Obama Puts Israel at Risk

05-13-2009

The May 18 meeting between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is critical for both nations. US-Israeli relations are in danger of deteriorating to the lowest point since Dwight Eisenhower ordered Israeli troops to evacuate Sinai in 1956 – an event that contributed to the 1967 Six-Day War. The summit may define relations between these two democracies for the duration of the Obama administration and beyond.

The White House seems to be intentionally slighting Israel in advance of the summit, even as it raises the stakes. Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones appear to have linked US willingness to stop Iran’s nuclear program to receiving Israeli concessions regarding the two-state solution.

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The Real World: Gaza’s Five Rings of Fire

01-19-2009

To understand the Gaza war, one needs to examine the five concentric ’rings of fire’ Gaza presents: intra-Palestinian; Israeli-Palestinian; the Arab world; Iran; and the West, including the United States. One also needs to keep in mind that - with the exception of Iran, jihadists, international organizations and some leftist NGOs - no one wants a Hamas victory.
 
Let’s start with a little historical perspective. Hamas is an off-shoot of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and a proponent of a Sharia state. It has engaged in war crimes and crimes against humanity targeting Israeli civilians for over a decade. It started blowing up buses in Tel Aviv amid the Oslo love fest between Yasser Arafat and the Israeli government in 1996. It hasn’t stopped since

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The Real World: Hamas, Qassams & Conflict

03-14-2008

An incessant and intensifying barrage of Qassam and Katyusha rockets recently forced Israel to undertake the largest ground operation in Gaza since the 2005 pullout. The use of Iranian-manufactured, Russian-designed BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems by Hamas put the Israeli city of Ashkelon, with its power station and refinery, as well as its suburbs, in firing range.

Quadrupling the number of Israelis in danger of rocket fire may also place a stark choice before Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his center-left coalition: stay under fire and look even weaker than before, or launch a massive land operation into Gaza, take casualties, and suffer more international condemnation.

The strategic imperative to sort out the situation with Hamas and its state sponsors, Syria and Iran, stems not only from concerns about Israel’s security, but from the clear and present danger, that if not stopped, terrorist organizations can morph into terror armies, fundamentally changing the landscape of the Middle East.

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Israel Should Confront the Forces Behind Hezbollah

08-02-2006

On July 26, 2006, The Heritage Foundation hosted Patrick Clawson, Aaron Mannes, and Daniel Pipes to discuss the current Israel–Hezbollah conflict. Heritage’s Ariel Cohen chaired the event. The panel analyzed Hezbollah’s national and transnational status, Iran’s involvement in the fighting, and Israel’s strategic challenge in confronting its most powerful Arab enemy. This paper summarizes the panelists’ discussion.

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U.S. Should Not Impose a Ceasefire Deadline on Israel

07-20-2006

Rising civilian casualties in Lebanon are triggering calls for the U.S. to impose a ceasefire on Israel before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice travels to the region and the United Nations Security Council takes up the issue. However, Israel is exercising its legitimate right to defend itself after an unprovoked attack by the Hezbollah terrorist organization across an internationally recognized border. That attack resulted in the killing of eight Israeli soldiers and the taking of two hostages, and it has plunged the Middle East into a new war. The United States should resist calls to impose a ceasefire on Israel.

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Kadima’s Victory and U.S. Policy on the Arab-Israeli Conflict

05-03-2006

Ehud Olmert’s Kadima (Forward) party won less than one-quarter of the available Knesset seats (29 out of 120) in the Israeli parliamentary elections held March 28. A plurality of voters seems to favor unilateral withdrawal from Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and left-leaning economic policies. Some allege that the ideology of the Land of Israel—which includes claims on Judea and Samaria, the historic birthplace of the nation of Israel—has been abandoned.

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