President Trump Faces Two Major Issues in the Middle East
The future of Gaza is not one of them
The future of Gaza is not one of them
President Donald Trump has enhanced his reputation for unpredictability in foreign policy with his novel suggestion, at a joint press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that the people currently living in the Gaza Strip be evacuated and that the United States assume control of that territory and rebuild it. The president is surely […]
President Trump: Kuwait Should Be Next!
Trump’s initial foreign policy moves are producing results. Venezuela and Colombia agreed to accept the return of their citizens who entered America illegally. Mexico is sending 10,000 soldiers to its border with the US border to staunch the flow of migrants and drugs. Canada wants to negotiate, urgently. Panama agreed not to renew its infrastructure borrowing […]
The “Alternative For Germany” in the Upcoming Bundestag Elections
On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. It was not a Machtergreifung, or seizure of power. Instead, Hitler was installed in office at the behest of a cabal led by Franz von Papen, the head of the Catholic Center Party. Papen believed that he could manipulate the Nazi leader for his own […]
Fighting the Information War in the Middle East, One Case at a Time
The Islamist terrorist armies – Hamas, Hizbullah, Ansarallah (the Houthis) – and their backers are not able to win wars against the US allies in the Middle East. But they are able to win information campaigns. In so doing, they can influence and prepare Middle Eastern publics for future rounds of conflict. The Arabic media […]
The Upside Potential of Postwar Ukraine
Post-war Ukraine will offer enormous commercial opportunities and powerful people-to-people connections. American businesses and research institutions will benefit from a rich pool of knowledge and skilled workers. This upside potential awaits a Trump administration seeking a conclusion to the war now entering its third year. Ukraine’s policymakers will face an immediate postwar economic challenge: finding […]
Pakistan’s Fragility - An Early Test for the Trump Administration?
Pakistan’s nuclear rivalry with India began in earnest in May 1998, when Pakistan conducted five underground nuclear explosions. Since then, the two South Asian powers have further developed their nuclear arsenals, building and testing air, sea and land-launched missiles that can reach every corner of the other country. India holds an advantage in long-range ballistic […]
Avigdor Lieberman: Vindication of the Outsider
One afternoon this winter, at a cafe in central Tel Aviv, I happened to overhear a discussion of politics at a nearby table of older men, convened in their own “parliament.” After cursing both the government’s politicians and the inept opposition, several spoke in praise of Avigdor Lieberman, the former political outsider who speaks Hebrew […]
Anti-Zionist Jews and the World to Come
Jews have co-existed, cooperated, competed and sometimes fought with other peoples and religions over thousands of years. The phenomenon of Jewish traitors, one result of these interactions, is well studied in Jewish tradition from antiquity to the present day. Some may find the phenomenon perplexing. For instance President Trump, during the recent presidential campaign, commented […]
Beware Trump’s Wrath Over a Failed Ceasefire Agreement in Gaza
This week’s release of three Israeli female hostages and 900 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, primarily women and children, is the first step in what is expected to be a long process of bringing home Israel’s hostages and ending the war with Hamas. The agreement provides for three phases, the first two of which involve more […]
After the Gaza Ceasefire, Watch the West Bank
Hamas has plans for the West Bank. Now that there is a ceasefire in Gaza, Hamas wants to use the war it launched against Israel to bring itself more power and influence in the West Bank. It seeks to gain popularity through the prisoner releases secured in exchange for Israeli hostages – between thirty and fifty Palestinian […]
Trump’s Second Inaugural on Foreign Policy
Not since Grover Cleveland won non-consecutive terms in 1884 and 1892 has an American president duplicated this feat. Now Donald Trump, at 78 years old, has come back to win a second term. With it, he has loomed large over American politics for well over a decade. Will Trump’s second term become a success? Or […]
Returning Home
“Restrain your voice from weeping,Your eyes from shedding tears;For there is a reward for your labor—declares GOD:They shall return from the enemy’s land. And there is hope for your future—declares GOD:Your children shall return to their borders.” Jeremiah 31:16-17 These verses came to mind for many Israelis and their friends around the world watching the release […]
