Israel

During the build-up to the 2003 Iraq War, President George W. Bush delivered a watershed speech at a prominent Washington DC-based think tank. In late February at the American Enterprise Institute, Bush suggested that after dealing with Saddam Hussein, Israel "will be expected to support the creation of a viable

INTRODUCTION The appalling violence between Israelis and Palestinians that began in September 2000 has been one of the most painful episodes in the history of the modern Middle East. People on both sides, and many outsiders, had hoped that the famous handshakes on the White House lawn in 1993 that

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has taken a turn for the worse. On Wednesday, a suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus in central Jerusalem, killing at least 16 Israelis and wounding scores of bystanders. Within hours, Israeli attack helicopters fired rockets into the Gaza Strip, killing nine people, including four

In recent days, both Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Yasir Arafat and prime minister Mahmoud Abbas have said they expect an agreement on a Hamas ceasefire (or hudna) to be announced soon. According to Abbas, Hamas—in Arabic, "the Islamic Resistance Movement"—"will commit to halting terrorism, both within the green line and

In the last week the prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians appeared to be improving. The Palestinians approved Mahmoud Abbas as their first-ever prime minister, and he declared that terrorism threatened to destroy the Palestinian cause -- language one never heard from Yasir Arafat. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of

March and April 2003 will long be remembered as defining months in forging a new Middle East scene. Before addressing the now–commonly termed challenge of the “morning after,” we must look at the region as it has reacted during the war. This will be our point of departure in evaluating

Former U.S. Mideast negotiator Dennis Ross advocates meeting head-on allegations that undue Jewish influence and a concern for Israel's defense lie behind President Bush's strategy on Iraq. Rep. James P Moran, a seven-term Democratic congressman from northern Virginia, brought a verbal firestorm upon himself by suggesting that American Jews have

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon swept to victory yesterday, his right bloc assured of at least 67 seats in the incoming 120-seat Knesset. Indeed, Likud's strength has essentially doubled, rising from 19 seats in the fifteenth Knesset to 37 seats in the sixteenth. The right's gain was matched by the left

Earlier this week, Israel's Labor Party leader Amram Mitzna announced that he would not look to resume a broad coalition government with the Likud Party following the country's upcoming January 28 election, a crucial decision that dropped Labor from 24 to 20 seats (according to today's Yediot Aharonot poll) and