09/27/2019
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s announcement Tuesday that she is opening an official impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump struck many Israelis as yet another sign that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Trump are in the same boat. Both are hounded by legal elites who will stop at nothing to oust them from office. There are parallels between the…
09/20/2019
When Israel Beitenu party chairman Avigdor Liberman abruptly resigned his position as Defense Minister last November and started the countdown to the Knesset elections in April, he plunged Israel into a state of political instability. Following the April elections, by refusing to serve in a government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and so forcing Israel into a second election,…
09/19/2019
The US media coverage of the Israeli election has misrepresented the results of Tuesday’s vote. This isn’t necessarily deliberate. Israeli elections are inscrutable for most foreigners, particularly for Americans who are used to the clarity of the presidential system and two-party system. Here are a few of basic facts about how the vote has gone, and where Israel is likely…
09/13/2019
US National Security Advisor John Bolton’s departure from the White House has been the source of considerable concern in Israel. For decades, the veteran diplomat and former UN ambassador has been among the most powerful supporters of a strong US-Israel alliance in Washington. During his tenure as President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor, Bolton worked steadily on expanding US-Israel…
09/06/2019
Should Israel and the US sign a mutual defense treaty? Every few years, this question is raised. And every few years, it is set aside. In 2000 then prime minister Ehud Barak made signing a mutual defense treaty with the US a central component of his national security strategy. That year, as Barak sought to sell the public his plan…