Middle East

Will Obama be pragmatic or an idealogue in second half of term?

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel (Press Release)–What effect will the congressional elections have on U.S. foreign policy generally and Middle East policy in particular? It isn’t a matter of the individual candidates, since nobody lost or won who will have some big influence on U.S. policy in the next couple of years. The important factor […]

Will Obama be pragmatic or an idealogue in second half of term? Read More »

Middle East, USA

Israel suspends official travel to the United Kingdom

JERUSALEM (WJC)–Israel’s Foreign Ministry has suspended  trips of government officials to Britain out of fear that they might be arrested there for alleged war crimes. The news was announced during a visit by UK Foreign Secretary William Hague in Jerusalem. Despite assurances, successive British government have not yet repealed universal jurisdiction laws allowing private war

Israel suspends official travel to the United Kingdom Read More »

Middle East

Civil marriages in Israel for non-Jews approved by Knesset committee

JERUSALEM (WJC)–A Knesset committee has made it possible for a civil marriage law to be implemented in Israel. The Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee on Wednesday, Nov 3,  approved a registration fee of about US$ 165 for couples to obtain a civil marriage. The law, passed in March and set to be implemented next

Civil marriages in Israel for non-Jews approved by Knesset committee Read More »

Middle East

Schumer criticizes Obama on his policy on Jewish settlements on the West Bank

NEW YORK (Press Release)–The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has praised Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) for his recent speech taking the Obama Administration to task for fixating on Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as constituting an obstacle to peace when the truth is that Jews living and building homes there poses no obstacle to

Schumer criticizes Obama on his policy on Jewish settlements on the West Bank Read More »

Middle East

Nobel prize winners say anti-Israel boycotts and divestment hurt rather than advance peace

CHICO, California (Press Release) — Led by Nobel Laureates Roger Kornberg, Stanford University, and Steven Weinberg, University of Texas at Austin, 38 Nobel colleagues have endorsed the following statement written under the auspices of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East (SPME) regarding worldwide attempts to boycott, divest from or sanction Israeli academics, institutions, and

Nobel prize winners say anti-Israel boycotts and divestment hurt rather than advance peace Read More »

Middle East

Study: Longer experiences in Israel lead to greater Jewish identification

NEW YORK (Press Release)–Participation in semester or year programs in Israel is directly linked to stronger Jewish affiliation and leadership – regardless of the Jewish background growing up, a study commissioned by Masa Israel Journey finds. Masa, a joint project of the Jewish Agency for Israel and the Israeli government which serves an umbrella for

Study: Longer experiences in Israel lead to greater Jewish identification Read More »

Middle East

Conference of Presidents, ADL denounce UNESCO resolution on Rachel’s Tomb

NEW YORK (Press Release) — Leaders of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations strongly criticized the resolution passed recently by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, in which it labeled the historic and sacred Jewish burial site of Rachel’s Tomb a mosque. “The UNESCO resolution is an affront to

Conference of Presidents, ADL denounce UNESCO resolution on Rachel’s Tomb Read More »

Middle East

U.S. apparently has no idea what to do about Syria

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — If you think I’m exaggerating about the current administration’s cluelessness toward the Middle East just read the State Department daily press conference transcripts. Even journalists covering these events are often shocked by what they hear. Today’s topic is Syria, but it’s just an example and many others could be found. State Department

U.S. apparently has no idea what to do about Syria Read More »

Middle East, USA

Photos show links between Gaza flotilla ‘peace activists’ and IHH terrorists

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel–The New York Times–you know, it’s sort of like National Public Radio but with printed letters on murdered trees–keeps saying it can’t find any connections between IHH, the Turkish Islamist group that organized the Gaza flotilla, and terrorism. From time to time, I’ve published helpful hints to assist them in making these

Photos show links between Gaza flotilla ‘peace activists’ and IHH terrorists Read More »

International, Middle East, USA

Retired Mossad chief Danny Yatom again calls for joint military action against Iran

          By Donald H. Harrison   LA JOLLA, California – Before a Friends of the Israel Defense Forces audience that included four members of the U.S. Congress, Israel’s former Mossad chief, retired Maj. Gen. Danny Yatom, renewed his call Saturday evening, October 30,  for joint military action by the U.S., Israel

Retired Mossad chief Danny Yatom again calls for joint military action against Iran Read More »

Middle East

Sharansky: Final mass Ethiopian aliyah in the works; will Marranos be next?

-second in a series– By Donald H. Harrison SAN DIEGO – – Even as a program is pending to complete massive immigration to Israel from Ethiopia, Natan Sharansky, chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel, is pondering how Israel will react if other communities around the world that were forced to convert from Judaism to

Sharansky: Final mass Ethiopian aliyah in the works; will Marranos be next? Read More »

Donald H. Harrison, Middle East

How has U.S. policy toward Hamas and the Gaza Strip turned around 360 degrees?

By Barry Rubin HERZLIYA, Israel — A reader asks what I meant when I wrote: “Should I mention the total reversal of U.S. policy on Hamas from trying to undermine that radical Islamist group’s rule in the Gaza Strip to believing Hamas will fall if Gaza becomes prosperous?” Here’s my answer: From the time Hamas

How has U.S. policy toward Hamas and the Gaza Strip turned around 360 degrees? Read More »

Middle East, USA