اسرائیل

The Arab-Israeli conflict has confused many a U.S. diplomat over the years. But two seemingly unrelated developments have created an especially odd and embarrassing situation for American diplomacy. First, Israel recently withdrew from Gaza but the international community—including the United States—does not formally recognize the end of Israeli occupation there

On September 11, retired Israeli maj. gen. Doron Almog declined to disembark from an arriving Israel El Al airliner at London’s Heathrow airport and flew back to Israel, thereby avoiding British police waiting with a warrant for his arrest. The warrant, instigated in part by pro-Palestinian groups, alleged that Almog

On September 12, the last departing Israeli forces closed the gates of Gaza behind them, followed by a salvo of Palestinian rockets aimed at southern Israel. In the unsettled aftermath of the Israeli disengagement from Gaza and parts of the northern West Bank, only one camp seems clearly to know

Now that Israel has disengaged from the Gaza Strip and four settlements from the northern West Bank, the international community has a clear interest in doing all it can to see that the post-withdrawal security situation remains stable so that the exit from Gaza leads to further steps along the

Israeli disengagement from Gaza and the northern West Bank settlements has left in its wake three important crises for the religious Zionist movement that spearheaded settlements in Israel. These crises involve the settlers' future relationships with the Israeli public, the Israeli state, and the political secular right. For settlers, these

This is a painful time for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but one he believes is required for Israel's fundamental security and demographic interests. He has bet his political future on the disengagement from Gaza. If there is calm not just for the disengagement but over the coming months, Sharon will

An immediate consequence of Israel's disengagement from Gaza was Benjamin Netanyahu's August 7 resignation as finance minister, making a Likud Party leadership challenge between him and Ariel Sharon virtually inevitable. What will be the impact of such a challenge on Sharon's policy in the postdisengagement period? And how would a

Within hours, history will almost surely be made in the Middle East as Israel begins its withdrawal from Gaza after 38 years of occupation. By taking this unprecedented step to dismantle the 21 settlements there, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon -- the driving force behind the Israeli settler movement --

The significance of Israel's withdrawal from Gaza is obvious: For the first time since the 1967 war, it is setting about to dismantle settlements in an area that Palestinians see as part of their ultimate state, and it is doing so under the leadership of the man who was the