10/27/2019
Nearly every week, the Democrats reach new heights of radicalism. Israel has good reason to be deeply worried. Until 2000, the peaceful transition of power in the wake of elections was a feature of American democracy that everyone took for granted. In 2000, the Democrats shifted. They refused to accept the election results in Florida that gave Bush his victory…
10/20/2019
The ongoing criminal probes against Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhahu are reaching their climax. After conducting a marathon four-day pre-indictment hearing for Netanyahu earlier this month, Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit reportedly intends to complete his review of the state prosecution’s cases and decide whether to indict Israel’s longest-serving prime minister by the end of next month. The main charges…
10/11/2019
The near consensus view of President Donald Trump’s decision to remove US special forces from the Syrian border with Turkey is that Trump is enabling a Turkish invasion and double crossing the Syrian Kurds who have fought with the Americans for five years against ISIS. Trump’s move, the thinking goes, harms US credibility and undermines US power in the…
10/04/2019
On September 29, President Donald Trump set out his nationalist political philosophy in his address before the UN General Assembly. Arguing that the nation-state is the best guarantor of human freedom and liberty, Trump set up a contrast between “patriots” and “globalists.” “The future does not belong to globalists,” he said. “The future belongs to patriots. The future belongs…
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…
07/08/2019
Last week, the Associated Press ran a hit job on a successful American businessman. Simon Falic and his two brothers own the Duty Free Americas chain, a private company that runs duty free stores in airports throughout the United States and Latin America. They also happen to be Jewish. Simon Falic in particular is a powerful advocate for Jewish causes worldwide and…