I dismissed him a “PA pol.” But, plainly, that’s not how the U.S.
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April 13, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has accepted the resignation of his Prime Minister Salam Fayyad despite pleas from the U.S. and the EU that he retain Fayyad. Actually, I am wrong to say “despite.” According to Fatah officials, U.S. pressure on Abbas to keep Fayyad in power proved counterproductive. Let us not probe the merits of Abbas’ decision to accept Fayyad’s resignation or explore the demerits of Fayyad’s tenure as
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April 4, 2013 — John Hinderaker
Steve wrote earlier today that he feels like he is living in a personal Groundhog Day, where it is perpetually April 1. I have that feeling too, never more so than with regard to the Middle East. The phrase “deja vu” doesn’t begin to do it justice. Today we got this report from the Associated Press: “Thousands of Palestinians protest in West Bank.” Stop me if you’ve heard this story
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March 28, 2013 — Scott Johnson
The IDF has posted the video below taken last month of two terrorists captured by Israeli soldiers as they prepared to fire at passing Israeli vehicles. The Times of Israel reports: The video was recorded on February 15 by two female soldiers who spotted the terrorists from a military observation post near Beit Fajjar, a Palestinian town next to Gush Etzion, approximately 23 kilometers (14 miles) south of Jerusalem. After
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March 27, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Not well, according to Israel’s new Minister of Economy and Trade Naftali Bennett, who should know. Bennett had this to say on his official facebook page: It seems that since [Netanyahu’s] apology, Erdogan is doing everything to make Israel regret it. He is running a personal and vitriolic campaign at the expense of Israeli-Turkish relations. For example, Erdogan has announced that he intends to visit Gaza, and has stated that
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March 24, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Barry Rubin argues that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu did not really apologize to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara incident. He reasons that Netanyahu did not meet the demands Erdogan set forth for an apology. I’m a fan of Rubin’s work, but in this case his argument rests on a fallacy. The fact that Netanyahu’s statement doesn’t met Erdogan’s specifications doesn’t prevent it from being an apology. Rubin acknowledges that the
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March 24, 2013 — Scott Johnson
The President of the United States had some incredibly foolish things to say during his trip to the Middle East. Some of them were said during his press conference with Mahmoud Abbas, the Chairman of the PLO and the President of the Palestinian Authority, now serving out the ninth year of his four-year presidential term. The Wall Street Journal has posted a transcript of the press conference here. Standing under
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March 23, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Benjamin Netanyahu took to Facebook to explain his apology to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara incident. Netanyahu does have some explaining to do. As, I argued here, it is Turkey that owes Israel an apology. Moreover, even after receiving the apology, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has not agreed fully to restore diplomatic ties with Israel or to drop his case against the Israeli generals accused of being responsible for the
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March 22, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu apologized today to Turkey for an Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla. The apology is, of course, the handiwork of President Obama. Indeed, Netanyahu made the call during an airport meeting with Obama shortly before Obama mercifully left Israel. The apology is a humiliation for Israel, which had nothing for which to be sorry. Netanyahu’s statement — which he wisely resisted making for three years —
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March 22, 2013 — Scott Johnson
It is a cliche to salute Israel as a land of miracles — Ruth Wisse observes more originally in the context of Passover that “modern Israel represents an immense human accomplishment that may even go beyond the prophetic vision” — but for a tiny country it has staked out an improbable position at the forefront of many life-saving and life-enhancing technologies. In the New York Daily News Matthew Kalman provides
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March 22, 2013 — Scott Johnson
President Obama said some good things in Israel. The good things he said contradicted the thesis of his first-term approach to Israel. In the style of what might be called Obama knows best — knows best what is good for you — he also said some foolish and patronizing things that represented continuity with his first-term approach. In his speech to Israeli students, for example, Obama gave the impression that
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March 21, 2013 — Paul Mirengoff
According to this Washington Post report, President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu displayed “unusual solidarity” during the first day of Obama’s visit to Israel. By this, the Post means unusual solidarity for them. The Obama-Netanyahu interaction was what one expect from the leaders of two close allies, but not what we’ve seen in the past from these two, thanks to Obama’s studied belligerence. But, the appearance of good will
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