Middle East

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM—1714. That’s the number of days On Saturday, March 5, that Gilad Shalit, the kidnapped IDF soldier, has been in Hamas captivity and there’s no sign that his release is imminent or, for that matter, that he’s still alive. For all the precise intelligence that Israel is reported to have in

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM–Ehud Barak isn’t a good politician. He almost admitted it in a lengthy television interview last Thursday. It’s difficult to imagine that history will ever forgive him for his role in breaking up the Labor Party that he was elected to lead. But when he justifies his continued presence in the

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — This is of gigantic importance (see if anyone else covers it). MEMRI has pointed out the opening of a Muslim Brotherhood campaign to replace Egypt’s current clerical hierarchy with its own people. If that happens…you can imagine. Once Islamists are in place making the “official” decisions on what constitutes

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — There is a very simple answer to an apparent contradiction about evaluating the current “Arab revolt.” If we look at the situation as a whole, there are reasons to think that many events of the last two months have  been positive. Clearly, the resurgence of active opposition in Iran

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Israel is exciting for many reasons. One of them is that at any given moment and in the most unlikely situations you can find the worst and the best strangely coexisting. The Bialik-Rogozin School in south Tel Aviv is an example. Because of the Oscar two American film makers

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — As I have predicted, Amr Moussa, former Egyptian foreign minister and Arab League head, has declared his candidacy for president of Egypt. I’d bet he is the most likely to be elected, as a nationalist and “anti-Islamist” candidate. While very possibly the best alternative to the Muslim Brotherhood-backed Muhammad