Analysis

Middle East policy, in general, and peace initiatives, in particular, must adhere to Middle East reality, as violently unpredictable, complicated and frustrating as it is. They must overcome the well-intentioned temptation of oversimplification, wishful-thinking, misperceptions and short-term gratification, which doomed to failure all previous US, European and international peace initiatives.

If you buy into the concept that news is not news unless it is covered by the major media players, than I guess the fact that the Lebanese judo team refused to practice next to the Israeli team until the Olympic organizers erected barriers to divide the room and place the Israelis out of sight...wasn't news.

Shemita is about relating to each other by temporarily eliminating gaps of wealth power & status

An opinion poll indicates that, despite the political initiative to have the Cologne verdict overruled by a law later this year, a majority of Germans favor a ban of male circumcision. In a Europe that is becoming ever more secular, there is a real danger that religious practices will gradually be pushed aside in order to assure that the impression is not given that little children and -in ritual slaughter- animals are made to suffer.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague tried hard to oblige Israel to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza, but...

Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan all have much to gain in fortifying Gaza's borders.

Why help put into power and then favor people who hate you, lie about you, and want to destroy you? What is the pay-off?

Not much progress—which is really moving backwards—will be made on the Israeli-Palestinian front.

Seeking to avoid a multi-front war, Israel pursues a policy of containment that erodes its deterrence, bringing such a war closer but under much worse conditions

Israel, a well-established military and intelligence powerhouse is increasingly integrated into the global economy, emerging as an economic and technological powerhouse

So, let the president appoint his son-in-law, without pay, to this important position as senior adviser, and let’s all hope, for the benefit of the country, that it is a wise decision.

The Socialist government in France has inaugurated a new mega-mosque in Paris as a first step towards "progressively building a French Islam." It is not only vast in its dimensions, but is also highly visible and symbolic: its towering minaret, which has purposely been designed to change the suburb's skyline by being taller than any church steeple in the neighborhood, is supposed to become the "new symbol of Islam in France."

The attempt to serve as an honest broker between Israel and the Palestinians has defied reality and U.S. interests. While Israel has been an unconditional ally of the U.S. and a role model for countering terrorism, the Palestinians have actively and ideologically sided with U.S. enemies and rivals: Nazi Germany, the Soviet Bloc, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden, North Korea, Iran, China and Russia.

Following imposition of new sanctions regime, Islamic Republic threatens American navy.

If Syria and Egypt have nothing to fear from the President of the United States, what will Iran fear?

Americans are sick and tired of rancorous, scorched-earth politics, which has given Congress a nine percent approval rating. Let’s show America that politics is an honorable profession, a noble calling, filled with people who put values, country, and integrity first. Let’s start winning people back to the political theater by demonstrating that politics are inspiring rather than depressing, ennobling rather than corrupting, and harmonious rather than rancorous.

What happens, then, if the regime doesn’t give in and the army doesn’t stop the demonstrations?

Due to the unprecedented dimension of what had occurred, historian Yehuda Bauer added another dimension. He said there is a distinction between having received news about the extermination of the Jews of Europe, and accepting the reports as accurate

When four of out four newspapers in Israel deal with any single subject one can count on the fact that there is a deliberate effort by some personnel to set the headlines on fire.

The West Bank's Palestinian Authority government, headed by Salam Fayyad, has appealed to donor countries to increase financial aid to strengthen the Palestinian economy, especially in the Gaza Strip. But before the donors make any decisions, they really should ask Fayyad and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas about the $7 billion they have already spent on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip over the past four years: Where is it?

Since the Democratic Party's presidential primaries a year ago, there has been an ongoing debate about how Barack Obama perceives the U.S. alliance with Israel.

In latest clashes, Islamist terrorist group has fired over 4,000 rockets at Israel in recent clashes, some hitting deeper in Israeli territory and with greater accuracy than ever before.

The Palestinian “Law of the Prisoner” openly rewards those convicted of even the most heinous attacks with generous monthly “salaries” and phantom jobs with automatic advancement in the PA government.

Polls indicate Trump, Cruz & Rubio will each end the primary season with about 1/3 of the votes

The biggest losers, without a doubt, are the Haredi parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism.

What is most notable about Russia's Middle East policy is that it tends to side with the extremist forces. These friends include primarily Iran, Syria, Hizbollah, and Hamas.

Egypt's prosecution of pro-democracy NGOs reflects unresolved suspicions and hostilities towards the West and democracy.

Even in the Dutch mass media there are shocking things written on a regular basis about Jews and Israel.

Once it emerged that the killer of seven people was a Muslim, French commentators ceased to speak of anti-Semitism. Anti-racist associations became silent. All attention focused on the killer, Mohamed Merah. He was presented as a "nice young man" by his neighbors, then as a "petty criminal" who inexplicably drifted, and finally as a "lone wolf" without any significant connection to terrorist organizations.

The Iran issue may be moved somewhat down the agenda as flailing Syrian dictator Bashar Assad is being pressured by members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to move both his WMD cache and long-range Scud missiles to well-protected Hizbullah bases inside Lebanon.