Alliance or Enablement?

Glenn Reynolds links, with praise, to an article about Hillary Clinton claiming that she would go to war with Iran if they attacked Israel.Clinton further displayed tough talk in an interview airing on "Good Morning America" Tuesday. ABC News' Chris Cuomo asked Clinton what she would do if Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons. "I want the Iranians to know that ...

Murdoch: NATO Faces ‘Crisis of Confidence’

News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch says that NATO is in a “crisis of confidence” because Western Europe is “losing its faith in the values and institutions that have kept us free.” He calls for a radical redefinition of the Alliance in order to save it, including extending membership to Australia, Japan, and Israel. Murdoch, who is receiving the Atlantic Council ...

Gazans Knock Down Border, Flee to Egypt

Massive numbers of Palestinians are fleeing to Egypt. Tens of thousands of Palestinians on foot and on donkey carts poured into Egypt from Gaza Wednesday after masked gunmen used land mines to blast down a seven-mile barrier dividing the border town of Rafah. The border breach was a dramatic protest against the closure of the impoverished Palestinian territory imposed ...

Aksa Brigades Call for Murder of Palestinian PM

The al Aksa Martyr Brigades put out a leaflet advocating the assassination of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad. Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades, on Sunday called for the murder of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad for "collaboration" with Israel and the US. This was the first time the group has openly called for Fayad's assassination. In ...

American Hubris in the Middle East

I was listening to a discussion on the Diane Rehm Show this morning on the Annapolis Mideast Peace Conference this morning, featuring Hisham Melhem, Washington bureau chief for Al-Arabiya TV, Glenn Kessler, diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Post, and Martin Indyk, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel and director of the Saban Center. It was, as would be ...

Defining ‘Success’ for the Annapolis Conference

Like most analysts, Peter Brookes sees little chance that the Annapolis Conference will solve the longstanding Arab-Israeli crisis. He does think, however, that it is already a resounding success. The bulk of his column is devoted to the obstacles that will almost surely prevent much substantive change. Several major players have an interest in keeping the ...

Palestinians Seeking Israeli Citizenship

As the reality of Palestinian autonomy takes hold, with a permanent division of Jerusalem a likely outcome, thousands of Palestinians are applying for Israeli citizenship. Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem calling to set up an appointment with the Interior Ministry to apply for an Israeli citizenship will discover the next available interview date is only in April. In the months leading up ...

Israeli Soldier Exposes Breasts to Flee Interrogation

Now, here's a headline you don't see every day: "Soldier flees interrogation by exposing breasts." An IDF soldier fled an interrogation room by exposing her breasts to a stunned officer. The soldier was interrogated at the Biranit army base on the northern border after she refused to undergo a drugs test. A short while after her questioning began the soldier was seen ...

Rice Calls for Palestinian State

The United States has, more explicitly than before, called for a Palestinian state. Saying the time is now for a Palestinian state, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday prodded Israel and the Palestinians to agree at a U.S.-sponsored conference this fall on how and when to start formal peace talks. In one of her strongest statements yet on the issue, Rice ...

September Attack on a Nuclear Reactor?

I really wish that there were new information in the New York Times report on Israel's air attack on a Syrian facility early in September. It looks to me as though the same info continues to be chewed over and presented in different ways: WASHINGTON, Oct. 13 — Israel’s air attack on Syria last month was directed against a site ...

Whole Brain Foreign Policy

Talk about burying your lede: This comes at the end of a long, dry report about the debate within the Bush administration about Israeli intelligence on Syria's nuclear program and what to do about it: “You can’t just make these decisions using the top of your spinal cord, you have to use the whole brain,” said Philip D. Zelikow, the ...

Details Reported on the Israeli Raid on Syria (Updated)

More details have been reported on the raid conducted by the Israeli Air Force on a base in Syria on September 6: Israeli commandos seized nuclear material of North Korean origin during a daring raid on a secret military site in Syria before Israel bombed it this month, according to informed sources in Washington and Jerusalem. The attack was launched with American ...

Syria Claims Israel Bombed Territory

Syria claims that Israel bombed them but Israel denies it. Syria accused Israel of bombing its territory on Thursday and warned it could respond, but Israel Radio carried a denial there had been an air strike. The official Syrian news agency said there were no casualties or damage and that Syrian air defenses fired on the incoming planes shortly after midnight. Israel ...

Israel Frees 255 Palestinian Prisoners

Israel freed 255 Palestinian prisoners in an attempt to strengthen the hand of Fatah in its power struggle with Hamas. Israel released more than 250 Palestinian prisoners Friday, aiming to bolster embattled President Mahmoud Abbas in his power struggle with the Islamic militants of Hamas, which took control of Gaza by force last month. Several thousand chanting, clapping Palestinians greeted the prisoners ...

Brown Becomes PM, Blair Middle East Envoy

It's official: Gordon Brown is the new PM. Former Treasury chief Gordon Brown became British prime minister Wednesday, promising "a new government with new priorities," after Tony Blair left office with a legacy of economic prosperity overshadowed by the deeply divisive Iraq war. Power changed hands traditionally and quietly behind closed doors in Buckingham Palace as Blair first called on Queen ...