A two-state solution predicated on the Saudi initiative would produce a hostile state where none had existed before, and would provide no mutual assurances. Israel would be weakened and the risk to Jewish lives increased. One could argue that this would trample certain aspects of Jewish law that are supposed to be inviolate. [more]

The State of Israel is undergoing a serious identity crisis. The schism between Jews and Arabs grows worse and the Arabs regard themselves as Palestinians rather than Israelis. It also grows worse between those who are faithful to the Zionist idea of a democratic Jewish state and the post-Zionists who want to eradicate the Jewish nature of the state and establish one for all the citizens living within the borders of the State of Israel as it is today, or within the land of Israel-Palestine. [more]

Western culture is the greatest enemy of the Iranian regime, and for that reason they hate the West’s leader – the United States, and the country they perceive as its agent in the Middle East, Israel. This is why they refer to the former as “Great Satan” and to us as “Little Satan.” The US is not hated in Iran because of Israel’s conduct. The opposite is true: Israel is the target of Iranian hatred because it represents American culture. [more]

Yair Sheleg seemingly rejects the comparison between Hamas and the Jewish Right, but readily accepts that there is Jewish terror: “I do not intend this as a justification of settler terror… It is not enough to fight terror; it is also necessary to drain the swamp in which it breeds.” His solution is to leave Jews in Judea and Samaria following an Israeli withdrawal. “If it is possible to enable Palestinian sovereignty without uprooting 200,000 Jews from their homes, this would be the most just and moral solution of all. There is also a practical advantage: If the settlers do not accept the offer, the justice of evacuating them will increase.” Sheleg conveniently forgets one significant point, that being the security of the Jews “morally left behind.” The article is aptly titled, “Leave the settlers there.” [more]

As Mousavi hovers between Gorbachev and Yeltsin, between reformer and revolutionary, between figurehead and leader, the revolution hangs in the balance. The regime may neutralize him by arrest or even murder. It may buy him off with offers of safety and a sinecure. He may well prefer to let this cup pass from his lips. But choose he must, and choose quickly. This is his moment and it is fading rapidly. Unless Mousavi rises to it, or another rises in his place, Iran’s democratic uprising will end not as Russia 1991, but as China 1989. [more]

IT IS notable that otherwise savvy Israeli and Western politicians have found themselves repeatedly out-maneuvered in attempting to “call the bluff” of their Arab interlocutors. The assumption is that if their ostensible demands are met, the Arabs will be painted into a corner and have no choice but to be accommodating. [more]

THERE ARE signs that the international community’s full-court press against settlements, with the Obama administration in the forefront, is wearing the Netanyahu government down. The Palestinians’ position is that if settlements don’t stop, negotiations won’t start; and they define settlements broadly - as Jewish life beyond the Green Line. The Israeli government, under withering pressure from Washington, is reportedly floating the idea of a three-to-six-month settlement freeze to coax Mahmoud Abbas back to the negotiating table. [more]

The ISM is run by the Palestinian Arabs with Saudi money and Iranian help. Its purpose is to roil the war with the Jews until Israel is gone. Everything the ISM does has been with the okay of the Palestinian Fatah leadership. That is, until Fatah began cooperating a little with the Israelis and the ISM leadership felt its fortune should now lie with Hamas. [more]

With the world standing with the Iranian people and with the mullahs out of the way, there just might be a prospect for peace in the region - and in the world, for that matter. Without Iran’s backing, Hamas will be forced to reconcile with Fatah and recognize Israel. Fatah can begin to negotiate with Israel without any distraction. Hizbullah cannot bully the Lebanese government, and will be forced to lay down their arms and behave like civilized people. [more]

[When it comes to crackdown on Iranian protestors] will people in Western Europe and North America conclude from this that the Iranian regime is mad, bad and that it is dangerous if Iran’s rulers know how to make nuclear weapons? Are they going to perceive in the adventurous, risk-taking, brutal and ideologically dizzied regime a true danger to themselves and their countries’ interests? Is the fact that it is, to coin a phrase, a “Tehranical” regime going to translate into an understanding of its foreign policy? [more]